Watching TV at Grammy's

Grand-daughters Havela and Kyra are over at our house watching "Dancing With the Stars" with us -- and eating all the M & Ms!




It took a bit, but finally coaxed a smile from Kyra Anne --



It's been a busy day today. We've had rain showers during the night and for a bit this morning. The ground was wet enough that it made for easy weed pulling in Daughter Dawn's front yard. I got about half of it weeded this morning, took a break and read for a while, then finished the rest after lunch. I haven't done any yard work for a long time, so I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. But, I did go soak in the hot tub for a while this evening, so that should help.


Forry and Todd made a couple trips into town getting supplies and parts for the new sewer line that they are putting in. They are setting it up so that Auntie Violet will not have to run a hose clear around to the back of the house.

A VERY Busy Day!

Breakfast this morning at Zion Mennonite, Sunday School and then worship with a focus on Pentecost. Grand-daughter Havela is a violinist with the Portland Youth Philharmonic Conservatory Orchestra. They had their last concert of the season this afternoon at Skyview High School Concert Hall in Vancouver, Washington. The concert didn't start until 4 PM (actually started more like 4:30), but she had to be at the school by 1 PM for rehearsal. Daughter Dawn, Forry and I went to the concert as Todd had an evening service to conduct.


Since Vancouver is a good hour's drive from Hubbard, we had to leave the minute the benediction was announced -- no chance to even visit with anyone. But, we'll be here for a few weeks, so there is time for that!


It's been over a year since we've been able to attend one of Havela's concerts. She has moved up to the Conservatory Orchestra from the Young String Ensemble she's been in the past two years. (The students have to audition to get in, then re-audition again every year.) They are playing some incredibly complex music. It was a great afternoon watching so many talented young people.

Hubbard -- Home of Grandkids!

Finally we are back in Hubbard, Oregon, home of three of our grandchildren -- and their parents, of course. Here is Auntie Violet, backed into the driveway at the home of our youngest daughter Dawn --

We had gone into Eugene last evening to an Office Max store to pick up hanging file folders so that we could start putting stuff away in the new file drawers. After a quick supper at Dairy Queen, we came back to the parking lot of Amazing Creations where we spent the night. We spent most of the evening and several hours this morning sorting, organizing and putting stuff away.

About noon, we headed up Hwy 99E to Interstate 5 and drove north. It took us just a couple of hours to arrive at Dawn and Todd's home in Hubbard. 91 School is just across the road from their house, and since it is Saturday, there was plenty of room to use their parking lot and back into Dawn's driveway.

It was so good to see the grandkids -- and see how much they have grown! We only got to see Dawn when we came through last fall as everyone else had been ill.

Auntie Violet Gets a Makeover!

Auntie Violet is a VERY happy camper tonight! She's thinking she's pretty special after all of the attention she got today.


This is the table that I have been using as a computer table/desk. (We never eat sitting down at the table...) I had some stacked plastic drawers from the hardware store and a file box that we packed back and forth from the bedroom to keep our papers in.



Forry's recliner was behind the passenger front seat (which is doing dual purpose in this picture as a dryer for jeans!)

When we arrived at the workshop in Junction City yesterday, we got a glimpse of the cabinetry in the shop --

This morning the crew had set it all outside in the sunshine so that it could "tan." Natural cherry darkens in the light and as it ages, so they were giving it a bit of a head start on matching what was already in the coach. At this point, Forry was sure they would never be able to get it through Auntie Violet's doorway!

Here are Bobbie and Scott taking out the table. The cabinets underneath -- which had been pretty much unreachable and therefore unusable -- will stay.

Ah, ha! The cabinets were all in pieces and the fellows had no trouble getting them through the doorway --

That's Bobbie crawling through the file drawer opening to pull through the electrical wiring for the computer --



And here are all of the pieces in place. Notice how much lighter the new cabinets are.

Scott made this little cabinet to go on the wall by the couch to hold CDs. He made it so that I can fit three across.

Here's the finished desk. The bottom file drawer goes almost the full length of the desk. The top drawer is a shelf for my printer/copier/scanner and the surge protector. There is another short file drawer on the bottom right.

Here's the desk with the top up and the computer drawer pulled out. I think I'll get some cork board and make the top a bulletin board...?

This is Scott Adams on the left of Amazing Creations and Bobby Volden on the right of Kustom Coach Works. Besides being exacting craftsmen, they are fun to work with. And they didn't even mind Forry and I hanging around to watch them work!

Seriously, if you have any desire to remodel the inside of your coach, these are the fellows to see. Bobby (541-501-3371) specializes in installation and modification of Audio, Video, Cabinetry, Flooring, 110v & 12v systems. Scott (541-556-0501) specializes in RV custom woodworking. And they have lots of room in their parking lot for you to spend the night!

Without a doubt, tonight Auntie Violet is a HAPPY camper!

Amazing Creations - Junction City

Last January when we were in Quartzite at the Alpine Coach Associations Desert Rat Rally, we had an opportunity to tour other people's coaches and see some of the remodeling they had had done. We had been thinking about how to make desk space in Auntie Violet, but hadn't quite figured it out. A couple of the coaches we looked at had taken out the dining table and replaced it with a built-in desk and file drawers. We were very impressed with the workmanship done by a couple of fellows from Junction City, Oregon and had them come take a look at Auntie Violet. They had some good ideas about what to do and we ended up ordering a desk, file cabinets, a cabinet for DVDs and a map floor cabinet.


And now Auntie Violet is parked in the parking lot of the workshop in Oregon, awaiting her appointment in the morning to her table removed and have it all installed. We got a look at the furniture in the shop when we got here this afternoon -- it is gorgeous! It's cherry to match what's already in the coach. At this point, it is lighter, but the cherry darkens as it ages.



Auntie Violet settled in for the night --

The shop across the parking lot --

The fellows were putting a new maple floor in a coach this afternoon, replacing the tile. It was really sharp looking. That's the next thing I'd like to do -- someday!

The Columbia Gorge

What a beautiful day to drive the Columbia Gorge! With all of the rain and the snow melt, all of the rivers are full and the dams are spilling large quantities of water. The sides of the canyon are all lush and green. There were patches of blue lupines, yellow arrowleaf balsamroot, and orange poppies -- gorgeous!


There were lots of barges on the river, this one was riding high in the water and was probably empty.

It's a beautiful drive between the river and the bluffs along Interstate 84.

We left I-84 as we approached Portland and took Interstate 5 south as far as Harrisburg. We are staying at the River Bend RV Park. Tomorrow we need to re-connect with the fellows at Amazing Creations a few miles away in Junction City and get directions to their workshop. We will need to spend time tomorrow clearing out the area in the passenger side slide where Auntie Violet's new desk and cabinets are going to be installed on Friday.

A Quick Visit With My Sister and Deacon --

We are entirely too close to Touchet not to make a quick trip to visit Deacon -- and my sister Sherry! We took the back roads through Helix and Gardena to Touchet, about ten miles of it gravel roads. The road took us by the many HUGE wind mill towers along the ridge between Oregon and Washington.

It was fun to see how much Deacon has filled out. He is much broader in the shoulders and hips then when we saw him last, but he's still the same slobbery lovable mastiff (note the slobber rag in my hand...).

Sister Sherry -- (that's a pretzel in her hand...)

We took a walk around the farm. The yellow roses beside Mom's angel are just beginning to bloom --

These are some of the draft horses that came to stay at the farm from the Animal Rescue people. Sherry's miniature horse stud looks so funny alongside all of the large horses...

Two of the mares were pregnant when they were rescued from the slaughter house. This beautiful two year is one of the colts --

It was a quick trip, but so good to see Sherry. Her grandson Kyle and her son Oly were there as well. It was good to see them all!

Oregon!

We're in Pendleton, Oregon tonight at the Wild Horse RV Resort. Auntie Violet says she likes it a lot better here as she's not rubbing shoulders with her neighbors!

We drove in rain showers almost the entire way today. The weather forecast was for possible snow, so we were quite happy just to have the rain! It had pretty well stopped by the time we got to the RV park, but has begun again tonight.

I knew we were back in the Northwest when we saw some Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooming on a hillside shortly after we crossed the border into Oregon from Idaho. (And no, I didn't make Forry stop so I could get a picture!)

Thoughts on Mother's Day

This pretty digitalis plant (foxglove) was a present from Forry for Mother's Day. It's going to ride around with us in Auntie Violet as long as it is blooming, then we'll find a place to plant it.

Mother's Day is now a bittersweet day for me as both my mother and my mother-in-love have passed. Someone told me once that as long as you still have memories and thoughts about someone, they are alive in your heart -- and I think that's true. I do enjoy thinking about my daughters as mothers and hearing about what they are doing with their children today. There's a certain solid comfort in thinking about generation after generation of mothers.

Today, we joined the celebration of the Idaho Mennonite Churches in worship at Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church in Caldwell, Idaho. The building they worship in started out as a house that was converted into a conference center before they purchased it as a church. It sits on a lovely spot on the hill above Caldwell. They are fortunate to have both a large yard and a large parking lot.

Initial results of yesterday's Idaho World Relief Sale appear to be a little over $40,000 raised. There were a lot of thanks given today. Of course, there is no way you could have a gathering of Mennonites without a potluck! And it was a good one! I tried to only take little tiny samples of the variety of food, but still came away stuffed. A new one to me -- and many others at our table -- was a pie made of cranberries!

Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival

"I DANCED IN THE MORNING WHEN THE WORLD WAS BEGUN," is embroidered underneath the dancers on this fun wall hanging I bought at the Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival auction this afternoon. It's made from some batik fabric with metal stars and moon cut-outs. The maker, Anne Hausrath, evidently is quite a mover and shaker in the Boise area. Our mutual friend Janet says I would "really like her" and that she'll tell Anne about me as well.

I'm not at all sure where I am going to put it as there is really no empty wall space in Auntie Violet. I may hang it over the TV set that sits catty-corner in the bedroom since we never watch TV in there anyway...

We got back over to the Nazarene College Church where the sale was held a little after nine this morning and got into line for breakfast with Janny and Jerry. I don't know if there has ever been a SLOWER moving line! This is the first time they've tried to prepare breakfast for the sale and they had no idea how many people might show up. They were serving bacon, scrambled eggs and toasted rolls with apple butter and sausage gravy on them. Janny, who is a cook for the local school district, said that she could have had 400 children fed in the time it took them to serve 2 or 3! But, when we got there, the food was really good. Except they ran out of sausage gravy by the time J & J got through the line (there was only one other couple between them and us).

I had a chance to have a good visit with our former PNMC Conference Pastor Larry Hauder at the finance table and ended up helping him for an hour or so when the crush for bidding cards and silent auction payments got a little too busy. It was sort of fun to see how many of the Idaho folks I have met over the years and some who served on the PNMC Board with me.

I would have been a good opportunity for anyone looking for gorgeous quilts to pick some up for a VERY good price. While a couple went for $1000, and several were in the 600-700 dollar category, many very nice ones went for just a few hundred dollars.