Weather Out the Window

The weather is always of interest.  We want to know what's predicted so we can plan what we wear, what we pack for a trip, what we are going to do outside, whether we are even going to venture outside.  Will we need an umbrella, a sun shade or snow boots?  Do we need to water plants or cover them up?  Is it the season to rub in how nice the weather is to our distant family and friends?
We watch the news to catch the weather, we check our weather apps and websites.  The "weather" person is now a meteorologist with information from thermometers, barometers, anemometers, doppler radar and weather satellites to give us a forecast.  Yet, with all their tools, their forecast so often goes out the window, so to speak.  
Our forecast in Greer has been quite out the window of late.  The "Big" snowstorm turns out to be a bust, while we really weren't expecting much snow today, but it started falling mid morning and hasn't stopped yet.  We've been shoveling throughout the day to clear paths for guests and sweeping entryways to keep down the amount of snow brought in on boots.  Tomorrow we may be shoveling cars out so they can get home.
While I still watch the forecast, check an app or website, what I find most helpful and accurate is to look out the window and see what's really going on.

Haberstock Herald 2015

Many years ago I began composing a letter to send to all our friends and family entitled "Haberstock Herald".  Here it is for 2015.

Haberstock Herald 2015

It's been a year for new things:

v  a new business and learning to use our smart phones, instagram, building a website http://whitemountainlodgebnb.com ,writing a blog http://greerazgazette.blogspot.com and posting to our business facebook page https://www.facebook.com/whitemountainlodge/

v  a new location - from Phoenix to Greer, desert to mountains, a white Christmas

v  a new church - from Scottsdale Bible with thousands in attendance to Calvary Chapel in Springerville with less than half a percent of that attendance, but with big and beautiful hearts for the Lord

v  new friends - from fellow business owners to the small population of full time residents in Greer

v  a new puppy - Lyn brought home an 8 week old Labrador puppy from Safeway...definitely not on the list...she has become our entertainment and fitness trainer and we truly enjoy her

v  new careers - while Jim still works for Honeywell remotely, Lyn is busy keeping a lodge clean and ready for guests, fixing breakfast, managing reservations and accounts and publicity, painting, staining.....Jim is landscaper, snow blower/shoveler, repairer and helper in his spare time

The Girls:

v  Kara and husband, Nate, are in Tucson.  Kara is a research specialist at U of A working with GIS mapping software which is definitely out of our skill set.  Kara just had surgery to remove melanoma from her arm.  Please pray it never comes back.  Nate is doing research this year as an interim between years 2 and 3 of medical school.  He wants to eradicate Crohn's Disease.  Go Nate!

v  Lauren is in her final year at Pepperdine University.  She spent the summer with us in Greer and worked hard at a little cafe.  Everyone loves Lauren...she did nicely in tips!  Plan A for next step is working in a school system in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. Awaiting selection results.

The Big Trip:

v  Lyn's mom, Nancy, turned 80 this year.  Instead of the traditional birthday gathering, Lyn and sister, Laura, planned a trip to New York.  It was a bucket list item with no checkmark.  One mom, 2 daughters and 2 granddaughters flew to NYC and they did it their way and had a blast!

We wish you all newness in your lives, especially the newness of life, peace and joy that only comes from our savior, Jesus the Christ.  

Yellow Snow and Feeling the Temperature

The weather outside is frightful, but the beautiful snow is delightful, so I sing let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.   But when the dog goes out it becomes....yellow snow, yellow snow, yellow snow.
Zella and I went out for a walk today after storehouses of snow dropped 7 inches.  The sun was shining and the air literally sparkled with snow dust being blown off trees.  Zella happily pounced in
drifts of snow and searched for buried treasure.  She looked like Zella Claus with a white beard.
 I had checked the weather site for Greer before we left and it said current temperature was 14 degrees but it felt like 2 degrees.  I'm sure there is a math formula to calculate the effect of the wind, but do they back up their data with experiment?  Just wondering if people have actually gone out in the buff and confirmed that the temperature really feels like 2 degrees instead of 14 when a little wind is blowing. Has anybody else ever wondered about this?  I'm not going to volunteer to provide proof of their claims, so I'm taking their word for it and layering up.

Glitter Glitter Everywhere

Saturday was our first Winter Wonderland in Greer.  The craft table was neatly organized.  The stars, sequins and glitter were all in their own containers.  All was ready and calm until the first group hopped off the hayride.
I gave instructions to the hovering parents and hoped we could keep things under control.  After the first group left, nothing was in order. The sequins were all mixed up with glitter.  One mother, instead of allowing her child to use one star at the top of the tree ornament, helped her decorate with half the plate of stars.  Paint brushes for dabbing glue on pine cones and felt ornaments were caked in glitter. Sparkles were everywhere.  That's when I decided to just keep calm and sparkle.
In a child's eyes there is never too much glitter, as one child pleaded that there was still room for more.  Glitter fell from there over-saturated creations as they explored the lodge and enjoyed treats and cider.
At the end of the day, Jim and I carefully gathered the plastic table cloth and funneled a container's worth of glitter into a bowl to be used for next Saturday.  Sparkles are inside and outside and I may still be finding them clinging to something next spring.  That's ok....I like sparkles and they will remind me of the wonderful time the kids had showering their ornaments with glitter.

Thankfulness

It's been just over a year that Jim and I purchased the White Mountain Lodge in Greer and put our Phoenix home on the market.  It's been a year of major transitions for us and we are so thankful for so many things: good friends and supportive family who prayed with and for us, new friends in Greer, a new church home in Springerville, a kitchen remodel that enables us to serve a wonderful breakfast to our guests, hard work and a lab puppy that keeps us fit, Jim being able to work remotely with Honeywell, and the incredible beauty of this part of Arizona.
Every day is truly a day of thanksgiving, regardless of our circumstances!  There are trying times of something breaking down at an inopportune time, a never ending to-do list, Jim got Shingles and the flu, we've had a few unpleasant guest experiences...yet in everything, even the trials, we are to give thanks because we know that they are working out patience, endurance and strength.
We spent two days in Tucson with family from far and near enjoying fabulous food and fellowship. Yesterday, the first day of Winter Wonderland in Greer, we had about 70 people come through the lodge to enjoy Christmas crafts, a warm fire and a buffet of treats and hot cider.  (Thank you Mom for sending me home with delicious home baked goodies to serve!)  Every child and most of the adults had to also go out back to meet Zella and be licked.  Our pup had a great day!
We are thankful to meet people from all over who we have the privilege to host at the lodge and we have enjoyed having our families come and see our new home.  It's very fun when we have friends we've made from our 26 years in Phoenix come and see our place and even better when they stay and we get to serve them.  It gives us great joy to have people enjoy the lodge and this beautiful little valley of Greer nestled in the pines.  For all this and so much more we are thankful.

Critter Tracks

 Last night I traveled back from Phoenix to our lodge in Greer and encountered snow from Payson on up.  The trip took a bit longer, with decreased visibility, snow on the road, and for a distance following a snow plow, though slow, was nice to have a guide.
In the morning, the back lawn at the lodge looked like their had been a bit of activity with lots of tracks.

This evening, Zella and I headed up to the East Fork Road for a walk.  It is amazing how she can sense animals long before I can.  She stopped dead in her tracks and was gazing across the road and then I was delighted by a large herd of elk. In the distance were gunshots, but these magnificent animals were busy pawing through the snow for food, seeming to know they were safe from hunters this close to civilization.  Zella parked in the snow, sat still, gazing at them, as did I, until I was getting too cold.  Within 30 minutes of getting back to the lodge, Zella growled and barked while we were in the office. Not even able to see, she knew something was outside.  We went to the back door and quietly stepped outside to see a herd of elk down in the meadow, not 10 feet from the back yard.  We kept an eye on each other for a few minutes and then Zella and I went in so they could continue to forage in peace.

Painting Pinecones

I've been collecting pine cones on walks with Zella.  Got them all cleaned up.  Put them all on an old sheet.  Spray painted them gold.  I have about 200 of them.  Hope it's enough!
Our little village is getting ready for Winter Wonderland.  At last night's planning meeting, I got to meet Mrs. Claus.  Santa was sick.  I also met some very nice elves.  Last year 400 children came to write letters, have pictures with Santa, listen to a story from Mrs. Claus and enjoy cookies and hot chocolate at our little community center.  Local business owners can open up their places for other activities for visitors and we will have the fun of participating this year.  We will be one of the stops on the hop-on-hop-off hayride.
Kids can decorate a pine cone with sequins and glitter to take home.  If I run out of pine cones, I have a back up plan for making snowflakes.  We'll also have a Christmas shop, featuring Becky Economides' works of art.  She crafts beautiful carousel horses and fashions adorable clay ornaments. She is designing a woodlands animal series for the Christmas shop.  Visitors can sample home baked Christmas goodies and have a hot cup of cider.
Shauna, at 92 Beans, our cute little coffee and ice cream shop, will have ornament making going on. Ryan and Amy, new managers for Greer Peaks will be decorating cookies with kids.  They have a great sledding hill if we have good snow!  Dolores has an adorable shop called the Grey Goose and will have some yummy treats available.
I am getting excited for lots of folks to come and experience a little Christmas wonder, but in the mean time, I've got to get busy, busy, busy, decorating and baking!

All is Quiet

Things are quiet this week at the lodge, which is a blessing since Jim is recovering from a nasty respiratory virus and I just got it.  The quiet and illness has me resting, reading, and doing work on the computer, such as updates on our new website, setting up a business account with Trip Advisor, getting through the paperwork pile.  I even watched the full length version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.
It's a cold, windy, snowy day here in Greer.  The few leaves left on the trees are coming down. Everyone in Greer is hoping for a good season due to the predicted snow.  So I say, let it snow!

Wild Weather

The morning of October 21st we awoke to a thick frost that made it look as if we'd had our first snow. We had guests who went out before breakfast and came back delighted over the beauty of the morning sun glistening and glimmering on the frost coated world.  The sun came out and melted all the frost.  Clouds began to roll in and it began to rain.  Then another guest called out "that's snow"! Everyone ran to a window and sure enough the rain had turned to big flakes of snow and the wind began to blow fiercely making the snow nearly horizontal. As quickly as it came it went and the clouds parted to let the sun shine down on a washed world.  I just love living in Greer!

Yummy Stuff

I must confess that I haven't done much baking since my girls got old enough to take over.  They both love creating delicious things to eat.  They loved to bake treats for friends having birthdays or just try something that looked good on the internet.  After they both left home, Jim and I were having protein shakes for breakfast and I wasn't baking much of anything.
Now that we provide breakfast for our guests, I am really loving the internet.  One of the standard breakfast buffet items is homemade granola.  I wanted a yummy fall offering, so found one called Pumpkin Maple Pecan Granola, and it lives up to its name.  I had a bunch of leftover bananas and some applesauce I bought for a conference group breakfast and with a click on google, made a batch of delicious banana oatmeal walnut muffins using applesauce.  I'm whipping up egg casseroles and creations and having a fun time of it.  It's a joy to have guests ooh and aah over the buffet offered and then enjoy eating and talking with other guests or Jim and me.  We will be on Trip Advisor and Airbnb soon, which is exciting to get us out there for people to find.  We may have a busy winter with all the snow predicted with people coming to ski, sled and play in the snow or just enjoy the snow from inside with a warm cup of tea or cocoa and a nice fire.

Bed AND BREAKFAST kickoff!

It's official!  We will begin serving breakfast for our guests beginning the weekend of October 17.
It's taken much longer than anticipated to renovate the kitchen and work on a new website, but as our neighbors in Greer tell us, "Get used to mountain time."  We will be serving a hearty homemade breakfast, so come on up and stay with us!

Poop Day

Don't know what the birds have gotten into, but we had an explosion of poop all over the patio railings and porches.  Murphy's oil soap to the rescue.  Wiped and mopped up bird poop and spider poop.  And since I was in the poop business I cleaned up all the dog poop in Zella's yard.  Some days are just poopy.

On the Roof

One of the many projects on my to-do list at the lodge is sanding down and staining the weathered wood.  This week I got up on the roof and spent two days sanding the wood on the second floor and one day staining and washing windows, since I was already up there.  Day two it got pretty windy and when I decided I needed a break to use the facilities, get a snack and fluids, I discovered my ladder had blown over. Jim was in the office downstairs on the opposite side of where I was working and the wind just carried my voice away.  I tried calling the dog...no response.  I wondered if I could jump down on the lawn without breaking anything and decided not to try.
When you are stuck on a roof you think about a lot of things....will my bladder hold out?...should I put Poise pads on my shopping list for roof work?...I wonder if we have to pee in heaven or maybe we just can go any place we want to, like my puppy or maybe it just won't matter...maybe I need to put a message on Jim's phone to check on his wife hourly when she's on the roof...wow, what a great view up here...I should come up here more often...great clouds...the tops of the trees are beginning to change color... The Lord had mercy on me, my bladder held out, and I went back to work until Jim came out and noticed the ladder down.
The next roof outing I took up a bucket with a bottle of iced water and my cell phone.  This time, I could call Jim and if all else failed I had a bucket.

2015 Greer Boat Races

An overcast day, the rain held back for the Great Greer Boat Races.  A nice crowd of residents and visitors gathered to watch the heats go down the river, cheering when the winners were announced. Michael had his hot dog cart fired up and they tasted great.  It was a festive atmosphere and a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Help...I'm Stuck!

Zella could smell the sweet fragrance of the strawberry protein shake and really wanted to lick every powdery remnant in the empty canister.  But what can squeeze in didn't want to come off.  Jim and I were laughing hysterically as Zella began to panic, running around bumping into things.  I grabbed her and Jim tried to work the container off her head to no avail.  After retrieving some cutters from the toolbox, I held her as still as I could while Jim cut the container open to get her head out.  She's growing so fast...this pic was 2 months ago...today, at her 4 month appt. she weighed in at 40 pounds. No chance of getting her head stuck now...at least in this size container!

Showers Bring Flowers

The rain has been abundant this summer, bringing bright spots of color all over the meadows.  Even the weeds have beautiful flowers, which is a nice thing since there are so many of them.  This bright, purple thistle makes me smile, remembering childhood stories of Winnie the Pooh and friends.  Even downcast Eeyore brightened at the sight of thistles.  The variety of plants and flowers, all unique, shouts to the glory of our great God, creator of everything.

Spider Poop

Owning and operating a lodge can have some disgusting chores.  Today, I took an old broom and spent several hours outside sweeping spider webs off rafters, wood log siding, light fixtures, and railings.  Summer time is spider time and there is nothing they won't spin their death traps on. Several victims dangled from torn webbing.  As I reached up with the broom from my ladder, I tried to dodge the falling debris.  I'm sure I will be itching the rest of the day.
As I was working today, I noticed little spots on the wood siding and all over my newly painted front porch that wouldn't brush off.  I wondered if it was spider poop or diarrhea from terrified victims. Thanks to google, I know it is spider poop and that it is very hard to clean up. Now, I just find that rude to poop all over someone's property.  I hope I don't have to do this job again until next year.
I really hope I don't dream about being trapped in a spider web tonight.

Is Your GPS Making You Stupid?

Those GPS devices or mapping apps can be quite helpful, unless they tell you to drive off a cliff to get to your destination.  When Jim and I were in Germany last year, our GPS led us off road, but thanks to Jim's sense of direction found an alternative route to get us where we needed to go, no thanks to modern technology.
We find it amusing and somewhat alarming, when people stop at our lodge and insist that this must be where they are lodging because their GPS directed them here.  Just yesterday, as I was out emptying trash, a car pulled up to me and asked if this was the motel.  This was a new one!  I wanted to ask him if this looked like a motel, but I bridled my tongue and asked him where they had reservations.  They were supposed to check in with Kevin.  No Kevin here.  Finally, the wife, face glued to her GPS, said they were looking for the Greer Lodge check in and this MUST be it because her device told her so.  I lost a bit of tethering on my tongue and responded that this was the White Mountain Lodge, just as the large sign says, pointing to the huge sign they passed driving on to the property.  I instructed the driver how to get to their destination while the navigator continued staring at her device that could not be wrong.

Catch of the Day

Our nearly 4 month old lab loves her walks on forest trails and dirt roads.  Every walk is an adventure and you never know what her keen senses will find.  Some days it's a new stick, a pine cone to shred, a discarded water bottle to crunch on, a squirrel to chase up a tree.  The other finds I can do without: the dead snake in the road, proudly carried all the way home; dead birds, dead field mice....basically anything dead.  It's such a struggle getting it out of her mouth, so I've decided she's part vulture and I'm just letting her eat the dead thing.  I'm disappointed she has such poor taste and standards in food.

Jim's SRP

We love the wildlife, but some of it we don't want in our backyard, nesting in the woodpile, digging up the new lawn, etc.  So I bought this friendly trap (is that a contradiction of terms?) called "Have a Heart".  Jim puts a big blob of peanut butter on the trigger mechanism and when the critter begins eating, the doors close.  Then, Jim drives out about 5 miles and releases it.  I have named this the SRP (for you Phoenix folks, this does not stand for the Salt River Project), the Squirrel Relocation Program.  We've relocated 8 over the past month.  We're hoping it's not the same squirrel making it back to our place for the peanut butter.  If it is, I think we should try squirrel stew.
Game and Fish recently stocked the streams with trout and Jim has been having fun catching and releasing, catching and eating, or now catching and relocating....another wildlife program called TRP; Trout Relocation Program.  There's a pool Jim has discovered that, after stocking, has a large number of fish.  Jim thinks it would be better for the fish if they were dispersed more evenly through out the stream, so he takes along a bucket, catches them and relocates them along other parts of the stream.

a Grand View

From the top of the ski lift at Sunrise is a stunning panoramic view of hills and valleys, trees and lakes, clouds and rain showers miles away.  The ski resort has a host of summer activities, one of them being a chair lift pass for the day.  Some people ride up, get off, look around, take a few photos and head back down.  Others ride up, and after the photo ops choose a run or a trail to hike back to the bottom.  The truly adventurous, bring or rent a mountain bike and put it on the bike rack on the back of the chairlift.  Some friends and I watched several groups of adventurers disembark.  All had helmets, most with chin guards, most had shin or knee pads, and elbow pads, and my personal favorite had a football jersey on over full pads.  There are 10 or more trails to choose from that range from easy to black diamond.  On our way down the mountain on the chair lift, we watched a couple bikers traverse the black diamond run beneath us.  It was impressive to say the least.  That is not on my bucket list!  However....a zip line is coming this fall and I plan to be back to cross that off my list!

Fabulous Flowers

Greer has had so much rain this summer that locals say it is the greenest they've seen it.  It truly is lovely here and wildflowers of every color are making a grand show.  I love the intricate design of every flower.  I would show you a photo of my first rose that bloomed that I planted this spring, but it never had a photo opportunity.  As I leaned down to ooh and aah over the pure white petals, Zella, the now 30 pound lab puppy, pounced and ripped it off the stem.  Today, on our walk she attacked a big fuzzy dandelion and wasn't as happy to have a mouth full of fuzz as she appeared with my rose petals.  And I thought I was going to have to be concerned about all the wild critters eating my flowers...oh, wait...a 3 month old puppy named Zella is a wild critter!

Oh So Close but Yet So Far Away

A refrain from an old song I'm singing today.  The installers came to put in place the last piece of the kitchen remodel, the granite counter tops.  This afternoon I was going to clean my new kitchen and start unpacking boxes and finally find a place for kitchenware. All was going well until after they cut the hole for the sink and put the sink in on top instead of mounted underneath the granite as we had requested.  A few phone calls later, they were uninstalling a gorgeous piece of granite that was now cut wrong and take it back to the shop to see what needs to be done:  is it salvageable, will they need to order a new slab from Phoenix, when will they be able to re-install?  Oh, it was so close, but yet so far away.

Zella the Hunter

Zella in the shrubbery.

Pounce position.

Zella is stealing the show with all the guests at the lodge and she makes me laugh every day.  She is having fun stalking birds and perfecting her pounce position.  Lucky for the birds she's on a leash. After her morning walk she likes to hunt in the shrubbery.  She is now 10 weeks old and she has probably doubled in size since we got her!  I always thought Jim ate too fast, but he wouldn't stand a chance against Zella.  She's like a vacuum cleaner...her meal is sucked down in about a minute.

Friends and Family

Lyn and Priscilla enjoying a rain storm on the patio. 

Jim and the Van Dam boys ready for backpacking and fishing.

It's been a fun and full month of friends and family here at the lodge.  We've enjoyed having our kids and their friends here.  My parents made it up for the first time. And finally, other than meeting and greeting our guests at the lodge, we had our first "old friends" as guests.  Chet and Veronica Fuller, who we knew from our kids being at the same school, came up and enjoyed hiking and exploring. Our dear friends, the Van Dams are here now.  Jim and Mark and his boys and nephew are off on a backpacking adventure while Priscilla and I are enjoying girl time.  Coming soon are friends we went to church with, before we were married couples, to celebrate their 26th anniversary.  We love hosting people in this wonderful lodge, but it sure is extra fun when we can share this place with family and friends.
Progress report on the kitchen.  The tile floor is all finished and the counter tops should be installed within the week.  It will have been 7 months without a full kitchen to use and everything either in unpacked boxes or open boxes in our living area to rumble around in to use for meal prep and storage.  I am so excited to get in after everyone is finally finished, to clean my new kitchen, unpack and organize all my kitchen stuff, and get ready for the launch of the breakfast part of the b & b!

Meet Zella!

Today I went in to Springerville with a hardware store list and a grocery list and came home with a free puppy!  Jim and I had a plan to get a full grown, already trained shelter dog in perhaps another year after we had fewer projects at the lodge to undertake.  Plans can change in a moment.  Outside the grocery store were two kids yelling "free puppy!"  A pregnant mom was sitting on the ground holding this adorable black lab mix puppy.  The puppy had been given to her and she decided she couldn't handle both a new baby and a puppy, so she was hoping to find a home for her rather than take her to the shelter.  I tried calling Jim but it went straight to voicemail.  I was in a dilemma...go with my head and just walk away until discussing it with Jim, or go with my heart that was falling for this pup.  After shopping, I came out and they were still there...no takers...another attempt to contact Jim to avail.  So...as you can see I went with the heart and brought the puppy home (after going back in the store for a collar, leash and food).
Lauren and I named her Zella, a good German dog name, to go with our German surname.  We all went for a bounding puppy walk after supper and now Jim and Lauren are both on the living room floor with Zella, tuckered out from her adventures.
Sometimes it's good to go with the heart!

We had a fabulous Father's Day in Greer.  Nate and Kara drove up from Tucson with Watson and a childhood friend of Nate's from Hawaii.  Nate's friend, Erin, is in navy intelligence and has been deployed more days than he is stateside in his 8 years.  It was wonderful to have him with us to relax in this beautiful place and we are so grateful for his dedicated service to this country.
Since our move to Greer, we've seen more of Nate and Kara than when we lived in Phoenix. Hmmm...Phoenix at 110+ degrees or Greer in the 80's in June with lows in the 50's.  We have smart kids!

Name the Bear

Ever since my childhood trips to the mountains, I vowed that if I ever had a place in the mountains I would get a bear.  Not a real bear...they can kill you...but a chainsaw work of art.  This bear is friendly and cute.  I consulted a baby name book when the kids got a dog so it didn't end up as Spot or Rover.  So, I'm trying to name my bear and all I can think of is Boo Boo or Bob the Bear.  Here's where you come in.  I am having a contest to name the bear.  The winning name will be selected July 15th, 2015.  Winner will receive a 2 night stay Sun-Thur (holidays excluded) and must be used by end of 2015.

Worth the Wait

I waited all winter to see what this would be.  I thought it was going to be a lily.  I have no idea what this is, so I am calling it Rocket Fire plant.

A River Runs Through It

I stopped and pondered over this pile of metal in the middle of the river.  Was this once part of a bridge?  River art?  I am told this was purposely placed here to trap large debris.  Who comes to remove the debris?  These are just a few of my river walk questions.

Coming Back With a Chainsaw

On a walk, I saw these downed trees and added them to my project list.  I'd like to go back with a chainsaw and cut them into stumps to place around our fire pit.  We've had a number of guests enjoy a fire at night.  Just found out we are supposed to have a permit.  Oops.  Off to the fire department tomorrow!

I have a sketchy record with plants.  If they have an automatic watering system they are happy plants. The flowers in tree wells and beds with sprinklers thrived.  Every year in Phoenix I would buy beautiful flowers to plant in my window planters with no sprinklers and they thrived for a few weeks, because they were being watered  regularly by either Jim or me.  Then, nobody was watering them, each of us assuming the other one was.  Like the Miracle Gro ad I totally relate to....plants came to my home to die.  The last couple of years in Phoenix I bought fake flowers to put out.
At the lodge I've been envisioning lovely landscaping. In May, I planted bulbs and some lovely day lilies in a planter.  The bulbs were duds and the deer ate my lilies.  The other day, I bought new flowers for all the barrels around the lodge.  Hayley, who is staying with us for the summer and helping around the lodge, has been given the task of checking on all the new plants and keeping them watered.  She has also talked with them, to assure them that they have come to a good home and charged them to bloom and grow.  She is my plant whisperer, healing them from their distress when they saw me at the garden store.  They feared for their lives, and rightly so with my track record.  I think I saw them shudder as I put them in my cart.
I hope to turn over a new leaf and not let them die.  Hayley is going to be gone for a couple of weeks. Say a prayer for the plants and feel free to text me to ask me if I have watered them.

Road Signs

When I saw this sign from a distance I assumed it would be a warning for road construction ahead or a prescribed burn.  I've driven from Greer to Springerville a few times over the past week.  I'm watching...no sheep yet!  I have had to stop for herds of deer crossing in Greer.  Loving the "traffic" here!

May Blew Away

The month of May blew through with a mid month snow storm.  Living in Phoenix for 26 years, I lamented the short season to wear winter sweaters.  Now I wondered if I would be able to wear any of my "normal" clothes.  I'm adjusting to our new normal and buying end of season long sleeved shirts.

Jim tilled up our entire back yard, stopping to pick out rocks.  We now have a rock border between us and our neighbor.  Similarly, as I attempted to dig holes to plant rose bushes, I came across more rocks than soil.

The kitchen remodel is creeping along.  The plumbing, electrical, framing, and dry walling were completed and the new cabinets installed.  It's beginning to look like a kitchen again.  We are waiting for an appointment for the counter tops to be measured and for the ordered tile to come in.

It's lovely having our daughter, Lauren, with us for the summer.  She is working at the Greer Cafe and doing some social media work for lodge.  One of her best friends, Haley, arrived to spend the summer with us, helping me with projects and cleaning in the lodge.  Evenings of BBC and chick flicks all summer!  Jim seems to disappear to the game room to watch more manly things.

Weather Delay

My drive to church today.  I do not miss Phoenix traffic and the scenery is way better.  After church I drove home behind a snow plow.  Roads were fine.  I think he was headed to the Rendevouz Diner for lunch.  It's always busy!

I had planned to start planting flowers this afternoon, but I think it will have to wait for another day!

He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. Psalm 147:16

Saturday Project

When the box arrived, Jim and I wondered how they got a table and two chairs in it. It was impressively packed!  And everything was bubble wrapped.  I just love popping that stuff!
Thankfully, the people packing the parts knew more screws were needed than the parts list indicated.  I wonder how many more hours it would have taken me WITHOUT the instructions? I would not be qualified for an assembly job.  Too slow.



Woolala!  Isn't it adorable?  My new little bistro set for outdoors.  And I did it myself...well, almost.  I had to ask Jim to help me get a few screws tighter, so the end caps would fit right.
Ready to enjoy sitting in the sun with our lovely 60's spring temperatures!

Lessons From a Power Sander: Practical and Profound

Sanding wooden posts for most of the day taught me a lot of both practical and profound lessons.
First the practical:

• Hold on tight.  It may be little, but it's powerful.
• Try to keep the sawdust exhaust pointed away from your face unless you like the powdered bronzer look
• Blink a lot 
• Keep your mouth closed unless you want to increase your natural fiber intake
• Don't drop it in the dirt.  The dust devil effect is kind of cool but all the dirt and rocks hitting you at the speed of a tornado hurts.
• If you wear layers, you can strip off the completely dust caked outer one before going inside
• HOT SHOWER

The Profound:

• Stripping off layers of the old leaves the newly exposed layer vulnerable unless soon coated with a protective layer.  Just as I will put a layer of stain over all the newly sanded wood to protect it from the elements destroying it, we must have the protection of the Holy Spirit, the covering of Christ to keep us from being destroyed by the devil and this world.
• If wood could talk, it would not be happy about being sanded, but afterwards it's ready to be nourished with new oil, soaking into the grain and revealing inner beauty.  Being shaped into a man or woman of God is often painful, but the process and the result yields great beauty.
• It's rewarding and pleasurable to look at the finished product of your labor.  God is at work in each of us and He takes great pleasure as we become more like Christ.  
• If I can have joy looking at newly sanded and stained wood, can you fathom the joy in heaven when all His children are perfected?  It's gonna be so beautiful. 

Training Paid Off!

When I was little my mom would give me a paintbrush and a pail of water and I would go outside and paint everything.  It really made things look renewed, especially the red box housing the fire hose.  Now that we've taken over a lodge with all things wood outside, I find myself grabbing a brush and a can of stain or paint, because absolutely everything needs renewing (after sanding).  So far I've renewed the double bench swing, a couple of porch chairs and uncovered a table that had been covered over the years with three layers of cloth and vinyl.  Underneath was beautiful wood, so I sanded and stained it!  We ordered some new cedar log patio furniture and a swing that needed staining and it's almost finished.  Next will be all the log rails/posts on the patios and then the entire lodge siding.  It may take me all summer or longer, but that's ok because I like to paint.  Thanks Mom!

Great Work and Play Weekend

A delightful weekend with our kids, Nate and Kara and their friends Hannah and Jonathon up from Tucson.  They were a huge help Saturday morning sanding our double wood swing and refinishing a patio table and chairs.  Jim took them up his workout hill and to a secluded area to see lots of elk and deer and they explored my favorite trail, Sheep's Crossing.  We laughed a lot, played games, and made smores in the fireplace.

Free Lawnmowers

As I was sitting at the computer a herd of deer walked right by my view.  One caught sight of me as I flashed pictures and we played a staring game until something spooked them and off they went.  I went out to the big picture windows in the living room and several deer were busily grazing.  This one was eating not more than twenty feet away.  We also engaged in some stare play.  Looks like we can hold off on buying a lawnmower for now.

Not Exactly the Good Ole Days

Unearthing history is a mixed bag.  There's the excitement of discovering something over 100 years old.  Glimpses of the past sometimes cause a sense of romanticism of ages gone by.  Yet on closer inspection the bubble can be burst about those good old days.  Every generation since the beginning has had its bright spots and those that are equally dark.  We've all seen how individuals, groups, and nations cover over, justify, rationalize, deny or try to rewrite history, as if that makes the truth go away.
A couple of the articles on these old newspapers bring to light the darkness of the times.  In 1906 a Congolese man named Ota Benga  was housed in the bronx zoo as an exhibit in the Monkey House. He would entertain the crowds by shooting arrows, drinking soda and playing with the monkeys.
Black clergymen like the Rev. James H. Gordon protested, “Our race, we think, is depressed enough, without exhibiting one of us with the apes,” Mr. Gordon said. “We think we are worthy of being considered human beings, with souls.”
That same year, James Jeffries, was persuaded to make a comeback after retiring as a world champion boxer.  Can you hear the music from Rocky?  The darkness of the story comes to light when you discover that the persuasion to return to the ring came from white supremicists who wanted to prevent a black boxer from becoming a champion.  Jeffries, who had been living an opulent lifestyle and was overweight was no match for Johnson.  His legendary career was now capped with the defeat of his lifetime. 
How fitting that the old newspapers were used for sealing wood and hidden behind paneling.   

Favorite Finds

When you tear out walls of old buildings, you never know what you will find.  So far, what tops the list are the pipes that lead to nowhere.  This pipe wrench, invented after the Civil War by Stillson, who went to work for the Walworth Manufacturing Company, was most likely forged in the Boston manufacturing plant between 1892 -1911.  This small "superadjustable" wrench was forged between 1935-1947 by J.H. Williams & Company who got their start in 1882.  The company was acquired by Snap-On in 1993.
I wonder how long the poor guy looked for his tools!

Code? What code?

For anyone in the building industry this is...interesting?...painful?...funny?  This was all covered up by some cabinets over the stove wall.  The cement block used to be a chimney from the original wood burning stove.  When they added the second floor, they cut the chimney off and removed the vent pipes.  When indoor plumbing was added...well you can see where they put the pipes.  The gas stove has no ventilation system other than a fan at the opposite end of the kitchen.  The soot and grease build up on the wall and underneath the cabinets was....black.  Oh, those days of no codes or regulations!

They're Gone!

Four days of deconstructing cabinets, removing screws and nails from every piece of wood possible to use it for our outdoor fire pit and hauling the rest to the dumpster.  Now all the paneling has to come off because we need to have electrical and plumbing work done.  Just a side note...after I got pierced by the first nail, I did check to make sure I was up to date on my tetanus vaccine.  I'm good to go!