Brain storming

Somebody told me that to brainstorm you had to get the group to put their heads together. We tried it. I don't remember what great ideas came from this brainstorming session, but I'm sure they were great.

Goodbye to an old friend

The ancient cherry tree in our back yard was magnificent. The biggest one I have ever seen. Every year it produced masses of flowers and cherries we gave away by the bagload. The kids climbed in it, swung from it's branches and the yard and house were cooled by it's generous shade. We have lived in this house for over 25 years and the tree was huge back then. We are unsure of it's age. Squirrels lived in one of the branches that had died and had been hollowed out. We knew that part of the tree was weakening, but had no idea of the extent of damage until the storm...
A warning of high winds was announced on the tv, so we went outside in the back yard to watch. At first, all was completely still. Then slowly the winds picked up and began to blow the white blossoms off the cherry tree that was in full bloom. The wind picked up quickly and the petals swirled around us like a blizzard. We took refuge under the patio cover.

Jeff commented, "I hope the cherry tree holds up in this wind." And half a minute later, there was a loud crack, and a huge branch snapped and fell toward the house. The upper branches caught on the rain gutter and the trunk swung down and came to rest as you see it in the picture. The entire center of the branch was rotten and pulpy. The branch was being supported by a mere 3 inch thick living portion around the outer edge. We became aware that the tree was no longer safe. How many other branches were rotten and waiting for a big wind to snap them off?






We came to the sad conclusion that the tree must come down. Jeff whittled away methodicly at the branches with the chainsaw. The one he is using here, has an extended arm for trimming. It came in very handy. He and I spent the better part of a day, carefully taking it down, one branch at a time. Some had to have a rope looped over them. Jeff cut, while I pulled the rope to control the fall of the branch so it didn't hit the house.



The results were sad to see.

All that remains now is the stump. Jeff is going to try to carve the rest into a chair if it isn't too rotted out at the base. We bought a honey locust to plant nearby. It is a fast grower and a good shade tree, but we will never see in our lifetime another tree that will replace that good old cherry tree.

Every cloud has it's silver lining though. We were able to salvage quite a bit of the rotten trunk and make planters out of it. They will serve as a reminder of the great tree that once was.

Thank you old friend, you will be missed.

Cool new wheels

Is this not the most awesome thing? Vic and Shell gave Jeff this bike. Vic spent hours sanding, painting, adding the decorations and sealing it. It was such a thoughtful thing for them to do. We can't find the proper words to express our gratitude! Thank you two from the bottom of our hearts!

Queen for the Day

I look forward to Mothers Day every year. Jeff goes all out and spares no expense for dinner. He barbecued huge thick steaks. He made double stuffed potatoes with shrimp and crab flakes, mushrooms, sourcream and cheese. He steamed asparagus and grilled the biggest lobsters he could find. We enjoyed the meal with his mom Joy, and 2 of our daughters, Nina and Punky. Jeff is such a treasure!

EVIL my eye

Horrors! If you have never had "Pink-eye", don't! It sounds sort of cute, like something a fluffy bunny might have. The grandchildren contracted it a few days ago, and bless their little hearts, they shared it with me. (I will not post a picture, as it is really gross)

It started out as a little crusty matter on my lashes this morning. A few hours later, it started watering and I noticed a little yellowish puss in the corner of my eye. Then it escalated and turned angry red and started eminating puss like a faucet.

I rushed to the clinic and got officially diagnosed for only $75. Oh, they took my blood pressure, temperature and gave me an eye test too. Surprise, the vision in my right eye is blurry. They gave me a perscription and sent me on my way. (Actual Doctor contact, less than 5 minutes)

I got the stuff and rushed home to administer the cure. One drop 3 times a day in the offending eye. A couple hours later, the ooze was continuous, my eyelids were swollen, and I noticed something I will call "water on the eye". Fluid developed under the protective coating of the white part of my eye (red for now). It looked like a huge blister around my cornea.

I called the doctor back, worried that my eye may pop. She said it was an extreme case, but not unusual, and to call her back if the eye becomes painful.

Coincidently, it is the same eye that I wrote about in a previous post. It is also the same eye that turned bright red in one corner a couple weeks ago when a blood vessel broke.

Waaaa...

The good new is, I can now add this to my collection of "odd ailments and scars to prove it", including the shin laceration from a dropped bottle of wine, the scar on my finger where I tried to make a mini dart, the scar on my knee from chasing a car and the manhole cover was located in my path and tripped me, the scar under my lower lip from coming up for air too close to the edge of the pool and pierced my lip with my lower tooth, the three small scars in my palm from grabbing a barbed wire fence while falling down a hill in an attempt to get away from a goat that was chasing us, and several bouts of poison oak, to name a few. I also have a scar on my tongue from when I was 2 and slipped on a rug and nearly bit my tongue off, but I don't remember it.

Wow, that brought back memories. Almost made me forget about my eye.

321....contact

I was driving home with the top down on the Miata. Enjoying the drive when something flew into my eye.....

I wear hard contacts and anything in my eye, other than my contact, feels like gravel or a needle piercing my cornia.

Fortunately, the light I was approaching turned red and I was able to remove the contact. The light changed before I could get it back in my eye, so I kept it where I placed it to clean it off. OK, I know it's not the most sanitary thing to do, but my mouth is the only option besides holding it between my fingers, and it's hard to shift that way. Anyway, as luck would have it, the lights were green all the way home and I had to keep the contact on the end of my tongue, concentrating on not swallowing for what seemed like an eternity.

Lasik surgery is sounding better every day.

Deleverance revisited

We three siblings had a reunion....

Shell ad Vic gave Jeff a motorcycle that was incredible. A labor of love and appreciated more than I can say. (I will post a picture.)

We ate gunky cereal, we listened to music we grew up with, and mostly we laughed and had a great time enjoying each others company.

We stayed up late one night playing Texas hold'em.

We spent a day trip driving to some natural hotsprings and soaking. We had a snow fight along the way and were chased by bees.

We took lots of crazy pictures, which I was just looked through, and it cracked me up when I realized that there are no serious group photos, just goofy ones.

We had a jalapeno injected deep fried turkey one night for dinner that was to die for. And the next morning we cooked the extra jalapeno sauce with eggs and had green eggs and ham.....and we liked it Sam I am.

We had a silly string fight just before the trip to the airport to drop Mike off.

I keep daydreaming about the conversations and things we did and smile to myself and feel so connected...We made some wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.


Thanks guys.....I love you forever and then some.

Characters welcome

Have you ever met a stranger that was so entertaining that you would like to add them to your list of people you always invite to your parties?

Mr and Mrs Gauntlet, from England, paid a visit to our store a couple days ago and made a lasting impression.

Mr Gauntlet was an tall, thin, elderly gentleman with huge yellow lowers. He must have forgotten his uppers at home. He swayed through the door like he had just polished off a few too many toddies, or maybe his legs were to thin to hold him up properly, I'm not sure which.

Mrs Gauntlet was a short little white haired lady with smiling eyes. And what a tease.

They carried on and joked around and talked about each other behind a cupped had in a hushed voice when the other was looking away...."He does this all the time, makes me crazy"

When they finally finished their business and said their goodbyes, I was truly sorry to see them leave.

I will look forward to our next encounter, or better yet, maybe I will call him up and invite him to our next cookout.

Remiss is me

Holy cow. I have been so bad about posting. I can't believe it's almost been a year. I promise I will be better. This promise is for myself mainly. (Can't imagine there is anyone following this blog anyway that I'm not in regular contact with.) If there is... surprise to me, and here's the latest. We opened our own store..Island Ink-Jet. Refill not landfill. It is doing very well. Except for the breakin. We are another year older and terribly out of shape. Kristina and grandkids still live with us. The cherry tree broke in a storm and will have to be chopped down (more on this later...a memorial will be in order). Lately lots of bad things have been happening to family members. More bad news than usual. I won't dwell on all the details and will try to keep the blog lighthearted and focus on the good. So, stay tuned........