Images of Forest Grove..

As promised, a happier post than Mondays. A little later than intended, but I went out tonight and talked with my chaplain. Thats right, I have my very own personal chaplain. Not a priest, minister, rabbi or pastor, a chaplain. Technically, he’s a fellow patron at my favorite watering hole, but we toss back a few and get philosophical.
Anywho....
The trip, very nice. Except....
IT STORMED DAMN NEAR EVERY FREAKING DAY I WAS THERE!!!!!!
It finally cleared up the day I was leaving. Figures.
Also, I didnt have my camera with me at the most picturesque moments. Like when I woke up to find 5 deers making breakfast of the front lawn.
But, here is the view from the patio.....




















And the bird feeder I helped Grandpa build when I was about 11. Actually, it was more like “Hey Ness, hand me that piece of wood.” and “Hey Ness, hand me that nail.”









Also, Grandpa has a new weather vane that is so cute I just had to take a picture of it. A deer kissing a kitty, awww....









Heres the view from the top of the driveway...











Saturday night we had a BAD storm with 40 mph winds. Sunday morning my uncle woke me up so that I could help clear out two 100 foot trees that had been knocked over in the storm. Heres some of the aftermath of the storm -my uncle was monitoring a controlled burn of some of the debris. You can BARELY make him out to the right of the tree without trees. At this point we’d already cleared out the trunk of the tree and were burning the branches that wouldnt be suitable for indoor firewood. In the foreground to the left is my grandpas dog, Daisy Mae.









The house...









And, where would we be without some gratuitous kitty pictures?
This is Bitsy, my grandmas kitty. She’s so cute, she doesnt meow. She squeaks.










And this is Bucky. Grandpas kitty. Bucky thinks he’s a dog in that he likes to follow Grandpa through the woods while he goes out and works.










No worries, both cats are kept indoors at night so that they are kept safe from coyotes and other wildlife.
I did get to do some shopping while I was there....
There was a great sale at the local Craft Warehouse so I picked up 4 skeins of Cascade Yarns Peruvian Highland Wool - 1 charcoal grey, 1 light grey and 2 black. A new set of jewelers pliers. 6 skeins of Indulge Yarns wool.













A sweater with matching scarf from Ross, 3 new DVDs - Guess Who, Crash, and Hotel Rwanda (they were 3 for $25 at Hollywood Video), and a Starbucks coffee mug.













A messenger bag (its the perfect size to hold my laptop) and silver photo frame from a local thrift shop. Some beads (red and clear) and Takumi bamboo knitting needles from Craft Warehouse.













This is my Uncle Ron. He rents the downstairs portion of the house from my grandparents and helps them out around the place. He likes to claim that I was a complete hellian as a small child and says that he’s suprised I’ve “turned out okay and am not the dicator of a communist country by now.”













And my grandparents. I adore them. Technically they are my mothers exhusbands parents. My mom and step dad married when I was 3 years old and divorced 10 years ago, but theyve never referred to me as anything other than their oldest granddaughter. Grandmas hair has grown back in some. Whats weird is that her hair has always been straight and although you can’t tell in the photo, it’s growing back CURLY. I’ve heard that this is common after chemotherapy though. I crocheted a “chemo cap” for her out of Classic Elite Yarns Lush Angora Wool blend that is SO soft and cuddly, but... i forgot to take a picture of it. I’m about 1/2 way through a scarf I’m knitting for her. This is my very first knitting project ever and my tension is a little wonky, but its coming along okay. I’ll post pictures of that when I’m done.