Isn't It Monday?

Man, this week is messed up! For some reason, today has felt like Monday all day. Why? I have no idea.

We had an appointment in town at eleven this morning. Got that taken care of, then picked up a few groceries and some graduation gifts. I was going to pick up some more nyjer seed for the finches, but totally spaced it.

I did another couple loads of laundry, mostly jeans, but threw in a pair of sandals with each of them. Walking through the CRP ground on Monday had made a mess of my newer ones. I wore my older pair to town, but realized a bath would do them good as well. I have some really good deodorizing spray for sandals, but occasionally that isn't enough to do the job.

It was chilly and overcast this morning and didn't change much all day. The clouds dissipated about sunset, but it didn't really warm up. One of the Thursday morning ladies stopped by this afternoon with a nice little zip lock bag of radishes from her garden. I was planning to make more potato salad tomorrow, so I was glad to get them. Life is good.

A Let Down Day

After our very busy three day weekend, I definitely planned to sleep in this morning. But, our neighbor decided he needed to rev up his motor bike so that he could get it up the ramp onto the carrier on the back of his pickup. He was having trouble, but the maintenance guys were out loading fallen branches into a wagon so that they could mow the lawns. They came over to help him - it turned out to be a very noisy production. Since Forry doesn't sleep with his hearing aids in, he didn't even hear them...

Since it was so hot all weekend, we had a pile of very sweaty dress clothes. I spent a good share of the day doing laundry. I boiled some pasta early on and made a salad with more of the Walla Walla green onions, some grape tomatoes and a cucumber. I added some corn on the cob along with some Maryland crab cakes I had in the freezer for a pretty good supper.

About four o'clock our sunny day began to become overcast. All of a sudden there were angry black clouds and wind gusts. We had a few drops of rain and some dust and that was about it. I think we only got the edge of the thunderstorms that were predicted. It did drop the temperature considerably and we are having a pleasant evening.

And the Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies for the second day in a row!

Decoration Day

When I was growing up, I never heard it called Memorial Day. It was Decoration Day when we went to the cemetery and placed flowers on the graves of deceased relatives. Mom always had a big bucket of her gorgeous peonies, which in my memory, were always in bloom the end of May. She would take along a knife and trim around the gravestones and then wash them off. Then she divided up the flowers for her Kubik grandparents, and later for her parents.

We have been on the road most years and nowhere near the family plots. I've always felt a little bit guilty about not being home to tend the graves...

But this year we are here. Friday when we were in town I bought five bundles of miniature carnations. We put flowers on Forry's parents' graves at the Menno Cemetery when we were there Saturday - and I felt bad that I hadn't brought water and a brush to clean the guano off of their headstone.

Today we made an excursion to the old Lutheran Cemetery where Forry's grandparents are buried. The old church is gone and the cemetery is now on Hutterite land. You can't drive up to it. We had to walk through CRP ground to get to the little cemetery. Fortunately, it had been mowed and it wasn't too rough. But I was glad I had told Forry to use his cane. Forry's Hardt grandmother died the year he was born, so he never knew her. He was seven when his grandfather died, so he has lots of memories of him - most notably of getting in trouble for snitching carrots from Grandpa's truck garden.

Our next stop was at the Ritzville City Cemetery. This is where most of my childhood memories occurred. Many of my maternal Telecky and Kubik family are buried there. When doing genealogy research, I discovered that my father's Blackwood maternal grandparents are also buried there. I have no memory of Mom putting flowers on their graves. I wonder if she even knew they were there?

Then we went to the Ritzville Lutheran Cemetery where Forry's mother's parents are buried. There is a very distinctive round headstone next to where the Steffens are buried. Forry was pretty smug because he didn't have to hunt for their resting place like I had to do with my grandparents.

Our last stop was at the Cow Creek Restaurant where we met up with our friends Dennis and Colleen. Colleen is a couple of weeks post total knee replacement and is doing really well. It was a perfect way to end the day, having dinner with good friends.

Family Time

Pastor Jeanie spoke this morning of how we come together on a Sunday morning as a family that gives support to each other. We were delighted this morning to have our friends Darryl and Linda show up at Menno to worship with us. They were on their way home back to Maple Valley after having been in Alberta, Canada helping family.

After church we headed back to Moses Lake, made a stop at Safeway, then headed over to Brother Pat and Cindy's home. We watched the last few innings of the Mariners game with the Red Sox - which the Mariners won! We spent a bit of time cutting up mushrooms, peppers, little potatoes, Walla Walla onion trimmings, as well as shrimp and chicken, then put them on wooden skewers. Actually, Pat and Cindy did almost all the work while I "supervised..."

Nephew Jared and his wife Becky came over later in the afternoon from her parents where they had been helping build fence. Their two children were over playing with their cousins, but soon Niece Becky and David showed up with all five kids. It was such a lovely day that we were able to eat outside. Pat put all the skewered goodies on the barbecue - they were so tasty!

It's been a lovely day.

What a Day!

It was another early day. We showered and headed  for Menno and the Memorial Service for Roger Jantz. Keith Schaefer, a long-time Jantz family friend, led the service. I think we all learned many things about Roger that we hadn't known before - like the fact he threw a wicked curve ball that was the envy of his cousins. Many of Roger's classmates were in attendance - I had a nice visit with Dena and her sister, Barbara. After lunch at the church, we took flowers over to the graves of my beloved in-laws, Forry's parents.

Next stop was Pasco for the five o'clock wedding of Tyler Greenwalt and Samantha Hendrickson. It was quite warm at Stone Ridge, the venue they had chosen, in the middle of a vineyard. The bride was lovely, the groom was VERY handsome in his US Army uniform. We had arrived early enough to be able to sit on the shady side of the grass. It was pretty special to visit with many of our old neighbors. The buffet dinner had a choice of beef kabobs or chicken Marsala.

It was late when we arrived back home - we put on a lot of miles today!

Early Birds

We were up VERY early this morning. We headed into Moses Lake; gassed Toad II; got coffee at Starbucks; and made it out to the parsonage at Menno by 8:30! The installers from Bargain Blinds were already there with the new window coverings. We double-checked them as they were installed. They were exactly as ordered and looked very nice.

I had a cup of coffee and a nice visit with Pastor Jeanie while Forry walked over to the church and visited with Pastor Lyn. It was good to spend a little time with them.

After the window coverings were all installed, we headed back into town and picked up a some groceries and a few bunchs of flowers for decorating graves this weekend. We got home in time to have a nap before watching the 4 PM Mariners game. Unfortunately, yesterday's win was not enough to fire them up to beat the Red Sox...

Overcast

So much for the forecasts saying we were going to have sunshine through until after the holiday. It was very overcast all day and actually felt like it might rain. There was still a certain amount of wind, but nothing like what we have had the last couple of days. By late afternoon it began to clear off and we actually had a bit of sunshine.

There was not a lot going on here today. I did a bit of cleaning around the shower, but that was about the extent of any work. I used the egg cooker from Sister Sherry to hard boil some eggs, boiled a few potatoes and chopped up a couple of the Walla Walla onion thinnings and some celery (for crunch since I didn't have any radishes) and made some potato salad. Like Sherry says, it's not time for potato salad until the WW onions are here.

A box of mail from Daughter MM in Mount Vernon arrived this afternoon, so now I have my meds. I really needed them, but certainly didn't need, nor want the bills she sent as well.

The Mariners played this morning early as a terrific rainstorm was predicted this evening in the Washington DC area. And the Mariners won! It was a very good day.

Wind Storm

Yesterday's Severe Weather Warning meant what it said! The wind blew all night! And all morning! And all afternoon! And it's still blowing!

The temperature has dropped as well. It was 63 degrees this afternoon. Quite a change from the almost 97 degrees we had yesterday. I think this weather has no idea what it's supposed to be doing!

I was on the phone yesterday with the mail order pharmacy that Keizer Permanante uses. They had sent my prescriptions to our billing address in Mount Vernon instead of Othello as I had instructed. After I talked with both the pharmacy and customer services and expressed my displeasure, they finally agreed they would resend them here - and assured me they would get mailed out immediately. So this morning I get a call from a pharmacy tech saying they could not refill the prescription until July 8th as it was too soon for a refill! I was not a happy camper! After I rather strongly suggested she should clarify the order with customer service, she said something to the effect "Oh, that's why there was a note attached to the order..!" Grr!

Tried making some beef kabobs for supper. I had bought some nice thick sirloin steak from Costco that I cubed and then marinated in soy sauce, lemon juice, oil, worcheshire sauce, salt and pepper. I strung the marinated meat on skewers with some of the little sweet peppers, a couple of the Walla Walla onion thinnings and a cherry tomato. I grilled the laden skewers on my Cuisinart Grill. They turned out pretty good, I think I'll try them again.

Lovely Warm Day

Needless to say we were not up very early this morning. In fact, I was up for a couple of hours before Forry joined me. It was hot today, but there was a lovely breeze most of the day so it was very comfortable. I was quite surprised to receive a Weather Warning a little after one o'clock. It was predicting high winds until sometime tomorrow. Sure enough, the wind began to pick up about four o'clock. Forry brought the awning in when it began to dance.  It is a very gusty wind that has the trees bending.

I got our suitcase emptied and washed the clothes we had soiled over the weekend. I cut up some grape tomatoes, cucumbers and the Walla Walla onion thinnings I bought at the Mercantile yesterday and added them to some orzo pasta. With a lime juice and avocado oil dressing, it tasted like summer.  I added some Dungeness crab to make a great salad supper on a hot day.

The maintenance crew mowed the lawns today. The smell of freshly cut grass is a good thing!

I've Been Quirkeled!

Granddaughter Kyra convinced us we didn't want to head home yesterday afternoon since it had already gotten fairly late. We had walked a couple of blocks over to an El Salavadorian restaurant that they all liked. The food was wonderful - I had crab tacos! - but they were short-handed. Service was really slow, so we didn't get back to Daughter Dawn's very early, hence the decision to remain another night.

When we got home, Son-in-law Todd suggested we play a game of Quirkel. Never having heard of it, we agreed. Playing games with the grandkids is always a riot. It is so interesting to watch Grandson Micah's analytical mind at work. He has an incredible memory and he's also very lucky! Kyra ended up letting him make her moves for her. Quirkle is sort of a cross between Scrabble and Dominos. If you can line up six different designs of the same color, you've made a Quirkel! It's a fun game.

We slept in a bit this morning. Dawn was off to work, Micah and Todd were off to school. We woke Ky up to see us off and headed out. It's a long way from Keizer, Oregon to Sun Desert RV Park. And it was a hot drive. Every time we stopped to take a break, it was hotter. It was 91 degrees outside when we got home! And 98 degrees inside Auntie Violet! I promptly turned on the A/C and then we both took a nap. It was a good weekend.

Peonies and Hostas

This afternoon, Daughter Dawn, Granddaughter Kyra and I went on a flower drive. We went to a peony farm that had the most gorgeous flowers. Many different peonies of many different colors were in bloom. I did not know that there were yellow peonies! There were at least six different versions of yellow and many multi-colored bushes that I was able to post on Facebook. Many of the bushes on display were crosses between the familier bush peonies and tree peonies. This has resulted in a whole lot of new colors and shades. This garden was immaculately maintained - not a weed to be seen! Their display gardens were gorgeously landscaped with lot of benches and sitting areas. Prices ranged from about twenty dollars per plant to over two hundred!

We went a few miles further to a hosts and shade plant farm. There was a greenhouse with a hundred or more different hosta plants large and small. They also had a display garden with many interesting plantings of shade loving plants.

This evening we celebrated Forry's upcoming birthday with a peanut butter chocolate pie. We had had a good supper with sausage (both apple and mango), roasted fingerling potatoes and broccoli and coleslaw. It was made even better by being able to sit outside and eat. It was another lovely day.

On the Road...

After a few false starts, we headed in Toad II for the Tri-cities and then on to Oregon. We were heading to Daughter Dawn's in Keizer. We had not been down to see Dawn and Todd's since the reception for Granddaughter Havela and Ben last fall. Every time we tried to head that direction last winter, we ran into very nasty weather. Today was a total contrast, sunshine and blue skies. It was a beautiful day for a road trip.

During the trip, we got a chance to Skype with Havela and Greatgranddaughter Kahlyn
as they were getting ready to go to Havela's graduation from her CNA program.

We arrived at Dawn and Todd's home in Oregon just in time for dinner. We had grilled chicken breasts, pasta with homemade pesto, fresh asparagus - and sautéed portobello mushrooms! Granddaughter Kyra is home from college in Virginia - it was good to see her! Later in the evening, Grandson Micah also returned home from his Magic Card gathering. It was good to see him as well! They have all gotten so terribly grown up.

Another Laundry Day

I had gone to bed early last night - didn't even stay up to watch the end of the Mariners game! And this morning I slept in. I was sort of thinking I didn't enjoy going to the Thursday morning Koffee Klatches much anymore since they seem to have morphed into gripe sessions. It is interesting how the dynamics change as different ladies come and go. There are a couple returnees who spent the winter in Arizona that I swear don't have anything positive to say about anything or anybody.

I had a good visit on the phone with Sister Sherry. For a change, the phone line was clear. The rainy weather we have been having has not been good for the old phone lines in Touchet.

Once we were up and fed, I started on the laundry. We've been in town a lot, so there seems to be more  items in the wash. We also had company over the weekend, so I managed to get more things dirty. We are planning to go to Oregon this coming weekend, so I needed to make sure we had enough clean clothes for that as well. I ended up with four loads of laundry. The clothes drying rack is full!

Safeway had some fresh ears of corn yesterday (from California) that I fixed for dinner. I sliced up an apple in some avocado oil, then added a couple of pork chops to the pan. After they browned, I added some white wine and simmered them while the corn cooked. Turned out to be a pretty good meal to finish off a pretty nice day.

Grocery Run

You'd think that stopping at Costco yesterday would have made it unnecessary to have to go grocery shopping today, but...

The sun was shining when we got up this morning, but by the time we left for town in the early afternoon it had clouded over again. It felt muggy and sultry and very much like rain, but it didn't. We ran an errand or two and then got groceries. I bought some wooden skewers thinking that I could use some of the top sirloin I bought yesterday for shish kabobs. I also bought some more orzo for a grape tomato and cucumber salad. Sister Sherry said she found Walla Walla sweet onion thinnings at her grocery last week, but evidently they didn't make it as far as Moses Lake.

As they've been doing lately, the clouds cleared mostly off by evening and we had a lovely sunset. Seems like the nicest time of day lately is after five o'clock.

What a Day!

It was a busy one. We awoke to a rain shower and dealt with showers off and on all day long. We headed for Ritzville fairly early and stopped at a nursery called Boxwood to order a plant for our friend Colleen who had knee replacement surgery last week. They had a cute set of succulents planted in a cigar box that I thought she'd get a kick out of.

Our next stop was at Starbucks to have coffee with Danny. We had originally planned to have breakfast while we were there, but had forgotten that we were supposed to be fasting for our blood work later, so ended up just having coffee as we visited. Dan has recently started at Starbucks as a Shift Manager. It was so busy when we got there, we didn't know if we'd get to visit, but it slowed enough to enable us to catch up with this delightful young man.

Our first stop when we arrived in Spokane was at Kaiser Permanente, formerly Group Health. Our primary care doctor had already ordered the labs, so we were quickly in and out. We went to the downtown Starbucks and finally got breakfast. Forry had an appointment at the dermatologist for his annual skin check, I got a haircut while Forry got a beard trim, and we made a Costco run.

I had texted Colleen to see if she was up for a short visit on our way home from Spokane. Her Daughter Nicole, who is here from Idaho "helping out" post Colleen's knee surgery, invited us to come and stay for dinner! I offered to pick up "takeout" for everyone, but she said she was already cooking. And was she ever! We had chicken with orange sauce, quinoa and a tomato and cucumber salad. It was all delicious and we had a good visit as well.

It was dark when we got home and unloaded our Costco goodies. The Mariners were playing Oakland, so we settled in to watch the last few innings.

Busy Weekend

What a great weekend we ended up having! Bill and Leslie had brought some little chicken breakfast sausage links with them that I grilled for breakfast Sunday morning along with eggs and bagels or toast. After our late breakfast, we all got into the "yellow taxi" and headed out. Their jeep "Sunny" turned over 200,000 miles while they were here. We had to speculate how many of those miles we had ridden with them all around this country.

We were celebrating May together. My birthday was last week, Bill's is this week and Forry's is the 22nd; our 58th wedding anniversary was Sunday; and it was Mother's Day!

We headed towards Washtucna and Palouse Falls which Bill and Leslie had never seen. The falls is out in the country, a long way from anywhere. I can remember going there as a child for a Grange picnic with my Haight grandparents. There used to be a rope line along the cliffs down to the Palouse River that we would scramble down. Forry and I have stopped there over the years and there has hardly ever been anyone there.

Then the kids at the Kahlotus School started a successful campaign to get the State Legislature to declare it the Washington State Waterfall. Man, has that changed things! There was a long line of cars waiting to get in. You had to wait for someone to leave before you could come in and park! There were people everywhere, many having Mother's Day picnics. The cliffs are now all fenced off and there are even Camp Hosts there in a motorhome.

We stopped in Washtucna on our way home for milkshakes. While we were there, I had phone calls from Daughters Mary Mae and Dawn and Son Sean. Since we were traveling, the calls were short but sweet.

Bill and Leslie headed back over the Pass to Bothell while we made an early night of it. Today we've not been very ambitious. I hung a new bag of nyjer seed, replacing the deleted one. Forry met the mail lady who brought a box of forwarded mail and an anniversary card from our good friend Mary. Life is good.

Company!

We kept in touch by Facebook's Messenger, so we knew what kind of progress our friends Leslie and Bill were making as we impatiently awaited their arrival. They left Bothell this morning and came over to the east side via Snoqualmie Pass. We had seen reports of snow on Stevens Pass, but they said all they got on Snoqualmie was rain.

I had made reservations at Simmer, a restaurant in Moses Lake that Brother Pat had taken us to a few weeks ago. It was just as good tonight as it was then. A couple of us had "Duck in the Woods," Forry had chicken and waffles, and Leslie had a salmon risotto. The duck had morel mushrooms, fiddle neck ferns and sea beans - such fun spring flavors! The ferns and sea beans were firsts for me - I really liked them. The chef explained that the beans were actually grown in the ocean which is what gave them their delightful saltiness.

Update: Both of our friends who had knee surgery this week are now at home and according to all reports are doing well.

Cloudy...Sun....Thunder

Its been one of those days. It was overcast and gloomy when we got up. Then the wind came and the clouds blew way somewhat and we saw some blue sky. Then there were some big black clouds that went over. We heard a couple of rumbles of thunder. Then there were some scattered showers, but not enough to wash off the dust from yesterday's wet windstorm.

We went into Moses Lake at Daughter Mary Mae's request to pick up a garden basket she had ordered for me for Mother's Day. Very pretty. While we were in town we ordered a herb garden for our friend Cleon who had a total knee replacement earlier this week. Our other friend Colleen also had her knee replaced yesterday. She's still in the hospital in Spokane. It's been almost ten years since I had mine done - but it sure brings back memories!

Koffee Klatch Day

Today is Thursday, therefore it's Koffee Klatch day. I walked over to the Clubhouse. I was a few minutes early, so ended up making the first pot of coffee. I'm not sure what was going on, but the ladies sort of just straggled in. Maybe it was the cool overcast day after several lovely days of sunshine.

It felt like rain all day, but didn't get serious until about four o'clock. All of a sudden the wind came up and the next thing you know, there were raindrops on the window.

I started reading Noah Graham's Dr Robert Cole Trilogy: The Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice. It's been a while since I read a series that has engrossed me as much as this one has. It follows a family of physicians from early midieval times. So far, it's a good read.

Laundry Day

I started on the laundry fairly early this morning. It's all on the rack in the living room drying. It seems like it didn't dry very fast today, even though it was quite warm. Forry said it got up to almost 80 degrees. It's pretty humid, maybe that's why things are taking so long to dry.

I spent a bit of time on the the computer typing up the notes I took at last night's Board meeting for Cleon. I had written notes on the paper agenda so I just went ahead and typed them in on a copy and sent them off.

There are a pair of large ravens who have a nest over in the large fir trees up by the mobile homes. We saw them hauling twigs and sticks for nest building earlier and now we see them gong back and forth with food. The ladies said at Koffee last week that they had been seen raiding the nests of the smaller birds  and taking their eggs. I know they are continually chased by the little birds. They are not very well liked!

The Mariners played the Phillies this morning (an afternoon game back east). It was a fun game to watch. So nice to see them winning! They won both games in Philadelphia. Now they're off to Toronto tomorrow.

Another Busy Day

Today was our monthly Church Board meeting. I drove over to Menno on a lovely Spring evening. It was our first meeting with our new interim co-pastors. It is so nice to have them here!

I drove home under a great big full moon! It was so light out you'd have thought it was almost daytime. It's amazing how differently the country looks with less than three hours difference in time!

And the Mariners won a yo-yo game with Philadelphia 10-9!

Trips to Town

You would think we could get everything we needed to do in one or two trips to town. But we ended running into Moses Lake this afternoon to do a couple of errands. Sure messes up my idea of a lazy day!

It was another lovely day today. The sun was out with just a few clouds meandering across the sky. I think it got up to seventy degrees. The birds had emptied another sock of nyjer seed and there were none of them around. I took out and hung a new bag - and there they were! I swear they have scouts out.

The weekend may be over, but there are still a great many boats out. I didn't think there were quite so many fishermen in the world and I think a good share of them are around the Potholes. The swallows and the cormorants are both back. Seems like every year the swallows show up near my birthday.

Such a Lovely Day

It's Sunday, so we were up early. I put together the romaine and mandarin orange salad and simmered the sausage in beer, getting things ready for the after church potluck.

As Board Chair Dennis said, it was a momentous occasion for Menno: it was the first time we have had co-pastors and the first time we have had a woman pastor. And lightening did NOT strike! It was a good service. The Music Team led the singing and Butch sang a beautiful solo of Pastor Jeanie's favorite hymn.

There was a large group for the potluck after church - and more food than we could possibly eat! It was a very good day. And besides, the Mariners won again this afternoon!

Grocery Run

Although we've been in town a couple of times, we've not gone to the grocery store for quite a while. Seems we think about stopping on our way home, but either it's way too late or we're too tired. I needed to pick up some ingredients for the salad I plan to make for tomorrow's potluck. And we were totally out of breakfast stuff.

However, we did want to watch the Kentucky Derby. The broadcast started at 11:30, but the actual race didn't run until after three PDT. After actually seeing and walking on the track when we were in Kentucky, we are very interested in the race. It's been raining the last two days and did they ever have a sloppy, muddy track. The sun came out by racetime. Fortunately Always Dreaming was in the lead all the way, so his jockey didn't end up with a face full of mud.

We headed into Moses Lake after the race and did our grocery shopping. We started listening to the Mariners game on Toad II's radio and finished it up on TV after we got home. It was a good game that they won 8-2. Quite a change from last night's horrid 13 inning loss!

Birthday con.

The thunder booms and the hard rain woke me suddenly about 3 AM! The noise was incredible. I walked out into the living room of the RV that was lit up almost like daylight! There were constant flashes of lightening on both sides of the coach. It was scary enough to make me hesitate to go to the windows on either side. The raindrops were pelting so soundly on the coach roof, I almost couldn't hear the thunder. I watched the show for a while, then a little spooked, I went back to bed - Forry hadn't even awakened! (Though he says he thought he had heard the rain in the night...)

Mid-afternoon, we drove over to the parsonage at Menno to greet our new interim pastors and their family who drove over from Payette, Idaho with them. The Hersheys made several stops on the way to make sure Lyn got out and walked around as he is only a couple weeks post hip surgery.  As a result it was almost four-thirty when they arrived. It is so nice to have them finally here!

From the church we headed over to Brother Pat and Cindy's to continue my birthday celebration. Pat had barbecued ribs to which Cindy added fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce and cheesy potatoes! It definitely was a feast! Niece Becky and her family, Niece Ashley and her family, and Nephew Nick  were there as well. I was surprised with a bouquet of flowers, a luscious smelling candle jar and a quilted wall hanging. All totally unexpected and a delight. Becky also picked a lovely bouquet of purple and white lilacs for me to take home. The biggest surprise - Cindy, who claims she is not a pie baker, made scrumptious three-berry pies for dessert! Cute little Greatniece Kiera tried very hard to help me blow out the candles on the pie.

Life is good! Life with family is very good!

Birthday

Lovely sunshine this morning! Actually, it got HOT today! It was over 90 degrees. Yesterday it was in the sixties. That's too hot too fast. My poor little pea plants got all crispy even though they were nice and wet. I think everyone is ready for warmth. A couple of ladies at Koffee this morning even had shorts on - though I heard several comments about white leg syndrome...

It's fun to wake up on your birthday and start seeing birthday greetings on Facebook. First the early ones from folks on the east coast, then you can almost follow them across the country to the west. I don't think I'd ever have gotten that many snail mail birthday cards! I've talked with all three of our children and Leslie and Bill  today and Skyped with Granddaughter Havelita. It's been fun just touching bases with everyone.

The heat was all across the state today. About four o'clock we started seeing reports on TV of thunderstorms and lightening in the Tacoma/Olympia areas. The storm gradually came east. We thought it had passed us by, but about nine o'clock we started seeing flashes of lightening. It didn't last long, lots of light and noise and a brief, but hard rain shower. It brought the temperature down a bit, but now it's sticky out.

Busy Day

Another morning with sunshine! It is amazing how much my mood improves with sunshine - it's hard to even think about being crabby on a day like this! Then the UPS driver showed up with an early birthday present from Sister Sherry! Surprises are always nice.

In the afternoon, we drove into Moses Lake, stopping at the bank to pick up my new debit card. I had asked them to send it to the bank rather then mailing it to Mount Vernon. Saves MM from having to send it on. From there we went on out to Menno to join Linda who had been working with Elizabeth all morning to get the parsonage ready for our new pastors' arrival on Friday. All of the new windows have been installed and they look very nice. There is trim left to finish up on a few, but that should be done tomorrow. Randy was there working as well, touching up the paint on the window trim.

By the time we finished up at the parsonage and visited with Randy a bit, it was time to head back to Moses Lake. We barely had time to grab a hamburger before I needed to be at Bible Study at Monroe House. This was our last session. We need to see what we would like to study next fall.

I love these longer evenings. The sun was setting as we drove home, sending beautiful pink streaks across Sullivan Dam Lake.

Sunshine!

The sun was shining when we woke up this morning! How much nicer it is to wake up to blue skies instead of grey ones.

Fairly early we spotted Park Manager Louie out with a wagon picking up the many branches that had fallen during Sunday's nasty windstorm. The willow trees, especially, shed an awful lot. He definitely had a wagon load. Later we heard noise and here came Louie once more, this time on the big lawn mower. The nicest two things about this RV Park are all the trees and the expanses of lawn. It definitely is a pretty place.

I hung another bag of nyjer seed on the little tree by the patio. The little red house finches showed up first, then the brightly colored gold finches. I wonder if they send out scouts? The bag on the tree had been empty when we came home Sunday afternoon. I didn't see any birds flying by or checking on the empty bag. But when I hung the full one today, they were there within fifteen minutes!

May Day

I can remember taking small bouquets of flowers to the door of Grandma Kubik's house and to that of "Grandma" Duncan who lived a few houses from us. I can recall seeing newsreels of May Day parades in Russia with lots of tanks and red flags. I remember learning about the chill of hearing "Mayday!" when we were learning to fly. And now we watch the protests on the streets of Seattle and Portland on TV. All these different expressions of the first day of May.

It was a drippy day here at Sun Desert as I drove up to Barb and Louie's mobile home to pay the rent for May. It was a pretty heavy overcast, but at least the rain wasn't heavy. I had a cup of coffee with the managers and left my check.

It warmed up a bit as the day went on, but the sun never did come out. The forecast says it will continue to warm up as the week goes on. I certainly hope they are right for a change.