Gathering Graces 6/29/2018

*It was an early start this morning, with a 4:30 a.m. wake up call to get ready to head to the airport for my flight to Boise.  Paul and I got loaded up and were on the road around 5:20 a.m. and headed for the airport.  Paul dropped me off, and headed back to Kellogg to have a full day of teaching a Drivers Ed class from 8-10 a.m., then driving to Coeur d’Alene four times with students from around 10:15 a.m. to 4:15 a.m.  He did have a couple of students bring him coffee drinks in the morning to hep him make it through the day.

*My sister-in-law Laurie picked me up at the airport and we drove to her house so I could drop off my stuff.  Then we drove to Burton and Patricia Roberts (my in-laws) house to visit with them for a bit before we headed to lunch.  Kevin, Linda and Karlie Roberts were taking Burt and Pat to lunch, and we asked if we could join the party!!  We ate at a nice restaurant called Terri’s Cafe.  I had eaten here with a friend a few years ago, and it was named something else. 

*After lunch, Kevin took his dad to Starbucks for some coffee, and the rest of us went to The Village to do some shopping at The Loft to try and find Pat a dress for Karlie’s upcoming wedding.  It was so fun to see Pat try on some dresses, pants and a jumpsuit, and look great in all of them.  In fact, one of the salespeople was in awe of  the fact that Pat was 81 years old and looked so good!!  And, mission accomplished.  Karlie did a good job in picking out a dress for her grandma, and Pat came home with some wonderful new items for her wardrobe.

*Laurie and I returned to her home, and I needed a nap.  I was sleeping so hard that Zoe had to knock, then call on my phone, and finally ring the doorbell until I was finally awake enough to answer the door when she arrived.  (Laurie was in the shower...that is why she didn’t open the door.) 

*A little after 5, Zoe and I got into Laurie’s car, and she drove us to the east end of Boise so we could attend Mamma Mia! on stage at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival outdoor theater.  This was Laurie’s birthday gift to both of us, because of our July birthdays.  And it was the perfect birthday gift.  We had so much fun, it was a wonderful show, and, if you have never seen this show on stage, I highly recommend you attend.  It is really fun!!

Gathering Graces 6/28/2018

*I spent the morning finishing up the modules for the VIPKid process I am going through.  I passed!!  I scheduled my Mock Class 1 for Monday night at 8 p.m.  Now to practice for this part of the process.

*After lunch I went over to Christy’s house.  We watched another one of her favorite HGTV shows, Good Bones.  She is doing nicely after her surgery, and her Physical Therapist was very impressed with her movement.

*I stopped at the store and picked up a few things for dinner.  We had invited one of our former students, Angelique Teranova, to come and join us for dinner tonight.  We had a wonderful visit with her before she leaves town next week to go live in western Washington.

*I worked on some more VIPKid information, packed my bag for my trip tomorrow, and went to bed.

Gathering Graces 6/27/2018

*Today was full of a lot of exciting things.

*After walking with Nikki and Butters this morning (yes, I did make it up this morning!!), I came home and started preparing for my VIPKids interview.  My interview was scheduled for 11:30 a.m., and you can get into the teaching portal about one hour before hand to make sure your equipment is working correctly.  For some reason the microphone on my headphones was not functioning.  I tried all kinds of troubleshooting.  Then I found the manual for the headphones online, and realized I had plugged the device in wrong.  Oops!!  It was an easy fix after figuring out the correct way to plug it in!

*My interview lasted about 30 minutes.  Rye was my interviewer, and he talked to me for about 10 minutes, then I did the demonstration classroom for 10 minutes.  He pretended to be a five year old Chinese student.  Then he gave me feedback for about 10 minutes.  I passed the interview with a 100%.  In the next ten days, I need to complete 8 teaching modules and quizzes, do one or two Mock Classroom, and then sign a contract.  Once all this is complete, I can begin scheduling sessions to teach.  I am very excited!!  I completed four of the eight modules this evening, and will finish the next four tomorrow.

*After lunch I went over and spent the afternoon with Christy and Everett.  Christy continues to recover well from her knee replacement surgery.  She is getting around good with her walker, and she said she feels very steady.  We watched another episode of Boise Boys while I was there.  It is a fun show, because I am familiar with the area, but I am amazed at the prices they sell the houses they renovate.  It is kind of crazy!!

*Paul arrived home just as I was arriving home.  We walked over to Furniture Exchange to get some information on buying paint for the painting job we are tackling, which is painting the exterior of our house next week.  Then we walked over to Excelsior Cycle to purchase two new bikes.  The last time we purchased new bikes from Mike Domy at Excelsior Cycle was in 2001.  When we moved to Kellogg in 2000, a trailer that was hauling some of our items caught on fire, and we lost both of our bikes, so, with the insurance money, we purchased two mountain bikes the next summer.  So we thought, after 17 years, it was time trade those two mountain bikes in and purchase two new bikes, and take advantage of the beautiful Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes that is located practically in our front yard.  We took a couple of bikes out for a spin last Thursday from Excelsior Cycle, and both of us loved them!!  I asked Mike what kind of bikes they were.  Mine is a Comfort Hybrid bike, and Paul’s is a Sport Hybrid.  We took a ride out on the bike trail to Smelterville and back.  And, in doing so, I discovered my Fitbit Flex has a way to track my bike ride on a map, how many miles I traveled, my average MPH, calories burned, and my heart rate.  That was pretty cool to see all that when I returned from the ride. 

*In case you are unfamiliar with the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, here is a description:   The Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes is a 72-mile paved trail spanning the Idaho panhandle between Mullan and Plummer. It was created through a unique partnership between the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Union Pacific Railroad, the U. S. Government, and the State of Idaho. The trail begins in the historic Silver Valley, continues along the Coeur d'Alene River past scenic Lake Coeur d'Alene and through rolling farmlands to Plummer. Twenty developed trailheads provide entry points, and there are seventeen scenic waysides along the route for picnicking. If y0u would like more information, you can click here.

Gathering Graces 6/26/2018

*It has been a long time since I slept through getting up to walk with Nikki in the mornings.  Well, I accomplished that today.  It was 5:10...the alarm went off...I was going to close my eyes for about 10 minutes or so...and before I knew it, I was looking at the clock and it was after 6 a.m.  Darn! 

*And then I just kind of felt behind all morning.  I was few minutes late for my 8 a.m. hair appointment uptown, but it was all good.  It felt good to get my hair cut and some new color in it!!

*Once that appointment was done, I stopped at home to let Sadie out, then got back in the car and drove to Coeur d’Alene.  My first stop was the PERSI office to drop off my retirement paperwork.  I wanted to do it in person to make sure everything was in order.  And I was glad I had them look it over, because there was one item I only checked on the line, instead of checking the box and initialing the line.  If it would have been submitted that way, the paperwork would have been returned to me.  So it was worth the stop!!

*Then it was off to Kootenai Medical Center to pick up Christy from her knee replacement surgery.  It went really well, and Christy was happy with how things went.  She was wheeled down to the main floor, I brought the car up, and we stopped at Starbucks for a couple of Breves, and then we headed for home.  She did a great job getting out of the car, and walking down the sidewalk, and up the stairs into her house.  She was alert all afternoon, as we talked, and watched an episode of The Boise Boys, a home improvement show on HGTV, and as she had her two dogs come in to say hello.  I went outside to look at her backyard, and the spirit of our mother overcame, and I deadheaded her flowers around her garden.  She had just done it on Sunday, but those petunias need a lot of care.  Tomorrow I am heading back in the afternoon to spend more time with her.  So far, it is going great.

*Cosette’s diploma arrived in the mail, and now it is official!!  She had earned her Bachelor of Science degree!!  Woo Hoo!!  So proud of her.

*I felt like Mexican food, so Paul and I ordered Fajita Salads from Casa d’Oro tonight.  I got steak, and Paul got shrimp.  They were really good!!  We both even splurged a bit and ate some of the tortilla chips and salsa that came with the order!! 

*My evening was spent preparing for an interview I have tomorrow with a company called VIPKids.  It is an online platform where you teach children in China how to speak English.  I have my interview tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.  Keep me in your prayers around that time!!

Gathering Graces 6/25/2018

*I had a full day today before I even headed to work at about 9:15 a.m.

*Nikki and I performed our morning walking routine with Butters the Poodle.  Around 7:30 a.m., Robert Paul of Flame Heating rang our doorbell, and was here to service and fix our faulty furnace.  The problem was just was Paul anticipated....it needed a new Thermocouple.  It also needed cleaning and oiled, and that was done as well. 

*At 8:30 a.m., I drove over to the Kellogg School District Office to take care of some business.  I met with Angela, the business manager, and we finalized the June Gear Up invoice, which is my final Gear Up invoice submission.  I also needed a document notarized, which Cindy Burkart was nice to take care of for me.  Then I made some copies of some items, and now, hopefully, I have all my paperwork in order so when I submit them tomorrow at the PERSI office in Coeur d’Alene, my retirement process will proceed as needed.

*Before I left the KSD office, current superintendent Woody Woodford presented me with a nice gift from the KSD, a small clock with a personalized inscription on it.  (The last time he did this, at KHS, it was a funny joke because they had not had mine made yet, so I was presented with Woody’s clock, and had to give it back to him.  He assured me that I could keep this one!!)  It has been a pleasure working under Woody.  We actually both started working for the KSD at the same time, in 2007. 

*As I was at the district office this morning, I was reminded that this was where I had my very first job, at the age of 15.  Back then, Merv Hill, who was the business manager, would hire student to help out with miscellaneous jobs at the district office, such as stamping new text books, repairing text book, going through the “dead files”, making “dittos”, and whatever else needed done.  It was a great first “real job” to have back in my teens. 

*I got back home and got my lunch ready to head to work.  As I was doing this, Christy was at her house getting ready for Debbie to take her to Coeur d’Alene to check into Kootenai Medical Center for her knee replacement surgery.  I am happy to report that the surgery went well, and, after her blood pressure became more stable after the spinal block, Christy was brought to her room, where she was greeted by Bill and Everett.  All reports from Coeur d’Alene were good.  I will drive down tomorrow and pick her up from the hospital and bring her home.  Christy has worked very hard at preparing for this surgery by eating better, losing weight, doing Physical Therapy, and following all the directions that were asked of her.  I anticipate that this will help in her healing and recovery process, as she continues to “follow the doctors orders”.

*Work was good today.  The warmer weather means more people are buying the delicious Brain Freeze ice cream in the ice cream parlor at the Mine Tour.  One thing I feel like I have noticed already this summer is women traveling on their own.  I think I mentioned the one lady RVer, who has traveled on the road by herself for the last nine years.  Yesterday I met a woman who grew up in Washington, but now lives in Arkansas.  Her husband stayed in Arkansas while she traveled back to Washington so see family.  Today she was traveling around the area doing some exploring, and Wallace, Idaho was on her list. 

*Lamb chops were on the menu again tonight.  I also picked some Swiss Chard from the garden, and sauteed it in ghee, with some onions and red peppers.  And I picked some different types of salad greens from the garden to make a salad.  I am so thankful that I can pick fresh produce right from the garden and prepare a meal with all those delicious flavors.  I look forward to having tomatoes ripening, summer squash, peas, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes and green beans.

Gathering Graces 6/24/2018

*Our pastor’s wife Linda was taken to the emergency room yesterday.  It turns out she had kidney stones and an infection.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She came home at the end of the day.  Because of this, Pastor Dave stayed with her at the hospital, and Paul helped with leading the service this morning, along with Tim, Amy and Simon.  I am so thankful for our worship team.  I couldn’t be there because of work.  But everyone is so flexible and willing to jump in and help when needed.  What a wonderful group to be a part of as we serve and worship our Lord together.

*Since it was a little warmer in Wallace today, the ice cream parlor had quite a few customers.  Everyone I ask says the ice cream is delicious!! If you want some great ice cream, come into Wallace sometime between 10 and 5 p.m. and partake of a delicious cup or cone of Brain Freeze ice cream!!

*Bill and Debbie hosted family dinner tonight.  When I arrived, Christy was visiting with Bill and Paul was on the back deck hanging lights.  Soon we sat down to a delicious dinner of chicken thighs, roasted Brussels sprouts and radishes, spinach and a cucumber salad.  It was a wonderful summer meal, and I enjoyed eating out on the deck for the first time since it has been Bill and Debbie’s house.  At one point, Christy shared information and instructions about the next two days regarding her upcoming knee replacement surgery tomorrow.  I work Monday, so I will be going to Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday and picking her up after her surgery and bringing her home.  I also spent a bit of time walking around their backyard as Debbie showed me all the things growing in their yard.  Her cucumbers are looking great and have blossoms.  That settles it.  Next year I am planting cucumbers plants.....no seeds!! 

*After dinner I went next door to Bill and Debbie’s neighbor Jane, who wanted me to assist her in donating to my “55th Birthday Fund-raiser” I am doing on Facebook for the Sixth Street Melodrama.  It took us about five minutes to find the place on Facebook for her to donate, then about two minutes for her to donate the money!!  It was fun visiting with her, and then her friend Lynette showed up, and we had a nice visit as well.  Jane does a lot of traveling, and every time I talk to her, it makes me want to return to Europe!!

*I arrived home, and finished filling out my retirement paperwork, so I can get it notarized in the morning, and get some copies of other documents made so I can submit it all on Tuesday while I am in Coeur d’Alene.

Gathering Graces 6/23/2018

*This morning was a nice leisurely morning visiting with Kevin and Linda, and walking around the yard.  Paul took Kevin and Linda to some thrift shops and neighborhood yard sales, and came home with a couple of great finds from the two yard sales.  Two new projects to add succulent plants to in the yard.  Stay tuned for photos of the finished project.

*Paul and I headed up to Wallace to do some filming on our movie.  This was Paul’s last film shoot, and I will finish up on July 14th. 

Lights, Camera, Action!!!

*When we returned home, I wanted a steak for dinner, so Paul headed to the store and bought a couple of T-Bone steaks and grilled them.  I sauteed some mushrooms in butter, and also fried some zucchini in some butter with some fresh oregano.  Once the steaks were done, we spread some bleu cheese spread on the steaks and covered them in the mushrooms.  I made my own Italian salad dressing to go on the salad, and we had a very delicious dinner.  It was a beautiful evening outside, and I spent some of it walking around the yard to get my steps in for the day. 

*Because of where we live, we often don’t get to experience the beautiful sunsets others people in Kellogg see.  But tonight, the sky was ablaze with pinkish, orangish glow right over the condos at Silver Mountain, and I was able to see the sunset, and capture a photograph as well.  A rare treat in my little corner of the world.

*UPDATE ON MOSQUITO SPRAY.  A few weeks ago, we made mosquito spray using blue mouthwash, Epsom salts and stale beer.  We also added some No Squito Granules to some of the standing water around the yard.  Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t.  Maybe the mosquitos left, maybe the spray and granules really worked.  Whatever the cause, for the past week or so I have not been bothered by any mosquitoes in my backyard in the evening.  So for now, I am a believer in the spray.  In case you are having a mosquito problem, and want to try the spray, here is the recipe.  It is a pretty cheap experiment.  Regarding the “stale beer”, we opened the beer the night before and let it sit open over night.  I think this decreases the amount of foam to the mixture when you stir it all together.  Paul used a garden sprayer to apply it around our yard.

Gathering Graces 6/22/2018

*On this second day of summer, I enjoyed the freshness of the yard as I walked around and observed my different gardens.  This has become a new routine for me, to stroll around the yard and a look at how the gardens change from day to day, or from hour to hour.  For example, this morning, my peonies were still in bud formation.  By afternoon, they had blossomed.  I enjoyed being able to observe the change. 

*Another observation I have made is the change in my “inner garden”.   My inner garden is also transitioning into summer, and there is a different feeling in the pace of my life.  It has slowed down.  I have decided it is okay to have one thing to accomplish each day, and if I get nothing else accomplished, that is okay.  My own garden is watered daily.  My inner garden also needs watered.  To me, that is my daily prayer and quiet time with God, conversations with my husband about God, our future plans, writing my daily blog, reading a book, and working on creative projects, to name a few.  If my inner garden does not get watered, similar to my outside garden, parts of my garden droop.  Parts of my garden get stressed. Sometimes they die off if they lack water for too long of a time.  I don’t want a stressed garden.  I want a beautiful, lush garden that bring life and beauty to all who enter.  That is the same with my inner garden.  I want my life to be a beautiful, lush garden I can share with others, and I want my inner garden watered and fed so I am ready to talk and share beauty with others. 

*In anticipation of Paul’s brother Kevin and his wife Linda arriving for the weekend, I spend some time doing a little house cleaning.  (You know, with only two of us living here, these jobs don’t take quite as long as they use to!!)  Paul got home from teaching young students Driver’s Education around 4:30, and Kevin and Linda arrived around 5 p.m.  It was fun walking around the yard and giving them a tour of our gardens.  Around  6 p.m., Molly and Travis arrived, and we all climbed in our cars and headed up to have dinner at Radio Brewery.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner, and some wonderful conversation.  We arrived back home, and Travis headed back to Coeur d’Alene, and Molly had a long week with her summer school training, and decided to head to bed.  Kevin, Linda, Paul and I stayed outside on the patio, enjoying a beautiful evening talking about retirement, church, our futures, and had a wonderful time.

Gathering Graces 6/21/2018

*Happy first day of summer!! 

*I spent some time making my head hurt filling out paperwork for retirement.  It really wasn’t that many pages, or that bad at all.  But it still made my head hurt.

*In my Keto Zone cookbook, there is a recipe for Seed Bread.  Paul had gone to Coeur d’Alene about a week ago or so and purchased all the various seeds that go into making this bread.  So I gathered all the various ingredients.  Most of the seeds have to be ground up.  Fortunately my coffee grinder is the perfect tool to grind the seeds.  Once all the seeds were ground up, I mixed them all together with a few dry ingredients, and with water, ghee and coconut oil.  Then it sat in the bowl for about three hours.  Then you bake it in a loaf pan for over an hour.  It was nice to cut the bread while it was still warm, and put some butter on it and eat it. This is the first kind of bread I have eaten since March 1.  I probably won’t make it a lot, but it was nice to have as something a little different. 

Seed bread

*It is Thursday, and that means the Kellogg Farmer’s Market is open.  I kept getting notifications on my phone that we were in for torrential rains and flash flooding.  But when Paul and I walked down to the market around 5:30, the weather was perfect, and the market was in full swing when we arrived.  My friend Christina, who sells beautiful jewelry at the market, said she had been praying all day for the rain to stay away.  Her prayers were answered!!  After walking through the market, we zeroed in on our two favorite places, the local cheese makers.  We purchased some marinated feta and some marinated mozzarella. 

Locally produced cheese is the best.  The one on the left is goat cheese.  The one on the right is cow cheese.

*On our way home, we noticed Excelsior Cycle was still open.  Paul had stopped in there to look at some bicycles last week.  We purchased bikes from them back in 2001, the first summer after we moved back here.  After having those mountain bikes for about 17 years, we thought it might be time to invest in a more bike trail friendly kind of bike for us to ride on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.  The owners, Mike and Debbie Domy were more than happy to let us take a couple of the bikes on a test ride.  The bike I rode was very comfortable and Paul likes the feel of his, too.  I think Paul and I may have some new bikes in our future!!

*We arrived home and Paul grilled some fish and some Romaine lettuce, and I roasted some radishes, and I sliced some seed bread to spread some of the new cheese we had purchased.  We also still had some of the Labneh lemon cheese left from our purchase two weeks ago, and we spread some of that on our fish.  It was delicious.

*Again, my phone kept alerting me to the fact a storm was coming.  As we sat on the patio, we watched the storm roll in, and started hearing the thunder.  By the time we were done eating, the rain started falling.  We had quite the downpour!!  I loved it!!

Gathering Graces 6/20/2018

CAROL WOOLUM ROBERTS·THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2018

*For many years, Nikki and I have had a tradition
of buying one another coffee for our summer birthdays. Since Nikki was gone this year for her birthday, we made up for it today by ending out walk at our local coffee shop, The Bean. Nikki’s dog Butters has been accompanying us on our morning walks, so he got to experience The Bean as well this morning. It was a nice way to end our walk and start our morning.


*My cucumber plants are not doing as well as I would like. I planted two different kinds. The pickling cucumbers have sprouted, but are still pretty small. The slicing cucumbers have never come up at all. So I went in search of cucumber plants this morning. When I arrived at Ace Hardware, I was happy to see that all their plants are now 50% off. And they had some cucumber plants. Armenian cucumber plants. So I purchased some plants, and we will see if they decided to grow better than the seeds are. I planted about 15 plants, so I hope to see some results soon. I noticed these plants, along with my summer squash plants, had a bit of powdery mildew on them. I had purchased some Soap Shield Liquid Copper Fungicide to help with this problem. (I seem to get this on my summer squash plants every year.) So I made up a batch and sprayed the plants, and hopefully it will get rid of the problem.














Armenian cucumber plants




*A big project we are tackling this summer is painting the exterior of our house. We will have most of the family here the first week of July, so we will be using their help to complete this project that week. So I have been playing around online, checking out paint colors, and trying to decide what color gray would look best and what color of blue trim would look best. I can upload a photo of our house online, and put the paint color right on the photo of the house. We are fortunate that Cosette and her boyfriend Taylor are painting houses this summer, so they will bring some experience with them to help with the process. This is a long overdue project that needs done, so I am looking forward to getting started!!t


*I walked around outside today and took photographs of the gardens throughout the backyard. Everything looks so colorful and healthy. This weather has been very nice to keep the flowers looking healthy.

*My cucumber plants are not doing as well as I would like.  I planted two different kinds.  The pickling cucumbers have sprouted, but are still pretty small.  The slicing cucumbers have never come up at all.  So I went in search of cucumber plants this morning.  When I arrived at Ace Hardware, I was happy to see that all their plants are now 50% off.  And they had some cucumber plants.  Armenian cucumber plants.  So I purchased some plants, and we will see if they decided to grow better than the seeds are.  I planted about 15 plants, so I hope to see some results soon.  I noticed these plants, along with my summer squash plants, had a bit of powdery mildew on them.  I had purchased some Soap Shield Liquid Copper Fungicide to help with this problem. (I seem to get this on my summer squash plants every year.)  So I made up a batch and sprayed the plants, and hopefully it will get rid of the problem.

Armenian cucumber plants

*A big project we are tackling this summer is painting the exterior of our house.  We will have most of the family here the first week of July, so we will be using their help to complete this project that week.  So I have been playing around online, checking out paint colors, and trying to decide what color gray would look best and what color of blue trim would look best.  I can upload a photo of our house online, and put the paint color right on the photo of the house.  We are fortunate that Cosette and her boyfriend Taylor are painting houses this summer, so they will bring some experience with them to help with the process.  This is a long overdue project that needs done, so I am looking forward to getting started!!t

*I walked around outside today and took photographs of the gardens throughout the backyard.  Everything looks so colorful and healthy.  This weather has been very nice to keep the flowers looking healthy.

Lots of color in the flower pots

Gathering Graces 6/19/2018

*One year ago today, I embarked on a magical adventure to Italy to visit my friend April M Lee and her husband Eric Lee at Villa Magnolia in Barbarasco.  I was accompanied by my lifelong friend Kellee Crall Mills, and my new friend Tina Marshall.  Barbie also made the journey.  So much happened in the three weeks I was in Italy, both at home and abroad.  I still think I haven’t processed it all. I met some new friends including Sherri Melson, Alan Balzano, Ivana Elia, Anna Masotti, Lucia Bonotti, and Federica Furia.  To me, that was what touched my heart the most during the whole time in Italy, was those moments of meeting people in Barbarasco and being a part of village life.  So much has changed in all of our lives in this past year...big, life changing events.  I am so thankful to April and Eric for giving me the opportunity to visit them at their new home, and be a part of their first retreat.  Next time Paul will be accompanying me to Italy, and I can’t wait to experience this beautiful country with him.

*After my walk this morning and my morning coffee, it was off to the dentist to get a filling.  For some reason, I need triple the dose of Novocaine to numb my mouth, so my trips to the dentist tend to be longer than normal because of this anomaly.  I finally got home around 10 a.m., and was wiped out.  So I didn’t do a whole lot today, which was fine by me.  This was the first day I have had for quite some time that I had a day at home to do a whole lot of nothing.   

*I guess I did accomplish a couple of work related items throughout the day.  I submitted some final Gear Up data.  I went to KHS to scan some documents so I could submit a Gear Up invoice.  I brought some more things home from my office at KHS.  I worked on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour Facebook page.  And I set up a birthday fund-raiser for the Sixth Street Melodrama on Facebook to raise $550 for the theater for my 55th birthday.  In July, the production they are performing is one I wrote about 12 years ago, and so I thought it would be fun to see if I could raise some money for the theater.  The name of the melodrama being performed is Nightmare at Dream Gulch, or...Wake Me When It’s Over.  So if you have a spare $5 or so, and want to donate, please do!! 

Gathering Graces 6/18/18

*It felt SO GOOD to get out and take a morning walk this morning.  With Nikki traveling to Hawaii, and my morning schedule, we haven’t been able to walk together for a few weeks.  It felt so good to start off my morning with a walk.

*I enjoyed some coffee when I returned home, and worked on some school items before getting ready to head to the Sierra Silver Mine Tour office.  We had a busy day today, with four groups of students from the PASS program at Pinehurst Elementary coming to take the tour.  It was fun seeing some of the students I had that had participated in the drama program last spring.  I got lots of hugs, which made my day!!

*One of the favorite parts of my job it meeting people and listening to their stories.  If it isn’t too busy, I often get the chance to talk a little more to visitors to the mine tour.  Today I asked a women where she was from, and she said originally from Georgia, but for the last nine years, she has traveled around in her RV, and now she is from wherever she has her RV parked.  She had not spent much time in Idaho, but has been in this area since the beginning of May, enjoying all the area has to offer.  She like riding the “Rails to Trails” on her bike, and I think she was going to ride the Hiawatha Trail today.  I asked her where her favorite place has been that she has stayed.  She said she used to answer that question by saying the Oregon Coast.  But recently she drove to Newfoundland, and really enjoyed visiting there.  I enjoyed talking to her about her adventures.

*Debbie and Bill arrived back from their trip, and Debbie came and picked up Maggie and Charley to take them back home.  They were fun to have around these past few days, and were wonderful house guests.

Paul, Charley and Maggie

*Before I left for work this morning, Paul went to our local ACE Hardware store and purchased a new gas grill.  We had been doing some research on them, and looked at various locations to purchase one, but decided on one at ACE.  By the end of the day, assembled grill had been delivered by Ace Hardware in Kellogg to our door.  Paul said, after looking at the assembly directions, that he was glad they assembled the grill!!  It is a Weber Spirit E-210 2 Burner Propane Grill.  It has a ten year warranty, and is just the right size for the two of us.  To christen the grill, Paul cooked some steaks and grilled some romaine lettuce.  It was delicious.  And I look forward to many more meals cooked on our new gas grill.

Our new Weber gas grill!!