This isn't exactly what I anticipated writing on my blog. We've been on vacation since September 23 and expected to be back home by now (October 18). Taking our camper (a converted U-Haul truck), we drove from our home in the northwest corner of Montana to Boulder, Colorado where we met the folks at Paladin Press and picked up some more of my books. From there we went to Kansas to spend a week with my family. After a great visit we headed south to Texas to meet up with some friends there. 

While in Texas I received an email from my son to call my mother in Kansas. My youngest sister had died. My sister had heart surgery to replace a valve they'd put in many years ago but the second surgery had gone well and many months had passed without problems. News of her death was a complete surprise and the last thing I expected when I called my mother. We drove the five-hundred miles back to my mother's that day, arriving just before midnight. The funeral was held four days later and we all bid a final farewell to our youngest sibling.   

Two hours later, back at my mother's home, my stepfather passed out. An ambulance was called and he was rushed to the hospital. He'd had a stroke. He's been in the hospital since that time as they ran tests then began treatment and physical therapy. He's recovering well but it's going to be awhile before he gets back to normal.   

In one short week my mother has had to deal with her daughter's death and her husband's near death from a stroke.  

Now everyone has gone home except my wife and I and our two-year-old grandson, Scott. I have one other sister that lives nearby and is in contact quite often.

It is times like these that give us pause to consider the lives we lead and the assumptions we make. We are thankful that we had our earlier visit so that we got to see my sister just prior to her passing. We had no idea that this would be our last opportunity to spend time with her. We assumed that we'd see her again. We were wrong.  

Our stepfather's stroke was another unwelcome surprise. Again, there had been no warning signs or signals. One day he was getting along quite well for a man who was on the wrong side of 80. The next day he was laid up in a hospital and couldn't walk, could barely talk, and couldn't write his name. Our assumptions regarding his future and his assumptions regarding his future were both wrong. 

This would be the place where a deep thinking person would insert some profound statement putting this all in perspective. However, since it's only me, there are no profound statements … just a few thoughts: Cultivate patience. You may never get a chance to apologize for harsh words or thoughts. Do not put off opportunities to do things for others. The chance to brighten their lives may never come again. Spend your time wisely. Hug your children, your spouse, your parents and your siblings. Finally, life is short and very uncertain so be thankful for every breath you take.  

Steve

It looks like we are in for another crazy year.  I've been gone for a week visiting family in Las Vegas.  The average temperatures there hovered around 60 degrees while back in Nebraska the thermometer soared above 90 degrees two days in a row.   While visiting family (oldest daughter and family), we made a trip to California to go to Universal Studios. The weather was worse there.  It was about 55 degrees with wind and misty rain.  We still had a great time but not very typical weather anywhere this year.  What's up with that?  

Here's the big guy on the midway leading into Universal Studios.  The tram ride which was not near this display brought us into a tunnel.  The 4D 360 degree visual stimulation was awesome.  King Kong fought with a dinosaur and as he leaped from one side of the tram to the other he walked down the top of the tram.  The tram rocked and bounced as he leaped off and tangled with the dinosaur.  Of course the big guy won the match.  Many other similar experiences happened during the day.  It was a great day even though the weather wasn't so nice.  The best part was just spending time with my daughter, her husband, and two granddaughters.

One day was spent fishing on the big lake (Lake Mead) at Las Vegas but it was a bust.  We didn't even get a nibble and eventually had to leave because of the wind factor.  The rest of the week was spent with my sister catching up with life stories.  It was a great week of vacation but it's always good to be home.  Don't you think?

I returned home to a yard that needed mowing and a garden that hadn't sprouted yet.  I planted carrots, radishes, lettuce, and swiss chard before leaving.  The tomato and green pepper seeds are now planted in the plugs and the heat mat is on.  In about 10 days we will see if things are progressing as expected. 

In the mean time the fence building continues and the daylilies are growing.  This is actually a picture from before I left on vacation.  The fence is now complete and the daylilies are much bigger.  Cindy I know you like Milkweed but I weed whacked them all down around the perimeter of the garden along with the nettle weeds.  Probably the smart thing for me to do would be to start a nettle tea business and let the nettles grow themselves but the farmer in me just won't let that happen.  I can already see that the wild grape vines are not going to give up easily.  They are sprouting up every where.  I'm hoping to mulch them to death with deep hay mulch.  I've been watch three huge bales of hay by the road that have been broken and sitting there for three years.  I am trying to get in touch with the owner of the property to see if I can haul them away.  That would really help to keep the weeds down.

Old Bobcat Larry continues to visit almost every day I'm at the garden.  He came over one day and helped me carve out a road into the property with his machine as he calls it.  Now I have a designated parking area for my truck.  Eventually, I will expand it to allow several parking spaces.  Yesterday was the first day at the garden since returning from vacation.  I found three T posts leaning against my garden gate to help with the actual garden fence construction.  I have an idea who left them but I don't know for sure.  Another neighbor has indicated she would be willing to trade chicken eggs for garden produce.  It's really great to see how he neighbors are responding to a crazy old coot who starting gardening in the most unsual place.

Most the neighbors stop and talk awhile when I'm there and have indicated they watch the property to keep unwanted people off.  I have devised a plan to let them know when I'm not there if the person has permission to be there.  I mounted a flag holder to the garden gate and fly the flag when I'm there.  If I'm not there and some one is there that is helping with the garden and I'm not with them I'll give them the flag to fly that way the neighborhood with know it's OK for them to be there. 

Here's an over all picture of Terra Nova Gardens as it looks at the end of March.  It's all coming together but has a long way to go yet. 

I'll have more soon but that's all for now.  I hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather.  Well, I hope it's nice where you are.

P.S. - Lori, I made three batches of the laundry soap.  I was just a little skeptical about only 1/8 cup of soap because, well, that's really not much for a load of wash.  I have a top loader and there's a lot of clothes for only 1/8 cup.  I washed a load of grays but, aaaah, couldn't really tell much because their gray.  The next load was whites which was the real test.  I always let them soak for a few hours and then run them through the complete wash cycle.  I don't think I've ever seen my whites this white before.  You have made a believer out of me.  However, while I was gone for a week, my daughter went through two batches of soap.  I know she washes a lot of clothes but I kind of think she's using just a little more than 1/8 cup.  I suppose there's a learning curve on using this soap.  She thought I was just a little off my rocker when I made soap.  She didn't say anything but I could see it in her eyes.  At 27 years of age her thought process is "that's what stores are for. To buy soap."  Thanks for the recipe.