Bad Bunny & So Much More

As always, if there is a lot going on in life, there doesn't seem to be time to update the blog. Here is a quick catch up with the Wilhelms and our happenings for the last couple of months.

The end of October saw Alan's 80th birthday. We had a gathering of friends out here. We had some beautiful weather, fun guests and delicious food. We hope he turns 80 again next year so we can do this again! Here are Alan and some of his friends.

Rex and John and Susan looked like they were having an especially good time. I think I see a belly laugh there.

Immediately following Alan's gathering was our annual Halloween party. We went as Han Solo and Princess Leia.

Here is Amira dressed as one of her favorite band members from Twenty One Pilots. And this is her friend, Eily. They have been friends since kindergarten. In fact, this is the friend with whom Amira got into the hair cutting shenanigans post Halloween several years ago. Looks like they have both grown it back out. 

Usually the teenagers can't be found when the adults get together. But a rogue group of boys came through when I had my camera out. Gotcha! (Rex is dressed like "an old man with glasses" in the photo below).

I finally have some good action photos of Rex at one of his paintball tournaments. I cannot take credit for the below photos. But Rex was kind enough to get ahold of them and share. Looks like a real pro! And he shoots like one too. I'm impressed.

Now I do have a story about my little Ramon. You can see him pictured here, on my keyboard. He's my new office assistant. As you can see in the photo here, the poor guy has no tail.

 Yes, Buster. Why does Ramon have no tail? Well, I'll tell you.

I had been taking Ramon out each day to socialize him. But I am always wary of the cat. I suggested to Rex that maybe he should take Ramon out and play with him in his room since it is sort of a sanctuary where the cat does not lurk. It's usually just Rex and Buster hanging out. Well, that day after school I noticed that Ramon had not been taken out to play. So I carried the little bird down the hall and placed him on Rex's shoulder. I should mention that Rex's back was to me and that he had his headphones on. So, the act of placing anything on his shoulder was a bit startling. As Rex jumped with surprise, Ramon popped up into the air. And since his wings are clipped he quickly plunged down onto the carpet in front of Buster who was lounging like Cleopatra on the carpet. "Chirp!" said Ramon. Buster sat up and perked her ears forward and twitched her nose and whiskers at him. "Chirp!" said Ramon again. So Buster gave a hop closer and put her twitching nose up to Ramon. Ramon turned his head toward her and clamped down on her twitching nose with his small but powerful beak.

Well, I've never seen anything happen so quickly in my life. Buster reared up and backwards, exposing her extra large hind hoppers and slammed back down onto ... Ramon! There was a poof of feathers and utter silence. I was pretty sure she killed my bird.

Alas, it turns out that was mostly Ramon's tail. Poor birdie. No tail. He no longer visits Rex's room. That is entirely Buster's domain. Actually, maybe the reason the cat doesn't visit Buster's room is because she might stomp him too. She looks cute. But she is pretty ferocious.

I got a play area for him and put it on my desk next to my computer. Bunny free zone.

Valerie continues to keep herself busy with far too many classes at school and her FFA projects. This weekend she will take her sheep out for shearing and to get an ultrasound to see if we can expect a lamb or two in the near future. I snapped the below picture of her over lunch. That is the classic look of a teenager if I have ever seen one.

The girls and I managed to get a girls night out recently. We went for sushi, bowling and a movie. We saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Fun movie. Fun night out with the girls. 

Thanksgiving came around again quicker than usual (or so it seemed). I just love a big dinner with the extended family. The cousins came down from Portland along with their exchange student, Zoe, and their former student, Adeline, who is now attending U.C. Davis. Dave came back from Spain just in time to join us. And my friend, Kelley, the Critter Sitter, also enjoyed dinner with us. The more the merrier, I say!

 Suddenly we found ourselves in the month of December. Amira's Girl Scout troop used the funds they earned from selling nuts/candy/magazines to attend the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. They worked with a professional comic artist to learn how to develop character/setting/plot and tell a story within four panels. After the class and a tour of the museum, they went next door for lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe and then ice skating. Amira is the 2nd in from the left in the photo below with Charlie Brown.

Here are Elizabeth, Amira, Sarah & Marissa sporting their troop t-shirts and jackets at the ice rink. Super hero scouts.

And now we hunker down for a chilly December and enjoy the last few weeks of 2016.

Autumn Harvest Time

Wow. My last post was in August! Where does the time go? Suddenly it's October and I have some catching up to do. These months are flying by faster than they used to. Or, perhaps, my perception of time is skewing to my age ... 

Well, let's do some catching up. Amira started 7th grade at the junior high this year. She loves having all the different teachers for each subject and the elective. This year her elective is i-Tech. This is like industrial arts. There is measuring and working with wood and assorted tools (hand and power). She has an awesome teacher. She is also enjoying math this year. Her math teacher does not only teach math but gives lessons in mindfulness which she seems to appreciate. I appreciate that this is being taught in school. Frankly, I could use a little mindfulness training myself. And don't even get me started on how great her history and English teachers are. She is a lucky duck!

Valerie is a sophomore this year and an officer in the FFA. That seems to keep her very busy. She is still raising sheep and taking piano lessons. She found out that there is an FFA orchestra and has dabbled with her cello again. We are still waiting for more than 24 hours in a day so that she can participate in all the activities that interest her. As I write this she is off in San Francisco at the Cow Palace for a sheep show. She also apparently enjoyed a rodeo last night. I think that bull riding now interests her. Thank goodness we don't have time for that and all the chiropractic that comes with it.

Rex is a junior this year. How did that happen? He is still all about the paintball. As I write this he is at a tournament in Las Vegas. He is in his third year of engineering and has taken on a job through school helping a company design side cars for motorcycles.  How cool is that?

Michael has kicked off his busy season with trips all over the place including Paris & Barcelona. Thanks for working so hard for us, Honey! When he is home he works very hard around the house maintaining all the crazy animals and appliances and equipment. For relaxation there is playing guitar and watching sports. The sound of a football game playing in the house makes it feel like Fall around here. 

Here is a photo flashback from September. Amira and her Girl Scout troop camped out at a water park and basically had a blast. Here they are in front of her leader's house. 

Valerie manages to squeeze in some social time with her friends (pictured left to right: Isa, Raelyn, Ruth & Valerie). They went to see a country concert for Raelyn's birthday.

In September Michael and I made a special trip to San Francisco to re-connect with my cousin Lisa and her husband, Peter, who came over from Australia. We took them up to the View on top of the Marriott hotel for the tremendous views and drinks. Then we went out for some tapas and Beach Blanket Babylon. I highly recommend this show to anyone visiting San Francisco. It's always a great evening. And how fun to see Lisa and Peter. Lisa and I were able to pick up where we left off years ago. She is still trying to persuade us to come visit Australia. Peter's family owns a sheep station outside of Canberra. He suggested Valerie might consider being a Jillaroo. Hmmmm ... food for thought. Now we just need thousands of dollars to fly there. Dang. 

San Francisco was experiencing its Indian Summer. It was about 80* there. Michael and I were meeting some friends (former Washington Placers for those in the know) for brunch the following day down at the yacht club so we decided that we should take the ubiquitous tourist selfie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Our entire weekend was filled with great visits and tremendous views. I might have left my heart in San Francisco. But now there's a bunch of rich hipsters living there. Well, the country life for me now!

October brought my little friend, Ramón, home to live with us. He is a periwinkle blue little budgie. Still young and not quite tamed. But I'm pretty stoked to have my little blue house chicken. Yes, we needed one more animal. 

October also brought on an impromptu trip to see more cousins. Caleb & Callie are pretty awesome. I was again blessed with more tremendous views and a great visit with some fantastic cousins! And thanks again to Michael for holding down the fort so I could slip out for a quick visit. 

This weekend Michael is in Barcelona, Valerie in San Francisco, Rex in Las Vegas leaving behind Amira and myself to hold down the fort and all its critters. Friday night was Amira's first junior high dance. We had a busy afternoon so we stopped in at In & Out for a quick bite before hand. I chaperoned the dance and stayed after to clean up. It was Hawaiian themed so there were pieces of lei all over the place. Junior High dances are a total kick. I love the innocence and the fun. 

This weekend it was a little blustery but not too rainy. My jungle of a summer garden has really passed its prime. I really need to get in there and clean it up. But basically today I ran through and harvested winter squash and sun flowers for the chickens. I still have some zinnias in there cheering the place up. I looooove zinnias!

The chickens said thank you for the seeds. How did they say thanks? With eggs of course. It's like magic. I can turn garden scraps into a quiche!

Knowing that I was going to be late cleaning up the summer garden, Michael helped build planters up to start a new winter garden. Below are my broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts. They took a solid beating in a hail storm a week or so ago and also some raids by our sneaky chickens. They are survivors (so far)!! 

Here is my winter squash harvest this year. Really shocked that these all survived the aphids and white flies I had. Woo hoo! More survivors. I shall make you into pies!

Below are pictured some sweet potatoes I harvested from the front yard. Man, it's no kidding when they say these can grow in crummy soil. They even broke up some very hard clay. I have some orange ones and purple ones. Also there is a bunch more for me to harvest in the back jungle garden (where the soil is actually quite nice). But that is for another day. 

Kahlua yams, anyone?

Hot August Nights

We slid right into August this year with another trip up to Donner Lake. It was decidedly quieter than 4 July. And rumor has it that the water in the lake was ever so slightly warmer. I wouldn't know first hand as I'm a toe dipper myself. But Michael and the kids are part mer-people and cannot get enough of the aquatic life. Michael & Amira swam out to the dock to check the beach view from there. (Thanks again to Susan and John for the cabin and beach access! We don't get up as often as we like. But we sure appreciate you when we do).

Rex and I made sure that the shore didn't go anywhere. And we played the important parts of photographer for our aquatic family members. Also we got in a few more games of table tennis. That is my beach activity of choice ... right next to taking a nap and reading.

 Thar she goes! Action photo of Amira diving in from the dock. 

After a quiet day and evening at the cabin we cruised down into Reno. The girls and I squeezed in a game of mini-golf. The girls were getting a little hungry and took to each other with the clubs outside the "Whatsyersis Mine". That was just perfect. Being frugal, I packed my lunch and drink. Also, it was a favor to the girls. No sense all three of us getting snippy.

After a quick bite to eat we skipped off for a few rounds of bowling. It was pretty warm outside so an indoor activity seemed in order. 

Later that day we caught up with Scott, Dawn, Joel and Dawn's family at the house where they were staying. It was easy to pick out. It had all the classic cars parked out front. Here are the gals in front of the Falcon.

Hey, Amira, if someone slaps you on the back while you make that face, it might stick that way forever.

 And here are the guys in front of the Thunderbird.

We all piled into assorted classic cars/truck and headed in to a casino buffet. Nom nom nom. Rex got to ride in the front of the T-bird. Looking good!

Tiff/Scott selfie in the casino while waiting in line for the buffet. After dinner was a show by the Paperback Writers (Beatles cover band) and checking out all the classic cars in the lot.

 Scott, Rex & Joel in the truck.

The following day Scott, Dawn, Joel and Dawn's parents came up to the lake for lunch and a visit. It must be genetic to feel the need to nap at the beach. 

It's tradition to get a photo with the lake and the mountains in the background. Looking good!!

Aunt, Uncle, Nephew, Nieces ... possibly super heroes?

 More jumping off the dock. Joel was incredibly athletic. That guy could spin and plunge!

Later that night it was back down to Reno for the Wednesday night cruise at Hot August Nights. I was lucky enough to drive the Falcon so that Dawn could be photographer. Thanks again for the awesome experience! Scott piled Joel, Rex, Valerie & Amira into the back of his truck. It was pretty cool.

After the cruise was over Rex got some night driving practice in the Swagger Wagon (minivan) as we started our journey home. We got home about 2am and he turned a bunch of his laundry and was back in another car for the long drive to Oceanside the next day for a paintball tournament. He was gone before the rest of us even woke up. When I was 16 I guess I could do that too. 

His team did well. They came in 3rd out of 25. Go Norcal Kings!

Michael and I turned some laundry ourselves and then drove down to Murphys, CA. We had never been there before. it's a little wine country in the Sierra Foothills South East of Sacramento. We had a reunion with our Washington Place friends from San Francisco. "Washington Place" was an apartment building in San Francisco where a bunch of us young, single city slickers lived in our 20's and 30's. Gradually we all moved out and got married and life went on. We have remained friends all these years. And here we are for Joerg's 50th birthday.

When we drove home on Sunday we looked forward to dinner at our friends' house, Holly & Casey. They have a garden straight out of the garden tour and have been known to raise a pig or two as well as poultry in their yard. They are super homesteader models. Also, they are just good people who are fun to be around. We had some beef brisket that was taking up some space in our freezer so we turned it over to Casey to brine it and it became part of an amazing homegrown spread. 

The travels were fun. But it's always good to be home. And to be greeted with this homegrown garden feast was out of this world. So colorful. We could taste the summer.

We are lucky to have such amazing friends and family. Now off for a nap.