Quiet Saturday

Got up a lot sooner than I planned this morning because of a headache that insisted on staying with me until I got out of bed.  Hate it when that happens but I suppose I can always take a quick nap in the recliner.  I made a pot of coffee, had a hot breakfast, washed up dishes I'd let sit from the night before (just because I can), and set out some fresh nectar for the hummingbirds.  Also wrote a letter, cleaned the sinks, and tidied up the sewing room.  Yet again.  Man, but that room gets cluttered and dirty fast.

I settled in to start my next quilting project to see if maybe THIS TIME my color schemes will make more sense.  It sure takes a long time to cut out quilt pieces. I chose a fairly easy pattern called whirligig.  It only has 3 colors and 3 pattern pieces.  I'm going to either make a quilt out of (using all the same pattern this time) or a wall hanging.  Busy work.

I had this pretty blue bowl that Ruth had given me years ago. (Yard art) The piece that would attach to a fence came undone so I had it in the bird bath as a decoration.  It got all scudsy so I took the hose to it and scrubbed it up the best I could.  You can't make it smooth on the outside because of the glass stones that were glued to it so I decided to put it on my deck and let the rain fill it up.  It's kind of pretty.

Pulled out a few Halloween decorations (two pumpkins and two body parts) and then decided to take a selfie of my halloween costume,  Be that as it may. I don't really dress up for halloween anymore. Also don't open up the door at night for trick or treaters.  Hardly anybody comes to this street anyhow.  I'll just leave the porch light off and settle into the recliner with my crochet hook and remote control.

 My sister made these legs and slippers. I think it's cool.

I've had this rubber hand for several years. I play with it every October.

I've had this mask since the 80's I think.  Too hot to wear for very long but it is realistic.

My Christmas cactus decided to bloom this month.  Always pleases me that I haven't killed it yet.

Went to the casino yesterday for Linda's birthday lunch.  Just had to get a picture by their witch in the lobby.

Two pictures I got from Mary showing that Jake is a boy's boy.  Loves cars, trucks, motorcycles and even tires!

Here comes the rain again. It had let up for a little while but looks like we're in for the wet stuff for the weekend.  I think I'll write myself a reminder note to set back the clocks tonight and now I'm off to the recliner for that little nap.  Always easier to drop off when rain is hitting the roof.



Latest video:  cracks me up..

A PJ kind of day

Woke up at 5 a.m. feeling icky.  Spent the next 4 hours visiting the bathroom.  Oh swell!  And things were going  so well lately.  IBS maybe?  Still no definite answer from the gastro guy who I saw this morning.  He wants me to get a blood test now for celiac disease.  Meaning gluten.  From the symptoms I looked up online, I don't think that's it.  I do suppose, though, that something I'm eating is throwing my insides into a panic.  Heaven knows I've never been a poster child for eating healthy.  He wants me to come back in January but I doubt I'll bother.  Been going to him every three months since LAST January and still don't have a definite diagnosis!  Guess I'm going to have to try and figure this out on my own by recording what I eat.  So boring!  Yet....these diarrhea episodes are the pits!

At any rate, I plan on staying in my pajamas today and laying low.  Can't really get into sewing if I feel punk so I'll veg out in the recliner and watch tv and crochet.  Plan on watching the debate tonight  too.

Got a call from my cousin's wife in Vancouver (Holly Blankenship) telling me Jim was taken back t the hospital.  Has pneumonia and that's a scary thing on top of his emphysema.  He fell recently and is trying to recover from those wounds, as well.  Last time I talked to him, he said he was more than ready to leave this world.  Welcomed it.  Feel so bad for him.  He's had health issues for many years.

Maddie went to her cross country banquet with her mom last night.  She got the coveted coach's trophy and Jen (who cried) said she's over the moon happy about it.  Hunter also lettered in tennis. So proud of both of them!

I finished the red quilt I'd been working on and will start a new project tomorrow, most likely.  Looked over my Christmas stash of gifts put up in the closet and they're slowly starting to accumulate. I'm cutting down this year, however. My fixed income just isn't stretching the way it used to.

Got a bill from the optometrist this morning for what my insurance wouldn't pay for an exam. I have to pay $59 out of pocket and I'd already paid $159 for the lens!  Apparently the exam was $256. Seems excessive to me. I should have went to Walmart.  Lesson learned.  I know I don't pay as much as some people do for medical insurance but it's still a hardship on  my budget.  Not sure exactly what is taken out of my social security check for medicare and prescription insurance but I know it's high. On top of that, I pay $202 each month to AARP for supplemental.  What a damn ripoff!

I'm going to have to watch my pennies even closer than I already do.  I suspect a whole lot of seniors are "just getting by" most months.  I'm thankful I have a roof over my head every time I see homeless people on the street.  And seems like I'm seeing more of them all the time.

Hometown paper had another obit of somebody from my class this morning.  He didn't actually graduate with us as he ended up at Antioch High School but he was still considered part of our class as he attended a few years.  I remember him, at any rate.  Bob Rodgers.  Nice fella'.

Got a picture a while back online from my cousins in Tacoma. Katy and her mom have been on a "watch your carbs" type diet and both have lost a substantial amount of weight.  Looking good girls!  So proud of you.  Katy and Ann on the right.

Saw this rock design on Facebook and am thinking I might make a trip to the beach soon to start collecting stones.  I love things made with rocks, sticks, buttons, etc.

Dryer just turned off so I suppose I'd best get that laundry put away.  Found on yesterday (via Facebook) that an old high school teacher of mine (Mr. Raymond) is living in a senior community in Olympia and will be 96 come January.  Man!

Here's the red quilt I finally finished.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I learned things along the way.

Last Week of October Already

Example of dismay:  when you wake up late and discover one of the few shows you actually look forward to on TV is half over!  I've come to enjoy the CBS Sunday Morning News Show and for someone who always seems to wake up too early every morning, I was agitated that THIS morning wasn't one of them.

Problem was my sleep pattern was interrupted at 4 a.m.  I woke up with  HORRIBLE left hip pain. Struggled to roll over and struggled to get out of bed. Struggled to walk to the bathroom and thought: How can my body be in so much pain when all I've done is let it rest?!  Grrrrrr....  I downed an Aleve and heated up the hot pack in the microwave and decided to try and spend what was left of sleeping hours in the recliner.  It worked but I missed half my show.  Sure hope this hip pain moves on down the road.  I think it will but I did get my walker out from under my bed, just in case.  Yeah, I have a walker for "those days" when age is winning the battle.

At my age (and I don't take my luck of living this long for granted) I've come to accept the fact that there are just plain going to be those days when various body parts are going to give me grief.  If it isn't my hip, it's my knees, back, or shoulders.  Even with all this aggravation, I'm thankful I'm not suffering with migraine headaches.  I doubt I could take  it.

I pulled the memory foam topper from the single bed in this room and pulled it back to my double bed where I spend my nights.  This routine has become "just something I do."  If I wake up with a hurting body, I pull the foam off my double bed and back to the single bed so I can sleep on a firm surface.  I still haven't figured out for sure which is better. Probably neither.  I'm just old and fat and this is the way it's gonna' be.  Ha Ha

I fixed myself a yummy breakfast of hash browns, poached egg, toast, coffee, and bacon. Curled my hair so I don't look quite as much like a witch as I would otherwise, and now I'm off to the sewing room to listen to an audio book and see how much progress I can make on my latest quilt.

I worked on ancestry a bit last night and retyped all my "Charlie Blankenship clues" so that I can have them handy if I ever make it across town to the Morman Church library.  I suspect, though, that my Charlie is going to remain elusive.  Here's what I compiled:

Charlie clues:

---Charley is mentioned in a letter my g.grandmother (Jane Downs Blankenship) received from her sister  in 1896 when Jane & Lewis lived in Salem, OR

---The obit for Lewis M. Blankenship, lists a son “Chas” living in California (1911).

--- My grandfather, when asked by one of his children about the younger brother, Charlie, said: “he just ran off.”

--- I have an old school group picture of kids in Ramsey? with “Charlis” written on the back.              

---Young boy is pictured in family photo dated 1890?  Probably taken in Illinois if family moved west in 1892.   However, it could have been taken in Oregon in 1893.  Jane Downs Blankenship died 1898 at age 58.

---1909 army enlistment for Lane Co  OR (Charles N)  (found somewhere on ancestry?)

Was he adopted? Did one of the other siblings have an illegitimate birth? Did Charlie change his name when he grew up? Is Charlie a nickname or a middle name? Why can’t I locate a birth or death record?

Father: Lewis Marion Blankenship b 2 Oct 1841 Fayette Co, IL// d 16 Jul 1911 Eugene, OR

Mother:  Jane M. Downs b  10 Dec 1840 DE//d 10 Jan 1898 Independence, OR (ma Oct 1859 Fayette Co)

Siblings:

Georgianna (Georgie) b  14 Jan 1861 IL ma. Jacob (Jake) Millon Stark. She died 9 Apr 1935 Eugene, Lane Co, OR

Elizabeth C (Lizzie) b. 1863 Polk Co, IL ma. William J. Thomason in Sangamon Co, IL 26 Jun 1890. She died 12 Apr 1927, 1023 3rd Ave, Eugene, OR

John Allan  b 30 Nov 1865 Taylorsville, IL ma. Lillie A. Thomason 28 Aug 1897 (?or 1886) Salem, OR. He died 12 Apr 1948 in Shedd, Linn Co, OR.  She was born 3 Aug 1878 Pawnee, IL Sangamon Co. She died 21 Mar 1954 in Shedd, OR            

James Summer b 4 Mar 1867 IL  He died 22 Oct 1949 in Eureka, Humboldt Co, CA

Thomas E. b 8 Feb 1869 Died 29 Jan 1881  (almost 12)

Henrietta (Etta) b Jan 1871 IL  ma. William Patton in 1896 in Pendleton, OR. She died 17 Mar 1957 Pendleton, OR

Martha (Mattie) b Mar 1873 IL  ma. Arthur Thomas Steele. She died 24 Jul 1961 Suver, OR

Zadock (Zed) b 27 Jan 1875 IL   Died 29 Nov 1932 Polk Co OR (Suver or Eola?)

Lewis Gene (L.G.) b 9 Dec 1877 Ramsey, IL  ma Viola Mae Holt on 24 Dec 1903 Winlock, Lewis Co. She was born 28 Sept 1883 Auburn Nemaha Co NE L.G.  died 14 Sep 1960 Jefferson Co, Port Townsend. Mae died 24 Jan 1938 PT

Minnie Mae 2 Mar 1879  died as infant

Charles M  b 15 Mar 1881 IL    (in notes of a cousin) UNKNOWN IF VALID

Notes on Charlie’s father, Lewis M:

Came to Oregon in 1892 and located near Independence, (or Eugene in 1907) where he rented a farm, and he and his wife spent their remaining years. He was a successful farmer and stock raiser and was held in high esteem throughout the community. He was a veteran of the Civil war and while living in Illinois served several years as assessor and sheriff. Is listed in Civil War draft registration records in July 1863 in 11th Congressional District

Here's a picture I got in an email from Mary yesterday with the subject line telling me: He really thought he was driving and he was serious about it.

Saw Maddie's name in the Port Angeles paper this morning:

Port Angeles' Madelyn Dougherty earned third place after completing the course with a time of 20:27.

October Rain

It's 4 pm and it's been raining off and on most of the afternoon.  I took an hour and a half nap and thankfully, woke up refreshed instead of groggy.  I don't know why it is but most of the time when I nap in the recliner, I end up feeling very cold.  Even with the heat on and an afghan on me.  I figure it's probably my circulation slowing down to a crawl (or something?).

Anyhow, I noticed a lot of bird activity earlier in the day outside my computer room window.  Lot so little ones flying and darting for the seed hanging on my eave.  And then I started to hear birds a little bigger and caught this stupid bluejay nosing around.  Him and three others.

I think they're very pretty BUT...they're also very PIGGY!  I had hoped they wouldn't spot my feeder near the front porch but again....silly me!  I put fresh hummingbird feeder in the front and back and brought both feeders in to clean.  Filled up the bird bath with water even though I knew rain was coming and it must have been appreciated because I found lot of birds taking a bath later.

I spent a couple hours or so in the sewing room working on quilt squares and putting them together. It's coming right along and I'll head back there again tomorrow morning.

Watched a video on YouTube via the Roku device on the tv last night about new tips on searching on ancestry.com.  I'm anxious to try them out today as I revive my search for ole Charlie Boy.  Eventually, I think I'm going to tie all the relatives together in a story.  Have a lot of data on some and just a sprinkling on others.

Been emailing with a classmate who is working on a book and she sends me chapters to read from time to time.  The last batch she sent discussed a house she lived in for a time in Port Townsend.  It sounded a heck of a lot like the same one I lived in in 1973-74.  I sent her pictures and she's pretty sure it's the same place.  I called this lady whose folks rented the house to us and she said the name Henry Decker sounded awfully familiar to her and he had something to do with the house as she recalls so it must be the same place.

                                                                  424 F  Street

The house has changed a whole lot since I lived there. It's on the left in this old picture in front of that house on the hill.  The ink mark on the picture at the bottom is the lower field at Lincoln School.

Mary posted some pictures on Facebook of Jake at his gym class wearing his halloween costume for this year.  So cute.

Joyce Lee Adams and I took a drive to Sequim Dungeness Golf Course on Thursday afternoon to pick up Maddie at her cross country meet.  She came in third and got a medal.

                           Ed Dougherty & Kathy Snyder, the other PA grandparents

 Joyce Lee ran into a woman she knows. I didn't know anyone.

      

                             When will I learn not to pose with a thin person?!  ha ha

The boys ran after the girls did. I didn't get there in time to see Maddie run.

Off to ancestry I go now.  Have started watching 'The Unit' on Amazon prime in the evenings and am enjoying it but.....sometimes I get weary of something after a bit and I need to move on.  We'll see how it goes.

Friday at home

Just finished surfing my usual websites but will save my Yahoo crossword puzzle for a break later in the day.  Gonna' head to the sewing room this morning and see if I can't make some progress on my red quilt.  Found a bag of rhubarb in the freezer and I think it's time to use it up so I plan on making a cobbler once it thaws a bit.

Went to Maddie's cross meet yesterday afternoon in Sequim. Joyce Lee rode along and while she knew several people there, I didn't recognize a soul outside of Maddie's other grandparents, Ed and Kathy. We got there too late to see the girls run but I caught a picture of the boys taking off.

               Maddie posing with Ed and Kathy after her race where she came in third

                                                 Joyce posed with a woman she knew.

                                                                      The top ten girls

Well, nothing much else on my agenda that I can think of.  Hoping that Jenni is on the mend.  She's still having to lay low but perhaps with time,the worst is over.

Other notes:
Book I'm reading right now:  The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Book I'm listening to: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Favorite show to watch on Netflix:  Curb your Enthusiasm with Larry David (I laugh out loud every night)

Favorite pasttime:  Sewing.  Also like crossword and jigsaw puzzles

On my to-do list (and will probably still be there when I kick the bucket): Learn to play my guitar

Movie I'd kind of like to see even if I have to go to a movie house: The Intern

Activity I miss doing:  Riding my bike  (not giving up hope, though, that I'll get there one day)

Thing I'd miss the most if it was taken away: my computer

Cute stuff I saw on Facebook:

A Stressful Day

Picked up Maddie around 8:55 a.m. yesterday to run her up to the high school. Jenni was asleep on the couch and I told her I'd be right back and we were taking off  to meet Mary in downtown Seattle so she could take us over to Issaquah to the ER at Swedish.  In trying to decide exactly where to go, Mary ended up talking to some woman at the clinic where she goes.  She told her the scenario and why we were opting to go out of town for another evaluation for whatever was going on with Jenni.  The woman sighed and said: I used to work at that hospital. You need say no more as I know where you're coming from.  She suggested the Issaquah ER (because it was near Mary's house and because we were familiar with it as I'd had my shoulder replaced there).  She also mentioned that they take you right in with no waiting.  What?!  Can that be?

Traveling that far with Jenni as sick as she was I knew was going to be a challenge but we made it. I had rented a wheelchair from a local drug store (I was already in their records because of my knee replacement). Anyhow, I had the back seat set up with pillows and blankets thinking Jenni would make the trip better laying down.  She's so tall, though, that she opted to sit in the front and recline the seat. She did choose the backseat on the way home, though. The trip was so hard, she had to lay down.

We got to Bainbridge and I found a disabled spot near the gate.  My placard was expired (from when my dad lived with me) and we had forgotten to bring Jenni's placard...but I parked there anyhow and kept my fingers crossed I wouldn't get a ticket.  I hauled the wheelchair out of the back, got her situated in it with a blanket and we were off.  Going up and down inclines was kind of hard and I had to practice getting over ramp bumps without tossing Jenni onto the street but we made it to the ferry.
Our only minor mishap on the way was when she wanted me to make a McDonalds stop in Poulsbo (a slight turn off our route) but I missed it and said there's another place down the road.  I turned into this strip mall where I thought the fast food place was but ended up going in circles and had to turn around and get back on the highway. She only wanted some fries and was getting irritated with my driving.  We went a little further and I saw the Dairy Queen but missed it as I saw it as we were passing.  We ended up stopping at an Indian Longhouse cause she had to pee and then when we finally came to another McDonalds closer to the ferry, she said she didn't want anything.  She was feeling miserable and as usual, I was scared we wouldn't make the ferry.  I do hate catching ferryboats.

Since I had missed getting her the fries she wanted (she hadn't really eaten in over a day or two), I bought some chicken strips and steak fries on the ferry.  Overpriced of course! $7 and they were dried out and blah.  I should have known better.  I brought them back to Jenni but she had laid down to sleep.  She woke up and ate one and then went to the bathroom and threw up!  I insisted on carrying the stupid fries with us in case she wanted some food later but they ended up in Mary's car where I'm sure she promptly tossed them in the trash.  Ha!

Mary met us on the upper level right at the ferry terminal and took over pushing the wheelchair for me. She hadn't been able to find a parking spot because of all the construction down there so she parked in the underground parking lot where she's known. They allowed her to double park as she'd only be a few minutes. (She gives all they guys generous tips at Christmas so they like her)  ha ha

We were off to Issaquah.  Beautiful new hospital.  Even has a mall inside with shops.  We pushed Jenni to the front desk and  got her registered. She was in "the system" already so that speeded things up. I guess because she's been to her Seattle neurologist for tests and followups, etc.  Anyhow, within a minute, we were led back to our room.  Three people (two were doctors)came in to take history, hook up wires, evaluate, etc.  She ended up having new blood tests, a CT scan, and a urinalysis.  She was in bad pain until they got the pain meds in her and then things eased a bit.

We were there about two hours altogether, but there was a nice color tv mounted on the wall with cable and the wait was tolerable.  The tests showed what they believe was the aftermath of a kidney stone passing.  She had blood in her urine and scarring or something like that indicating what was probably the passing of a stone. No way to determine for sure since we hadn't screened the pee but they were pretty sure that was what was going on.  On top of that, she was having a MS flare.  She was in so much pain and was so sick that she wasn't drinking enough and wasn't taking all her MS medicine on schedule.  She's usually gung ho on taking her meds and never misses but her thinking was all messed up with the pain and she let it get away from her.

The MS flare was most likely worse this time because her immune system was compromised and the pain she was experiencing brought on more stress and panic.  MS can worsen with stress and fatigue. She was thankful we had the wheelchair because walking was especially difficult as she lost her footing and swayed.  She's been trying so hard to go without using a cane as she hates to be perceived as disabled but I think this trip was a wake up call to her that being disabled is something that can be dealt with and doesn't need to be ignored like it doesn't exist.  She even kind of smiled a bit when she got to use her disabled card at the ferry terminal window to get a reduced fare.

I had a little bit of trouble maneuvering the chair onto the ferry and this woman came along and offered to take over.  And I do mean take over.  At first I was fine with letting her push over the ramps but then she returned after we docked and offered again.  Jenni, by this time, was not feeling well.  Her face was bright red and once we got to the car (I didn't get a ticket) she immediately threw up in the bushes.  She told me the woman was pushing the chair too fast and it was making her sick. She was also running into the people in front of us and felt like a panic attack was coming on.
I could barely keep up with the woman myself once she got us in the middle of the pack. I would have preferred waiting until a lot more people were ahead of us.  I did think we were at the back but I was wrong.  Probably 500 people in that throng.

I stopped at the McDonalds on the Bainbridge side and bought her the fries she had wanted that morning.  Wasn't long before she threw up again!  After a while, she started thinking about all the times she had thrown up and what drugs she had been on.  She deducted that one particular pain medicine (with morphine) was the culprit and she must be allergic to it.

The rest of the trip home was okay. I was nervous about driving at night but with no rain to contend with, it was manageable but I had to concentrate hard on that white line.  We got to visit a bit as her spirits picked up.  At one point, the cars in front of me began turning left at this light and I continued on.  Wasn't long before I saw a speed sign 25 mph.  I asked Jenni:  Where the hell am I?  Why is there a 25 mph sign out here in the middle of nowhere?   Apparently, those cars turning left in front of me were going to the Hoods Canal Bridge.  AND I DROVE RIGHT ON PAST!   Big Sigh.....

We stopped at Port Angeles' Walmart to drive thru the drug prescription line and drop off the prescriptions the hospital had sent with her.  Then, it was off to the west side of town and the end of our journey.  Wayne and the kids (and Sammy) were all happy to see her home and I drove the two blocks back to my house to settle in with hot cocoa.  Hit the sack early and was out like a light.

Today I have to return the wheelchair and pick up Maddie at the Sequim golf course this afternoon when she finishes her cross country meet.  Jenni hopes to be able to go with me as Maddie was hoping some family member would be there to see her finish.  Have to wait and see how things go.

October hasn't been that great so far

So worried about Jenni.  She was in the ER on the 13th (terrific pain) and they "guessed" it might be kidney stone. Said the CT scan didn't show one but I've read on Google that they don't always show up on CTs and she might need a different test.  If that's even what it is.  Wayne had to take her in this morning at 4 a.m. as the pain was over the top again.  They gave her some prescriptions for pain and nausea, sent her home and told her to see her doctor.  Oh brother!  I get mad all over again when I think about it.

I went over there this morning at 10 (Wayne was at work by this time) and picked up the prescriptions she needed filled at Walmart.  Sat in their parking lot for an hour waiting for them to text me they were ready.  Took them back to her place, she grabbed a pain pill and went back to bed.
At 4 when I dropped Hunter off after school, she had moved to the couch (faithful dog at her side) but she was still out of it and hurting.  I went back to the high school later to pick up Maddie and dropped her off at home with my heating pad to see if that would help any.  I did call the doctor (hers wasn't available, of course) so she'll see this other lady at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.  Can only hope she makes some kind of decision to pinpoint what's going on here.

Wayne said they were the only people in the ER at 4 am yet they had to sit for well over an hour in the room waiting for someone.  Typical.  I hate ERs.  I especially hate the one in this town!

My eyes have been bothering me the last day or so and it just occurred to me that I have turned on the heat.  I've wondered before if the electric vents were blowing dust and dirt around and irritating my eyes.  Course you can't see a thing so I'm just taking a stab in the dark.  Does seem unusual, though, that the eye problem has returned just when I'm turning on the thermostat.  Could just be plain ole allergies or even psoriasis.  You can get that psoriasis crap anywhere on your body.

I didn't get much accomplished today.  Too preoccupied worrying about Jenni.  So hard to see your kids in pain.  Mary said it reminded her of when I was going through my knee difficulties.  I was completely out of it with pain and couldn't have made any medical decisions for myself.  I think it kind of scared both of them to see me so vulnerable but when pain reaches that level, you pretty much go to a different place.

I still think about how "mental and emotional" I became during that period. Personality changes big time.  I was fretful and scared and weepy and general an all around basket case.  They thought for sure I was going to have to go to a home.  Only good thing was that I quit eating and lost 25 pounds.
Didn't take long for that to come back once I was on my feet, though. Staying healthy really gets harder and harder as you age.

I knew sewing was out of the question today as you have to be in the right frame of mind.  I did get some picture sorting done on my computer, though, so all was not lost.  I probably have more pictures of Jake than I do of the other three grandkids put together.  BUT I LOVE THEM ALL THE SAME!   hee hee

And on that note, here's a picture of each of my grandkids......

Jacob Andrew

Madelyn Joyce

Catherine Alicia

                                                                    Hunter Edward

Weekend company

Been a busy couple of days.  I had planned on going to a birthday party at John Wayne Marina yesterday for Jeanne Blaurock's 70th and then down the road to visit Jenni at her scrapbooking camp at Ramblewood but Mary got a late start leaving Renton so plans were altered a bit.  It can be a challenge traveling with a two-year-old.  Heck, everything is a challenge with a two-year-old.  By the time they arrived, it was too late to drive to the party and there was no way Jake was going to agree to more car time after being strapped in for three hours already.

Brandon & Catie arrived the night before and had plans to go hiking with Sue and Paul on Saturday. Two of the pictures she took included a raccoon at Frugal's Hamburger Drive-in and a mountain view at Hurricane Ridge.

I took pictures of them snuggling on the couch and when they were saying goodbye this morning to drive into Port Townsend.

And here's one she took of Brandon on their way over here on Friday when they took the ferry.

Yesterday, we took Jake outside for a while (the weather was spectacular all day long) so he could ride his bike. My new neighbor, Heather, was unloading her car so I introduced her to Mary.

I probably took a hundred pictures of Jake getting into stuff but I managed to trim the collection down to a reasonable number.

 I didn't hear him last night but Mary said he woke up at 2 and was in her single bed with her until 5 a.m. Then he wandered out to the living room and thought Brandon being on the floor meant it was party time.  Poor Brandon. Sleep was over for him.

 I purposely left my guitar out as I'm hoping Jake will be grandchild who plays guitar.  I'm never giving up.

 This was taken this morning while he waited for his mom to pack the car for their trip to PT

 The toys I set out for him were of little interest although he did like the large pink Barbie car. Completely ignored the large Barbie pink horse with purple hair.  ha ha  He was much more interested in my green and blue bottles on the window sill.  I didn't think they would be something he'd play with so I left them in place.  I was wrong.  First thing he did was try to chew one of the corks in a couple of the bottles.

 This was on a street near my house which I took mainly because of the pretty leaves on the tree.

 The guitar was taller than he was but I have high hopes he'll play one day.

 This was a minor fall. Didn't seem to bother him a bit but I think he was annoyed that I grabbed my camera instead of running to pick him up.  Ha!

 I knew he'd like my little toilet collection in the bathroom but I did put up all the glass ones.

 Here we are having quality time together.  hee hee

                                                           And this is my street.

 Mary brought an entire box of his toys but that fire engine was about the only thing he spent a lot of time with.  Unfortunately, he dunked it in the bird bath and for the rest of the weekend, the truck kept "going off" with a garbled yet annoying siren and whistle.  We finally had to take the batteries out because it would start in on its own and scared us half to death.

 Here he is investigating the blue bottle collection by removing the corks.

 The first thing he did when I brought down Maddie's old Barbie car was take Barbie and Ken out and toss them aside.  Never looked at them again but he did find favor with the car.

 Another bathroom shot -- just because little boys that are naked HAVE to have their picture taken.  Oh dear, does that sound perverted?  Oh well, you know what I mean.

 When he first got here, we let him go out in the back yard to look around.  And look around he did. Every nook and cranny.

This was a "tongue" shot I took while he was cruisin' the street.

I spent about a half hour putting the house back together after everyone left but I miss him already.  I had to laugh at some of the things Mary told me about him as his vocabulary continues to grow.  She said if her and Andy are carrying on a conversation, he is "in their face and noisy" wanting all their attention. If they quit talking,then he'll go back to playing with his toys on his own.  And if he's watching some favorite cartoon show and they're talking, he'll put his finger against his nose and say "SHhhh".  I noticed when he played with my miniature toilets that he made a flushing sound and yelled "POOP".  Yeah, that's the kind of thing that I find amusing.  ha ha

Well, I certainly made out well with this visit. Mary brought me an ice chest FULL of frozen foods that she got at the Trader Joe's where she shops.  My freezer is well stocked and I am thrilled beyond words!  THANK YOU MARY AND ANDY!

Seahawks are on in 45 minutes so I guess I'll fold the laundry now that the dryer is done. Gonna pretty much loaf the rest of the day and tomorrow it will be back to sewing.  I did post on the PT Leader website a few days ago so you can catch my Town Kid blog at www.ptleader.com