Trombones and Motorcycles

This weekend was the Northwest Car Collectors show at the Expo Center in Portland. The owner of the first 3 motorcycles in the photo is the bass player for the Bridgetown Big Band, shown in the other photo, and they played Sunday at the show. Everyone was brilliant, but I was particularly delighted by the trombone section sound. Mostly I can say I had a wonderful weekend. Cool people, cool motorcycles, cool band, cool cars, and HH turned another year over.

Quilt Baby with Dog

One cousin, Cousin M made this beautiful quilt for her Great Niece, while another cousin, Cousin J, stepped into the shot just the second before HH or I snapped the photo. This was so frustrating, because we'd missed many many many perfect shots before we finally got the idea that maybe we should take a photo. Cousin J was as slow as us, because she suddenly thought, "Hey, maybe that dog could bite my granddaughter!" So we were both slow. What got cropped was cousin bending over in front of her beautiful photogenic daughter, mother of the baby. But baby and dog sure did like each other. Another shot missed a bit before this one was the one of the quilt being held up for display. This was in Ashland at our family reunion in Lithia Park.

Next time I go to the baby jazz band rehearsal I'm going to take a camera and see if I can get a photo of the hostess' sewing room. It would be the envy of all who saw it and ever thought about a quilt. I've been filling in for someone on a European Garden Tour with her Hardy Perennial Club, and BJB People are a compelling and delightful bunch. Rehearsals moved from a garage to a basement. The garage home was very interesting, too, because in back were lovely boats made by the garage owner himself.

Smith Lightning

Do you know that if you click on the photos they get bigger? This one is from this weekend. HH and Lightning went to Smith Rock. It's so beautiful!

DD and I played in the same orchestra together last night, and it wasn't in a pit for a musical. I'm thrilled. It's the local community orchestra, and we're playing suites from American in Paris and South Pacific, some movie music, some Oregon Trail music, what else? It's fun stuff.

Thunder and Lightning

Photo is of BSA Lightning along Columbia River. One of my favorite photos by HH taken just last week. Speaking of lightning, we've been having lots of it here. Unusual for this area. At least there's been some rain with it, so when it hits forests they won't be total tinderboxes. I don't understand why lightning rods aren't more popular. The night before last, I threw open the window shade, tossed my pillow to the foot of the bed, and lay backwards in it so I could watch the lighting out the window. I was disappointed only to see the window light up, and no actual bolts. The rain was very loud on the patio cover, and I wondered if there was a bit of hail mixed in, but it was too dark to see, and I wasn't about to go wandering outside to check, mainly because I hate to get out of bed unless the morning alarm has gone off. It is now completely pouring outside.

Have been reading a brilliant book HH bought. He leaves it lying around here and there, and whenever I come across it, and have a minute or two, I read some. I think I'm on page 21, but it might be 31. I've been trying to remember, because since he's reading it, I try not to move his bookmark, or confuse him by adding a second. I don't know where it is right now, but it's a great autobiographical account of a young possibly lunatic woman seeking adventure who also loves motorcycles, and she quit her job with the BBC to ride a motorcycle the whole length of North and South America, starting in Alaska in May. The title is Lois on the Loose.

Other biographies I'm reading now are A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel, and The Egg and I, by Betty MacDonald. Then I'm also reading a couple mysteries, Under Orders by Dick Francis, and Coyote Waits, by Tony Hillerman. I don't mean to read them all at once. It just happens. I wonder if it happens to other people, too.

Hot Lazy Day

Twilight, gibbous moon, narrow twisty road, bicyclist just visible, no reflectors, no lights, peddling along side of road. Must have been caught out by the ever shortening, dark increasing days of August Cyclist was not me, but I passed him in car. That was last night. Today I rode with helmet and reflectors and slow moving vehicle triangle, reflective and neon orange. I want to get a flag on a stick, too, to help me be visible in my low-slung bicycle to the huge 4-door, 4-wheel drive pickup trucks.

Confusion Reigns Here

I'm reading a book about this guy, Justinian I, of the new Roman Empire, and his wife Theadosia, and his Lord Chamberlain, John. Justinian is the ruler of Roman Empire, such as it is. Mostly it's about John, who has mysteries to solve. I have a mystery to solve. Where does my checkbook keep going? Every time I want to pay bills, or figure I'd better in order to avoid penalties, I can't find my checkbook. So where is it this time? It's always wherever I put it last, but I can never remember. Our big swing jazz band is playing tonight. I hope I can find my trombone. I have the other one in a shop 90 miles away. That makes me nervous. At least I know where it is.

It Must be Wednesday

This isn't the prettiest photo, but it tells a story, doesn't it? HH has been having a string of unfortunate events with his BSA's. This photo was taken by HH on a club trip to Goldendale. His bike broke down and he couldn't get hold of me, because I was with the band, playing in the park, so he kept staying outside of things (observatories, Dairy Queens, cafe's, gas stations) trying to get satellite coverage so his phone would work, and there I was incommunicado. He got me eventually, and I was able to meet him at LM's house in Oregon City, and was there in plenty of time for a lovely house and garden tour with Mrs. LM before he showed up riding on the back of LM's Bonneville. The very next day, we drove up to The Dalles, scenically situated on the eastern Columbia River, pulling the bike Trailer in a Bag (not in the bag) and got the bike, and I got another lovely house and garden tour. Did you figure that the bike went to one town, and HH went to another? It took two trips to get them both. And they were both fun, well maybe I had more fun than HH. He was going to take the other BSA, but its clutch started giving him trouble and he couldn't fix it before time to go, then the clutch on the little one went screwy while he was out on the ride. There's another weekend my bathroom didn't get it's walls scraped. La de da da hum de dum, I'm so slow.

Noon for Her

Her said to look up at noon and take a picture of what you see, and I looked up, but had to wait a while for the camera, (everyone likes to use the camera) so here's the photo, 2 weeks later. But I see this every day at noon, because dog and I go for a walk around 11:30 (not a long walk) and when we get back, we go over to the cherry tree for a treat. Dog just thinks this corner of the yard is fun. Lots of bugs and birds.

Disconnect

There may be a bit of open space between my photos and my topics, and between my topics and what I say, but maybe you'll get used to it, because I'm not going to do a lot of editing. The cat is helping me write this. She is currently saying "rumble, purr purr purr, rumble," as she shifts about looking for the perfect position. The phone has not rung today. A wonder in itself. I think the cat has settled. She is holding down my left leg and my right arm. It really is difficult to focus with her constant shifting. She is now on my right leg, and my right arm is on her back, way out of kilter. So, even with the phone quiet, I'm still having trouble focusing.

I'm hoping to get the dog over to see MIL today. She is due for a grooming--the dog, not MIL. Guess I should make an appointment. I meet some very nice people and dogs when we're out walking. Heidi is a friendly pooch, and thinks everyone she meets should stop and admire her, and when we walk by houses, she wants to go in and visit. Sometimes this happens, but only on our street.

The quilt in the photo was given to me by a friend, but after I finished stitching the border (she lets me do this for her sometimes) she took it back to photograph, and I haven't seen it in a long time. I am eager to get my quilt back. It's small, and looks great on the bed.

Beach

Today we're taking the dog to the beach. We're taking ourselves, too. DD graduated from high school, turned 18, and is now touring Tuscan Italy with her orchestra. HH told me he's taking a walk before we go, but I hear him tinkering out in the shop. This happens a lot. With the best of intentions, he steps out the back door only to be sucked in by the lure of the shop. Well, here I am, meaning only to update my book list, but I, too, have gotten distracted. OK, I'm going now. I just love this graduation photo HH took when DD and her friends threw their hats in the air.

Are We Ready?

I'm a little concerned that I keep forgetting things, dropping things, losing things. Am I OK? I practice, but as soon as I learn a new thing, I forget an old thing. Do I like the dog better than the cat. She is an obnoxious cat. DD will gradutate Monday. If she can remember to get all her things done. She doesn't sound worried, so I'm not worried. I heard them talking about all the tons of students who also don't have their things all done yet. She did check with someone that said it would be OK to finish up those things tomorrow. One of her teachers told her class to remember family is for life, and friends are just temporary. She wondered why he gave such an odd speach. Well, he knows what teenagers are like. My BFF in high school (who is still a friend) used to say every day "I hate my mother." She loves her dear sweet mother, and it didn't take a whole year away at college before she realized it. What else am I on about? Can't think in a row for long enough to finish a thought, so bye y'all.

Friday

Today the weather is planning to warm up to 95F. Heidi, MIL's dog, thought hanging around with me while I watered flowers was extremely boring, and was only semi-enthused about going for a walk. Maybe she knows she has a hair appointment at noon. When she's all cleaned up and sweet smelling, I'll take her over to see her Mommy. I wish she'd be happier about visiting MIL. She's not keen. Guess she's too young. I feel bad for Mom when Heidi is more outgoing and friendly with about everyone else at the nursing home than she is with Mom. With her, Heidi's just, "OK, I've said hi, now let's go home," and Mom's all Heidi come here, lay down and grabs her tight and holds her, which Heidi doesn't appear to like.

These bikes are waiting their turn to get gassed up. A new seat came from England yesterday for the older BSA, more like the original seat that came with the bike. This seat is not as comfortable as it looks, and it's so ugly! The original seat and therefore the new seat, not the seat in the picture, has springs, which I think HH calls shock absorbers. Some of the required bolts were back ordered, so HH was looking through his bolt collection for something that would make do for now. He's got it on the bike, and it looks fine, but didn't sound completely satisfied with his jerry-rigging.

Boggy Woggy Doggy

Poor Boggywoggy. Her doggy ate her purple carrots. She never got to see them. She can tell you, anyhow, she'd rather see than be them. Ha ha ha ha. I'm being silly.

The photo is my new motorcycle. I bought it myself. I will have to see about putting in another photo of it, because it's back end is the part I want to talk about.



We'll see if that works. I haven't had any luck with it. Anyway, the back tire was bald, but as you can see, it's barely visible, so changing it is tricky. The new tire came yesterday via UPS, and HH had a bit of a struggle getting the hub off and I offered to help put it back on tonight. He says the tire's currently on the balancer, and the bike has it's rear end hanging off the end of the hoist. It's his hobby, you know. Anyway, I'm not going to ride this thing. It's just for looks, though I have seen HH riding it. I think we'll put it in the yard as a lawn ornament on nice days. You know, like a lawn jockey, or a fountain. He wanted it, I had insurance money, so I bought it. That's all I know. Except it's a Kawasaki Vulcan....oh! Rats! I forgot what else it is.

Best Laid Plans

Do things in this photo look wet? Oh, let me tell you. DD added some bits to his beloved 45-flathead and was eager to take it out to test them, so he listened to the weather report and decided Friday (not this Friday) was the perfect day for a ride. He asked at work to have it off, and eagerly waited all week for his adventure. He took off for coast in a light drizzle, so was wearing his rain pants. Never mind that the weather forcast predicted dry and partly sunny. He saw sun and blue sky ahead to the south, so headed that way, and wound his way eventually to Florence, where some little tiny thing broke on his bike and he fixed it, but the surge caused a headlamp to blow. I don't remember which one, bright or dim, but I notice new ones arrived in the mail this week. The drizzle never stopped. He's just passed Sea Lion Caves in the photo, and on a clear day you could see Heceta Head Lighthouse from here, which is just down the road. When he eventually returned home, he handed me his gloves and said "feel this." They were dripping and so HEAVY. I think he had fun, but his jacket and gloves felt like they'd been held under water until they couldn't absorb any more, and they left large puddles on the linolium. The next day was beautiful.

Sure, I'll Do It

In Community Band we're playing the 4th movement, Via Appia Antica, of The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi, which begings with a Roman Legion marching into Rome after victories in the East. They're tired, and feeling the weight of the journey, and the piece begins with tubas and low brass. My part is measure after measure of a repeatted quaver/eighth note only playable on my horn in 7th position. AS helps me keep in tune, BS says I have to be excited about it, BC says I have to blow fast, and SM says I have to stay with the tubas. I think it's the hardest thing I've done, and I need all that help. I try to psych myself up thinking of Avus and trying to picture his shiny armor all dusty from the long trek. When I first saw my music, I thought "They've got the wrong part, it's a drum part," and I was right about it being a drum part, but it's for trombone.

I think I have something every night but next Sunday for the next 2 weeks, and I'd better get friendly with my calendar now, so I can see which performances of Hello Dolly! I can make. I'm going to be in the pit. I will have to take up afternoon napping, since I guess I'm already committed. That was soon after starting with the new community orchestra, and thus sitting too close to BH, who talked me into playing for Hello Dolly. I'm not so sure about the advisablity of my actions.

Frosty the Mailbox

Handsome Hero told me to post a photo of mailbox. We have a new mailbox, and it's too small, but that doesn't matter because it's so pretty, right? As for gardening, I'm collecting newspapers to put down wet and top with compost. I put some down and dragged an aluminum motorcycle wheel out of the back of the truck, where it was headed for the metal recycle bin, and threw it on top of one soggy pile of newspapers. The leaves have not stayed on top of this pile, but the newspapers haven't blown away due to the wheel, which I think is a pretty cool sculpture to have in the garden, except the newspapers need to be hidden. Sadly, I was too slow to save the rusty old jumbo mailbox from the metal recycle bin. I had plans for it, including dirt and flowers. Rats!

When I recover from these shingles maybe I'll be OK. My head hurts, too. I think that part is sinuses. Nothing wrong with me that time won't fix, but I'm very cranky. MIL's house may become emptied this weekend by the estate sales crew. She's happy in her beautiful luxury assisted living apartment with her dear sweet little dog who thinks carpeting is the best bathroom. A nice couple from Ohio wants to buy her house, and we told them OK. I'll be glad when that's all done, which it may be soon. Meanwhile, I have boxes and boxes of mementos from both her house and my dad's house that I have to divy up between kids (my brothers, HH's brother, MIL's deceased SO's daughter who still speaks to her, amd MIL's deceased second husband's daugher. I'm going to use a grabber thing so I don't have to bend in the middle to pick things up. Bending hurts. Everything hurts. I'm such a whiner. Sorry. Shape up, self! Grrrr.

Oh! We rented Happy Feet and watched it last night. I'm glad we did because it was a lark. Very feel-goody. I enjoyed the EXTRA thing that showed the real tap dancer, too. If DD were here she could remind me of his name, which has eluded me. Oh! Look where I am. I guess I can easily look it up myself. Savion Glover. Now I want to see another movie with him dancing.

Ta Da!

After charging three batteries, and getting help from HH finding one that would keep a charge, I took this photo and DD stuffed it into the computer for me. She said she liked all the photos. I counted apples. On three trees I found 6 apples total, and none of them are ripe yet. It's Autumn. Why don't they know it? The grapes are about done, and there are puddles of them on the ground from dropped bunches. Maybe we'll have lots of apples next year.

I'm listening to BoggyWoggy's post of Horowitz playing Rachmaninoff. Mmmmmm!

Beautiful Almost Autumn

Again inspired by Mrs. Staggs at Happy Miscellany, I took the camera outside to photograph my fabulous delicious abundant grapes. What happened? The battery was dead. No matter, there's another battery. No, that one is dead, too. I've got one on the charger now, but it will be tomorrow before I take a picture, and I am trying to distribute the grapes before it's too late. (They don't keep forever, you know.) Right now they are THE BEST. Well, other people's grapes might be the best, too, but ours haven't been this delicious in previous years. MIL sits down and eats the whole bunch every time I bring her some, and she's fussy and has a small appetite. She said they're better than can be purchased at the store. The vines are growing up into the apple trees, making a little secret fairy hideout. Plus I have grapes in my apple trees. What fun.

Practice Practice Practice

Alley and I play piano duets. This is her playing now. She plays at getting so much hair on the chair cushion, the only alternative is to keep that cushion for her and change it out for other piano users. I sit on the bench and play the other piano. Sometimes she comes and sits beside me on the bench, but when she does, she tries her best to get me to stop playing the piano and play with her. She usually wins. I'd probably be able to learn something if I weren't so easily distracted.

Feeding Hannah

We've been tending Hannah next door while her people are gone for the weekend. All is going swimmingly until after an afternoon dog walk, DD locks the key to Next Door's house inside the house, leaving the food locked inside. Well, Hannah needs to eat! So before dinner time, we jumped in the car and just fortunately drove to the right pet supply store, Animal Crackers, and they not only carried the right sort of food, which DD remembered well enough to ID, but they also had next door on file in their computer. Yaaaa. They ended up giving us enough free samples to feed Hannah dinner and breakfast. I'm so pleased. The moral is, if you live in Corvallis, buy your pet food at Animal Crackers, so your neighbors will have recourse if they lock your keyes in your house.

What's Wrong with This?

"I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him."

It's quoting Abraham Lincoln, and there's supposed to be something glaringly wrong with it, but I don't see it. Can anyone help me? I feel such a dope.

Elegance

My friend Mrs. Staggs at A Happy Miscellany posted the well known quote from William Henry Channing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Channing) and it reminded me so much of Grandma and her three daughters, one of whom was Mom. I think they had this all down, and here I've let it slip away. I'm going to try to get it back a little. OK, some of it I haven't lost, but I'm going to work on the parts I've let slide. It's my heritage, and I would like to share it with my daughter.

Speaking of slides, our pianist last night at band practice said "Why don't the other kids like it when the trombone players are in the playground? Because they keep trying to move the slide and they can't swing." Groan.

Previously, he said, "How do you tell if the stage is level? When the drummer is drooling out of both sides of his mouth."

Snakes are Fast

It's Thursday again, and that means, time to recycle, which is what I was doing, hauling the red recycle bin out to the road, when I noticed a suspicious looking stick in the middle of the sidewalk. Instantly I thought a few things: That stick wasn't there before. Where'd that stick come from? Why is that stick so uniformly pointed on both ends? That stick is not a stick. By the time I'd finished thinking the stick was a snake, it started to wiggle, and I was amazed at many things: That snake is VERY FAST. That snake is very cautious. That snake is afraid of ME. I can't see the snake but I can hear where it's going. That snake sure makes a lot of noise. By the time I finished the noise thought, the snake had settled into silence--by the way, the noise was dry leaves--under the azalea, at least that's where it sounded like he/she had stopped.

After all that excitement, I remembered BoggyWoggy bragging about her ripe grapes, so I wandered off to the grape vines. I have two varieties, and no idea what they are, but they both taste wonderful. I found some glowing in the sunlight, and though most of the bunch was still sour grapes, the sun-kissed ones looked inviting so I ate them, well, three of them. I'm not supposed to eat grapes because of their high sugar content.

I'm not diabetic, but I would be if I went around eating all the grapes I wanted. It makes my brothers mad that they're diabetic and I'm not. They eat cake and I don't. Well, maybe they don't eat much cake anymore. I don't keep tabs. Brainy brothers, they are. One of them told me not to use ibuprofin because it's bad for me. Huh? That was all he'd say about that, but he was adamant. They are both fairly inflexible in their opinions. So, is ibuprofin so bad? My doctors keep recomending it.

I know, some of you want to see a picture of DD with her face all blown up like a balloon from having all 4 of her wisdom teeth removed, but she's not keen to share that particular look. At least her poison oak seems to have responded well to the medicine her doctor prescribed, and mabe she didn't share it with me via the laundry? Knock on so far so good wood. Is there something lurking? Well, that's enough of that.

What Day is It?

Remember the poison oak? Well, my poor daughter has been attacked by some. We don't know where she got it. I think it showed up Monday morning a week ago, or Sunday night while she was sleeping. Poor baby! My best guess is she got it while looking at her uncle, my brother's goats after his daugher's wedding the Saturday before. It was a beautiful wedding, and a good party afterwards. The blissful couple went for a Carribean Cruise for their honeymoon, but had to fly home early because of Hurricane Dean.

DD eliminated all the cats and kittens she'd been playing with, because she didn't start hanging out at the cat and kitten house until after the rash had shown up. First we thought it was just an allergic reaction to her medicine which she was taking for pneumonia, which is all cleared up now. But yesterday after her visit to the doctor, the verdict was Poison Oak! Poor darling girl. Now I'm afraid of her laundry, and every itch I get sends shivers of fear coursing through me. Yikes! I am not as brave as my DD.

MIL took up most of last few days because her potassium levels dropped so low (we know not why, but she's vowed to eat a whole banana every day from now on) that she hadn't the energy to stand up. It took several hours to convince her she needed to take an ambulance ride over to the hospital. As weak as she was, those ambulance guys got her to laugh. She has such a good attitude! She's back home now and feeling better than she has in a long time. Yaaaa.

Finally I got another chance to ride my new bike. HH went, too, and went slowly enough for me to keep up, sometimes even too slow. We are V lucky to have some very fun bike paths around here and we can circle around several ways without covering repeat ground. Isn't that lucky? And it's all lush and lovely, with blackberries, rose hips, playgrounds, a duck pond with ducks (one of them singularly ugly) plus it's fun to get out in the evening with HH. Fun fun fun.

Yesterday HH and I were driving back from dropping DD off at a lesson when we had to stop for a very handsome deer just standing in the road looking at us. Driving. That reminds me, I'd better get going. Ta ta for now.

Middle Name Thing

This is the truck that Hippy drove that went to the store that carried the bike that Vita bought. I rode the bike with the large basket full of empty cans to the store and put the cans in the machine and got a credit voucher when I pushed the button, while my bike was beside me in the indoor/outdoor bottle return room. Oregon has a bottle return law, and most stores have installed automated bottle return machines. Next, we, bike and I, went out front, but when I looked at the bike rack, I realized that if I locked my bike to that rack, no one would be able to get by it on the sidewalk. There were plants and pallets of water bottles blocking most of the sidewalk in front of the store. So I put my paper in my wallet, put my wallet back in my pocket, and peddled back over the bridge, down the road through the chicanes, and home. I was nervous riding with all the cars, but all went well, and I'm thinking of taking another run during the next traffic lull. I saw a very nice functional looking bike rack at the eye doctor's as I went by. I felt a little self-concious because I was smiling so broadly, I must have looked like a kook. I am sort of wishing I'd gotten the "Look out for me, I am a KOOK!" flag for the back of my bike, because traffic is a little scarey.

Middle Name Meme!

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

The Middle Name Meme

S: Sun. That's the name on my new bike, and it goes with my sunny nature.

U: Unique. Just like everyone else, I am unique. No one is like me; no one is like you. We're all special.

E: Edgy. That's me. Always on the edge just barely hanging on. Nothing's nice and secure. Maybe that's why I'm so jumpy.

Tagging Three People:

Avus. He may have a very interesting middle name; a son of his does.

Mindy. Hey, Mindy. What's your middle name? You can start a blog and stuff.

Humbug. Hey! Where are you, Baugh Humbug?

Wednesday Wanderings

I was inspired by Avus to post this picture, as he has some from a lovely bike ride he took. Maybe the connection is only in my head. See the bike with the orange stripe poking out behind the building? That is what HH bought for DD. DD hasn't ridden it yet, but she's planning to. It's a 250 Ninja. HH took it on a 450 mile weekend along Columbia River and scenic coast range. This was somewhere along route. His knees were saying "We want to stretch out now!" by the time he got home.

I'm keeping a close eye on the poison oak. Some of it is completely dead now, but there's still green in a bit between the lavender and candytuft. I don't know if I'm brave enough to deadhead the lavender. That's usually fun because it smells wonderful. We're supposed to have temperatures in the mid 90's, so I'd better get out earlier than I usually do to water whatever's left alive out there.

If It's Tuesday

This must be Corvallis. Last night, at the urging of the Carnivorous Hippy, we traveled all the way to Albany (10 miles) to see trumpet player Gavin Bondy's band, The Shanghai Woolies while picnicking in Montieth Park. DD said she enjoyed them more than Pink Martini, which played Saturday Night on lower OSU compus in Corvallis, which they lauded as the "Home of the Corvallis Youth Symphony!" Yaaaaaa! Shanghi Woolies have a fabulous adorable singer, Mel. More cheers. Hurrah!

Tonight the Corvallis Community Band is playing Teddy Bear's Picnic in Central Park. The Hippy and I will play with our daughters and Mr. Hippy. Summer fun! Then Wednesday night we'll play again in Central Park Gazebo. Fun fun fun.

Arrrrgh!

Deadheading the Candytuft was not as satisfying as it might have been. With all the dead flowers gone, I could see what lay underneath. More Poison Oak! I've got the Poison Oak Blues.

Not a Wierdo

You Are 12% Weirdo

Your thinking is so in line with the mainstream, it's pretty freaky. Have you ever considered running for political office? You're so normal, people can't help but feel comfortable with you!

Are You A Weirdo?

Hot July Morning

Whew! We are supposed to reach 101-degrees F today. DD is sitting for rabbits this week, and is worried about them as they are in cages outside. A neighbor, possibly the one feeding the fish, had draped a sheet over the bunnies' cages for shade, and DD gives each a frozen water bottle to cuddle. They may need two bottles today. Dog next door is being left in our care again this weekend. She's a dear sweet golden retriever, and we enjoy her company. Hope there's no lightning Friday night, as she's scared of it. Weather predicts possibility of it.

Why did this adorable half a Vincent run out of gas? I forgot why. There WAS a reason. HH and OVM club members were riding around on beautiful Columbia River old highway. HH was riding his BSA B31, and doubled back after filling up his tank to let Vincent here siphon some with his curly blue plastic hose. You can see through the hose so you can tell when the gas is coming and don't need to swallow any, though hose is too curly to siphon without suction. HH doesn't bother with fancy methods of siphoning.

That reminds me of my brother. One time he was siphoning, and got some (ew!) gas in his mouth, which he immediately spit out, but then, to get the taste out, he grabbed a handy Coke bottle and took a swig--unfortunately for him, he had earlier drained some engine oil into the Coke bottle. Yikes. He has, I think, learned from this experience to be more discerning.

The Gardener

Photo is by Larry until I take camera and photo MIL's heather, but it's not blooming any more. I just wanted to tell you the funny story she told me about the directions she gives her gardener. She can no longer do these things herself, so she has Rubin come twice a month or as often as she can get him. When he came the other day, she said, "I don't want it flat, and I don't want a ball." Rubin looked at the shrub, looked at MIL, looked at his pruners, looked at MIL and said "You don't want it flat and you don't want a ball." Then he repeated the whole thing. I'm glad they get along.

My Color?

Your Power Color Is Magenta

At Your Highest: You energize yourself and push others to suceed. At Your Lowest: You feel frustrated and totally overwhelmed. In Love: You are suprised by who you attract. You're a love magnet. How You're Attractive: Open and free spirited, people want to explore the world with you. Your Eternal Question: "What is my next source of inspiration?"

What's Your Power Color?

Errrr

This camera business has me flumoxed. No mavens around to help me out when I need them, like I have since my last post. Like HH says, there's been some musical thing going on every night, except when it's a group project homework thing. Everyone trying to get in their final this that and the other for the year, awards, dinners, all needing music. It's either DD or me, so instead of quiet evenings at home talking to each other, we've been breezing through on our way to out and about. Tonight it's an end of school party. The camera is still hooked to the computer, and when I try to unhook it, I get dire warnings. Well, maybe someone has taken care of that, since the camera is now turned off, but I still don't remember what I'm supposed to do. If anyone and I both alight here at the same time, maybe I can get another cameral lesson.

This picture shows more detail of the cool decals on the sidecovers. Well, there's one on each side.

Needs Love

I am inspired by all the photos Avus and Boggywoggy have posted of bicycles, as well as the pictures of Sir Edward Elgar with a Sunbeam posted at Little Corner of the Earth, so here's one of the bikes on our patio, sadly sitting with no wheels, but with a history. It came from the same shop in Massachusetts as the Sunbeam S7, back in 1947. I recognized the photos of Elgar, because we got books as well as bikes when we bought the Sunbeam. The bike pictured here is not a Sunbeam, but a BSA. Poor little thing.

It is the time of year when bands and orchestras play Elgar's music, particularly Opus 39. We're playing No. 1 and No. 4. I feel I should mention that 1 is arranged for band by Paul Sterrett and 4 is transcribed by M. Retford, revised and edited by Alfred Reed. We're doing something else by Reed. Ah, yes. Alleluia! Laudamus Te. Good stuff. All right, quiz time. What is the name of the pieces Opus 39, No. 1 and No. 4 that we are playing?

New Post

It just seemed like time to add a post, and I've been wanting to show off this gorgeous picture HH took while on a ride. We took the tank and side covers up to Oregon City and met at the Oregon City Falls wayside where we can overlook the mills. There we met with a guy who had colorful flame tatoos on both arms and legs. The decals we gave him with the parts to be painted didn't work, so the painted parts were looking rather plain, in a spectacular shiney red way. In other words, plain is not a very good word for anything as glamorous as the painted parts. We got them back by meeting the same flaming man at the same waterfall wayside. HH only recently added these flag decals. The 650 Lightning was made for the American market, thus the American flag. If any of you have advice for this sort of thing, he would welcome it.

Evil Monster Yard

There is a lot of this stuff hiding in my yard. It's poison-oak. I was just trying to yank up a few weeds yesterday, knowing that stuff was in there somewhere, when I pulled one up and my hand drifted back and brushed against some of it. Ack! I put my handful of weeds into the compost bin and went inside to wash wash wash wash wash wash endlessly wash with Tecnu. Ack! Did I touch that with oaky fingers? I don't think anything but the back of my hand was affected, but what if I'm wrong? Worry worry worry. Clean everything off with alcohol. HH and DLD were waiting waiting waiting, because I was waiting for them when I was distracted by the weeds. I should have stood idley by the auto. HH says he'll pour gasoline on the poisonous monsters. Clever Neighbor says "use crossbow" which sounds a lot saner than using gasoline to me. Gotta use something, though, because it can't be pulled or burned. It keeps it's poisonous effects for ages after it's dead...a year or two. I will have to look it up. Clever Neighbor pointed out another big batch of it I hadn't seen yet, because it was in with several other things that had similarly shaped leaves. We have a lot of volunteer oaks, Hawthorns and blackberries. I will have to show DLD the new batch. Ugh! .....worse than Ugh!

Interior Decorating

Here's what I call decorating. I put the red vines in the glass and set the glass on the sideboard. Spiffy. I was inspired by Mrs. Staggs.

I'm pretty pleased that I took a picture and got it into the computer, but now I don't know how to detatch the camera. I'm sure DLD will be able to clue me in when she gets home from school.

Did I Say?

I never saw one of these before. It was just one of the many bikes at the OVM yearly show at Benton County Fairgrounds last Sunday. This bike didn't go on the Saturday ride, but there were over 50 interesting old motorcycles from all over the world that did. They went well over 100 miles, and no one broke down. Yaaaa! Most of the Ducati's and Vincent's took off ahead of the main bunch. Sunday HH was happy to bring home an honorable mention.

Happy Birthday, Loquacious One

As the Girl on the Swing in Ragtime would say, "Wheee!" It's a party. Happy Birthday Darling Girl. I hope you enjoy your day.

Pianos Tuned, Check

Whoopee! The pianos are now both tuned, and I have met the delightful Mr. Stainthorpe. The hammers on the old baby grand are hardened, so it sounds like a honky tonk piano. He played a bit of a rag time ditty on it, which was very entertaining. Such pizzaz! He is a violinist, and played in the Sacramento Symphony, until they put him on viola, which he didn't think was fun. Anyway, he wanted to see Mom's old violin, so I got it out for him, but when he went to play it, he found it was strung as a viola. Oh, right. Loquacious Daughter was practicing viola before she had one by restringing the violin. It all makes sense, but Mr. Stainthorpe and I were dissapointed, because we wanted to hear a violin.

He told me many fine and entertaining stories, but I have already forgotten the details. One was about a guy he gives overflow work to who made a custom organ for Toyota. He had to give up his organ making because the organ making shop where he worked closed because the man who owned it retired. Alas!

My hammers are hard. Did I mention that yet? On the baby grand piano. He says it is very expensive to replace the hammers. He says for a short-lived fix, I could poke holes in them all to let a little air in. That doesn't sound like anything I'm going to do. Hard hammers sound kind of rinky tinky. Anyway, it is sure a lot nicer than it was. Maybe I will add photos later.

Whatever

Played trombone last night. People danced. The guys look so cute in the cummerbunds and bow ties. I get to follow these and mostly other motorcycles around old roads on a club ride next Saturday. I'll be driving the pickup car. Hope I don't have to pick anyone up.

Dr. Not Who drives the Ducati. I've got a story about him, that I've been putting off telling. He's a retired chemist, and he told HH that his wife doesn't listen to him, trust him, or believe him when he says burning candles is carcinogenic. That's my story. I don't like it.

He says Google Earth is free, and now I can find an old photo of my house on the map. HH showed it to me this morning. He said look at this, and the computer screen had a tiny planet earth in the middle. He said push this button (with the mouse) and the earth zoomed closer, and closer until you could see my house.

I went to Garland Nursery yesterday to buy a hanging Begonia basket for MIL for today. Found just the right one. It is fun to go to Garland. I see lots of lovely things I can't afford there. I hope. Then I went to the antique mall to pick up finds for a birthday package. I hope I get it mailed. The mall is fun because there are lots of very pretty things I can afford, and there's a black cat curled up on a pillow, and one of the owners was helping me and cracking wise the whole time. They had a shoe store stool for sale by the front door. Remember those?

Today we're all going to Ragtime. DD will be playing in the pit. They have been having sound system problems, so I hope those are worked out. The sound guy fixes my shoes when he's not doing sound. Maybe I can get the low down on what happened if I get a new pair of shoes for him to fix.

Ragtime

Tonight is opening night for Ragtime. DD is playing for most of the shows, or that's her plan. MIL and I are going Sunday to see her. OK, we may hear her. We're going to see the show. Fluffy Cat is wanting my attention, so I have to go now and give her attention. No one else is home. HH is off getting advice for his map from a guy with GPS on his Ducati. No DD, no HH, just me and Fluff Ball.

The Nighthawk was sold to make room for the Moto Guzzi. I don't know how other people do this. It doesn't work for me. I like these bike pictures, though. I'm coming, Cat.

Out of Tune

Yesterday I was listening to DD playing piano, and thinking "How beautiful. I wonder if only a mother would like this? No, it's got great phrasing and shape and OK, it's not perfect, but it sounds wonderful." She went on from one beautiful piece to another and another, and the last one got more and more dramatic at the end to a flashy finish, when the Whirlwind appeared screeming and demanding the paino be tuned immediately. Well, maybe that's pretty good timing, because a life insurance company that my dad had a policy with sent me a check that should cover piano tuning. That was probably connected to the piece of paper my brother stopped by with and had me sign. I wrote down that tuner that used to work for Liberace on a piece of paper, now where is it? I'll just look it up again. I know a trombone player who used to play for Liberace, and another trombone player who used to trick or treat Liberace. Then I could be a trombone player who got her paino tuned by Liberace's piano tuner. If he'll do it.

Wheeeee

We're motoring down I-5 getting close to LA when we see an unbelievable sight---huge roller coasters, high roller coasters, looping roller coasters--every kind of roller coaster I ever saw in pictures, there in the distance beside the road. We weren't the only people to notice, because we soon came to the exit for this roller coaster paradise, and traffic pretty much just stopped while waiting for their turn to go to this amazing place. We eventually noticed that we could keep going if we just got out of the right side lanes. But not before I drug out the camera and got this picture.

Back from LA

Mission accomplished. We are back, and we have the Moto Guzzi. The drive was somewhat harrowing, us being country bumkins in the big city. We saw three young men in fast heavy LA freeway traffic on sport bikes and one of them was doing a wheelie. I don't know what the other two were doing because they were out of sight when I saw the 3rd up on his back tire, no protective clothing, zooming fast with the traffic. Bikes split lanes in LA. I told him (of course he didn't hear me) to stop distracting my driver. HH did all the LA driving. Yikes. We traded off other places. Big sighs of relief when we left the LA area.

The fellow selling the bike was from Ireland, and is going back for a reunion with all his friends and the Isle of Man tt race. He, and his wife who had just gotten back from her own trip to Ireland, were very fun to visit with, and brought out garage furniture so we could have a little party on the driveway while we watched HH assemble the Trailer in a Bag. They regailed us with tales of LA and Ireland, insurance, universal health care, health care costs, education, and motorcycles.

HH is the first non-engineer owner of the bike, and the prior owners kept pictures, records, diaries. If you scroll down a couple entries here you may see a photo of the car, trailer and bike. I changed out the photos.

Do you see the dark spire in the left quarter of this photo? It is a tree. We started seeing them in Sacramento and south, so I assume they require a warm climate, but when growing singley with various other trees and bushes, they are spectacular. I wonder what they are?

Looking for Cali

Alley doesn't understand why she can't find Cali. She is so confused, and no, she doesn't like dogs. HH is off riding the Harley and expects to eat when he gets home, and DD is hungry. She's going to something she calls "Devising". It's a theater thing. Saturday she has a rehearsal for Ragtime. What fun. She's playing piano now, and it's beautiful. Why is she such a good sight reader? Must be smart.

Goodbye, Cali

I miss you.

Need a Tune

Planned on getting pianos tuned. I had just decided we'd caught up enough financially to tune at least one if not both pianos, and was wondering what tuner to use, but there has been a slight setback. The Moto Guzzi (which I hope will work fine) is the setback. Some friend of a friend in Seattle has one, too. Maybe I should ask him if he's heard any lemon talk from that guy. This one's an 89, so maybe some of the bugs were worked out before it was made. It doesn't matter anyway, because we already bought it. HH won the bid. I'm taking old kitty to vet today. Hope all works out OK.

Vita and HH's Next Adventure

Sometimes a deal comes along that is just too good to pass up, and when such things happen, the fun and smart thing to do is go for it, so that is what we did. It is a 1989 Moto Guzzi Le Mans with low miles, meticulous care and lovely paint. We are going for a fun weekend drive to LA to pick it up. Ya Hoo!

Fun In Sun or Taxes

What a beautiful day. We have sun, there are flowers outside ready to plant, the temperature is perfect, an outside sort of day. I need to spend all my spare moments finding all the tax papers I put off filing so I can do my taxes. HH has a cold, DD has allergies. I'd be wonderful if my head wasn't plugged up.

Scramble

That's like eggs, not a motorcycle race. That's what my head is doing this morning. That and the little Morse code thing that's been going on constantly for several days. I'm pretty sure that's because of my head being plugged up.

Do the rest of you have times when you're smart and times when you're not so smart. Sometimes my brain is just right on top of things, and I can clearly think of several things and keep them all straight. Other times it's all just a muddle...... I had to stop for a minute to turn on iTunes to hear the Bassoon Quartet instead of my head ringing, except now it seems my head is playing along.

I so admire the beautiful gracious manners of my friends. I really enjoy watching them socialize with their great skills. One in particular must have learned at her mother's knee. I think she's brilliant and admire her so! I tell myself to be like her, but when I get in a social situation, I'm just so excited to be around people I forget to think before speaking. I'm so lucky to know such fun people.

I hope Roger isn't mad at me--I told some entire band that he'd had a birthday of which he didn't wish to be reminded. He told the band I was delusional. Ha! I was around people and got excited. Sorry, Roger. It just slipped out.

My MIL tried to deposit a "check" that was just a voucher saying "we owe you money." I carried this and other checks to the bank for her, never thinking to question, as I am used to her being the mom, and me being the subordinate. I feel like I let her down, though. Should I have looked through the pile? Now she thinks she threw away a check, but I think it's possible that they haven't sent the check, just a notice saying they would be sending one. I have to pick her up at 10:30, so I'd better get going so I can get things done before I leave.

Shopping

We did it. Yesterday DD and I went on an adventure in the world of Teen Fashion. OK, she's used to it, but I lead some sort of sheltered life. The picture above shows a teen fashion when I was young. Now things are a lot different, and I feel lucky that DD has such conservative taste. Do people really wear the stuff they try to sell in stores? I did see some goofy looking things on people, but nothing as awful as what the stores wanted to sell, which was mostly of inferior quality. Actually it was fun, and I like what the clever daughter picked out, and don't think I had any inhibiting effect on her. We came home with packages. Since we didn't buy any motorcycles, HH barely noticed. Today we go to the dentist! I can hardly wait.

Odd You Should Say That

Friday I took MIL to visit a doctor--thank goodness the tests turned out OK and she won't have to have surgery--but when HH and I came back later after picking up her medicine, she pointed out that she was wearing odd socks. Maybe that's why the outcome was so positive. After pointing out the odd socks, which were barely noticable, one being navy blue the other black, she announced that her mother often told her if she put her underwear on backwards, and it had to be accidentally backwards, not to change it, because if she left it as was, she would have good luck all that day. No, I haven't said anything to her about my recent run-ins with underware. But I see now that I should have left it odd, and yes, boggywoggy, it was uncomfortable.

Where is Mind?

Several mornings now, I've had to actually take of my underpants and put them on again right way front. Am very proud of self today, as I remembered to check first, and got them right first time.

Tonight is a trombone clinic by (with?) Henry Henniger, but also DD is coming home from basketball tournament and will need ride from school around time clinic is under way, so will have to see how that pans out.

At masked ball, was off getting picture taken with DD and masks when band started playing and missed one whole tune. This is 1st rehearsal since, so I will see how mad everyone is at me. Now I'm leaving early for trombone clinic. Scanner not working, so am safe in saying you will not see picture.

Red Lights

I heard on the news that Eugene had so many red light runners (people driving cars through red lights) they put up cameras to catch them. Up until then, I hadn't noticed much in the way of red light running here in Corvallis, but it's like hearing that on the news gave Corvallis people the idea, or maybe the Eugene runners drove up to Corvallis to do their red running to get away from the cameras. (We're about three towns away, depending how you travel.) I have lately been seeing a lot of red light runners. Also, a lot of deer wandering the roads, not to mention skunks, so drivers, be cautious.

Our local tuba playing USA presidential candidate is traveling to New York today to meet with other presidential candidates. Good luck, Michael Charles Smith!

Sunny Girl

What was that? Play? Play play play play play. Yes! I love to play.

Accidental Change

Today is a beautifu day for a motorcycle ride, and HH went on one, while I stayed around kicking my heels. He met up with people with Yamahas and Moto Guzzi's, and took this photo.

I thought I'd lost my name, but now I have it back, so I'm happy. This is very confusing.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just wanted to wish everyone, and especially Mrs. Staggs, a Happy Valentine's Day. HH is going to take me to the Darkside to see Pan's Labyrinth. The Darkside is the most romantic theater in town. I can hardly wait.

Hee hee. He had a little excitement with his 1954 BSA Monday. Got stuck and had to call the rescue trailer (me). Thank goodness our very able neighbor was home to push the Gold Wing out of the way of the trailer for me. He also hitched it up for me. HH says it's all part of the excitement of driving old British bikes, and he's also looking forward with glee to rebuilding the magneto.