Pawesome Pressies from Sugar!

Sugar - possibly the sweetest golden around, just sent Avalon and me (and also Sierra Rose) the most thoughtful package full of the nommiest goodies that we ever tasted - mmmnnnnn mnnnNNNNNN! And guess what? Sugar baked them herself, at her Paw House!

Here is how we found Sugar's package on our doormat.

Avalon is watching me snooter it thoroughly - I want to inhale whatever is in there right NOW!

It's hard to have a smiley face while I wait forever for Ma to get us one of Sugar's treats that we find inside the box!
Oh... Sugar, my pal... I am blissed out on this yummy, yummalicious cookie you made! I'm in heaven - can't you tell?
And Avalon loved your cookies so much too. She was very good about not being grabby heheh! I could tell she was savoring them!
Here is all the loot generous Sugar made for us and sent all the way out here for us to enjoy! Peanut butter is our all-time absolute favorite flavor of foodables and we love that they are wheat-free. You are a master chef and we treasure your card so much! We'll be delivering Sierra's portion to her as soon as she gets home today! Thank you a zillion times, sweet Sugar! Keep on cooking up a storm in your Paw House!
Mom: I hate apologizing so much, but I've been just terrible about visiting you this week. We have had lots going on that required lots of time that is so boring - how I would rather be blog-bound, address-wise, than dealing with biz stuff. And... we are about to leave for another 10-day camping trip tomorrow. Since I am so computer challenged (with no wifi), we probably won't be visiting until after the 17th - so sorries. But if we find a place that rents 'puter time, I'll stop in for emails and try to see what you are all up to. Thanks for visiting here, despite my bad commenting of late.

More Trees

The big trees are gone. You can actually see space in the yard.
I think the bugs are gone as well. My kids have the cleanest heads in town this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Afternoon Sun over Caribou Falls

Taken last Tuesday during our impromptu 'waterfall tour' down the shore. We stopped at a few different waterfalls that day, but Caribou Falls is always a highlight. Not very many people visit this one compared to many of the other north shore waterfalls, which means that you usually have some time to yourself to enjoy this beautiful drop in the river. We were lucky and got there just as the sun was dropping down behind the trees.

The Opening - and home cooking

I know I said no more snow scenes, but I needed a wintry shot of the River Spey. The salmon fishing season on the river opened on 11 February. Opening ceremonies mark the start of the season on the major rivers of Scotland. A report of the ceremony on the Spey said "The other 3 major rivers, namely, Tweed, Tay and Dee had been opened by a variety of politicians and comedians, therefore the Spey, not to be outdone, had a combination of both in MSP Richard Lochhead." [MSP = Member of Scottish Parliament]. I can't find anything on the internet about Mr Lochhead pursuing an amateur interest in stand-up comedy, so I assume this is an 'affectionate' tribute. Perhaps it refers to the fact that the political comedian poured a whole bottle of Glenfarclas Single Malt whisky into its waters as a good luck libation. You can see some of the obviously chilly event here.
And the home cooking? The villages along the banks of the Spey have angling associations, through which residents and visitors can fish on certain stretches of the river for very reasonable rates compared to the most famous beats where prices are astronomical. The custom in the Aberlour Angling Club is to donate the first salmon of the season to the Fleming Cottage Hospital. So it was that my father enjoyed freshly caught salmon for his evening meal on 11 February.

Liberty Hill, where quirky rules

To see the scope of these ponds you really had to be there. While the quirky touches can be seen in the photographs, I can't capture the actual experience of being in the Texas countryside, walking around this engaging creation. All I can do is add one last picture of the miniature Hoover Dam.
My dad traveled to Las Vegas just to see that dam, and we're going to get there some day. Last Sunday the water and sun had me imagining things. I love the romantic comedy Fools Rush In, an admittedly goofy movie in which Hoover Dam plays a role. When I saw a small blue, truck-type vehicle placed on the road atop the model dam, I couldn’t help pretending that it was being driven by Salma Hayek.

Banana Bonanza

The "banana boulevard" section of the Quail Botanical Gardens.

That Ten-Petalled Anemone

Several commenters asked questions about that Anemone heterophylla shown in the bloom day post. I took another photo once this morning's drizzle let up.

Here's the Ten-petalled Anemone with more of the foliage visible. These leaves sure do resemble columbine's leaves, maybe because both Aquilegia/Columbines and Anemones are in the Ranunculus/Buttercup Family? This time I included a ruler for scale - it's a very petite flower! They look cute in the grass, but are not going to compete with the kind of Anemones you buy from bulb dealers in the fall, like Anemones de Caen or St. Brigid.
Since the 15th more flowers have opened. The Lady Banks yellow rose is completely full of buds and has opened a few blossoms. I kept this rose in a series of ever-larger containers for about 5 years, then last summer finally planted it next to the patio arch. It isn't an repeat flowering rose, blooming just once a year in spring. It also comes with the warning that growth can be rampant, but I don't care. This is one of those plants often mentioned in garden books, and occasionally seen on the Southern segments of the Victory Garden show on PBS. So for me, growing it is a kind of statement of place - that I live here now. .
These iris were all just buds on the fifteenth, but look at them now!

The Iris buds burst open on Sunday morning - both the simple, rather small white iris, frequently seen as a passalong - and the larger, more ruffled, slightly fragrant pale orange variety. There's another bud on the mystery iris which froze in the ice storm , and if this one opens, I'll show it to you.

Buffalo Jeep Tour in Custer State Park, SD

After lots of fun dealing with some staff issues we took off to the Park and got on one of theBuffalo Jeep Tours.

It was a lot of fun and a welcome distraction. Our driver was Christie and we shared the ride with another couple and their 2 children. Found a good size herd.Christie pointed out a lot of interesting things.You can hear one of the Bulls talking in this video you can also see his tongue which is blue.


This guy came running right up to the JeepMom giving her baby a bath.You lookin at Me??Lunch on the run.After spending time with the Buffalo we headed up a pretty rough rocky road to the top of this hill.What a view!Next we drove by the Wild BurroAll good things must come to an end! The ride lasted 2 hours and was quite enjoyable. Back to work :(

Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary

The Last Messy Place

Well, I've done it. I've gotten rid of ALL superfluous papers in the house. All that's left to organize is my writing desk. And that'll be fun.
I feel like such a weight has been lifted off me. I hate paper clutter with a vengeance. We get so much junk mail. It seems that I'm on everybody's mailing list for catalogs and religious fundraising. I'm thinking about not opening the letters and marking RETURN TO SENDER on the outside of the envelopes. Would that take care of the problem, do you think?
Now I can start on some of my big projects, but first I had to get through the slog of paper. I've spent the last two weeks making schedules and planning Darcie's schoolwork. I'm almost finished with that, and then I can begin painting the kitchen.
Every ten years I repaint the kitchen. When we built the house the kitchen walls were white with green trim. After ten years, I painted the trim blue. Another ten years have gone by, and I've decided to paint the walls yellow and the trim white. I painted one wall and have been living with it for about two months. I don't like it. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I'm thinking about going back to white walls and paint the trim white, too; or maybe light blue.
My kitchen is a combination 1920's-1940's kitchen. I think I need to go to the library and look at books with vintage kitchens. I need inspiration. When I see it, I'll know it.

Round one

Summer has now officially commenced, with the first hot ride of the season coming about two days into it. Saturday was as hot as promised, and may have been a few degrees warmer than the predicted 33, but as long as there are mountains out there to climb, I'll be in the thick of the action. At least I was able to spend some time at an altitude that was a couple of degrees cooler than the coast on the 165km epic. I wouldn't have achieved that by staying at home.

It was an interesting feeling at the start of this ride, the anticipation of the day ahead was replaced by relief. All week my body has been craving the endorphins that it became accustomed to on tour, and the initial 16km to clear suburbia was more or less what I needed. The real ride started after Canungra -- around 36km in, for the long, gradual climb to O'Reillys Plateau. I decided to just pace myself on this climb, particularly the opening 15km@3.5%. The mountain views at the summit were somewhat hindered by the haze that came from bushfires, dust storms and all the other things that happened while I was hogging the rain on the other side of the country, but the higher parts through the rainforest were still stunning.


The wind was doing some pretty insane things on the switchback descent of that mountain. It might have worried me on another day, but today I had another mountain to throw at it, and so it was that I returned to Canungra and started the long grind up the western side of Beechmont. This climb can be brutal on a hot day, climbing on the opposite side of the range to where the wind normally blows. Today, however, it was doubtful if the northerly wind would have cooled me off anyway, so with the liberal use of the granny ring I reached the summit reasonably comfortably.

Two magpies appeared to try to take my head off as soon as I reached the summit, meaning there was no time for a victory salute. There was, however, the unmistakable sense that the wind was now from the north west, meaning a tail wind once I started the descent from Lower Beechmont. So it was, that after stocking up on fluids and ice cream at the Lower Beechmont store, I was able to zoom home around 30 minutes faster than I had been expecting. I guess I'm still underestimating myself a bit. Another memorable ride in the mountains, even if the heat did affect me a little at the finish. One of the often forgotten benefits of going away on a bike tour is that it refreshes one's appetite for local rides after the event. I plan on making the most of that in coming weeks.

Dining Room Love

You can probably tell that I LOVE our house! For a few years after building it, I would pull into the driveway, stop, sigh, and say, "It's so cute!" Much eyerolling from four children would begin.
I know you don't get tired of looking at my house, so here's some photos of just the dining room.
I love how that wax cascades over the side of the candlestick. Lavender from my good friend Charlotte.


Pewter in the early morning sun.
A corner of a long mirror hanging above the double windows at the end of the room. Got it at a yard sale for $30.
Sunlight reflecting off my new Spode Italian dishes. They were a gift to my husband for 35 years of service to his company. Wasn't it sweet of him to let me pick the gift?
Curtain rod from Pottery Barn. I love the weight of the wooden finial. I also love the bullseye corner block and the fluted window trim.
Next time I'm showing you my new granddaughters. They may be as cute as my dining room! You judge.