And we have lift-off!

Against the odds, my BIL and Mom are actually in route to Lincoln, NE. The third time (my BIL got a ticket to fly to TX) was not a charm, but thanks to his gentle perseverance, it is on its way to being successful. Whew. My sister and I have been sharing chuckles, because it is better to laugh than cry, right?

The third flight was booked for Saturday night, July 5. When all systems were still "go" by Friday night, we dared to feel confident. Silly us. I felt my phone vibrate while sitting in church, and the following ensued:

But wait; there's more. My BIL's flight was delayed multiple times due to weather, so instead of getting in Saturday night, he arrived at 1:00 a.m. this morning. With an extra day on her hands, Mom was ready and waiting, right? Texts between my sister and BIL this morning:

Honestly, my BIL should be nominated for sainthood. This is going to be an interesting new chapter in all our lives.

At home we are still trying to figure out what to do about two dead vehicles. Rick and Brian spent a lot of time working on the vet truck, fixing one problem only to be faced with a new one. Argh.

I remind myself often of Isaiah 26:3; you can't stay focused the problems!

That's it for now from . . .

Wheel woes

The friend whose vehicle we took to BSG after mine died

So nice to play with color after all the black I've been spinning!

Since I just went to a fiber festival, you might be thinking spinning wheel. While I do have one, it's been years since my Louet S10 has seen any action; my Jenkins Turkish spindles are the yarn producers around here. (And yes, I got another one at Black Sheep Gathering, the one that completed my collection.😉) No, our wheel woes are much more troublesome, and expensive....

Rick's current vet truck has been a lemon – trying, it seems, to live up the Ford acronym taunt "Fix Or Repair Daily." He has been pondering a replacement, but late model pickups big enough to handle his vet box, extra equipment, and mileage are obscenely expensive, so he keeps patching his 2002 Ford F350 back together. Early last week another major problem presented itself, putting it up on blocks, so to speak. Fortunately our old '94 Ford keeps on truckin', so he makes do with that when his vet truck is sidelined once again. At least the shop is finally to a useful/useable stage:

Last Wednesday evening on our way to agility my car dramatically lost power. In order to prevent further damage, I had it towed to the nearest VW dealership, in Salem. The diagnosis was grim; the repair would cost more than the car is worth. So we hauled it home where it sits, awaiting its still undecided fate. I was grounded for a few days, and then my boss generously loaned me her mini-van to get to and from work until Rick's vet truck is fixed or replaced. 

Between the fleeces delivered to buyers at BSG and the two shipping out tomorrow, almost half my clip has been sold. Now to skirt and advertise the last eight.

Yesterday Rick was given four tickets for tonight to the St. Paul Rodeo. We haven't been to it in years, and I can't say I'm looking forward to it, except for the fireworks at the end. The risk to man and beast is real, and I sit in dread of something bad happening, especially to the animals (I figure the human participants go in willingly with eyes wide open; animals don't get a choice.)  This is not a hypothetical fear; Rick and I saw a bucking bronc break its leg in the middle of the run, then get shuffled off to the stock pens to wait until Rick went and demanded humane measures be taken. My parents witnessed Lane Frost get gored to death at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo. Praying there are no accidents of any kind tonight....

To end on a more hopeful note, our garden is still going great guns (but for the beets and carrots). The snowpeas and bush beans have started to bloom. I've harvested three cucumbers so far; soon we will be enjoying tomatoes, sweet peppers and eggplant, too.

Inside, my littlest orchid is budding out (again!) as my African violet blooms fade:

And last night's sunset was a lovely one!

That's it for now from . . .

For the first day of summer we got SPRING!

Last weekend we enjoyed a lovely throwback to spring weather, which for us ended abruptly and much too early. It was cool and cloudy Friday-Sunday, and on Saturday, gloriously wet. A half-inch of rain was enough to rinse off the dust, refresh the earth, and save me watering duty for a few days. It also added enough weight to an already loaded branch of our bigger prune tree to bring it down. 😞

This coming Sunday I'm looking forward to going to Black Sheep Gathering with a friend. As usual I will be proxy-shopping for several people, although I do have a short shopping list for myself. I'm also delivering three fleeces to a buyer; glad I thought post that option to the Jenkins Spindles group on Ravelry.

I thought I'd also be celebrating Mom's arrival in Lincoln, NE by the end of Sunday, but for the second time my BIL has had to cancel his flight to TX to drive her north. Mom has decided – again – that she just can't get everything done in time to leave then. My sister and I don't know how long this situation is going to dribble out, but figure she can't back out of the move now that the bulk of her possessions are already sitting in U-Boxes in Lincoln. Mom's freshly carpeted and painted two-bedroom apartment is waiting for her as well; below are a few of the photos my sister sent me. As you can see it is a lovely space inside and out (all her windows face that green space which cannot be developed). Now if we can just get her there....

Below are a couple recent sunsets, the first enjoyed on horseback, the second during an evening walk. I'm trying to walk more often to build back my endurance post-surgery.

Our nine hens are still keeping us and the neighbors in plenty of fresh eggs. Occasionally I manage some decent photos of a few:

Amber Stars Snowcone and Toffee Bits, and Cream Legbar Honeybun  – GREAT layers!

Puff and Ashes, 'farmyard mixes'

Spangle, a Whiting True Blue

Poppy and I did indeed return to agility class last week. She was a rock star, and I managed to keep up, so we're back!

I'm not quite this bad, but am certainly not up to full speed yet.

That's it for now from . . .

A day for ourselves

Quite different than the same day 41 years before, which was as much (more?) for family and friends as it was for us. As a child of divorce (and subsequent remarriages) it was impossible to please everyone, although I tried. I especially mourned that I didn't/couldn't have my step-dad walk me down the aisle, as he was more of a dad to me than my father. Mom said he understood, but it still tore up my heart. Anyway, that's water long gone under the bridge, along with FIL, birth-dad, and step-dad, in that order. The male halves of the six parental units of that day gone, all men. I'd better enjoy my man while I can!

And enjoy him I did. Rick managed to take a weekday off work completely, though it was a struggle to keep it open. We headed towards the coast and spent a carefree day eating and seeing, both the coast in the wild and the coast contained, by visiting Boiler Bay (we watched whales!) and the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which we hadn't visited in years. Infrequent fantasies of exotic vacations aside (we've never taken one, exotic or not), it was a lovely way to celebrate our years together.

sculptures made of retrieved plastic waste were sobering

That's it for our anniversary date from . . .