March Madness, Softball, and a Puppy

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

The games have already begun and according to the bracket I made here I’m already a loser. Well, some may say I was already a loser for various other things I’ve said and done, but I’m thinking I don’t really care about that. But the brackets … Only two games played so far and I missed on both. Now I can only hope that none of my picks win so I’ll still have a nice clean bracket of choices, all with little ‘x’s’ in a circle to indicate the loss. My one consolation with regard to this is that ‘Bing’ lost both of them, too.

I’m guessing that many of you couldn’t care less about NCAA basketball. That’s kind of me, too, until this time of year when things get exciting. It’s way more fun than watching the pros play. My opinion, of course.

It’s still raining here, but we did have one glorious day of sunshine when we drove to Eugene to watch the lovely Maryssa Santi play some fast pitch softball for Eastern Oregon University. It’s like God looked down on us and decided to give us a nice day to sit in the sun and watch the games. They played four games over two days (Sunday & Monday) and won all four. We only got to watch 1 and 3/4 of those games, but it was fun.

Lydia brought her new family member, Kylo, along for the 2.5 hour ride because he’s only 5 weeks old and is hard to put down. He’s kinda cute. This is Matt holding him, trying to keep him calm. Yeah, like that’s a problem because he sleeps about 90% of the time.

On the way, Lydia gnawed on the breakfast burrito she bought at Muchas Gracias before we picked up her and her Mom, Jennifer for the ride. I probably could have eaten one of those, too, but no one asked. I’ve had them before and they are really good.

EOU won the first game 7-4 and they were ahead 7-1 when we had to leave during the late innings of the 2nd game. They won that one, too, 9-5. On Monday EOU won 10-1 and 1-0 (I think). It was a good trip for the girls to win all four games on the road like that.

Now, back to the puppy …

Here’s Maryssa #10, 2nd base … she’s a junior at EOU.

Here’s Steffani, Maryssa’s Mom, Bob’s Wife, My Brother’s Daughter …

Here’s Maryssa and Lydia, Diane (in the hat), and Jennifer …

And that pretty much covers the trip. The puppy slept through the 5 hour trip, interrupted by a couple of softball games during which he was adored, and held, by all the pretty girls who walked by. Guys seem to be more immune to puppy cuteness than girls.

Lucky dog.

Kylo joins Solo (a big dog) and Boba the cat. Perhaps you can sense the ‘Star Wars’ theme for the Walter’s Family Pets.

Diane’s Pantry & Snow Days

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

So … I reorganized Diane’s pantry. What do you think? It’s much easier to find things, now. Before we had to dig through all the shelves to find what we were looking for. Sometimes we just dug around to see what was there. Now, everything is right out there in the open and easy to see. The dogs love it because it’s like wandering around in a grocery store, picking out the things that look good.

It snowed a few days ago and doesn’t appear that it’s going to leave us soon. Watching the news yesterday about all the traffic jams almost made us want to move into Portland. It was an incredible mess. Those “in the know” pointed their fingers of blame at the Oregon Department of Transportation for not using rock salt on the road. Washington does, and they don’t seem to have any difficulty getting around in snowy weather. Oregon uses lots of gravel at intersections, which is good, and lots and lots of chemicals on bridges and main roads. Out here in the country, things are quite good by comparison because most of the drivers have an inherent knowledge that they should drive a lot slower when there is snow and ice on the road. Many Portlanders don’t have that ability. Consequently, they cause problems that all the news stations just love.

Now for some snow pictures, just to prove we actually had some. Not much, this time, but some. Just enough, actually, for the district to close schools for a couple of days.

I think I mentioned on my first posting of this photo that our balls look much nicer with snow on them.

Ozzie either isn’t a fan, or he’s got a problem with Panzee taking advantage of an opportunity to sniff his butt. Or is she just looking at it?

Our snowman even got snow on him. You’d think it would just absorb into him, wouldn’t you?

Regarding Diane’s pantry shelves. This is what I really did.

Right side

Left side. I loaded up all the drawers so, of course, everything is in the totally wrong place. Just just stacked stuff by size, not content. Diane said she’s going to reorganize them one of these days. Right now I’m the only one who knows where stuff is which makes me feel kind of powerful.

I’m going to add a couple more drawers. Just have to build them. Ran out of material for the drawer bottoms.

Black Friday, a Vet Visit, and Christmas Decorations

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Thanksgiving is over, we survived Black Friday, so now we can focus on Christmas.

Speaking of Black Friday … did you see the news about the Nike store in Seattle that was trashed by a herd of BF shoppers? Kinda reaffirms your belief that there’s still good in the world, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not on the day after Thanksgiving. Personally, I’m not a shopper in the first place, but if I was Black Friday would be the last day I’d choose to shop. People just go nuts to get things they probably don’t need. I’m one of those people who just take my chances and shop online. So far, so good. No problems.

This morning I took Ziva and Breezie to visit Doc Snyder at the vet. Breezie hasn’t been in a long time and wound up needing 3 shots. She was not happy, but she did good. No one came away bloody from that evolution. Ziva got one shot and had a pedicure. She also has a lump on her right arm which may or may not be of concern. We need to watch it to see if it grows. I have the same kind of lumps in my arms so I’m not worried.

This is Doc Snyder and her assistant counseling Ziva about the shot she got and the tests they are conducting.

Diane spent some more time at the courthouse this morning working on some vote recounts that needed attention. She had to be there at 10:00 am and I had to have the animals at the vet by 10:30 so I dropped off Diane and came back for Ziva and Breezie. Breezie managed to get outside before I left with Diane so there was a distinct possibility that she wouldn’t be available for the trip. I made a decision that if she didn’t show up by the time I returned to get them I would charge her a late fee for missing her appointment. The standard charge now days seems to be $35 but I really wanted her to feel the need to be on time so upped it to $45. Lucky her, she was in the house when I got home so avoided that problem. I suspect I would have had to file a small claims suit against her which she still wouldn’t pay, but it would screw up her credit.

Hope everyone has happy plans for Christmas. We’ve begun the process of getting out tree in and some of our traditional ornaments installed. The first thing up was this guy …

He didn’t come with a name but we got him from Costco so I’m calling him Costco Man for now. Yes, he’s a snowman, but that’s not a name. It’s a gender assignment attached to winter weather.

We did this, too …

Ziva’s just checking to see who’s been in the yard.

Then we got busy getting the tree ready for the house. This involved removing a very large plant from a very large pot so we could transfer the tree from its pot to the nicer pot that’s more suitable for indoor use. We’ve had the tree for about a week and it’s been sitting in the yard soaking up as much rain as it could. Consequently, it weighed a ton which was almost too much for me to lift from one pot to the other. But, I did it. Then we took it inside using a hand truck. Getting it off the hand truck proved to be problematic and resulted in me making a huge mess when it tipped over. Dirt everywhere. But, it cleaned up nicely and resulted in this once Diane got all the lights and ornaments attached. After the New Year the tree will be replanted in the lower yard where it can just grow as long as it wants to.

After it was all done we had a snack and Diane loaded the dishwasher. Whenever the dishwasher is opened, Ziva shows up so she can prewash the plates, something that she was trained for as a small dog. Personally, I think all dogs inherently know that plates need to be prewashed so it’s not a large training curve. It’s kind of instinctive, actually. They just know what to do. Additionally, when the dishes are clean, and the door is open, she checks all the plates to make sure they’re clean. She’s very helpful.

Now it’s time to fold things up for the afternoon and make preparations for popcorn and probably a movie of some sort. It’s that time of year.

Stay safe.

Happy Birthday Jennie Lynn

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Yes, this little bundle of joy from 1975 turned 41 today. I’m comfortable sharing that for two reasons … 1) She’s not currently standing near me, and 2) She really isn’t hung up on age. Although the real birthday wasn’t until today, we celebrate it on the 22nd because she was born on Guam, on the 23rd, when it was really the 22nd here. It’s not complicated, just confusing. Guam is actually 17 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. I looked.

Honoring tradition she received a small stack of scratch off tickets. Also honoring tradition, but I don’t know how, she didn’t win anything on any of them. But, she had fun scratching them off and I let her keep the quarter I loaned her to do the scratching.

The cake preparers. They were given this task as a team because neither of them have two fully functional hands and arms. Together they got the job done quite nicely.

This is the gift Jennie got from her brother, Jeff. The bandage on Gilligan’s head is the result of a bike crash, just before they were to come to the house for the party. Tough kid.

Jennie made everyone play the game with her, even Mom. Diane was in such hysterics I’m surprised that she didn’t inhale a bunch of whipped cream. It was contagious.

Gilligan and Baylee watched the action from a distance with mixed emotions.

It was a good party and everyone had fun. To end, here’s a short trip down memory lane for our little Jennie Lynn.

… and Jennifer, just to ensure you never forget …

After the party Diane broke out the box of costumes we’ve accumulated over the years and tried on a few pieces.

So did I.

I stayed home from church today because I was coughing and my nose was running. That made me a perfect candidate to monitor the pot roast lunch I’d been helping Diane assemble this morning. Earlier, Jewel went out to do more deconstructing on the grape vines. Knowing she was out there, I turned the dogs loose. Panzee and Ozzie stuck around, but Ziva took a hike into the woods, or someplace where things go to die, and found the most putrid thing available to roll in. It was so nasty that I explained to her, in great deal, that I’d much rather she rolled in deer poop. I’m not sure she was listening because she spent the entire time I was washing her trying to get away from me.

After washing her I dried her off really well so she could come in the house because I know she was cold. The bath was given in the yard with the hose and the water is like ice and made her shiver. Made me shiver, too.

Diane and her Mom, Jean, finally arrived and Diane immediately targeted Ziva for another bath because the residue had been removed, but the horrible odor remained. Nasty. So, back to the yard we went for another bath. I think the second one turned out OK. I’m sure Ziva hopes so.

I’ll leave you with that image, even though the intent of this post is to congratulate Jennifer on another good year and blessings for many, many more. We all love you to pieces.

Day 29 – The Trip Home and Senior Night Soccer

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

The evening before we left, Ruth called to wish us a safe trip home. We missed the call because neither of us had our phone sound off. When Diane discovered this she called Ruth back and they had a nice talk during which I heard Diane say, more than once, “Oh, no!” This got me interested so I listened a little harder and determined that something bad had happened, but it wasn’t a health issue. What happened was, while Ruth was working with Ovide, preparing tons of food for a Lions International event, someone broke into her house and stole all her jewelry. Nothing big was removed, just small stuff that could easily be carried. They also emptied all of her dresser drawers onto the floor. She discovered the break-in when she returned home from her exhausting day at 2200. The police were summoned and now she must fight her insurance company for just compensation.

We got up at 0415 to sweep the room for personal belongings, get checked out, and get to the rental place before 0600. We beat the 0600 deadline fo turning the car in by 15 minutes but that wasn’t really difficult because the Norfolk Airport was only 6 miles away.

After the car was checked in, and unloaded, Diane asked the Dollar Rental Car Guy is there was a shuttle to the terminal. He looked at her and said, “It’s a 2-minute walk”, and pointed to a path, “right through there.” Indeed, we could actually see the terminal from where we stood, but hurking all those suitcases in the dark just didn’t appeal. Still, we shouldered the bags with handles, and got the suitcases ready for that 2-minute walk.

Just then a really nice Dollar Rental Car Lady, from Georgia, came to get the car and said, “You can’t walk to the terminal in the dark. You never know what can happen. Get in the car and I’ll take you to there.” So, we put all the luggage back in the car and she drove us to the American terminal. It was an unexpected act of kindness, but we wished she had appears about 10 minutes earlier, when all the luggage was still in the car.

At the terminal, I requested an upgrade to First Class, and was prepared to pay whatever it cost. But, since we used air miles for the original seat, it couldn’t be upgraded. But. the second leg from Chicago home was already First Class so the apparently qualified us to get First Class treatment for our luggage. We were able to check all four bags for free, even the overweight one.

The Norfolk to Chicago leg was on a much smaller passenger plane than we’ve encountered during our travels. There were only six First Class seats (three of them remained empty for the flight), and the coach seating was two seats on either side of the center aisle. Cozy. The big plus was that there was far more leg room on this little guy than we had on the big one from Chicago to Bradley on the way over. Interesting. It was comfortable so we were just fine. Plus, it was only a two-hour trip.

In Chicago we spent about half of our 1-hour layover in the USO lounge, and the other half walking the 2 miles from Gate G-7 to Gate K-5. The Rotunda, where the USO is, was on the way so it was convenient. I ate a bagel and Diane had a banana while waiting.

We arrived at K-5 just in time to sit down for about 30 seconds before they called the First Class folks to board. So we did. We had seats 3B and 3C which turned out to be the front row on the right side of the plane. We had all the room we needed to stretch out and enjoy the flight. The food sucked and the service was good, but the food sucked. Did I mention that the food sucked? Everything except the shrimp. The shrimp didn’t suck. Fortunately, I got to eat all of those.

Regarding the food … when the flight attendant got to our row, in the front, she explained that, since we were flying West, she had to start serving from the back of First Class so she was all out of the Roasted Chicken Salad. All she had left was the Cheese Ravioli’s in White Sauce. Diane explained that she was lactose intolerant and could not eat the raviolis and would just have to go hungry. The flight attendant said, “maybe I have a solution,” then left for the flight deck. She returned with the First Officer’s salad and gave it to Diane telling her that she owed the First Officer a big thank you. Really? The reason for the shortage, we learned, was because First Class passengers can pre-order their meals on-line. Nifty for those who know. It worked out, however, and we were both fed. The ravioli’s sucked, but I ate them anyway. I may have mentioned that already. Part of the problem with the ravioli’s is that I just don’t like them to begin with and they were just worse because there was no meat inside of them. Just cheese. The wrong kind of cheese. I know, I should just be grateful that I had something to eat, and I truly was. So, perhaps, the food really didn’t suck. Maybe I just didn’t care for it. The shrimp made up for whatever was wrong with the rest of it that I didn’t like.

Once we were airborne out of Chicago Diane and I plugged our little Apple ear buds into the plane’s system and watched “Central Intelligence”. It was a funny movie and we both laughed right out loud a few times. I suspect we woke up the guy across the aisle from us more than once but he didn’t complain. After the movie we both read for a bit then napped, and when we looked out the little window and saw this, we knew we must be close.

When the plane finally made it to the terminal, and we stepped inside, we were happy campers. When we discovered where the terminal was located with respect to the baggage claim area, we weren’t happy campers. But, we trudged on. I thought we’d be in pretty good shape because it appeared that we were just down the road from where the Alaska planes come and go, and that was essentially true. But we weren’t “just down the road.” We were “waaay down the road.” Matter of fact, I’m sure that the walk from the very tippy end of the American terminal to the baggage area accounted for about 2 miles of the 3.5 miles we walked in airports this day. Really.

I’m basing this claim on the fact that we travelled down three (3), count them, three moving walk-ways that are separated by about 50 yards and are each about 100 yards long. Then, once we made it down to the baggage claim area we had to walk all the way to carousel 9, there are 10 of them. The escalators from the gates drops folks off between 2 and 3. As we continued, and finished this epic trip I couldn’t help but think that we were being subjected to some form of punishment that those who ride American Airlines airplanes are subjected to on a routine basis. In Portland, Alaska Airlines is just a short hop and a skip from where they land to where they drop the luggage, on carousel 2 and/or 3.

There is a plus side to the baggage area, I must admit. Once the carousel started turning, in the wrong (clockwise) direction, of all the bags that came out of the little shute in the wall, our four were in the first 10 bags. Amazing! That’s never happened to us before. We’ve always had to wait until everyone else got theirs before ours showed up. We chalked this up to the bright orange PRIORITY labels the lady in Norfolk attached to the baggage claim tags on all four bags. That was huge.

Once we got the bags, we trundled our way outside to await our lovely daughter, Jennifer. She had snagged Diane’s truck the previous day in preparation for picking us up. When we hit the ground we texted her, letting her know that we would be at the American terminal, not Alaska – they are at opposite ends, as I mentioned. At that time she was on her sixth trip around past the arrival terminals. By the time she parked in front of us she was just completing her tenth circuit of the airport. It was good because the truck is bigger than she’s used to so it gave her lots of time to get used to driving it in heavy traffic. This guy must have been in a hurry to go fishing with whoever he was picking up. Interesting.

Jennifer did a terrific job and got us home safe and sound. Well, almost home. Diane wanted to stop at Means Nursery so she could get some roses for Lydia, Ceiarra, and Nina (a Denmark exchange student). They are the only seniors on the team and tonight was Senior Night.

Our Lydia …

Lydia, Nina, and Ceiarra …

Our arrival home was heralded by the happy barks of our three dogs, and cold weather. After enjoying mid-70 weather for the past month it feels like it’s about 12 degrees here. The cat couldn’t care less that we were home and just walked away. After all the excitement, and all of them had been properly scratched and petted, Jewel returned from her trip to DMV where she had registered her “new” vehicle. She did a great job of keeping the animals healthy and the flowers fed with her broken wrist. Thankfully, she had help from The Walters clan when needed. Like for opening cans, tearing tops off of packages, using scissors, etc. She resorted to eating food that didn’t need to be cut up so she could feed herself.

Back to soccer, sadly, our girls lost 2-0. Our girls weren’t playing together very well and allowed the Hillsboro strikers too much freedom. Both goals got past Lydia, who played the first half of the game. The first one was kicked from about the 25-yard line and players were blocking the ball from Lyd’s view. The ball sayed low and by the time she saw it there wasn’t much she could do, but she made a heroic dive worthy of a game highlite. Previous to that, she blocked many close shots on goal from strikers who got by the St. Helens defense. It was amazing to watch. She took at least three hard kicked balls directly into her body and caught them. She also blocked many others away from the goal to her team mates. Additionally, the Hillsboro team missed many kicks wide of the goal so it was just a matter of time before they scored. It was one of those games that could easily have been 12-0, but our Keepers held strong. Another plus at the soccer game was seeing Daniel, Jeran, and Dan’s Mom, Linda, and friends Jacqui and Georgie. Georgie is a recent SHHS graduate, friend of Lydia’s, and a total Girl Soccer Stud.

When the game was over both Diane and I were exhausted, both from watching the game, and because we had been up since 0100 local time – about 18 hours which is far too long for old people.

So, to bed we went, and we didn’t wake up until 0800 …

… Eastern time.

Guess we’re back on the dog’s schedule just that quick.

Dang.

Football, Flowers, and Sprinklers

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

It’s Sunday. A fairly nice one. The thermometer reports it’s 72 outside and 71 inside. Frankly, I think it’s a bit warm in side and have seriously considered doffing my Sunday best (I went to church) and replacing them with shorts and a T-shirt. Or, perhaps, some summer jammies. But, no, we’re expecting company later in the day and I don’t want to embarrass anyone by being dressed inappropriately.

The company we expect live in Las Vegas, and are linked in a family manner to Jewel. One is her daughter, and there’s grand daughters, and grand dogs. They picked Jewel up this morning and carted her off to Seaside for a day at the coast. I suspect there will be a little shopping tossed in there since there are outlet stores in the vicinity. Since Jewel’s gained a whopping 5 lbs since coming to live with us she probably needs a whole new wardrobe. I’ll be curious to see what she brings home. That won’t be for a while.

Friday night was a highly promoted football game between St. Helens High School and Scappoose High School called the 7-Mile War. It’s a traditional rivalry that’s been going on forever, even back to when my much older brothers were in High School. That’s a long time. I don’t have any stats to share as to who normally wins the battle, but Friday night St. Helens put a country boy whoopin’ on Scappoose, beating them 41-21, or something like that. We went early because the crowd was expected to be big, and it was. The game wasn’t until 7:00 pm but we got there at 5:30 pm to some rock and roll music that sounded pretty darn good. Turned out to be Bart Hafeman and The Hit Machine. This is a well-known band here in the Great Northwest so it was special. Making it specialer is that Bart is a Scappoose Boy, a Local Boy, who made it good. Anyway, we found some seats three rows from the top of the stands right on the 50 yard line and there’s Bart and the Boys rockin’ out on the track in front of us. I’ve known about the band for years, and have seen Bart many times at different venues (like the Columbia County Fair), but have never heard them play. It was a treat because they play pretty much everything. Even stuff I like. Amazing. If given a chance, you should go see them.

Now, back to the game …

Scappoose and St. Helens are in different leagues but they play each other every year to keep the war alive. Just for fun. The stands on both sides of the field were filled and there were many more lining the fence surrounding the field. There were even people in lawn chairs sitting in their driveways across the street from the stadium area. What fun. Being near the top of the stands allowed us to enjoy the full benefit of the screams of joy when St. Helens did something good, which they did often. In my personal experience, the noise level was worse than that we’ve experienced at a Portland Trailblazer game and the Blazers are down by one, theres 2 seconds to go and Lillard hits a 3-pointer. That’s really loud. Friday night was louder. And really invigorating.

Complicating our presence at the game was the fact that both Diane and I graduated from Scappoose High School, but our children and grandchildren went to, and are going to, St. Helens schools. So, we sat amongst the St. Helenonites. I figured, yes, we graduated from SHS which entailed a 4-year obligation, but we’ve been associated with SHHS far longer, like since 1989. So, I was OK with betraying my old school. By doing so I wound up on the winning side.

Demonstrating the team spirit of both school, all the cheer leaders from both sides joined together in the field at halftime and did an obviously well rehearsed routine.

It was a terrific gesture and made all of us proud. Then all of the youth program football teams and small versions of cheer leaders were introduced and filled the field. There’s a bunch of them so I suspect there won’t be any shortage of football players and cheer leaders for many years to come. There was also a tribute to all the public services when members of the sheriff’s, city police, paramedics, and firemen were introduced. In case you were wondering, everyone was standing, just as they did for the national anthem before the game started. That makes me proud, too.

This was today – another ho-hum Oregon sunrise.

Here’s Panzee displaying her newest trick. She flops around on the yard for a bit, then gets flat on her back and just stays there for the longest time, her impression of a raccoon that’s been laying beside the road for a few days in the hot sun. She must have seen it on TV because I don’t recall ever coming across one while she was in the car with us. Gonna have to start being careful what she watches.

Finally, I spent pretty much all day yesterday working on our in-ground sprinklers. They all worked, to some extent, but not quite as good as they should. So I decided to make them all work correctly. I have, after all, a large box of new replacement sprinkler heads that were left by the previous owner and it’s time to use some of them. I managed to replace the obviously broken units, then started trying out different sprinkler nozzles to see which ones give the best coverage without spraying into a bedroom or bathroom window that someone forgot to close before turning on the sprinklers. That happens. Fortunately, Diane’s side of the bed is the wet one when that happens.

Jewel has been instrumental in the resurrection and transformation of our adequate yard into one with lots of color provided by things deer don’t eat. She spends the better part of each day outside uncovering botanical treasures that we didn’t know we had, and adding more that we had no idea we needed. The result is wonderful and we know we’re going to enjoy her efforts for many years to come. But, what I’ll personally probably remember most, after her efforts in the fall and winter, is the sight of her tending her plants will be the sight of her like this …

She found it at Jilly’s Boutique in downtown St. Helens. She professes that she needed the hat to keep her ears warm on chilly days. The image on the front is a skull so I think it’s more a statement about a previous life style. Whatever the reason, it fits her personality and will, I’m sure, keep her ears warm.

The Old Truck, Panzie, Bamboo, & Fire

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday I tempted fate by driving the old, brakeless truck to visit Justin to see if he can fix what’s wrong. He’s a friend of Lydia’s and is a pretty good mechanic. So, having a vehicle that needs the attention of a mechanic on a regular basis, I feel it’s my duty to give him all the opportunities I can to further his education. The last time I used his services was to get the flex plate installed. Since he did that I’ve had no problem starting the truck, at all. That’s been many months ago. Haven’t had to charge the battery, either, probably because I replaced the belts allowing the engine to turn the alternator at a speed fast enough to generate enough electricity to replenish what was used to get the engine started. Whatever the reason, I’m a happy guy and will be until I find out what it’s going to cost me this time.

I didn’t work in the yard until this afternoon because we had to take Panzie to the doc for a scheduled appointment. She needed a shot and a checkup. She’s just fine for an old dog.

After we got her home, and past the welcoming committee who were happily yapping, I donned my work clothes and headed for the back yard. My goal was to install bamboo cross members between two 4 x 4 posts I had originally planned to use to support a door to no where. Just seemed like a good idea at the time. That was years ago, of course, because no way was Diane going to let me install a door between those posts. The door I had in mind was burned up years ago. So, I got out my handy-dandy hammer drill, the one that tried to kill me a few years ago, installed a spade bit, and gave it a test run. Then I measured six-inch increments up one post and used my level to add similar marks to the other post. My original plan was to drill holes completely through both posts then pull the home-grown bamboo through both posts. That didn’t work because the joints in the bamboo where branches were removed wouldn’t fit. Last night while I lay dreaming, the solution came to me. All I had to do was drill the holes on the insides of the posts, deeper on one side than the other, then cut the bamboo between the joints so they wouldn’t be a problem. When cut to the proper length, I pushed the bamboo in the deeper hole, then pushed it into the shallow hole on the other side. worked like a charm. So simple.

Then, after looking at it for a while, I thought it should have some vertical elements and started adding them. After I ran out of pieces that would bend around the horizontal members I just cut a small stalk, plucked all the leaves off it and stuck it on. Kinda weird, but Diane likes it. That’s the important part.

The trellis is going to be used for a clematis that will envelope the entire thing.

To end the day, I flattened out a spot that use to house a Rhododendron and built Diane a fire pit. She’s always wanted one of those. I just happened to have a bunch of big rocks lying around doing nothing which was handy.

Diane doesn’t think it’s an adequate fire pit. I thought it looked ok.

Now I’m clean and tired and the beeper just went off telling me the spaghetti is done, so I must terminate and ingest food.

Sports, Crab, Cod, & 54248 Kalberer Rd

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Soccer in Warranton – Most of the victorious team. That’s our Lydia in front.

The Lady Lions varsity team won all three of their assigned games quite handily. They are always fun to watch. I’m sure glad I figured out some of the rules so it makes sense to me. Off sides was the tough one to get the handle on. Now they will shortly be on to league play when school starts.

Diane and I got up fairly early Saturday morning and took a walk on the beach. In spite of all the volley ball nets strung up, and people smacking their balls back and forth, it was a quiet, uncrowded walk on which we got to me some nice dogs and their people on the beach. I even found a rather normal rock, very similar to many I’ve found digging around in the back yard. I kept it anyway.

Seaside Beach Volleyball, as I mentioned, was the deal of the week and the entire town was hopping. People everywhere. Parking places hard to find. But, the mood was always festive and we didn’t encounter any unhappy people to ruin our day. After Saturday’s game Diane and I went to Dooger’s in Warrenton to get our normal fare on trips to the coast. I had my crab louie and Diane had her fish and chips. It’s always good.

We got home late yesterday afternoon to a fleet of barking dogs. Apparently we pulled in just after Scott & Whitney returned from their weekend away as they were working on backing their trailer into their yard. As we stood talking, Kiah & Brooklyn backed their pink jeep out of the garage and headed on down the street, toward town. Whitney said no, she just sent them down to get the mail. How handy. Kiah is 5 and Brooklyn is 3. This is Kiah preparing to park her jeep back in the garage.

Diane and I are thinking about having them get our mail, too. How handy is that?

This morning I woke up at 0250 and couldn’t go back to sleep so took my little self to the recliner and read for a while. I’ve been reading “Inferno”, by Dan Brown, because I just learned they made it into a movie. I forgot that I already read it, but that’s OK. I’m reading it again. Fun stuff. When Diane got up I pried myself off the recliner and prepared to do some yard work for a little while. Couldn’t do it for long because it got hot fast and I don’t do well when it’s hot. I run out of sweat way too fast. Besides, we had a lunch date with Jack & Wynette after going to view their home. Their empty home. It’s listed for sale and they hope to sell it quickly so they can move along down the road to Surprise, Arizona. So, if you know of anyone seeking a secluded home, pass this along.

After the viewing, and some visiting, we headed to Scappoose for sustenance at Ichabod’s where we ate and visited some more. Tom Anderson, from Wynette’s class stopped to say hello so we had him sit with us. I don’t remember him but, then, he was an upper class man. That means he’s older than me. It’s hard telling who you’ll run into at Ichabod’s. Sit there long enough and you’ll usually see three or four old class mates.

The heat is finally going away for the night so we can open some windows and doors for some fresh air before we head for bed.

Rabbits, Dogs, & the VA

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Tomorrow is garbage day. I know that’s true because today is Monday. Garbage day is always Tuesday. Even on holidays.

While Diane and her Mom were getting their Poodle-do’s this morning I took it upon myself to get the old truck going so I could drive to ACE for some of that RV sealant that comes on a roll. There’s a name for it but I have no idea what it is. It’s really sticky stuff and keeps water out of stuff. I needed it to put around the edges of the fan I put on the trailer. That’s probably all you need to know about that. The important thing about that evolution is that I didn’t fall off the top of the trailer even one time. The fan is properly installed. All I have to do now is figure out where I’m going to get power from for the fan. There are no wires near the hole it’s sitting in. I’ll figure it out.

After Diane brought her new hair-do home she took me to Portland for an appointment with my VA doctor. They said it was a recall but it was really just my six-month checkup. If it was a real recall they’d have to replace, or adjust something. That didn’t happen. All that happened was I was told that all the blood I donated last Friday indicated that I’m fine. My HDL is 135, LDL is 70, my A1C is 6.6. There were a bunch of other numbers on the list but I can’t remember them all.

Then we came back home so I could go tell our neighbors that our dogs apparently killed Cloud, their rabbit. That happened when I took them out front with me while I was working on top of the trailer. They went next door to visit the chickens and the rabbit, which they’ve done many times. This time something went wrong.

We have good neighbors. They took the loss well and said they’d tell their girls that Cloud ran away. I said I would get them more rabbits but they declined. They don’t want any more of them. I’m going to do it anyway. Maybe stuffed ones so if they escape the house and the dogs notice, they can be repaired.

I almost forgot that we stopped on the way home and I almost hit Beth Zelfer with my car door. (Hi, Beth) I did it on purpose because she was walking by, returning her cart to the rack. I knew it wouldn’t hit her, but it got her attention. It was really good to see her because it’s been a long time. She’s a Teacher in Scappoose. She’s actually a retired Teacher, but I think “once a teacher, always a Teacher.” Like, “once a Marine, always a Marine.” She was Derrick Anderson’s teacher in first grade, I think. You know Derrick. He’s a pro football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. From Scappoose. Go figure.

Now I must contemplate tomorrow. I must play golf. It is a must. Doug said. Also, Stephen Curry beat the Blazers tonight in overtime. He scored 17 points in that 5 minute stretch. Now they go back to Oakland for game 5 where the Warriors will probably finish the Blazers of in round two.

Happy Mother’s Day & NAS Lemoore to Carlsbad, CA

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

I have every confidence in the world that each and every one of you woke up this morning with your Mother on your mind. If you didn’t, shame on you. Please stop and, if possible, call her right now. I’ll wait.

***long pause***

Thank you.

My mother left us in 2001 but I still think of her every day. She is missed, and I’m sure she knows it.

We spent the morning at church, then joined four of the Walters clan for lunch at El Tapatio. I ordered the El Tapatio Burrito forgetting how huge that thing is. I did a pretty good job on it but had to take some home for tomorrow. Perhaps it will be photogenic when I dump it on a plate before putting it in the micro.

Here’s part of the church service …

That’s our friend, Nancy. She was kind of laid back during the sermon.

After lunch we all came back to the house to visit until 2:30 pm. That was the time chosen to depart for the movie that Cedric was treating everyone to. What a guy. It was for his Mom, but I was invited, so I went. It was Captain America – Civil War. Diane and her Mom aren’t so much into those kind of action movies, but I really enjoyed it. Lots of fun.

Now we must leave Lemoore, in our minds. So, close your eyes and have someone read this to you.

I think we left Lemoore around 9:30 am which seems to be our new departure time. The GPS Lady reported that the drive to Carlsbad would take about 5 hours but I don’t think she took into account that we’d be moving through Los Angeles in mid afternoon. Perhaps she did consider that and considered it a push because, as everyone in the universe knows, traffic in Los Angeles is in rush hour mode all the time. It’s quite amazing, really. Normally accidents on I-5 through LA are non-injury because no one is going fast enough to do more that dent things up and make tempers flare more than usual. Fortunately, we didn’t witness any mishaps and made it to our destination unscathed. I believe our success on freeways is due to the fact that we just get in the right lane and stay our of the line of fire. It works well and we get where we’re going in plenty of time with little stress.

On a personal note, I’m the one who drove the LA segment of the trip and I did great! I’m taking credit for that “unscathed” part mentioned previously. Diane put her book down frequently, but remained calm which helped me maintain my composure. Every once in a while, when I was behind someone going the speed limit, she would say, “take him,” so I would. But I did it gently so I wouldn’t mess up the gas mileage too badly.

The Seapointe Resort is a nice place but the photos on their website depicting the facility are a bit misleading. If you check it out the one of the pool looking toward the ocean makes one think it’s right there. What you don’t see is the four lanes of Carlsbad Blvd you have to cross. After doing that, you must clamber down a cliff (I’m sure there are stairs along there somewhere) to the beach. An easier way would be to drive and park on a low spot in the Blvd that has immediate beach access.

We didn’t do that. Instead, we drove north to Oceanside to walk their board walk. It was very restful and allowed us to get our beach fix when needed.

One day we went looking for thrift stores and/or flea markets and found one on the main road just down the street. Upon entering we were convinced that it was run mainly by children of old hippies. They were having a fashion show that was pretty entertaining. The only thing I can remember us getting was a hat for me. It’s called a pub hat and I’ve never had one. What’s interesting is that it’s 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton. I’m not sure, but I think the “organic” part means the cotton was grown in dirt. The brand name is “Hempy’s” and it’s made in the USA. I figured it would be a good golf hat. It’s very comfortable.

Mostly what we did was relax and read with no distractions. It was very nice, but a week was plenty long enough for us, then we headed back home. I won’t bore you with that part of our trip because it was pretty uneventful. Just lots of driving, something we also enjoy. We think the trip is sometimes better than the stay. It’s in our blood.

Once home my first priority was to get the lawn mowed as quickly as possible before it rained. While I was doing that out back, Diane worked on the wild parts out front. The below photo is a triangular spot, about 15 feet on a side. That’s Ziva peeking out of the jungle. She’s decided it’s kind of nice to just lay down in a bunch of foliage. Funny dog.

Now it’s time to stop. Diane said. So, of course, I will.

Bye.

First, however, I just have to say that I think Dwayne Wade, of the Miami Heat, is a totally disrespectful idiot. That’s an opinion, but it’s supported by video evidence of him taking practice shots while a young girl sang a beautiful rendition of the Canadian National Anthem. What a shmuck. Thankfully, the Toronto Raptors won the game and is up 3-1 in the series.