BOUNCE FROM OREGON TO MURPHYS.

It has been long between blogs. I find when I'm busy, I'm really an activist at heart and am inspired to rant about the current incomprehensible political situation, which Jim dislikes.  I have not been traveling!  So I rant. Jim reminded me this morning it has been a year to the day (yesterday) since I left the motorhome and took up the business of building a new house and all that transpires both expected and unexpected.

While in Oregon, I got news of the awful Butte Fire from that distance, chagrined that my friend Deborah Mullen,  a co-worker at the Calaveras Enterprise, was burned out. A devastating experience.
Today, after clearing through pounds of mail, I gathered clothing, shoes, tables, chairs, jackets, and stuff you think people will need in the aftermath of a complete loss of everything of a normal household. Deborah posted a picture on FB  of herself and Husband Steve; "We have each other," she said. Always one to look on the bright side.

After connecting with several recovery, resource sights, it became very clear that the stuff I gathered was not what is needed right now. It is more on the order, of paper plates, paper towels, face soap, q-tips, wash cloths,  canned foods, powdered milk, peanut butter, fresh vegetables, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, ice chests, water carriers and so on. So, tomorrow, I'll assemble a different set of household goods,and make my way to Mountain Ranch, then Valley Springs where daughter-in-law Laurie is holding much of my important paperwork taken at my request from my house during the voluntary evacuation order. I'll start carrying my camera again, if I can find it.

My last day in Oregon, I went to a bridge repair meeting and met some neighbors from the private road we share, many of whom,  I'd never met previously.
I also invited 12 people to a wine and nibble about 4 p.m. Saturday,  before my expected leave on Sunday morning. I thought some of the neighbors might be curious about what my place looked like after watching the slow progress from the outside over eight months of building it.

Hmmm. Four people showed up, three from one family. All but  four answered with some enthusiasm, suggesting they'd be glad to come.
I thoroughly enjoyed those that came.  I'm not a novice at entertaining guests, but I've never been so royally stood up in my life, and it makes me chuckle that I've had that experience at this time in my life. If I were a young bride, I'd have been hurt. Not one person bothered to tell me they could not or would not come. I thought it was strange but those that came,  more than made up for those that did not.
It has been fun furnishing a new house, with nearly all second-hand items and attempting to keep it neat and not over clutter it with stuff as I am wont to do.  I'll eventually get pictures hung and curtains up and take photos; my goal to hopefully find this page a bit more often.

ciao-Mary

HOLIDAZE!!

Our annual family reunion is really a family and friends reunion. The first to arrive on July 4th was Wendy and Paul Lothrop from Southern California. Long time friends of my daughter Kristanne.  it was designed to be a surprise for her because she hadn’t seen them in a about two years and didn’t know they were coming.

Doug was cutting tile for one of three tables he rebuilt.

Kristanne and Austin arrived next. After having a chance to visit with Wendy and Paul, and since we were waaaay behind schedule with extremely hot weather, my inability to do very much, and a lot of things left undone for too long, Doug put Kris to work on the barbeque table he rebuilt, staining the wood trim and later two coats of Varathane.

Austin hung the flag, washed and tested all the squirt guns to make sure they worked, emptied the garbage and sorted recycling for a run to the dump before the big event on Saturday.

He only had to toss one gun.

On Friday, the young cousins arrived. Abby got sparkles in her hair and the boys sported newly painted mohawks for the occasion. Later Kristanne fixed a mohawk for Austin, too.

Sisters, Bev and Kathy. Bev is mother of the boys and Abby.

Kathy always brings something zany for the kids, this time some 4th of July sunglasses…

…and some weird teeth for herself. Boy, what Hollywood can do to make you look old.

Ted and Bev set up the first tent. The kids played on the trampoline and had squirt gun wars all day, while Wendy kept us all fed.

Doug put Ted to work patching tubes that went dead.

Virginia, Cedric, Theo and Owen arrived late on Friday, but the kids got some trampoline time in and we adults played a game called What’s Yours Like?

It is a guessing game, brings a lot of laughter, and the good thing, is you can snack and drink with the game without worrying about getting your cards or board wet or spilled on or greasy. More reunion stuff tomorrow. Have to visit the Chiropractor this morning.

SEXY NEIGHBOR CATS.

At Dinner, last night, with neighbors, the pictures of my friends turned out faded and mushy. This camera troubles me because my habit is to always take pictures without flash whenever I can. I’ve determined it does not do as well in low light conditions as the previous camera of the same  make and model?  When I used the flash on the cats, the pictures turned out  fine.

Suzy has bengals and one stole Jan’s keys off the counter and the cats examined them thoroughly, no doubt looking for a robotic mouse.

Then Shane decided to fish an ice-cube out of Jan’s glass.

She came close, but didn’t get it.  Honestly, we did have a great deal of party conversation before we became fascinated with the antics of the cats, including talk about our “famous” meteorite. It was quite a sensational event in our little corner of the world. A good article about the size and type and rarity of this meteorite was sent to me and can be read at this address:
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/APNewsBreak-Fireball-remnants-likely-in-Calif-3509651.php

Ron made a gigantic, man-sized meatloaf.  The picture didn’t turn out either, but it tasted good. I think he is planning to eat meatloaf for the next two weeks or maybe feed it to the horses.
I’m counting the days before I head back to the Motor Home and the life of a perpetual tourist.

KISSED BY A STRANGER.

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a white horse. Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.
I woke up this morning, late, with that  nursery rhyme playing through my head, instead of Brown Eyed Girl, or Big Wheels Keep On Turnin’, the loud, jumpin’  music from last night at Cactus Jacks. There is no accounting for the twists and turns of the brain.
It was my intention to stay home New Years Eve, but a neighbor, Jan,  insisted I go with her to the Murphys Hotel. We arrived at 9 p.m. Planned to stay a couple of hours. Myself, Jan and Cynthia got our picture taken by Cynthia’s boyfriend, Dave.
The Murphys Hotel is about 150 years old and has a reputation for being a cowboy bar. But, the cowboys have changed considerably, I noticed.
Jan, the storyteller, regaled Dave with old stories from the hotel’s checkered history.
There was no band, the dance floor is practically non-existent. We danced twice to canned music. The people made it fun, but we all decided to leave the hotel and walk down to Cactus Jacks. The dance floor there is bigger, the band was better and it was jammin’.
Cactus Jack sells shirts called Plan B.
Translation:  After you leave Cactus Jacks and go to the Murphys Hotel,  you’ll come crawling back to Jacks where all the fun is. It was  fun. They don’t have a liquor license, only wine and beer. The grizzly was good, dark and chewy.
People watching is half the game. It was a dance free for all, everybody dancing with everybody.  Nobody obnoxiously drunk.

Some friends, Lianne Smith and her new boy toy popped in. She and others went from party to party. Over the course of the evening, I met old friends, kids, who are no longer kids, who  went to high school with my no longer kids. Then, I met a guy who graduated from the same High School I did, only twenty years later than me.
Cactus Jack provided paper cups of champagne at midnight. And, I got kissed by a stranger.
Anything can happen. It’s a new year. 2012 is here.