Craig's Farewell

The Pulsipher clan and many of Craig's friends gathered Saturday night for homemade taquitoes and all the trimmings. They were all there to wish Craig Pulsipher Bon Voyage as he prepares to leave for Rio De Janeiro for a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His blog which will be kept by his Mom while he is gone is http://calledtoserveinrio.blogspot.com. Brother Tanner and Sister Sarah and Cousins. Sister Kristi and Dad Gary with friends and relatives. Sister Kelly and relatives and friends. Mom Linda and sister Amy and friends. Grandmother Marilyn and sister Joan... Grandfather Frenchie, Dad and uncles and aunt. The little cousins and Sarah enjoy Bandido. Cousin Melissa with Craig--no more putting arms around girls for two years!

PADDLEFISH

This is my nephew Hunter Fuqua with a paddlefish from Intake, Montana. Once a year they let 1000 of them be caught. It used to be catch and release but because of the collapse of the sturgeon stocks in the world there is a big demand for the paddlefish eggs for caviar. Paddlefish are one of the oldest fishes dating their first appearance at 300 to 400 million years ago (50 million years before dinosaurs! If not caught, they can live for around 50 years, can reach 5 ft long and more than 60 pounds. The largest paddlefish on record was caught in Ohio and was 198 pounds! They have been known to travel more than 2000 miles in a river system. There is only one other species as a member of the same family and that is the Chinese paddlefish found in the Yangtze River. Why is this in my blog? Well, because I grew up in Glendive, Montana and actually went fishing in Intake with my father but I had never heard of a paddlefish until last year when my sister Carole was telling me about all her boys coming home to fish for the Paddlefish. Actually they don't fish for them, they hook them with grappling hooks. Now, see you have learned something new---I thought it rather fascinating, myself.

Summer 2006

This is what you have to do to roses here. It is one of the deer's favorite snacks. Along the side of my yard I have some screening bushes started--I will probably be dead by the time they are big enough to screen anything. This is also where I want to create a walk--many times Bandido and I like to avoid the stairs. I realized I didn't show my front yard--there are some things growing there also in the pile of rocks--another mourning garden. Maybe someday the rhododedrons will bloom. Some little critter keeps eating off the buds--they say it is a baby deer who doesn't yet know they are bitter. See my baby Colorado Blue Spruce which will be my Christmas tree with lights (once it is higher than the snow).

My Habitat

Carole wanted to see my yard. As you can see it is more clean than lush with growth. Nothing grows under my trees and I don't know why since the forests are full of bushes growing under trees. Notice my graveyard--that is where all my troubles and sorrows are buried. See the old men trees. Hopefully by midsummer there will be more blooming in my mourning gardens. Matt hauled all the rocks from around the yard and created this with me while I was mourning the loss of John. You can't see but in front of the deck Matt had dug out a flat space for me to make a flagstone patio--hopefully I will do that this summer. Around the sides of the yard are lots of cages of bushes--Michael dug the holes for them. They are very tiny so being protected.

Treasure Mountain

It was a beautiful day and Marjorie and I both needed a day away(she has been caring for her 98 year Mom this week and I have been glued to the computer learning a new program for creating a website) so we drove past Sierraville to Treasure Mountain and attended a Woman's Retreat we had been invited to. The scenery was gorgeous and the food delicious and we had fun "catching up" but decided it is probably too far to drive next year for the few hours we were there. Although we did discover two new Frosty places and lots of quaint shops to explore someday. There is Marjorie in the front row for the closing talk. A young gal named Wendy gave an excellent presentation on the "Language of Love". We both heard things that would have been good to follow when we had husbands... Oh, yes, this week the first butterfly I have seen this year visited my geranium. Just one of the small pleasures of gardening. Unfortunately when I arrived home from Treasure Mountain I saw that a deer had devoured one of my new birch trees. I didn't have the tree caged but had sprayed it regularly with Liquid Fence. So I guess this is one of the frustrations of gardening in the Country Club where the deer are so tame they make their own rules about what they will eat or not.

Living with the Critters

Living with the critters around here is very interesting. I put a garbage bag on my upper deck last night (nine steps up) and this morning saw a mess of garbage all over the steps with raccoon tracks (I think) all over the deck and steps. What I discovered was they don't like lettuce but anything else is evidently very yummy and they don't mind climbing stairs. There went the bulbs I had just planted. Squirrels I would guess had a tasty meal last night after digging at least six of them up. They don't like daffodils but everything else is evidently delicious! At least I deterred one little deer who was eating this Flowering Plum tree--he didn't get a snack last night after I caged the tree! All month I have been working on the yard. Maria and I had gotten many trees and bushes for $3 a piece from Honey Lake Conservation so with Michaels help I have been planting and caging and hoping I will have time to get them established and a watering plan figured out before I need to leave again.

The Daffodils Came Up!

The day before I left for Hurricane Katrina I hurriedly planted daffodils, though it was not nearly cool enough. Lo and behold they came up and announced that winter was over! This is the hammoock Bandido and I like to flop on after our daily walk. Unfortunately, there is a squirrel or two who are trying to destroy it by chewing on it and swinging on it--anyone know something I can spray on it to deter them and not us???? This is the view I see as I gaze up into the trees. It is very quiet and peaceful with just a few birds flitting about. I asked the furnace man why there were not more sail boats here. He said they had tried to have a Regatta here a few years back and there was just not enough wind. Of course, that is what I love, no wind. The lake is like glass right now. I am curious to know which of my perennials will come up this year, since I left on Sept 1 and there was still two months of watering left to do. But here is something strange that has turned up in both the front and back yards. Orange mushrooms, what are they???

Bandido Comes Home!

On the way home from Rancho Santa Fe I stopped in Aliso Viejo to pick up my dog Bandido. My sister Jeanne had come to attend the wedding of her granddaughter Molly and had brought Bandido to me. He had been in Orem, Utah with her for eight months!! He sniffed my blouse and me several times and gave me His Look and then he turns his face away as if to say--"You left me!" and I actually wasn't sure he would go with me--he looked quite content sitting by Jeanne. But when I was ready to go, so was he. As Jeanne said goodbye to him in the car, he watched her for a long time and then the house to see if she was coming back and then finally settled down and was ready to go home. As we rounded the corner to go up the hill to Lake Almanor Country Club some hundreds of miles later and passed the turn to Marjorie and her dog Britzi's house he got really excited and began yowling--and then when we got inside our house and he saw his backyard he was scratching at the door and anxious to go outside and begin exploring. He was home! And I was happy about that! Bandido looks very trim with his new shorter ears and chin hair look. Jeanne did a great job caring for him while I was off to Hurricane Katrina and Rita, for which I am very thankful.

Grandma and Jacob at the San Diego Zoo!

Before leaving for Lake Almanor, Jacob and I were privileged to have a day at the San Diego Zoo which was just a delight. We started off with the trip on the bus and were able to sit on top because it was a gorgeous sunny day. After this we did something unusual, we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon! We spent all day and about the only thing we missed were the eagles and hippos. Jacob is a great companion and I always see the animals in a new light through his eyes. The gorillas were especially playful that day. I couldn't help but reflect how the Zoo had changed over the years. When I arrived in 1956 to teach school, the Zoo was the place to go with a new date or a group of singles on a weekend. It was much smaller and we never took the bus. The monkeys and sea lions were the big attraction. You could easily walk the whole Zoo in a couple of hours... When I took my first son in 1961 he was able to sit with the rabbits and the guinea pigs in the Children's Zoo and they had a baby elephant you could pet. Nothing quite so liberal now. The newest attraction this year is a Habitat setting with several different species together in one area.

Kelsi Gets A Bath!

Mommy Camber shows cousins Sarah Pulsipher and Kristi P Stewart, and big sister Lea how to bathe new baby Kelsi. Kelsi looks like she almost enjoys it and then its up in the towel and mother-to-be Kristi (Oct 2006) gets to snuggle her in her warm towel. Kelsi is soon dressed and Mommy, Mother-to-be Kristi, and Big Sister Lea look on in satisfaction of a job well-done!

Who Can Jump the Highest?

One thing you can be sure, it was not Grandma, but I did jump and it was a lot of fun. Jimmy and Jacob perform antics on the trampoline before getting into the serious competition. The big trick was to see if Grandma could catch the highest jump on camera.

Around the Neighborhood

Lea, my granddaughter, and I took a walk around the neighborhood. The views are breathtaking and it is so quiet. We walked along the path of ponds, falls, and bridges and scared the beautiful wild ducks away. We even found a shady place to sit and rest. Lea was a great guide. I used to drive through this area and I always loved all the twists and turns and lovely landscaping and hidden homes in the hills. Very peaceful and quiet.

Kelsi Lynn--#15 Grandchild

Kelsi Lynn Hardy, held by her sister Lea, came just in time for Easter dinner. She is very petite, 6 lbs 9 oz and very quiet. I am down here in Rancho Santa Fe being the chief cook and taxi driver for the week. The sunshine is glorious! It was snowing when I left Lake Almanor... 

LONDON TOWN AND MORE!

What do you do with Marriott points from spending months in hotels working disasters? My daughters Maria and Linda went with me to London for a week and we had a wonderful time. This is the first time I have had an uninterrupted week with them since they were children, so it was very special. As you can see from the blue skies and coats, the weather was sunny but cool and no rain except for one day! Smashing, I say. It was a wonderful trip of sightseeing around London and excursions to Leeds Castle, Stratford on the Avon, Bath, Dover, Oxford University and more. Seven days packed full of subways, buses, walking, talking, eating, theater, and straining to understand what was being said. One of the things that fascinating me were the very tall Quince trees (I think) seen everywhere. It would be fun to see them all in bloom. Our hotel was luxury with lots of thick towels, down quilts under us and on us and great service. And Linda and Maria took charge of all the subway and bus travel so I just had a very lazy holiday. We saw "Les Miserables" which we enjoyed and ate lots of shortbread and delicious pastries and Bassetts Licorice candy. Oh, and the ice cream was smooth and lush. We saw London from the top of a Big Bus which is a must--here we are are looking at Trafalgar Square. I read you must go to the United Kingdom 16 times to see it all--I believe it. It is a fascinating country. Maria and Linda waiting for the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Maria and Linda in a Grotto under the Maze at Leeds Castle--this was amazing. Maria and I with old Norman castle in the background at Dover. We saw the White Cliffs of Dover, of course, and the driver asked for volunteers to sing the song. I did sing it to myself and remembered most of the words, too. After the hustle and bustle and many, many people in London, my own half acre seems very quiet but so good to be home, as always.