September 9, 2011



Huge ripening rose hips!



Tall Mullein outside kitchen window.



I would like to state for the record that my work on the deck is done.  Sung to the tune of "The Witch is Dead", it sounds great.  And feels even better.  Ding. Dong.  The deck is done!

Wednesday and Thursday JB worked on the trailer and his shop.  I finished sealing the deck in the morning before the sun got to it, and then helped him a bit.  We have decided that this old, battered trailer simply will not make the trip loaded with wood from Seattle to Rose Camp.  So JB went on line to rent one over there on Friday and return it over here on Sunday.  We are only going to use our trailer Up Here from now on, so we won't have to license it again.  We have a smaller, sturdier trailer we can use to go Down There if we need to.  Just have to put sides on it.

Today we leave for the other side of the mountains.  Am trying to get into my city mind just for the weekend.  It is supposed to be abnormally hot Down and Over There, which probably means very muggy.  The past couple days Up Here it has been in the high seventies with no breeze.  About 13 degrees above normal, according to NOAA.  It is much more damp on the west side of the Cascades, so their heat is more humid than ours.  Oh, goody.  But it will be so good to see everyone again and celebrate the two birthdays.  I spent yesterday afternoon getting ready for the trip.  I always over pack, no matter where I am going or for how long.

I have had so much fun preparing the photo book for my mother-in-law's birthday.  Going back forty years in pictures has resurrected a lot of good memories.  Having to pare down from  almost 100 pictures to 37 was very difficult, so I printed some of them out in wallet size in order to put two to a page.  Looks pretty good.

This past week I read one of Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawsky mysteries.  Somewhere back in the recesses of my memory, I recall reading one of these long ago.  Don't know why I didn't read them all.  I love the main character, who is a lot like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and I have read most of her books at least twice.  Paretsky's book was the sixth in the series and written about 1989, so I will have to try to find the first five at one of the used book stores Down There.

Speaking of weather, our Son had to fly to Baltimore the day after their earthquake, and just in time for their hurricane.  He was there for a week, then flew back to Mobile just in time for their hurricane over Labor Day weekend.  He has all the luck.

Because of our trip I won't be writing on Sunday, but on Monday I will have the rest of  the story from my friend, Sande, on her one and only camping experience.