First Day of Summer Camp

I woke up this morning with my 2-year-old granddaughter, Dena, in my lounge chair with her special, purple blankie, her cup of orange juice (like coffee, she can't start the day without it) and "reading" Grandma Sue's book by James Patterson. She complained that the book only had one picture. The picture was of James Patterson who looked somewhat like Grandpa Dick according to Dena. She said next time she would get a book from her room with pictures but today she would read mine.

We successfully got everyone off to their 1st day of BB Camp here at the coast but on Devil's Lake. Dick and I headed to Starbuck's right away for our "orange juice" but it was the real thing with caffeine. We will see how we do by the end of the week.

By the way, Allison found more stuff stored at camp to wash and I swear we are on the last 3 of 6 loads today! Just a nice clean day!

I am still doing laundry but the towels are now finished and I am on to blankets and (can you believe it?) 16 more sets of sheets. I think this will be it and all of it can be hauled out to camp soon. Whew.

Dick was out walking Mr. Lincoln this morning and a garbage trucked pulled over to talk to him. The guy said he has been watching Dick on channel 4 (Government Access Channel) and likes what he has been doing and likes his ideas during the City Council meetings. He isn't the only stranger to recognize Dick and stop to chat. Makes it all worthwhile.

We stopped by Starbucks this morning as Dick headed out to marshal at the golf course. They had what they call the "golfer's special" ready for him. It was a cup of coffee and croissant bagged up and ready to shoo him out the door so he could make his tee-time (only today he wasn't playing). For me, on the other hand, it was a plate with a warm croissant, a newspaper and the overstuffed chair. I'm not sure who got the better service...but it was great service for both of us.

I came home to continue the laundry and watched the 5K beach run go by our house....see pictures above. I take pictures rather than participate!

Just another day at the beach.

BB Camp

It is almost time for Allison and the girls to invade the beach. We are looking forward to their summer with us and just this weekend, we purchased a tour of the fire station, ride on a fire truck and ice cream with fire fighters at Cold Stone for them all. As a City Councilor, we will let Dick ride along with them.

Dick and I spent this past few days washing sheets. I thought it was 32 sets but it turned out to be something like 58 sets of twin sized sheet sets for use at BB Camp this summer. Check out the photo. We washed, dried, and folded the sets and then placed each set into its pillow case for safe, clean keeping until needed. The camp is on the east side of Devils Lake here in Lincoln City and I am sure we will get to know our way around it as time goes by. We took all the sheets, plus a load of pillows and sleeping bags that we brought over from Portland, out to camp this morning and deposited them in a storage room for summer use. At the same time we picked up blankets and towels that also needed washing. Looks like we will be making another trip out to camp by the end of this week. Laundry really is an easy thing to do to help out with such a wonderful cause and we can do it right here at home. The camp kids are going to have lots of experiences they will never forget. Clean bedding and towels will be just a little luxury while camping.

Dick is off to his Council meeting presently and it should prove to be another long eveningl. There have been extensive discussions about the vacation rental homes locally and how to alleviate any problems before they happen. I will be watching from my easy chair here at home since it is televised locally. That way, I can change the channel if I get bored!

The summer waves are depositing more sand on the beach right now. This year there is a berm forming directly in front of our home thus a little stream/pool forming on our side of the berm whenever we are at low tide. The girls will have fun playing in these pools after the water warms up each day, so I hope the berm remains. We did get to see 10 kite surfers whisk on down the beach a few days ago. What a sight! And what a lot of air they could get leaping over the waves! It is so amazing to watch. Just another lazy day at the beach.

Spring is here!

Spring is here in Oregon. That means rain, clouds, sun and that the weather is teasing us a lot. Dick finally has had some golf without rain so he is happy. He will be marshalling at the local golf course starting later this month so he is VERY happy.
I have been starting to feel like a yo-yo going back and forth between Lincoln City and West Linn lately. We still have Mother's Day, gardening in our community garden, a wedding, dog sitting, babysitting, my regular bunco group and a trip to Sunriver with the bunco group all this month. I am hoping to see a couple of the girls softball games as well. So far, whenever I have been in town, the games have been rained out. Like I said...Spring in Oregon.
Mr. Lincoln is enjoying his buddy, Tillee Jane being here for a visit. They are about the same age so both are still pretty playful. Tillee tires out first and just sits on Linc to settle him down.
We ate lunch yesterday at one of our favorite haunts here at the coast, The Beach Dog. Great hot dogs, sausages, etc. in all sorts of ways and fantastic breakfasts if you are ever looking for a fun place for a meal. There are dog pictures all over the walls from people who have visited. The owner gave us a calendar she had with a Portuguese Water Dogs theme. Most of the pictures were taken in the area when they had a PWD show here a couple of years ago and a couple who visited her restaurant were the photograpers. Even Bo at the White House would have been impressed.
Well, I am off to pack up for a couple of days at the Brett and Liz Anderson home in Lake Oswego. I am enjoying the ocean view while I can but the view of the trees and yard at their house is great too. I am just on the road again!

Planting the garden

This past week, Dena and I went to the garden to plant a few seeds. She wanted to plant the corn as she said, "I love it!". I made very straight rows of trenches and gave Dena a handful of corn seed at a time but she still insisted on going here and there to plant her corn. First one row, then another spot in another row to bury her treasure. I tried to keep up with her and fill in where she skipped and push the seed into the trench where she "missed" but I may be transplanting the seedlings once they come up. Have you ever tried to keep up with a 2-year-old?
Next, we proceeded to cover the seeds up. Dena had a hand shovel and did her best to cover up the trenches. Sometimes she actually scooped the seed out of the trench but Grandma came along behind and did the best she could to keep things in rows, covered with dirt. I was able to convince her she would enjoy digging in the dirt while I planted a few other types of vegetables.
Finally, it was time to water. I did have to help her squeeze the sprayer handle on the hose but we managed to get some water on the seeds...and it has rained a little...so hopefully our seeds will germinate. There are even little signs on the corn that read "Corn by Dena" just in case some of the big time master gardeners notice how crooked my rows are. They do appreciate children taking an interest in gardening so I hope whatever happens will bring smiles to their faces.
It was just a sunny, dirty, watery, fun day for both Dena and me.

It must be Spring

Dick and I just spent part of Saturday and Sunday morning working on our Organic Garden at the community gardens in Lake Oswego. It was perfect, sunny weather. Not too hot and not too cold. Dick had put together three 4X8 boxes this year so we leveled them onto the plot and semi-filled them with soil. Dick had already weeded the plot and Liz and Brett have been trying to keep it clean, also. Next, we laid down cardboard and some bark to make pathways through our garden plot so we can reach the vegetables as they grow. We put cardboard down at the bottom of our boxes, too, before we added soil. All very biodegradeable vs. plastic. This week I am hoping to plant some seeds to get things started in the non-boxed areas. Corn, squashes, cucumbers and maybe tomato plants. Brett, Liz, Allison and Jason are in line to add some new soil to the boxes in the near future and then we will be ready to roll. The boxes will house the lettuce, onions, beans, peas, etc. More updates on the garden as we head into the growing season. It was just a very earthy day!

A Sunny Day at the Beach

As Mr. Lincoln and I settled into our deck chairs to do a little reading this sunny day, 2 nice looking, younger couples made their way down the beach to set up "camp". We watched as they pitched a tent, lay a blanket in front of it's door and arranged a cooler and bags for their rare day in the Oregon sunshine. After they checked out the rocks and waves, Linc and I set to work reading about the Japanese in WWII here in Oregon and the couples went on their way for a nice walk down the beach towards Kyllo's.

A little later I heard yelling and saw one of the couples running back our way while the other was yelling. I checked the waterline for an emergency situation but everything looked calm. The running couple turned up the speed and headed our way...only more towards their tent/campsite. As I looked down, you could hardly see the blue and white tent. It was covered with seagulls. First, an EMPTY potato chip bag, then an EMPTY bread bag and finally all sorts of EMPTY bags blew off in the breeze as the couple sped towards their picnic. I did rush in the house to grab my camera but by the time I got back, the gulls had dispersed because of the human intervention. The people were very disappointed that their picnic had been invaded and devoured. The rest of the afternoon they had to take turns guarding the place as the seagulls continued to surround the tent just waiting for another chance. I'm not sure much was left but if that was my tent, I'd be protecting the beer for sure.

So the pictures are of a dejected picnicker and then someone in front of the tent on guard while the gulls stand in wait to capture the beer!

We don't have bears like camping in the woods, but those seagulls can sure behave like a scene out of "The Birds" and ruin a good picnic. Good thing for sunshine! It's just the right kind of day to eat out in a restaurant.