I know - too long in between posts - sorry!  Due to some major work issues, I've been spending way too much time at work, including weekends.  I'm hoping that most of the problems are getting worked through, which will lighten the work load a bit...we'll see.  This year has not gone as planned, to say the least.

Margene sent me a picture of Chewie and Tibet laying together!  They are getting along just fine, thank goodness.  We were both worried about how big Tibet is, and how over-protective he can be.  Since Chewie is also over-protective, but only weighs 10 pounds, he'd quickly end up on the losing side....

We have a new fire - again - outside of Redding.  The Zogg Fire (started off of Zogg Mine Rd.) forced evacuations Sunday and Monday - Jacky was out of the office because she was on stand-by for evacuation, and she has horses, dogs, cats, etc.  (That didn't help my work-load a bit, either - Linsay was on vacation as well - down to half-staff on a Monday....but since I wasn't the one trying to pack up the essentials, I couldn't complain!)

More pictures from our road trip - we took a quick walk around the harbor to stretch our legs after the drive.

And had lunch at The Chart House - located on the harbor.  The seals were out napping on whatever it is floating in the harbor.  

This was the view from the Brother Jonathan Memorial area - toward the lighthouse that you can't see.

And here is the lighthouse from the beach below the Memorial.

Chewie (and Margene) made it back to Georgia - First time for Chewie to fly.  Here he is under the seat in front of Margene's feet in the airplane...

And one more mask for Nicholas - dinosaurs this time....

Margene is flying back to Georgia today - and she took Chewie with her....I'll miss that little guy - he was my constant companion.

 More photos from our trip - the smoke colored everything with a sepia tone....

I played with this a bit, and removed the orange color, but the other photos show the true colors of the day.

 

Road trip!!  Margene and I made an epic road trip on Thursday.  We left here at 6:30 in the morning, and drove to Crescent City for the day.  One of our hopes was that we would leave the smoke behind us, but that didn't happen.  So much of Northern California and Oregon are burning, the smoke was everywhere.  

We did see the elk at Orick.  Margene walked across the road to get a better view, and I took pictures of what I hoped wasn't her last moments on earth - those guys are huge, and fast!  (I admit, many of these are used to tourists approaching, but I didn't want to take the chance we found the one cranky elk.....)

Margene's video of them - I hope it will play:

We took the scenic offshoot to 101 and took a stroll in the redwoods - it is so calming there.  It breaks my heart to think of the damage done by the fires in the old redwood groves.  What these trees have seen....so many years.....

We also stopped at Trees of Mystery - even Paul Bunyan and Blue are wearing their masks!

It was just over 14 hours for the trip, and around 470 miles round trip I think - not bad!  We got in about 8:45 Thursday night - and we had stopped at several beaches, had a GREAT lunch at The Chart House (outdoor seating - but who could complain - they are right between the harbor and Crescent Beach - a great view either way!), took the scenic drive to Walmart (yes - I got lost....either that or I thought Margene should see Pelican Bay Prison....) where we scored some cute fabric for masks that the Redding Walmart doesn't have, and took a couple of walks in the redwoods.  What a fun, relaxing day.....and then.....

AJ met us at the car to help us unload, and told me that Allison had been throwing up and had diarrhea all evening.  When I got in, Cindy had Alli on the toilet and was standing in front of her with a towel.  Poor Alli and poor Cindy!  I sent Cindy home and dealt with Alli, and finally got her in to bed, and then found that AJ and Margene had unpacked the car and put everything away for me!  All that was left was to celebrate the day with a glass of wine (which, of course, we did...)  Alli slept all night and woke up happy as usual.  Whew!

Happy birthday to me!  I spent my birthday doing my normal chores - grocery shopping, laundry, etc. and the afternoon in the pool!  Due to the smoke overlay, we didn't have direct sunlight so I didn't feel as hot, but it was a scorcher yesterday!

Here's a couple of pics of Margene and I from Kiersten's party:

 

I helped cater a COVID party last night - interesting techniques!  Margene is here for a week, and her former step-mother always has a huge birthday party - this year she is 80 - but COVID changed her plans a bit.  Margene and I prepared individually wrapped (in zip-lock baggies) pairings of salami and cheese, stuffed peppers, cheese and tomatoes, fresh fruit (strawberries, grapes, and orange slices) and took them to the party.  Kiersten's house is on the River with a beautiful view.  What a great place for a party!  Her backyard trees, deck and pool were decorated with lights - so cool when the sun went down!  I knew no one there but Margene, and it's hard to socialize while social distancing, so it was a bit odd for me, but Kiersten seem to have a great time, and that's all that mattered. 

 

I woke up to 15-20 MPH winds this morning, and it was 80 degrees at 5:00 - not a good day!  Hot winds make me so nervous anymore with our fires,  Sunday was the first semi-smoke free days we've had in weeks.  

I did have a visitor yesterday - Nicholas came over for a swim!  He has an invitation to a pool party this weekend, and Mal wan'ted to get him used to the pool (again).  He hasn't had access to one

this summer, and, while he liked it last year, he didn't want to get very wet yesterday.  Mal is going to try to get him over a few times this week to try to get him in the water....

Since he will be coming back - I made a couple of masks for him.  He's in kindergarten this year, and has to wear a mask to school (he can take it off after he gets his temp taken).  I had some fabric here for the Paw Patrol, so made a reversible mask.  The other uses fabric from the baby quilt I made him - that he still uses.