This month's calendar                         Archives                            Our Google Calendar                   

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Another sunny summer week gone by and I am really enjoying this weather. We went to the Marion County Fair in Salem last Friday to watch our two older granddaughters, Ashtin and Paige show their pigs that they have been raising all year. Paige made it to Reserve Champion in her class while Ashtin wasn't so lucky. Both girls worked really hard at this project and both had a good showing in spite of the judge. Then the pigs were auctioned off and taken away. It is really sad to have to say good-bye to your pig. After the pig judging was over, we headed into West Linn to spend the night. Jaysa was playing in a soccer tournament and we wanted to watch her play. The game was at 11:30 Saturday morning and she was lucky to play that early as the day was getting hotter and hotter. Of course, the on-lookers had to sit in the sun to watch the game and we all got a little sunburned.

We headed for home after the soccer game where we went from a hot 95 degrees at three p.m. in Hillsboro to a pleasant 65 degrees an hour and half later here at the coast. What a difference! I am not used to the heat and it felt good to be in a more comfortable climate.

One of the things we did while on our adventure into the valley was that I got to visit a couple of nurseries. You know me; I can't pass up a nursery. Anyway, I came home with a couple of shrubs - a Mock Orange Bush and a Pink Bush of some kind. I immediately got them in the ground as it was overcast and cool. I hope they do well where I have them in the front of the property by the new retaining wall.

We had a wonderful surprise on Sunday. My nephew Brian and his wife dropped by to see us and I invited them to dinner. Tonya has been sick with food poisoning that she got at a sushi restaurant near her work and she was finally (after several days) feeling like getting out of the house. I am glad they came as we had a great visit talking about their recent trip to Europe. They took a cruise and visited several countries in ten days. It was a combined birthday gift to each other.

I have still been feeling pretty bummed with my leg this past week. I had hit my shin - not once but twice in the same spot - and have a huge hematoma. It is really uncomfortable and it is hard for me to stay off of my feet. I went to the doctor to have it checked and he said that I shouldn't have any trouble with blood clots. I am to just keep off it and apply a warm damp cloth to it and wear shin guards. Sure, right doc. That lasted for about a day.

We are being invaded! I looked outside the other afternoon and there was a mother raccoon with four babies! The babies were all over the place, up the tree and on the fence. They got frightened and mama raccoon herded them under the deck for cover. Then they made a bee-line for the bushes but one of the babies got left behind. You should have heard it crying for its mama...it was so pitiful! She finally came back to retrieve it and we haven't seen them since. I think she discovered that it is harder than you think to try to round up four raccoons when there is danger around. That's all I need is more raccoons around here!

We cancelled our work party on Wednesday because the lumber company that owns the forest property above Wheeler was using a helicopter to spray for weeds. They said they were going to wait until the wind wasn't blowing our direction, but the wind changes direction so fast that it is almost impossible to keep the deadly spray from not hitting us. So I spent most of the day inside until they were through with that.

The fishermen are starting to arrive and we are seeing more boats in the river in front of our house. I haven't seen anyone catch anything so far, but it is early in the season. I did see a seal in the water and that is always an indication that there are fish around.