A Good Day's Work

Evening thunderstorms, warm sunny days, flowers budding and blooming, and those sheep out back are about to have little lambs...  Yes indeed, Springtime is definitely here now!  This is absolutely my favorite time of year.  It's so full of promise and little happy things like a warm breeze, the smell of lilacs, waking up to the sunlight instead of the alarm.  The season also brings a lot of work to be done - the kind that gives you a reason to spend your entire Saturday outside in the sunshine!

 All the dead things of winter must go to make room for all the green lively stuff!

This year, our lawn needed that spring cleaning treatment.  So, we rented a thatcher and bribed friends Katie and Roman to help tackle the job.  One person to mow, one to de-thatch, and two to rake up the loose stuff and cart it away.  We had a great system going!

 We were done in no time, and decided to finish up that flower bed we tore out weeks ago.

It's properly draining away from the shop now, and weeding it will no longer be a nightmare.  Whoohoo!

After Katie and Roman went home, we still had some daylight, so we started on the garden.  We doctored up the soil in two beds and planted potatoes, carrots, lettuce and peas.  

And, this time we cat-proofed it right away!

The finished product:

We Went, We Saw, We Did

We just returned from our annual trip to the Portland Swap Meet.  This meet is huge! - easily the biggest in the region.  It lasts for 4 days, and tens of thousands of people walk through the booths, looking for something they can't go home without.  Andy found tires for the '49, headers for the '49, cool headlights that might end up replacing the ones on the Dodge (unless I talk him out of them for the Model A...), a toolbox for the '92 truck, and some random smaller stuff.  I found a pair of old roller skates with road wheels...

We (Forrest, Andy, and I) spent the evenings/nights with Suzie, and she was an awesome hostess.  Not only did she take care of breakfasts and two dinners, she also packed lunches for us!  We tested out some sandwiches for Marie's reception (they're very yummy), and cleaned her house right out of cookies.  On Saturday night, Margaret and Greg came up from Independence to have dinner with us.  Suzie cooked up some delicious Thai goodness - trying all the recipes for the first time - and ohhh my it was good!  We had coconut shrimp soup, spring rolls, and salad.  Margaret and Greg brought a raspberry dessert to top it off.

So...I didn't take a single picture, but we had a great time mingling with car people and catching up with family.  When we came home, our daffodils had bloomed!  That's a sure sign that winter is gone, right?

Halfway up that Hill

I've made it halfway up that great age hill, and the climb's been pretty grand!  Birthdays have always been good for getting mail and eating whatever I want, and this year did not disappoint.  In fact, there was so much more to it than that this year...

The big day was on a weekday, so off to work I went.  At noon, Marie and Beth showed up to kidnap me for lunch at the Breakfast Club - best place in town for breakfast even at lunchtime!  I was hoping to spend time with them the coming weekend using the birthday as an excuse, but they told me they weren't available.  Bummer there!

After work, Andy obliged my wish to go strolling in the arboretum to enjoy some of the beautiful day before it was gone.

They've just put in a new pergola, and the forsythia was blooming...'twas a lovely scene.

One of the willow trees was budding out like some spectacular underwater creature.

And, a local veteran was out flying his 3/4 scale replica of a WWI (or WWII?) airplane!  It was really amazing to watch.  When he went to turn around, the plane would actually hover in one spot and the engine got really quiet while he spun on a dime, in slow motion.

After we'd walked up an appetite, we went out for sushi at the Thai House.  It's so nice to be able to get this wonderfully fresh and artful food in our city....I love the stuff!  The owner of the restaurant was our sushi chef, and Andy enjoyed talking business with her.  They're thinking of opening another sushi place in Lewiston since there isn't anyplace to eat it there.  Not a bad idea!

Back home, I opened birthday cards, and found this wonderful surprise in the one from Andy:

I've been a big fan of Jon Schmidt for more than 6 years now - listening to his CDs or trying to play out of his piano books - and this was my first chance to see him in concert (that next Monday).  Sooo exciting!

In lieu of birthday cake, I requested a huckleberry milkshake.  Andy knows how to make it best!

 Besides looking forward to the Monday concert, I figured the birthday treatment was over 'til the next time.  But, when we arrived home from work on Friday, there was a covered dutch oven waiting by the back door!  Inside was this beautifully golden cake:

Andy told me the good stuff was on the bottom, so I flipped it over, and he was right!  Dutch oven pineapple upside-down cake - one my favorites!  Marc, car club buddy, remembered this from a conversation we had months ago, so he baked it for me and delivered it!  That was one delicious surprise...

Now it was time to plan a weekend full of yardwork!  The forecast predicted perfect weather for that on Saturday, so we headed right into town that morning with a list of things to price and/or buy to get our garden up to par and figure out a plan for our unruly flower bed.  When we pulled off the highway, coming back home, we met up with Nick and Jennifer heading out!  I guessed they'd been up in the area and decided to stop by before heading home, so was glad we got home just in time to not miss them!  We pulled in the driveway, and my friend Monika had just pulled up too.  I was blown away that we were so popular to visit this beautiful Saturday.  Monika said she wanted to see my garden since she'd only been to our house in the dark before, so I took her out back and showed off the empty beds and raspberries.  Andy said I needed to show her the house too, and I explained to him that she'd already seen it except the new paint colors in the living room.  So we walked back toward the house, and right as I got near the porch, I caught a flash of red fur in the sliding glass door!  I said..."Wait a second!" and ran the rest of the way to the house.  Suzie had come to visit too, I realized!  This would be perfect.  Beth had told me she couldn't come help with yardwork, but I'd invited my friend Katie to come out and play in the dirt and she'd told me on the phone a few minutes ago that she'd come out today.  Now Suzie and Katie could help!

So, I burst through the back door and into the kitchen, and imagine my surprise when I'm greeted with a whole chorus of voices, "Happy Birthday! Surprise!!"

Not only was Suzie there, but Nick and Jennifer had snuck inside and Katie was already there with her husband Roman, and our dear friend Morgan was all smiles, and the little stinker Beth had made it too!  While Andy had me out of the house, buying manure and such, the clan had been cooking up a fabulous springtime lunch for us!

Andy fired up the grill to add to the feast.

We shared stories of how this whole thing came together - How I'd mentioned wanting to do something with friends this year, but gave up the idea when my sisters weren't going to be around and Andy didn't act too excited about wasting a good yardwork day on a party.  In reality, Susan and Beth had helped him plan it while I was in Arizona!  Then, Andy told about how he'd accidentally locked the door when we left, out of habit, and was freaking out that they'd all be on the back deck waiting for us to come back since our hidden spare key had gone missing a year before.  Beth was surprised to hear this, since she found the key right where it always was!  The other guests laughed about thinking there was no party because the first ones to arrive hid their cars down at the post office, and Andy confessed that all those poddy breaks at the hardware store were so he could answer calls and texts from confused guests - not because he wasn't feeling well!

Gotta love a good surprise!!

When the barbeque had wrapped up and most of the guests had left, we decided to take advantage of the good day and still do some yardwork!  Suzie, Beth, Katie and Roman were the troopers who stayed to tackle our landscaping project with us.

The flower bed along the shop has always been a bit of an eyesore.  Since we didn't plant it to begin with, we don't know what's coming up until it's a few inches tall - so weeds and flowers alike get a fair chance to take over.  And, the weeds have been winning!  Also, the soil is built up in a way that drains water toward the shop - not a great idea.  So, the big task was to dig out all the plants I'd flagged as keepers,

dig out all the other random weeds/plants to dispose,

 and shovel out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of spare soil to regrade the bed.

All the extra soil was dumped in the corn patch area of the garden to build that up.  Skipping ahead to the next day, Andy, Susan, and I worked to reshape the bed for the new look we're going for.  That involved filling the truck to the limit with sod! 

Then, we laid weed fabric and replanted the keepers.  And, after all the rainfall that night, we had a second pond!  Yippee...

Rewinding again...after the yardworking party, we were all hungry again.  So, we ate leftovers and broke out the birthday cake Chef Suzie made.

Angel food cake with a strawberry cream filling and pure chocolate icing.  Scrumptious!

Susan and Beth stayed for a sleepover...

...and Chef Suzie was at it again the next morning, making all of us a delicious eggs benedict breakfast - homemade hollandaise and everything!  It is never a mistake to let her take over your kitchen :)

Needless to say, the weekend was a perfect extension of the birthday celebration, and it continued on for one more day!  After work on Monday, we hit the road for the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane.  The line out the door was a block long and we were at the tail end of it, but the theater is small enough that even a back seat isn't too bad. 

Jon started out with his version of Elvis's Can't Help Falling in Love, and then launched into his own compositions - managing to play all of Andy's favorites and most of mine in the next two hours.  He ended with a snippet of Billy Joel's Piano Man, inviting us to sing right along.  He's a great entertainer - keeping the crowd clapping and laughing, and singing their way back to their cars afterward.

What a way to celebrate a milestone birthday!

AZ!

I took a long road trip to Arizona with Don and Faith, which started the morning of March 19th and kept going and going and going until about 7:30am on March 20th.  We saw some nice scenery, experienced some...complete lack of anything that could be called scenery, and covered a LOT of road in the 23 hours it took.  I got my first glimpse of Las Vegas...!...?... 

My abstract impression:

We arrived at Faith's daughter's home on Saturday morning, completely worn out from the travels!  Don went right to bed while the rest of us went over to "the house" to have the grand tour of where Don and Faith will live half the year when they're all retired and enjoying the good life!  It'll be a great place to visit when our house is buried in snow!

Charity let me use her shower while she and Faith made me a fabulous breakfast.  Then I tried to learn to play Super Mario on the Wii with smart little Josiah, and lost multiple times before curling up on the couch for a nap.  I woke up, completely delirious, to a text message from Colleen, saying she was almost there to pick me up!  Let the fun continue!

Two of my closest friends from my first years at the U of I live near Phoenix now, and visiting them was top priority now.  Todd answered the phone first, so I dropped Colleen off to play around the town with her friend and stopped in to see Todd and Kristi and their adorable little family.

The twins weren't even born the last time I saw these guys!  It was so fun to meet them.  The older kids talked me into a game of Life.

They made sure to explain to me right away that if you choose to go to college instead of start a career, you go right in debt!  But...I didn't listen to their advice and went to college instead.  And, look where I ended up!

It was nice to catch up with Todd about the changes at the school here and what's happened since we parted ways.  Kristi was juicing fresh lemons that smelled sweeter than any I'd ever had, and she made the best lemonade I have ever tasted.  I'm still raving about it!  Sweet little Evi said I could be her sister and move right in!  But...I had another stop to make.

I hadn't seen Jenn for 3 years, and we were nearly inseparable in those early years of college!

We spent many late nights doing homework until we were either completely hyper or nearly sleep walking.  And, when I was sick of being a grown-up, I always knew I could escape the pressure and just be a kid with her crazy little family. 

Boy, have I missed them! (The littlest kiddo was a newborn when they moved away, can you believe it?)

I got to catch up on lost years with Jenn while the kids played outside, and then we devoured pizza and the kids brought their energy inside.  Natalie shocked me at least 3 times with how grown up she is now; I got a makeover from Lexus and Jax, and played a little Super Mario with Chris (with some improvement from earlier that morning!)  Time to go came waaay too soon, and I was really tempted to accept Lexus' invitation to stay in her bed that night and let her sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor.

But...it was time to rescue Colleen and Donald.  They were wonderful to wait patiently for me - passing the time with a movie, bowling, and dinner! 

 Sunday morning in Tucson dawned warm and sunny.  Ahhh...welcome to Arizona...  We went out (without coats!) for a big breakfast, and then decided the pool in Colleen's complex looked tempting.  So...off we went to go swimming!  In an outdoor pool....in March.  I made it in almost waist deep before running for the hot tub.  But, it was too warm outside to be soaking in a hot tub, so a little game of Icy Hot ensued.  Colleen and I were thawing in the hot tub for probably the third time when a friendly fellow came over to show off his new pet rabbit.  The little wiggly-nose creatures used to be my favorite animal, back when it was necessary to have a favorite of everything.  So, we said hi to the bunny and then our new stranger-friend invited us to his birthday party that coming Tuesday!!  We couldn't make it though, since Colleen would be dropping me off at the airport that day...sorry Birthday Boy!

Once we tired of jumping from pool to hot tub, we headed out to Sabino Canyon with Donald for a rather interesting little hike.  The "trail" was a paved road occupied by trams, bikes, and pedestrians.  You could ride along and listen to a tour guide, or get your exercise and take it slower. 

 We voted to walk, of course - it being a hike and all.

The trail crossed seven bridges, most of which had water flowing right over the top of them!

 Signs along the way almost convinced us that we were risking our lives every step of the way!

But, no need to fear!  We were prepared!

Speaking of prepared...you have to see the shoes my hiking buddies were wearing!

They feel like gloves on your feet and work pretty well for wading through shin-deep water every 1/4 mile or so!  Hooray for cooling off your feet while hiking!

Everywhere the water was the color of rust,

and we found a one-eyed face!

I spent most of the hike captivated by all the funky desert plants.

We were also keeping an eye out for the wildlife the sign said we might see:

And, we did see wildlife!...of a less wild variety...

We finished off the lovely day with...

Yum!

Monday morning, Colleen cooked me breakfast.  You know, that's a true sign that someone likes you! Then, we thought about how to spend our day, and would you believe that we decided on another hike?  Perhaps we were inspired by Colleen's new bumper sticker:

This time, we decided on a real hike - the kind where you have to wear real shoes the whole time and make sure you have enough water to survive in the desert.

This time, we ended up in the East region of Saguaro National Park, which is named for the saguaro cacti that grow abundantly there.  For more info on these intriguing plants, visit: http://www.biology.ed.ac.uk/research/groups/jdeacon/desbiome/saguaro.htm.  If you don't want to read it all, you should at least know that they are at least 65 years old before they start to branch out, and they've been known to live 200 years!  I'm guessing the saguaro-of-many-appendages below is ancient!

Something tells me they don't mellow out in their old age either!

Check out their internal structure too!  (bummer that it's damaged, but pretty cool to be able to see inside!)

It was a beautiful time of year to hike here.  Although the cacti were only getting ready to bloom, there were colorful wildflowers covering the desert floor.

And, we saw some huge rabbits!

A passing hiker told us they're called antelope jack rabbits, or jackelopes.  Now, wouldn't the Birthday Boy love to have one of these to show off?!

Our destination on this hike was a dam just off the dusty trail.  Needless to say, it wasn't holding back much water that day!

We cooled off near the small stream of water behind the dam before heading back.

We decided to try Egyptian cuisine for dinner that night (food was delicious), and ended up in a booth right next to the only other people in the whole restaurant!  Naturally, the place was dead quiet except for their conversation and they weren't trying to keep it to themselves at all.  We tried to have a quiet little conversation ourselves, but it was rather difficult when their voices drowned ours out.  At one point, the man draping his arm over my head rest picked up his cell phone and called his credit card company to ask about miles.  And he very clearly announced his full name and credit card number and well as other personal information to them!  We were blown away!  Much later, they finally got up to leave and he turned to us and said, "Aren't you glad we're leaving?  Now you can talk to each other instead of whispering."  And, more than anything I wanted to say "Actually, we were really hoping you'd stick around and give us the rest of the information necessary to steal your identity, sir."

Geez Louise.

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped for gas.  Just a routine stop.  Since I've spent my adult life bumming rides off people who do own cars, it is customary for me to wash the windshield while they fuel up.  I jumped out to do this and our squeegee thing was missing so I borrowed one from another station.  I was on the opposite side of the car when a fellow wandered over to return the squeegee.  We watched him walk away, to the other side of one of the gas pumps, but we didn't see a car there.  So, we peeked around and, lo and behold, the man did have a set of wheels!  And they're attached to something similar to this:

(image courtesy of www.carryonluggagewithwheels.com)

He finished whatever he was doing and walked away, down the street, pulling his wheels behind him!  And, we speculated all the way home about just what kind of luggage this was, that you'd need to visit a fuel pump and use a squeegee...?

Tuesday morning came all too soon, and we hit the road north to the Phoenix airport.  On the way, we caught a glimpse of a aircraft graveyard:

And, some other collection of airplanes at the base of a distinctly-shaped mountain:

For such a short trip, I'm amazed at how grand an adventure it turned out to be!  Thanks everyone.

Dear AZ: I will be back!