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June 22, 2007

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

We had Lara and Greg down last weekend and the grandkids just loved the bunkbeds in the new storage/bedroom. In fact, they loved it so much that we hardly saw much of them all weekend. Lara brought the video baby monitor along and we set it up down there so we could keep tabs on the activity. And there was a lot of activity! No sooner would one get in the upper bunk than the other one had to be up there too. Then when one got down and into the other top bunk, the other had to follow! The problem was, Jaysa is just two and a little too young to be negotiating the bunk ladder herself. So, someone had to be down there with them all the time. It was nice to be able to watch them on the monitor. We hooked it up to the TV so all we had to do is switch channels and there they were! They didn't stay in and play downstairs all the time. They did get out and enjoy the coast a little. The weather was a little cloudy and windy, but typical for the coast over the weekend. They were able to get up to the sand castle contest at Cannon Beach and over to Manzanita to play on the beach and try to fly kites. Still, they were around quite a bit and we had lots of time to relax and enjoy the kids.

Of course after everyone left, we really hit a couple of days of good weather. That gave me a chance to clear some more brush and pull weeds. I made a pretty good dent in the overgrown shrubs along the side street, but I had to stop when the pollen got so bad my eyes started to water and I could hardly see. I took an allergy pill, but that took a while for my eyes to quit burning. I wasn't feeling very good the next day (a touch of the flu or something) so I just vegetated all day. It killed me when I didn't feel like working on a nice day and I knew that the next day was going to be rainy! Oh well, there will be other sunny days (I hope). Dave started hacking his way through the overgrowth with the Shindawa (humongously big string trimmer), but it died on him before he got very far. He had to take it up to the shop, where they found a rotten gas hose. We now have it back, but won't be able to resume our attack on the blackberries and tall grass until later in the weekend. Of course, it looks like rain then!

Dave gives me a bad time about all the bird food I buy, but I think he gets a chuckle out of some of the antics that go on out by the feeder. We had a couple of squirrels/chipmunks going at it the other day. The one squirrel doesn't like the other one invading on his feeding grounds and chases him away whenever he can. The squirrel is getting so fat and healthy that I think the little chipmunk is too fast for him. The mother birds have been bringing their babies to the feeders and they are always fun to watch as they feed them. The Blue Jays were eating me out of house and home at the suet feeder. I had it hanging from the fence within easy reach and those pigs would clean up a whole cake of suet in less than a day. So, I moved the feeder farther from the fence. Now, the smaller birds can hang from the feeder and help themselves, but it's just out of reach for most of the Jays. It's really comical to watch as the Jays get a toe grip on the fence and try to lean out to get some suet. Most of them end up falling off the fence. I don't feel too bad for them, because there's plenty of other food around for them and they really don't need the suet. They still keep trying, of course, and that keeps us entertained! When one does get into the stash, its beak is so full of suet he could hardly open it.

We also had our annual Crab Festival last weekend and by the looks of all the traffic in town it must have been a huge success. I helped in the Chamber of Commerce booth making root beer floats and ice cream cones. I wandered through the festival and not only were they selling all kinds of seafood, but freshly baked pies and pineapple slices too. There were long lines everywhere. They also had live music. It's very nice to see so many people in town. The merchants were very happy. I wouldn't want it to be that way all the time, but once or twice a summer is OK.

Now that summer has begun, the traffic on the coast highway 101 has picked up with tourists. We like to see these folks come and visit but it sure can get frustrating when you are trying to get somewhere and you get behind some "slow poke" going way below the speed limit, gawking at the scenery. There are places to pull over and I sure wish they would sometime. The half hour trip to Tillamook can take half again that long in the summer!

We have to run into town today. Dave has a football broadcast to do and he is having his cousin's son tag along to see how he sets up the equipment and runs the sound. I will be over at Lara and Greg's and on Saturday we will go see how my Mom is doing and then run down and see Leslie and Jason in Silverton for a while. It will be nice to see everybody even though we get to see all of them again in a week when they come down for an extended July 4th weekend. Right now, our plans are for Ashtin and Paige to come down and spend a couple of days with us before their mom and dad get here for the weekend. We will work out the details on that this Saturday.

Summer's officially here! Enjoy!