2019 Retrospective

January

Morning walks with the dogs

Busy times at the Creations Clubhouse

February:

Dulcimer workshop in Mt. Dora

Yard work in Point Richmond

Surprise! A pretty tree (found out later it is a peach tree)

Whinny gets loaded!

Going out of harbor

Boxes are the best

Before

After (actually finished in July)

Love the littles!

Pretty skies

March Madness

Ready for the Pickleball skit

April - Savannah in the Spring

Oops

The Rivoli Crew

Sadly, we lost Jennifer to lung cancer (2nd from left) in December

Sketching rally sights

Bumping into Carlos and Donna (Texas friends) in Savannah

Sad to see the old Bluffton House

Love bug season

June: Rochester Reunion

Harley friends

I used to be bigger than the tree

Sarah Alexander, Jim Schwarz and his family

July: Uh oh, we like this house

Summer fun in San Fran (and surroundings)

August

September:

October:

Visit with Inger in Tehachapi

Before

After growth hormones!

On its way to being "home"

November

December

The stockings were hung...

New Year's Eve at RiverBend..

the end!

W.E.P. Runner Up

I mentioned in an earlier post that my English teacher in high school never liked my writing. He had a way of knocking my legs out from under me. I consistently earned C's or worse on my papers. Early on I met with him to find out what I could do to improve my grades. He had the audacity to peer down on me and say, "Your writing will improve with maturity." My response was less than polite, and probably earned me more downticks on my grades! Several times since graduation I have had occasion to feel proud about my writing, and thrilled to know that apparently, I have matured!

Recently I learned that I was the Runner-Up in the December W.E.P. writing challenge. Validation that I can, indeed, write well enough!

Click on the image to be transported magically (like Dorothy clicking her heels together) to my entry for the December challenge.

The judge, Nick Wilford, commented:

"Heartrending and emotional. Captures so much in just a few words" (175 words to be exact.)
Nick, you have no idea how your words have had an impact on me!

To visit the WEP site click on the badge below. There is a link to the challenges for 2020 if you care to join the fun.

Hawaii and Home

Our son wanted to have a family "destination" Thanksgiving in Hawaii. He found a lovely home in Waialea Kahala with lots of rooms! The main house had 4 bedrooms, and several nooks and crannies where people could sleep. The detached garage had a small apartment upstairs and a bedroom and bath downstairs. The house had a securely enclosed back yard and was a short walk to the beach. It also had a swimming pool. There were spacious rooms for lounging, including an outdoor lanai and the house even had two complete kitchens; one inside and one out!

On our first day we all decided to climb Diamond Head. It was quite a trek, in a long line of tourists. Morning was the perfect time to make the ascent as most of the trip was in the shade of the wall of the volcano. 

This is where we are going!

 The views were worth the climb:

Waikiki

Diamond Head Lighthouse

We two Grandmas celebrated our hike to the top and back with a Dole Whip!

Having a house with a pool was perfect for the family. The kids enjoyed a lot of time in the pool. 

Besides our family, our son invited a friend and their three children. The kids had a lot of fun together, including down time on electronic devices - a luxury for our grandkids!

It was nice to have house with nicely outfitted kitchens so that we didn't have to eat at restaurants all of the time. This is Izzie, one of the kids from the other family. He had never washed dishes before, or so he stated! I had to take a picture for his mom as evidence that he can do it!

The house had three sitting areas, but only one inside table, so we often ate in shifts, or took our plates to some other area. 

We set out for a hike to Manoa Falls, only to find that they were closed. The Park Service was working on the trail. However, we stumbled upon Lynn Arboretum which had a hike to Alhualama Falls. Sadly, there was very little water... only a trickle. 

We also visited Foster Botanical Gardens. They had an amazing collection of trees, and this cute visor that I found at the gift shop. This should be easy to make!

We often went different directions, and found lunch places wherever we were. We stumbled on Fresh Catch in Kaneohe. The shop had amazing sea food with a fast food atmosphere. Most of the customers were local. It was quite a find!

Our plans for having a house-sitter fell through. We found Babcock Barks practically in our back yard. Kelli, the owner of the company, took our dogs into her home for the three weeks we were gone. Here (from L to R) Tucker, Gypsy, Cap and Ivy wait for dinner.

The dogs had a wonderful vacation. They even watched videos lounging on Kelli's bed!

We stopped at the Dole Plantation and took the train ride tour. They produce only a small amount of pineapples, but their property showcases Hawaiian agriculture. From there we went down the road to a small coffee farm. 

We also visited the Waikiki Aquarium. It was built at the end of the trolley line so riders might be encouraged to ride to the end of the line! It is a small aquarium. I enjoyed watching the octopus. On my first pass he was sleeping, wonderfully camouflaged on the rock coral. 

On my second pass, he had come out and was exploring.

Before we knew it our time was up and we had to fly back to San Francisco. We rode our bikes down to the truck rental company to pick up a 16' Penske truck. We spent a day loading tools and sewing machines, a bit of furniture and some odds and ends.

We took off the next morning, traveling 500 miles or so each of the next 6 days. Below is a picture as we climb the pass on I-5 just north of LA. My friends said this area is called "The Grapevine". It was fun to see many cars pulled over so that kids of all ages could play in the snow - an unusual experience, even for this area.

Sunrise in Palm Desert, CA

Considering that we travelled over 3,000 miles, we were fortunate in having few delays other than heavy traffic, some construction and some disabled vehicles. As we approached the bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge all traffic stopped. There was an accident a mile beyond the bridge. However, while waiting a car a bit ahead of us overheated and caught on fire. That must have been terrifying for the owner of the car, and for the vehicles around him. A fire truck came up the bridge on the west bound lanes and extinguished the flames.

 We stopped to see Scott's sister and to pick up some furnishings that had belonged to his mother, and then, after 6 long days of driving we were home. We unpacked the truck and returned it the next day. Then, we unpacked most of the boxes, and now we are getting back to getting settled.

W.E.P. December Challenge: Footprints

And just like that, December is here and it is time for another writing challenge. Click on the image below to find links to all entries.

The footsteps faded to emptiness down the long, colorless corridor.

She was shaken awake by the dream. Another strange dream brought on by the hormones coursing through her body. 

The baby was born, to her delight. He smiled up at her from his vantage point between her legs, and he pushed himself backwards to safely climb off the birthing table. He walked down the shadowed hallway, out of the delivery room, leaving nothing but footprints piercing her heart. The fading sound of his steps still echoed in her head, and pulsed through her body. She’d experienced other strange dreams during previous pregnancies. Pregnancies that never sustained themselves beyond eight weeks. 

She immediately knew, from the core of her being. 

She folded the crocheted baby blanket she had just begun and put it in the paperboard box, along with a few other baby items. Tangible reminders of dashed hopes. With heavy steps, she carried it down the hall to put it in the dark recesses of the closet; out of sight, but never out of mind. 

175 words

Full critique welcome

PS: This was my dream many years ago. It was haunting, and it was a portent of things to come. The blanket was finally finished. I went on to bear two sons. However, my heart still holds the memories of the lost ones.

It's Broken. No, It's Not. Yes, It Is!

I happened to stop by a Goodwill store to look for "art" that I could repurpose, either using the frame or repainting a canvas, or maybe, just maybe, finding "art" that I would want to hang on our immense expanse of wall that we have. (Our ceilings are all 10' high and we have lots of wall space.) I lucked out in that the Goodwill was having a 50% off sale, so I found a number of art pieces and was heading out the door when I spied a large wooden desk.

Hmmm, thought I, that could be a great sewing table. I went over to inspect the desk. It had a few dings and veneer chips... character one might call it! But otherwise, the piece was in good shape, and it was solid. Yup... it wasn't made the way furniture is now. This was all wood, and weighed a ton! And... I wanted it. Of course, the price was an incentive. The original price was listed as $14.99. So, I bought the desk for the kingly sum of $7.50!!!

I went back the next day with the truck. The desk just fit in the truck's bed, with the tailgate down. It took four of us to heft that hunk of wood into the bed of the truck. I got the desk home and took out the drawers to lighten the load, and so I could clean them. We suckered an electrician who was giving us an estimate to help us get the desk off the truck and into the garage. Later, when our furniture arrived, we asked the fellas who had moved those pieces if they might possibly consider installing the desk in my sewing room. They obliged.

As I inspected my new find I discovered a stamp on the bottom of the desktop that indicated that the desk was manufactured in 1956

Based on a label in one of the drawers, the desk probably cost $140 when purchased at Galloways.

With just a smidge of research, I discovered that Ralph Galloway began an upholstery business in 1944 and began to specialize in Danish furniture. He eventually had six furniture stores on the Gulf coast of Florida, as well as one in Orlando. 

So, it was fun to find out a bit about my desk. 

However, that is not the subject of this post. The desk is not broken. But, it is because of the desk that I hurt my toe! 

Earlier I wrote that I had removed the drawers so I could clean them. I took the drawers out to the driveway with a container of soapy water and a scrub brush. I scrubbed each drawer, rinsed it, and positioned it in the sun to dry. At one point I walked into the garage. My feet were wet. The garage has one of those shiny finished floors. The floor was amazingly slippery with wet feet. I started doing an awkward split, with my left foot rapidly moving north, and my right beginning to head south. In some sort of valiant effort to remain standing I guess I twisted and my right foot slammed, toes down, onto the floor. 

Yeouch! It hurt! I hopped around for a bit, spewing a string of expletives, and went about my task. Only a bit later, when it still hurt, I noticed how the end of the toe next to my big toe had turned rather black. And, a bit later, there was additional redness, some blue, and some swelling. I Googled "images of broken toe" and compared my toe to what I saw online. Hmmm... it could be broken! Next I checked with Dr. Google to see if one should see a Doctor about a suspected broken toe. I knew they usually can't do anything about it, but the Internet did say that it should be x-rayed to be certain nothing is out of line. So, off we went, later that afternoon, to a Convenient Care center for an x-ray. 

The PA read the film and declared that I had, indeed, broken my toe. I had a closed fracture of the last joint of my second toe. I could even see the pie-shaped piece that had broken from the joint. The PA gave me a surgical shoe to wear and told me to follow up with a podiatrist. She also mentioned that a radiologist would read the x-rays and the results would be posted on "My Chart", an online interface for patients to keep track of their medical procedures, tests, appointments, etc. The next day the radiologist reported:

How wonderful to know that my big toe was not broken. However, as I explained in a note to the employee who posted the report, the second toe was the one in question, and perhaps a radiologist should take a look at that one. 

Before the radiologist reported on reading the x-ray a second time I had an appointment for a general checkup with a PA in our new neighborhood medical center. I told her my story. She pulled up the x-rays, and agreed with the original diagnosis. The toe was fractured. 

I have since visited a podiatrist to assure that the fracture remains "closed".  All is well, and the toe hasn't interfered with the enjoyment I find in sewing at my new desk!

Horrible Harvest Yields Rewards

I enjoy a challenge. I find playing with words fascinating. I admire writers who paint amazing pictures and evoke emotion deep in my soul, simply by the way they craft their work. 

How wonderful to be selected as the Runner Up in the October challenge at WEP!

The Judge, Nick Wilford, added this comment:

"Takes a sideways look at a difficult subject and does it in a way that it doesn't lose any of the impact. Really well done."

Gosh, I wish my High School English teacher could see this! He never liked my writing!

Click here to read my post "Alcoholic Annihilation" 

Click on the badge above to see other Horrible Harvest entries.