Grandma Jean's Room

By Uncle Hans

It took us a while, but we have finally settled Grandma into her new quarters.  Neil and Kathy helped by bringing some pictures and mementos from her condo to make it more homey..........





..........her church at home helped out by sending a cassette tape of the service each week.  Try to find a cassette player to buy, however.  Like looking for a record player..........





 .........We pulled in the TV from the guest house.  But moving a TV is simple compared to moving a TV signal.  That took some bad language, stringing wire, and replacing the ceiling tiles in the basement..........





...........to watch TV, you need a comfy chair.  While at the second hand store looking for a cassette player, we found this beauty for $20.............





....we also found some puzzles, which Grandmas has conquered, one by one............





..........a couple of her mementos are noteworthy.  These are actual family crests that she crocheted from an ancient catalogue of Swiss family crests that Grandma Rechsteiner had years ago.  On the bottom are the family name, the Swiss crest, and the Canton crest for each family..........






.....We had to buy lots of groceries for Grandma.  Here Annie helps us at the store.  Grandma has enjoyed her time were with us.  Still, she wants to go home to her condo.  She has recovered from her fracture and a bout of nasty flu requiring hospitalization in  late Oct.  Neil and I have successfully wrestled with her ling term insurance company (we think), so she is nearly ready to move back into her condo to see how well that works.  The trial starts on January 8th.  Stay tuned.............




By Uncle Hans

Coyotes

By Uncle Hans

You never know what will appear out the big windows overlooking Cable Lake.  This early morning it was a pair of coyotes.  I think they were looking for the roadrunner.  The pictures were bad, out the window in poor light with a poor camera.........

 

 

 





.....after a while, we let Sam out to investigate.  There was a lot of curiosity, some playing, then Sam ran them off.


By Uncle Hans

Mermaids

By Uncle Hans

I found these two mermaids in my hot tub one recent morning...............






I asked them to do something that mermaids never do..............a snow angel.........





.......I wanted them to do it together as that would make a better blog picture.  but the little one would not do it until the big one did...........





.............I can't believe it, but she laid down in the snow and made a snow angel...........





.........She ran back to the warm water and started talking the little one into trying it.........





.......pretty soon, you know............





...................Monkey see.................





..........Monkey do!


      
 But then my alarm went off, so I got up and went to work......................

By Uncle Hans

Chainsaw

By Uncle Hans

Renee talked me into buying a chainsaw this fall, and the Swiss always buy used.  In this case, antique..........





.............She liked the new (antique) saw but complained it was a little heavy.  So we bought a little brother for it.........





..........here is our friend Don and Renee working on a tree the wind knocked down a few nights ago.........





.....she looks pretty serious, and I would not like to mess with her............





....   Don looks, well, like a professional.............





.......these two looks suspiciously like inspectors from OSHA looking for safety violations.  Where was OSHA when the good Lord blew down the tree?  Someone could have been killed!!.........





.........in typical fashion, Neil showed up after the work was done but before the chili and beer was served.



By Uncle Hans

Thanksgiving Spooner Style

By Uncle Hans


There is a long history in the Rechsteiner family of not celebrating a holiday on the actual day and Thanksgiving was no exception.  This is Nov 28 as we missed by only a few days.  Here is the KP section and Carol looks on.  Actual, Carol was a driving force in bringing the whole meal together for halftime of the game, which is a very narrow window for a turkey.

.....Jake got elected "carver guy" and got to use Renee's new electric knife.........

.....as usual, the dinner was buffet..........

.....Carver Guy was hopeful that the Packers would beat Atlanta, but they did not..........

The fare was vintage with turkey, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, fresh-baked buns, cranberry sauce (Grandma made it!), pumpkin and cherry pie with real whipped cream.  Never have so many enjoyed a halftime so much!.......

.....these are the "Buns Girls"  Nice Buns!........

...........Rex called just as we were headed for the table, giving the cooks an extra five minutes to get the thing together.......

.....I was thankful that Rex called and sad that they could not be there.  But no Rechsteiner is complete without some bizarre project or entertainment.  To actually see chainsawing, champagne indoor fireworks, or the cat neuter in the garage...........
 
You have to stay tuned to the blog for the next few days.

Uncle Hans

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA

MOUNT SHASTA

REDWOODS
In 1148 A.D. this tree began growing near Jorden Creek at the north end of the "Avenue of the Giants". It was 839-years old it fell in 1987. The height of the tree was 300 feet, the average diameter was 9 feet and it's weight was 325 tons.

Misty Morning in the Redwood Forest

Fog is the lifegiving substance of California's Coastal Redwoods. Condensing on the needles of trees and then dripping to the ground, it accounts for as much as seventy inches of moisture per year.

Battery Point Lighthouse was completed in 1865. Now a museum operated by the Del Norte County Historical Society. It can be reached by foot at low tide.

COAST REDWOODS

Clearing fog reveals chunky islands topped by firs in this picture typical of the Northern California coast.

Do these look like "Happy California Cows"???

Gray Whales
The gray whale is the most common large whale seen from shore along the west coast of North America. Gray whales feed in shallow waters near shore during the summer and fall and migrate south fro breeding and calving during the winter, and migrate north in the the spring.

Picturesque sea stacks are found along the rugged Southern Oregon Coast.

Tidepools can be found in many places along the Oregon coast. These unique costal ecoosystems support many different forms of life such as seastars, giant green anemones, purple and red sea urchins, mussels, turnan snails, green, red, and brown algae to name a few.

Ancient intrusions of basalt withstand the forces of erosion longer than sandstone, clay or shale. But with time they too disappear.

Afallen redwood so slow to rot it may lie on the forest floor for as many years as it grew, nurturing a variety of herbs, woody plants and wildlife.

A picture perfect day along the Oregon Coast.