The Reason our Destination is Bandon

It really was hard to drive away. But it will be there for the next time!

The Getaway Gang, part Deux

Shirley, who despises zigsaw puzzles but couldn't stop working on ours!

She was our very best sewer.
Marian, who bravely attended, sure it would be stressful,
but who relaxed and had a wonderful time.

Our dear Miss Millie, always the first to lead us in prayer,

always feisty and so much fun!

And Juanita, my puzzle comrade and the group story teller.

How I love these ladies.

The Gang, Part 1

Without Michelle, there wouldn't even be getaways! My dear friend.

Deanna, who made an amazing taco salad for dinner Friday night (along with doing so much more), and a co-planner with Michelle and me.
The Getaway Gang, before getting into the two cars and heading inland.
We had such a wonderful time.

The Boxes and the Notebooks

This is what we placed inside our boxes to help us remember the lessons.

Our other project was making a quilt square, open on three sides, for our box. It helps us remember the parts of the quilt and what they represent.
We each had a half-sized notebook in which to keep our studies. Jen from SFC's office helped make the covers with these awesome quilt patterns.
We each had a different quilt on our cover.

Arriving at the Getaway

After settling in and choosing beds, I sent the ladies off to the beach to find their favorite thing that God had created while I made final preparations for the first study.
These pictures were taken from the balcony of the beach house. The ocean was right there and so beautiful in the sunshine!

After their airing, I gave them each a box and they chose a paper quilt pattern to glue to the top. Then they painted the box to match, whatever colors made them happy. Millie chose light green!

Here are all seven boxes at the end of the weekend. Aren't they beautiful? And so creatively completed. These became our momento boxes to keep the items I gave out to remind us of our lessons.

Michael's Prom look, and a shot of M & T

Who else could make a white tux look this good?!

All three guys looked so great in their handsome tuxes. These are two of Michael's best friends, another Michael (on his right) and Adam. (It is hard to get Michael Wilson to show teeth in a picture!)
They had a wonderful time at prom. Lots of kids attended without dates, just going with friends.

I found this picture of the guys - love it!

Hummingbirds

I got several pictures of hummingbirds at the feeder outside the back door, our main entrance, where we frequently startle the birds and vice versa. This is the station we set up because of the territorial nature of these little guys. We figure if they can't feed at the front door, they can come to the back! Anyway, this is a Caliope hummingbird, less usual than the Rufous or Anna's, distinguishable by his small(er) size, dark emerald back, and amazing purple striped throat.

Here you can clearly see the purple feathers at his throat.
A rare peaceful coexistence shot. This was just before the Caliope chased the other one away!
I'm sorry that I can't tell you which type this fellow is - he (or she) looks positively pudgy compared to the Caliope!

I do not get used to hummingbirds.

Baby Plants

What fun it was last Saturday to transplant babies! They were pretty stuffed into these seeding 9-packs. I still haven't figured out why some of the cells don't germinate at all and some have several plants, or why some of the babies are teensy and some are big. I just go with what I get.

Here's the way I separate out the babies
and give them each their own new and spacious quarters in the greenhouse-within-the-greenhouse, specially adapted for tender babies. I'll try to post followup pics as they take off.

Now, the tomato seeds almost all germinate,

and look so happy in their larger homes. These should be sturdy happy healthy plants just in time for planting outside!

Office Roof Blows Off!

Blogspot always puts pictures in opposite order, so this is an after shot that shows a professionally installed tarp on this entire side of the building. (Plug for Serv-Pro here.) It's so wonderful that they came out so quickly, because a torrential downpour began as they completed the job, and the rain lasted for about 15 hours. Today they returned and removed all evidence that there was ever a roof on the ground - as follows.

It was a "torch-down" roof, common on older manufactured homes, which is what our office building is.
The young man who headed up the tarping/cleanup crew said we definitely got hit much harder than anyone else in our area - the wind must have been pointed just right to funnel up our little valley.

Todd was inside at the time it tore off, and he said the noise was amazing.

Thank the Lord, we have insurance that will pay for all the cleanup, tarping and replacing the roofing. I detest paying for so much insurance every month, but it sure comes in handy at times like this.

Wild Iris

Our first year here, I was amazed and delighted to find my driveway edge (which is more than 1/4 mile long) dotted with clumps of these beautiful small irises, no taller than 10 or 12 inches. Here are some that have yet to open and share their beauty.

Do you see the black blob sort of thing there? It's so cool that I got that in a shot - it's a huge shiny black bee that was specifically targeting the iris clumps, and traveling between them so very fast.

The Goldfinches Are Back!

In order to grow lilacs in my front beds, these wire cylinders are required protection from the local population of marauding deer. One very cool and not expected perk is that the local hummingbirds and finches are using the wire cage as a resting place close to their feeders.

Look at this little fluff ball resting and looking out for his mate while she's feeding.
Here is a finch "sock" feeder and the hummingbird feeder for this side of the house. I think there are two finches on their feeder and I also think that's a hummingbird tail on its feeder. We have to have hummingbird feeders on both sides of the house because they are so territorial. We watched one little guy chase away bird after bird for a couple of days, then noticed that while he was away for a few minutes a couple birds slipped in and were soooo hungry! That was when I got out the second feeder and put in on the other side of the house. They both are used all day.

The birds are thirsty too, and appreciate the waterfalls. Even though the algae makes me cringe, the birds don't seem to mind at all. I love it when the creeping phlox blooms in the spring.

Sigh...

I'm afraid I've been thinking. (A dangerous pasttime - I know.) This afternoon wasn't fun. Not to say too much, but Tyler was removed from the golf team, and it was both his fault and Michael's fault, and more slackness than badness. Still, taking the boys over to the golf course to sort things out and seeing people who were upset because of them was extremely sobering and discouraging for both Todd and me.

These situations are opportunities for growth, both for the kids and adults. I am certain that it's a good thing these character flaws have showed up now when we can work through them with the guys than later. And the yucky feelings are slowly working their way out of the house.

When I'm upset, I work. As I was planting and weeding, I was thinking. There are times I stand inside looking at weeds growing lush in the beds and just let them go because I don't have time to really deal with them until later, or the weather is bad, or other duties seem more important at the moment. And as I was thinking this, I wondered if I do the same thing with the boys. (And my office. But today's subject is the boys.)

So - much prayer. Tighter oversight of the boys. More talking with them, facilitated by Tyler not spending every afternoon and early evening at golf practice. Maybe less stress and over-extension on him. Watching their grades more closely, getting "all up in their business"! Boy, I don't enjoy this part of parenting. But I really care about how they turn out. Really really.

We'll just have to weed the minute the weeds appear for a while and hope to get a handle on them.

I Love my new Camera (all pictures taken this afternoon)

Meet brown boy bunny! His temporary quarters are in the greenhouse, since nights are chilly these days and he was in a more sheltered place at his last home than I have available for him outside. Isn't he CUTE?

Okay, so here's the thing. For years I have wished to own a camera that would take stunning closeups of my plants - and got a Lumix with a 12x zoom for Christmas! It takes fabulous close-ups of early catmint blossoms,
and honey bees on rosemary,
and grape hyacinths,

and even the dust on a lady bug's back!

I am so blessed to have such a camera!