Friday, June 25, 2010

Special Weekend

We in the midst of a grand celebration this weekend - Angela's birthday!
It started today with her choice of a restaurant. She choose Joe's Crab Shack (good choice!).

Gary got to do most of the work on the king crab legs.

Tomorrow we bake a cake - triple chocolate with fudge icing (can you feel the calories just in reading the name?)

Sunday is "the day". There will be a little get-together in the afternoon complete with buffalo burgers on the grill and swimming in the pool. Yes, you read that correctly...BUFFALO burgers. She loves them.

Plus we're making homemade ice cream to go with the cake. (I'll be spending a lot of time doing laps next week as well as extra time on the bike.)

Stop by if you're in the area!

Fortunately I got the Pokemon plushies finished in time to give her on Sunday because her *real* present didn't arrive yet. (Why does tracking now come with a date it was scanned in but doesn't bother with where it was scanned at???)

Anyway, Torchic and Jiggypuff are done. Thanks again to Wolfdreamer for her terrific patterns. :)


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wednesday WIP

Oklahoma went straight from Winter to Summer with temperatures soaring to the high 90's every day. Lovely for enjoying our swimming pool...which we have been. But doesn't help the want to hold yarn.

Nevertheless, I have been crocheting.
Working on 2 Pokemon plushies for daughter's birthday (thanks to Wolfdreamer!). I need to get these finished by Sunday.

But most of my spare time has been spent playing with beads.

I have a chart underway for a beadweaving design that has been vegetating in my head for over 2 years. It seems like time for it to evolve beyond an idea, eh?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flower beds are starting to look like.....well, FLOWER beds. ha! Gladiolas have started to bloom despite the heat.


And another calla lily has bloomed.
Maybe I can do this gardening thing after all?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Doing

Back from vacation for 5 days and I haven’t managed to spend more then 10 minutes on the computer. It’s all this “doing” stuff which has included unpacking and cleaning the motor home, laundry, weeding the flower beds, and doctor appointments. And today daughter and I gave the non-traveling home a good cleaning. Good thing we had a long, restful vacation before all this doing!


Speaking of vacation…the last part was nice and relaxing. We spent time in Custer State Park touring the park and seeing the wildlife,

...found a sign we need for the back yard (we've had to rescue 2 turtles from the dogs), …and a trip to Wall Drugs (home of free ice water) and the badlands of South Dakota.

We also went to Deadwood where my daughter tried her first slot machine.


She won too! Must be “first time gambler” luck. Of course I gave her the ole spill about only taking the amount of money you can give away to the casino. Then when she won, I encouraged her to leave a winner (in other words, cash in). She listened and happily walked away with profit.


The trip home included a side-trip to Little Big Horn in Montana, and Fort Laramie in Wyoming. We are self-professed history buffs.


A very nice vacation indeed.

__________________________________________________________________

“The calla lilies are in bloom again….” (Stage Door, Katharine Hepburn)


It’s my first calla lily ever….I am so proud!

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Great Family Adventure 2010

We’re on vacation. I forgot to mention that, eh? Yes, we left on our RV vacation the 24th of May. Between last minute errands, packing the essentials into the motor home, and the excitement over Lost finale (which I loved and hubby scratched his head over) I just forgot to mention it.

The first couple of nights were spent at friend’s farm in Kansas. They are more like family really, and we hadn’t seen them since we moved from California where they live most of the year. Catching up was wonderful and seeing the family farm was nice.

From there we headed north out of Kansas and into Nebraska, making our way to Black Hills in South Dakota where we are at now. Since our arrival, we’ve been up on a mountain top, down into a cave, and witnessed an explosion.

Up on a mountain

About 8 years ago we saw Crazy Horse for the first time. It made a profound impression upon us…the commitment of the Ziolkowski family, as well as the meaning behind the Memorial Foundation.
That prompted us to become regular contributors to help in completion of the vision.


Since we are regular contributors, this year we had the pleasure and honor of going to the top of the Crazy Horse Memorial.


It was an amazing experience to be that close to an amazing sculpture-in-work.

Our guide, Dewey, gave us insight into how the work is done. And what a view from the arm of Crazy Horse!


An unforgettable experience.

Down into a cave

Jewel Cave. While it was interesting to hear about the on-going exploration of the caverns, the area that the public is allowed into just isn’t as beautiful as Carlsbad Caverns (sorry, it’s true).





Most interesting tidbit – 723 steps according to the guide (I didn’t actually count them). Yes, the ultimate stair master.



Witnessed an explosion

Sometime the work on Crazy Horse requires blowing up (off?) part of the mountain to get to the area where the work is to be done. An explosion was on the schedule for Memorial Day – an event! And we were there.


Gotta admit….Gary (hubby) really knows how to show we gals (Angela and I) a good time.


We still have another 1 ½ weeks left before we’ll be home. If I have a chance, and if WiFi is available, I will blog again about the Great Family Adventure 2010.