Boom; crash!

I apologize to the dial up people for putting on 2 pictures, but you've got to see both of these to fully appreciate either of them. This is the same location, but one is with the water crashing up against the cliff and the other is with the water running down the cliff after the crash.

I took this at MacKenzie State Park, yesterday. We went here with Tom and Linda, but we had a really full day that day and didn't have time to stay here very long. I love the way the waves crash in and splash all over the cliffs. It's so hard to get a good picture, though, because you don't know it's going to be a 'big one' until it hits and the camera just isn't that quick. I usually get the run off like in the one picture. Yesterday, though, there would be a big 'BOOM' right before the big crashing wave, so I was able to get the splashing one. It's such a spectacular sight and I love to be able to catch it with the camera, so I can see it again and again.

Today we are taking it easy. Well, I've done 2 loads of laundry, but we're not doing any hiking. I needed a rest day after the last two days. We were talking with Harry yesterday about what it is about the ocean that people love so much. Everyone seems to be intrigued by it. I think what is so awesome about it is that it is even better than the Energizer bunny; it never lets up or stops. It just keeps on coming in and going out. Somehow that is comforting to me. It gives me hope that nothing is final; we will always keep on going in one form or another. It's a pattern in the plan and it brings me comfort and courage. I love being able to watch it from the side; I remember times in Japan at the beach when we'd RIDE those waves all day. What great memories. I thank God for the experience, the memories and the ability to see those waves today! (You know I have these cataracts that I was afraid would hinder my vision in Hawaii. I'm using some drops and I think they must be helping. I can see pretty well; certainly well enough that I'm not going to go home and spend $8,000 to have them fixed. These drops are supposed to dissolve the cataracts . . . hmmm . . . could it really be working? Thank you, God!

Happy Day.

We are so tired! We had a wonderful time today with Harry, but we are home and ready for bed.

I took lots of pictures today, but I started the day catching this picture on the way. We see this spot often, but it's hard to get the shot, so I was pleased to get it. I love it that someone put this on the side of their hill for passers by to see. (Happy face.) I'll share more pictures from out trip to the Puna District later. Harry is a wonderful friend.

Now, I have to ask Kyle to pardon me for neglecting his birthday, yesterday. Actually, we sent a card a week or so ago, so he should have gotten that in time, but I didn't even realize what day it was yesterday when I did the blog. I'm so out of touch with what day it is, here! We catch church days and red shirt days, but dates and times are really confusing to me. (Numbers! Details! Chemo fog wins.) Anyway, yesterday was Kyle's birthday and it brings to mind not only his birthday, but what a great kid he has always been. He's growing up so fast and we are really proud of him. He's one who could sit up all night playing cards with me if I didn't crash! Kyle, celebrate every day, and know we love you and are very proud of you.

We got up at 5:30 this morning to get the dogs and cat taken care of before we left for the day. It's about a 2 and a half hour drive to Harry's so we spent 5 hours driving today. It was a great drive, though. There are so many beautiful views to see all the way to his house. Then we got there and he showed us his pictures from his trip to Australia that he made since he visited us in Hawi. Then he took us all around the area where he lives and showed us places we had never seen. We love having a guided tour. It helps us to know Harry even better when he shares his favorite spots with us.

While we were touring around our friend, Jo Ann, called from home to check on us. It's so good to have good friends here and there. We thank God for good friends all over. We also thank God today that Bob Duffer finished his chemo treatments at MD Anderson. Hopefully, he'll be headed home to Kona soon! Praise God for good friends, and if you're reading this you are one of them. Thank you!

Kiholo Bay Day

Today was another day of beach hiking. This is a picture Don took of me when we found another great swing. I'm realizing that I'm pretty hooked on swings. It must be a Hawaii thing, too, because we find swings all over the place. Oh, Tom and Linda, and Steve and Mary, we sure missed you today; you would have loved it. Tom and Linda, this might have been one of the places you drove on your last day. Anyway, we'll all have to do this, again, because Don's Tours is expanding!

We hiked out to Kiholo Bay today. I got so many pictures; I never know where to start. After that hike, which was very difficult, we came back and hiked between the Marriott and the Hilton. That was simpler and shorter. This is where we found this swing. When we got to the Hilton the dolphins were just about to perform with the kids. We love to watch them do that. One time when we were here and our grandson, Garrett, joined us, he got to participate in the dolphin 'Quest.' It's a wonderful experience for kids. We were exhausted from hiking all morning and way thirsty, so we sat down and had a fruit smoothie, and guess who was entertaining? Cameron, the guy who was entertaining at the restaurant Sunday night. We thought that was pretty cool.

Tomorrow we are going to visit our friend, Harry, who hiked down in Pololu with us. He lives south of Hilo, so we're looking forward to hiking around his place, which is a part of the island with which we aren't all that familiar. We look forward to it. I hope I can move tomorrow! The hard thing about hiking today was that we were hiking in really deep rocks and it was hard to walk. Everything I have hurts and a lot of stuff I didn't even know I had! You know what, though? I thank God that I could walk it! We saw wild goats, some new bird I can't identify, yet, huge Hawaiian turtles, and the most beautiful water ever. I got pictures of all of it. Also, we saw (and I photographed) homes built by the guy who invented the pacemaker and some other guy, who I can't remember, but I'll look it up and share it with you when I post the pictures in the future. It was a great day and I thank God for it!

World Botanical Gardens Day

This is a picture Don took today at Umauma Falls, at the World botanical gardens. We love this place and enjoyed it a bunch. Dana, I got a bunch of pictures, but the mosquitoes were after me so feverishly that I had to really hurry. I'll send them after we get home to high speed. Some are pretty good.

We really enjoyed our day in Hilo. We've gotten to spend many months in Hawaii, thanks to Bob Dwyer needing a house-sitter from time to time. We're always in such a hurry to get to the volcano that we scurry right through Hilo. Today we took our time since we weren't going to the volcano at all. It was really nice! We found several good beaches that we had no idea existed in Hilo! I'll post some pictures in the future.

Tomorrow we're going back to the west coast to hike around between two of the resorts: the Hilton and the Marriott. We read about a hike there in a book that Tom and Linda gave us, so exploring we will go! Thanks, Tom and Linda! We also read about the beaches we found in Hilo in that book. Don's Tours is expanding. By the way, we learned that the waterfall at Kolekole park is the water from Akaka Falls! How cool is that? Sorry if I'm confusing you folks who haven't been here with us, but we're enjoying learning new things.

We know that we are so blessed to get to spend this much time really enjoying Hawaii. I'm so grateful that we were introduced to the Big Island because it is so very interesting and not as touristy as the other bigger islands.

Yesterday was our last day to give little Lii a pill and she got it down on the first attempt! What a finale! She seems just fine to me, so I guess the pills did their job.

The other day I was talking to our good friend, Dorothy, and she said, "Jo, I'm just going to pin you down and ask, are you really doing okay?" Isn't that sweet? Bless her heart; she doesn't have Internet, so she doesn't see the blog every day. We just talk on the phone every few days. If any of you are wondering, I'm doing just great. My only complaint is that I can't keep my weight down with this Arimidex. That is not a life or death issue, so I don't think it's important. I am so pleased to be able to hike everywhere we want. I am strong enough to do all the work required to keep these houses. (This one is pretty easy!) I feel great. I'm loving hanging out the clothes; what a treat. Now, I'm hunting a spot for a clothesline at home to Don's chagrin. Dorothy and David are doing just fine, by the way. Thank God for theirs and our health!

Hapuna Beach

We were on this beach today. I even let Don take a picture of me, but I'm not putting it on here until I can put my 3rd grade picture on with it. (It's at home.) I had my hair in two pony tails to keep it from blowing all over the place and I look like a 3rd grade grammy; too funny. Isn't this beach gorgeous, though? Look at the colors in the water. We are so blessed to be here.

The wind was blowing something fierce today. We couldn't even lay in the sun and read. The sand was blowing in my face so bad I had to close my eyes and there is nothing written on my eyelids to read! We gave up and just walked the beach. That was fine. We had to weigh our things down with a huge lava rock. It reminded me of when we were here and Davey and Susan joined us. We went to this same beach and the Kona winds were blowing so hard we couldn't stay. We kept working at it, but finally gave it up because if felt like we were being sand blasted. It was close to that today, but not so bad.

I got home and had sand even in my ears. I could hardly wait to get into the shower and wash the sand off me. I thank God for great beaches to explore, though. This beach where we were today is often called the best beach in the state and some say the world when travel guides are talking beaches. I thank Him for the opportunity to be 12 miles away from this beach and to get to go there and be able to walk! Two years ago we were scheduled to house-sit at this very house, but I couldn't get it all worked out to do along with chemo, so we had to give it up. I am so grateful to have all that chemo, surgery, radiation and cancer BEHIND me! Woo-hoo! It feels good to feel good!

Tomorrow we are going to the World Botanical Gardens. We own a few shares in that, so we're looking forward to seeing the progress they've made since we were there last. We really like the flowers there and there is a great waterfall. I'll take pictures and post them on the blog tomorrow night. We're going to do some other cruising around on the Hilo side to see things we've never had time to do before this.

Cricket, the cat.

The picture tonight is Cricket, the cat we feed. Cats are so easy and this one is really a dream cat. She comes when we call her to eat, and then she goes somewhere. She's never here except to eat. I don't even have to clean a litter box! Actually, I think she comes back at night when we bring the dogs inside; then she sleeps on the lanai. I think that because I see cat hair out there, plus we sometimes hear her meow in the mornings. She probably thinks she's really hacking the dogs off to be in their space and leave her scent. Maybe that's why they bark whenever they see her. It's pretty funny to observe. She will let me pet her, but she doesn't demand it like the dogs do. She's very independent.

Today was another easy day for us. We went to church at the stables, again, this morning. The church doesn't have a building, so they meet from place to place. Once a month they meet up in Kapaau, in a school, which is very close to Hawi. The rest of the time they usually meet at the stables, here in Waimea. The place doesn't matter; the fellowship is what matters. It's all interesting. One week we met at a family's home, After church we didn't have plans and I didn't have chores, so I actually read some more on my book. I did work on repairs to my beach mat, but I'm not having much luck with that. I first sewed it, but that didn't hold. Then I glued it. We'll see if it's holding in the morning. If the glue holds, then I'd do some more sewing on it; I hope it holds. We only need it to last another few weeks.

Tonight we went back to the Paniolo (the Hawaiian word for cowboy)Country Inn Restaurant to eat. I like their spaghetti, but besides that they had entertainment tonight. I wanted to go because I thought it just might be really good. It was! It was a kid who sang and played the guitar and I thought he was really good. I googled him, and he's not any kind of celebrity, but he had a good personality and I enjoyed his singing and playing. I'm sure Don was just tolerating it and only went to please me, but it did please me. I'm happy with left over spaghetti, plus I got to hear the good music.

I always thank God for Don. He is so kind to always aim to please me. He helps me in millions of ways. He does all the tall chores for me; man, is that ever a big help! He's been such a wonderful support through having breast cancer and the treatments. Many men choose not to support their wives; they disappear! Don has been right here with me all the way. I really appreciate that he doesn't pressure me one tiny bit about reconstruction. He would have supported me if I'd chosen to go that route, but he let me make the decision. Bless his heart. We went yard saling yesterday, and I got out of the car at the first place and realized I'd forgotten to wear boobs! I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd been embarrassed, but he just shrugged his shoulders like I did. It's amazing; people don't pay attention. They notice my knee bands more than anything!

Me, holding DOGS!

This is a picture Don made today of me holding both dogs. Notice the cat is way in the background and both dogs are very aware of her. (The cat's name is Cricket! We had a kitty named Krickett for years, so it brings back good nostalgia when I'm calling her.) They're such little bullies because she lets them, I think. It's a game they all play. The little brown dog is the leader of the whole pack. I really had on a tank top and a pair of shorts, but a shower came and left us chilly for a while, so I had on the big shirt to take off the chill. It looks like I only had on the tank top and the shirt, but I had on shorts, too. It's been a beautiful day here, but we have a shower every day, it seems. It's been pretty warm, but this chilly spell made me get out the makings for chili and we had that for supper. I put the leftovers in the freezer to pull out the next time a chilly spell hits us.

We went yard saling this morning. Sometimes yard sales are really good, here, because people are going back to the mainland and they don't want the cost of shipping everything, so they are really unloading good things. It's the same at the thrift stores. There are sometimes lots of really good things there. We didn't need any really good things, but I did get a couple of belts and came home and made knee bands to match the red shorts I got last week at the thrift store. I also got a couple of plates. We use the same two plates over and over and I didn't want to chip one of Karen's set. She has everything so nice and matching. We have to wash everything the minute we're done with it or the ants think it's a picnic and swarm us. There is no dishwasher, so all we need is these two plates we got today. Karen won't want this junk, so we'll take it and donate it to the thrift store right before we leave.

Oh, Don said I should explain that nobody has heat or air conditioning here, so that's why we get cool, sometimes. The weather is pretty much between 65 and 85 all the time, but when it's down around 65 and rainy, that chills our bones. Just a little extra clothing solves the issue. I think some really rich people might have AC, but heat is not necessary at all. Electricity is too expensive to run AC unless you have money running out your ears.

I'm thanking God for a rest day today. It's been so nice to actually read some of a novel Linda left for me! It's nice to be in such a beautiful place and have time to relax. Most people come to Hawaii for a week and have to rush through everyday to get to see and do everything. We're really blessed to get to really relax here and I'm so grateful for that.

Braddah Smitty

This is a picture I took at the Paniolo Country Inn Restaurant, tonight. The guy in the center is Braddah Smitty, who turns out to be a well known Big Island 'celebrity.' He's known for his great musical and vocal ability as well as his big heart. I didn't know any of that until I came home and looked him up on the Internet (On the right is Sonny Lim, another pretty well known musician. The guy on the left was with him a couple of weeks ago; his name is Dwayne, I think, but I didn't catch his last name.)

Two weeks ago Tom and Linda were with us when we came up to Karen's house to see the exact procedure for feeding the dogs and the cat. After our instructions in feeding the animals, we went to the Paniolo Country Inn Restaurant to eat. We were pleasantly surprised that there was a 3-man band playing. In the middle of their performance a young girl (12) got up and did a couple of beautiful hula dances. Then her mother joined her for another beautiful one. Again, I didn't have my camera with me, but Tom got some great pictures and some videos, which he shared with me. When I get home I hope I can put some of them onto the blog. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and our dinner. I asked about the group and they told me that they play every Friday night except for last week because they would be off island that night. So, we waited and then went back tonight. I asked who the group is, because there was a different guy tonight and one who was there before was missing. They told me that Braddah Smitty plays every Friday night and different guys join him. The girl and her mother, who did the hula dances are just followers of Braddah's and we got lucky to see them. It was really a pleasure for me. Don isn't as hooked as I am, but he's sweet to take me. We'll be doing this again as long as we're here, I hope. I found a video on UTube of Braddah, so if you have high speed, you may want to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyEM3HHpxo

Today was clean up day. I changed our sheets and all the bedding for the dogs. There were no instructions for when to clean their bedding, but I figured when it started smelling like dogs in here, it was time! So, the beds are all clean and the dogs got baths, too. Those dogs are SO good. They're easier than babies to bathe. They didn't even jump when I turned the hair drier on them to dry them. They really amaze me. However, as I was giving them their baths I was reminded that I should never offer to house-sit if it involves dogs, except here. I can't imagine giving any other dog a bath. These dogs are more like toys. If they didn't smell like dogs I'd almost agree with them that they are people.

I thank God that I got a nap today! Making our bed and doing all the laundry, plus baths for the dogs got me off to a big start today. I started early so that the laundry could hang out in time to dry; I was ready for a nap before lunch. I slept right through lunch time and woke up in time to make a late tuna sandwich. Late was okay, since we were eating supper late to catch the entertainment that started at 6:30. What a fun night; missed you, Tom and Linda!

Hapuna Beach Day

The picture tonight is Don with his little fans, Lii and Kaimauna. (pronounced Lee-ee and Ki-mawna) I might be spelling or even pronouncing them wrong, but I'm close. They come when I say come, so they know I'm talking to them. They are really smart and well behaved little dogs. They do whatever I say. Lii has to have a pill every day, and we're doing pretty good with her. I think we got it on the second attempt today. One other time we got it on the first attempt. Usually it takes 5 or 6 attempts. She never snarls or bites; she just spits it out if we aren't quick enough to hold her mouth shut. When I tap my finger on the ground and say come, they come right there. When I say night-night, they run right into their crate. They're really amazing.

Today we went to Hapuna Beach. It's the huge big white sand beach that connects with the Hilton's white sand beach. It was packed, but there is always room for one more mat. We put our mats down and then went and walked the beach. When we came back there was a Hawaiian guy sitting in a chair RIGHT NEXT to us playing Hawaiian songs on a ukulele! It was so relaxing and beautiful! I left my camera in the car, so I didn't get any pictures today. Ugh.

On the way home we stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few things we needed, including a pound of rice to make a rice buddy. I knew it is cooler in Waimea (where we are now), so I'd packed a sock to make a buddy if we needed it. We got sweats to wear to bed, and Don wears socks to bed, but I hate socks, so my feet have been cold. I made the buddy this afternoon, so he'll warm our bed before we go to bed tonight. I also fixed the flower on my swim suit. I had added a flower to the front and back on the side where I had radiation and am supposed to not get sun, but the flower in the front fell all to pieces today. So, I repaired that.

I have to thank God, again, for all the home ec. teachers in my life. (6) Mrs. Joyce, who is 97, still writes to me; I've even gotten a letter from her since we've been here. I write to her from time to time and tell her how much I appreciate all she taught me. I think she taught me mostly confidence to make things happen they way they should around the house instead of letting the house run me. I wish I had a picture of her to post; anyway, I love her and am glad we can keep in touch. I'm sorry they don't teach home ec. anymore; the world will suffer.

Day of rest.

This is the picture I promised of Don holding onto the stick at the top of Knob Hill. It's not all that impressive, to look at this picture, but you just ought to climb this thing. Trust me; it's a doozy. Mountain Goat (Jim) Miller wouldn't have any trouble with it, but he didn't get that nickname by being a wimpy climber! I thought of him lots going up Knob Hill! I wonder if he climbed it when he and Jill lived here back in the '70's.

Today I requested a day of rest. That meant we didn't go anywhere or do any hiking. It didn't mean that I didn't still make 3 meals and do a load of laundry. Laundry here is really fun because there is NO dryer. I love hanging out clothes, but there is no dryer to fall back on in case it rains. No problem! The clothesline is on the lanai (porch), so it dries out there even if it rains. There is enough wind that the wind will dry it if it's raining. How about that? Now, the fun thing is that Karen (everybody?) is probably 5 inches taller than me, at least, so I can't reach the clothesline. She has this little house fully equipped though, so I found a great step stool. So, that means I go up and down the ladder 20 or 30 times to hang a load of clothes. I'm sure it's good exercise for me and I'm enjoying it.

Today I'm thanking God for building our bodies to heal and regenerate. Don says that's what sleep is supposed to do, but I needed a day of rest, too. I do feel like tackling a big hike tomorrow if he wants to do that. I'll bet we'll go to the beach and walk up and down along the wave lines. We've been here for over a month, now, and haven't been to a beach in a swim suit, yet, so I think tomorrow's the day. Beachers beware! Relax, I'm not sending pictures of us on the beach; we've got plenty of good pictures to share!

A picture of Knob Hill

This picture is of Knob Hill with a little shopping area in the foreground. See the trees on the left side, right behind the building with the red roof? We started up just about where those trees are, I think. We walked around the 'hill' to the right and worked our way up to about where that sign is that says Opelo Plaza, except it was on the 'hill.' Then we started more straight up toward that clump of trees. When we got to the trees we went around them to the right and went around them to get up to the top. We came down the same way. The top is right where it looks like it should be; there is a block up there with a stick in it. I have a picture of Don holding onto that stick. I'll post it tomorrow. Notice how that clump of trees is leaning to the left? I guess it's always windy up there. I know it sure was yesterday!

Today we went to a beach we've never seen before and neither have many other people. It was beautiful, but it was sure hard to get there. We had to hike over miles of lava; it was really rough. I don't know how far it was but we hiked an hour to get there, an hour along the beach and then an hour back. Nobody in their right mind would go there, which explains why we went and didn't see another single person. I'll post pictures of that hike when there is nothing else to post. Right now I'm thanking God for bringing us safely home. It was great exercise, but it would have really been a disaster if either of us had fallen. God was so kind; he even showed me crabs to entertain me along the way.

I've already jiggled and I am so ready for bed. Yesterday and today have just about been over quota for me. My doctor wanted me to do 20 minutes of weight bearing exercise a day. I normally do an hour of walking and think I'm doing good. This 3 hours of climbing is a little overdoing it, I'm thinking! Most people go to the beach and swim or we like to walk in the waves along the beach, but three hours over lava is something I can't believe I did! Isn't our God amazing to build us old folks so we can even do this??? I stand amazed and give thanks!

Topped Knob Hill!

This is a picture Don took of me as we were coming down from our climb up Knob "Hill." After my note about the wind not wrecking my hair, check it out in this picture, not to mention how it was blowing off my shirt! Ha! (It was harder than climbing up to the summit of Mauna Kea, Tom.) I'll put a picture of Knob Hill on the blog probably tomorrow. It looks like an innocent little hill behind where we are house-sitting, but it's a pretty serious hill when you're climbing it and you're within a month of being 61. We made it just fine, but it was a real struggle because the wind was blowing so hard we could barely stand up. I had to rest a lot going up, but coming down was easier than I thought. God left a great walking stick right up at the top, so I had two sticks to use going down, which helped my knees a lot! Thank you, God. All the way up, I was saying, "To God be the glory." I meant, If I make this trek, to God be the glory; I could never do it without Your help! Just think, 2 years ago I was beginning chemo and in a couple of months I could hardly stand up for a while, let alone climb. God has brought me through a lot and He is so richly blessing me with this experience.

The place where we are right now is very different from where we were before. It's cooler and wetter here. However, today is a perfect day! I expect it will be cool tonight, though. Don is sleeping in sweats. I have a little silk t-shirt I brought for sleep, but it's not especially warm. I bought a pair of sweats at a yard sale to wear if I got cold here, but I rolled them up and stuffed them into a skinny pillow case to make a pillow to elevate my lyphedema arm at night. Tonight, I'm going to stuff some t-shirts we got at the thrift store and don't need into that pillow case and wear the sweats. (We went to a thrift store on Saturday to get more warm clothes and bought a bag of shirts for 50 cents. We figured there might be at least one thing in there we could use. There were 27 shirts in there and we liked about 18 of them! We couldn't believe it! What a hoot! One was a cashmere sweater that is working great to keep Don warm. Another is a long sleeved knit shirt that will also work. The others are great to wear when it's not cold. What an amazing bargain!

So, the adventure continues. We are so pleased to have gotten to climb Knob Hill. It's often rainy up there, so it was a great day to go today. We meant to go to the beach, but switched to the Knob Hill climb because it was such a perfect day. Tomorrow we'll go to the beach, I think.

Sunday swinging.

This is a picture Don took of me swinging in the swing on this property. It hangs from the tree house. I don't know what the tree house is for because there is nobody here to use it. But, I know what to do with the swing! It's really a beautiful place.

Today I did laundry and hung it all out. Most of it dried, but some is still hanging on the lanai. I hope it will dry over night or tomorrow.
After church today I did laundry and hung everything out after lunch. Then we walked all over the 3 acres and explored where the fruit is (limes and oranges) and where the avocados are. This place is really huge. The house is tiny, but the 3 acres really seems big. I'll post some other pictures over the next few days. I got lots of good shots today.

We are finally pretty settled in here. Tomorrow our plan is to go to the west coast and hike around some beaches we have never seen. Tom and Linda gave us a new book about the island, and we found some beaches in there that we need to explore. It's cooler here than at the beach, so we're ready to get warm after a couple of days here.

I jiggled for 15 minutes today. My back was so glad I lugged that jiggler all the way here. It's such a good fix for me. I thank God that we found it, bought it, and that it helps me so much.

I should report that my hair is doing fine and surviving here. I pull it up in a banana clip and then tuck it under, so it's a fuzzy bun on the top of the back of my head. The wind doesn't damage it too much and the humidity keeps it way curly. I haven't even been tempted to cut it.

Fruit bowl welcome.

This is a picture of the fruit bowl that Karen left in the kitchen for us. I should have taken pictures of this cute little house before we added all our clutter. She has it looking like something out of a storybook. It's really fun to be here.

I haven't started the relaxing, yet. I've been getting all organized and ready to live here for a month. Tomorrow I make biscuits and gravy, so we'll be able to eat breakfast on those for a while. After breakfast we'll go to church. Then I don't have any more plans for the day. I hope tomorrow will be a day to relax and read.

One of the little dogs we're sitting with has an infection so we get to give her a pill every day. That's not much joy for any of us. She's really sweet about it, but she has no intention of eating it. I'm sure it would make a comic video. After about 20 attempts we win; God bless her little tiny heart! She just spits it out and we go through it all, again. I talked to Ruthie today and she told me to rub the dogs throat and she'll swallow it. We'll give that a good effort tomorrow. Here I was rubbing her head. Duh; so much for a cat person keeping dogs! We Do have a cat, here, but she's no trouble at all. Maybe tomorrow I'll get pictures of all this 'family.'

Waimea is inland from the coast, so we get a lot of rain. In fact it has rained off an on ever since we got here. We'll go to the beach soon if it doesn't dry up, here. The beach is just about 20 minutes from here, so that's no big deal. In fact, on a clear day we can see the ocean. This is really a beautiful location. The rain makes it really lush. It's not the pouring down kind of rain; just a pretty steady mist. We just have to be home around 4 every day to feed the animals.

There is only a shower here, so bath time is a challenge for me. It's fun to be here, though. It kind of feels like we're living in a doll house. It'll make me SO happy to get to my bathtub at home!

Bob's house is such a wonderful place to be; we knew it would be a challenge to move to this very different place. So far, it's wonderful, too, though. The dogs are a challenge, too, but they are really wonderful little folks. They're very well behaved and we're enjoying them. That's a big deal for me! I thank God for lots of good experiences. There are so many wonderful people everywhere; I always love cats, and I'm finding I can even love dogs.

Another new 'home.'

Check out this welcome! We got to Karen's house today and she had the table set with this gorgeous flower arrangement and candles, no less! Of course I melted over the flowers! These will likely stay beautiful the whole month we are here.

Karen came and got us an brought us to her house first thing this morning. Then we took her to the airport. After the airport run we went into Kona for a dab of shopping and then we came back by another friend's house, who we know from MD Anderson. Bob Duffer has melanoma and he is doing fantastic. Only about 10% of the folks who have his kind of melanoma survive. He's in that 10%! He's doing really well and we are so pleased to report that he looks so strong and vibrant. We had met him at MD Anderson, but never had met his wife, June, until today. We had the pleasure of meeting June, as well as her mother, Elsie, who lives with them.

It was such a great reminder of our great Father's care to see Bob doing so well and to realize that I am doing so well, too. I thank God every day for my life and my health. Today I was reminded to thank Him for Bob's recovery, too. I've prayed for his recovery and I know that thanks is in order. The friend who introduced us has recently fallen and broken her back, so we pray daily for La Moyne's healing, too. God bless her!

We are all settled into this beautiful little cottage. We'll be adjusting over the next day or two, but we've found a place for everything and eaten one meal here, so it's working. It's kind of like being in a little condo, only it's cozier. Karen was so sweet to empty out a closet and some shelves and drawers for us to put our 'stuff.' She's very thoughtful. She made us really feel special to be here, and we are so pleased to have this opportunity. Her little dogs and kitty are very well behaved and very loving, so we're enjoying them, too. I'll get pictures and post them, soon.

The giant sunflower.

Tonight's picture is Joe, holding Elena right in front of their house beside Gretta's giant sunflower. It looks like a Jack in the Bean Stalk story happening, here! Jilly (Gretta) has quite the green thumb.

Bob and MiMi are home and we are all headed to bed. They've had a long flight and we get up early in the morning and start our move to Waimea. Here we go! It's good to see them, and it's fun to move on to another project. We'll miss it here, though. This has been wonderful.

Thank you for keeping up with us. It's good to know that people care. I love sharing what we are doing and especially our family. I was so thrilled to swipe this picture off of FaceBook tonight!

Thank you, God, for friends and family and health. MiMi picked up a terrible cold, so we pray that she will heal quickly and feel good really soon.

Ready to move to Waimea.

The picture on the blog tonight is Don having a 'conversation' with Ricky. Ricky is the white cow and he has a bit of an attitude. He thinks he's a goat, I guess. He always wants to butt whoever is in the pasture. I stay out of the pasture! See, Zacky, the black cow is eating and the white cow left the food to go over and butt Don. Don had to bonk him on the head with a can to remind him that he's a cow and Don is the hand that is feeding him this month. Bob names the cows after his grandkids. These two are named after the two youngest. The two oldest, Zoe and Stew had the last two cows named after them. Evie is the only one who hasn't had a cow named after her, so Bob has promised to name both of the next two cows after her. I just hope we get the chance to come and house-sit when he has Evie and Evie.

Bob and MiMi are coming home tomorrow. We'll leave the house around 1 to go pick them up at the airport. Then we'll come home with them and spend the night. We're all packed to go to our next house-sitting 'job' the next morning. Karen will come pick us up and we'll take her to the airport and then drive her car home to Waimea. Waimea is about 30 minutes from Bob's house, but we hope to get to spend some time with them while we are there.

We don't have any company scheduled while we are at Karen's because her house is just a little Hawaiian cottage; one bedroom, a living room and a kitchen and bathroom. She has two chihuahuas and a cat who we will be feeding and loving. We enjoy other people's pets, since ours are gone. We travel too much to keep pets, so it's fun to share others.

I thank God so much for the health and strength to do all we've done. I thank him for wonderful friends who give us this opportunity and for wonderful friends who have shared it with us. We have loved every moment of being here. We expect next month to be quieter and to do less traveling. We'll stay pretty close to Waimea and explore all there is around there.

Last night with Tom and Linda.

This picture is me on the path to one of the zips last Saturday. It was such a fun day. For me to overlook this harness and helmet, you know it is some great adventure. I absolutely hate anything binding like that harness and the helmet is even worse. I only enjoyed hats when I was freezing from baldness. I wore my pink ball cap to keep my hair out of my face and off my neck for the zip. I'm telling you this was such a fun thing to do. I was happy to have the helmet and harness on for protection; then I could fully enjoy the zipping.

Today Linda and I have been packing. They are going home tomorrow and we are moving to Waimea on Friday. We pick up Bob and MiMi at the airport on Thursday, so we want to be ready to go then, so we don't have to mess up any time with them with packing. Tom went into Hawi today and got a tattoo on his arm. Don worked around here, killing spiders, etc. Spiders build right back if you just tear down their webs, so he kills the spiders. It sure makes it nicer to be in the yard if there aren't spider webs everywhere! I even had time to jiggle today; thank you, God! My back is so grateful!

We spent a nice evening visiting and recalling the fun times we've had while they're here. It's really been fun. We've been so blessed to enjoy great times and places with great friends. I sure thank God for these blessings.

Winding down from a wonderful 1st month.

This is the falls that fed the creek over which the suspension bridge was when we zipped on Saturday. I was doing fine on the suspension bridge until I realized the holes in it were just about my size. They had a cable going above the bridge, though, and my harness was hooked to the cable. That didn't make me feel a whole lot better, so I rushed right over after I got this picture. There are more falls and rainbows in Hawaii than can be counted. What a good thing, because I'm so lousy at counting anymore!

Today has been another day that we took it kind of easy and hung around pretty close to the house. We did go carousing around this afternoon and drove past some beautiful homes near the beach at Puako. We had collected some coral and we intended to make our names in the lava with the coral, but it rained when we were there. We took that as a message that we weren't supposed to do it. So we took the coral back to the beach where we got it and came back home. We enjoyed our outing, anyway. We stopped at a wood show in an art gallery and enjoyed viewing some beautiful local workmanship.

Tomorrow Tom and Linda will be getting ready to leave as their flight goes out Wednesday night. Bob and Mimi will be home on Thursday, so we'll be getting everything ready to leave ourselves on Friday. We'll pick up Bob and Mimi on Thursday and then spend that night here. Then Karen leaves on Friday, so she's picking us up and we'll take her to the airport and then go back to her house to sit for the next month. We'll be about 20 miles from Bob and Mimi, so we'll be doing some things with them during that month, I'm sure. We'll be packing on Wednesday so that we'll be all ready to go early Friday morning when Karen comes for us.

It's been such a wonderful month. We always love it here; it seems just like home to us. Bob must have been raised a lot like me because everything here seems so right. The cats seem to love us, as we do them. It's just a good experience for us. It's wonderful to have other good friends join us. We feel really blessed to have the opportunity to house-sit here. Usually we dont' get to see Bob much, but this time we did before he left and we'll be staying nearby another month, so we'll see him again. This is really great! We've sure missed the whales we enjoyed in the winter the last time we were here, but we've even enjoyed missing them because the recollections were so nice. Thank you, God, for all of this.

Relaxing Sunday

This was the last zip we did yesterday. There were 8 zips. See that cable that starts about at the middle of the left margin? It is right above a patch of dirt. Then it goes over to another patch of dirt on the hill across the way, which is about in the middle of the picture. They hooked our harness onto that cable and then we ran off that patch of dirt and swung (zipped) over to the other side and landed on that patch of dirt. The cable goes up, so you slow down as you are arriving, plus the guides pull on the cable if necessary to help to stop you. I had absolutely no trouble with my knees or back. It was so much fun that I can't describe it adequately. That fence you see is as far as we could go to look off without going on the cable. See the beautiful valley that we zipped over? It was so pretty!

I really thank God for the experience. Some other people on the zip tour had zipped in Dripping Springs, Texas, so that's my next dream adventure. I googled it and their web site is pretty cool. You might want to take a look. Dana and Terri, let's go! Judy, how about you? Check with Roman and see if he has done this. Gary Whiteley lives in Dripping Springs, so watch out Gary; here we come! After DC, let's do the next reunion in Dripping Springs. Woo-hoo! Dripping Springs would never be the same!

http://www.texzendreams.com/zippingndripping.htm

We took a fairly easy day today around here. We went to church at a member's home today because the location they usually use was not available. That was really special. After church we drove over to Waimea thinking we'd hike up Knob Hill, but it rained on us after we got just a little ways up, so we decided to come on home. We went to nearby Keokea Beach Park and enjoyed some time on the rocks as the waves came crashing onto them. We came home to our usual hamburgers and then enjoyed some time visiting around the kitchen table. Good times with friends; special moments. Thank you, God.

Zipping! Woo-hoo!

Here we are in full zipping gear, but we're at the rest stop. We zipped 6 times, I think, and then we were at this little resting place at a beautiful waterfall. After this stop we went over a swinging bridge and then zipped the last two very long zips. We had never zipped, so this was truly an adventure for us. I wondered if it would be worth it or scary or what. It was worth it and it was not scary; it was exciting and way fun!

The guides were so much fun and very polite and kind, as well. Linda chose not to go, so we missed her, but she had a great time shopping. We got into a huge 6-wheel vehicle that can ride over any terrain and then they took us way up into the mountain where the zips are. The ride into the zip area was ROUGH, but so much fun. It was wonderful zipping. Even when it rained we barely felt it because we were so covered by trees. The small hikes from one zip to another were easy and it was so beautiful. Even if we hadn't zipped it would have been worth it to hike up there. They provided us with wonderful homemade snacks, fruits, and local juices. Yum.

You won't believe who we saw on our way into the zip area. Terry Bradshaw! No lie! He was in a vehicle just like ours, only he was on his way out, having just finished zipping! We got back to the check in station and he had signed a football for them. Don was close enough to high 5 him, but Terry wasn't about to do that. He was all smiles and friendly, but he was wise not to touch anyone; who knows who might have a knife or some terrible germ. I guess you can't be too safe. Anyway, we were tickled to see him and Linda was horrified that she missed him.

Yesterday was sweet Raynie's 2nd birthday. We celebrated the best we could before we left, but I missed it yesterday. I didn't even realize what day it was until I did the blog and then it still didn't hit me that it was her birthday until I read her daddy's note about it on FaceBook. Shes a precious 2 and won't hold it against me. I sure miss her and all her cousins. We see lots of cute kids here, but I miss OURS! Two years ago she was born without us being there because we were in Houston getting my biopsy done and she couldn't wait. So, I began my mainstream fight with cancer as we welcomed her into the world. That was on Tuesday and that weekend we went home to see her and then went right back to Houston to start me on chemo. She was born with a cleft pallate, so she had her battles, too. She had surgery this time last year and she did beautifully. She and I are so recovered and I sure thank God for her and for our recoveries!

Another great day on the Big Island.

This is a picture Don took the other day when we went to the volcano. Before we went to the volcano, we stopped at the Lava Tree State Park. We had been there twice, previously, but it was raining both times, so we hurried through it. This time the weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed our visit.

Today we are taking it kind of easy. Tom and Linda left at 4 yesterday morning to fly to Oahu for the day. They got home close to midnight. We got up and had a big breakfast and then watched a movie Karen (homeowner where we'll be house-sitting next) had given us about the history of Hawaii. Then we visited with her when she came to do some work on this house. (She paints this house and she's been painting the lanais.)

We packed a picnic lunch and took it to Mahukona where Tom snorkeled and Don and Linda and I watched. After his snorkeling we enjoyed the picnic and came on home. We'll do a few chores and maybe rest a little and then we're going to Waimea to meet Karen and she'll show us how we go about feeding her dogs when she is gone. She has two little chihuahuas and a cat for us to feed.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. We'll do the Hawi Farmers' Market after breakfast and then we go to the Zipline at 10:30. That's a 4 hour adventure up into the mountain and we'll zip back on 8 different lines. Don and Tom and I will Zip while Linda shops around the little towns nearby up here. I sure thank God for the strength to do such a thing. I can hardly wait to do it!

Check out this forest!

Check out this forest! This was taken on our trip to the Volcano on Tuesday. This is at Mackenzie State Park, a place where we had never been. We were so thrilled to find it because we love it. Linda said we must add it to Don's Tours; that's where we take everyone who comes here to join us. It really is a 'must see.'

Tom and Linda went to Oahu for the day. We've hung around the house and done chores so that we'll have free time when they get back. Karen was here painting on the front lanai, so we enjoyed some more time with her.
I should have written this post earlier since I was here today, but I really thought I had done it. Chemo brain. I sometimes lose total track of what I'm doing and today was one of those days. It was a good day, though and I got a lot done. I'm sorry I didn't get this posted sooner, though.

I continue to thank God for allowing us to make this trip and for giving the the strength to enjoy it to the fullest. I thank Him for great friends who have joined us and great friends who invited us to be here. We are so richly blessed.

7/8/9

This is a lovely little water fall near a beach (Kolekole) on the way to Hilo. Notice that there are two waterfalls (one is little triangle way back up in the trees) and they split so that it really dumps into the water at 3 different places. We really like this. Anyway, I built a stack of rocks so that the falls would be in the background. It's common to see stacks of rocks wherever we go and there were no stacks here, so I felt compelled to build one. This was taken yesterday on our adventure to the Volcano. This little stream dumps into the ocean right at this place and the road goes over the park. It's a very interesting and favorite place for us.

Today we're 'resting' up from yesterday's long day. Don pulled weeds in the pasture. I pulled weeds in the vegetable garden. Tom and Linda picked up leaves in the yard, and Linda and I have done laundry. It's a gorgeous day, so we're hanging the laundry outside to dry. Karen, who we are house-sitting for next is here painting both lanais (porches), so we've enjoyed some time to visit with her. It sounds like work and it is chores that have to be done, but when we split it up between 4 of us, it's not so much. We get the work done and then we can play.

Tom and Linda have a big day planned tomorrow. They're going early in the morning to Oahu to spend the day there. They want to tour the Pearl Harbor area and as much of the island as they can. They'll be home late tomorrow night. We'll be doing more 'resting' and chores tomorrow.
We so thank God that Tom is feeling fine today and none of us are sick. The first thing we all said this morning is, "Do you feel sick?" He's been working right beside all the rest of us, so I think he's fine. We all seem to be fine, too. Praise God!

I'm glad we're home so that I can post this in time to recognize this way cool number: 7/8/9. That's today. Of course it got more cool with the hours and moments, but I did good to recall this much. Numbers come so hard for me, now, but I got this! Woo-hoo!

Volcano attempt.

We are so tired! We had a wonderful day, but everyone has gone to bed except me. I'm posting a picture as soon as they download. I'm sure I got some great ones today. We are home safe and sound. Well, Tom got sick today, but I think he's okay. The rest of us are going to bed before we think about getting sick. He was sick at his stomach; we hope he ate too much chocolate and it's as simple as that!

The picture is taken at a NEW place that we found today! It's our new storybook park; I'll show you pictures of the forest part of it on another post. But, check out the splash behind me! Look in the background at a guy fishing and that will give you an idea how big this splash is in comparison to him. It was way awesome!

We thank God for a safe trip today and for showing us more great wonders that he created. We saw great flowers, waterfalls, rainbows, forests and last but not least the volcano. We didn't get to see the volcano as much as we intended because Tom got sick, but we saw enough to really amaze us. Tom and Linda got to see it before when they were here, so they may not go again this trip . . . or we may. We'll see how we catch up tomorrow.

Entertainer for the 4th.

The picture tonight was taken the night of the 4th when we went to the concert. It was fun to be there, but the band kept playing and kept playing. It sounded like the same song to us, but, of course it was not. We're just old enough that one of those songs sounds like all the others to us. The band was the Air Force Band from somewhere and they were really good, but after an hour or so we were ready for the fireworks. After the fireworks hadn't started for 20 minutes past the scheduled time we decided to head for the car. We figured we could see them from the car as well as we could from the ground. Sure enough! Our timing was perfect. We just got to the car when the fireworks started. We watched them and got to mover right out of the park where we were. It turned out perfect for us.

While we were waiting for the fireworks there was a little kid with his family in front of us. He was 18 months old and really getting with the music. He got tired of it, too, and walked back toward Tom, who took his picture. Then he wanted to see the picture! It was so cute. He came back and carried on the longest conversation with Tom. We couldn't understand a thing he was saying, but Tom acted like he was some guy at a coffee shop talking the price of eggs in China, global warming, etc. The little guy's dad was watching him the whole time and told us how old he was and that his name was Nathaniel. He was such a great grandkid fix for all of us. I think I'll go back and put his picture on with Tom, too. You folks with dial up will just have to persevere. Nathaniel really made our day. He jabbered up a storm. His folks can't understand him, either, but he is certainly a gifted speaker.

Today we did yard and housework, so we're ready to travel, again. After our work today we did a few beaches around here, in hopes of watching big waves crashing into the rocks, but it was amazingly calm water! It was still fun. We came home for hamburgers at home and time to plan for tomorrow's big trip to the volcano. We'll go to bed early since we'll get up early. We won't be home until after midnight, which is 5 a.m. for most of you, so don't be looking for a new post until the next day.

God is so good to us. We've had awesome weather. We're really enjoying driving the 4-wheel drive Jeep, but it's rough riding! It sure beats hiking though for getting to see lots more in less time. We've seen things we've never seen here; what a treat! Thank you, God, for health, strength, and safety for all of us.

On top of the USA.

We went to the very summit of Mauna Kea today. Here is the documentation of it. The one picture is of Don and I at the top. It was pretty cold up there, but the sun kept us warm with the layers of clothes we were wearing and the heat we worked up climbing up there. Our bodies don't use oxygen so well at that altitude, so we were all panting for breath. Oh, my goodness; was I ever tired! Don claims it wasn't that bad, but Tom and I had to rest 3 times going up the final hike. Linda was wise enough not to do it. She watched us from the car.

We had to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to go up there. Don and Tom kept saying they thought a regular car could do it, but Linda and I were really glad we had the 4-wheel drive. We saw other cars up there without 4-wheel drive, so it IS possible, but I was glad we had the 4-wheel drive. To be in the tour we did, it was required. If we had it to do over we'd go without the tour, though. If I have it to do over, I won't do it, again. I'm glad we did it once, but once is good enough for a lifetime in my book. If I were an astrology nut or science buff, maybe I'd like it more, but I'd way rather be out searching for monk seals and watching waves crash into the shore! I'm sure there was a whole lot I could have learned today, but I slept through all of the video because I was wearing an anti-motion sick patch. The curves of the road going up and the altitude put me at risk for motion sickness. 9 years ago, when we were here we went up as far as the visitor's center and I got sick, so I wore the patch today. I didn't get sick, but I was drop over sleepy!

I sure thank God for the opportunity to view all His handiwork and for wonderful friends to do it with us. We are having so much fun and thanking God all the way.

Happy July 4th!

We are between ‘gigs’ on the 4th of July, so I’ll post right quickly. The picture today is one I took when we were down in Waipio Valley the other day. There are horses that are wild down there, but they aren’t afraid of the people. This mother and colt were so pretty and sweet to watch.

Today we did our favorite hike in the Jeep. Wow, what a time and energy saver! I think we are so spoiled that we may never do Hawaii again without a 4 wheel drive vehicle. It was so fun to drive around in it. We did hike to the edge and found the monk seal, sunning, again! We were so thrilled to see him and be able to show him to Tom and Linda. What a treat. Thank you, God!

We came home for lunch on the lanai. After we water the garden and flowers and feed the cows, we’ll head out to a 4th of July celebration. We really have no idea what to expect except fireworks at 8:30. We started the day at the Banyan Tree and breakfast at the café in Hawi. That was a good start for the day.

I’m feeling great and enjoying every moment of this trip. The Big Island is sure a wonderful place. I thank God for our independence!

Thud!

You won’t believe this story! This is me, in the swing in Pololu Valley; look, no hands! I do not believe this is my third time down into Pololu Valley since we’ve been here. I’m having so much fun, going down there. It’s a pretty tough hike, but it’s so worth it. Most people go down and back up and never hike back into the woods to see the hammock (climb up another hill), the wild tomatoes volunteering, or the huge swing. We do it all. Today we even harvested a ripe tomato that we’ve been watching the whole time we’ve been here!

Now, here’s the unbelievable part. Tom was on the swing and I was videoing him with his camera. He nearly ran over me, and then just as I was getting him back into the viewer, he said, “Look, no hands!’ I was gasping that he had let go when he FELL off onto his back with a big scary THUD! I screamed, “Oh my gosh!” and cut off the camera to run see if he was okay. Linda and I were running to him when he rolled over and said, “Did you get that?” He bounced right up and it was my turn to swing. Now, mind you, we are people in our 60’s! I jumped up onto the swing and was swinging, and Tom said, “No hands!” The really hard thing to believe is I DID IT after he had fallen! I think I shouldn’t be around him; he has too much influence on me and neither of us has any sense, obviously.

Seriously, I thank God for Tom and Linda in our lives. We have so much fun with them. I also thank God that Tom wasn’t hurt when he fell and thank God that I didn’t fall. I promise not to be so stupid, again. I’m still going to swing, but I promise to hold on the whole time.

I’ve got lots of pictures to post next month when we are house-sitting in Waimea. I don’t expect to be doing so much that month, so I’ll be posting more scenes from this month’s adventures.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, Don chose not to go down into Pololu today. He wanted to stay home and get some work done around here, and he thought he’d been down into Pololu enough. He may not let us go off without him, again, since he is the more level head of the bunch of us. (Ya think???)

The Jeep is awesome!

This picture is Linda and I at the Lighthouse. We had such fun today; you can see it in this picture!

We drove down into Waipio Valley. Oh, it was gorgeous down there. There are so many stories to tell that I don’t know where to begin. Maybe the best thing down there was the wild horses! They weren’t all that wild, but they didn’t have a fence or a saddle, so that makes them ‘wild’ in my book. They just wandered around the beach and let us take pictures of them. One was just a little colt, still nursing when its mother would stand still. I got good pictures and will post one, soon.

After Waipio Valley we came back and drove out to the lighthouse. Before we’ve always hiked it and it was wonderful, but riding out there was even better. We drove all over the place, to places we never have walked because we didn’t have the energy. It was too fun! We’re getting spoiled by this 4 wheel drive Jeep! We even took the top off when we went down into Waipio Valley, so we were as cool as 4 old folks can be.

As we were sitting out on the lanai having dinner the owl flew into the tree in our yard, again. This time we all saw it. Oh, Mary and Steve, we sure wish we’d been watching for him when you were here. We haven’t had any good photo opportunities with him, but we see him every night.

What a blessing to have this opportunity to ride around all these places in the Jeep. It’s a real treat! I thank God that we’re all healthy enough to hike a bunch and blessed enough to have the Jeep to take us even deeper into each adventure. Tomorrow we plan to hike down into Pololu and then we’ll drive the Jeep deep into our favorite hike. Woo-hoo! Here we come!

Tom and Linda are here!

This is a quick post. Tom and Linda arrived today WITH their luggage! This picture is them at Tres Hombres, where we stopped to eat on the way home. We thank God for their safe trip. By the way, Steve and Mary made it safely home and Steve is back to work and Mary is working on organizing pictures from their trip.

We went to Kona this morning to sit in on a timeshare presentation and didn’t buy anything. Woo-hoo! We sure didn’t need any more timeshare time. But we learned some things and got our discounts on the local adventures.

Don and Linda saw a Hawaiian owl fly into a tree in THIS yard tonight! We wouldn’t have known what to look for had we not gone owl chasing with Steve and Mary the other night. I hate that I missed it, but I was busy in the kitchen putting away groceries from shopping today. I’ll know to watch right here at home, now, though. Isn’t that so like we often do? Miss things right under our noses because we’re so busy looking at the ‘grass on the other side?’ I’m going to start watching under my nose better so I don’t miss any blessings God has placed there for me. In the meantime we’re sure enjoying the ‘grass on this side’ and loving sharing it with our friends.

Oh! Guess what? Tom rented a JEEP! That means we can drive almost anywhere; lookout, here we come! He is so excited, and so am I! It’s right here under our noses and it fire engine red! Woo-hoo!