THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the '6 weird things about you.' People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state these rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog. I'm not so sure what the definition of weird is so here goes:
Okay so Alexshuman tagged me - so she must think there are 6 weird things about me although offhand the only 2 I can think of are my kids ;-)
1. I see everyone has mentioned sleeping in socks or going to bed with socks on and then kicking them off - hmmm - what's up with that - I would go barefoot all the time if I could - it was 25 degrees outside this morning and I went out to take down the bird feeder that the wind was trying to blow off the tree. And once when there were several inches of snow on the ground, I went out barefoot to talk to a neighbor - about 15 minutes later her husband said, "you don't have shoes on". I cannot stand to wear shoes without socks but I would never think of wearing socks to bed at all - my toes are claustrophobic so even on the coldest nights, the feet have to be sticking out from under the covers.
2. For the most part, I cannot stand to be in my pajamas unless I am in bed. The first thing I do when I crawl out of bed in the morning is get dressed. My co-workers are always teasing me about going to work in my pajamas.
3. I have absolutely no one that I would really call a friend. I have acquaintances but I think of a friend as someone you would share your most inner thoughts with - secrets you wouldn't tell anyone but a true friend. There has never in my whole life been anyone and I definitely mean anyone that I would tell everything to.
4. I love moving. The thought of packing up all my stuff and going to a different place or home to live is exhilarating to me.
5. I thrive on crisis at work. When we have a client who upgrades software and it totally messes things up, I get very excited at the prospect of spending hours on their machine trying to figure out what happened and how to correct the problem. The more problems they have, the more exciting for me.
6. I constantly make lists - lists of things that I need to do today, lists of things to do tomorrow, lists of things that need to be done in each room, lists of food I need to buy in the future, lists of how many cans of beans, peas, corn etc are in my pantry. The more time I spend alone, the more lists I make. I'm alone here for the next 2 days so I'm currently working on 3 lists - what I need to do before I leave, what I need to do while I'm in Colorado this weekend and what needs done when I get back. Send me more paper.
Well - I don't know who to tag because I think everyone has already been tagged. I only have 12 blogs on my list of people and that includes me so think I've run out of people to choose.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Geneaology - John's Mother - finally found
Woo hoo!!! I finally found a birth certificate for John's mother. Not for the wonderful woman who raised him - (although I do have that one too) but for his birth mother. I had been looking and looking for her so I can get her temple work done - but to no avail.
A family book that J's aunt gave me showed his mother's name as Lydia Ann. I had never heard her called Lydia - only Ann. I have been to her gravesite - it's right there in the Coolidge cemetary along with all her other family members so I know she died in 1956 but couldn't get anyone to tell me when she was born. No one wants to talk about her at all. The name on her grave is Ann VH - and the date 1956 - nothing more.
One of J's 2nd cousins gave me this link:
http://genealogy.az.gov/
It is great - any birth can be recorded after 75 years and any death after 50. On this web site, I found the birth certificate for my father and all his siblings. The death certificates for 3 of my great-grandparents on the Carter side and many other relatives. It's neat to see these actual documents and so easy to save a copy of them.
But no matter how hard I looked, I hadn't been able to find J's mother. We are planning to do the temple work for his Mom in January so I felt I had to find this information so I could have his Mother's done at the same time. I was beginning to think maybe she had been born before the family moved to AZ. Finally a few days ago, while looking just for last name of VH in all of AZ, I found it - it doesn't have her first name as Lydia - nor does it have it written as Ann (which is why Alexshuman has that middle name). Instead there it is - Annie, born Nov 7, 1920.
So, it's a start but now I have lots more work to do to find the rest of the family.
A family book that J's aunt gave me showed his mother's name as Lydia Ann. I had never heard her called Lydia - only Ann. I have been to her gravesite - it's right there in the Coolidge cemetary along with all her other family members so I know she died in 1956 but couldn't get anyone to tell me when she was born. No one wants to talk about her at all. The name on her grave is Ann VH - and the date 1956 - nothing more.
One of J's 2nd cousins gave me this link:
http://genealogy.az.gov/
It is great - any birth can be recorded after 75 years and any death after 50. On this web site, I found the birth certificate for my father and all his siblings. The death certificates for 3 of my great-grandparents on the Carter side and many other relatives. It's neat to see these actual documents and so easy to save a copy of them.
But no matter how hard I looked, I hadn't been able to find J's mother. We are planning to do the temple work for his Mom in January so I felt I had to find this information so I could have his Mother's done at the same time. I was beginning to think maybe she had been born before the family moved to AZ. Finally a few days ago, while looking just for last name of VH in all of AZ, I found it - it doesn't have her first name as Lydia - nor does it have it written as Ann (which is why Alexshuman has that middle name). Instead there it is - Annie, born Nov 7, 1920.
So, it's a start but now I have lots more work to do to find the rest of the family.
Monday, October 02, 2006
WALMART -- NOT FOR ME ANYMORE
A couple of weeks ago, I went into Walmart (a task I always dread because it's such a horrid place to spend time on a Saturday afternoon). Seems we always stop there to do our big grocery shopping. When I went up to the check out, I waited in line for 20 minutes and then asked the clerk why they didn't open more registers. She informed me it was because they haven't been able to hire more people to work - she stated, "they are too lazy to work".
The more I learn about Walmart, the more I think maybe people are "too smart to work there". This morning, on the news, they said that Walmart wants a "cheaper" labor force. From everything I understand, they are hardly paying them anything now and are very stingy with benefits - maybe that's why they are lowering their prescription prices - so their employees can afford them.
They want people to work part time, any time of day or night and for peanuts.
Well, as for me, I've made my last visit to Walmart. I can find better places to spend my money.
The more I learn about Walmart, the more I think maybe people are "too smart to work there". This morning, on the news, they said that Walmart wants a "cheaper" labor force. From everything I understand, they are hardly paying them anything now and are very stingy with benefits - maybe that's why they are lowering their prescription prices - so their employees can afford them.
They want people to work part time, any time of day or night and for peanuts.
Well, as for me, I've made my last visit to Walmart. I can find better places to spend my money.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Gratitude and a bad day...
Okay- so yesterday J went off elk hunting with his boss and since I had the whole day to myself, decided I would go into the big city and look at a piano. So I drove into town (well, got as far as the post office then remembered I should take my Jo-Ann's coupon since I needed 7 yards of fabric to back a quilt and at 40% off, it would be a lot cheaper so I turned around and drove the 4 miles back home and headed out again).
I went to Office Max, Home Depot, Big Bear sports, michaels, costco, scheel's, jo-ann's and then to the piano store. Alas, they were closed as they had gone to Vegas for the weekend. So I went to Albertson's got a few groceries that somehow added up to $177 for a few measly bags and absolutely no meat. Then I stopped at Wendy's to grab a hamburger, extra pickles, no fries no soda as I had a bottle of water. Glanced at my watch and saw I could be home by 1:00.
Started driving home and realized that my cell phone was not with me. I had just stuck my debit card in my pocket all day and had just been carrying my phone in my hand.
So what to do. I went back to Albertson's - "No, no one had turned it in." Back to Jo-Ann's - same answer. Back to Scheels, Costco, and Michaels - no one had turned it in. I knew I had it when I came out of Big Bear so thought it was totally gone.
Now, it was 1:30 - I decided I would drive home and call Alltel to report it missing. An hour and a half of my life wasted and I was really down in the dumps. I had had a bit of a nagging feeling that I should call my cell phone to see if anyone answered but figured clerks in the stores would be too busy and I had set the ringer to meeting anyway so it just rings really low and vibrates. Since I had driven to town through Red Lodge, I decided to go ahead and stay on the interstate and go home the other way.a Get's boring driving back and forth.
I got to Columbus about 2:15 and as I went by my Alltel store, I saw they were open. I went in and asked the girl if she could call my cell phone while I went out to my truck thinking maybe it's in here in these packages somewhere and I just haven't found it. Nope - I couldn't hear it ringing.
I went back into the store and told her I needed a replacement phone and showed her which one. She told me I would have to pay full price for it which was way too much but I wanted the same phone. I told her I don't use it very often and she said that if I found my other phone and the new one had less than 20 minutes, she would buy it back from me for full price. Okay - so she wrote down my old ESN and got the new phone up and running and set up my voice messaging.
She handed me the phone and went off to ring up the bill. Immeditely it popped up saying I had a message. It was from my mom - "call me - some guy said he has your phone". So, I called her and she gave me the phone number and I called back. A guy named Kevin had found my phone in the parking lot outside Jo-Ann's and had been calling a few people to see if he could find the owner. I called and his wife answered. She said they would meet me at the Holiday Station in Billings. I handed the phone back to the clerk who rang up a debit on my card and turned back on my old phone. Then I jumped in the truck and headed the 45 miles back to town.
When I got to the station, and saw all of the vehicles, I realized I should have asked what Kevin would be driving. But as I turned in, a young man in pretty old clothes, driving an old beater pickup, jumped out waving my phone. I asked him what I owed him and he said, "Nothing. It's what I would want someone to do if this happened to me." I thank him profusely and insisted he take the small amount of cash that I had in my pocket. It wasn't a lot but at least something for his trouble. I thanked him again and then headed back home, this time driving through Red Lodge and finally got home about 5.
I unloaded the vehicle and came down and sat for a few minutes thinking about how grateful I was to have my phone (Mainly I didn't want to lose the two little video clips of Jules I have on it) and how Heavenly Father continues to shower me with blessings even though I am not always doing what I should be doing. And I thought of the honesty of that young man and the efforts he put forth to return it.
Sometimes, I get a little put out because I've done something for someone and they don't even bother to say thanks. That is not my sole reason for doing things. I enjoy doing things for people - hearing thank you from them is a bonus to the good feeling I have for being able to do a particular thing. It shouldn't be my ulterior motive and I shouldn't stop doing things for people just because "The last time I did such and such for that person, they didn't even bother to say "THANK YOU". Then I think of all the things my Heavenly Father and my Savior have done for me and I am ashamed that I don't spend more time on my knees pouring out gratitude for those blessings. If they quit doing things for me because I failed to express gratitude, I am not sure where I would be today.
I went to Office Max, Home Depot, Big Bear sports, michaels, costco, scheel's, jo-ann's and then to the piano store. Alas, they were closed as they had gone to Vegas for the weekend. So I went to Albertson's got a few groceries that somehow added up to $177 for a few measly bags and absolutely no meat. Then I stopped at Wendy's to grab a hamburger, extra pickles, no fries no soda as I had a bottle of water. Glanced at my watch and saw I could be home by 1:00.
Started driving home and realized that my cell phone was not with me. I had just stuck my debit card in my pocket all day and had just been carrying my phone in my hand.
So what to do. I went back to Albertson's - "No, no one had turned it in." Back to Jo-Ann's - same answer. Back to Scheels, Costco, and Michaels - no one had turned it in. I knew I had it when I came out of Big Bear so thought it was totally gone.
Now, it was 1:30 - I decided I would drive home and call Alltel to report it missing. An hour and a half of my life wasted and I was really down in the dumps. I had had a bit of a nagging feeling that I should call my cell phone to see if anyone answered but figured clerks in the stores would be too busy and I had set the ringer to meeting anyway so it just rings really low and vibrates. Since I had driven to town through Red Lodge, I decided to go ahead and stay on the interstate and go home the other way.a Get's boring driving back and forth.
I got to Columbus about 2:15 and as I went by my Alltel store, I saw they were open. I went in and asked the girl if she could call my cell phone while I went out to my truck thinking maybe it's in here in these packages somewhere and I just haven't found it. Nope - I couldn't hear it ringing.
I went back into the store and told her I needed a replacement phone and showed her which one. She told me I would have to pay full price for it which was way too much but I wanted the same phone. I told her I don't use it very often and she said that if I found my other phone and the new one had less than 20 minutes, she would buy it back from me for full price. Okay - so she wrote down my old ESN and got the new phone up and running and set up my voice messaging.
She handed me the phone and went off to ring up the bill. Immeditely it popped up saying I had a message. It was from my mom - "call me - some guy said he has your phone". So, I called her and she gave me the phone number and I called back. A guy named Kevin had found my phone in the parking lot outside Jo-Ann's and had been calling a few people to see if he could find the owner. I called and his wife answered. She said they would meet me at the Holiday Station in Billings. I handed the phone back to the clerk who rang up a debit on my card and turned back on my old phone. Then I jumped in the truck and headed the 45 miles back to town.
When I got to the station, and saw all of the vehicles, I realized I should have asked what Kevin would be driving. But as I turned in, a young man in pretty old clothes, driving an old beater pickup, jumped out waving my phone. I asked him what I owed him and he said, "Nothing. It's what I would want someone to do if this happened to me." I thank him profusely and insisted he take the small amount of cash that I had in my pocket. It wasn't a lot but at least something for his trouble. I thanked him again and then headed back home, this time driving through Red Lodge and finally got home about 5.
I unloaded the vehicle and came down and sat for a few minutes thinking about how grateful I was to have my phone (Mainly I didn't want to lose the two little video clips of Jules I have on it) and how Heavenly Father continues to shower me with blessings even though I am not always doing what I should be doing. And I thought of the honesty of that young man and the efforts he put forth to return it.
Sometimes, I get a little put out because I've done something for someone and they don't even bother to say thanks. That is not my sole reason for doing things. I enjoy doing things for people - hearing thank you from them is a bonus to the good feeling I have for being able to do a particular thing. It shouldn't be my ulterior motive and I shouldn't stop doing things for people just because "The last time I did such and such for that person, they didn't even bother to say "THANK YOU". Then I think of all the things my Heavenly Father and my Savior have done for me and I am ashamed that I don't spend more time on my knees pouring out gratitude for those blessings. If they quit doing things for me because I failed to express gratitude, I am not sure where I would be today.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Officially Fall
Well, I guess it is official that fall is upon us - the first of many empty cattle trucks just rattled down the road on it's way to fill up. Time to wean the calves and get them off to market. Good thing its cooled down enough that we will have the windows open and won't hear the mama cows bawling for their babies the first couple of days.
We've gotten quite a bit of rain - 2 inches last weekend and probably another 2 this week. The mountains are starting to turn white again. We are hoping for a good wet winter to quench this dry land. It is pretty sad when the ground is so dry it is cracking everywhere. Even if you dig down 2 feet, it is still dry. The crab apple tree is bowing low with apples so the deer come in everynight to feast. A couple of days ago, 3 little racoons came by and spent the day in the tree - they would eat a while then relax in or on the big magpie nest in the tree. I thought they had gone, but I see they decided to leave a little evidence of their visit last night on the front porch - yuck!
Two weeks from today (and I'm for sure not ready) we'll be heading east to do our antelope hunting. My absolutely favorite time of the year, I think - at least as far as hunting goes. We tried the camping out thing last year and it was pretty miserable so J asked me the other night if I'd made reservations - I had presumed he was planning on camping again so I hadn't. As soon as he mentioned it though, I whipped out my wallet and grabbed the business card I have been carrying around for the past 2 years and made reservations for sure. It does make hunting nicer when you know at the end of the day you can get to a somewhat comfortable bed and even more importantly a shower.
hmm - course, we will be listening to those cattle trucks all night since it's fall - time to move the cattle and every cattle truck seems to go right through Broadus.
We've gotten quite a bit of rain - 2 inches last weekend and probably another 2 this week. The mountains are starting to turn white again. We are hoping for a good wet winter to quench this dry land. It is pretty sad when the ground is so dry it is cracking everywhere. Even if you dig down 2 feet, it is still dry. The crab apple tree is bowing low with apples so the deer come in everynight to feast. A couple of days ago, 3 little racoons came by and spent the day in the tree - they would eat a while then relax in or on the big magpie nest in the tree. I thought they had gone, but I see they decided to leave a little evidence of their visit last night on the front porch - yuck!
Two weeks from today (and I'm for sure not ready) we'll be heading east to do our antelope hunting. My absolutely favorite time of the year, I think - at least as far as hunting goes. We tried the camping out thing last year and it was pretty miserable so J asked me the other night if I'd made reservations - I had presumed he was planning on camping again so I hadn't. As soon as he mentioned it though, I whipped out my wallet and grabbed the business card I have been carrying around for the past 2 years and made reservations for sure. It does make hunting nicer when you know at the end of the day you can get to a somewhat comfortable bed and even more importantly a shower.
hmm - course, we will be listening to those cattle trucks all night since it's fall - time to move the cattle and every cattle truck seems to go right through Broadus.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Was it real?
Wow - I cannot believe that it was last Monday I drove home from Portland or did I really even go there (good thing I have pictures cause it seems like a dream). About 900 miles, 13 1/2 hours to get home - in that time, I made 2 10 minute stops to fill up the tank and grab some more junk food. All I've done since I got home is sleep and work.
Really enjoyed visiting Alexshuman. The bathroom is still in progress but is a major improvement over the blue and purple. The house is coming along and I love the dark colors in the living room, dining room and entry way.
We spent the first day in Vancouver and went to see Wicked. It was fantastic - if any of you have an opportunity to go, I highly recommend that. Just be sure to get there a little early so you have time to get settled - we got there without too much time to spare so the lights went out before we got G'ma to her seat and it was a royal pain convincing her she could make it down the stairs. That evening, V took us to Jerusalem Cafe for dinner - the food was absolutely delicious. The lemon garlic chicken was so flavorful and tender - yummy.
When we got back to V's, I took Alex for a walk to the Dairy Queen for a small cone. After purchasing the cone, I led her around to the side where "she wouldn't make a mess when the constarted dripping". At least that's what my mind was thinking but what actually happened is in the first bite, she had all of the ice cream off down to the cone, second bit was halfway down the cone (only because I hadn't taken off the paper and wouldn't let her put as much in her mouth as she wanted to.)
On Friday, we went to IHOP for breakfast - the caramel banana french toast is delicious. Then headed south and east - stopped at Timberline Lodge - that is a really neat building. I didn't realize you could get so close to the top of Mount Hood.
Here's a picture of V & G'ma in front of one of the fireplaces in the lodge.
That evening, we spent the night at Hood River and went on the Hood River RR train ride. The sad thing was, you couldn't see a lot out of the train windows and it got dark fairly quickly (the train was probably moving about 10 miles an hour at the most. On the return trip, they did have a Mystery Theater and it had a few funny moments - part of the time I wasn't sure if the people were in character or had checked out of their roles to get other things (such as matches). It was hard to tell what was part of the play and what was a mistake - such as when the bounty hunter exclaimed, "I think I shot him in the wrong car".
The next morning, we drove back through Vancouver and on out west to the ocean. We stopped at Cannon beach and made G'ma hike down the path to the view point. The pointy rock in the background is Haystack Rock.
From there, we stopped at Seaside so I could get some taffy - I ate the last few pieces of the taffy Carter had gotten for Suzy when he went up there so felt I needed to buy some to send down to her. It took me quite a while to pick out what I wanted from the 170 flavors they have - I knew jalapeno was not going to be on my list. I think black widow is probably my favorite as it combines licorice with a cinnamon center.
After eating lunch we headed on north to Astoria to spend the night. Poor G'ma had been eating so much more than she was used to so she stayed at the hotel while we went to dinner. V ordered some steamer clams and they were good, the crab cakes were good also.
Our room was at the Cannery Pier right on the bay so we had a great view. Too bad we were all so tired to really enjoy it.
The next morning, we got up and went to this place called Pig and Pancake for breakfast. They had a whole bunch of different kinds of pancakes. We ate and then drove by a pier to see the sea lions sunning themselves. The piers were filled with them.
Then, we headed back into Portland to take G'ma to the Portland Rose Test Garden (excellent choice V). I couldn't believe the variety of roses.
We went from there back to V's so she could get some rest as she had to work that night. We decided to go eat an early dinner so us 3 girls and Dan went to a place to have sushi - well 2 of us ate sushi and the other 2 opted for cooked food. Yummy - dragon roll and caterpillar.
V went to work and the rest of us went to bed so we could get up dark and early the next morning to get G'ma to the airport. I know we wore her out but hopefully she had a good time too.
Really enjoyed visiting Alexshuman. The bathroom is still in progress but is a major improvement over the blue and purple. The house is coming along and I love the dark colors in the living room, dining room and entry way.
We spent the first day in Vancouver and went to see Wicked. It was fantastic - if any of you have an opportunity to go, I highly recommend that. Just be sure to get there a little early so you have time to get settled - we got there without too much time to spare so the lights went out before we got G'ma to her seat and it was a royal pain convincing her she could make it down the stairs. That evening, V took us to Jerusalem Cafe for dinner - the food was absolutely delicious. The lemon garlic chicken was so flavorful and tender - yummy.
When we got back to V's, I took Alex for a walk to the Dairy Queen for a small cone. After purchasing the cone, I led her around to the side where "she wouldn't make a mess when the constarted dripping". At least that's what my mind was thinking but what actually happened is in the first bite, she had all of the ice cream off down to the cone, second bit was halfway down the cone (only because I hadn't taken off the paper and wouldn't let her put as much in her mouth as she wanted to.)
On Friday, we went to IHOP for breakfast - the caramel banana french toast is delicious. Then headed south and east - stopped at Timberline Lodge - that is a really neat building. I didn't realize you could get so close to the top of Mount Hood.
Here's a picture of V & G'ma in front of one of the fireplaces in the lodge.
That evening, we spent the night at Hood River and went on the Hood River RR train ride. The sad thing was, you couldn't see a lot out of the train windows and it got dark fairly quickly (the train was probably moving about 10 miles an hour at the most. On the return trip, they did have a Mystery Theater and it had a few funny moments - part of the time I wasn't sure if the people were in character or had checked out of their roles to get other things (such as matches). It was hard to tell what was part of the play and what was a mistake - such as when the bounty hunter exclaimed, "I think I shot him in the wrong car".
The next morning, we drove back through Vancouver and on out west to the ocean. We stopped at Cannon beach and made G'ma hike down the path to the view point. The pointy rock in the background is Haystack Rock.
From there, we stopped at Seaside so I could get some taffy - I ate the last few pieces of the taffy Carter had gotten for Suzy when he went up there so felt I needed to buy some to send down to her. It took me quite a while to pick out what I wanted from the 170 flavors they have - I knew jalapeno was not going to be on my list. I think black widow is probably my favorite as it combines licorice with a cinnamon center.
After eating lunch we headed on north to Astoria to spend the night. Poor G'ma had been eating so much more than she was used to so she stayed at the hotel while we went to dinner. V ordered some steamer clams and they were good, the crab cakes were good also.
Our room was at the Cannery Pier right on the bay so we had a great view. Too bad we were all so tired to really enjoy it.
The next morning, we got up and went to this place called Pig and Pancake for breakfast. They had a whole bunch of different kinds of pancakes. We ate and then drove by a pier to see the sea lions sunning themselves. The piers were filled with them.
Then, we headed back into Portland to take G'ma to the Portland Rose Test Garden (excellent choice V). I couldn't believe the variety of roses.
We went from there back to V's so she could get some rest as she had to work that night. We decided to go eat an early dinner so us 3 girls and Dan went to a place to have sushi - well 2 of us ate sushi and the other 2 opted for cooked food. Yummy - dragon roll and caterpillar.
V went to work and the rest of us went to bed so we could get up dark and early the next morning to get G'ma to the airport. I know we wore her out but hopefully she had a good time too.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
HOT! DRY! FIRE!
Here's the latest on the fire from the local newspaper: Fortunately for us, all we are currently dealing with is the smoke.
Story available at http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/08/31/news/state/21-fire.txt
Published on Thursday, August 31, 2006.Last modified on 8/31/2006 at 1:05 am
Towns of Fishtail, Nye under evacuation order
By The Gazette Staff
Hundreds of residents in Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties have evacuated their homes as the Derby fire exploded to an estimated 80,000 acres.High temperatures, low humidity and shifting wind fueled a rapid spread to the east Wednesday afternoon and evening, said fire information officer Pat Cross. That means the fire that began 20 miles south of Big Timber doubled in size on Tuesday and again Wednesday.On Wednesday night, flames were burning to the south of Interstate 90 as far east as Reed Point, while the southeastern flank marched toward communities in the Absarokee area."A lot of the expansion has happened since the afternoon," Cross said. "It burned through most of the night (Tuesday) night, and there's no reason to believe it's not going to do that again (Wednesday night)."A home and two outbuildings were lost on West Bridger Creek Road in Sweet Grass County, said Kerry O'Connell, the county's Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator. She could not provide addresses, and further details were unavailable.Officials in both counties say it's likely that further losses will be discovered.A Type 1 Incident Management Team is expected to begin coordinating suppression efforts this morning.By 11 p.m. Wednesday, emergency officials estimated that evacuation orders had been delivered to more than 150 homes in Sweet Grass County and as many as 300 homes in Stillwater County, including the towns of Nye and Fishtail. Many other homes fell under alerts to be ready to evacuate."The winds are just awesome," O'Connell said. "It's hard to keep up when it goes this fast."Late Wednesday, the fire had jumped the Stillwater River in the vicinity of Midnight Canyon in Stillwater County and had involved the Grove Creek area south of Absarokee and north of Fishtail."We've got high winds blowing from the northwest and moving a 5-mile line of fire to the southeast," Ken Mesch, the Stillwater County DES coordinator, said at 11 p.m. "People are coming into our evacuation center saying they left just as fire surrounded their homes. At this point, I'd say it's very likely (structures were lost) ... but we have no confirmed reports."Tammy Milliken, who was assisting the county's public-information officer, said everything west and south of Absarokee, all the way to and including the Stillwater Mine, was under evacuation.The areas under evacuation in Stillwater County are Meyers Creek Road, Curry Flat Lane, Limestone Road, Cow Face Road, Stockade Road, Spring Creek Road, Stillwater River Road to Johnson Bridge on the east, the town of Nye, the Fishtail area and Grove Creek. Evacuees can check in at the county fairgrounds; livestock may also be brought there.Karen Tyra, the public-information officer for Stillwater County, said the county had also initiated pre-evacuation alerts for areas to the west of Columbus up to I-90. Areas under evacuation alert are Absarokee, Huntley Butte Road, Countryman Creek Estates, Yellowstone River Ranch Estates, Whistle Creek Road, Brumfield Road, Pine Hill Road, Jack Stone Road and Owl Canyon Road.Because the emergency notification system works via land lines, anyone who has received the message is encouraged to contact neighbors who rely solely on cell phones.Areas under evacuation in Sweet Grass County are Hump Creek Road, Mysse Road, Bridger Creek Frontage Road, Stockade Road, Main Bridger Creek Road to I-90 from the intersection with West Bridger Creek, Work Creek, Lower Deer Creek and West Bridger Creek. Later additions covered Pine Hills Road, Dillon Gulch Trail and Homestead Lane.The Stillwater Mining Co. canceled the Wednesday night shift at the Stillwater Mine near Nye because of concerns about travel conditions. The area was also included in a mandatory evacuation order.About 200 employees will be affected. Supervisors will decide at 3:30 a.m. today whether to call off the day shift. Employees scheduled to work today may call 406-322-8777 after 3:30 a.m. to find out whether to report to work.Absarokee schools were canceled today because of concerns about the fire's proximity, said David Huether, superintendent of schools. A girls varsity volleyball match against Red Lodge High School was also canceled. Schools were expected to resume classes Friday.The fire camp used as a base of operations near the I-90 Bridger Creek exit was partially evacuated at 4 p.m. because of encroaching flames, Cross said. Thirty firefighters remained behind to protect four to five houses, Cross said. Other personnel were allowed to return by 9 p.m.I-90 was closed between Livingston and Columbus from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. because of poor visibility. Transportation officials were to monitor the road throughout the night.Despite message boards in Billings and Bozeman, vehicles collected at interchanges in both Livingston and Columbus before turning back or searching for an alternate route, said Jim Stevenson, maintenance chief for the Montana Department of Transportation.Helicopters dropped water on the fire throughout the day Wednesday, and firefighters lit a large backfire on a heavily timbered ridge near Greycliff to prevent the fire from crossing the interstate.Tuesday night was long and scary as winds continually switched direction, pushing the fire randomly. Embers blew across defensive lines and spotted in heavy timber, Incident Commander Glen McNitt told a group of about 100 people at a public meeting in Big Timber on Wednesday morning."It became a plume fire that makes its own weather," McNitt said. "It created its own winds. It even created its own lightning. There was lightning in the plume last night."Fire rolled through canyons, blackening a mile an hour."Considering what we've been facing, it's burning so intense, it's more than most of us have seen in a long, long time, if ever," he said.Firefighters are facing the lowest fuel-moisture levels on record, McNitt said."Kiln-dried lumber has a 15 to 16 percent fuel moisture. Fuels here are down to 8 percent," he said. "They are twice as dry as what you get from a lumber yard."Some residents in the evacuation or pre-evacuation zones stayed put Tuesday and were hoping to hold out through today, which could be the most dangerous day of the fire."We're not going to take you out in handcuffs," Sweet Grass County Undersheriff Jerry Mahlum told those gathered for the public meeting at the Congregational Church. "We are going to ask you to sign a waiver that you've been warned and to let us know the next-of-kin you want notified."The Red Cross was supervising a shelter in the Big Timber Civic Center.More than 400 people were fighting the blaze under the direction of a Type 2 incident management team. Resources assigned include eight bulldozers, 24 fire engines and two helicopters. Two Type 1 Hot Shot crews were also dedicated to suppression efforts.For more information on the Derby fire, go to www.inciweb.org or call 406-932-3113. For local information on the evacuation status, call 322-8051 or go to Disaster and Emergency Services at www.co.stillwater.mt.us.Wednesday's warm temperatures and wind also kicked up the Big Creek fire near Livingston.The fire has burned 12,600 acres, according to the Livingston Ranger District of the Gallatin National forest.A helicopter has been dropping water on hot spots.Two single-engine air tankers were also to drop retardant on the fire's northern perimeter.A public information meeting about the Big Creek and Passage Falls fires will be tonight at 7 at Arrowhead School.Gazette reporters Lorna Thackeray and Lance Benzel contributed to this report. Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
Story available at http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/08/31/news/state/21-fire.txt
Published on Thursday, August 31, 2006.Last modified on 8/31/2006 at 1:05 am
Towns of Fishtail, Nye under evacuation order
By The Gazette Staff
Hundreds of residents in Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties have evacuated their homes as the Derby fire exploded to an estimated 80,000 acres.High temperatures, low humidity and shifting wind fueled a rapid spread to the east Wednesday afternoon and evening, said fire information officer Pat Cross. That means the fire that began 20 miles south of Big Timber doubled in size on Tuesday and again Wednesday.On Wednesday night, flames were burning to the south of Interstate 90 as far east as Reed Point, while the southeastern flank marched toward communities in the Absarokee area."A lot of the expansion has happened since the afternoon," Cross said. "It burned through most of the night (Tuesday) night, and there's no reason to believe it's not going to do that again (Wednesday night)."A home and two outbuildings were lost on West Bridger Creek Road in Sweet Grass County, said Kerry O'Connell, the county's Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator. She could not provide addresses, and further details were unavailable.Officials in both counties say it's likely that further losses will be discovered.A Type 1 Incident Management Team is expected to begin coordinating suppression efforts this morning.By 11 p.m. Wednesday, emergency officials estimated that evacuation orders had been delivered to more than 150 homes in Sweet Grass County and as many as 300 homes in Stillwater County, including the towns of Nye and Fishtail. Many other homes fell under alerts to be ready to evacuate."The winds are just awesome," O'Connell said. "It's hard to keep up when it goes this fast."Late Wednesday, the fire had jumped the Stillwater River in the vicinity of Midnight Canyon in Stillwater County and had involved the Grove Creek area south of Absarokee and north of Fishtail."We've got high winds blowing from the northwest and moving a 5-mile line of fire to the southeast," Ken Mesch, the Stillwater County DES coordinator, said at 11 p.m. "People are coming into our evacuation center saying they left just as fire surrounded their homes. At this point, I'd say it's very likely (structures were lost) ... but we have no confirmed reports."Tammy Milliken, who was assisting the county's public-information officer, said everything west and south of Absarokee, all the way to and including the Stillwater Mine, was under evacuation.The areas under evacuation in Stillwater County are Meyers Creek Road, Curry Flat Lane, Limestone Road, Cow Face Road, Stockade Road, Spring Creek Road, Stillwater River Road to Johnson Bridge on the east, the town of Nye, the Fishtail area and Grove Creek. Evacuees can check in at the county fairgrounds; livestock may also be brought there.Karen Tyra, the public-information officer for Stillwater County, said the county had also initiated pre-evacuation alerts for areas to the west of Columbus up to I-90. Areas under evacuation alert are Absarokee, Huntley Butte Road, Countryman Creek Estates, Yellowstone River Ranch Estates, Whistle Creek Road, Brumfield Road, Pine Hill Road, Jack Stone Road and Owl Canyon Road.Because the emergency notification system works via land lines, anyone who has received the message is encouraged to contact neighbors who rely solely on cell phones.Areas under evacuation in Sweet Grass County are Hump Creek Road, Mysse Road, Bridger Creek Frontage Road, Stockade Road, Main Bridger Creek Road to I-90 from the intersection with West Bridger Creek, Work Creek, Lower Deer Creek and West Bridger Creek. Later additions covered Pine Hills Road, Dillon Gulch Trail and Homestead Lane.The Stillwater Mining Co. canceled the Wednesday night shift at the Stillwater Mine near Nye because of concerns about travel conditions. The area was also included in a mandatory evacuation order.About 200 employees will be affected. Supervisors will decide at 3:30 a.m. today whether to call off the day shift. Employees scheduled to work today may call 406-322-8777 after 3:30 a.m. to find out whether to report to work.Absarokee schools were canceled today because of concerns about the fire's proximity, said David Huether, superintendent of schools. A girls varsity volleyball match against Red Lodge High School was also canceled. Schools were expected to resume classes Friday.The fire camp used as a base of operations near the I-90 Bridger Creek exit was partially evacuated at 4 p.m. because of encroaching flames, Cross said. Thirty firefighters remained behind to protect four to five houses, Cross said. Other personnel were allowed to return by 9 p.m.I-90 was closed between Livingston and Columbus from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. because of poor visibility. Transportation officials were to monitor the road throughout the night.Despite message boards in Billings and Bozeman, vehicles collected at interchanges in both Livingston and Columbus before turning back or searching for an alternate route, said Jim Stevenson, maintenance chief for the Montana Department of Transportation.Helicopters dropped water on the fire throughout the day Wednesday, and firefighters lit a large backfire on a heavily timbered ridge near Greycliff to prevent the fire from crossing the interstate.Tuesday night was long and scary as winds continually switched direction, pushing the fire randomly. Embers blew across defensive lines and spotted in heavy timber, Incident Commander Glen McNitt told a group of about 100 people at a public meeting in Big Timber on Wednesday morning."It became a plume fire that makes its own weather," McNitt said. "It created its own winds. It even created its own lightning. There was lightning in the plume last night."Fire rolled through canyons, blackening a mile an hour."Considering what we've been facing, it's burning so intense, it's more than most of us have seen in a long, long time, if ever," he said.Firefighters are facing the lowest fuel-moisture levels on record, McNitt said."Kiln-dried lumber has a 15 to 16 percent fuel moisture. Fuels here are down to 8 percent," he said. "They are twice as dry as what you get from a lumber yard."Some residents in the evacuation or pre-evacuation zones stayed put Tuesday and were hoping to hold out through today, which could be the most dangerous day of the fire."We're not going to take you out in handcuffs," Sweet Grass County Undersheriff Jerry Mahlum told those gathered for the public meeting at the Congregational Church. "We are going to ask you to sign a waiver that you've been warned and to let us know the next-of-kin you want notified."The Red Cross was supervising a shelter in the Big Timber Civic Center.More than 400 people were fighting the blaze under the direction of a Type 2 incident management team. Resources assigned include eight bulldozers, 24 fire engines and two helicopters. Two Type 1 Hot Shot crews were also dedicated to suppression efforts.For more information on the Derby fire, go to www.inciweb.org or call 406-932-3113. For local information on the evacuation status, call 322-8051 or go to Disaster and Emergency Services at www.co.stillwater.mt.us.Wednesday's warm temperatures and wind also kicked up the Big Creek fire near Livingston.The fire has burned 12,600 acres, according to the Livingston Ranger District of the Gallatin National forest.A helicopter has been dropping water on hot spots.Two single-engine air tankers were also to drop retardant on the fire's northern perimeter.A public information meeting about the Big Creek and Passage Falls fires will be tonight at 7 at Arrowhead School.Gazette reporters Lorna Thackeray and Lance Benzel contributed to this report. Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
Friday, August 04, 2006
It's just not fair!!!
Okay so here I am in beautiful Montana except that there has been no rain and everything is drying up so you would think that it would be impossible to gather chokecherries as dry as it is. But no, the bushes are loaded and they are a lovely dark purple so I decided to gather some and make some jelly. I've never tried that before but I found a recipe and it's easy enough so I have my first batch of jelly cooling and the berries for a 2nd batch are simmering on the stove.
Yeah fun - great way to spend a Friday afternoon huh? But the highlight of the weekend is actually going to start at 4:15 because that's when John gets home and guess what we get to do then? You'd think we'd get to go out and enjoy the hills, ride the horses, go for a drive or something but no... we get to unload 4.28 tons of grass hay - 89 bails about 96 lbs per bail into the barn. Then tomorrow morning, we get to go into Red Lodge, get another 4 tons and get that into the barn too. So there goes another weekend. :-(
The pasture is so dry that, unlike last year when we were able to leave them on the pasture until mid-October and just kind of forget about them, we have been supplementing their feed since mid-July and within a couple of weeks, will have to start feeding them twice a day.
So, as I finished my first batch of jelly, I decided to give Alex's human a shout and see if she wants me to bring her any. I had taken her a few jars in 2004 but hadn't heard if she liked it or not. She answers the phone on the first ring and where is she - at home slaving away? at home sleeping after a night of working? doing laundry? Not - none of the above, she is at the beach near Seaside having a nice outing with the people from the day care center. She is actually getting to enjoy the gorgeous weather and doing what people are supposed to do on a weekend. Kick back and relax.
Lately they have been running a commercial about Montana on the tv. It shows people driving around with blinders on (all Montanan's of course) Showing just how we are - so busy with our daily lives that we aren't taking time to enjoy the beauty of this state - the reason we really moved up here. Somehow, I have to get my priorities straight - declutter my life of all this stuff that means absolutely nothing and find more time to escape to the outside world and enjoy life.
So here I go, back up to clean the kitchen and get ready to get outside and relax a bit before I turn into slave labor. Have a wonderful weekend.
Yeah fun - great way to spend a Friday afternoon huh? But the highlight of the weekend is actually going to start at 4:15 because that's when John gets home and guess what we get to do then? You'd think we'd get to go out and enjoy the hills, ride the horses, go for a drive or something but no... we get to unload 4.28 tons of grass hay - 89 bails about 96 lbs per bail into the barn. Then tomorrow morning, we get to go into Red Lodge, get another 4 tons and get that into the barn too. So there goes another weekend. :-(
The pasture is so dry that, unlike last year when we were able to leave them on the pasture until mid-October and just kind of forget about them, we have been supplementing their feed since mid-July and within a couple of weeks, will have to start feeding them twice a day.
So, as I finished my first batch of jelly, I decided to give Alex's human a shout and see if she wants me to bring her any. I had taken her a few jars in 2004 but hadn't heard if she liked it or not. She answers the phone on the first ring and where is she - at home slaving away? at home sleeping after a night of working? doing laundry? Not - none of the above, she is at the beach near Seaside having a nice outing with the people from the day care center. She is actually getting to enjoy the gorgeous weather and doing what people are supposed to do on a weekend. Kick back and relax.
Lately they have been running a commercial about Montana on the tv. It shows people driving around with blinders on (all Montanan's of course) Showing just how we are - so busy with our daily lives that we aren't taking time to enjoy the beauty of this state - the reason we really moved up here. Somehow, I have to get my priorities straight - declutter my life of all this stuff that means absolutely nothing and find more time to escape to the outside world and enjoy life.
So here I go, back up to clean the kitchen and get ready to get outside and relax a bit before I turn into slave labor. Have a wonderful weekend.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Monday Monday
Well, today, I’m sitting at my desk – kind of working, kind of making lists and thinking about what I’m forgetting. Oh and I am sitting here with a coat on and my toes are freezing cause it’s barely 55 degrees outside at 11:30 a.m. (And I do have shoes on)
I cannot believe that a week from today, we’ll be in Arizona – the first half of this year has disappeared way too quickly and I am in no way, shape or form ready to head to the heat of AZ. Tonight, we have to get John ready to head to Sudbury, Canada on business. He’ll leave here at 4:00 tomorrow morning and won’t get back home until around midnight on Thursday. The good news is since he’ll be gone, I will have time to focus on getting ready to go. The bad news is he’ll be gone and I won’t get any sleep and won’t have his help trying to remember all the stuff we need for camping. Good thing I have my old pink book with my camping lists in.
I see on weatherchannel.com that there is a 60% chance of rain in Payson next Monday. Guess we’d better think about rain jackets. Or maybe if I don’t take one, it’ll be more likely to rain.
I look at the big pile of stuff in the garage ready to be packed and it totally amazes me. We used to pack up two kids, two dogs and all our stuff in our tiny little Toyota pickup and go camping for a week or 2. I’m trying to mend our old wood camp kitchen so we can use it 1 more time. – maybe by the end of next week, we’ll be ready to retire it to the wood heap – if it actually makes it through the trip. I pulled out the huge ammo box that we always used to carry food in. I have started packing it but am thinking I’ll also pick up a couple of cardboard boxes cause we can toss them at the end of the week and won’t have to bring them back home with us.
The tent we bought is twice as big as the old one we had. Not even sure what I ended up doing with that one when we started doing the backpack thing and camping in a small tent. Jules has plans to put her little tent inside my big one so we’ll see how that works out – definitely plenty of room for that.
We are taking the old fold out camping table – it’s 4 little fold out seats are getting kind of wobbly – I think we’ve had that since at least ‘76. Not sure if either of the kids want it so it might find it’s way into the garbage bin at the end of the week also. Guess it’s time to retire some of this old camping gear.
Got to get busy and get more lists made and tomorrow head into billings so I can start marking things off the list. One list for food, one list for stuff for the horses, one for camping things to take, one list for non-camping stuff, one list of where we are staying down and back, one list of things to do around here before I leave so we don’t come back to a mess, hmmm – maybe I need to make a list just so I can keep track of all the other lists.
Ready or not, Friday will be here before I turn around. I’ll see everyone in AZ pretty soon. I do have Yahtzee and a whole mess of extra score sheets.
I cannot believe that a week from today, we’ll be in Arizona – the first half of this year has disappeared way too quickly and I am in no way, shape or form ready to head to the heat of AZ. Tonight, we have to get John ready to head to Sudbury, Canada on business. He’ll leave here at 4:00 tomorrow morning and won’t get back home until around midnight on Thursday. The good news is since he’ll be gone, I will have time to focus on getting ready to go. The bad news is he’ll be gone and I won’t get any sleep and won’t have his help trying to remember all the stuff we need for camping. Good thing I have my old pink book with my camping lists in.
I see on weatherchannel.com that there is a 60% chance of rain in Payson next Monday. Guess we’d better think about rain jackets. Or maybe if I don’t take one, it’ll be more likely to rain.
I look at the big pile of stuff in the garage ready to be packed and it totally amazes me. We used to pack up two kids, two dogs and all our stuff in our tiny little Toyota pickup and go camping for a week or 2. I’m trying to mend our old wood camp kitchen so we can use it 1 more time. – maybe by the end of next week, we’ll be ready to retire it to the wood heap – if it actually makes it through the trip. I pulled out the huge ammo box that we always used to carry food in. I have started packing it but am thinking I’ll also pick up a couple of cardboard boxes cause we can toss them at the end of the week and won’t have to bring them back home with us.
The tent we bought is twice as big as the old one we had. Not even sure what I ended up doing with that one when we started doing the backpack thing and camping in a small tent. Jules has plans to put her little tent inside my big one so we’ll see how that works out – definitely plenty of room for that.
We are taking the old fold out camping table – it’s 4 little fold out seats are getting kind of wobbly – I think we’ve had that since at least ‘76. Not sure if either of the kids want it so it might find it’s way into the garbage bin at the end of the week also. Guess it’s time to retire some of this old camping gear.
Got to get busy and get more lists made and tomorrow head into billings so I can start marking things off the list. One list for food, one list for stuff for the horses, one for camping things to take, one list for non-camping stuff, one list of where we are staying down and back, one list of things to do around here before I leave so we don’t come back to a mess, hmmm – maybe I need to make a list just so I can keep track of all the other lists.
Ready or not, Friday will be here before I turn around. I’ll see everyone in AZ pretty soon. I do have Yahtzee and a whole mess of extra score sheets.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
May 3
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Today's G'ma V's birthday. She would have been 75 years old. But she lived life with lots of energy and so her body was totally used up before she reached that 3/4 of a century mark.
I love this saying: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"
G'ma V didn't know the meaning of vegging. She was always wanting to make sure everyone else was taken care of. I remember the last time she was here, she practically drove me crazy because if I moved, she had to jump up and follow me - upstairs and downstairs.
The last time she was here was almost 3 years ago - we took her to Yellowstone one weekend and Glacier the next. She loved both places and really wanted to come back up. But she got busy getting her house ready for sale in 2004 and then last year was to sick to make the trip. Wish we would have spent more time at Glacier instead just a quick 3 day weekend. Above is a picture of JW & G'ma V at Glacier Lodge. We stopped by there to eat lunch, then drove the Going to the Sun Road to spend the night near West Glacier.
The other picture is the Weeping Wall. (We drove by it several times and G'ma V kept calling it the Wailing Wall).
So happy birthday G'ma V - we're thinking of you and thanks for being you.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Happy Mother's Day
Nope, I haven't lost it yet - just wanted to share a little experience I had this week. Let me first go back about 2 years when G'ma V was up visiting. At that time, she asked J if there was anything of hers that he wanted. He replied that he would like the "desk". The desk is an old one that she used for many years in her office and later bought from the county to put in her home. That day, it was decided that J's name would go on the desk.
In March when I drove to AZ, I stopped by his sister's to pick up the desk and bring it home. Then I moved my rolltop desk out of the way and replaced it with a nice flat top desk that the monitor would fit on so much nicer. The desk is wonderful and we are very happy to have it.
Back in 1983, I wanted a rolltop desk more than anything else I could think of so when I found this one, we bought it and brought it home. Over the past 23 years, we have moved it from house to house and state to state with J doing a lot of complaining about the desk. But that was "my desk" and I "loved" it. It's extremely heavy and with the new desk, I knew it was not something we needed any longer. We talked about what to do with it. I had asked my children and neither of them were interested in it - can't blame them for that as it is totally impractical to use with a computer.
For the past several months, we have been talking about what to do with this desk. Monday morning, when I sat down to my computer, a thought came to me (or was that a prompting) to put an ad in the Thrifty Nickel. Of course, you are thinking, why not sell the desk. But that's not what I decided to do. I decided that I would put it in the giveaway section. I typed up a quick little ad (which are free by the way) saying Free for pickup - rolltop desk, we'll help you load. Then I stressed for 3 days whether anyone would be willing to come way out here even for something free and if no one did, what was I going to do with this thing.
Yesterday morning, I got a call from a man who asked if his parents (who live 16 miles from us) could come and pick up the desk. He told me that his mother has always wanted one. I told him that would be fine - if they could come between 4:30 and 5:00 yesterday afternoon as that is the only time my husband would be at home.
At 4:00 a lady called and said, "My son told me to come to your house and pick up a desk so I wanted directions how to get there". I told her and she said they would be here on time.
J got home from work and we moved the desk out of the house so it would be easy to load up. Guess I should say easier because I still wasn't sure how we were going to get that desk in the back of a pickup and I had a feeling the people coming to pick it up were even older than us so probably wouldn't be much help.
At 4:35, a blue dodge pulled into the drive way and a gentleman about 75 or so got out. Followed by his wife - much the same age and very tiny. She glanced over, saw the desk and the look on her face was priceless. She kept saying things like "oh, it's so beautiful", "I've always wanted a rolltop desk", "it will be so treasured by our family", "you're just going to give it away". Since J has had to move the thing so often, it didn't take long for us to get it loaded up. The gentleman talked to John for a little while about growing up in this area. Then the lady gave me a big hug and said "God bless you". All I could think of to say was "He surely has." and then added "Happy Mother's day from your son".
Sunday, April 23, 2006
The Dress
So in March when I was in CO working and trying to spend a little time with the granddaughters, J decided she was sleeping in "my bed" (which was fine with me). So the first night (before the son / father laid down the law and informed me that 7:00 bedtime meant 7:00 to sleep, not to play on the computer), I decided to show J some pictures of her when she was a little girl. So, I flashed through pictures of her when she was a tiny baby. I showed her pictures of days when her mama and I spent quite a bit of time trying different outfits on her. I showed her pictures of her 1st birthday. Then, I showed her some pictures I had taken of her in a dress that my Grandma DeCurtins had made for me - a crochetted pink and blue dress that really needs a slip underneath but I wanted a picture but was afraid she was growing so fast, I wouldn't get on.
When I showed her this picture, she put her nose right up against the computer screen. "The dress, the dress, I have to have that dress. I explained to her that it was too little and was at my house. We then played Nemo awhile and went to sleep.
The next day when I turned on the computer, she wanted to see the picture of the "the dress". So, I would show her. I then decided, I needed to make her a dress of her own. So, I have been spending a little time each day for the past several weeks working on a dress. It is too bad that they do not make a silky crochet thread like my Grandma used to make my dress but I think she'll be happy with this one when it gets finished. Or at least I hope so.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Geo Gee
Well, I went geocaching with my sisters and some of the kids and had a wonderful time. It was a bit warm but Gargantua was cool -- was there a snake or only a sneaky snake ;-)
And the 2 part cache with the little magnet was interesting. Everyone made it look so easy so I came home thinking - piece of cake, I can find a cache.
Saturday morning, I printed one out called Stillwater. During lunch, I asked J if he wanted to run out and help me find it so I could leave off my TB and be done with that. At first he was a little reluctant but then decided the dogs could go along. We knew we couldn't be out too long as we had to go into town to have dinner with a group of people from work.
Although the log said it was only 14.3 miles from my home coordinates, the mileage to get there was more like 35. So, at 12:05 we loaded up in the truck and headed out. I expected him to turn where he always turns for work so when he didn't, I said "the gps is pointing that way". He said, I think we'd better go to the lower Stillwater road.
Okay so we got there and drove and drove and I'm watching the gps and it gets down to one tenth of a mile and J says "there it is". "There" was an old cabin that was in shambles. Sure enough the gps went to 0 right by that pile of mess.
We searched for over an hour and a half but then cause we had to get back decided we needed to leave. We'll go back there again and see if we can find that one. Meanwhile, I'm checking out one that is about 20 miles from here on the highway and if I can't find that one, about 40 miles away is a TB house which is super easy so I can find it and get this TB on his way.
Darn - I really wanted to find that first cache on my own (well with J's help) because it has a tb pig in it that has traveled over 14000 miles.
Last night on NBC, there was a 3 minute blurb about geocaching. There are over 1/4 million caches in 200 countries. guess that can keep P & S busy for a very long time.
Oh well, if at firt you don't succeed, try try again so wish me luck.
And the 2 part cache with the little magnet was interesting. Everyone made it look so easy so I came home thinking - piece of cake, I can find a cache.
Saturday morning, I printed one out called Stillwater. During lunch, I asked J if he wanted to run out and help me find it so I could leave off my TB and be done with that. At first he was a little reluctant but then decided the dogs could go along. We knew we couldn't be out too long as we had to go into town to have dinner with a group of people from work.
Although the log said it was only 14.3 miles from my home coordinates, the mileage to get there was more like 35. So, at 12:05 we loaded up in the truck and headed out. I expected him to turn where he always turns for work so when he didn't, I said "the gps is pointing that way". He said, I think we'd better go to the lower Stillwater road.
Okay so we got there and drove and drove and I'm watching the gps and it gets down to one tenth of a mile and J says "there it is". "There" was an old cabin that was in shambles. Sure enough the gps went to 0 right by that pile of mess.
We searched for over an hour and a half but then cause we had to get back decided we needed to leave. We'll go back there again and see if we can find that one. Meanwhile, I'm checking out one that is about 20 miles from here on the highway and if I can't find that one, about 40 miles away is a TB house which is super easy so I can find it and get this TB on his way.
Darn - I really wanted to find that first cache on my own (well with J's help) because it has a tb pig in it that has traveled over 14000 miles.
Last night on NBC, there was a 3 minute blurb about geocaching. There are over 1/4 million caches in 200 countries. guess that can keep P & S busy for a very long time.
Oh well, if at firt you don't succeed, try try again so wish me luck.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Happy Birthday...
Today is "my" Dad's birthday - I cannot imagine Dad living 84 years on this earth and getting old. It would be kind of interesting to get them to do an aging on a picture of him to see what he would look like today if he was still around but I'd really rather remember him as he was. A bit over weight, sucking in his stomach to be skinnier. It would be so great if he were here to talk to about the reunion and help us make plans, if he were here to cook dutch oven chicken and the best biscuits in the world and potatoes and onions (sometimes with too much pepper but still great). If he were here to take all the grandkids and great-grandkids on a "cousins" hike.
Too soon, he left us - almost 22 years ago now although it seems like just yesterday. But lo and behold, on his 3rd birthday after he left this earth, our family was blessed with a new little spirit. It was so wonderful to be able to once again celebrate March 7th as a day of birth instead of just a reminder that Dad was gone. A little spirit who was a great help to Mom in so many ways, especially in getting her off the coke drinking habit. Happy Birthday Briana - I am so glad you are a part of our family.
Friday, February 17, 2006
A Quilt for John
When JW was young, his Tata bought a piece of property in Oracle for Wilfred to raise a family on. The place had a small house and a dumpy trailer. For a while, the family which consisted of JW, his father, mother and 3 siblings (with twins on the way) lived in the existing buildings. They slept in the trailer and would head to the house every morning for breakfast.
Wilfred’s brothers would come to Oracle and help him work on the house. JW remembers once that they had finished a wall (the house was made of brick) and when they got almost finished, they noticed it wasn’t square so they had to take it all down. Not only did this mean they had to knock down all the brick but they then had to clean all of the mortar off each brick so it could be used again.
Finally they finished the house and moved in – the trailer went away and the little house turned into “Nana’s casita” where Nana and Tata spent many weeks in the summer away from the heat of Florence.
When John and I got married, the family had to work to get the inside of the house painted so it would be presentable for a reception. The floors were all concrete except for the living room floor which was a wonderful Mexican tile (and remember that 35+ years ago, winters were quite a bit colder in Oracle). I remember when they finally got doors on the closets and how thrilled Lois was over this little thing that most of us take for granted and carpeting on the floor - oh my – that was truly a blessing. Then shortly before Wilfred died, they actually got central heating.
So with the concrete floors while all the kids were growing up, you can just imagine how cold it was in that house. Since we had the opportunity to live in Nana’s Casita when Valerie was born, I know that they definitely did not keep a roaring fire in the fireplace at night (wood was too precious) so I know they woke to just a few glowing embers in the fireplace. Because of that, each of the beds were piled high with blankets to keep you warm.
I remember one time when we lived in Blythe and we went to Oracle for Christmas. Todd had just gotten a new water bed and we had the privilege of sleeping in it. He hadn’t got the heater with it but instead there was the normal pile of blankets on top. So we spent the night rolling around and round warming first our front and then our back. Needless to say, the next night, we told Todd we would sleep on the couch and he could have his waterbed back. We also told him he should get a heater – not sure if he ever did.
Fast forward to a time when we left Arizona to move a little further north. We decided to buy a down comforter and it has been so nice that that is the only covering we have had on our bed to keep warm for the past 11 ½ years. Meanwhile, in the past several years, I have made numerous quilts for babies, gifts, service projects etc and each time I am working on one, JW asks “is this for our bed”. Then he talks about how he loved to sleep with a pile of blankets weighing him down during the night – blankets that if it got a little warm, you could take one off or two if needed where as with our comforter, it’s all or nothing. So being an old woman, I spend a lot of time every night tossing and turning, covering up, uncovering and doing it all again.
This month, I have committed to finish some of the quilts I have started. I had made some bargello quilt tops and decided that if I took one of them and added two 10” borders all the way around, I would have a 100” square quilt that would be lovely on my king size bed and the start of building a stack of heavy quilts for us to sleep under. So far, I have finished a quilt for Madison (a Star quilt in recognition of the Lakota blood that flows through her veins and her ancestors who lived on this continent long before Columbus made his way across the seas) and two small ones for service projects.
Last night, I sat in my chair finishing tacking down the last 3’ of the binding on a 72” square quilt
when I got finished JW said. “So, this one is for my bed right?” “Nope”, I told him “but this one can be used for snuggling on the couch if you want?” He gladly accepted that offer and grabbed the quilt because with a temperature of -5 outside it was a bit chilly inside. Of course as soon as we got comfortable, one dog needed out and then the other and then it was time to head to bed.
I have received the backing fabric for the red and black quilt though – this is the one for JW and with any luck, by next weekend, we’ll have the 1st of several quilts on our bed and I won’t have to feel so guilty about No quilt for John. And the quilt I finished last night, I’m thinking I’ll just keep it down here on the couch. (4 quilts down and 26 more to finish – woo hoo I am at last making progress).
Wilfred’s brothers would come to Oracle and help him work on the house. JW remembers once that they had finished a wall (the house was made of brick) and when they got almost finished, they noticed it wasn’t square so they had to take it all down. Not only did this mean they had to knock down all the brick but they then had to clean all of the mortar off each brick so it could be used again.
Finally they finished the house and moved in – the trailer went away and the little house turned into “Nana’s casita” where Nana and Tata spent many weeks in the summer away from the heat of Florence.
When John and I got married, the family had to work to get the inside of the house painted so it would be presentable for a reception. The floors were all concrete except for the living room floor which was a wonderful Mexican tile (and remember that 35+ years ago, winters were quite a bit colder in Oracle). I remember when they finally got doors on the closets and how thrilled Lois was over this little thing that most of us take for granted and carpeting on the floor - oh my – that was truly a blessing. Then shortly before Wilfred died, they actually got central heating.
So with the concrete floors while all the kids were growing up, you can just imagine how cold it was in that house. Since we had the opportunity to live in Nana’s Casita when Valerie was born, I know that they definitely did not keep a roaring fire in the fireplace at night (wood was too precious) so I know they woke to just a few glowing embers in the fireplace. Because of that, each of the beds were piled high with blankets to keep you warm.
I remember one time when we lived in Blythe and we went to Oracle for Christmas. Todd had just gotten a new water bed and we had the privilege of sleeping in it. He hadn’t got the heater with it but instead there was the normal pile of blankets on top. So we spent the night rolling around and round warming first our front and then our back. Needless to say, the next night, we told Todd we would sleep on the couch and he could have his waterbed back. We also told him he should get a heater – not sure if he ever did.
Fast forward to a time when we left Arizona to move a little further north. We decided to buy a down comforter and it has been so nice that that is the only covering we have had on our bed to keep warm for the past 11 ½ years. Meanwhile, in the past several years, I have made numerous quilts for babies, gifts, service projects etc and each time I am working on one, JW asks “is this for our bed”. Then he talks about how he loved to sleep with a pile of blankets weighing him down during the night – blankets that if it got a little warm, you could take one off or two if needed where as with our comforter, it’s all or nothing. So being an old woman, I spend a lot of time every night tossing and turning, covering up, uncovering and doing it all again.
This month, I have committed to finish some of the quilts I have started. I had made some bargello quilt tops and decided that if I took one of them and added two 10” borders all the way around, I would have a 100” square quilt that would be lovely on my king size bed and the start of building a stack of heavy quilts for us to sleep under. So far, I have finished a quilt for Madison (a Star quilt in recognition of the Lakota blood that flows through her veins and her ancestors who lived on this continent long before Columbus made his way across the seas) and two small ones for service projects.
Last night, I sat in my chair finishing tacking down the last 3’ of the binding on a 72” square quilt
when I got finished JW said. “So, this one is for my bed right?” “Nope”, I told him “but this one can be used for snuggling on the couch if you want?” He gladly accepted that offer and grabbed the quilt because with a temperature of -5 outside it was a bit chilly inside. Of course as soon as we got comfortable, one dog needed out and then the other and then it was time to head to bed.I have received the backing fabric for the red and black quilt though – this is the one for JW and with any luck, by next weekend, we’ll have the 1st of several quilts on our bed and I won’t have to feel so guilty about No quilt for John. And the quilt I finished last night, I’m thinking I’ll just keep it down here on the couch. (4 quilts down and 26 more to finish – woo hoo I am at last making progress).
Thursday, February 16, 2006
A belated happy birthday
Just want to wish a belated happy birthday to my nephew Clint - wow - 35 already - where has the time gone? I was just 35 yesterday I know.
And also to my little sister (you know - the spoiled rotten one and it's all us girls fault).
Here are a few pictures of her over the years.
She has gone from this cute little girl in 1970 (can you believe she's 12 in that picture):
To this ornery senior in high school:
To a fantastic Gra-Ma:
I miss the days when we all lived closer and got to spend more time together - now we are so strung out across the country, it makes it hard to put in that quality time. I love you both and have a lot of good and a few not so good memories of both of you but through all the ups and downs, we're still family and that is important. I hope your birthdays were great and that both of you have many many many more.
Love ya.
And also to my little sister (you know - the spoiled rotten one and it's all us girls fault).
Here are a few pictures of her over the years.
She has gone from this cute little girl in 1970 (can you believe she's 12 in that picture):
To this ornery senior in high school:
To a fantastic Gra-Ma:
I miss the days when we all lived closer and got to spend more time together - now we are so strung out across the country, it makes it hard to put in that quality time. I love you both and have a lot of good and a few not so good memories of both of you but through all the ups and downs, we're still family and that is important. I hope your birthdays were great and that both of you have many many many more.
Love ya.
Monday, February 13, 2006
FAMILY REUNION
Wow – here we are halfway through February and a reunion that seemed a year away is looming on the horizon. By the time I get back from Arizona at the end of March, it will be almost time to start packing to head back down. So I am making lists again.
I came across a little old 3 ring binder – it’s 3 ½ x 5, pink and I’ve had it forever – think it used to belong to my Mom. It’s the one I’ve always kept in the camp kitchen but haven’t seen it for a few years so thought I’d lost it. On the first page, it has my recipe for Clam Chowder – had to make that every time we went camping so liked to keep that recipe readily available.
Then I have a list of all the camping stuff we would need – tent, stove, lantern, fuel, insurance forms (back in the old days, we didn’t have insurance cards so always had to have insurance forms on hand just in case).
Next is a list of food needed for 9 days camping – this was my list for the camping trip in 1980 to Reservation Lake – John and I went up and spent a week and then Polly and Suzy and their families came up to join us for a week. It was so much fun – so much rain – the year of the tall wildflowers and the red mushroom. Then there was the giant mushroom.
Next I have a list of all the clothes we need to pack – even back then, Val’s list included - YAHTZEE.
Finally there are lists of meals for other camping trips – Easter 1981 at Taylor’s ranch – that was back before Max and Mary moved down so it was more or less camping, other camping trips up to the White Mountains - even for one camping trip for just JW and I.
Oh how I wish on a day like today that I could turn back the clock to that time when life seemed so much simpler, when I was able to spend more time with my sisters and their families. Oh how glad I will be when June gets here and we can all be out camping together again.
I came across a little old 3 ring binder – it’s 3 ½ x 5, pink and I’ve had it forever – think it used to belong to my Mom. It’s the one I’ve always kept in the camp kitchen but haven’t seen it for a few years so thought I’d lost it. On the first page, it has my recipe for Clam Chowder – had to make that every time we went camping so liked to keep that recipe readily available.
Then I have a list of all the camping stuff we would need – tent, stove, lantern, fuel, insurance forms (back in the old days, we didn’t have insurance cards so always had to have insurance forms on hand just in case).
Next is a list of food needed for 9 days camping – this was my list for the camping trip in 1980 to Reservation Lake – John and I went up and spent a week and then Polly and Suzy and their families came up to join us for a week. It was so much fun – so much rain – the year of the tall wildflowers and the red mushroom. Then there was the giant mushroom.
Next I have a list of all the clothes we need to pack – even back then, Val’s list included - YAHTZEE.
Finally there are lists of meals for other camping trips – Easter 1981 at Taylor’s ranch – that was back before Max and Mary moved down so it was more or less camping, other camping trips up to the White Mountains - even for one camping trip for just JW and I.
Oh how I wish on a day like today that I could turn back the clock to that time when life seemed so much simpler, when I was able to spend more time with my sisters and their families. Oh how glad I will be when June gets here and we can all be out camping together again.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
So Monday night on the news they said that they had done a study and January 23rd (actually meaning the 4th Monday in January) is the most depressing day of the year. Why?? Because it’s a Monday for one thing, it’s the middle of winter, most everyone is facing huge Christmas debt (the bills are starting to come in) and by then most have failed on all their New Year’s resolutions. Hmmm – I wonder how much of my tax money they spent on a study like that?
Okay, so I start wondering, is that why I am feeling down and out of sorts or is it the overwhelming feeling of having a million and two things to get done this year and time is moving way tooooooooo quickly. So, I open up an excel spread sheet and start modifying my lists, changing expected completion dates and reprioritizing.
I’ve always loved making lists – pieces of paper everywhere with small lists – grocery items, things I need to pick up at Jo-ann’s, things to accomplish this week (just breathe). If I have a piece of paper in my hand, you can be sure I’ve jotted down two or three items for some good reason. But now with computers, I can make even bigger lists – excel is wonderful and I can make a worksheet for each thing I want to make a list for.
A different worksheet for each room in the house and things I want to do in that room – paint, flooring, change out the door knob. A worksheet for grocery items I need to buy to stock the pantry, another for grocery items needed for the week. A worksheet for the many quilting projects I’ve either started or want to start – right now, I have about 15 quilts in various stages of completion and fabric for another 20 or so (or course not all the fabric but some of it). It’s easy to make a column for an expected completion date, status, approximate cost and comments.
One of the items that has been on my list for a while was to reframe the southwestern embroidery that Mom had done for Dad. 1 huge pot with dried plants in and 2 smaller ones. I had them hanging in my house in Oracle and Ely but by the time we got them moved to Colorado, they were starting to fall apart from all the moving so I dismantled them and tossed the old frames. A couple of weeks ago, I got on one of my favorite web sites http://www.americanframe.com/ and ordered the frames. Last week, I spent a whopping two hours assembling the frames, mounting the embroidery on backing board and hanging the pictures. It’s nice to have something familiar back on the wall. (of course, the UPS lady wanted to know if I did framing in my spare time – she’s so funny.) So nice to be able to mark one of my tasks off my list and put a completion date on it.
So, working on one thing at a time and trying hard not to add too many more items, maybe I will get that list whittled down to 999,982 by the end of the 2006. Note to self: start a new worksheet for things to take to the reunion in June and don’t forget to add Salmon fishing in 2007.
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