Orchid Bloom/Dino Recall/Cold Sunshine

We have a house full of "stuff" right now, none of it in it's rightful place all due to the remodeling of the kitchen. I am cordoned off to roughly a three room apartment-like group in which I wheel the roller-walker around with  ever increasing speed. Gail though has access to the living room while I can see it  from the perimeter. Because there is just all this stuff piled randomly, Gail did not notice until recently that the plant on top of the piano had sprouted a beautiful bloom:

Gail can not remember the last time this orchid bloomed -- but what a nice expression to have this purple bloom appear midst the disarray that we currently have. We have another orchid in another part of the house but no bloom there. They are mystery plants to us -- they were given to us when  there were blooms and now one again. Maybe it is a sign that soon there will be other things blooming as well -- we would like that.

The State of the Remodel

The kitchen area remains sealed off from me for sure. I have not heard anyone in there since maybe last
Thursday or so when they spray painted the entire sealed off space.  We are being reassured that off-site work is being done -- cabinets and structures to house the counter-tops etc.

Gail was kind enough  to venture in and to snap a few photos. The walls are now all painted  in a faint yellow color. Every wall is waiting for cabinets and/or appliances. All this hopefully will come together soon enough, they tell us. It can't be soon enough for us. First of all it will give me a whole new surface to shoot around on and maybe tamper with things -- Gail will be so anxious to begin the process of returning things to shelves with the promise of "weeding out" things that we obviously do not need until we do . . .

The above is the current status, so we are all on the same page.  Nothing happens just the way we expect it to and eventually this all will be just something that happened some time ago and we will be cooking on all burners.

The Status of Dino

We have had Dino in our care for 421 days -- we farmed him out to another puppy-raiser for 21 days while I was in the hospital. These last 6 days have been really nice -- Dino is so mature and calm that we enjoyed every moment with him. He adapted to the living space along with us and just fit right in -- again.

But Sunday the 17th was his "recall" day and we had to bring him to the San Rafael campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind. We promised to be there by 2 pm -- which we were.

First we said our "good-byes" at out home -- that was tough knowing that our "pup" was going on to further testing without us. He had no idea that he going to go through a period of "separation".

We each sat with him on the back deck and then hugged him "one more time". Shortly after we all got into the car and rode the hour plus to San Rafael. Dino seemed to "perk up"  as he may have recognized his place of birth and the sounds of the campus.

There were many pups recalled this week-end, but when we arrived Dino was the only one at that moment. The reception ladies were very complimentary about Dino and ushered us back to where his "new home" would be for the coming weeks, maybe months -- Cell #305.

I have to say though that it was hard to see him alone in the cell with him seemingly asking "Why?" The ladies assured us that he will get "really" good care while there. Status will come as they complete testing -- first to see about the possibility of his being a breeder -- then if that does not work out he would be neutered and moved forward to "phase training" for specific needs for the blind.

The "apartment" here is now somewhat less than it was . . .

From the Tree

Looking at the names from our tree it is a "big" month for birthdays -- 154 or so. Today, 20 February, one hundred and one years ago, my Mother was born in Chicago -- though I have not seen a birth certificate --
and I have searched the Chicago records -- I have seen the certificates of both her siblings.

And both of Gail's parents have February birthdays -- her Father, Millard (Jim) Calhoun Bouldron was  born
99 years ago on 12th of February. And 94 years ago on the 8th of February, Myrtle Rahman was born.

20th of February was a popular day in our tree. The above are two reports generated  at the site. Please visit the site to see "so much more" at Hiles & related families genealogy pages:  Hiles Genealogy Website

I have worked a great deal on the site -- though not so much in the last few weeks. There are a lot of pictures and documents relating to the various families populating the website. It is the one place that eventually will be available for future folks looking to know more about our family. Check it out!

Status of our current "cooking" 

We have been enjoying our dinners and at the same time looking forward to the time when we can get back to preparing them ourselves in a manner deemed acceptable . . . several meals have been provided by others and we are SO appreciative -- I can't tell you how nice it is for Gail to get home sometime after 7 pm almost everyday to have a meal done and maybe just needing heating.

And we of course improvise by bringing some "steamtable" items in and an occasional "frozen entree". We have not though signed up (yet) for "meals on wheels" -- but in a time of need they would be really appreciated as well.

The above is a "whole new perspective"  on the program. Several companies have capitalized on the slogan in their own way . . . the images all came from www.google.com (images).

And lastly

One of my all-time favorite cartoonists -- Jim Unger -- who created and presented "Herman" for many years and provided me and so many others with countless hours of merriment -- provides a small look at one couple's view of a "family reunion":

I'm sure I knew that couple, they do look familiar . . .

And so that is a peek at our week (half-week) -- see you all in a few!