Where has the month gone?

Years ago, one of our retail customers exclaimed , "You are so lucky! You are in business for yourself, so you are free to take time off whenever you like and work only when you feel like it!" Hmmmmmmmm... Those of you in business for yourselves know that statement is far, far removed from reality. Self-employment gives you freedom, no mistake. The freedom to work well into the night and then to rise at 5 am to start all over again. Such has been the case the last several weeks and therefore a neglected 'blog'. I could have opted for a 9-5. I admire the folks that do. Our social order and economy could not function without them. However, my planned 'retirement'; me thinking that I was going to cut back and not work as much? It's not happening. Those that know me are laughing themselves silly. I'm really enjoying myself and can't imagine doing anything else. I'm laughing too, not 'all the way to the bank', as the saying goes. Not yet. The goal is to be lucky enough to be laughing all the way to 80.

Happy Birthday, Beem!

My Gram would have been 117 years old today. I called her my 'Beem' as I was learning to talk and it stuck. She was the champion of nicknames. Her name for me was 'Narmi'. I have no idea where that came from. Her children, my siblings and cousins had equally intriguing names which were hard for us to answer to as teenagers. My sister Poo put a stop to her nickname when she turned sixteen, but Gram never called her by her given name that I know of. The endearing pet names have become fond reminders of our youth as we matured and many of us still use them today. Chip, Tessie, Nonie, ChiChi, Bonnie (her name was Constance), Buddy, Skeetzie, Flakes, Bing and Penny will light a candle in the sky and sing the 'Happy Birthday' song to you with the spirit of this momentous occasion today. My cousin Suzer and the rest of your family will lift skyward a toast of love and laughter to our Beem! Happy Birthday! Love, Narmi

New Year...New Business...New Job... Welcome 2011!

Winter temperatures have been hanging around for a while and the waterfall in the larger pond has created a sculpture of this statue. Most of the year, the cupped fingers just touch the surface of the water. Check out the hair! .... .... .... Now I move at warp speed into a new year. Exciting changes... no illusions of retirement for me ... and I am back into growing a business. Literally ... growing a business of growing flowers. I've spent most of the 3 months of 'retirement' working on a business plan and getting all the 'ducks in a row', as they say. I'm blessed with incredible support from family, friends and business associates that do make it possible to start again at 61. Oh My! So, as we turn the corner to spring, (the daylight hours ARE increasing and I'll need every one of them) stay tuned for the next chapter. The adventures of my 240 months between Sixty and Eighty continue with 221 thrilling months to come.

Volunteer'ism'

Students' cedar garland lights up downtown streets.


Once dark storefronts shine brightly!

Leadership Class puts on the finishing touches.

Hard working HS students working together as teams.

Michael Pollan talks of 'ism's in his book 'In Defense of Food' as ideologies. I never thought of the act of volunteering philosophically until I read that. However I have always believed in the power of the volunteer. A few dedicated individuals can accomplish many things............ and so began my re-submersion into the ranks of a 'volunteer'. It all started innocently enough. Our local paper ran a story about the small town where we live wanting to 'Light Up the Town' for Christmas. "If you were interested in helping, come to the meeting Monday morning at 9" ................... I thought .. why not? .... The dedicated group of community leaders and business owners gathered for discussion of ideas. Both the committee and the project grew exponentially with each meeting.

SB had taken out some cedar too close to his shop, so we offered to teach the high school students how to make cedar garland. With the help of volunteer coordinator SM and the Horticulture instructor, 5 classes of energetic students put together 5 garlands totaling more than 250 yards! with lights! We forgot how 'social' this age could be, but they really worked hard and finished in less than 5 hours!

Our original project was to decorate a vacant store front. We (SB and I) lit up a small antique store on a corner. Great fun! and took us back to our retail display days. Like many small towns today, there are numerous businesses closed and empty buildings. Many volunteers hung donated lights throughout downtown.

More than 100 families attended the Tree/Town Lighting event and munched cookies as the children had their pictures taken with Santa. A successful 'warm and fuzzy' evening. Merry Christmas CR! You proved that you are a small but hardworking PNW community capable of lighting up not only a Christmas tree but the whole town!

Sleds and Soup

With it's blanket of snow still hanging around from early in the week, Thanksgiving morning became a sledding day. SB, also known as Boppie, (aka Grandpa) and oldest granddaughter 'Little E' tear it up on the 'bunny hill'.

Turkey Soup Another first!

I've only cooked an entire turkey a few times in more than 38 Thanksgivings since SB and I were married. This year being one of them. The bird turned out perfect! I was so proud and as daugher-in-law K and I were cleaning up she asked what were we to do with the carcass and all of it's parts. "I'll make soup!" I told her. I've never done that before and so in the spirit of 'SixtytoEighty' I made turkey soup. (With rice because I can't eat wheat. ) K was a good sport and picked that bird clean. A heroic undertaking as she is vegetarian and this was a stretch for her. With a little help from The Food Network website and patience as the stock boiled down, I have to say this was the BEST SOUP I've ever eaten. Another first as I continue to fill the months between 60 and 80 with new adventures.

Another Day in Paradise

A toast to 'another day in Paradise' is a tradition for any day

we are able to eat lunch and/or dinner on the deck. Maybe not today.

Six inches of snow has fallen since 8 this morning.

Thankfully I had all day to work on my first Blog entry. Yes, it took that long!

Fall gave way to winter and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet!

Can't help but wonder how many 'snow days' we'll have this year?