THE DUST WILL WAIT

It all started the first week of June when a door to door salesmen knocked on ours.  My husband opened it to    "Did you know you can Insulate your house up to the new recommended code for very little investment, or maybe none at all?"  Take advantage of the  "stimulus package," rebates, and an insulation company not only knowing how to do the job, but how to get it done free. By the time the young man had finished his spiel, we had an appointment for someone to come by and give us a bid.  Within two weeks we had a crew from this company in our attic. Part of the plan was for the gas company and/or the power company to send someone to take a look at the job, fill out the report, and then you file a Conservative Incentive Application and get the rebate through both energy companies.   It turned out to be not so easy.   The inspector came, and left us with six out of the nine objectives under the word FAILED.  On top of that there...

Last week my daughter Karmyn received the radioactive iodine treatment for thyroid cancer.  It was of course precautionary. She has been doing very well this week and we are all breathing easier and giving thanks. My week was easier than hers...staying with the kids.  I reminded Jammin and Buttercup to practice the piano and the Caboose to go potty. (When you are three it is so easy to play too long!)  We went to the park one day and visited the Hasty Freeze for shakes on another day.  And we pulled out my watercolors and played at being artsy another afternoon.    They still missed their mama very much.  Every night I woke up with at least one extra head on the other pillow. *** The drive home on Saturday was spectacular in its presentations of blues, greens, and browns.  The sun was bright and the prevailing wind pushed me along the gorge.   An osprey surprised me when it flew along side and then in front of me with a wiggly...

 Swallowtail  Snake River Sky Snake River - Fishhook Park with Grands (Interloper on far left.. ha ha) Snake River - Leaving the dock Life is Grand (five of them) Fish Pond at night Can you see me? Sparrow Food looking at the camera   Bees with Garlic breath Such is life

Almost 14-month old Smurfella running through the sprinkler. 

Our girls loved to go tubing on the Snake River when the weather was fine.  Now their children say "Grandpa, take us tubing!" (Warning! That video I took while riding in the boat might make you sick!)

We've been on a road trip for two weeks.  Last night we drove I-84 over Cabbage Hill (Blue Mountains) and stopped to look at the last 45 minutes of road to home. It was our welcome quilt. There is no place like home.

Karmyn is the host of Fun Monday this week with a subject that is near and dear to her heart. Not to mention her knees and fingers. But I mentioned them anyway. The subject? --- What's Growing In Your Garden. As soon as I signed up I grabbed my camera and headed out the back door. Alyssum, lady's mantle, gaillardia, Jupiter beard, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember is blooming in this photo. We didn't put as many annuals in this year so I miss all the yellows and reds that we often enjoy. But, something else showed up in that surprised me. Can it be that my yard is haunted? Cheeky little ghost! A shot from the deck near the hammock shows off some ornamental grass, petunias, pond plants ... and that bold apparitio...

Picture taken northwest and then one to the southwest at the top of Minnick Hill tonight about 8 pm.

Robin (of Pensieve ) invites one and all to join in July's Poetic License as she introduces her own style of poetry. Read about it here. The abbreviated version is: the style involves the five senses, reflection and some play on words. I never follow the rules entirely - but my work is close enough to join the thousands (big smile) who will participate by linking to Robin's post on Friday. Yesterday we had our first rain of the summer. These thoughts were lingering in my head long before her invitation arrived. So, it was easy for me to be pensieve about SUMMER RAIN Dawn's pitter-patter on the skylight and the echoing murmur in the downspout stirs me from my slumber. The dampened breeze through the opened window feathers my cheek and teases my lashes until they open. Countless aqua dribbles explore the dusty trailed pane while triumphant drops bounce through the screen to sparkle on the sill. Earthy scents waft on the gentle zephyr, replacing the night's stale ...

Sunshine, Sprinklers, and Shadows (Early this morning the three played an optical symphony.) Snake Scenery (The river runs 1,040 miles from the Grand Teton Wilderness, Wyoming.) Spying on Shore Birds (Osprey can be 22 inches tall, have a wingspan of 6 feet, and fly 40 mph. The mama "fish hawk" charged us from her nest when our boat drifted in too close.) Smiles (K's first tubing adventure. She was a natural.) Surprised Siblings (The two A's jumped a wake and smacked down hard.) Sail Ho me Squiffy Men! (A ghost ship flying under the Jolly Roger. Stuart Little Size.)

When you make a water color error - you say "I meant it to be that way." Especially after every part of the painting went well until you got to the cat.

One Zuccini Two Zuccini Three Zuccini Four I've gotten to the point I just cannot eat any more ps. Karmyn , if you can GUESS this is a zuccini - then you win..... A ZUCCINI !

Busy as me.

The Bank Swallows wouldn't pose. We went out last night to watch them off cottonwood road at dusk. They nest in the dirt banks where the road cuts through the rolling fields. The wind was blowing and the birds were riding it like surfers catching the waves; the wheat fields were ebbing and flowing in breezy harmony. (The insects come out in hordes in the cool of the evening.) Because I got discouraged with the birds, I turned my new little digital camera towards this farm equipment. It's probably taking a well-deserved rest at the end of the season. .

We spent weeks removing rocks from our back yard. And then the hubby went out and bought more rocks ! A truck with a dump bed delivered that 1000 pound rock one day last week and left it on our driveway. The hubby contemplated several plans that would transport it around to THE BACK YARD. He's so very good at making plans. His final strategy was to employ a pallet dolly and the muscles of several of his former co-workers: the firefighters. He stopped in at the fire station and dropped some hints about trying to move this BIG rock. There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm for his project and he heard nothing more. No response, no pallet dolly. Now what? What a suprise when the doorbell rang at 7:30 on The Fourth of July and there stood seven firefighters, muscles flexed. With their challenge juices rolling they said, "We're here to move your rock." The hubby said, "I don't have a pallet dolly!" They said, "We'll figure it out." They looke...

It was just a quiet walk at the end of the day, then a desperate run back to the house to grab the digital camera. We missed capturing the most magnificant part of the sunset, but you can see some of the interesting pattern still remained in the right quadrant. As a painter I recognized the brush strokes pulling in the color from behind the gold edges. Don't you wonder what causes the sky to look like someone's canvas? I've tried to duplicate that gilded edge and the shadow behind it on 140 cold press. I've failed - but as Scarlet O'Hara said, "There's always tomorrow!"

This is, I think , a Ligularia. Anyone is welcome to correct me if they may. I love this elegant shade plant and am worried about the changes in the back yard and what may come of it. It doesn't like being in the sunlight. The heat makes it droopy------------- just like me. And this is, I know , the jungle cat who likes to sleep in the shade under the ligularia. The hubby and I stopped by the animal shelter the week before Christmas. Once I saw her I knew she belonged to me - declawed, spade, and homeless at the age of 8 when her owner died. She is unhappy about having to be supervised when she is outdoors. Nor does she like having her picture taken (note that her ears are back.) It makes her grumpy ---------- just like me.

It is hot. At 6:30 my hubby announced it was still 100 degrees in the shade on our patio. As it happens every summer, the air conditioner at work went on the fritz - - which meant the temperature at my desk had reached 85 by the time I locked the doors at five. I turned to my co-workers, lifted my hands in a wicked gesture and reinacted my favorite scene from The Wizard of OZ. “I’m melting. Melting!” I screeched and collapsed into my best impersonation of a puddle onto the slate floor. It was cooler down there.

Does anyone else put off cleaning the ashes out of the fireplace 'cuz it's such a distasteful job. What would happen if I didn't?