This and that.

To Shirley:  Yes, we do want to be healthy and able to get around on our own.  Probably a good thing I didn't come to visit.  Doesn't sound like you guys would have been much fun.   Also, the airlines are not very dependable these days.  Shoddy maintenance, cancelled flights, bankruptcy and so on.  Not a good time for me to travel.  Thanks for the cranes with moon picture on you blog.  

Shae came and stayed with me for three days.  We had fun.  She is full of questions.  And knows a lot of answers.  She states them with a lot of authority.

I just had a health scare.  They called me back for an additional mammogram.  The good news is they had to take about 8 pictures with a different machine to even find what had shown up on the original.   And then didn't find anything.  The doctor wants to check again in six months.  The bad news is I had to be squeezed eight times.  And it hurt.  Finally I relaxed enough not to hurt so much.

BIG NEWS.  Paulette and I are booked on an Alaskan Cruise starting in Seattle August 1.  It is seven days with stops in Ketchikan, Juno, Sitka and Victoria Island, Canada and back to Seattle.

I'm excited.

Paulette  can see without glasses or contacts and even looks different.  She is still very excited about her surgery and it is, apparently, a total success.  

Sutter Buttes

The Sutter Buttes, sometimes referred to as the smallest mountain range in the country rise out of the flat Sacramento valley about sixty miles north of Sacramento.  These mountains are privately owned.  They are visible from Sacramento on clear days and from I5 as you travel along with caravans of big trucks to Oregon.  The third time I planned a hike to the buttes it did not storm.  Twice before last weekend I had arranged to hike the buttes with friends.  Those weekends produced some of the strongest storms of the year on those dates.  This time the weather turned out perfect.  We hiked for six hours up to the top of one peak.  Had lunch and hiked back down.  It is a steep hike and when we returned to the cars I was sure I would not be able to walk on Sunday.  However I took Aleve and my legs were fine the next day.  

The snow-covered mountain in the photo on the right is Mt. Lassen,  another mountain I want to hike to the top.  The first time I went to hike it the wind blew so hard the rain was almost horizontal.  Well not quite but it rained a lot.  The next time it was June and the temperature 

was about 85f.

Spring

We have been doing spring for a while and I was waiting until the midwest temp moved above zero to post these photos.

Trees all over look like cotton candy, pink or white.  There were no pink ones on my walk.  I have several different routes to walk now that I'm a little more acquainted with my neighborhood.  I can walk around two drainage ponds that serve as stops along the migration routes for ducks and geese.  At the small one there are a number of very brown jack rabbits.  I was afraid they had been displaced by the high water but if they were they are back.  Several kinds of ducks are swimming around each time I pass.

Not everyone likes these trees due to allergies.  I like them even though they dry out my contacts.  I've had my windows open all day for the last two weekends and after the next rain I'm going to put my outdoor table and chairs on the balcony.   The tree and fountain are in front of a Bel Air supermarket in Yuba City, CA.   

flowers and sunrise

 

Sunrise yesterday morning from my balcony.

My African Violet showing off.


Last week, in my Davis class the student from France left to return home.

She brought me this Freesia plant.  I don't know how long it will last under my care but it was beautiful with the morning sun shining on it while I drank my coffee.

See a little corner of my place.

Now you can see where the pieces are displayed.

This is my dining area.  I'm standing behind the table.  The kitchen is to the left.  See the sunrise?  About one minute after I took this picture  that sunrise was covered by clouds.

In the lower right is an Ikea door for a little cabinet I bought.  Paulette and I couldn't get it on.  Photo when it is finished.  Then I can show you my front door.

See what I made.

I had to do something with a quilt Grandma Anderson made for me when I got married.  I had used it a lot and it was worn.  SO...I cut some of the blocks out and framed them.  The top shoe, Mother once told me it was mine.  I suppose the other one was Aunt Julia's and maybe Mother's.

These two projects are part of my attempt to have everything in my home have a place instead of stuck in a box for sorting.  Paraphrasing Shirley: All this stuff takes up time and energy as well as space.

I'm glad I don't have enough to rent a space at the Brass armadillo.

Here's a piece of Grandma Anderson's wedding china.  I used a piece of a quilt she had made me and put it in a barnboard shadowbox frame.  Paulette and a couple of friends said it looks good.  I'll take a photo of the place where it is hanging later.   Both pieces are in the kitchen and the counter is messy.

Pretend Spring

Pretend Spring is what I call the week in mid February.  Around President's day,  fog decorates the fields in puffy patches. It also hovers above the water of the river.  Sixty degree days bring out the shorts.  Flowering trees are tricked into blooming.  They pop up between the naked ones.   During this week I enjoy as much outdoor activity as possible because I've been here long enough to know winter is hiding in the near future.   

For everyone east of Nevada I apologize.  I just HAD to write about this winter break.