GETTING TOGETHER IN PORTLAND

Priorities in life often define values; ours have been our marriage and our children. We decided visiting Danny and Lindsay was overdue, so we took a trip to rendezvous with them in Portland, Oregon. We enjoyed good wine and beer, delicious food, but most importantly each others company. We also got a taste of Portland's culture attending the World's Naked Bike Ride and the Gay Pride Parade. It was a fabulous weekend. We won't wait this long to get together again. JIR

Cruising

Here it is, the final quilt that began with the sound of a tsunami of motorcycles descending on the Black Hills in 2009 for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  Normally for us it is quiet where we live, but on this early morning, Jake and I sat outside and listened to the slight buzz that invaded our normal quietude.   When I drove to town, the 'buzz' became a roar and I found myself lost in an invasion of motorcycles.  It was both a frightening and a thrill.  As I tried to manuever through their tight lines to get to my errands later in the day it was nerve racking, and when we went to Sturgis on Friday Night, the power of the hundreds of thousands of motorcycles was a 'wow' eperience.  Since I find I either need to write down my experiences or come up with a quilt design that fits them to move on, the quilt design came to me.  So I had to complete it.  Now I can start the next one. Believe it or not, it will be a scene from a cartoon movie Jorge and I watched last week, "Tangled."

I just can't resist this...

I know it gets old, but Sara Palin just keeps leaving herself open to be ridiculed.  If she didn't mind, maybe she'd be less public, or less out spoken, or perhaps...she might actually get an education and speak with a little intelligence.

FLOWERS (ON THE ROCKS) AND FLICKERS

I'm sure you have noticed most of my posts are about Nature. Not only is it something I inmensely appreciate, but you can't help but feel sorrounded by it when you live out in the country. Spring is a special time when Nature perhaps shows its vast power and influence, not only in beautiful admirable ways, but unfortunately also in its deadly and destructive forms. 

We can't remember the name of this flowering plant, but last year we had several of them potted sitting on these rocks in our front yard. A couple of weeks ago we noticed these tiny plants coming up from the rocks. They did not look like weeds, so we left them alone. We can only hope the seeds from these spontaneoulsy sink back between the rocks and give us another colorful surprise next year. 

Elusive, but beatiful. A unique member of the woodpecker family. We must have a nesting pair in the woods behind our house. JIR 

The Daily Show

This was one of his best.


Daily Show: Me Lover's Pizza With Crazy Broad