Tomorrow's post will be a celebration of 39 years of weddedness.  A new word!

Today.  I am trying to accept and understand and remember the words of my Dad from the days I was a teen, "Who ever told you that life was going to be fair?"  There have been points in this life that I have reflected back on that question.  I've tried over and over to be fair in any situation that I could.

Another quote haunting me is the theme of NEVER GIVE UP!!  But then I wonder how many times I am going to open myself up to feeling so hurt.

Sister Carol then reminds me of the definition of insanity.  Continuing to do the same thing, and expect a different result.  Trouble is I don't know what else to do.

Each time it happens I tell myself it is the last time  A few months pass and I open my arms again, and find myself holding onto nothing.  Emptiness.

Is this the time I accept it?  Maybe so.  I hope so.

I need to find a way to make the rest of the picture be in color.  Vibrant.  Happy.  Joyful.  I need to remember how lucky I am to have the people in my life who love me.  I need to realize that not everyone in my life will.  I need to recognize those people who want to share joy with me, and quite worrying about those who don't.

It's going to be hard.  I can do hard.

And I am done being a milk toast.  I'm done walking on egg shells.  I'm moving forward with the cards I have.  I'll play them the best I can.

Easter 2013

It was such a beautiful day!  My youngest brother Kevin is always such a gracious host, inviting us all in for a brunch and egg hunt.  This is even though the only children hunting for the last 10 years have been mine...

The last two years I have made sure to bring some things for the kiddos to play with.  The bubbles are always a big hit!!  Ethan, Carter and Henry had a lot of fun with them.

Even my Dad had to get into the action!!!  You can see a bubble coming from the wand Carter is holding here.  In the background is my sister Nancy having a chat with Jillian, who had announced ahead of time that she was too old to be hunting eggs at the ripe old age of 11 1/2 and that she would instead by hiding the eggs with Kelli and helping Henry to find his fair share.

This is also one of my few chances each year to get a photo of the four of them together.  And this year it was a struggle....

This was the official "Okay, go ahead and make a goofy face" photo...

I'll have to go into my photo file and find the last few years and post them sequentially.  

Next year there will be one more Templeton Grandbaby to add.....WOO HOO!!!

My Wee Speck of a Yard

I am the condo association REBEL!!  After a few back and forth emails, with the condo association manager (who doesn't even live here) I am bucking the not at all clearly written rules, and planted some flowers in my little front yard space.  Jose, the gardener, takes care of the grass.  But the area surrounding the grass was covered with moss, and the few foundation plants that were there were fine.
Plus there are two roses, which is nice. But there wasn't anything else.  So I added a few annuals, and just a couple of perennials.

Here is the view from a little different angle.  I brought my little chairs and benches with me, and the glider.  Which is a lovely place to sit and enjoy my coffee in the morning, or a glass of wine in the evening.

I was amazed at the number of snail shells I collected after putting down some slug bait.  Bastards....oh, sorry.


The HOA rules forbid me to put anything atop the stucco wall you see.
When we first moved in we put our wooden "Templeton's" sign above the garage.  It is a wooden surround around the garage door, and it wasn't even very easy to see, but it said "home" to us.  After a few months we got a message that we had to remove it, because it made our unit look "different" than everyone elses.

Maybe I have moved to Stepford?

I do love my  beautiful  bougainvilla  that is now next to the garage door.  This is something I could never had had in Washington.

The rules do allow for things in pots.

Now I will have to depend on L Jay to water for me while I am gone up north for Easter, a family visit and a quilting retreat.

He did well taking care of my herb tower last fall, which reminds me, I need to harvest some arugula, mint and chives.

And then it was spring...

So much for more activity this month.

It's been an interesting month anyway.  Had a great visit with sister Nancy and BIL Terry.  We had 4 days of activities, highlighted by a day in San Francisco with dinner at The House of Prime Rib.  We walked the waterfront, went up to Coit Tower, drove down Lombard Street, through China Town.  The weather was perfect and we shared a lot of laughs.

Terry was excited to introduce me to the grinding attachment for my KitchenAid and we made breakfast sausage.  It was really, really good, and I look forward to making more sausage soon.

Crankiness kind of grabbed me when they left.  Then it was compounded by the manager of the homeowners association sending me the message that no, I wasn't supposed to plant any flowers.  Well, tough luck buddy.  I'm planting them within the confines of my little mini front yard, which is surrounded by a stucco wall, as well as a hedge.  The only way to see the flowers, or enjoy my yard, is by being IN my yard. And if that is considered "common area" then so be it.

Got mostly some annuals, and just a couple of perennials.  The landlord is good with it.  He said the previous tenant had had the same issue with the manager.  But she did get those daffs planted and I see a few tulips poking up too!

L Jay was given a HUGE award and honor from BGCA and so we decided I will go to Orlando for the national conference after all.  Thankfully, I was able to get booked on his same flights 3 legs out of 4, though I am in first class.....using those Alaska miles!!  And even better, sister Carol who was supposed to be here for a visit during that time, was able to book with her miles too, so I will have someone to play with.

Good for now.  Be back soon.

March!

This was what I pulled from my Farm Fresh to You box this morning.  It's my second delivery, arriving every other Friday.  I thought I'd give this a try until the Farmer's Markets open up again in mid May.  

February wasn't my most active blogging month, I'm planning for March to be better.  

My mystery with PG&E is continuing.  Turns out I do have a gas furnace.  Makes these spikes in power draw even more befuddling.  Will continue living with few lights on.  Today will be day 2 of not even turning the furnace on.  We are into the tier 2 price for power, which seems to last about 2 days, and then BOOM the price per kwh triples.  And I have 11 days left in the billing cycle.  Sigh....

We (Jay and I) are both really looking forward to a visit from sister Nancy, and BIL Terry!!  They will be here in 10 days, and staying for 6 nights.  Starting to make some plans of which wineries to visit.  And we have already planned Tuesday to be our San Francisco day and have a dinner reservation at The House of Prime Rib   http://houseofprimerib.net/

Two weeks later, I'll be heading north for a two week visit!  Easter, Todd's birthday and my annual quilting retreat with friends at Dumas Bay.  

Happy to report the former tenants have moved out, and left the house very nice and clean, and the new tenants are moving in next Thursday.  So only a week of vacancy.  

Heading into the sewing room to finish up a small quilting project and to get a couple of blocks finished for the Modern Block quilt group that meets tomorrow morning.  

Happy March!!

Just Do It

I think that is the Nike motto from a while back.  But it is what I need to have in front of me.  I have found myself back in my comfy hole again.  Spent the whole day between the computer, tv, kitchen.  A day that I could have done something, anything.  There are no excuses.  No reasons.  What is holding me back?

I've climbed over some real obstacles in my lifetime.  Even in just the last decade.  Why am I not "out there"?  It is just so easy to fix my coffee, sit down at the computer, start with my mail, and work my way through Facebook and Pinterest and next thing I know it is 3:00.  So now it is "too late" to go out and get anything accomplished.

I'm not even sewing.  Haven't hooked up my sewing machine since I returned from the retreat in mid January.  There are TONS of projects I have seen and thought would be fun to attack, and yet, I don't.

Had a free week pass to a nice gym in Napa, and went once.  Now what?  Got a start on a project for the Red Cross, now need to take the next step.

I know that planning is a great first step.  My gym bag is packed.  The only thing stopping me from going there tomorrow, is me.  Why?

Valentines Day 2013

Our first California Valentines Day.  We are having dinner at Hurley's which is a local very nice restaurant.  But then again, in Yountville, EVERY restaurant is very nice.  We have been to this one once before and I get their daily menu via Facebook for their lunch service.  And to make the pot even sweeter, Costco had a couple of gift cards for this place, so we will eat at a reduced rate.  Always good.  I'll post photos of our dinner next time out.

It has turned into a really good, good day.  Other than I didn't sleep well in the early morning, so didn't roll out of bed until 10.  Headed for my first outing at this new gym about 11:30, and made the mistake of not having had anything to eat before hand.  Not even my smoothie.  I didn't want to take the time to make it and then drink it, since that takes me almost an hour.  But I do love it, and made one as soon as I got home and felt so much better right away.

The gym was nice.  Clean, not too busy.  Met a few friendly people and one real crank.  Oh well, that can be her problem.  Did a gentle 35 minutes of cardio between the treadmill, elliptical and bike.  Then I wandered around some of the equipment and did some lower body stuff.  Just enough to wake up those long slumbering muscles.  Wanting to plan ahead, I did have all my shower stuff packed and clean clothes and enjoyed a leisurely shower there.  Will save on my hot water bill.  One of the very best things about hitting the gym, is falling in love again with my music selection on my ipod.  Songs I haven't heard since the last time I was at a gym, well over a year ago.  Hootie, how I have missed you!!!  I'm using a free one week pass, but I'm anticipating a membership and not too proud to say that I'll be getting a SENIOR rate!

Picked up some napa and red cabbage, carrots and apple to make up a slaw that can sit in the fridge and I can eat out of for several days, so that will be good for a quick bite with good nutrition.  Just going into Whole Foods is such a treat, still.  AND I got a good parking space in a very busy lot that sometimes requires a few times around waiting for something to open up.  Then when I got in the line to checkout, the next door register opened up, and I got to be the first one up!  Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket?  Good luck is with me today.

Also got some GREAT news from my new property manager, she is pretty sure we have a renter.  Now to wait for the background checks to come through and be acceptable.  Then got a call from a realtor going to show the house tomorrow.  Who knows?  Could be a wonderful thing.

And the cherry on top, I think I can share here, since my following is small, there is going to be a new Templeton baby in the fall!!!!  WOO HOO!  Kyle and Genie are expecting baby #3.  She has had a little bit of a sketchy start, but things were pronounced all well and good today, so I am so happy.  For them.  And for me.  Nothing like a new baby to make your heart sing.  Please don't mention it on Facebook until I do over there.  But I just couldn't hold it all the way in.

A Valentine's Day to remember, for sure.

All Creatures Great and Small

With some help from some tech friends, I was able to get my scanner again communicating with my computer, so now I can introduce you to, and have a nice record of the pets that have shared their lives with me.

Somewhere I am sure there are some better photos of Skipper.  He is the first dog I remember us having.  And this is him in front of our house in Eastern Washington when we first moved in.  Even before the fence was built across the front yard.  I'm guessing this was about 1955.  He was a wire haired terrier.  A great family dog, and if I could find another one just like him, I would make him mine.
He loved to chase anything you would throw for him for hours, until he was done, then he would take the ball and just go home.  Loved golf balls.  When we moved to the west side, and lived near a golf course, we had a pool membership and would walk up there to swim.  But we had to cross a couple of fairways to get there without going on any streets.  If we didn't lock Skipper in the house, he would sneakily follow us up there, and grab the first golf ball he saw and take off for home.  How many golfers were out there asking themselves where in the heck their ball was.  It was at home, turned into a slobbery mass of rubber band goo.  Once he got all the way to the pool, jumped in, and it was an exodus of fleas from him, and then from the pool everyone screaming!!
He was also super smart. He was put into the garage at night, and he figured out how to get the door open so he could wander at night.  A really wonderful first pet.

I must have been about 19 in this photo.  I moved back home before our wedding and brought this kitty, who was named Kelly.  The cat ended up staying at home since our first apartment did not allow cats.  And her name became Fluffo.  She was probably the prettiest cat I ever had.

And that is sparky.  Yes, a dalmation.  He was a good dog, though not terribly bright....

You know how it is when you get married, or move into your first home, you get pets to exercise your sense of freedom!!!  This is Edna.  The rat.  This was Lynn's choice.  I don't know why.  He hates rodents.

I'll use this space to briefly explain Jeff's first venture into entrepreneurship.  He decided to get a couple of gerbils and when they mated, he would sell them back to the pet store.
It worked well for the first and second litter of baby gerbils.  However....the day he came running up the stairs, gerbil cage in his hands, his blue eyes filled with tears and terror, and his yelling "MOM!!!  She is eating the babies!!!" that our adventure was over.

When we bought our first house, I answered an ad in the paper and brought home a pair of kittens.  This is Jessie.  She was a really sweet grey and white.  This must have been in about 1975.   We didn't have Jessie terribly long, less than a year.  And I do not remember what happened to her.

The afghan was made for me by my Candy Gramma.  I actually remember that bedspread quite fondly....


The other kitten from the litter was this guy.  This is Paco.

He was born with a very crooked tail, with two curves in it.  Poor guy must have been really packed in there with his litter mates.  They had named him Kinker.

We had Paco for 19 years.  Goodness what a long, life he had.  We actually got him a year before Kyle was born.

Never a wanderer, never really caused any trouble.  Loved Lynn totally.  He had a spot on his back near his tail that if you scratched it just right his left leg would start going crazy.  So of course the kids were constantly scratching him there.  He moved with us twice.  The move from Lake Sawyer back into Federal Way was tough.  We had the entire house empty and Lynn had to go back to the Lake Sawyer house to retrieve him.  He so wanted to stay, that he had burrowed himself underneath the three step staircase from the garage into the house.  Lynn had to actually the the steps apart to get him out.  He must have really liked it out there.  I still miss him at time.

Lynn had grown up always wanting a Collie.  So I thought I would fulfill his dream and get him one.  I checked the newspaper regularly, and finally there was an ad for Collies at a place near Lake Sammamish.  This was actually during the time that Ted Bundy was around and the girl had gone missing from there, so I was a little freaked out. Though I was pregnant with Kyle at the time, and even though I had the required long straight hair parted in the middle, I didn't stay away.  This is Shep.  She was a beauty.  Cost I think about $125.  And she was the dumbest dog we ever had.  We thought maybe she was just lonely, so Lynn brought home this puppy pictured with her.  He was enamored with the puppy because he was in a pen with some rabbits at the pet store.  This is Scout.  More on him next.
I took Shep to obedience classes.  I have a photo somewhere of me in all my pregnant glory with Shep on a leash.  She never "got it".  We had a 6 foot cedar fence in the back yard, and she would get out.  Finally I caught her climbing over the gate.  She would get her front paws up on the top and her feet on the cross bracket and then climb over.  And off she would go.  And never come back.  I always had to go and find her.  We found her a new home on a farm.  Where she could run forever.  TRUE!!!  Not just a story to make the kids feel better.

Here I am with Paco in my lap, and a fully coated Shep getting some attention.  In my orange caftan.  Remember those?  Loved it.  Oh, and our book case made of bricks and boards.  So 70's.

Love how I put that plant in that salad bowl...








Remember that little brown puppy on the pillow with Shep?

He grew to be an ENORMOUS dog.  Dear Scout. Here with Kyle.

Kyle might have been about 1 1/2 in this photo.  They did play well together.

Look at that happy face.  And Kyle seems pretty happy too!!!

So, we had Scout for many years, including two more babies.  We moved him out to Lake Sawyer with us.  And somehow he just became too much.  He would run with the kids as they rode their big wheel bikes and knock them over.

I had "won" a rose while selling Tupperware.  I planted it, tended it, watched the buds start to develop and then one morning I walked out the front door to check on it and it was gone.  Right out of the ground.  Scout thought it was a great "stick" apparently.  So Scout had to go to a new home at that point too.

Oh, I almost forgot.  This is Buford.  He was a full

grown pure bred German Shepherd.  Someone was looking for a new home for him, and Lynn said sure. This was before Shep and Scout.  And Kyle.
We had a deck in the back yard, and this dog would run around the perimeter and I was on the deck and bark his head off at me.

Scared the heck out of me


He went to a farm also.

This is Bear Kitty.  This cat.......he was actually the Boy's and Girl's Club cat.  Tammy had brought him in and put him on the pool table one day, and he was chasing the pool balls and immediately adopted to be the club cat.  He lived there for years.  He would sit on the top row of the bleachers and watch basketball games.  If he didn't come in when Lynn called him at night, he had to spend the night out in the woods, and boy would Lynn hear about it in the morning.  He would hear Lynn's car coming down the driveway and would dash out of the woods and YELL at him all the way across the parking lot.  Occasionally he would actually walk out onto the gym floor DURING the game.
As he was getting older, he was getting grumpier.  He made an aggressive move to a little girl when she was reaching for him, and so Lynn thought it would be better to bring him home....with our three boys.  First thing he did was back up and spray the speaker area of the big RCA TV we had.  A few days later, Jeff was running up the stairs, past Bear, and he didn't like it so he jumped up and attached himself to Jeff's back side, and bit him on the butt.  But we persevered.  Turned out he had a bad allergy and his skin was a mess, so we had to medicate him and shave him.  He looked like a LION with his shaggy head and tail, and shaved everywhere else.  Totally humiliated.  We had him for many more years.  He died also at age 18.  The vet wondered how we grew such HUGE cats that had such long life spans.

Funny, I never remember Lynn wearing pj's, but here is the proof.  Maybe I should find another pair. This is Lynn with Kyle and Muffin.

And what a beautiful couch!!

I've always loved orange cats.  Lynn had an orange cat named Puff as a child, so he has loved them too.

He wasn't with us as long as others.  But he wasn't our last orange kitty.

This is a classic photo.  Lynn with his buddies.  Paco, Muffin and Quantas.  Yes, Quantas.  He had the face of a koala bear.

He was abandoned at the Boy's and Girl's club one day.  On the pool table.  So home he came.

Look at those dining room chairs.  And again with the pj's.  And man, look at that hair!!!

Oh my dear Rosie....Truly, tears in the eyes.  She was just the best dog ever.  Lynn and Kyle went to the humane society to get me a dog as a birthday present.  She was in a pen with a sibling, who was very cute, but already spoken for, so they brought home Rosie instead.  She was really MY dog from the get go.  They all made fun of her, saying she was a "dogface".  She was so smart.  This window behind her had two side angled windows.  They had a portion at the bottom that opened out with a hinge out.  You had to pull the handle up and that would unlock it and then push the window open.
One morning when I came home from work, I noticed that the window was open, which was pretty unusual. Also, Rosie had started appearing at the Boy's and Girl's club which was about half a mile from home.  She would go in, look around for the kids, and if they were not there, she would come back home.  If they were there, she would just sit with them, until they brought her home.  Or she would sit in Lynn's office until he came home.  Well, one day, I heard an odd noise and discovered Rosie opening the window, and off she went.  What was really interesting is that about two weeks later, I discovered that Wendall, the CAT could also open the window and leave......So who taught it to whom??????
We moved Rosie to our home in Sterling Park.  It was a two story house, and she would sleep on the step where she could see the front door, while I slept, working graveyard.  If I was in the yard, she was in the yard.  If I was in the sewing room, she was in the sewing room.  It was when no one was home that she would go looking for her people.
One Fourth of July, we were gone and she had gone looking.  A friend of ours spotted her wandering.  He couldn't corral her but he was able to coax her to run alongside his car as he guided her back home.

When we moved to Lynden, she was blind in one eye, deaf and fading fast.  But I just couldn't bear moving without her.  It was so unfair.  She went from being in an environment where she could find her way around by smell to an area, where we had to walk her with a leash.  She was so unhappy.  And just about 5 months after we moved, she had a stroke and poor Lynn found her and had to take her to see the new vet.  She was just the best dog ever.  She was with us for 16 years.

This is Patches.  This was Jeff's cat.  He had brought her home, and then joined the army.    Payback I guess for the animals I had left at my Mom's.  Patches had one job.  Hunting.  I used to come home from work in the morning and first I found a HUGE earthworm on the kitchen floor.  EWE!!!  Then it was a garter snake.... turned out Patches was bringing in presents for me.  She brought in rodents which would drive Kyle and Lynn crazy.  They really would scream like little girls and jump up on chairs.  Thankfully, Rosie was quick, and she would catch them and hold them long enough for me to dispose of them.  The bunny population went way down with Patches around.  And the birds.  I would praise her when she would get moles.  We used to joke that one day  she would be dragging one of the horses from the pasture behind us through the cat door.
Sadly she disappeared.  Turned out, the neighbor spotted a huge owl up in a tree behind us, and we are guessing the Patches got what she gave.....

Ah Wendall.

Ah Wendall.

He was such a fine cat.  When he was first brought home we were told he was a SHE.  And we named her Wendy, after the Beach Boy's song.  When she was about 6 months old and walking away from us, we noticed that she was ummmmmm....a HE!!  And so he became Wendall.

This was taken in the master bath at our house in Sterling Park.  We moved him to Lynden with us.  He was pretty happy.  But then he stopped eating for some reason.  He would act hungry, sniff at his food and lick it a bit, but then walk away.  Turned out his poor teeth were horrible.  His gums were infected, and despite a couple of rounds of antibiotics, the infection was too much.  I still feel so very guilty about him, and ALL my cats get an inspection of their teeth and gums every few months, and are required to eat dry food, which apparently helps to keep their teeth healthier.

Which brings us to Dutch.  Our next ginger kitty.
Once again, this was intended to be a Christmas gift to me.  Lynn had gone to the Humane society again, and said he was looking for a kitten.  As he as being shown throw the 'cathouse', a paw came out of an upper cage and tapped him on the shoulder.  The volunteer at the center turned and Lynn said, "looks like I have been selected"....and Dutch came home that day.  He was about 11 months old at the time.  If you look really closely you can see right on the top of his head a dark spot.  I thought it was a dirty spot and tried a few times to clean it off, until I realized it was just a spot of dark fur.  Good grief.  His name came from the fact that we lived in Lynden, a town that was started by a group of  Dutch Reformed.  We were never reformed, but he became Dutch.

And finally we have Rocco.  Once AGAIN, this was supposed to be a Christmas gift for me (just once, I'd like to pick out my own kitty).  Lynn chose her at the Humane Society again.  She was advertised to be a female, which they had named Holly since she was found on Holly Street in Bellingham.  Turned out to be a male, and they called him when they discovered this and said he could pick him up a few days early, since HE was already neutered and ready to go.  The weather was iffy at the time, but Lynn headed into Bellingham to pick him up.  And it started to snow.  And MAN!!!  It turned into a blizzard while he was gone to pick him up.  I didn't know where he had gone and he wasn't answering his phone.  Suddenly he came through the garage door looking like someone had died.  He said that he had gone to pick up my Christmas present and got caught in a white out situation.  The windshield wipers had frozen, so he had his head out the window to see where he was going and his favorite Husky ballcap had flown off.  The cat in the box in the back seat was meowing like crazy, but he finally made it home in one piece.  And here, this is your present......Poor Rocco.  He had that horrible cough.  Had to have another round of antibiotics.  And we had paid for a sterilization that he had already had...hmmmm......but we did find Lynn's hat a few days later, by the side of the road.  And Rocco and Dutch made the move to California and really love it.  Rocco has made more friends here in Yountville than either "Jay" or I.

We had a few more cats in and out, but I have no photos.

Jay keeps saying this is it!!!  Sadly he is always the one to take care of their end of life care.  But I think I have one more dog in me, and maybe at least one more cat.  We'll see.

Bless Them, Release Them

Today I did a bit of Facebook housecleaning.  It felt really good.

Gone are people I knew only by name, probably came to be "friends" in the first place because we played a game together at one point or another.

And now all we shared were divergent opinions on mostly things political, and lately relating to guns and gun control.

So away with them.  I just don't need the stress.  I do love a good debate, but this was becoming just opposing rants.

Also gone are some people from my old hometown, that I don't ever really correspond with anymore.  And I'm still not certain which of them were the party responsible for tattling on me for saying something on Facebook.  But I'm pretty sure that whoever it was was among those that I have now said "bye bye" to.

Also cleared out some old apps and games.

Next up, I'll weed through some of the blogs on my list of blogs I follow.  I found recently that a few haven't had an entry for well over a year.  I know I've missed a few days here this year, but my intent is to try to pop in and leave at least a note most every day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Things I Learned While Away

I absolutely will not fly again, until I am at a more comfortable size.  So that I don't have such anguish and trepidation that someone might be assigned to the seat next to me and be anything less than kind.  It's amazing what a long term impact that mean girl had on me 2 years ago.

People are who they are.  I should not expect them to behave any differently.

Blue sky is better.

Spending time with people doesn't have to mean "doing something".  It means so much to just "be there" and share time.  I loved just hanging out and being a part of their everyday.

I'm happy to know that when playing a board game, like Candyland with a 4 year old, the little pieces still have to "march" along to their next colored square.


There still is high school "school spirit".

High school gyms all smell the same, and the bands all play the same 30 year old songs.

I come from a long line of "savers"......what some might call pack rats....and I'm glad!