The House is Painted!

Well, here are pictures of the house in it's new exterior color! I was going for something that would go well with our new "rock" walls, and I've always liked the classic pairing of gray tones with reds...so: voila! I hope it looks as good to you as it does to us here "in person". As you can see, I already have my rocking chair out on the front porch! :-)

Wow, reds sure do change in different lighting! I look at these photos and see that some shots look rather bright...like a bright purple! But, in person the color is a richer tone I think. sometimes the red tones take on the BROWN hue and don't even look red at all...and I think that's difficult to imagine from these photos! Luckily, we've gotten great feedback from neighbors and townsfolk...everyone says they really like the colors, so I guess it really looks good from the road across the field. We are happy with it, so that's what matters! :-p

Looking at these photos, I realize that I should have rearranged the back patio before taking the pictures! The BBQ is still out where the painter moved it and the potted peonies are not where they belong, either! LOL AND, with the rains coming, it's about time we pack our bistro table and chairs into the shed for the winter.... We also have some tidying up to do [you can see some things strewn about along the wall in the pic above]...the ladder still needs to be put away, and we still have leftover building materials spread around the property. One day we will be completely done ;-) I just couldn't wait to show you the final color!

So. Lake Tahoe in October

We took a little 'get away' trip to South Lake Tahoe in mid-October. We enjoyed some much needed R & R. The weather was beautiful...but we did get a surprise snow shower the day after we arrived. Other than that, clear sunny days with crisp temperatures.

Some dear friends of ours, Pat and John, were able to join us for a few days and we enjoyed a little tour of some old estates from about 1890 to 1930's. What a lovely setting!

Then we mosied on down the road to the Rainbow Trail at the Taylor Creek Visitors' Center http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/visitor-center/events/kokanee.shtml
to watch the Kokanee salmon spawn. The park has an easy access walkway to Taylor Creek--you walk right up to the edge of the shallow creek and can see the fish swishing their tails to create the perfect 'hole' to place the eggs...then the male comes along and hovers over them. Afterwards, the female swishes again to cover the now fertalized eggs with some gravel...then they both go off to die. But, the Kokanee continue on in the spring when these little eggs hatch and grow into sizes that can be washed back into Lake Tahoe for the next 3 or 4 years before

they too return to spawn.

Hundreds of fish make it back up the creek, returning to their birthplace in order to spawn.

The male fish turn bright red for spawning.

A nice view from Rainbow Trail

We had a very nice time relaxing for the week, but we were glad to get home; Toby, Garner and Penny were happy to see us even though they had beed pampered all week by our house/dog-sitter friend, Marie.

A Busy few weeks...

It's been about a month since I last blogged...

Since then I've been in and out of doctor's offices...all the check-ups are good! I'm healing well, the pain and 'weird' sensations have lessened, but the doctor warned me to be patient: healing will take lots of time even if I AM out and about and active! I still have to spend the time healing. *sigh* I get a bit impatient! ;-) But, I'm so glad to be feeling this well!

I am lucky that all my tests have come back with just the best results we could have hoped for! I'm at low risk for recurrence...but I could even lower the risk by taking a drug for the next five years...so looking into that. On Tuesay I saw my surgeon, my oncologist and had a bone density test. What a full day! Hardly any time remained for shopping :-( [But we DID get by PetSmart, Costco and the ACE Hardware store during one big gap of time between appointments! We just had to be quick with our chores--not a lot of browsing!]

Next week the results should be in from my bone density test...and the doctor will prescribe the new medication [aromatase inhibitor]--there also is a clinical trial that I could participate in, and I will get news of that soon. That way, I could help further the study of how to best treat patients with this cancer.

I hope all of you have been "thinking pink" for October's Breast Cancer Awareness month. ;-)

Recuperation...and SOD!

Well, I'm doing just fine! I've been back to work already....Monday was a short day: only 1 1/2 hours in the morning, then I went back from 3:30 to 5:30pm. Tuesday was 'doctor day'...went to Medford and had my "post-op" check-up. Doctor said she's really pleased at how well I'm healing--and was surprised that I had returned to work the previous day. Don't worry: she said if was fine to go to work if I felt ok! And, I don't have strenuous physical labor at work...and I'm taking it easy. I'm moving more slowly in the mornings, so not getting to work until about 10:30, but I've been able to put in full days otherwise, and feel pretty darned good!

Our yard was being done while I was in the hospital. We now have "instant lawn", complete with underground sprinkling system! This is the best our yard has ever looked! We had a paver stone path put in along with some gravel pathways, and we had some boulders brought in for interest in the planting area. We are really happy with how things look! I got some humongous mum plants at Costco [for only $15 each!] to put along one side of the yard...they kind of match my old mum plants that have been in the half-barrels for the past few years. We put those on another part of the yard. Things are coming together!

Our exterior paint job starts in the morning [September 28] ! I hope the colors I chose will look good...it was an agonizing process trying to pick colors! I'll post pictures in a couple weeks when the job is done!

My scary month of breast cancer

After discovering a lump in my breast on Aug 17, I have been through many tests and doctor appointments...and a mastectomy last Wednesday. Today I am happy to be going back to work! It's been a heck of a month: Aug 17 found lump; Aug 20 first Dr. appointment as will need Rx for ultrasound; Aug 27 mammogram and ultrasound (this was the soonest they could get me in!); Friday Aug 28 phone call from doctor saying results were "suspicious for cancer"; Monday Aug 31 appointment made for biopsy; Sept 1 core needle biopsies taken; Sept 3 results back as positive for cancer.

Tues Sept 8 I went to speak with the surgeon in Yreka, who had done the biopsies, about what the next steps were to be. On Sept 10 I had a similar appointment with a surgeon in Medford who specializes in breast surgeries. I liked her and decided to have the surgery in Medford--it was scheduled for Sept 16.

When I was taken to my room after surgery I found out that the biopsy of the sentinel nodes during the surgery, showed no spread to the lymph system! What a relief to know we caught it in time! We thought I'd be going home on Thursday, but they kept me until Friday [because my bowels hadn't 'moved' yet...and I guess a nice poop is the ticket out of the hospital...LOL]

The ride home wasn't so bad...not a lot of pain. I slept when I got home--had to catch up as I didn't get good sleep in the hospital. I relaxed over the weekend [well, went to the pharmacy for a couple hours to get caught up] and am now ready to tackle a Monday morning at work!

I am so relieved, and thankful that we've caught this soon enough! Michael's been taking care of everything and cooking, too! I've had lots of good support from friends and family which certainly helped, too. I certainly feel so lucky and blessed to be doing so well! Onward!.........

Labor Day Weekend....

Labor Day Weekend....is when Happy Camp has the Bigfoot Jamboree! It's a fun time for a little community like ours; local folks form committees to create this year's festivities which start with a Friday night dance at the park, including food and craft booths and fun activities and another dance on Saturday, then a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning followed by the parade along the highway, and more activities/booths at the park on the river. Families and friends reunite on this weekend: kids who have moved away come back home to visit and enjoy, and a great time is had by all.

OUR 'kids' came to spend time with us...they came with some friends and enjoyed a camp out along the Klamath River. We got together at the Jamboree and also went swimming at a "swimmin' hole" near our house. Everyone had a great time. Pictured at the parade with Michael and me are Lathrop, his wife Kaydie [our granddaughter], and their kids in order by age: Keyari, Junior and Carmen.

Labor Day Weekend/Bigfoot Jamboree: come see us next year! :-)

Toby bounces back...

Well, our dear friend, Toby has done it again! He fooled us into thinking that seizure a couple weeks ago was to 'do him in'! We are happy that he has bounced back yet again after several days of rest. He's back to walking, eating and enjoying his time on this earth!

These seizures sure hit him hard. We got a prescription from his doctor for anti-seizure meds [phenobarbital], but it made him so groggy his old feet wouldn't walk straight! We decided there was no sense in making Toby spend the rest of his life doped up so much that he couldn't enjoy going on his walks, so we stopped the medicine. We're back to our short walks, and there are even some berries still on the bushes! He's doing fine and we are so glad!