Reminiscing .....

 Good Morning California!!  It was almost a pristine sky on this day in May, as it disappears into June very shortly.  I'm just shocked at how fast the days are flying by when there's absolutely nothing going on.  Fast days when you're busy?  Yup!  Fast days when you're NOT busy?  That's just weird.

The good news ... the tomatoes are tomatoeing quite nicely.  I did discover if you leave them on the vine longer ... as in several DAYS ... they are MUCH sweeter.  This one is apparently a VERY happy camper.

The squash is squashing quite nicely!  There have now been nine blossoms.  I think I better start looking for squash recipes on the internet.

And the roses are getting a haircut.  This young kid of a gardener who just went out on his own ... he's doing a VERY good job.  There's just one of him, so it takes him more than ten minutes to get it done, but he's very particular and even makes those crazy baseball diamond patterns on the front lawn.  We only do two roses at a time because that's all that will fit in the bin.

I spent the morning helping an Elks friend with his computer ... a printing problem, and ended up at the lodge with a budget problem.  Here's the thing ... the budget is a GUESS of how much money we MIGHT bring in, and a GUESS of how much money we MIGHT spend.  No one EVER looks at the budget for anything once it's done, including me.  This comes back to bite me later.

With nothing else going on, I sat on the patio and reminisced, pondered really, why I was so inundated with skunks a few years ago.  Thank the Good Lord I haven't had any since I installed the steel prongs along the bottom of the fence.  Truly, I haven't even SMELLED one ... and believe me, I know that smell.  Yes, there's a black and white one in the cage.

Nope ... no raccoons and no opossums either.  Those two I would like to have seen more of.  Sadly, it's too citified around here now.  There's no critters to see and no coyote howls to hear any more.  

I was interrupted in my thoughts when the timer went off.  There was a lodge night meeting that I was not looking forward to.  Since folks were rampantly depleting the bank accounts for things that were unnecessary (I won't go into details), I decided to explain the actual expenses of this lodge.  They are HUGE.  It's like trying to keep a multi-million dollar business above the water line.  

I was met with applause from most and outrage from others.  I was also raked over the coals by one guy because I did the budget by myself.  That's what happens when I ask for help with it, and NONE of them show up, including him.  Someone had to be an adult and get it done by the deadline.  I'm too old for this nonsense and am quickly getting an I-don't-care-any-more attitude.  

I might have had a nice shot of whiskey when I got home, but alas, there was none to be had.  Mr. Cooper and I once again sat on the patio reminiscing about that Bar Harbor Maine trip I took, including this view of Niagara Falls.

It was all due to this wonderful lady and her husband ... Barbara and Tom Westerfield.  Sadly, they have since hung up their keys.  This lady got us clear across the U.S. and back without hitting one single tornado ... and there were MANY.  Talk about a good navigator!!!  She was the BEST!!!

They were also responsible for this ... me crewing on a hot air balloon.  Yes, we are actually holding that thing down on the ground before takeoff on a night flight.  And yes, both Jessie and Cooper were my company on this trip.  

After about 90 minutes of good thoughts, I was finally able to crash with Coop.  I've got five days off ... well four really, since there is a baby shower right in the middle.  I think Cooper and I will be taking off on a jaunt tomorrow ... because TODAY is going to be NAP DAY ... all day long!!