Last days of summer . . .

Our summer stay in Oregon is nearly over. The leaves are starting to change, the weather is getting pretty nippy at night, the humming birds have flown south . . . the lawn furniture and smoker and barbecue and boat are all tucked away crammed into the shop for the winter . . . it's time to head south ourselves! Just wanted you see the beautiful view we see from our deck and will look forward to coming back next spring.

We love looking into the woods with no civilization in sight. . .

watching the robins, blue jays, hummers, and wood peckers, and listening to all critter sounds.

Life is good!

A Favorite Thing to Do

As most of you know, I am a "Tole Painter" . . . and during the summertime, here in Oregon, I have more room in my studio to do just that. I like painting here because I don't have to clean up my mess until I'm finished with the project. We're packing up today so I wanted to share with you a couple of things I painted this past summer, before they get packed to take back to California.

This box is 8" square by 5" deep . . . I am going to give it to my nephew to say "Thank you for being that special person you are!"

The small 4" x 3" box I gave to a new friend and neighbor I got to
know better this year in Oregon.

I love having the freedom and the space to paint.

Life is Good!

Tomorrow's Apple Crisp

Now that we don't have the blackberry jungle in the front part of our property we can finally get to the apples. We've know about this apple tree, which is over 20 feet tall, for years now. We've just never been able to get to the apples! After dinner Ken suggested we go and pick some apples before we pull out of here and head south this weekend. Tomorrow I'll make a delicious Apple Crisp from our very own apples . . . hmmmm . . . wish I had some ice cream!

He didn't need the ladder after all.
The long harvest pole worked just fine.

In years past we've only been able to get the ones that happen to fall on the ground in front of the thorny blackberry bushes.

Yummo! I can almost smell the
scrumptious Apple Crisp baking now!

Life is Good!

Whoa! What is that?

It was white and paper-like.

Actually quite pretty, and amazing to think about how it was made (see below).

Yesterday we were talking with "Buckshot" who is going to do some landscaping tractor work for us to take out some tree stumps, and level out the front part of the property. His son was with him and pointed out, with excitement in his voice, something very interesting. We looked way over to the far fence-line and noticed something hanging from a branch, which looked like a Japanese paper lantern. After a slight closer look, we realized it was some sort of nest . . . and later discovered that it was a Bald-Face Hornet's nest. Needless to say, we stayed away from the nest so as not to cause any disturbance and get them angry! Of course, you know me, I had to Google it and I will share with you a bit of knowledge I learned about this little critter.

A picture up close from the Internet. There were several flying around the nest, but I wasn't about to get too close.

Internet: The bald-faced hornet lives throughout North America, including southern Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the western coast of the United States, and most of the eastern US. They are most common in the southeastern United States. They are best known for their large football-shaped paper nest, which they build in the spring for raising their young. The paper-like covering of the nest is made from chewed up wood, cardboard or paper that the workers will form into the outside nest covering. Nests can also be colorful as wasps will gather nest materials from different sources. These nests can sometimes reach 3 feet tall. In the summer, nests are often hidden by vegetation. When winter comes, they abandon the nest, usually by the first frost. They will build a new one, probably somewhere else, next spring. Bald-faced hornets are extremely protective of their nests and will sting repeatedly if disturbed.

Every year, queens that were born and fertilized at the end of the previous season begin a new colony. The queen selects a location for its nest, begins building it, lays a first batch of eggs and feeds this first group of larvae. These become workers and will assume the chore of expanding the nest — done by chewing up wood which is mixed with a starch in their saliva. This mixture is then spread with their mandibles and legs, drying into the paper-like substance that makes up the nest. The workers also guard the nest and feed on nectar, tree sap and fruit pulp. They also capture insects and arthropods, which are chewed up to be fed to the larvae. This continues through summer and into fall. Near the end of summer, or early in the fall, the queen begins to lay eggs which will become drones and new queens.

Cute little face!

As winter approaches, the wasps die — except any just-fertilized queens. These hibernate underground or in hollow trees until spring. The nest itself is generally abandoned by winter, and will most likely not be reused. When spring arrives, the young queens emerge and the cycle begins again.

Life is good!

Always something new to discover!

I had never heard of a Petoskey Stone until our trip to Shady Shores. In the mornings we could see different folks walking up and down the beach with their head facing down at the water near their feet. Occasionally they would reach down into the water and pick something up, study it for a bit, and sometimes (if they were lucky) put it in their pocket. I asked SS what they were looking for and she said "Petoskey Stones!" Of course, having no clue what a Petoskey Stone was, I had to ask. She told me they were fossels from coral which grew there a long time ago. I just Googled it, so here is an edited shortened version in layman's terms.

Petoskey Stones are composed of the fossilized skeletons of "Colony Coral" which lived in the warm waters that covered Michigan some 350 million years ago during the Devonian Period. They are most often found along the beaches along certain areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. When dry they look powdery grey, and when wet the hexagonal pattern of the fossil is clearly visible. Petoskey Stones are often polished (which also brings out their patterns) and used in jewelry. Michigan was extensively resurfaced by glaciers during the Pleistocene (the last 1.6 million years), and as part of this process, moving glaciers plucked up pieces of the bedrock and carried them along, smoothing and rounding them in transport. This accounts for the regular shapes of Petoskey Stones found today.

T happen to run up to me on the beach from the water's edge, dripping wet, and I asked him if he knew what a Petoskey Stone looked like, and he said "Yes." I asked him if he thought he could find one for me and he said "I'll try!" And about five minutes later he came running back with the biggest smile on his face and handed over my first Petoskey Stone.

The stones come in all different sizes.Here is the one T found for me is about the size of a nickel.

Here is a photo I found on the web of a Petoskey Stone that looks to be polished.

Thanks T . . . I'll forever treasure the Petoskey Stone you found for me!

Life is good!

Labor Day Weekend at Shady Shores

In a little town in the northeast part of the state is a summer camp that is graciously shared by an acquaintance of our daughter's . . . a fella who used to be on her staff when she worked in the Bay Area. They've been to Shady Shores (a compound of seven "cabins" right on the shoreline of Lake Huron) for the last few years over Labor Day— and this year we were invited to come along. After a five-hour drive we arrived Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. There are lots of activities to choose from while staying at Shady Shores. There is a basketball court, a tether ball which was quite popular this year, croquet set, plus M and S hauled their trailer filled with their own "water toys" to share i.e. the Sunfish sail boat, and couple of kayaks. All three were used throughout the weekend. Ken loves to sail and had a blast in the Sunfish, as did all the men in our family.

One fun feature of staying at Shady Shores is that the kids made and brought us our breakfast two mornings (supervised by one of the hosting family). The first morning was "Eggs in a Nest," the next morning was "Breakfast Burritos" and the food was delicious. R and T assured me that the kids (five of them) really did do all the work. The adults give them "tips," and with the collected tips the kids get to go get ice cream on Sunday afternoon. They collected over $40 in tips so not only did they get to choose whatever kind of ice cream concoction they wanted they each came away with nearly $5 in their pocket! The kids love doing it and the adults love being on the receiving end.

At the entrance to the compound Shady Shores.

Three of the seven cottages. We stayed in the one behind the red car in this photo . . . "The Main House" which had four bedrooms, giving the boys each their own room which they loved.

A view of their piece of the beach! Lake Huron looks like the ocean without waves, it is huge.

Both R and T can sail this boat all by themselves. They'd like to get one more so that they can have races.

Here is Ken coming back from his sailing adventure. He loves the peaceful quietness of sailing and the idea of being powered by the wind.

R and T at the evening campfire, where we enjoyed making smores. . . this time we learned that peanut butter along with the chocolate and marshmallow is delicious!

S challenged R to a tether ball game . . .

Soon two more came into the game. I'm not sure how the teams were divided though, but R's team won!

SS having a great time with her boys.

R has grown nearly 4 inches this summer— he's such a handsome and smart boy with a sweet and tender heart!

T is growing up fast too—going into third grade this year. He's a happy-go-lucky kind of guy with a big smile on his face most of the time.

We had a great visit with our mid-western family. SS and M have done a good job raising their two boys. We adore and are quite proud of our grandsons.

Life is Good!

Building a Boat . . . a Family Affair

One phase of our vacation Ken really looked forward to was building a sail boat with M and grandsons RD and TF. We had sent the plans a few weeks ahead so that M could have a chance to look them over and buy the wood needed for the project. The boat, a "Puddle Duck," is a simple boat to build and is perfect for the first-timer. Grandson T was especially excited about the task.

One of T's jobs was to read the measurements necessary while R carefully marked the wood. The plans are written using the metric system so this was a good lesson for both boys.

T pounds a nail in the place R had marked.

The team holds a strip in place, along the nails, to form the curve necessary to form the bottom of the boat.

Measure twice, cut once!

Lots of nails were necessary for the curve's accuracy.

R holds on to the board as M saws along the curved line.

Sawing along the curve . . .

The boys proudly display the first shaped piece.

"One can never have enough clamps!"
I heard that expressed several times throughout the building process.

Gluing and clamping.

Two of the team chat about the day's accomplishments.

The boat-building team got a good start on the Puddle Duck, but with all the other things we did during our visit, they were unable to get it finished. Hopefully M and the boys will be able to finish it over their long winter so they can sail it in the spring!

Life is good!

A Fancy Schmancy Celebration

Our daughter and son-in-law treated us to a fun evening out he town to celebrate our anniversary. They took us to a restaurant called Zazios unlike any restaurant we've ever been. Inside the restaurant was a section called "Chef's Table" where we sat with about 10 others in two rows facing Executive Chef John who prepared an amazing five-course meal while chatting with us as he cooked and explained, in detail, what he was doing, from what part of Italy the recipes came, etc. Plus with each course we were served a wine especially paired for that course . . . oh my goodness, it was a fabulous time. The whole experience took nearly three hours which allowed us plenty of time to savor each and every bite, and the wines were perfectly matched. I wish I had taken my camera to show you each beautifully plated course, but I was able to get these photos off their website.

While waiting for Chef John to start, we enjoyed a cocktail in the bar.

Chef John has a great personality, and is very relaxed in his manner of relating with the audience. It was such a great experience.

Thank you SS and MF for such a fun time!

Life is good!

One...Two...Three...Glow!

I've never been near a hot air balloon. I've only enjoyed looking up at them floating in the sky. The first weekend in Michigan, SS was so excited because there was going to be the first national hot air balloon festival ever held in her hometown. We had to get up very early in the morning in order to see them "inflate" and take off. We were hoping to be able to follow one and help the crew land it at the finishing line. The getting up early was easy because we were all pretty excited to see the colorful balloons. We drove out to where the race was supposed to start . . . only to find out the weather was not on their side, and there would be no race that morning. But the balloonists all encouraged us to come out to the "Glow" that evening. They promised the weather would permit this part of the festival. So that's what we did. Unfortunately the weather didn't allow any balloons to take off the entire weekend, but the balloonists all had a great attitude of "Oh well, that's part of the sport!" Of course we were disappointed, but we still had fun in spite of it.

SS walks with RD and TF to see the balloons up close.

I was amazed how big these balloons are.

Soon there were about eight balloons showing off their colors.

I had no idea it took a fire like this to keep the balloons inflated.

This was my favorite . . . it was beautiful glowing in the darkness.

One the count over the loud speaker: "One...Two...Three...Glow!"—they would all light up and put on a spectacular glowing exhibit of their beautiful colors!

Life is Good!

First Leg of Vacation

What a great vacation! We've been away from home for only two-and-a-half weeks, but it seems like so long ago that we left. I guess it's because we've been able to pack a whole lot of fun into a short period of time. We drove up to Seattle and stayed with Ron and Sandy. We enjoy visiting this time of year because it gives us the opportunity to visit Ken's mom and, this year we celebrated her 93rd birthday. She's getting pretty frail and it took a while for her to recognize who we were, but then we could see that she was glad to see us. We enjoyed the visit and feel blessed to have her.

Happy Birthday Mom!

The second day after our arrival we took a ferry over to Whidbey Island. Whidbey is located about 30 miles north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington. The island forms the northern boundary of Puget Sound. The ferry ride was an adventure we've only done once before in our lifetime. We had lunch in a quaint little town on the island and strolled down the main street stopping in a variety of shops. Ken bought a map of Puget Sound, for someday his dream is to sail his boat all through these waterways.

A view from the town we had lunch (the town's name has escaped my memory).

The brothers enjoy each others' company . . . second time this summer!

Another day while in Seattle we were invited to go on a field trip. We were excited because of all these years we've visited Washington, we've never seen Mt. Rainier up close. (Actually we've only seen it from the airplane, because normally it's hiding in the clouds.) Ron and Sandy took us on a road trip, because "they" (the weather man) said it was going to be a bright, clear, and sunny day. As you look at the pictures, you will realize "they" were wrong. We couldn't see the mountain at all from the front side, so we drove clear around to the back side. The skies cleared for about five minutes so that we could see the back side which is not as pretty as the front, but at least we can say we've seen Mt. Rainier.

Beautiful scenery as we make the climb up the road to Mt. Rainier while keeping our eyes peeled for the first sighting of the mountain.

The "mountain" is supposedly behind those low-hanging clouds.

We came up behind this truck and decided to get a shot of it, with the picture of Mt. Rainier gracing its rear, since we hadn't spotted the real thing all morning, and thought this may be the only sighting we might have on this outing.

We stopped on the side of the road to enjoy our picnic lunch. There was no picnic benches and it was getting pretty chilly so we ate in the car.

Nearly five hours later, after driving all around the mountain, the skies cleared for just a brief time for me to get a shot of the back side of Mt. Rainier. Oh well, we still had a great time just being with family.

Life is Good!