Camping Highlights

We had some unexpected visitors each day...a skunk family of 6 babies. They just wandered around our campsites.



Camping is easy when you have all this help.

Joshua getting the firewood split up.

The guys getting the fire going. Joshua helping with Dennis' birthday cake.



Rachel said she LOVES to wash dishes while camping. Emily made sure the Coke was cold enough.

That left Dad and me to finish off the wine.

John and Rachel went for a run.

Our Anniversary.
Great Grandma demonstrated how popcorn was done before microwaves.
...

Well, I never thought I would ever say this, but I think I will take camping, at least the sleeping on the hard ground with no padding but your sleeping bag, off my favorite things to do list. It has been a long time since I was camping, like YEARS...I still like camping, especially the cooking part of it, but I don't remember it being so uncomfortable to sleep. Just when did the ground get so hard?

Box Oven Cake, otherwise known as Camp Cake
When I first heard this one, I just knew it would be impossible. Bake a cake in a cardboard box? No way! But it is so fun. All you have to do is line a box with foil, then you need four cans to place a baking rack on. Mix up the cake and set it on the rack to bake. Each coal is 40 degrees of cooking heat, so you need 9 hot coals to bake that cake for 30 minutes. Don't peek more than once or it will mess up the temperature in the box. Trust it, it really works. (Oh, and if you try it, don't do like I did in the picture above, make sure your whole cake is over the coals and not on the cans. This time the cake took way longer to bake in those places and the center was a little bit burnt. )

Camp Chicken Nuggets

I learned to make these when I was a Girlscout leader at day camp one summer. They really do not look very appetizing, but in spite of how they look, they are fantastic when you are out camping. It is such an easy thing to make, too. First you take chicken that is cut up into bite sized pieces, dip it in ranch dressing (made from the package, not the bottle), then you roll the dipped pieces into crushed potato chips. Wrap up in individual packages and bake over coals for about 20-30 minutes, turning the packets every 10 minutes or so. I know, it sounds disgusting and watching somebody make it is even worse, but you will be amazed at how good it tastes. The salt on the chips makes the perfect seasoning. I like to bake potatoes alongside of the chicken and there you have an awesome dinner out camping.

In spite of the unusually cold weather...the strawberries have made their appearance!

MMMMMM......................now how do I want to eat them? I'm glad I beat the birds to them.

Red Cross Work

I was called to help out in Casework for a huge apartment fire that happened late Thursday night. Check out this picture! We helped 9 families with temporary shelter, food and clothing. One family was out of the country on vacation, can you imagine coming home from a vacation to THAT? One was in the hospital (unrelated to the fire) and one unit destroyed was vacant. The other 6 families did not want assistance.

Update: Fire wrecks Beaverton apartments; 40 left without homes

Posted by David R. Anderson, The Oregonian June 13, 2008 16:47PM

Categories: Breaking News, Washington County

Tualatin Valley Fire & RescueThe remains of the west end of the Birch Pointe Apartments following a three-alarm fire early today.

BEAVERTON -- A three-alarm fire tore through an apartment building early this morning, displacing about 40 residents and killing a dog.

Investigators were examining whether a discarded cigarette caused the fire after a resident calling 9-1-1 said that might have started the flames he saw from his back deck, said Walt Peck, a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue spokesman.

The blaze damaged 18 units, and Peck said it was "amazing" that no resident was hurt given the amount of fire and height of the flames.

"This was a pretty spectacular fire," he said.

Vigilant police officers, working smoke alarms and a fortified firewall helped prevent injuries and more extensive damage, officials said. However, the apartments were built before sprinklers were required in 1999 in such residential buildings, which would have prevented much of the damage, Peck said.

The fire began shortly before 1:30 a.m. when Hillsboro police -- in the area during a slow night -- responded to the Birch Pointe Apartments at 1770 N.W. Cornell Road, Peck said. When officers arrived, they saw flames shooting from one of the buildings.

Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and the Hillsboro Fire Department arrived within 4½ minutes of the 9-1-1 call, Peck said.

Lt. Ronnie Mason's crew from Station 64 was the first to respond. As they pulled out of the station on Northwest 185th Avenue north of U.S. 26, they could see the flames more than a half-mile away. Mason called for a second alarm even before he got to the fire.

About 80 firefighters controlled the fire in 40 minutes.

Rebecca Lester said she heard pounding on the door of her apartment and saw the reflection of emergency lights.

"I thought, 'Oh, no, there's neighbors going at it,'" she said.

Then she heard someone yell, "Get out! The building's on fire!"

She woke her 13-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, then fled from their second-floor apartment.

"It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen," she said. "It was this huge roar. There was popping and cracking and embers flying everywhere."

Mike Hull, who lived in the second-most damaged unit, was at work in Milwaukie when the fire started. He retrieved a few soot-covered belongings from his apartment Friday morning, but said there wasn't much left. "It's totally gutted," Hull said.

Hull, 55, fought back tears as he talked about his beagle, Bailey, who died in the fire. (I assisted this man...I could not keep back the tears when he told me how he and his son had just returned from burying his dog on Mt. Hood where the dog loved to play. )

"I'm glad everybody got out. Thank God the humans got out, for sure," he said.

Hull said he can live with his son until he finds something permanent.

"At least I have a better opportunity than some of the folks," he said.

Of the 18 units in the building, residents of seven units might need emergency shelter, said Tom McCann, public affairs manager for the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter. The organization set up a service center at Oak Hills Christian Church, 2800 N.W. 153rd Ave.

Residents of five units can return to the apartments, and tenants in five others are staying with family or friends, McCann said. The resident of the final damaged unit was in the hospital for unrelated reasons, he said.

Lester said Birch Pointe managers found her another apartment there because her son has special needs and wouldn't do well in a shelter. Firefighters told Lester that her apartment had light water damage.

"I don't know what that means," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen."

-- David Austin of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

Yesterday was the first day out of school. So I went to celebrate with the grandkids.

First we went shopping, then picked their Dad up from work and had lunch in the park, then took him back to work and once we got back home,

the neighborhood kids met up and we went to the neighborhood park and played some more.

Well, as you know the Iris Gardens really impressed me and I was so inspired, I set right to work on my own gardens at home.
Kinda looks the same, right? OK, so it has a long way to go!

How come...


a snail is cute...but a slug is yucky?

Is it just because one carries his own cute little house on its back? I guess we would say the same thing about a turtle, too, huh?

Today, my Mom, sister and I visited Schreiner's Iris Gardens. It is off of I-5 just less than an hour from here. I have seen the iris blooming every year as I drove past, but this was the first time I actually stopped to see them. I don't know what took me so long! It was so beautiful, I think I will go back every year! So many colors, your eyes kept looking and looking to take it all in. And they smelled so fantastic too. There was more there than iris, there were lupine and poppies and many other kinds of flowers...

I think the blue ones were my favorite, which I didn't realize until I got home and took a look at the pictures and realized that most of them were a shade of blue, so they must have been my favorite, or I would have had other colors there too, right? Did you know that there is a BLACK iris? and a BROWN one? I can't believe the color combinations that have been created. I could have taken pictures all day, but will just plan on going back again for more.

They have gardens that you can walk all over in or just sit and look or you can see them in rows growing in the fields...either way is amazing to take in the colors. (and the scent!)

We have had such gorgeous weather! Record heat for two days and then two days of summer like weather. It started to rain again yesterday, but the few nice days gave us hope that summer really is on its way! Lindy Mom and Dad and I took advantage of it and took our first bike ride down the Springwater Trail into Gresham, had lunch and rode home.

WE HAVE BATS!!!

Yesterday when I was mowing the field, I noticed something moving in one of the rotten holes of the tree. I stopped to get a look and it was a BAT! He was crawling upside down, going from the top to the bottom and I got a good look at him.

So, get my daughter home for a visit and what do I do? Put her to work! The plan for yesterday was, go shopping, have lunch with Grandma and Grandpa McCool and Aunt Cyndi, then get home and mow while the sun was still out, just in case it starts raining for the next few days. But right after we got home, I got called from the Red Cross to go out to a fire and while I was gone, she decided to hop on the mower and had it almost done when I got back. Thanks JESSI!!!

Last week we got a new computer and I still had the box around. Since they were spending the night, Joshua decided it would make the perfect bed for him, so packed it up with pillows and blankets and his pet Nacho. Now what kind of a Grandmother would let their grandkid sleep curled up in a box? He was in his little box beside my bed. The lights went off, and it was silent, I didn't hear him move at all...I gave him about fifteen minutes and then said..."Ready to get up here?" He was out of his box bed and into mine in less than a minute!

Jessi is home!!! She arrived in late on Friday night and gets to stay for 10 days. Last week she attened a Kids Alive missionary conference in Wisconsin. John and Rachel and the kids came up to help us welcome her home. Last night, Jessi cooked us some Dominican rice to go with the pupusas that I made for dinner.

In case you don't know what a pupusa is, it is a filled tortilla. They are made from the masa mixture that you would normally pat out a tortilla from, but before you pat it out, you put in a little ball of cream cheese and mozzarella that has been mixed together and also a little ball of refried beans. They make their beans from scratch, but I use the kind from a can. The cheese that is normally used is hard to find in the states, but cream cheese is a pretty close substitute. You put the cheeses and beans in, then cover with the masa dough and pat it out flat. It is hard to do without the beans leaking back out. Then you just cook them on a griddle like a pancake. I learned how to make them from one of the students that was here from El Salvador. These don't look very good, but they tasted ok. The ones I have had in Central America are perfectly rounded and nothing leaking through.

Today I took my Mom with me to the Red Cross Volunteer Celebration. It was a breakfast cruise on the Spirit of Portland. We had a really good time and Mom ended up winning a door prize for two nights stay at the Cannon Beach Hotel and a $50 dinner!

Dandelions have such a bad reputation, but just look at them.

From that bright sunny yellow flower, the tight bud and the fuzz ball...now that is a pretty interesting plant.

Not only is it pretty, how many times have you made a wish and blown all the buff away?

I used to make chain necklaces from the stems. Somehow, they used to look better than this. one.

Sure Signs that Spring is Here...

...it was sunny... I got muddy... there was a ton of weeds... and even Bazzel thought it was warm enough to lay outside...
...and the best thing...I found 4 Robin egg shells!

Happy Birthday to ME!

It was a pretty weird thing to wake up to snow on my birthday. I don't think that has ever happened! It didn't stick, but just was a strange thing to have happen, especially since we had 70-80 degree weather just before this sudden cold spell. John jr. called and instead of singing 'Happy Birthday', I got to hear 'I'm Dreaming of a White Birthday...' then Joshua and Emily played me a song on the keyboard. I also got calls from Dennis and Jessi and Mom and Cyndi and Lindy (Luke and Nathan and Ellie, helped her sing too). I got calls from a few friends too, Yasser from Nicaragua, Ron from Virginia, and Alan from New Mexico, and a card from Mary Jane from California and Sam from Panama, Melanie from Tennessee, Teresa from Nicaragua, Mavis, and my Spanish instructor, Merle from Guatemala. I helped instruct a class all day at the Red Cross, but didn't say a word about it being my birthday. It is embarrassing to have it be a public celebration. Once I got home, John took me out to dinner to Typhoon, mmm....Panang Chicken...I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow. It snowed the whole time we were eating dinner. There were a few couples all dressed up for their prom. I took a picture for the group next to us. They were from Barlow. It sure made me miss my kids prom days with tuxedos and pretty dresses and girls primping all day, facials and pedicures and hair being done over and over and the pictures and flowers and wondering if it was a wise thing that they were once again using Cyndi and Dan's Corvette and then the house full of so many kids for the after the prom sleepover.

I watched Emily play in a soccer game today.

I can't believe how aggressive she is.

She played a really good game and helped them win 3-0.

It was a perfect day to be outside, sunny and 80 degrees!!!