Weekend Coming

Not much of interest to report.  Scotch broom across the street is as high as a tree in some spots. Can't help but wonder if it's contributing to my general feeling of allergy blahs this week. Or maybe it was the weedeating I did.  I love spring but I'm sure not keen on the pollen.

Watched a real dated movie last night. 'Our Very Own' from 1950 starring Ann Blyth.  I got too tired to see the ending, though, so I taped the last hour and will watch it tonight.  One of the teenage boys dancing at a party caught my eye.  Looked like Tim Considine (who I've ALWAYS wanted to be my boyfriend) but after looking the movie up on IMDB, I see it was his older brother John.  He was cute too.

I did some housecleaning this morning and then more or less loafed all afternoon. Took a nap on the back deck, which I can't always do depending on the neighborhood noise.  Came into the house and was still tired so I took another nap in my recliner.  I suspect this tooth discomfort is contributing to my lack of energy.

I might bake up an apple pie tomorrow morning. Maybe even two.  Have to wait and see how peppy I feel. Made a Safeway run to buy apples and realized as soon as I saw the parking lot, that shopping wasn't going to be a fun thing.  And it wasn't.  Crowded.

Ahhh...good ole YouTube.. Here's Spin and Marty..

Old Friends

These days all my friends are old.  Take Ruthie. She's celebrating the big 7-0 today!  Seems like a million years ago when we hanging up our party shoes and putting on our marriage aprons.
Here she is as my maid of honor in 1964. That's Pete Schweitzer who lives in Vancouver now. His wife was one of my bridesmaids and even though I haven't seen them in almost 50 years, we still keep in touch.

Don't I look happy?  hee hee Actually, I had a splitting headache. Too much excitement. I finally got a fella'.  Even though my waist isn't the smallest, I'd give anything to have one that size now.  I rented that dress in Portland for $25.

And here's one of Pete's wife, Carolyn, and my sister, Janie.  You can tell by the stuff in the background that it's the 60's. See the lamps and the punch bowl. You can kind of see the courthouse through the window. This was at my Uncle Jim's place on 19th & Haines.  Norma Holz made the dresses.

And farewell to Lumpy Rutherford.

Well, gotta go pick the twins up at school. They had a track meet in Sequim today and Jenni's extra busy at the bank tonight.
Been two weeks since my tooth extraction and I'm still taking the iboprofen.  Oh woe is me!

My bucket's got a hole in it

I guess I'm going to have to invest in a new bucket.  I've had these white ones for a while and even though I put a piece of duct tape on the bottom to cover the hole, water still leaked out as I carried the bucket from the sink to the back deck this morning.  That meant I got to mop a little before breakfast too.

And why did I need a bucket full of soap?  This is why....

Damn tent caterpillars!!! Google said to cut off the branches and put them in soapy water so I did that. (Glad I only have two small trees)  Then I sprayed with this caterpillar spray I had in the garage.  Gross little critters and I'm not happy to see them. Google also said to encourage birds to visit your yard.  Lot a good that did!  I have quail, crows, robins, goldfinch, wrens, and hummingbirds comin' around but I guess they weren't interested in a snack of caterpillars.

It was looking gray and cloudy when I got up at 6:30 but now, two hours later, the sun is out and things are lookin' up.  I've got to take my vacuum in to see if the guy can get my cord out, and I think I'll stop by Swains and get some bird seed.  Maybe even a few flowers.

I did up a load of laundry and mailed off a letter, a check, a post card, and 2 sympathy cards.  The rest of the day is mine and I suspect it will be spent right here on the laptop.  My latest mystery is grandpa's oldest sister, Georgia.  She married Jake Stark and they had four kids. I had various census records on them and thought I had as much info as I could find when I got a message on ancestry.com from this guy also researching Starks who told me Jake was married to Elizabeth Jane Prickett before Georgia. 

So I did more hunting and I did find Lizzie Jane and their two daughters.  Also found the marriage record of Jake and Lizzie Jane.  When I tried to find the marriage record of Jake and Georgia, however, I came up empty.  I tried several states and diffferent spellings but all I found was Jake marrying Lizzie Prickett and somebody named Georgie Ann Blankenship marrying John W. Watts.
Georgia's name was Georgia Anna so I'm thinking she might have married this Watts guy before Jake. Gotta do more checking, though. So many times you think you have it right and you discover several people with the exact same name.

She must have married him (if this is her) for a short time because my first census record of her being with Jake was when she was 19 years old when they were both farm hands.

Interesting story in the news right now about those three women who were kept captive for ten years.
Now, that's some evil lurking there.  Pure evil. I hope they string those guys up. 

Finished up my rock painting yesterday and got all the supplies put away. Now I can mess up my craft table with something else.

The Today Show just interviewed a guy who went a year without using any modern day gadgets like cell phones, texting, online banking, internet,etc.  He found it liberating at first to have to go back to looking stuff up in books but he also found it lonely and that the internet wasn't the cause of his feeling he wasn't being productive.  If I had to make a choice between the internet and say....not having any food with white sugar or white flour for a year, I know for a fact, I'd lose weight. No way could I function without my laptop

The dryer just turned off so time to fold clothes, run my errands, and jump into ancestry again. 

Warm May Day coming

I retrieved a couple fans from the garage this morning. Looks like it's going to get warmer as the day progresses.  Went out in the backyard to clean up the area around the steps a bit. Mainly just rearranging rocks and pots.  Rearranging seems to be my preferred activity inside and outside. I wanted to get at least some yard work done before the sun made it too warm to labor.  I put in a little over an hour and was red as a beet and hot as a pepper. 

Sorry I don't have more interesting pictures to share but this is my little corner of the world most of the time.  I did make a quick Safeway run and stopped to take a picture of the mountains. Never fails to impress me no matter how many times I see it. (click on pictures to enlarge)

Last week I took a picture of the vacant lot across the street as I noticed the scotch broom coming on. This morning I took another picture. Doesn't take long for that stuff to take over a neighborhood.

I've been repainting some of my rocks and yesterday I pulled out my glue gun to be "crafty."  I'm not all that good at crafts and my finished projects often look like a young girl scout was trying to earn a badge.

It's almost noon already so I guess I'll get see about finishing up my rock painting so I can put the supplies away.  Gonna take it easy the rest of the day -- and pray that my mouth discomfort runs its course and leaves me with a happy disposition.  It'll be two weeks in two days and that's just about enough of this nonsense!

Busy day in Port Townsend

Swallowed a couple iboprofen and decided to "suck it up" and head into Port Townsend--sore mouth or not!  I did okay but suffered on the way home and felt really sorry for myself. Oh boo hoo.....

Anyhow, I made a few stops here and there.  First place was Claridge Court Apts. where my sister lives. She and Darlene Lindsey organized a coffee get together for the tenants so I took a few pictures and met a few people. Kay Harper was the only one I knew (besides Darlene).

Drove downtown to hunt for a couple of birthday gifts and kept my eye peeled for anybody I might recognize.  No luck except the lady who waited on me in a store where I found something I wanted. Lots of customers in there (all seemed to be buying) so we didn't get a chance to visit much but was nice to see her. And I recognized her voice before I actually saw her and knew immediately who it was. (Arletta Johnson Gould)

I drove around PT trying to get some good shots of the mountains but didn't go to the right "taking a picture place" as they were only so-so. I tried again when I got back to PA and took a shot in the Walmart parking lot. The PT picture was taken on Blaine near the entrance to the police station and golf course.  Cars were parked clear down past Del's and up on Walker both sides of the street. Not sure what was going on.  Either something with the pool or the food bank.  I was tempted to stop and look but it would have meant parking too far away and I wasn't in the mood.

 

 

Stopped by the hospital to visit my cousin, Bill Arey, who had hip replacement surgery, got an infection, and had to go back in and have the infection cleaned out and another hip replacement put in. They'll know tomorrow if the infection is one that will require him going to an out-of-town hospital for a couple more surgeries to rid his body of the infection and replace the hip.  What a bummer.

His brother, Lee, and sister-in-law, Elaine, came in while I was there so I pulled out my camera to get some shots.  Had one taken of me and Bill's wife, Teresa, too but I looked like hell so I edited myself out.

Bill is so funny. It was like watching and listening to his dad, Lyall, all over again.  They were discussing a rash he had the previous day and how uncomfortable the itch was.  They weren't sure if it was caused by the tape he had on or the antibiotic.  He was better but told the doctor:  "If it returns, just go out and buy me a flea collar."

Then they discussed bowel movements.  BMs are always of interest to hospital personnel no matter what you're in there for.  Bill had no qualms about discussing it in front of me either.  He mentioned to the doctor that they'd even given him something "at the other end."  Then he told the doctor: "We may have to get a chaplain in here to say a prayer over me for a bowel movement."  I don't think the doctor thought it was all that funny but I sure did!

My last stop of the day was a surprise birthday party for Ruth Kvinsland at Rich & Bev Stapf's place on Jacob Miller.  I didn't get as many pictures as I thought because I was using my old camera and it has a habit of turning off on its own.  I was clicking away thinking I was getting pictures but discovered when I got home what I was actually getting....nothing!

Here's Ruth with her two grandkids (both really cute and well mannered.)  They make Ruthie look like a midget.

Rich and Bev have a beautiful home -- and beautiful yard.  Kind of like a mini golf course really. Five acres in all and nice and quiet.  I was so disgusted with myself when I left. I sat at the bottom of their driveway trying to remember if I turned left on Jacob Miller if it would take me to the highway ....or did I need to turn right and go out Hastings.  Of course, I picked wrong and went the long way on Hastings.

I wish I had done my "usual bossy thing" and made everybody get in a group picture but I didn't.   Here's two I did get...

 Ruth & Nancy Schroeder (wearing her cute hat)

Rich & Bev Stapf soaking up the sun. Was nice to see John Kvinsland and meet Bev's son, Kevin, too. Really nice boys.  I mean MEN! 

Speaking of men, I've noticed that everytime I log on to facebook, the first entry on my home page is a link to "older men looking for girl friends."  Ha!  I ain't fallin' for that one!  I did match.com a few years back and all my "matches" (and they were scruffy lookin') wanted thin and young good looking chicks.  Such a dream world they live in.
I've got to make  a quick Safeway run now. I tried cleaning my car windows with a cheap window spray and I'm going back to Windex.  Think I'll buy some ammonia too and work on the house windows.  Also have to see if I can figure out how to take my vacuum apart. The 'retractable' cord is stuck and I only have three feet to work with.  I hate those rinky dink retractable cheap machines!

I might mow my back lawn too. It's half done but my mower needs adjusting and I'm just not in the mood to try and figure that out.  Would mean getting dirty and I'm in a delicate mood today.  Ha Ha

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARY NORTON!!!!

Laying Low

Got my stitches out this morning and he says I don't have an infection or dry socket but that some people take longer to heal and I happen to be one of them.  I can live with that. Have to admit I have had shorter periods of discomfort today.  Course I been keepin' myself medicated too.

Spent the afternoon working on...yeah...you guessed it...genealogy.  Posted a few pictures on my family tree and filled in various details like who married who, when, and where.  Always interesting to see the variety of names that end up being on your tree.  Some day I'll have to compile a least of the oddest sounding names.

Only pictures I have are the quail that walked across my deck and looked in my window again.

I had to laugh this afternoon when I picked up the twins after track.  We got on the subject of how old I was.  Maddie says:
"You're 69!"  tee hee    Hunter laughs.  "Yeah 69!"  har dee har har

Maddie tells me a story about their teacher saying 69 in regards to whatever subject they were on at the time.  The class giggled.  The teacher looks at them and says:  "Oh, grow up!"  And then she laughs.  Things have really changed since I was in junior high.  Or not.

Well, I got nothin!  As usual.  Guess I'll pay some bills online. That's always good for laughs. And then I'm gonna get my jammies on and settle into my recliner for a fun-filled night of nothing special.
I bought some flower seeds a couple days ago so maybe I'll get them planted tomorrow. And it wouldn't kill me to wash the car too. Let's hope the month gets more interesting as we go along.

Here's Bruno....I like him!

 And Paul Simon....

Time to change the calendar again

Seems like I was just setting up April 1st and here it is May already.  I had kind of a crummy day yesterday so I'm glad April is behind me.  My tooth extraction of last Thursday has been causing me a lot of grief, much to my surprise. I've had teeth pulled in the past and didn't have any recovery issues.  Maybe things don't heal as well when you're older.  At any rate, I went to Safeway and picked up some iboprofen 'cause the Tylenol just wasn't touching it.  I do feel better this morning, with only an occasional dull ache that comes and goes. I can live with that.  I'll get my stitches out tomorrow.

I sure did toss and turn all night.  And so many dreams.  All took place in Port Townsend.  In one of them I was rearranging rooms (it's what I do) and the house was a combo of my San Juan place and my F Street place.  Other people that showed up were my cousin, Linda, various friends and relatives, my kids, and Connie Okert.  Not sure how she got in there but she pointed out a hole in my sweater on the elbow.  Yeah, I'm definitely a busy person in my dreams.  I was at my funeral in one segment. I was either dead or preparing to be dead.  Ev and Patricia came along with Kate (work friends) and others.  No wonder I was tossing and turning.

Probably it's related to the fact that I'm working hours upon hours with genealogy and births and deaths are the mainstay.  Yesterday was also the 4th anniversary of my dad's death and my 11th anniversary of my last day at the mill.

I saw my first goldfinch outside my window yesterday so I ran to Swains and picked up a new birdfeeder.  I have two other finch feeders but they were filthy and I couldn't get the crap at the bottom out.  Decided to toss them in the trash and start over fresh.  Noticed "ready to hang" thistle seed bags so thought I'd try them out.  The package said birds enjoy them as they can grab on easily to feed.  I hope so. They look kinda dorky hanging out there and so far, no one has discovered them.

 

They have found the new feeder I hung in the backyard, though.  Lots of birds showing up this morning....robins, finch, crows, and quail.  Yesterday a quail walked across my porch and looked in my window.

Today is 'late start' at the kids' school so I'll be going over to pick them up in less than an hour. Maddie and Hunter have a track meet in Forks today.  Here's a picture I saw on Facebook of Maddie (on the right) at game practice in the field near my house. She got a little write-up in the paper a few days ago. -- "the game was complimented by good pitching from Maddy Dougherty and Aspen Millett. Boyd & Dougherty both went three for three at the plate."

I was hunting for my grandpa's marriage certificate on ancestry.com yesterday and found it, along with my brother Dana's.  Grandpa got married in Winlock in 1903 and Grandma Mae's sister and her husband were witnesses, (Orin & Mary Skaggs), along with grandpa's brother, James.

 

I've also been working on one of Grandpa's uncles--Charles Perkins Blankenship. He married Rachel Whittington in 1885 and after she died in 1896, he married her sister, Addline. Only waited about six weeks too but then he had five kids at home.

This picture was taken in 1895. Kids include Lewis G in back left, Mary & Ben (twins) in middle and on right; Charles holding Charles Loyd, Beryl standing in front, and Rachel (who died a year after this picture was taken.

And here's a shot of Charles with his third wife, Ida.

A cousin in Bend, OR emailed me yesterday that she has a subscription to newspapers.com and is going to look up obits for me. I'm excited. 

Washer just turned off so I guess I'll tend to the laundry. Might even try to mow the sides of the house this afternoon. Have to wait and see how Mr. Tooth is feeling.