Birthday Flowers, Kittens & Crystals 12-1-11

December 8, 2011 - Took these pictures of the beautiful flowers I received from April and Ted for my birthday on 12-1-11.  TJ is always front and center.

 Good shot of TJ relaxing and the angel (orb) over the stove.  I wanted to get Izzi in a picture so I walked around the couch and snapped the one below.  Another clear shot of an angel above TJ's head.  There were many orbs (angels) in almost every shot I took this evening.

 December 11, 2011 - I was trying to take a picture of my crystal collection, including the new ones in the goblet that Ted got me for my birthday.  I lowered the sun shade and tried again.

 The blog was re-formatted and now you can have more than 5 pictures in one post, so I added the two below.  April scanned these and sent them to me in October.  I never saw the one of my mother before.  Such a pretty young woman.  It's one of my favorite pictures of her. 

MOM and DAD

Esther Margaret Stucker and Robert Donald Grant

on their wedding day.

October 2011 Trees Topped & Cut Down

October 3, 2011 - They topped several large trees on the lot next door and cut others down.  Picture above is the "before"; below a picture of "after".  Much better view of the mountains and Hurricane Ridge.

Here's the other "before" and "after" shots.  It really opened up the view of the straits and cleaned up the big messy bush that had grown up around the fallen tree.

Caught the tree just as it was falling.  You can tell how huge this tree was when you see how little the people and equipment are next to it.

Annual Mowing, 9-1-11

Sunday 8-28-11 - Mike Elkhart finally started mowing our lot at 3:00 pm. A rainy spring and frequent mower breakdowns put him way behind schedule this year. It broke down a couple of times on our lot too and took about 3 days to finish, but it sure looks nice when he does get it finished.

He parked the tractor on our lot each night until he was finished. In the picture below you can see the white corner fence in the distance that marks our property lines. It's a long way down there.

Picture below is almost the same shot as picture above and you can see what a difference the mowing makes. It was taken Saturday, June 11th about 3:00 pm. You may have to zoom in to see him, but Ted is down there between the big trees working on some branch trimming. You can barely see the top of the white corner fence off to the right. The tall field grass is still green and full of daisies in June. Really quite pretty.

Took the picture below of Mama deer and her twins on June 16th. We see them frequently and it's been fun watching them grow. In fact I saw them this morning while I was having my morning coffee on the deck.

New Shades, Growing Kittens 8-19-11

8-10-11 - We had the new shades installed on the sunny side of the living room prow (above). You can see the big difference to the windows on the right . It's so great that you can still see the wonderful view through the shades; plus we can now watch TV in the evenings. I also had them installed over my office windows (below). Now I can see my computer screen during the day. Also it has really helped in keeping the house cooler and I plan on getting them for the remaining windows in my bedroom.

Ted's "new best friend" is Izzibell. She spends a lot of time "helping" Ted when he's working in his office.

Ted took the picture below while she was sitting on his desk and hanging out with him.

It's hard to see Izzibell and her brother TJ in the picture below because they blend in with every shadow and dark spot. Izzi is up on the TV stand getting a closer look at the wolf and TJ is sitting on the floor. They both love watching the animal shows. It's the only time either of them pays any attention to what's on TV. They turn 1 year old on September 30th.

Spring Rhodes, May 2011

Sunday May 15, 2011 - When Ted got back from church he walked into my office with Izzibell on his shoulder and said "She doesn't need much attention or anything". Guess she couldn't wait to welcome him home.

Took a picture of new rhodes on 5-12 when the sun came out for a brief moment. The lace leaf maple is getting it's new leaves too. Below is a picture of our new custom shower curtain for the guest bathroom. Took us awhile to get one made.

Took this picture of our three flowering plum trees on April 15th. The coral bark maple at the corner of the driveway is pretty too.

Ted took picture below of our 'first to bloom' rhodes on April 5th. Pretty pink color. It's been so unusually cold this spring we can't get outside to work in the yard. Lots of weeding to do!

Surgery Time, March-April 2011

Tuesday, 3-29-11 - I had the best "room with a view" in the Port Angeles Hospital, though I wasn't in very good condition to appreciate it. Ted had fun taking pictures of all the boat traffic in the harbor.

3-29-11 - Had major abdominal explatory surgery at 9:00 a.m. Surgeon discovered an ovarian cyst had hemoraged and ruptured and 'stuck' a bunch of my internal organs together. He removed ovaries, fallopian tubes, appendix, and many adhesions. Very rough night brought about the nose tube (which helped immensely), and put me on the road to recovery.

Felt much better a couple of days later! April sent flowers along with the Teddy Bear, which served as my "belly bear" when I had to try and cough. It became my constant companion.

Beautiful flowers from Ted, April, and Diane & Jerry. Diane brought me home on Sunday, 4-3-11 at 1:30 p.m. Ted was in Seattle that day.

I'm posting this to the blog on Sunday, May 15, 2011. The incision is almost healed up all the way . Just a couple of spots are still very tender; the surgeon told me it had something to do with the dissolving stiches. Ted and I both came down with a really bad cold a couple of weeks ago, which had delayed recovery, but I'm looking forward to getting outside and working in the yard as soon as it stops raining (in beautiful sunny Sequim)! Ha, Ha.

CHRISTMAS WITH KARN 2010

12-29-10 - Picture below was taken on Ted's birthday. Very somber holiday season this year. Picture above is of my lost & recently found crystal collection. The little white fuzzy owl was Karn's Christmas present to me. It's the perfect addition to my owl collection, and I will always treasure it.

12-24-10 - Christmas Eve Dinner with Ted's family & relatives in Tacoma, WA. We all knew this would be Karn's last Christmas. She passed on January 30, 2011.

12-25-10 - Christmas Morning with the Ockfen/Johnson family.

12-17-10 - Luther came for a visit the week before Christmas. Ted's diagnosis of bladder cancer in November added another very serious note to the holidays.