House-Painting in Silverton

Greetings from, apparently, a mostly-in-the-winter blogger!  When looking at Maggie's blog today (great

kid's puppet theatre reporting, by the way!), I saw that it has been three months since I posted.  In that time I have been to Russia, the Dakotas, Denver, and fishing!  So there you have it...

So, on to the news at hand.  Most of you are aware that I painted a good deal of my house last summer (one posting even showed me high on a scaffolding in the front painting the didely little Victorian shingles) so this summer there remained the third story peaks, where I am much to timid to venture.

Lucky me!  With the help of a friend I met Alex, who lives just around the corner from me.  He is a very skilled painter and a mountain/rock climber.  Wouldn't you know he uses is rock-climbing gear (harness,

ropes, etc.) to walk up steep roofs to paint?  He is speeding along and agreed to a few pictures so you'd see how it works.

 

Here is Alex painting the high brown trim.  When he spotted me with my camera he grinned and

shouted, "Look, no hands!" (Notice the harness

around his waist.) 

If you care to enlarge this, you'll see he's hooked up
to a rope that runs over the roof and is tied to
one of the new fenceposts on the south side of the yard.  The post is set in concrete so will easily hold a falling adult painter!

I think this is so amazing---he just walks happily up and down the steep roof, painting as he goes.  Both hands are free to work, which is so much better than leaning from and gripping a ladder with one nervous hand.

Here is the old homestead (especially for the benefit of Suzie and Travis!).  Sky is blue,

grass is green, paint is on, things are good at 912 Greene.

Note:  I am leaving August 7th to take a canoe trip on the Green River in Utah.  When I come

           home I promise a post with amazing river pictures---I have a new water blaster that

          holds a quart of water.  I should be able to make lots of friends with that!   PDM

Sedona Sunshine

In mid-April, friend Becky and I drove to Sedona, AZ for a week of sunshine.  We had a lovely timeshare
bungalow at a quiet, desert resort and totally enjoyed ourselves.  If truth is told, we didn't do much but read, watch movies, visit, and take a few excursions. 

We enjoyed Montezuma's Castle, a cliffside indian habitation from approximately 1100-1400 AD and
Tuzigoot National Monument, a hilltop residence of early Americans.  Jerome, an old mining town perched
on the side of Mingus Mountain offered lots of shopping and eateries, and we enjoyed an afternoon
trainride through the Verde Canyon, on a line that used to haul ore from Jerome to a railhead, where
it headed to the west coast.

There is truly something to be said about having  leisure time with good company, good scenery, a very nice
hot lagoon for soaking, a round of miniature golf!, an abundance of excellent restaurants, and no schedule!

Thanks for coming, Becky!  (The train pictures are really for my grandchildren, our family's
biggest train fans.)

Weekend in the San Juans

Good friends Tish and Pete Varney were here from Friday to Monday morning and what a fine time we
enjoyed.  We went to Ouray for a soak in the hotsprings pool, stopping on the way at the canyon overhang, built by CDOT.  It is now possible to get about ten feet out over the canyon to get a really great view of
the waterfalls and the ripple-marked ancient rocks.

We also saw a large herd of sheep, including moms, dads, and kids.  Great viewing!

After our soak we toured over to Ridgway to see the Dennis Weaver Memorial Park which has
a glorious 2800 pound sculpture of a flying eagle.  This was followed by dinner at the Adobe in
Ridgway, complete with tasty margaritas, tostadas, enchiladas, and three very satisfied diners.

Sunday was lazy day at what Pete has dubbed "Chez Pene'."  We had various hikes about town,
naps, books, cocktails and dinner about seven, and declared it a successful weekend.

Sorry you weren't here.............

Easter in Kansas with Family!

 



Easter weekend was a delight with my Kansas family.  Activities included visiting my niece, Emily,
a high school art teacher at her charming bungalow in the trees in Kansas City where we enjoyed  green tea
ice cream balls (Japanese).  Dorothy and I visited a miniatures museum (sorry, Suz---we couldn't wait
to go with you but we would go again!) where we saw scale model miniatures of all things Victoriana,
from doll houses to working pipe wrenches!

I enjoyed hearing one of Uncle Doug's bands play and wish I could be in KC this summer for another of
his band's big night in a stadium when they salute Pink Floyd!!!  Next we all went to Uncle Steve and
Aunt Marj's farm in southern Kansas where we enjoyed the baby calves, endless great food, visiting,
and Easter church services as a family.  Steve and Doug did a few farm chores while the rest of us
read and took walks in the spring sunshine and, in general, enjoyed ourselves.

Monday Marj and Steve took me to the Botanic Gardens of Wichita followed by dinner at the
Ghengis Grill, where we enjoyed choosing our choices of bits for a great stir fry.

Such a nice visit---such nice family---thanks to you all!!!

Springtime in Portland

When I was in Portland

(Oregon) visiting my
friend, Cynthia, the

weather was chilly and
damp (mostly) and we

even awoke to snow one

morning!

Cynthia took me to the

Columbia River Gorge

where we enjoyed the

thundering Multnomah

Falls, which were extra

impressive because of the

rain.

We look well-bundled,

don't we?

Lunch was at a lovely old stone lodge at the foot of the falls. It was a

delightful

expedition!

Another treat was going to see the musical,

"Wicked" at a downtown theatre. Afterward

we had a marvelous seafood dinner at an

excellent restaurant on the marina.

Visiting Cynthia in the spring is always fun!

(PS---she was one of the judges for whom I

clerked in San Juan County Court.)

Patagonia, with Suzanne, Chapter Three

Dear Family and Friends,

Because I continue to struggle to place pictures and text in

the right spots on my blog with the Patagonia pictures, I

have decided to simply refer you to Suzie's blog---it has

GREAT text and GREAT pictures! The link is on this

blog: Heskin Family. Enjoy! (thanks, Suz!)

Patagonia with Suzanne, Chapter 2: Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego

(Penny & Suz at the end of the earth -->)

We flew from Buenos Aries to Ushuaia (oos-wye-ah), Argentina which is the southern-most city on Earth. The name means "end-of-the-earth" and it really seemed so to us. We arrived at the end of the day and went to our hotel on the mountain above the seaport, after touring a former territorial prison. This was the sunset view from our window---a ship on Beagle Channel.

We enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant as well as the brisk, no-nonsense manner of the female cab driver who took us to our hotel at the end of the evening. It reminded me a lot of Silverton---people do whatever work is available in order to stay in this interesting place that is the jumping off site for many en route to Antartica.

While in Ushuaia, we enjoyed a day at Tierra del Fuego National Park. This is a huge island that borders on the Beagle Channel, where Darwin began his studies while aboard a British ship that was charged with the task of charting the channel.
The original natives who lived in this area, now called the Yamana, wore no clothes and had no permanent shelters. They roamed about in their canoes, seeking out beaches with large mussel deposits, which were their primary food. They carried fire with them, on rock or shell platforms in their canoes, which may have been the reason for the name "Fuego". These people slept in huddles with each other to stay warm, and smeared themselves with seal blubber to water-proof their skin. The women were the only ones who knew how to swim and would take new babies out into the channel, dipping them in the icy water, to get them used to the cold! This is a postoffice in the park, on Beagle Channel, at the southernmost point one can drive a vehicle. We enjoyed the postmaster, quite a character, who sold us an interesting postmark for our passports so we can prove we were on the Beagle Channel. (We did not swim, however!)

We had been hot and steamy (drippy, actually) most of the time we were in Buenos Aries, and now we were bundled in lots of layers. Suzanne pointed out on her blog (see link on this page) that the weather changes there even more often than in Colorado! We experienced high winds, driving rain, sunshine, fog, and snow during the few short hours we were in the park!

Next we were to board our ship and begin the trip to Cape Horn---wondering just what the wind and weather would be like.