I've Moved...

come see me at my new address: PamGwillim.com

What a weekend...

Our little car is still parking across the street, but we are hoping tonight will be the last night, we are so so close to being done with the building phase of this brick retaining wall.

After helping the kids hang cement siding for 9 hours on Saturday, I can honestly say "no way!!!" will we be re-siding our home! Not even! Oh my goodness what a chore. The wall we did is a wall with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an oversized double garage...in case you are wondering...that is a loooooooong wall!!! At first I was glad there are five windows and a door on that wall UNTIL we had to jig around them. Anyway, this weekend their project was moved along as well as our project.

This morning Ed and I laid down landscape fabric and covered it with river rock......while the kids were laying a path of pavers around the new pond in their new court yard~Ed and Angela are dreaming up the landscaping plans. Then we all went for a hike. It was beautiful and after lunch everyone took the longer, steeper hike while Ed and I enjoyed some time to marvel at the beauty around us. I just can't help but to praise God when I am out in such beauty.

Wild columbine~~beautiful!!!

Tristan...hmmm...does this look like the face of innocence?
Ha! He was sneaking up on Gpa!
Kaitlyn, trying to NOT look at the camera

Getting closer....

....we are getting closer to a "done-done" wall out front...yeehaw!!! What is left to do Ed and I can do ourselves and we plan to work on it tomorrow morning. Our little car wants to come home (we have been parking at the neighbors across the street since the brick/sand/rock was delivered 3 wks ago). The landscaping will begin next week and *shouldn't* take more than 2 days to complete now that we have agreed on what to plant.

Today we are helping our kids hang cement siding. Last summer they added 2 bedrooms and a giant garage on to their home, the framing was up and the inside was mostly completed just as the rains started. They have worked on it all winter long and now the only thing left to be inspected is the siding so hopefully today that will be a done-done project at their house as well.

Monday we are going on a short hike/picnic to Elk Creek Falls. It is about 30 minutes from our home, a nice break in the day. The less than ½ mile hike is flat and the trail well groomed so will be an easy hike for Ed as well as fun for the grandkidlets. Rex tends to fuss over his gpa, making sure he is OK...what a great young man he continues to become. This gma is so proud of her grands!!!

Enjoy your holiday weekend however you choose to, as usual these days...nothing quilty going on here...

This Little Critter Found at Coquille Library

Are you watching us Mr. McPherson?

I really do think John McPherson has a webcam hidden somewhere near my family...

Today's cartoon......reminded me of this funfilled day three years ago.
Maddie and JJ, our two youngest grandkidlets...we just could NOT get them to come out of those tubes! When it was time (past time!!) to go, our DIL had to climb in and get them.

Hot Syrup and Strawberry Lemonade

My momma spoiled my sister, yes...I know it is hard to believe
that the baby of the family would readily admit that her older sister was favored! LOL But it is the truth! You see it is like this, on Sunday mornings momma would pull the waffle iron out of the cupboard, mix up an awesome batch of waffle batter, pull out the butter. She would then begin to make stacks of waffles...ummm yum! But she wouldn't stop there, nope...if she stopped there Sunday morning waffle breakfast would be incomplete for my sister. For my sister there was one more thing she would need~~ hot syrup! So my momma would lovingly pull out a saucepan and heat up syrup just because that is the way Nancy liked it! Oh, and maybe I should tell you that momma would mix a bit of honey with peanut butter for MY waffles! (I am the youngest after all!!!)

Tristan is our middle grandson and the middle child of his family. I love that kid! He is funny, competitive, has a gentle spirit, is a hard worker and has a ready smile and kind word for everyone he sees. He is willing to do anything you ask of him, even if he doesn't really know how...even if he doesn't really WANT to do it...ask and he will be there...present and accounted for, ready for duty!! That would be our Tristan! Tristan has me wrapped around his little finger. Seldom does he ask for anything, seldom does he want things HIS way. Mr. Easy-Going, that is our Tristan. I used to find it hard to find ways to surprise and delight this great kid but not anymore. Last year I made up a batch of lemonade and had some strawberries in the refrigerator so I tossed them all together...BINGO!!!! Nail on the head, Tristan fell head over heals for strawberry~lemonade. So...whenever he is going to be here for a meal I fix up a batch of strawberry~lemonade and he gets the first glass.

Hot Mapel Syrup= $4.00
Strawberry~Lemonade=$2.50
Having someone to spoil=PRICELESS

If you look real close...

....you will see one of our new pond residents. Mr. (or is that Ms.???) Turtle is sunning him/herself on a rock. Ryan and KatieBug were trying to come up with names for them...I call them Turtle, both of them! They are so skittish that getting a picture of them is almost impossible. To take this shot I was standing in the house with my arm stretched out the patio door as far as I could stretch it, good thing I managed to get him in the shot, when he heard the camera shutter he was in the water faster than fast...some day we hope they will get used to us and be as socialable as the Koi, who allow me to hand feed them.

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Progress....we are making slow but sure progress on the retaining wall, the weather and grandkidlet baseball/softball schedules have prevented us from getting it completed in a timely fashion, but hey...I would rather be cheering on the kids than hauling these heavy bricks anyway...the project isn't going away and it will be done soon so we have split our priorities for now. Such is life!

Last wknd...things moved right along, it was fun to see the progress

As of yesterday, this is where we are...
begining the second layer and loving how it has changed the look of our property.

Yesterday (the sun was out, it was a beautiful day!) we spent the day helping our kids get their pond in - lots of digging and laughing and leveling and more digging and *some* grumbling and discussing and laughing and leveling and....finally at 6 p.m. it was ready for water. The filter works (no leaking) the waterfall works (no spilling). Hip Hip Hooray, Success! So, the water is curing, we took pond plants and some pond water up earlier today to get their eco-system started and by Tuesday it will be ready for fish. A trip to the Koi gardens...can't wait!

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I will leave you with this pic of our Master. He misses his daddy so much when his daddy isn't around...and when his daddy is around he is like a little shadow. I call this pic "Like Father, Like Son" they laid on the sofa like this for the longest time...Ryan watching the basketball playoffs and Akria sleeping...oh the life of a cat, er, I mean our Master. Ryan left last Tuesday, Akria has been howling his head off calling and looking for him...it is hilarious and sad at the same time.

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I hate dirt, and other things to smile about

Ok....as I mentioned a couple of days ago, there is NOTHING quilty going on here...so I thought I would share a few things that have made me smile lately.

I love Macaroni. Macaroni (MacKenzie) is my great niece. She occupies a part of my heart that no one else can occupy. When she comes to Aunnie (yes, that is Aunnie with no T) Pami and Uncle Eddie's home she can ask for the moon and will most likely get it served on a silver plater. She came for a quick overnight visit a couple of wks ago and wanted to sleep in our bed with us. "No problem, when you are tired you can crawl in bed." Everyone went about what they were doing and soon we discovered that Mac was real quiet...hmmm...wonder where she went? This is where we found her...on the floor just inside our bedroom door...fast asleep. OK...not really anything unusual...I have scores of pictures of this little angel sleeping in various odd places. Her mom-mom just gathered her up and moved her. The next morning I asked her why she was on the floor and didn't get up in the bed....she said she couldn't because there was someone else hogging the bed...look who that someone was....What a bed hog!!! M.G., a.k.a. Gabe, a.k.a. her little brother, a.k.a. My Guy, a.k.a. Mr. Gabe was soundly snoozing along in the bed and didn't leave her any room! Poor M.G. I think he is gonna take the fall for a few things in life, might as well get used to it now. and BTW...if he is a bed hog he learned it from the Queen of Bedhogs...his sissy, Ms. Macaroni herself!!!!

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My sister graciously agreed to help me get the pond finished. This project has been an on going project since last summer. It was one of those things that you get started on and then see that maybe you could have done something differently, or saw someone else's and liked the way they did something, or decided something wasn't working like you thought it etc. etc. etc...are you still with me? It was an ongoing project and we wanted it to NOT be an ongoing project. Well...the first thing we needed to do was move the electrical wiring and replace some of it as well...which turned out to be quite the undertaking. When the wiring was originally put in it was put in by our son who crawled on his belly to put it under the deck. In order to replace what needed to be replaced someone needed to get under the deck to UN-DO what had previously been done. That someone was NOT going to be ME...not only did I not want to do it, but I don't think I COULD have done it, as in don't think I would have fit under the deck. My sister did what she could do but her arms are not 6' long so she couldn't un-do it all...about that time my niece (who is a new mom-mom and a nursing mom-mom to boot) came out and asked us what the heck we were trying to do...and beings how she loves her Auntie Pami so much she volunteered to crawl under the deck....dairyfarm boobs, postpartum body and all. My sister and I stood there in shock that she was actually going under the deck (i.e. Spiderland... Wormville...Bughaven...Deadcarcass City). I smile when I think about her comment upon re-entry into the world...and yes, Mandy you have done your penance fully and completely!

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I hate dirt. I don't like dirt under my fingernails, I don't like the way my hands get rough when I have been doing yardwork, I don't like dirt...I don't like dirt...I don't like dirt. Now, having gotten that out of my system I will say that I love a well groomed yard, beautiful landscaping and I love that my dear hubby loves doing all that for us. And I will add I have been doing a bit more yardwork this year than ever before....working on the pond, planting my windowboxes and hanging pots, even dug up a few bulbs for my niece and a few weeds that were trying to make my Mary Yard their home. Hubby has rules about his garden tools...and I don't always follow his rules as closely (*¿~) as he would like me to so he bought me my own set of tools...they are PURPLE...and a cute little purple gardeners bag as well. I think he thinks that dirt and I will soon be fast friends..guess what...don't hold your breath dear, it ain't gonna happen...but I do like my cute purple garden gadgets!

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Chris flew back to San Diego yesterday (it was so fun to have her around for a while!!!!) so Ryan moved out of MCM and into the guestroom. I guess that frees me up to do some sewing...I will give it some serious thought, I have several quilts at the binding stage, they would be quick finishes. I have a couple of mending jobs that will not take long to get done. We have a new sofa and chair and I need a quilt to go with them as well as covers for the arms of each. And I still, yes still have not made some very needed hotpads.

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so...there you have it...kids who say the darnedest things...a hubby who has a not-so-subtle way to encourage me...a niece who will do almost anything for me..a vacated MCM...and a done-done pond (I keep forgetting to take "done-done" pics!)...sleeping baby bedhogs...things to smile about

Working and Playing

Our youngest son, Ryan, has moved back to Oregon and when he is around there is never a dull moment. BUT...he broke his collar bone in 2 places a couple of weeks before he moved so he has been a bit out of commission, still keeping us on our toes but in a bit more relaxed fashion than the usual hiking, disc golfing and mountain biking (which is how he broke his collar bone).

Chris mowed down the St. Johns Wort, Ed Party-Q'd the bestest chicken, I cheered Chris along and Ryan napped...doesn't the front look nice, the first stage in done, Thank you Chris!!!, the second stage will start tomorrow.A quick trip to the winery then back home to make this......a pin hole camera! Ryan and Chris have been having fun with pin hole cameras of late, taking pictures and then developing their own film. I thought it sounded like fun so Chris found this cute little puppy tin to make a camera for me. This is my first picture....(see my cute little Mary fountain???)
...Chris set up the shot and walked me through the process. Then we went to their makeshift darkroom...(I knew there was a reason we had a guest room in the basement with no windows) and she walked me through the developing process.

Kids, the older they get the fun-er they are ~ picture taking and developing ~ and a lesson about wine while at the winery!

So, now you know why there is NOTHING quilty going on here...oh, wait...maybe this has something to do with the lack of quilting going on as well....Ryan has temporarily moved into My Creative Mind. There is NO way I could get to my machine even if I had to!!

Odds and Ends

Just a couple of pictures to fill in the non-quilty gaps of my life, because NOTHING quilty is happening at my house currently!

Time for an antenna ball change and I didn't get this one posted yet,
Happy Smiley Sunshine Man
...he gets me through those gray-foggy days of early spring.

Isn't this beautiful?

A gift from my sister (last Christmas!), made from jewelry making beads and findings...
it is the teeniest, tiny-est, cutest little thing...
I have a miniature collection and this is the newest addition

And our current project...
starting today....ugh ugh ugh...this is the BEFORE picture (taken last summer)...
see all the St. John's wart? Today Chris and I are mowing it down.

Then we will be taking a break for BBQ chicken lunch...then off to Old Bridge Winery in Remote for a wine tasting open house. The wineries in our county are having tours today and we have never been to this one. There is an old covered bridge on Hwy 42 which we will stop and take pictures of. It is less than an hours drive from our home so we will be back in plenty of time to continue with the "the project". After the winery trip, we will start digging up the front of the yard where the St. John's wart is, we are terracing the front and re-landscaping...a project that has been on our to-do list for over 20 yrs! Next wknd will be the big work-wknd...we have a work-party of 9-10 people coming to do the hardest manual labor stuff...the Party-Q'er will be fired up and running all wknd....and speaking of Party-Q'er....look what I found in my livingroom a couple of wks ago...I think he was trying to get it put together and roll it out to the deck before I got home from the office, but I caught him!!! He is so funny...a Grillmaster and his Party-Q'er. When I mentioned the fact he was putting it together on off-white carpet his reply "it just came out of the box....it isn't dirty" MEN...

Enjoy your Saturday, the sun is suppose to come out today and the rain is suppose to go away...sure hope Mr. Weatherman is right!