And I knew it would! As Jimmy Buffet would say, “It’s my own darn fault”… Several months ago, my hair dryer burned up one morning and, of course, it quit working. So I got out my travel hair dryer – the one I keep in my travel kit. Several times I told myself that I needed to go get another hair dryer but haven’t. The last couple of weeks, my hair dryer started making a funny sound. Each day as it got worse, I told myself that I’d better stop and get a new hair dryer before this one burned up.

Yesterday, it was worse and today, it happened! I was drying my hair, the noise got louder, I heard a snap and then I saw very red hot coils… And I only had just started to dry my hair. I looked all over the house hoping that I had another and couldn’t find one – I even checked in the basement on Jay’s tool bench where he used to keep one to use when he waxed skis. No luck there either. So I finished getting ready for work, left the house with wet hair that was getting curly as each moment passed! I stopped and bought two hair dryers — one for every day and one to put back in my travel bag. I got to work and was able to get to the bathroom without being seen to finish drying my curly, unruly hair! What a way to start the day….

One of my many “trips of a lifetime” was the one I took to Australia in 1989. My father was there visiting my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill and I made the trip so that he wouldn’t have to fly home alone. I first flew to LA, then to Hawaii, then to Sydney and on to Melbourne where my cousins, Janis and Bill, picked me up to take me to their home in Hamilton. I stayed there for a few days visiting with Janis and her son, Ty, as well as some of their other friends. The next leg of my trip was to the Sunshine Coast…

I took a bus back to Melbourne to catch a flight to Brisbane and then on to Mooloolaba where my aunt and uncle lived and still do. I saw kangaroos, koala bears (held an 18 month old), took a hot air balloon ride with Aunt Ruth, visited a pineapple plantation and took a bus trip to the Gold Coast. I did lots of Christmas shopping while I was there and had to purchase another piece of luggage to get everything I purchased home! We also celebrated Ruth and Bill’s 45th wedding anniversary.

Last year my sister talked me into getting on Facebook where I have reconnected with old friends and stay connected with relatives and friends. It’s been fun! Recently, my cousin, Janis got on Facebook and so is her son Ty. Ty and I are now friends once again. Recently he posted a picture he took on one of his visits to Mooloolaba of my aunt and uncle and his mom. I am posting it here…

Ruth Frost, Bill Frost and Janis Frost

My nephew, Tom and his son, Davis made it to Oshkosh for the fly in and made the return trip home. They went with two other pilots. Tom and Davis flew in a Cessna 170. Dan is in a Christian Eagle (single seat), and there is one other plane with two people in it.

Tom's Cessna 170

The Cessna 170 is the plane that Tom inherited when his dad passed away three years ago. He spent the last four months completing redoing the interior with new seats, new paint, new carpet, and a ton of cleaning to get it ready for the trip. Tom grew up in aviation and soloed on his 16th birthday. He recently got his intrument and commercial ratings.

Tucked in the hangar for the night... enroute to Oshkosh Fly-IN

Mt Rushmore from the air...

Jennifer, Julia, Tom and Davis

Davis reports that he is planning to go back to Oshkosh in four years and this time he hopes to do more of the piloting!

Our nephew, Tom Weiss and son, Davis have embarked on quite an adventure. They are flying to Oshkosh, Wisconsin from Roseburg, Oregon with another pilot, Dan Sprague, for the EAA Airventure Fly-in and Airshow. They left Roseburg yesterday and flew to Afton, Wyoming with a gas stop in Caldwell, Idaho. They camped under their wings at the Afton airport. Davis is updating Facebook via his phone to keep us informed of their whereabouts.

Packing or Unpacking the plane...

Everything has its own place in the plane and fits!

Davis Weiss and his father, Tom

Today, they flew from Afton to Custer, South Dakota with a gas stop in Casper, WY. Once they landed in Custer, they are going to take a side trip to see Mount Rushmore. Tomorrow, they fly to Redwood Falls, Minnesota with a gas stop in Pierre, SD, and then on to Oshkosh, Wisconsin the next day. They plan to spend three days camping at the Flyin. You can read more about the flyin here. They will head for home on July 31st and will be in Roseburg on August 3rd — plan to fily a similar path home.

In addition to Davis’ facebook posts, our niece, Jennifer, can keep track of their flight progress using this link. It is a spot check system in Dan’s airplane, and Tom is right with him so she can log in to see where they are.

What a cool adventure they are on! I will post more pictures as I get them.

I got to work this morning to find a flock of geese .. they landed and were resting in the field on our property. There were what seemed like hundreds. Not certain why they chose our lot to land. Could it be that it was once a field of oats? I snuck out to take a picture of a few of them.

Lots of geese

They left not too long after I took these pictures… I wonder if they will be back!

I’ve wanted to try growing tomatoes in the upside down bag for quite some time now. This year I finally ordered and setup the Tomato Tree with a stand and planted 4 tomato plants. It’s a little different than the upside down ones — there are three holes in the side of the bag on this one — I thought there were four holes when I purchased the young plants so I put two plants in one of them.

I think we are going to have more tomatoes than we know what to do with! But I’m looking forward to harvesting the crop. I already have some green tomatoes and lots of yellow flowers. I took pictures earlier this month and will take more this weekend.

Tomato Tree with Stand

Close Up of tomato tree

Dunan Cousins - Mia, Will and baby Alaina!

The Florida Duncan’s – Curt, Chrissy and two kids, Will and Mia — flew to Denver to visit Curt’s brother, Brian, and wife, Laura and to welcome baby Alaina! The cousins meet… Reports from both say they are all having a very good time.

Many years ago when my sister, Becky, and my cousin, Judy, with their children were visiting our Aunt Blanche (Judy’s mother) in Mitchell, South Dakota, Judy and Becky decided to go out — not certain if they went shopping or just “out”. The kids that were left behind were not happy about the situation. They got their chairs and placed them on the back porch and sat for a very long time waiting for their mothers to come home! My aunt recently sent this picture that captured the moment on film….

Gillian, Ron and Dan wait for their moms to come home!

My friend, Mary emailed me and asked me to sub at her Bunco group’s monthly gathering. I said certainly! I’ve subbed before and know most everyone in the group. Not only do the ladies get together to play the popular dice game — roll 1’s, 2’s, 3’s etc… but they get together once a year for a girls’ trip. They’ve been to Florida, Cape Cod and the last two year’s they’ve traveled to Osage Beach, MO. I went with them last year but couldn’t go with them this year due to other obligations here in the Quad Cities.

Wednesday before Bunco on Thursday, I got a call from Mary who asked me about the salad that our friend Jackie made for us on our trip to Osage last year. She wanted to know if I remembered the dressing she used on it because she wanted to serve it for us at Bunco. I remembered that I took a picture of the salad because it was so pretty on the plate so I told Mary that I would look at the picture and let her know if the dressing bottle just happened to be captured and, lo and behold, it was. You can barely see what it is — roasted garlic!

Salad served by Jackie...

Last night was fun at Bunco! We laughed alot, ate supper, talked alot, had a few cocktails and, of course, rolled dice alot.

My sister, Becky, and Mary Schricker at Bunco

They showed us a dance they performed in Osage Beach this year!

Bunco ladies perform and laugh!

Bunco Group

A female robin has chosen to build a nest on a fence post just outside the employee entrance door… Several employees noticed it there this week and now that I know it is there, I have been watching it closely.

Around noon today we had a nasty hail and rain storm, my thoughts immediately turned to the robin and her brood. It was pretty windy and we thought we saw the nest blow away. As soon as it stopped, I peaked out the door to see if the nest was still there. It was — a little worse for wear — but still there and the robin will still protecting her eggs.

The fence where the robin nest is perched...

Right after the hail and rain storm

Once the sun came back out, I decided to check on the robin. It was gone! I tried taking a picture of inside the nest, but as most of you know, I’m short and I couldn’t get the camera up high enough to see inside the nest.

The nest without the robin..

A little while ago, I snuck back out to see if the robin had returned. It has….

Robin sits comfortably on her nest in the sunshine...