Hello!

This morning I woke with a burning desire to write - don't ask where that idea came from! I've been writing, pretty much daily, for quite some time, but not blogging.  I guess I needed a break from being "out there" - that has been going on for ages it seems.

The things I've been journaling about aren't exactly things I want to put out for public consumption, so I really had to think about just what I was being propelled to write about.  So, this blog may meander a bit . . . fair warning!

New Adventures in Retirement

Retirement is the cat's pajamas - the best.  There are still never enough hours in a day, I am still not reading as much as I wanted, and the house is still just as jumbled and chaotic as always.  This doesn't seem to matter one bit to me.  My retirement motto is a simple one:

I'm taking it to heart.  At least one thing . . . every day. Sometimes more; sometimes a lot more!

Since retirement, I have found myself becoming a bonafide wheeler dealer in antiques, vintage, shabby chic, and anything else I find that I think someone else might like.  I started with a small "window" shelf unit in a nearby antique shop, added a small space at another antique shop, then moved up to a larger space and dropped the "window" as I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

As I have been a collector forever, having the possible good fortune (or not) of being born into a family of savers, packrats and collectors of just about anything that might be interesting, this whole endeavor is extremely satisfying.  It's like being given a green light to hit every estate, garage and moving sale with a vengeance - I am continually on the lookout for "good stuff".

I've found quite a lot.  The garage is full. And, sometimes I find stuff I don't really want to sell - big surprise.

A mixture of "finders keepers" and items already owned.

It's been keeping me busy, although I have arrived at a place where I don't scan Craig's list every day, nor do I go to sales every weekend.  There's only so much room in the garage!

Travels

Recently my husband and I took a mini trip up to Victoria, BC via the Clipper from Seattle.  We went with my aunt and uncle (who are close to my age) and had a fabulous time being tourists.  We started with a fun bus ride out to the Butchart Gardens, where the blooms were spring spectacular, and I bought way too many flower seeds.  (However, they are all planted with hopes for a smidgen of lucky blooms in the not too distant future.) 

My aunt and I talked our husbands into tea at the Empress Hotel, which was the first time for all of us, and truly a delightful treat! David was such a good sport, and posed while drinking his cup of tea! 

One daughter tells me this is her new favorite photo of her dad. :)
I think it's the raised pinky!

We spent one morning exploring the superb BC Museum of History!  We all could have spent many more hours, as it was huge and Smithsonian-like, and absolutely one of the best I've ever visited. Each display was amazingly life-like and very detailed. Very impressed!

One of the last things we did was to watch a movie about our wonderful National Parks in 3-D at the IMAX theater.  As we are in the midst of planning our first major road trip in retirement to Utah, this was a good way to generate even more enthusiasm - and I was already pretty darn enthusiastic about this trip!  We'll be visiting seven of our National Parks, and I am giddy with excitement to hit the road.

Pepper

So much of life is making me happy these days - opportunities to travel, seeking vintage and antique stuff, spending time with family, and my sweet rescue kitty, Pepper.

She's a bit disgruntled as I woke her from a nap to take a picture!

Pepper is my grief slayer - A couple months after my Dad died, in January 2015, I came home from work and told my husband, "I need a cat!"  My husband doesn't like cats, so he wasn't too thrilled with my demand.  Fortunately, our daughter was home and she agreed with me, so he grudgingly gave in.  Jess and I began to search in earnest, but there were a few criteria that needed to be met. First, this cat would have to be grey, or black and white, as it's name was going to be "Pepper", my dad's nickname. Second, it would have to be sociable, get along with other cats (for when our youngest daughter and her cat Cleo were visiting) be holdable and of course, purr.  

One day I was reading the "available cats" section in the paper and there she was!  I fell in love with the photo and called to make an appointment to meet her.  Somehow our wires got crossed, and when we went to the shelter where this cat was being kept, she wasn't there.  The worker attempted to interest us in some other cats in residence, and actually tried to discourage us by saying "my" cat wasn't very sociable and didn't like other cats.  I was undeterred, and discovered that she was "off site" but would be part of an adoption fair at Petco later in the afternoon.  We waited, then drove over to meet her.

She came right over to us; she let us hold her; she purred - she was perfect!  We learned that she had been found abandoned, locked in a shed a few days before Christmas, 2014.  It was then March - it had taken several weeks to nurse her back to health.  There was no doubt in my mind that this was my Pepper.

After spending a good amount of money on a carrying case, food, toys, litter, scratching post, and collar, we drove home.  She explored all the highest places first.

I don't know how she does it - she doesn't use the counter to get up on the fridge!

She is a short, furry labrador! Pepper greets everyone who comes to the house, with her tail wagging. (He tail wags constantly!) She "talks" to us, and always "talks back" with some sort of kitty retort when told to get off the table, or the counter.  She wakes me with a soft paw caressing my cheek if I sleep later than she thinks I should - about 5:15 am! She loves to cuddle on me while I'm reading in bed (this can be kind of a nuisance!) or will come "tell" me it's time to go to bed if she is ready and I'm not!  

Pepper has saved me, given me a reason to smile, made me laugh daily and filled my world with a kind of love I haven't known since I was a little girl.  (Way different than people love - I'm loved by a few of those critters, too!)

So, I'm happy today.  Happy to be alive, to be retired, to have written a blog post.  This morning I put up and cleaned off my clothesline, so I'm ready to hang clothes outside tomorrow.  And now, I'm going to get back to sewing on a log cabin quilt I'm making for my daughter and her husband for their first anniversary in July.  

It's good to be happy!

Farm Sunday

Last Sunday I asked Kailyn if she wanted to take a little drive.  I'd been reading in an Old Stuff magazine about an antique sale that was ending on Sunday.  The address was Kelso, so I figured it couldn't be much more than about 40 miles or so from home . . . a nice Sunday drive!

We hopped in the car and she plugged the address into the iPad and away we went.  It turned out to be a bit further than I had expected,  as we left the freeway and were following signs down scenic country roads and turned onto a dead end road.  We saw this sort of hodge podge of stuff as we bumped across a big field and came to a stop. It was worth every minute of the drive.

There were lots of antiques and "vintage" garden art scattered around, some in little old buildings, some under a covered area.  I found a couple of things I felt I had to have, one being this beautiful old washbowl . . .

 . . . which has a Johnson Bros. England stamp on the back.  It's very big and deep. Originally I was going to use it for a birdbath, but now I'm not so sure.  I don't want to ruin it, as it's in nice condition.

Another treasure was this sweet little bowl from Japan.  I have a few pieces but none quite like this one. It's a little bigger than a teacup, and I'm not certain what it's purpose was.  But, it goes in my kitchen, so I bought it.  Besides, it was only $4!

I bought one more treasure, but I won't post a picture yet, as it's a gift.  If life would have worked out as planned, I would have already given it away, but this week went a little amuck. More on that later!

As we wandered the shop, we couldn't help noticing that this was a very special place.  I asked the owner if we might peek inside this adorable play house and she said that the grounds were open, and we could look wherever we wished!

So, we went inside and I just wanted to stay and play!

The kitchen was a little girl's dream!

I especially loved this piece.  There was also a darling little ironing board and iron.

Can you believe this miniature pay phone!  The little house also had electricity.  

The beautiful garden was well protected by this gentleman!

The lush greenery and flowers were a haven for the birds and the bees!

I asked Kailyn to pose in front of the garden shed.

Inside the garden shed . . .  

Inside the chicken coop.  

We got a kick out of watching the chickens and cows.

Doesn't this look like the perfect place to sit a spell?

There are many more pictures that didn't make it into this blog.  As we were paying for our purchases, I asked the owner about the place.  She told me they had been there over 25 years, since they married.  She is the gardener, and her husband enjoys building and decorating with their treasures and findings.  The prices were amazingly good, considering it was certainly off the beaten path.  I plan to return and take my friends with me!

As for my crazy week, here's a bit of what has happened.  My friend Deb and I had planned weeks ago on a little beach antiquing trip, and we were supposed to leave Wednesday morning.  I've been really looking forward to spending time with her, and I could hardly wait to get our mini adventure started.

However, my husband and I learned that his oldest and dearest friend, Dave, was diagnosed with another brain tumor, (they found the first one a year ago) but this one was on the other side.  He has glioblastoma, a pretty deadly brain cancer, and the surgeon wanted to operate as soon as possible.  It had grown to the size of a walnut in less than a month and was in the speech area of the brain. Our friend and his wife (my good friend, too) were told to meet with their pastor and prepare for the worst.  My husband rarely breaks down, but did after talking with them on Monday.  I decided I needed to stay here and support my husband and friend during the surgery, instead of going with Deb, as the surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning.  

It was the right thing to do, although it was one very long day.  The good news is that the surgery went well, the tumor was removed, and amazingly, our friend is already home from the hospital!  It was all pretty scary, as we were with them when the doctor told them (prior to the surgery) that there was a real possibility that his speech would be affected.  After the surgery, he was in recovery for a couple hours. We waited until he was in ICU and took turns going in to visit for a short time.  I didn't cry in his room, but I couldn't help the tears when I got back to the waiting room.  We were all hugging and crying. Dave was talking coherently, and even joking, despite being in pain.

Surprisingly, the doctor had told us right after surgery that Dave would stay in ICU for two days, and then it would be about six more days until he would be able to go home.  I guess there are numerous neurological exercises or tests he needs to pass, as well as physical things.  He passed with flying colors, days ahead of expectations.  Pretty powerful!  Of course, the battle isn't won, as he starts radiation in eight days, and then there will be chemo again.  But, we are all grateful for more time to spend with Dave.  He's a pretty special guy!

Finally, last Sunday at church, there was an urgent notice in the bulletin that a lead cook was needed for the middle school Bike Hike.  Guess who volunteered?  I think I'm a little bit crazy, as this is a camping trip and I pretty much dislike camping and dirt!  But, Kailyn offered to go along as my assistant, and I decided it might be fun.  There's a ton of preparation to be done, but once there, except for cooking, it shouldn't be too bad!!  We're going to Farragut State Park in Idaho, and I checked it out.  It's gorgeous, and I'm hoping Kailyn and I will get a couple nice hikes in when we're not prepping, cooking, serving and cleaning up!  Today I baked up three double batches of brownies and wrapped them individually for one of the desserts.  Tomorrow we meet at church for packing in the morning, and we head out after lunch on Sunday.  

I know I'm a little crazy, but I'm looking forward to this "working vacation".  I may not like camping, but I love nature, so it will be good.  (I'm having my husband take the seats out of my van, and I'm putting a blow up mattress in it for me to sleep on.  I am not sleeping in a tent on the ground!) I checked the weather and it's high 70's - low 80's and 0% chance of rain for the next ten days.  It's going to be great!  

Deb and I rescheduled for the following week, so we'll still have our trip to look forward to. 

Life is pretty darn good right now!