LORI IS 50!!! The Early Years! 3-1

Lori, 5-61

This has taken me hours...I should have started a week ago, but I managed to get enough pulled out and edited!  My baby sister Lori is 50!  Because there are soooooo many pictures and I want to get to bed tonight I am doing this in two parts.  I'm not sure I'll get them captioned but you can have fun looking at them!  Happy 50th Lori!  It has been great sharing this story together!

8-61

3-1-62

4-62, Easter

8-62

11-21-62

10-11-63, Me, Mom & Lori

8-64

June 1963

3-4-67



Christmas morning 1967

3-68, 7 years old

1973 dance recital

1973 dance recital

at Gram's 1974

1977, Bridesmaid dancing with Uncle Dick

July 4th 1976

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Sunny Sunday 2-27

I hate to let down my nine faithful readers but I am having a hard time coming up with anything interesting to share with you today.  It was sunny, breezy and cold.  We took a walk and then spent time in the garden planning the rose garden and rose trellis area.  I made a yummy whole grain pasta dish for dinner and that was about it for our day.  Exciting hummmm?!

 Oh and I just stood for about 15 minutes and looked at the trees...sorry you weren't here.

Sunny and COLD 2-26

Larry watching it snow yesterday.

This is what he was seeing.

Our nest this morning

Hard to see here, but it is snowing.

It was beautifully sunny today, though it took awhile for the shade to warm up enough for last nights hail/ice to melt.  We took a walk this morning.  This afternoon a few big clouds floated over and snowed while the sun was shining.  I took pictures but it is hard to see the snow in all that sunshine unless you zoom in on the photos.  You might see the white specks in the darker areas of the picture.

Storm's Done 2-25

Another big wind/rain event.  By 10 p.m. last night we had gotten an inch of rain.  It was very windy most of the night and rained quite heavy off and on.  After 7 a.m. it rained heavy and we had gusty winds until after noon.  It turned to snow before it stopped but nothing like we got last weekend.  We got 2 3/8 inches of rain in like twenty hours.  The air was cold and unsettled the rest of the afternoon and once it snowed and thundered...those two never seem to go together.  We even had a hail storm...mostly pea sized with marbles thrown in and about an hour before dark the sun actually came out.

I never accomplish much during these big storms, I just go from window to window and watch the show.  The birds and deer still forage and the hummingbird manages to not get dropped by pounding rain and it is amazing that the trees don't become leafless sticks...the leaves manage to stay on during the forceful gusts of wind.

During my guided meditation this morning I was supposed to arrive at a cottage and open the cottage door to enter the cottage.  As I open the door I get caught up in whether the door should open in or open out...jeez, even in my head I can't just go with the flow, I have to figure out the details....so now this stupid door is just swinging back and forth and I invisioned myself stuck in the door...which cracked me up, so I mentally stepped back and just blew the sucker up...the door, not the cottage.  Then I was so amused my meditation just wasn't going to happen.  Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow....:)  Between now and then I'll have to decide which way the door will swing!

Cold 2-24

First I have to say Happy Birthday Auntie!

Today was cold and cloudy and about four in the afternoon it started raining and has been going hard ever since.  Supposed to turn to snow by morning...I'll let you know :)

Today I worked all day on my painting.  I "finished" it last night, but I still didn't like the middle of it.  This painting business has been quite the process for me and I am still learning about myself because of it.  Even at my advanced age I still have strong programming from school...when I am taught something I try my darndest to get what I've been taught BUT art being art there is not a wrong or right way and though there are rules made all over the place by artist/instructors the beauty of art is in the creation and the vision of the artist and ultimately in the eye of the beholder.  So after not getting the center of my painting to work the way I was invisioning it I decided to break the rules of the purist watercolorists and I used WHITE paint and basically white outed the center so I could get it to do what I wanted.  Woo hoo!  Now I am happy with it and it is DONE.  On to the next one.  I learn a lot with each one I do, about the paint, the paper, brushes and the process and I am finally ENJOYING the process.

near the beginning

The center colors were too strong/warm



So I lifted them back out





muddy crappola



toned down the red hearts and white gouache

Happy finally...it looks better in person.

Ho Hum 2-23

My big excursion today was to the Post Office and other than working on my painting I didn't seem to do too much.  Still battling the whatever germs, now I am sneezing...usually that comes first...weird cold.  Oh, watched the birds and the animals...the gray squirrel ran up on the back porch again and a hummingbird made contact with the sliding door...they are getting awfully friendly.

I finished my painting, but I'm not liking the way it turned out...it wasn't what I was going for...I guess someone will like it...I may take its picture tomorrow so you can see it.

Sunny Day 2-22

Last night we could hear an owl hooting outside...from inside it sounded close.  Being dark I knew I wouldn't be able to see it, but I went outside to see if I could place where it might be.  Well, hearing it outside was different than through the windows/walls of the house....it wasn't as close as I thought and sounded like it was about 6 feet tall....the hooting was big and loud sounding and off in the distance I could hear an answering hoot.  Now I really want to see this giant owl! :)

Today turned out to be a nice sunny day with very little of that cold breeze.  I decided a walk was in order...I'm feeling somewhat better and with bad weather coming again we needed to get while the getting was good.

I worked some more on my painting today.  I am always surprised at how long they take....I am never satisfied and keep layering in more color...then I decided to wash some of the color off with the spray bottle over the sink...that wasn't as scary as it sounds and I didn't ruin the whole thing...yet :)

Not much else going on here!

Nothing 2-21

I've got a lot of nothing to say...because I don't want to complain and whine while feeling puny.

I started a new painting, today it was cold, but sunny.

 Easter candy commercials have begun already...bahk-meow, bahk-meow....:)

my rose picture altered

More from yesterday 2-20

Jeez, I was in bed for like eleven hours...we went to bed early...I was awake about every hour and then after Larry got up around 7 I fell back to sleep for two hours.  I am fighting a germ that got past my defenses, so needless to say I didn't do much today besides lay around, walk around, drink tea and eat home made chicken soup.

It had gotten below freezing last night and everything was frozen until the sun thawed it all out.  It was mostly sunny today but there were clouds skidding through.  Larry worked on finishing the irrigation project out in the garden.

Here are more pictures from yesterday.

the ponderosa pines above the house

the "back"

Ian playing with the snow

Ian and his stunning work of art

Andrea had me take this, rose on snow
This was my favorite view, if I had been
feeling better I might have been more creative

Busy Boys 2-19

Yesterday I first got dinner going in the crock pot...wonderful Mexican steak.  Then it was off to my hair appointment, then to the store and back home to get ready for more company.

Andrea, Scott and Connor showed up around 1:30.  Within the first 15 minutes the boys being crazy to see each other were playing and cracked their heads...hard.  Ian needed ice for the goose egg that appeared immediately on his forehead...apparently Connor's is harder....ha ha.

It rained all day and was cold...I was feeling kinda yucky...some weird upper respitory thing, but we all had fun visiting and playing.

This morning we awoke to a winter wonderland...somewhere between 2-3 inches of snow coated everything.  I got up quick so I could get pictures before it warmed up and melted away.  We had a total of 3 inches of precipation the last two days.  Ian and Scott went out and played in the snow...Connor was not impressed.  I made a big breakfast and then we played and visited until they left for home around noonish. 

"I don't see any Mouse!,,,Oh this one in my mouth?!"

We headed to town...I had a poster print to pick up, we went to the library to drop off and pick up and then it was on up to Home Depot.  I wanted to get more bird seed...and shockingly I managed to resist coming home with another orchid...I don't know how I managed...there are still a few colors that are intrigueing and I don't have.  Larry had more water pipe stuff to get and then it was back home. 

I got the sheets changed and the towels washed and then swept and mopped the kitchen floor.  Connor is hell on floors.  I saved cleaning the bathrooms, windows and vacumming until tomorrow.

meltdown

It was cold this afternoon with a bit of rain, hail and wind.  It is supposed to get really really cold tonight...down into the 20's...ew.