Cross Country Adventure

We began our trip on the second and spent the first days going through our lovely deserts. Lots of road work, a little weather (wind) in Oklahoma and on to Indiana to visit with the Winslows.

From there we headed north to visit with Aunt Glenna and a myriad of Weaver cousins. Going up as far as Detroit (more road work) and then swingin south/east through Ohio. Stopping for a quick visit with my Socks For Soldiers gal and then on to see yet more Weaver cousins.

We then proceed to South Carolina and a short visit with Aunt Doris, before she fell and had to have surgery to repair a break in her pelvis. Then it was back cross country with a stop in Quartzite to visit with an old National Guard buddy of Bob's.

We ended our trip crossing another beautiful desert. Skipping a stop at Janet's because of the many fires burning in San Diego county. Janet and all of our relatives made it through without loss. Thank God.

We are home, unpacking and trying to recover. It was, as usual, a bit more than we had planned on.

Hanging the clothes on my solar dryer in Bakersfield I thought back to how much easier things are now.

When I was very young my mother had to wash and iron five sheets every week. There was no throw them in the machine and then hang them out. It was separate the clothes, beginning with the whites, put them in the washing machine and start the agitator. Run the machine a while and then pull item out one by one to run them through a wringer (to press out the soapy water) and into a tub of clear rinse water. Usually there was some blueing added to help the whites look white. Then into yet another rinse through the wringer and out to the line. Then you started on the colored clothes, choosing the least dirty ones for the second wash and the dirtiest for the final wash. One of my first lessons on using the machine was to learn where the emergency release for the wringer was located. Luckily I paid attention and remember how to hit it when my hand got caught!

Then we carried the clothes to the clothes line, everyone had a clothes line. After the clothes had dried we took them in and most of them had to be ironed. This didn't mean putting them on an ironing board and steaming our a few wrinkles. This meant taking a bottle of water with a perforated cork top and sprinkling the clothes, rolling them up and putting them in a basket to await ironing later that day. I learned to iron by practicing on my dad's handkerchiefs and on pillow cases when I was 9 or 10 years old. It took a while before my mother trusted me with my dad's shirts.

Mom had the pleasure of dealing with the sheets. I never did learn to use the mangle. This was a long ironing machine that sat in the garage. Every one of those five sheets went through it each week. There were five sheets because we took the bottom sheet off of the five beds and moved the top sheet down, putting a clean sheet on top and clean pillow cases. There was a lot of laundry for my mom to do with four girls to keep up with.

I had four kids too, but a lot of things didn't need ironing by then and you didn't have to stand over the washing machine. I could throw the clothes in and come back later to hang them on the line. I still hang most of my clothes on the line. Since we have so much good weather and I enjoy the sight of the clothes hanging it is more pleasant and cheaper than using my drier.

Memories of Nancy

One of Nancy's hobbies was making exquisite china dolls and dressing them. In her bedroom sat a lovely doll she had made for her granddaughter Rolinda. She had made a number of dolls for her over the years and had lost them all to wild fire. This doll was a replacement.

This is how I remember the days after Nancy left us. The daffodils were blooming, she loved them, and it snowed.

It was too soon for Nancy's beloved roses to bloom, but there were a few bright hips decorating them.







Nancy's last days were spent in her home with her beloved cats. One of the first tasks for her friends and neighbors was to take all of her many cats to their new homes once Nancy was gone.

Critter Patrol

Our walks in the park show us a myriad of small wild life. We have on rare occasion seen a bobcat and a couple of times a coyote. Usually we see many, many ground squirrels, much to the dismay of Mandy, our dog.

Ahead of us and along the ponds we see sunning turtles. This fall the park crew cleaned up the pond so the turtles may not be visible for a while.



Our rabbit, Parker, was found in the park and was so tame I was able to catch him and bring him home with us. I didn't think a white rabbit would last too long in the wild.

September Walks

As we walk through the park we come upon some interesting things . We often come across a bright patch of stinking gourds. They seem to require no water and spread far and wide giving a green mantle to the other wise brown landscape.


This is a boat that is being used to cut and clear debris in one of the small lakes we walk along.

It keeps us entertained.

Visit to Redbluff

We took a few days to go north and visit with Kathy and family. Maryanne has started school and has a lot to do with her fabulous garden, Aiden and April Irene in school. April seems to be showing signs of being as smart as her mom. Aiden is a busy handful.

We then went scooting over to the coast to enjoy a bit of cool. We had a nice visit and really enjoyed the coast. As we went inland it became too hot to enjoy so we headed home again.

Visit with the Northern Gang

Off to Northern California.











We spent a lovely week driving north to visit with Kathy, April, Maryanne and the grands.





Stopping for a brief time we visited with Gerald, Maryanne, Kyle, April, Aiden and Lania.









It was fun watching Aiden protecting his younger cousin and exploring the garden that Gerald and Maryanne are growing.



Lania is growing up too. She was spending a few days with Aunt Maryanne while her mother went job hunting in Calistoga.

After leaving the valley we went to Junction City to visit with Jesse, Michelle and Cora. They have a wonderful place they are workng on. Cora posed in her newest outfit that Amo made for her birthday.