Christmas at our house

Merry Holidays.

Amber and I are beginning new traditions. We were too busy on Christmas Day to open presents, so yesterday we had Christmas. We loved it. It wasn't stressful, and we stayed in our PJ's most of the day.

We love soaking up the ambiance of our new nest.

Our apartment has some interesting neutrals - which we were having problems deciding what to do with. While in Texas, and having access to cable, we devoured lots of HGTV decorating shows. My favorite is Color Splash. So decorating our newest home was very important.
We also had a severely limited budget, but we found so many great deals. We came to love Oak, and Country style in a whole new way, as our home came together. Not our first choice - but we love it. Thought you might like to see where we spend our time. Our color inspiration began with our fireplace. In it we found some lovely rusts, and a whole color scheme emerged.

We love our sheers - they shimmer. Maybe we went overboard with Rust - but we love it. The kitchen is a u-shaped space - with the kitchen counter opening to the dining area. We can cook, and look out our window to the golf course, or into the mirrors and see the sunset or the pond. The fireplace is in the middle of the north wall, separating the dining area and the living area.

Our apartment is a two-bedroom, compact but with a nice layout for how we live. Do you like our table? We LOVE it. We wanted to have a pub style table because we like to sit up high, and we wanted the dining area to also serve as our art studio.

We made the table from two tables, and some extra boards. Amber came up with the pedestal, and so I searched Goodwill, after finding out that each table leg was going to cost about $20 from Home Depot. Salvation Army was going out of business so we got some incredible deals. The two stools next to the counter were $7. The table top (which originally was a low coffee table) was $5.00 The table that had that lovely wood pedestal was $10.

One of our biggest money purchases is the cute country buffet on which sits our loaches (fish). It matched a dining set that we were initially given, but the lady needed it back, but we still love the piece. The kitchen cabinets, and the trim throughout the apartment is white.
The sideboard here to the left of the table is my all time favorite find. Talk about manifestation! I really wanted to have a storage unit in the dining room to hold all of our art supplies. I found the dresser at my favorite value village on a Monday when anything with a certain color is $.99. Yep. I found this dresser for ninety nine cents (regular price $89.99)- and I cherish it every time I look at it. It came home on top of our car, and then we added the little hutch on the top. We use this area all the time. We ate our Christmas breakfast here, we opened our presents here. We love to look out. We spent many hours here creating the little surprises that we sent out to a few people. With the window, and the mirrors on each wall, we can see the pond, the golf course, the club house, sunsets, geese, little boys sledding, and it is very peaceful and quiet. Sirius loves the view both out of the dining room and from the living room. Yep that's snow you see there. Over a foot of it. If you live in MN - it's not a big deal. It is huge deal here. Very little equipment to deal with it. People can't get out of the parking lot to go to work in snow this deep unless they have snow chains, a four wheel drive vehicle, or the wonderful little Toyota that we have that is solid like a tank.

One of my favorite places - oh my gosh,- the sun is shining. Yahoodie. I just opened my blinds so I can see the sun. I love the sun. So far this winter in Seattle, I have not gone more than about 4 days without seeing the sun. I enjoy every minute of it.

I'm writing at my desk that my sister gave me. I bought a single bed frame from her, and she told me, you're not going to like it once you put it up and it takes up the whole floor. She was right, so I had to get clever, and I LOVE this bedroom office that I have. It is cozy, it is warm, it is a lovely place to be. I added a recliner (have fallen in love with recliners - because I slept in one in Texas all the time - my snoring kept my daughter awake). My daughter found two bookcases at different times by the dumpster, I got my $129 dresser for $5.00 at the going out of business sale at Salvation Army, along with the recliner. I think I spent a total of $32 on furniture. Two lamps - .$99 ea. My sheer drape was $6.00 I splurged on new bedding and pillows, but got each of them at incredible deals.

Our space was and is important to us. We got the apartment at an incredible deal as well. We chose to live here because we need to feel prosperous and not feel like we are living in survival. Working very well. In all these years as an adult, I have never gone about the process of decorating a space. And here, we just took the time and did it, and now it gives to us whenever we are home.

Hope you are having wonderful holidays. We miss our friends and family. And we are having a fabulous adventure. Amber's birthday is Dec 22. I gave her a piece of Franz pottery that she had fallen in love with. And the matching teacup and saucer at Christmas. She's displaying it in our wonderful $5.00 entertainment unit in the living room. It is a powerful symbol to both of us, the Phoenician flight. We are in our major transformation. But that's what we came in for.
May you have a blessed season and year.

Happy Holidays from the Pacific Northwest

Here's a summary of the last year, with some pictures from where we started, a map of Mukilteo, to Texas, Mexico, Seattle, and Mukilteo. The photos were all taken by me. Click on them and you will get an enlarged version.


. . . . . . .the freedom from fear of the unknown doesn't come from any amount of dollars. It comes from an inner belief that we will cope, by ourselves or by reaching out for help, come what may. And boy, do I increase my happiness and joy in living when I remember that. --MJ Ryan

My daughter told me a couple of weeks ago that quantum leaps are not comfortable. After she said that, I realized that I seem to have lived a lot of my life doing quantum leaps. No wonder....its been such an adventure. She's right. It is not always pleasant, never boring, and yet did we not come into this time to make some major shifts?

This snow storm across the country reminds me of our exit from Minnesota last Christmas in a major snowstorm. I never knew I could get so cold. We worked for days consolidating two storage units to one. Most memorable was getting locked out of my car at my storage unit in Mayer, after dark - no one close by - oof-da. It was my last night in Minnesota. It was my last trip to storage.

The snow had drifted in behind my car, and when I was backing out, I slid onto a crusted snow bank, left my car running, door open, to go get the snow shovel to shovel a path for the car.....The wind tore the door out of my hand, slammed it shut and there I was. no cell phone - it was in the car! It was about 3/4 of a mile into the little town. Instead, I tried to open the car myself and shovel snow from behind the car wheels. I did get worried when I found my coat completely coated with ice.

The angels were watching out for me, however. As I began the trek into town, I turned back and saw that a police car had come to cruise through the storage compound. I went back and a lovely woman officer tried to open my car then called another officer. After about 45 minutes they got my car unlocked, they helped me get my car unstuck, and I drove back to the other storage unit where Amber was cleaning out the last few boxes there.

We had promised my brother that we would be there for Christmas eve. At last we got into our two cars and very slowly made our way to the Minnesota border being very careful as we drove. Along with us went the cockatiel, the loaches - peach colored fish that look a little like six inch eels-, Sirius, Amber's dog, and the family dog, Niko. Art supplies, clothes, some favorite books, our DVD and CD player, computers and some other personal items we could not live without went with us.

The original plan had been to sell the house, buy a Casita travel trailer, and an Astro Van to pull it. The good news was the house did sell. Even then the market was bad. But not enough funds remained to buy the van and travel trailer. Things always work out, though, you notice? Sometimes just in the nick of time, however.

Five days before we were to check out of the motel that we had been living in for almost four weeks (it took way longer to finish up work, and clean out that last minute storage in Plymouth than expected), Amber's boss told us that the travel trailer that her Dad used every winter was available because he could not make the trip. She rented to us, and it was a fabulous, restful, wonderful experience in Mission Texas(which is where the blog begins).

During the month of February, I would step outside to take out the dogs, and just exult in the warm balmy weather in Texas. I earned every breath of it!

It got too hot, the bugs drove Amber nuts - especially the ants, and we finally left Mission in late May. It was a journey to be remembered. We had wonderful and sad, and poignant times as we left Texas, perhaps for the last time. I stopped by to see all of my nieces and nephews (Derrill's children) in Lampassas, TX. It was the first time I had seen them all together since my Dad's funeral.

We had a wonderful stay in at Derrill's, selling one of the cars. Gas prices rose from 2.97 to 3.22 before we left Texas, and was 4.50 by the time we reached Washington State. The car sold within 7 hours. I gave five groups of people rides to check it out that day. It was a miracle and a wonderful use of what I call 17 seconds.

After staying a couple of months at my sister's blueberry farm, we came to LOVE country life. Our most favorite library is in Lynden WA. On the way into town to go to the library - where we could get online - we would stop at the dairy where they make ice cream everyday, and people come across the border to stock up on milk and ice cream.

The stars are so wonderful in the country! So are fresh blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries.

Accountemps found an assignment for me in a suburb of Seattle, and then one for Amber. Before we knew it, we were moving our stuff into an apartment in Mukilteo - the drive was very long from the Canadian border down to Woodinville, or Lynnwood.

Our apartment is on a golf course in this small town. This area gets very dark at night. When we step outside to let out the dog, we can see the stars. That was one of my dreams. We can hear the ferry leaving the dock in Mukilteo heading over to Whidby Island. On clear days, I can walk a few blocks and look east over Puget sound. It is such a magnificent view.

When I drive to work; north, east, south, west - in every direction - there are mountains. On clear days I catch my breath because the view is so astounding. I watch every day for a view of "The Mountain." Mt.Ranier is over 14,500 feet high and a bit south east of Seattle. I'll come up over a rise, and there it will be in its glory, and I'll shout with joy. (scared my daughter the first few times when she was in the car with me). =)

She loves it here. At last she has rediscovered her calling. When she was six, she told me she wanted to be an animal communicator. I had never heard the term at the time. She has spent her whole life talking for the animals aloud, and I never realized what she was doing. I thought she was having a strong imagination, and being quite childlike. Twenty four years have gone by, and now I realize that what she was doing was converting the pictures she was seeing and hearing from the animals into human language. She's very good at it. She loves animals, has always, and especially loves horses. Her desire is to be a horse communicator specialist. She has talked with over 40 horses already during her apprenticeship. She gets back rave comments that her sessions are transforming the relationship between the human and their horse companions.

She is finding good training and friends out here in her field. The universe works in such mysterious ways.

One of the legacies she has from both her parents, is that we have always been open to alternate healing and energy work, so she does not have major biases to overcome as do many of her classmates.

My son Ellery is living in Burlington,VT and commutes to Montpelier where he works in the field of computers. He continues to research, write and travel with his professor from Morris about an exotic field of research called bio-modeling. Ellery took a fifth year to travel and study in Japan, where he made great friends, learned sumi painting, and began a grand passion with karoke. While living in Burlington with friends from his year abroad, he has taken voice lessons, and just sent me a link to his Christmas present. http://www.grandiloquent.net/xmas/

I'm very proud of my children. I am in awe with what they are doing with their lives and so grateful that I get to see it.

This season, I am snuggling in, painting, and writing, and beginning yet another website. Will post more when it is up - a new business venture combining my artwork with something else I love doing.

I am happy. I walk in joy - even when phantoms emerge - and feel so very blessed to be alive. All is well. And I hope all is very well with you.

Hello from Washington! What a summer!

Hey everyone!

This summer has been a wild ride. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - if you want to know. I'll try to put a positive slant as I write.

My ankle has healed. Walking now without the cast. Needs a lot of ligament healing work. I sure miss seeing Dr. Jed back home. I am so glad to be able to move around again without the wheelchair (that my sister borrowed), or the crutches (which my brother borrowed). It was wonderful that I had access to all those aids while I healed.

Sirius and I had wheelchair races up and down the barn. What fun. I developed lots of upper body strength carrying around my whole body weight on crutches or rolling myself around in the wheelchair. Amber developed her own body strength - either pushing me, or carrying all the computers.

It is very hard to post these days, because we don't have regular access to the web. We usually have to go to the library in order to post. So much to do!

Amber and I left the South late June 19th. We had a marvelous trip across the country. Derrill and Linda had gone this route before and they sent us off with route maps, and called us regularly and kept up with us as we traveled.

I had one really sad, sad experience. I had a good friend that I wanted to see en route, and she didn't want to see me. It hurt. I hadn't kept in contact with her and I guess she has written off our relationship. I am so sad. But I still care.

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday, and stayed with a very close friend of Amber's, Rachel and Amber were in Pony Club together in their teens. Rachel graduated from high school, and is finishing up her college degree in Salt Lake. I loved Salt Lake City. Pretty!!!!!!

Rachel composes music, designs handmade fashions, works full-time, and has a wide variety of friends. Her creativity is incredible. It was very inspiring for us to be with her, and to see her constantly working on something. She does lots of beading as well. Her apartment was very cute, and she has a wonderful dog.

Sirius and Bear had quite the wonderful adventure. The back door was always open so the dogs could run outside and play or do their business whenever they liked. NO BUGS!!!!!

My leg was newly broken, so I pretty much buried up in bed with my computer and did lots of work on my web site, so the girls could have private time. I was so relieved that Amber could have such wonderful time with her very special friend. She was quite kind to me as well.

We left Salt Lake City on Monday morning, and drove through Utah, across bottom corner of Idaho and stopped the night in Baker City Oregon. The next morning we finally did a tourist thing and stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center about five miles out of town. It was an incredible experience. Way up on a high hill, overlooking the valley, we could see for miles. There was a covered wagon display that we could crawl all over, painted very vivid colors.

We looked out over the rolling hills and could see the actual tracks of the wagon trail. The whole way through the rockies and up to the Columbia Gorge I was imagining what it must have been like for pioneers to be walking with the children and livestock and the wagons through the territory. What incredible courage those folks had. The Interpretive Center had films, and many displays - well worth a long visit. Most importantly it had a wheel chair, and Amber could wheel me around.

It was very hard to not be able to get up and walk, or put weight on my leg. Don't like having to depend on others. This has really slowed me down, and has been far more inconvenient than when either of my wrists were broken.

After we left the Interpretive Center, we traveled up to the Columbian Gorge, and rode west on the freeway along the Columbia River. The pioneers would make their wagons into boats and try to get themselves to the coast. They lost lots along the way. Many lost their lives - there were lots of rapids on the river then (now there are three big dams). Many lost their possessions. Many of the lost all of the rest of their money as there was always some enterprising - gouger who would take all their remaining money to move them around a forge.

It is helpful to be writing about the pioneers, because it helps me keep perspective about my own life.

We got into Gresham (a bedroom Community of Portland) that night and spent about three days with my astrologer friend Marsha. It was so wonderful to see her. It had been close to five years since I saw her. She and her husband have the cutest house tucked along a creek. The front is magically landscaped. Her home was comfortable and homey.

Amber however had a huge allergy attack. She couldn't breathe. We think it was from smoke from Rick's cigars which permeated the house on a subtle level. He doesn't smoke upstairs, but still the fabrics and carpet retained the smoke smell, and Amber's lungs got so congested I thought we were going to have to go to the emergency room so she could breathe.

It took her almost a month to regain her equilibrium and recover from both that experience and from all the new allergens in this new area of the country.

Finally we took off up to Washington to Blaine where my sister has a quaint Blueberry farm.

Her farm is five acres with a beautiful view of the mountains - including Mt. Baker. Her 2 bedroom farm cottage is picture perfect - complete with a honey room where she bottles up many different honeys and a little room that is an office. She's quite industrius and has lots of stamina.

She is incredibly creative. She fixed up an elaborate 2 bedroom suite in her barn for Amber, Sirius and I to live in. We have all the comforts of home except for running water, toilet, bathroom, and stove. (Laughing out loud).

We do however have a kind of kitchen. Kitchen cupboards, refrigerator, and ice and hot water machine, we get along just fine. We've learned a different way to function by cooking on a George Foreman Grill and a Lean Cuisine Grilling Machine.

Susan brought over her coffee maker - so its just like home. Got a kitchen table and chairs, with a wonderful rug under it, and we have had many meals there. We tote water, to do dishes, brush teeth, prepare food.

This whole suite is made of refrigerator boxes as walls, painted a beautiful sea foam green. She went to Home depot and bought hanging paper blinds and created the rest of the wall division from the top of the refrigerator box to the ceiling with the paper folding blinds. Its quite cute.

She found two dressers along the road for free, went and got some free carpet remnants, set us up with a couch, recliner, coffee table, TV, and ten years of JAG. We have fallen in love with that TV series. One of her clients was throwing out the DVD's so she got them for us.

She's quite the FINDER. She finds more free stuff than you can imagine. She and I went on a ride out to Summi Island last Sunday (my first visit to the San Juan Islands). We had a wonderful visit. Beautiful island. While we were riding around in her van, we stopped on this very small road, where a man was unloading a couch onto the side of the road. His wife didn't lilke the couch. But we did. So we sat on it. Smelled it to see if had any pet odors. It was good, Loaded it in the van, and now we have another free couch in our suite, This one belongs to me. It was perfect. Was a three seater couch that is split into 2 pieces. Is easy for a two woman team to pick up and move. Will be good for Amber and I when we find some place to move to.

I could keep writing. So much more to say.

She is selling her farm. We have done lots of chores. Weeding, Watering, Picking Berries, cutting down blackberry bushes. There is never a time when something doesn't need doing on the farm.

It has been quite stressful for her to have visitors (or liveins) while she put her home for sale with a listing agent. Of course we are all back to keeping the house and barn in tip top shape to show at any time.

My brother Derrill and his wife always come to Washington for a week vacation with some friends of theirs. This summer, I told them I would be willing to have Aaron (Derrill's son) stay with me while he and she went to Sun Valley (?) near Bend Oregon for their vacation.

We knew this would be a blessing for everyone, and it was. It was also an incredible challenge, because Aaron was suicidal. The last three weeks were one of the most difficult periods I have had - in a very long long long long time.

A lot of positive things have come from it, for which we are all grateful. But that spirit has an essence of dissension and chaos and had all of us balled up for a while.

Derrill, Linda and Aaron are home as of yesterday, safe and sound. I am so glad. I worried about them all the way home. Both of Aaron's parents have had the beegees scared out of them and are seriously looking for help for him.

In the meantime, I signed up for Accountemps - out here in Washington - and got an assignment down in Woodenville - which is a suburb of Seattle.

I worked two days, then they wanted me to take a break for a few days - which was great, because I needed to be home with Aaron. When they changed their mind and wanted me all of week before last, I said no - even tho I desperately needed the money - because I was so worried about Aaron's life.

But then Derrill came home on Thursday. I worked Thurs and Fri - which gave me more money, and worked the entire week this past Mon - Fri.

Susan lent me her big van, we put a bed in it and I camped out for five days while I was working to save wear and tear on the van, and save gas money. Seattle is almost two hours south of Blaine.

It is just too long a ride to commute back and forth every day.

Don't know when this assignment will end. Could be this next Monday. I also interviewed for a CFO position in Burlington WA. Love the area. Haven't heard from them whether they have made a decision yet.

I still have my dream of traveling around the northwest area, and writing and painting.

Just don't know how this will play out yet. It is an adventure.

The Northwest is a lovely area. The weather is fabulous.

Life continues to be an adventure. It also continues to operate on the Law of Attraction. I have been wanting to camp - and guess what. I am camping on a full time basis - in Susan's barn, and last week out of the van.

Maybe I want to change that picture in my mind. I actually kind of enjoy it a lot.

OH> GUESS WHAT!

Had a birthday at the end of JULY!!!!!!!

All of us got into the van and went out to Birch Bay State Park, and painted in oils. Amber, Aaron, Susan and me. We are all painters. We had an absolute blast. What a wonderful way to spend my birthday.

Miss you.

We have left Texas!

Hi folks:

We have lots of good news and a little broken news.


Amber and I packed up and left the RV Park in Mission Texas on May 21, 2008. The heat became pretty overwhelming. Burned out the battery on both cars. After getting them both running again, we packed everything up and were glad to see we could get everything into both cars.

After the cleaned everything and got it ready to be in storage for months, we were able to leave. Going in and out of the heat while packing was very taxing - as Anna is sensitive to the heat. But we got to leave around 8:30 pm, and got to my niece's home in Sabinal around 3:00 AM.

It was wonderful to drive during the night hours, because both of our air conditioners had bled out all its freon while in all the heat.

We left my niece's house on Friday, drove through the Hill Country in Texas up to Kerrville TX, It was spectacular. Lots of houses in the low areas were built on stilts however, because Texas is so prone to flooding.

In Kerrville, we spend the night, then visited my Mom and Dad's home on Ruth Street, It was for sale. The new owner had done major remodeling, and it looked wonderful.

A ten hour drive took us my brother's. We have been staying with Derrill and Linda for a couple of weeks (my brother).

While here, we have solved some problems that we just hadn't been able to figure out.

When I had gotten ill with the flu in Mission, we were delayed by the six weeks it took me to recover. However during that time, I was able to do lots of writing. I finally have had ideas begin to gel about future career directions. I am very excited about that. That was part of my mission in Mission. Think about alternate ways for generating income, and about my career.

It was quite wonderful to be able to keep progressing even while I was sick.

Then I became concerned I would not be able to keep up forward motion when we were packed up and on our trip. But that has not been an issue either. I do keep writing, and I am really thrilled that no matter what, forward progress is being made.

Our destination has also been changing so our plans kept changing. For a few weeks we were planning to return to Minnesota to work for the summer, and to buy an airstream trailer from my next door neighbor in Mission. That didn't work out. His son had sold it while he was living south for the winter.

We have now decided to go to the Pacific Northwest - our original plan. We have numerous friends in Oregon and Washington. My sister lives in Washington on a small blueberry farm, so we are going to spend the summer with her. She needs help.

It is quite unusual for me to live in this gypsy mode, and I just love it. We are still following our original plan of travel, however instead of it being a "road trip" carrying our house on our back in the form of a trailer, we are living for a few months at each stop. That is working very nicely.

We had a wonderful time getting to know the community in down there. We enjoyed the lifestyle and the people enormously.

Living with my brother for a total of six weeks has been quite lovely as well. I have really enjoyed their company and their lovely home. Amber and I developed a whole new relationship with cooking and food. I am finding that my creativity is flowing when cooking.

That may be nothing to those of you who have always enjoyed cooking, but to me, it is major. Nurturintg self and family was always a chore to me. Now its lost that energy, and it is beginning to be fun. I have learned to grill, and Amber and I have been the chief cook and bottle washer while at my brothers. Both of them work out of their home. They sell colloidal silver over the internet and honey. If you use colloidal silver, their's is fabulous and inexpensivie. www.n-ergetics.com

Linda does accounting remotely for a number of businesses, and manages the fulfillment of the orders oftentimes. (well they both do).

It has been powerful to be in a home of several homebased businesses.

My fifteen year old Niko dog finally was put down while we were in Mission. It broke my heart. I stayed with him during the procedure. So did Amber and Sirius. I just wailed when my body realized he was finally gone. He had been in lots of pain and was not eating. I think he is a lot more comfortable now.

Sirius is learning how to be First Dog in our home. He is the sweetest dog. He does great at notifying us when someone comes to the door by barking once or twice. He's very well behaved. His only problem, according to Derrill, is that Sirius doesn't know he is a dog.


Our formal address is still Minnetonka MN. But I find that my home rides around inside my heart. I feel home, whereever I am. Direct result from the Teacher work!

Fuel prices have really changed since we first were going to start for Washington which impacted out thoughts about taking two cars to Washington. We had always hoped to take only one, but selling one, and figuring out what to do with the things we took in that car has been an ongoing dilemma.

Well it got solved in the small town where my brother live. There is quite a bit of poverty here

We tried to sell the Toyota. Our hearts and energy just wasn't in it. Intuitively didn't feel right.

This week Derrill recommended we try selling the Red 94 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Spend several days cleaning, polishing, and making it really shine.

It sold at full price (far more than I expected) because so many people it. In seven hours, we took five parties for test drives, and received three low ball offers, and then at 5:30, two cars of people drove up at the same time, and they both wanted to buy it.


The next morning, we met at the bank, got the Bill of Sale Notorized, signed the Transfer of Title, and sent cashiers check to pay off the lien, and the buyer went with us to the post office to send of the cashier's check. The buyer was a delight. It was a wonderful experience. And an amazing one.

Amber has been attending all these personal business meetings with me, the financing of cars, the closing of our home, the selling of this vehicle. She is getting an amazing education. I remember going to the closing on my first home in my early 30's and not knowing anything.

My brother and sister in law suggested a freight company they use to receive the product they sell, and we are going to ship half of our belongings to my sister's in Washington. They should arrive there after we do.

We had planned on leaving Saturday, June 14. We sold the car on June 12. We packed and weighed all the boxes to ship, and figured out how they would fit exactly on the palatte.

Then we repacked the belongings that are traveling with us in the Toyota Avalon, and got them all packed in the car late Friday afternoon.

Then as we were just putting the last items in, I stepped on the two foot porch, and my weight landed on the outside of my foot twisting it inward, and the bone (fibula?) that doesn't bear the weight in the leg. snapped, right where the ligaments connect that bone to the other bones in the foot.

So off we went to the emergency room, with everyone shook up. Amber has the drill down now. First water and ibuprofen, then pillow and ice packs, and away we go. I heard it snap, but I didn't think I had a broken bone. However, did not test that theory. Did not put any weight on the foot.

Which was good. X rays showed a break, but the bone is aligned well. So it will heal well.

That of course has delayed our departure. We spend the weekend recovering with me keeping my foot lifted and moving around on crutches, and a rolling office chair, if I must go anywhere.

Will see a doctor today to see if the swelling has gone down enough to put on a cast.

Thank heavens, it has not been very painful.

In the meantime, Derrill, Linda Amber and I have had a chance to visit, look at family photos.

My brother Derrill has been the family historian and geneology buff. He has collected copies of photos from various family member's photo collections.

Our home in Naples burned down while we were on a family vacation to Maine when I was 16 years old. It has been a great journey finding photos of all of from before that time.

Sunday, Derrill and I labelled photographs. Talk about going down memory lane. Then Amber and I watched The Bucket List during the afternoon.

Quite a potent journey.

In Kerrville Texas, Amber and I went to the gravesite of my Mom and Dad. Amber had never been there. It is a beautiful area overlooking a long valley under a huge oak tree. We savored the quietness and the beauty of the spot.

I wept when I saw the grave marker for the first time. Even though Mom has been gone for 13 years and Dad has been gone for 8 years, it was startling to see their names carved in stone with the dates they were born and the dates that they died.

When I am with my family, we talk about them all the time, and it is as if they are still with us. We laugh at the things and stories my Dad told.

I guess this is a life review in a way.

Seeing my niece who is now 33 with three children of her own, and remembering her as a 3 year old is kind of a mind bender. Now her daughter looks a lot like her. And I look a lot like my Mom.

With the heat so fierce, I have let my hair grow so that I can pull it back into a ponytail. With my hair away from my face, I look very much as my Mom did in her later years. Now that is uncanny as well.

Life just keep circling around.

Our plans are to get the cast on, and then make our way to Washington on a route going from Texas to Colorado Springs, through Denver, over the mountains to Salt Lake City, and then up through the desert to Washington. We'll probably cross the Cascades either in Washington or Oregon.

We are doing well. Our spirits are up. We remain flexible, and are enjoying the journey.
Anna

Artistes in Residence

It's a glorious day in Mission Texas. We have had the air conditioning off, and the day has been lovely. Iim recovering from some kind of bug. The day has been spent reconnecting with more friends, by phone and by e-mail. Marg and I talked for almost two hours. You all seem to really enjoy seeing bits and pieces of my life down here.

The covered porch on the left is surrounded by lattice. That is making a fabulous studio. In the front of the trailer is an orange with fuschia hibiscus, a crocus (the red, maroon, goldish leaved bush) under the front windows), and a huge gardenia bush on the right.

I have been watering them all since the top photo was taken and they love it. I can't wait until the gardenia bush blooms - it has white gorgeous fragrant blossoms and is my favorite flower. Aren't digital cameras terrific. This gardenia picture came off the web, however.

We moved our dining table out onto the porch, and there already was a plastic white round table and chairs. If you look between the yellow and red cup is a container filled with water. One of D2's (our cockatiel) mockingbird friends is having a drink.

Amber and I have had great fun trying to regain our technique with painting. Just as in any sport or athletic activity as dance, when you don't do it for a while, it gets rusty. Amber took watercolor classes at Normandale Community College, and we both went up to Lake Superior and took a long weekend workshop with Karen Knutson and Pat Undis February a year ago. We sure missed being able to attend this February, but we sure liked the weather better. You can see Karen's work at Karen Knutson Watercolors, and an example of Pat's is here from the North Artists Studio Art Walk . Just click on the colored words.

Behind Amber in these two photos is a huge color chart that she has been making. For the last two years I have been looking for a warm red to include in my palatte. Also my Christmas present to myself was a bunch of watercolor tubes from Daniel Smith. At one of Karen's workshops, I met a woman from Florida who had almost all of them, and she let me paint some color patches with these tubes and I fell in love. If you are not an artist, the rest probably won't interest you. When painting watercolor, and finding one's own painting voice, we have to select our own particular set of pigments to work with. Each pigment has different characteristics (like whether it is transparent or opaque, granulating or not, staining or not). Cadiums are generally opaque, perhaps granulating, and sometimes staining. I like to work with transparent colors and like lots of granulations, but I don't like staining colors. Staining colors sink into the paper and you can't get them off no matter how hard you scrub - yep - you can correct watercolors - if you are not using staining colors and your paper is hardy. (har har har)

Well, many reds are staining. Many explode on the paper and take over other colors. So I have been on my quest for my warm red. I have all these tubes of paint, but I don't know how they really interact on paper. Amber and decided our best bet was to make color swatches of each tube of watercolor that we had. She cut hers apart and put hers together on two big pieces of styrofoam. I've been painting mine in groups on small size paper so that I can create a set of references. It's been lots of fun. I brought all my color information down with me, and have created a color notebook - including manufacturers brochures with all the colors - and Daniel Smith's huge new color chart. Which I have decided doesn't work for me. Amber has the right idea. I created a color chart a long time ago when I took Carol's Color class, and I have used it very much. I think I will create another color wheel, and include my Daniel Smith's pigments. Carol's class was one of more helpful classes I took. She has since moved to Colorado, built her dream home and an adjoining studio.

While I am talking about Art and Carol, if you haven't already seen her Women of the Prairie series, it is a must. Too Many Too Soon is part of No Time for Idle Hands. Her personal art journey has been very inspiring for me. She branched from watercolor to pencil to prepare for that series, and then on to pastel and now oils. You can see her work at Carol McIntyre's Fine Art.


The good new is we have plenty of subject matter to paint. Our two dogs here are forlorn at being shut on the porch during workout time.









The goats are always wonderful subject. We have to be careful where we come to the fence because they think we are coming to feed them.

Easter Porch-Raising @ Tanya's in Texas

Amber and I went to my niece Tanya's in Sabinal for Easter. It was the first Easter I have ever spent with any of my family since I was 18. My brother Derrill and wife Linda had been promising to help Tanya put a porch with a gabled roof onto the front of her home. In Texas and the southern states, roofs are often made with Tin sheets. To tie the gabled porch into the existing pitched roof, quite a bit of the existing roofing material had to be removed.

Tanya and her husband have been renovating and expanding their home by themselves. They pay for all their materials as they go, and so have substantially increased the value of their home. You would not believe how little their original mortgage was. I am very impressed with her. She can seam and float sheetrock which is very challenging, and has amazing other skills. She has to with three children.

Tanya's home is six hours away from Mission. We drove up, not knowing what to expect, but knowing a big project was in process. Tanya with the help of her Uncle Dan (who spent several evenings calculating cuts, angles, materials) had made the calculations, ordered all the materials, and had it waiting so that she, her husband and her Dad could get rolling. This picture shows Derrill sawing one of the joists and Tanya holding it steady.

We felt like we were doing something like a barn raising. Family and friends came over with food and hammers, ice and Gatorade, and away it went. Some people making food, some people cleaning up, others watching the baby and overseeing the kids. The weather held up great. We all prayed a lot that it wouldn't rain before the roof was buttoned back up.

The kids were great. Aaron came down from Lampasas. He and Tyler (uncle and nephew) enjoyed shooting baskets. I watched Tyler sink four baskets in a row, the ball never touching the rim.

Aaron was great with the kids, and was wearing a shirt that said "I'm a keeper."

Easter was a working day. But
we made sure to have the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Pinata 'bustin' before Linda and Anna took Aaron back to Lampasas (about 7 hour round trip through the hill country and it was beautiful). I had made a chicken salad - yum was it good, and we left it in the refrigerator for anyone to snack on when they were hungry. Linda, Anna and Aaron had a bowl before they started their trip.

Back to the egg hunt. Amber and Aunt Linda took the 24 eggs out into the back fenced in yard and hid them. Kristen and Anna went across the street and looked and the horses - which was one of Amber's favorite places to look. We could see that pasture looking west from Tanya's kitchen. Amber of course found one - a chestnut that she really wanted to bring back home. Tyler found the prize egg, and Kristen found that a gecko was much more interesting than her Easter eggs.

Now the pinata was fun. All over the country, hispanics sat along the road hawking different Easter creations. Some were made like eggs, and I thought it would be fun for the kids. I bargained with the lady just as she was closing up for the night, and got a great deal while Amber was checking into the motel.

Never having bought a pinata before, I was thinking that the candy was already in there. NOT. Good thing Amber told me that before we took to hitting the thing. So I went to Walmart on Easter morning and got candy to put in for treats, and the wine vinegar and oil that I needed to make the chicken salad.

The guys would get up in the mornings between 7:30 and 9:00 and get working on the porch. Amber and I missed seeing them set the original posts and taking off the roof, because we didn't arrive until Saturday evening around 7:00. Easter morning though, they worked, Linda made breakfast - ginger pancakes for the kids. The guys came in for breakfast, then they and Tanya went back to work. The Easter egg hunt was in the back. We decided to hang the pinata in front to include the workers in the fun. (plus that is where the tree was).

I found a broom stick, and legislated that Kristen (the smallest) would hit first, then Tyler, then Aaron.

Kristin and Tyler are very athletic as is their Dad. Tyler went to softball practice and Kristin went to her softball practice around 6:00 on Monday, just before we left on Tuesday. They both hit that Pinata with mighty whacks. Then it was Aaron's turn. I was sure that the pinata game was over when with a huge smack, surprise, the pinata stayed intact.

By now, all the adults had stopped what they were doing and watched with interest to see how this was all going to turn out. My job was making sure the participants landed their blows on the pinata and not on any bystanders. I was the Gestapo. Didn't seem to stop the kid's fun. Each kid got to hit the egg three different times. before the egg began to come apart. It took even more thwacks before the whole thing came apart.

The grownups loved it. We were all on the sidelines just grinning. The sawhorse and plywood in the picture was part of the construction site. The work table.

Just between you and me, I saw some of the grownups come over and help with picking up the candy - their own stash. But not much. Those kids were quick.


Kristen kept up with the gecko for quite some time. Don't know if you remember it Derrill, but once upon a time, when you were visiting, you took us to St. Paul, and you picked up a gecko for Amber. Did she love it. And she loved the four anoles that you sent her.

Between Tanya, Aunt Linda, Amber and myself, we were able to keep up with Kinsley. She's the newest addition on their block. Four months old, she captured everyone's heart. Including her brother and sister. They love her to pieces and watch over her well.

Somewhere in all the fun, Tanya and Derrill compared their genes which show amazing dexterity in thumbs and toes.

We ended our Sunday with Linda and Anna arriving home safely. We were going to watch a movie, but maybe we were too tired. I remember going home to the motel and doing 17 seconds with Amber and praying for a dry night and lots of wind to dry what had gotten wet. It began to drizzle during the evening hours. With the roof still open to the elements, there were some people that night who didn't sleep very well. Monday dawned bright and sunny. There were a few puddles on the insulation that were about the size of 50 cent pieces, according to Tanya. We were all very relieved.


Monday, Derrill and Linda were thinking of heading up to Utopia about 4:00 pm. Anna and Amber had checked out of the hotel, because they too were going to head on home. One thing interferred.

That one thing. Do you remember City Slickers?

Well our one thing was.....it wasn't done yet.

We were all relieved when the tin started being replaced on the original roof. But it all had to be measured and cut to fit around the gable that had just been installed. All the construction workers were tired, sunburned and thirsty out in the sun all day. They did a magnificent job.

I grilled chicken strips marinated in a wonderful teriyaki sauce, served with mashed potatoes and green beans. I got it done about 7:00. No one wanted to stop to eat because we wanted to use every available ray of light. When the last piece of tin was replaced and screwed down, we were all relieved. There was only plywood over the porch, but at last we could stop, refuel, and rehydrate. Everyone loved the chicken and mashed potatoes. Tyler loved that they were "real" There was plenty left over.

Amber and I decided not to try to drive back to Mission and indulged in a cup of zinfandel - Tanya doesn't keep wine glasses around. Derrill and Linda also decided to stay the night. Don (Bubba) said "I've got my second wind", and we went back to work. Tanya and I went outside with the men, and helped measure and we wanted to cut, but cutting tin is a bugger, and the tool was getting dull. Derrill's knees were really swollen by this time, and every step that Tanya and I took was one less that he had to make. We all finally finished somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 pm. There were some happy faces. It was done. No rain ruined vaulted ceiling in the living room, thank heavens.

Amber and I slept on the living room couches that night. The kids were up at 7:30. We had overslept so Tanya quickly made lunches and took them to school. The rest of us got up, got our belongings together, had a very short visit, prayed, took photos of the front porch now completely roofed.

We've all talked on the way home, on the phone, several times, of what a wonderful experience it was to do something together as a family. Derrill said it was the best Easter ever. Amber and I were thrilled to be a part of the family gathering, and felt that we really had also contributed. That many hands and hearts together helped make a wonderful addition. What wonderful memories we all have of the porch raising.
From this to completion. Well Tanya and Bubba still have more to do. They will add a deck flooring, stairs, then they can take the diagonal support posts down. But the part they needed help with, tieing into the original roof, that was done.