The Ocean

Day 3... June 22, 2009

Here I am on a beach on the Oregon Coast.  This is yours truly at Bastendorf Beach.  As you can see it is absolutely beautiful.  The day is windy and the ocean is rough.  We had a glorious day shopping and exploring the coastal cities of Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston.  Jan and I skipped out by ourselves and did only what we wanted to do with no regulations, rules or timetables.

Jan and I are at the Coast Guard Station at Chicken Point.

Harbor side at Charleston boat docks.

A view of Charleston Bay.

Tomorrow look for more exciting adventures from Crater Lake.

Oh... the most exciting news of all.  You will all have to come to my house and view my new yard art.  And yes, I did buy it.  And yes, I love it.  And no, I did not get it at the dump.  And no, you will never find one like it unless you too go to Charley Town in Charleston.

Heaven... a mere 7 hours away!

Every year when I go to Oregon, this is what it looks like... green, green and more green.  It is so fun to leave the lovely Oroville (cough, cough) and come here to where it is either green and lush or sandy with an ocean view.  Oh, I know, it rains a lot and the weather is not hot enough to grow tomatoes yet.  How awful!!!  As for me, 65 -80 degree days are perfectly wonderful and they grow enough tomatoes for me in Mexico.  So... this is Jan's view from her deck.  

They live in a small town called Coquille which is about 45 minutes from Coos Bay and the ocean.  The drive from the ocean to their house looks like this... all year long.  If we are green from Feb. to April we consider ourselves lucky.  The rest of the time we are "golden".

This is the garden.  I can't believe I have a friend who LOVES to work in her garden.  And no, that love of gardening is not contagious, because I have not caught any of it.

The red front door.  Why does everyone love a red front door?

Look at these flowers.  They are everywhere around her house.  

Tomorrow we are going to have chowder at the High Tide restaurant that looks over the Cocquille light house.  Sound like fun?

CHAINSAW CARVING IN REEDSPORT, OREGON

I am in Oregon... Coosbay, Bandon on the coast.  I am visiting my good friends, Jan and Larry Payne.  I met Jan the year I had cancer... 1999.  Jan took me to chemo every Friday after school.  She was a teacher at Bird Street and he was the principal at OHS.  We have remained friends and I try to visit their home in Oregon.  I think it is very convenient (for me) for them to retire to such a lovely vacation spot. 

First Day. It was a very interesting day.  It began with watching an international chain saw carving event in Reedsport.
I watched a carver from Japan.  This is his finished product (bench) of the "quick carve".  He did this in one hour and fifteen minutes.  Since I am such a novice at this blog stuff, I accidentally put this in the wrong order.  I wanted it from start to finish, but alas, here it is, from finish to start.  Oh well.

The wing is done and he is now doing the eagle head.

This is the slab from which he carved the wing you see above.

There were many carvers... at least thirty and all the carvings were different and unique.  The carvings were auctioned off at the end of the day... we weren't there for that BUT they didn't go cheap.  Even the littlest carvings were at least $25.  So... too rich for my blood

Here's how it all began.

Ken Means... Master Carver

Ken Means is a master carver of carousel animals.  His plan is build a full size, real, working merry-go-round... more formally referred to as a carousel.  By day he is a bus driver, but after that the transformation begins.  He is a real life artist.  July 6th is the first day of his 3 week class at which he teaches people from all over the world to carve and paint the animals.

Chicken in the early stages

Check out the detail.  These animals are absolutely beautiful.

And here he is... standing between two of his favorites.

This is part of what will ultimately be a dragon bench seat... although he had a fancy name for it. 

Ken's studio is in Myrtle Point, Oregon.  Today I witnessed something very unique and definitely out out of the ordinary.  I met a "real artist".

Happy Birfday to Me!!

Isn't my cake beautiful?  All you millions of cyber geeks out there reading this most interesting blog should have seen last years.  A cake that only a mother could love!!  This one looks like it came from Raleys.  And it tasted good.  In case you people out there don't know our little secret, the best recipe in the world is on the back of the cocoa can.  And the biggest surprise of all, ANGELEE MADE IT... ALL BY HER LONE.

The party began at Shakeys, but ended at my house.  Part of the festivities was looking and screaming at the stick bugs. They are so scary you know. 

Next was the tree fun. Once Sam heaved himself into the tree he then challenged Eric to do the same. Soon these two grown boys were having pull-up contests in the tree. It's a miracle no one got hurt. And yes, the tree is still standing. With so much fun happening, the two little boys wanted in on the fun. So here they all are, up in the tree. The smart ones (the girls) were content on simply watching the tree fun from the deck.

Next came the sun glass fun. Eli found Joshua's Valentine sunglasses and wore them around saying, "I'm looking good". He continued to wear them through the sprinkler fun. (sorry no pictures of that)
Samers: Sam and Bolo in their new summer hats.

Goodbye Kate

How presumptuous to visit someone on your birthday because they're then obligated to get you a present. Works well for the visitor, but not so well for the visitee. And I did get a very nice present. Thanks Kate. It was so fun seeing you.

The Price Is Right

I am still in Lake Tahoe.  Cyndi works in the morning so Kate and Ben hang out during the day and when Cyndi gets home, then Ben goes to work.  So Kate has her programs and Ben has his program but they both love The Price is Right.  Here they are watching their favorite morning program.

What a mess!!

And so there I was, just having arrived in Lake Tahoe.  Ben was helping me carry all my stuff in the house, including the 9X13 pan of macaroni and cheese.  That is when I heard the BIG CRASH!  Oh no, not the mac and cheese.  Oh yes, the mac and cheese pan hit the floor and broke into many shards of glass.  What you see here is Ben after having cleaned up the mess but still wearing his yellow gloves.  Oh yes, they are Ben's... Cyndi's are purple.  Do you know anyone else who actually wear gloves to do the dishes (and cleaning up mac and cheese)The culprit... and in the doghouse.
The culprit... tried to dash out the door as Ben was coming in.  Could you believe that such an innocent looking face could possibly be responsible for such a mess!!!

Miss Kate

Here she is... the reason I am in Lake Tahoe (and I have no idea why my typing is coming up linked... but I am a novice at blogging.)  Anyway, the weather is beautiful and so is Miss Kate.  She is so happy that her grandma is visiting.

Jill

This is definately not her best picture, but since she can barely turn on her computer I am not worried that she will see this and shudder.  She has been a good kindergarten teacher.  She is loving, kind, sweet, gentle, ditzy, soft spoken and really loves the children.  She is pretty much the opposite of me.  When the kids come from her class in kinder to mine in first grade, they are pretty much in shock for the first month.  This is pivotal for me.  Its like when all the women before you have their babies and then you know you're next.  Well, this means that I am next to retire from Bird Street School. BUT NOBODY ASK ME WHEN BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW!!!

Bag Lady

Friday was our last day of school and since it was just a workday and not a school day we had lunch at Applebees.  It was Jill Prouty's last day, since she is retiring.  This is not Jill... this is Linda Chollet who is our secretary at Bird Street School.  In honor of Jill's retirement, Linda gave a dramatic rendition of what Jill's future life could be like as a "bag lady".  Last year she did the phone lady... "one ring-dingy", snorting and all.  Fun was had by all... especially those who had Margaritas.

ME AND MY BABY

Yes, this is my baby boy.  This photo was snapped at an awards dinner that Sam invited me to.  We had a lovely time on our date.

A further note about Sam.  As most of you know, he is very clever and things usually work in his favor.  As further evidence of this amazing quality of his, I am now typing on my new laptop.  Oh, its not really new, Sam gave it to me.  Oh yes, I now remember, I DID buy it for him a couple of years ago, but he agreed to give it to me if I would buy him the new one he wanted... I mean needed.  Oh yes, he got a very good deal on the new one... Thank you Sam.

GRAND DAUGHTERS

After 14 years of grandsons, I finally have two granddaughters.  One is blonde and the other is brunette but it looks at this point as if they both have blue eyes.  One is Kate Rose and the other is Charlee Rose.  (The kids are getting busy... )

THE BEST CLASS IN THE WORLD

This may look like an ordinary class to all of you.  But what you don't know is that this is not an ordinary class... it is in fact a remarkable class.   Why? you may ask.  It is simple... there are 18 smart kids in this picture... and 3... well, you know, we can't all be blessed with brains.

Easter 2008

The most beautiful woman in the world... so, which one is it?
me and my kids...
Who loves Sam so much?

It may look to those of you who weren't there, that Joshie is climbing up the slide. But we know better... that is his only means of going down...

The new yard... a work in progress...

Why am I standing on this mound of dirt? This is the way I have been living for the last few months. Mike, Shannon and Sam are making me a new yard... personally I like the "mountain of dirt" look... at least I don't have to mow.
Two beautiful boys...

Early 2008

How we love this little monster!
This baby's bathtub looks waaaaayy different than my kid's tub. Who needs all those toys... well, Joshie does love his bath.
Jo's birthday cake... not my best effort. It looks crooked because it is crooked. (Who says Jo and I look alike? We've never looked more different!)
Jo's birthday in Sam's new appartment. We worked on this picture for 15 minutes and this is the best of the lot. Pathetic...

Disnleyland 2007

Jo and me having fun
Joshie loved being loose and on his own...who is holding the leash?
Me and my kids. Scary. Proof that babies don't stay babies!
twins
Aren't we cute?

Angel buddies!

Aren't we cute? These ridiculous costumes have come in handy a number of times. I wonder when they will get retired?

The angels are "advising" Carlota (wonderful staff member at Bird Street). Don't we all wish we had "angel help"?