A BACK & FORTH DAY

I had planned to go to a 10 AM Fellowship, but the lady that sells me duck eggs decided she wanted to meet me in Castle Rock at 10 this morning: I wanted those duck eggs, so I drove to Castle Rock to pick them up. While there, I grabbed a few more salads.

Driving Coal Creek Road, I noticed land being cleared.

More land being cleared. I wonder what will go in – more apartment buildings, or a private home cul-de-sac development.

Leaving Castle Rock, I decided I’d drop the eggs and salads off at home; and drive a little further up the highway to make an 11 AM Fellowship 😊

I wasn’t dressed fancy – a quick hair wash/brush out, pulled on a pair of jeans and a simple pullover blouse, and a quick face transformation before I left the house this morning.

Nothing fancy.

I was dressed okay, but I like to wear something a little nicer for Fellowship – after all, I will be in the presence of the King of Kings (as well, as my Husband); but it couldn’t be helped this morning.

Names of Jesus song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-6gwssX0Y)

Behind the Veil song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPmJhmEIBL4)

As I entered, and started settling, I noticed that this morning was also Communion Sunday: a special bonus 😊

Driving home along Ocean Beach Highway, I decided to pull over to the side of the road coming into Stella, and watch a ship cruise by; I also watched families play around in the shallows of the sliver of Germany Creek beach that meets with the mighty Columbia River.

Ship heading upriver to Longview; Germany Creek & Columbia River at Stella.

( http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/germany_creek.html)

Nearing the Coal Creek/Willow Grove junctions on Ocean Beach Highway closer to home, I decided to go back to Castle Rock and pick up a couple bags of fertilizer (the day was pleasantly warm, and Spring garden dreams, were flitting through my thoughts 😊); so I veered left and bought four bags of fertilizer at the Four Corners Farm and Garden Store.

I had a young fella load them into the back end of the Highlander for me … and he did it pretty handily: 2 bags at a time. The bags were not too heavy, but they were wet, which puts strain on my 65-year-old arms. Even with all the muscle tone exercises and weight lifting I am doing with 10-pound weights. There are just times when young bodies are more capable. I would be able unload them easily into the wheel barrow at home, and finagle them into a storage area of the carport; but I really needed that strapping teenager to lift/heft, carry them from the store’s storage area, and dump them into the Highlander’s back end.

That done, I drove back home via Westside Highway because I wanted to top the gas tank off before parking the car at home.

Gas Prices have gone up again.

A 30-cent/gal. raise at the pump adds up fast as the gas tank fills up. It’s political robbery due to arrogant ignorance … and the arrogantly ignorant DC obamanite pirates are pinching hard because they know they can get away with it. If people start complaining, they just start screeching hysterically about climate change: and when all else fails, they will slap the race card down and defy anyone to challenge the ridiculous claim that using fossil fuel, fuels uncontrollable racism.

Leaping towards $5-gal.; Chevron in Longview.

What I paid this afternoon at SW; Longview.

If gas prices continue to escalate, I’ll be sticking real close to home this year.

I stopped at Lowe’s and grabbed a Goop Cleaner, too 😉

At home, I started unloading the bags of fertilizer – and noticed that not only were the bags wet (having been stored outdoors at the store), but they had leaked their messy wetness.

Stocking up for Spring gardening season.

The steer manure bags leaked ☹

I mopped up the mess; and followed the mop-up, with a good cleaning of Pine-Sol.

2 Chicken manure & 2 Steer manure; I'll need more bags of each.

Goop has been off the shelves for at least 10 years ... I grabbed a B.I.G. one this afternoon when I saw it: I use this for practically everything.

I need at least another 10 bags of fertilizer: 1 bag for each of the 14 garden boxes in my veggie garden area of my lot. For the next haul, I’m going to buy some clear painter’s drop cloths to spread in the Highlander’s back end; before the fertilizer bags go into it.

And just before bedtime, I finished the last Angel Baby Blanket; I’ll mail the box of 16 ct. off later this week.

Finished; Mrs. Hunters Pattern.

Ready to be mailed off ... 16 ct. MOD 21-x21-inch Angel Baby Blankets.

For all the back-and-forth squirelingness, I actually got a lot accomplished 😊

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

Today was my Friday morning coffee hour in Lexington, and I was running late. Thank goodness for my ‘community network’ that knows me (small, though it is); as I exited the Park, and quickly cut across the Ocean Beach 5 lanes to nip into Mr. Bill’s for my joy juice … the girls had caught sight of the car, and had my coffee ready for me 😊

I’m glad they also have Oat Milk. I’m lactose intolerant and shy away from cow milk, but my body can deal favorably with oat milk. I don’t like oatmeal, but I do like oat milk.

I know … I’m a weirdo 😉

Oat Milk Benefits: https://www.goodto.com/food/is-oat-milk-healthy-608825

Mr. Bill's Espresso; Ocean Beach Highway.

Joy juice in hand as I entered the house, I was hailed with a warm greeting as I settled in, to enjoy my nosh and natter hour; and was pleasantly surprised to hear memories of Bob, I had not previously been aware of. There were a few unexpected people included in the Lexington gathering that knew Bob when he was in High School (before I knew him personally) and they shared some memories of that time with me, today. It’s fun for me to hear about those times. It always cheers me up, hearing about Bob’s impact on people’s lives – Bob is my favorite topic 😊

My ‘community’ is shaping up nicely 😊

After the chit-chat session exhausted itself – and before I had cleared the invisible boundary line between Lexington and Longview, I had decided to drive to La Center; Spring is in the air, and I’m getting itchy feet. Plus, I wanted to stop at that bakery I’d driven past – and see what they have to offer: a tasty pastry following my Shabbat meal would be a nice treat 😉

There is also a restaurant in La Center I was thinking about ducking into, and sampling something from the menu; it’s nothing fancy, but I like to enjoy new places when I’m out and about.

I was also thinking of kicking around La Center for a bit to see what all was there (play Curious George for an hour or so).

Decided to drive to the bakery in La Center.

There was plenty of time for a leisurely backroad drive ...

All along the route I saw evidence of lingering flood waters. There didn’t appear to be severe damages by floodings, but the areas are still very saturated, and the waters have reached the high-water marks – some clearly breaching the low-lying areas with lapping over-reach.

Nichols Blvd., Longview; access to I-5.

Lake Sacajawea was at the high-water level mark; Nichols Boulevard, Longview.

Carroll’s, Kalama from Longview; via WA-432 E and Old Pacific Hwy S.

High waters lapping the beaches of Cottonwood Island; view from the Carroll’s Bluff hill road to Kalama. Oregon is in the background.

Cottonwood Island is situated in the Columbia River between Kalama & Longview. People do not live on it, and aside from birds, I don’t know if animals live there, either.

I was relieved to see that though Lane Road is sliding … it hasn’t worsened over the Winter, and hasn’t washed out too much from all the rainy days of late.

The sunshine felt good – it wasn’t strong sunshine yet, but it was very warming on my shoulders as it shone through the car windows 😊

I also noticed that my dome lights came on and refused to shut down.

I pulled off the road and parked in a graveled spot to haul one of the Owner’s Manuals out and read about the lights – that was a useless activity: there was nothing useful in the book, just a lot of nerdy info that sounded like Greek to me. So, I put the Manual away, reentered the roadway, and hoped that when I turned the car off in La Center … the lights would go out, too. The psycho behavior of the on/off lights are picking up in frequency: very frustrating.

Lane Road, Kalama-WA

‘Sunshine On My Shoulders’ song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Gh6dn7hzQ)

Green Mountain Road, Woodland to La Center; via Green Mountain Rd and NW Pacific Hwy. 

Sadie and Josie's Bakery; 582 NW Pacific Hwy, La Center, WA

Gorilla Grill, La Center.

When I got back to the Highlander with my bakery goodies, the lights were still on.

I knew I had to do something about this annoying nuisance – and fast. If I decided to go to Shabbat Service tomorrow morning, would I have a live battery in the morning to ignite the Highlander’s get-up-and-go? No! Not if the lights refused to stay off, and burned through the night ☹

I reined myself in from having a princess temper right there on the sidewalk, and calmly morphed into Queen mode.

A Queen calmly assesses the situation from every angle … and seeks help when necessary; a Queen, even if she feels inept in a situation does not give into a feeling of stupidity. A Queen realizes that every {inept} situation leads to a learning experience, so that next time (if a ‘next time’ arises) she will have the knowledge to deal with the situation as it arises.

Change of plans ... backtrack to Kelso.

Bipolar dome lights - seriously frustrating.

When I arrived in Kelso, and drove into the Dick Hannah Maintenance Cubicle, the crew was very helpful. And they know that I only show up when I’m truly stumped, and need a ‘show and tell’ demonstration, like: “talk to me like a 3-year-old – step by step with hands-on instruction”. I learn best that way; pointing to a page in a manual won’t clarify anything to me.

The dome lights had been on for 2 stinking hours. I was glad they were finally off. I am glad someone took the time to show me what to do if it happens again.

Thank Elohim I have good people in my life 😊

The light button was 'stuck' – no explanation given other than that; Dick Hannah employees dinked around with it, freed it up, and reset it.

Change.

It was woven throughout my entire day.

And I think I rolled with it pretty well 😉

I also think I deserve one of those yummy eclairs with a goblet of wine, as I kick back in my comfy armchair and welcome the Shabbat’s relaxing caress 😊

My La Center goodies: White Cupcakes w-choc frosting & Bavarian Eclairs.

L'Chiam!

I’LL PLANT MY OWN TREE

“I’ll Plant My Own Tree” 

(Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CldO35qARF0; Lyrics: https://www.smule.com/song/valley-of-the-dolls-ill-plant-my-own-tree-karaoke-lyrics/10336995_10336995/arrangement)

Another slow day weatherwise – so, I made a pot of coffee …

I used Bob's Grandma Smalley's electric Percolator. Most people like drip coffee, but I prefer to perk my coffee, so I’ll use this pot as long as it works 😉

Toffee-Hazelnut flavored coffee.

… and thumbed through pattern books looking for a pattern I’ve never used – and a pattern that would work well with my Angel Baby Blanket designs: and I found one that works 😊 It resembles a knitted version of the crochet Granny Square Stitch; and it works up quickly.

I only need one more blanket to fill the box, so I should be able to get these little remembrance blankets off sometime next week.

MOD's just about ready to mail off ...

I also surfed YouTube for movies to watch: I like the older movies.

Tonight, I saw that Valley of The Dolls was available to watch, so I watched it; it is not always available for free viewing.

I was a kid when it showed at the movie theatres – and it was X-rated, so of course I didn’t watch it until much later, when it was shown on TV late at night when the kiddies were snug as bugs in their beds. The movie covers every aspect of forbidden topics brought to the forefront of society’s changing progression forward. The subsequent movie, Beyond The Valley of The Dolls goes several steps further – and it really isn’t as well scripted.

Anyway.

I watched the movie; and knitted.

I watched the movie because it has Susan Hayward and Patty Duke in it.

Showdown ... 

Patty Duke & Susan Hayward Catfight: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfyhaXlKNts)

I could relate the early-1960's counter culture storyline, and the songs woven throughout the movie; especially the ‘learning who I am’ song.

Learning Who I Am song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDOaK_24doo

That song really speaks to where I am in my life, currently.

“I’ll plant my own tree, and I’ll make it grow; my tree will not be just one in a row …”