We lost our best friend John to Lou Garrets deasies. They gave him up to three years to live but with Johns courageous spirit he made it five.
 John was truly one of the good guys. He was always there to lend a hand, kids & dogs loved him. John reminded me of Mr. Edwards from "Little House on the Prairie"
 I'm so glad he is not suffering anymore and I know Johns spirit goes on.

This was a poem from his funeral:

When I Must Leave You

"When I must leave you for a little while,

Please do not grieve and shed wild tears

and hug your sorrow to you through the years,

But start out bravely with a gallant smile;

And for my sake and in my name

Live on and do all t the same,

Feed not your loneliness on empty days,

But fill each waking hour in useful ways,

reach out your hand in comfort and in cheer

And I in turn will comfort you and hold you near;

And never, never be afraid to die,

For I am waiting for you in the sky!"

By Helen Steiner Rice

The Life of a Robin

It's amazing how fast Alfonzo has grown and changed. It seems as though his feathers have come in overnight.

I was sure Thursday when I first laid eyes on the little naked bird that he was a goner. To young to survive with out his mother but he is growing and thriving.

I have fed him a few flies but he prefers scrambled eggs. I suppose I will have to dig up a few angle worms so he knows what robins are supposed to eat in the wild.

Well better go. I'm sure he is hungry again.

Meet Alfonzo

Alfonzo is a baby robin who has fallen out of a tree during tornado warnings.

Nest and all came blowing down landing kerplunck on the sidewalk below. Alfonzo was the only surviving chick out of three siblings.

We received a phone call, so rushed over to his rescue.

He has been cozy and warm in his polar fleece blankie and has been gobbling up scrambled eggs.

Chickens in the Wide Wide World

The chickens are growing up.

They ventured out in the great wide world for the first time today and are having a great time chasing bugs & eating grass.

Little red hens having a chat.

Hey look at me, King of the hill.

Look out bugs, Here I come.

Landing on the Water

We've been getting allot of rain lately.
Driving home through the puddles reminded me of riding on a pontoon plane.
We lived in Ketchikan Alaska when I was a kid.
Ketchikan is on an island so now and then we would take excursions off the island in a Gremlin Goose or a Cessna pontoon plane. Landing in the bay, the sea water would spray up the sides of the airplane.

What a fun way to take a trip out of town!

Garden Spells

The first day of June and a Tuesday. Today is turn the page Tuesday.

Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen

What a fun book to read this time of year.

The first paragraph pulls you in and keeps you under it's spell until the last word.

It begins "Every smiley moon, without fail, Clair dreamed of her childhood. She always tried to stay awake those nights when the stars winked and the moon was just a cresting sliver smiling provocatively down at the world, the way pretty women on vintage billboards used to smile as they sold cigarettes and limeade. On those nights in the summer, Claire would garden by the light of the solar-powered footpath lamps, weeding and trimming the night bloomers-- the moon vine and the angel's trumpet, the night jasmine and the flowering tobacco. These weren't a part of the Waverley legacy of edible flowers, but sleepless as she often was, Clair had added flowers to the garden to give her something to do at night when she was so wound up that frustration singed the edge of her nightgown and set tiny fires with her fingertips."

A successful caterer, Clair Waverly prepares dishes made with her mystical plants-- from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor.

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