Just a couple of pictures from our trip. We had so much fun. Mary planned the trip and I reserved our night spots. Did pretty good. A couple were not so good. We spent a couple of days in Port Isaac and stayed at the Orion with Jill McDonald. Nice place and nice hostess. They were filming Doc Martin while we were there. I got his autograph as well as two other cast members. Everyone in England was so nice. .. and helpful. The country is beautiful. Cornwall was especially beautiful! I am so happy that we took this trip. Now I just have to finish paying the bills. Ouch! Left a couple of blouses and a pair of pjs in circular files as well as a sweater in the Gare du Nord station to make room in the suitcase for gifts. Even had to buy a bigger purse to make room for gifts.
Sis is leaving for California at the end of the month. She is going to stay with her daughter, who is expecting in September. I will miss her, both at home and at the after school/summer school program. She is a good teacher. I hope I can find someone half as dependable and proficient as she is to fill her position.

Easter weather

The morning started out with a good downpour. After Easter dinner, we drove around a little and took a couple of pictures. In some spots, the 'riverwalk' is more of a river than a walk. At least the ditch the developer dug behind our house is keeping the melt off from flooding our yard and basement. Thank God!

Finally, a tie.

I finally tied with Sis! It took me three minutes to her 5 minutes. Amazing. I won't say how long it took me to catch up.

We finally got the snow from the driveway, twice. It is supposed to storm again this weekend. As it is, we have to walk down to feed and water the chickens. The water gets real heavy to carry! Can't wait for the snow to melt and the mud to dry up.

March Blizzard

It has been snowing for two days and one night. The whole area is shut down. No travel advisory. As you can see from the photos, the neighborhood is drifted in. Only vehicle on the roads.. snowmobiles. Luckily, our vehicles are in the garage, but can't go anywhere due to huge drifts in driveway and street. You can see the cars are drifted in. Power blinked a few times, but we are okay. Sun is now trying to shine, so may venture forth to shovel back deck. Can you believe that is was 80 on Saturday?

Christmas

My photography skills are about on the level of my painting skills. There didn't seem to be a time when the whole family was together. So I am including just a few snaps. The best seems to be of my old cat, Bootsie.
What a great family I belong to. I am talking about the extended family.. in laws and their relatives. Wish the oldest son and his family were here.
Merry Christmas!

Chilling Time

Okay, so in between sewing, knitting, and painting [presents to finish], I play games on the computer. Dynamite is an occasional thing. I was doing great until I glanced at the score. I was further ahead than I ever had been. Shouldn't have looked. Crashed fast. This is the highest score I have ever made.














Every morning Sis and I play Word Roundup and Word Sense Challenge. It has become a contest to see who can make the highest score. Usually Mary does. This is my score from this morning. Highest ever for me.

The scenery picture is of Crow Peak near Spearfish. Took it out of the car window one Saturday [before the blizzards].

Back to knitting and painting. Finished the sewing. [Still have cookies to make, but will wait until Friday to start]

We had a great bonfire tonight. Lots of trash piled up. We had to wait till there was hardly any wind and then my son called the fire dept. to let them know that we were burning a trash pile. For the pictures of the beginning of the bonfire, go to Mary's blog[link on my page to "Prairie Home"] I didn't take my camera; but grabbed it when we went home to see if Dennis, Mary's cat, was ready to go inside.. after a couple of hours outside. So I experimented with my night setting. I got a few good pictures, but need more practice. Mary got some spectacular ones. Be sure to check her site. When the fire died down, everyone was hungry, so they dug a little pit in the dirt, put a grate over the top, and cooked hot dogs. I like this last picture... the roots from the spruce or juniper or whatever it was that the neighbors threw on the fire looked like french fries or shoestring potatoes. It was cool. The company was great and it was fun! I think they are planning on having another one soon. That would give me another chance to use my night setting. If I take my tripod, I am sure I can get better pictures.