The same but only different = change

Callahan Hall Oregon State University

Twenty nine years and nine months ago my mom and dad dropped me at this hall with my laundry basket full of record albums, my portable stereo and a suitcase. This past week I was staying in this dorm complex once again with my youngest daughter.

We were on campus for Orientation for fall term. She will be the third generation to attend OSU in our family.

Old Benny Beaver sort of Walt Disney-esk

New Benny Beaver sort of wolverine-esk

Walking around campus was kind of like seeing an old find after much time has passed, they look pretty much the same, but with changes.


Youngest daughter had a great time and is really looking forward to starting school in the fall.

she made some new friends....

And returned home to her true blue old friends.

Mean while, back at the Ranch...

The tomatoes turned red.

The baby bunnies doubled in size!

and Hank is continually lecturing me on my absence, he feels it was totally uncalled for.

as he blocks my every move toward an outside door....

all systems normal.

Road Trip

making a list,
charging the electronic devices,
doing the laundry,
getting the bags down out of the rafters in the garage,
got a bunny /Hank sitter

Youngest daughter and I are off to OSU for new student orientation.

Weatherford Hall built in 1928 on the Oregon State Campus

27 Years, this is us.....

Silverton Oregon June 23, 1984

We started our Married life in Iowa, cornfields, thunder-stormy, lightning bug, blazing red cardinals, Iowa.

In May 1987 we hitch a U-Haul trailer to Lycra man's blue 1959 ford truck and drove back across county to Eugene Oregon. Hippie dippy, easy going, Eugene.

October 1989 pulled up stakes and moved house to 

Richland Washington, high desert, tumbleweeds and dust storms.

In December of 1989 our oldest daughter was born.

In December 1992, daughter number 2 joined us.

January 1993, found us in Houston Texas. Hot, Humid, Hospitable, Texas...it's a whole 'nother country.

July 1994 we drove through San Antonio, Albuquerque, Carlsbad, the Grand Canyon and landed here in California, where we have been ever since.

A lesser known action Hero.

In this summer of action hero movies, such as Captain America, The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern (?) I want to let you all know about  a lesser known action hero who is very popular at our house.

Hank The Cricket Killer.

He is not boastful, but I find evidence of his work when I sweep the floor. The following is not for squeamish viewers...

For those of you lacking in the entomology department , this would be a crickets hind leg...he probably shook it at Hank and said" I dare ya"...shouldn't have done that Jiminy....

Hank the Cricket Killer, ever vigilant....

Getting Wonky with the Wabbits!

In the rabbitry this morning I found, right on time, six brand new baby rabbits wiggling the fur their mom had piled up on top  of them to keep them warm.

Baby rabbits are born blind, deaf and with out fur. So mom pulls fur from her body and covers up her little ones in the nest box.

I am always excited when we have baby rabbits, I am doubly excited and curious about this litter. This is our first attempt at Line Breeding.

Basically, you breed Rabbit #1, in our case, Milo here,

Milo

to rabbit #2 Tiffany,

Tiffany

From their litter, group 3,second generation, you select the best offspring to breed back to the dam and/or sire, that is rabbit #3. In our case we picked Magellan to breed back to Tiffany.

Magellan

So now we have group #5, third generation.

Tiffany and her little ones

I am really looking forward to watching these little guys grow.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's in my life

My Grand Father, Ernest E Walker. Born in Arkansas came west in the 30. My mom said one of his favorite movies was "The Grapes of Wrath." I think because he lived it.

My Pop, can't say enough about this man. Veteran of two wars. Hotrodder, funny, loyal and just always there for us when we were growing up.

and of course the husband...Lycra Man

my how time flies.

Bugs and hidden pictures.

Cool and overcast walk in the park this morning.
 

    I found this tattered butterfly on the ground, parked in the red zone.

Saw another of my hidden pictures in a tree I have walked by almost daily for 3 years now.....

I see eyes, a face, a woman's torso and a barn owl in flight.

What do you see???

Here is the owl if you can't find it...

What me, the garden, the coopers hawk and Lycra man have been up to.

Here he is...Lycra Man...I don't have a picture of Lycra Man sans beard..so try to imagine no beard...also try to imaging driving to Colorado to ride in a week long bike ride, starting Sunday, and it is very cold where you are going and you are wearing Lycra...shorts... so that is what Lycra man is up to.

Daddy coopers hawk has his hands full this fathers day weekend, as junior here has left the nest today...pretty amazing watching the parents shadow their offspring as he flies or falls toddler like, from tree to tree.

I have been playing with my paints...making a chalkboard work of "art" for the oldest daughter who is moving into a new apartment soon...it isn't finished yet...but coming along...oldest daughter, cover your eyes!

The Holly Hock finally bloomed. This is a volunteer that comes back every year. I planted a beautiful maroon holly hock about 6 years ago it never came back, this is it's off spring ...although a different color. I have tried planting others since then but have no luck so I am happy with my volunteer Holly Hock.

Yeah! a baby pumpkin!!!

a hand full of peas!!!

and an almost red tomato!!!

My Graduation gift to Kathy.

My Kathy is  a horse woman. She has been drawn to these animals all her life. I know the feeling as I had it too. I decided I would give her the opportunity to learn to ride, some how , some way.

Money was tight, so her early years with horses were YMCA horse camp kind of things.
When she was in 6th grade I learned about a program here in our home town. Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship. Ride On needed volunteers to help muck out stalls, clean tack, tack up and un-tack horses for the disabled children, lead the horses or walk along beside to assist the disabled kids should they need help.  We signed her up.

Last Summer Kathy was awarded an embroider saddle pad awarded to volunteers who put in over 1500 hours of work.

For her graduation present I created for her, an altered book.

I found a copy of Black Beauty  at a used book store for $5.00, for the base of her book.

I glued pages together and whip stitched the edges with embroidery floss to make the pages sturdy enough to hold the acrylic paint and other embellishments I would be adding.

This copy of Black Beauty had wonderful illustrations.Pages needed to be removed as the book grew...I kept all pages with illustrations. I found horse quotes on line and cut pictures of horses out of Kathy's tack magazines. I love this quote, click on the photo to enlarge...

I emailed the wonderful people at Ride On. They sent me pictures such as this one of Kathy working.

Kathy and Bjorn, working, Kathy schooling one of ride On's horses at a show, to make sure the horse would be good for the kids to ride in a show setting.

I emailed her Ride On friends and asked for a written memento from them to Kathy. I included the notes to Kathy along with  picture of the friend who wrote it.

I was really hoping Kathy would like this book. When she opened it up and began to look through it...I could tell...she loves it.

I entitled this post my Graduation gift to Kathy. Really, what it is is a summation of Ride On's gift to Kathy. Expertise in horse care, friends, riding lessons, a career goal of becoming a Physical Therapist.

I am grateful to Ride On for all it has added to my daughters life.

The Oldest Daughter, here and gone again.

In the Baby name book, the meanings for her name , Brenda, were the following:

Sword, Torch, Unforgettable Brand, Little Raven, Beacon On The Hill.

After her visit, the air seems to flow out of the he house. All is still, quiet, waiting for her return. 

Safe Journey baby.

An end of an era.

On memorial day weekend I joined many of my fellow Americans at furniture stores. We did our best Goldilocks imitation and tested the room full of mattresses to find the one that was j-u-s-t-r-i-g-h-t.

I was on the hunt for  a new mattress...the one we have now is ,well , rather old.  What did I spy in the corner of the store? A bed. A bed that looked kind of nice, it had a nice big head board that Lycra man could lean against when he reads at night, something our futon bed, purchased from a hippie dude in Eugene Oregon in 1987 did not have, and it was on SALE.

Throw that on the truck with the mattress, I told the sales lady.


It has taken us some years to replace the plastic tables from target that served as nightstands, the chairs I scavenged from the restaurant where I waited tables, our salvation army couch and chair.


On Saturday our last piece of graduate school furniture will be replaced.  Now what?

It's amazing what a little elbow grease, water and bunny pooh will do...

I love going up to the garden. Every morning I find a new surprise....peas and potatoes blooming, radishes ready to harvest, some critter snacked on the peppers...

It's a little like Christmas morning and an Easter egg hunt all rolled into one, you know?

Finding hidden treasures and opening stuff you knew would be there, but had to wait to see it.

Fathers and Daughters...Nothing changes says the expert.

Yesterday I was watching Father of the Bride with Spencer Tracy. Kathy came home during the scene at the dinner table with Spencer Tracy, the father of the bride, questioning his daughter about this guy she says she is going to marry, who is he, this Buckley , what's his last name, I hope it is better than his first, what does he do, who's his family... Daughter, of course, gets up set and runs up to her room, father looks surprised at this reaction, mother looks annoyed whit husband.....

Kathy turned to me and said, Wow, nothing changes...

Here is a trailer from the movie...it was really fun to watch.