Coxcomb and Sunset

I took these about dusky dark last night before we started getting rain from the most recent hurricane to hit Louisiana. We were predicted to get a great amount of rain, but Gustav did not come through northeast Texas. We have have had a good gentle rain all day. Thank God! Gustav lost strength before it hit shore and wasn't a repeat of Katrina.



On with the show. Aunt Cora Adams (who really wasn't an aunt at all but my grandfather's cousin's wife...however, my grandfather's parents died when he was an infant and an aunt raised him therefore making his cousins more like siblings...which would be more like aunts/uncles to my dad...confused? Sorry...) Anywho...Aunt Cora had an old-timey yard. She had flowers throughout her front yard and not one blade of grass showing. I remember a riot of colors, but most of all I remember the velvety softness of her coxcombs. These are some of mine:

The evening sky as Hurricane Gustav started to affect northeast Texas:

Am I Ever Sore!

After two grueling days I am back home to a soft bed and an air conditioner! I spent two days in Hell taking a rider's safety course this past weekend. I have had the motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license since the mid-70s when my first husband and I rode bikes. My motorcycle days ended with my pregnancy in 1983. In 2006, my current husband acquired a Harley-Davidson (photos of hubby and bike are in earlier posts). I'm tired of riding "2-up" so decided to take a "refresher" course before getting my own bike.

In the ten years that I rode, I never dropped my bike, skidded my bike, laid my bike down, etc. Not one scratch on its beautiful paint job. This weekend, I dropped the class bike on Saturday and high-sided it on Sunday. We had a bit of classwork then got on the bikes before lunch on Saturday. We were back at it again at 7 a.m. Sunday. We were out on a parking lot in 90+ degree sunshine. After all of the "modules" we then did some honing of our skills before testing. I realized how extremely tired I was. That's when I decided I'd had enough. I had reached the level past concentration and my responses were slow. My riding was getting sloppy. Time to quit before I got really hurt. For me to get back on the bike at that point of exhaustion was dangerous. A wise person (LOL now I'm wise?!) knows when to stop pushing and to quit.

IF you ever decide to take a motorcycle rider's safety course...do not take it in the heat of summer. Try to find classes that are taught half-days for four or five days. Pace yourself.

This has not dimmed my desire for a bike. We will be traveling to American Eagle Harley in Corinth Texas to pick up my new bike within the week. I see some nice slow riding on the back roads in my neck of the woods while I get accustomed to my new bike. Photos will follow!

Last of the Alaskan Vacation Photos

We have been to Victoria, BC, Canada before so this time we just went to Chinatown.

Beautiful hostas.
Double rainbow.

Back in Seattle.

Ready to go again? YES!

To Continue...

First, Happy Birthday to me! Can you guess how old I became on August 15?

(For Installment One of our Alaskan cruise, see the post on August 14.)

Now for photos I took during our small plane flight over the glaciers out of Skagway. The airplane, a Canadian-made Bush Hawk. One of many glaciers... An actively calving glacier. The sloughed off ice looked like a mosaic tile floor to me.

The Bahamas? Nope...
Above the clouds.



This was my second flight ever! I would do it every day if I had the chance...


Paul, owner of the airplane and our pilot...

We did see a bear...squint at the little black dot left of center.
...some mountain goats...
...and back in town more wildlife...
...and some gorgeous flowers...




Next post: Victoria.

Home Again

What a wonderful vacation! I want to go again!! We flew from DFW on my first airplane - jet - ever, a MD80 with American Airlines Sunday, August 3. We arrived in Seattle and boarded the Star Princess around noon. By that time, I was starved because their noon is my 2 p.m.


I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Sam and I took a combined 467 shots!

Somewhere over Texas

Snake River

Mt. Rainier

Seattle

Ketichikan

Tracy Arm

North Taylor Glacier

South Taylor Glacier

Leaving Tracy Arm Juneau

Skagway

I'll post more later...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

...but I do know when I will be back again.

But first, we just had a wonderful visit with a high school friend. He and his family have been on vacation from Carlsbad, NM to South Carolina on to Branson, MO then here...actually they stopped here on their way to SC, but stayed with his parents. This weekend however is their family reunion and since his parents had a full house, they stayed with us the first night before the family congregated at the State Park. Five adults and 3 children...count them...8 additional people in our home - a two-bedroom house I might add. (We don't count the sewing/quilting room as a bedroom until the queen-size mattress gets inflated.) They were stacked like cord wood! LOL After a supper of hot dogs, I turned to the 6 and 7-year old girl and boy and asked, "What do you want to? Go to bed right now or go swimming?" Everyone knows the answer to that! We had a wonderful visit. Andy and Debbie, you are both braver than me traveling with the troupe you associate with!

Now it is our turn. Sam and I head to north Texas tomorrow; then to DFW for a 6:55 a.m. flight on Sunday. In Seattle we board the Star Princess for our Alaskan cruise - last year's Christmas gift from Sam's son. Thanks, John!

"See" you all after August 12. Stay cool! (99.9 at this moment...)

Lilies and Son

Thanks to Pam - Berry Ponds Quilts blog - I now know that my lilies are crinum lilies. I have two varieties. The red is evidently c.graminicola graslelie. I also have a white with pink that must be c.macowanii Sabie crinum. Both are African. They were all supposed to be red, so once they multiply, I'll be doing some digging to remove the white/pink and replacing with reds.

"My Son" has posted a couple of times; mostly recently requesting "quarts" of salsa! Ah! Children! What did we do without them? What do we do with them?

Born in 1983. Three weeks early by doctor's counting...Twelve years late by my calendar! Weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. But he made up for it. He ate everything! I had knees like that too! 2002 came all too soon.