And another week begins...

We enjoyed a visit from friends in California this weekend. The weather was beautiful while they were here (80s and sunshine to spare). We enjoyed trading stories and just catching up. Saturday evening brought the first real rain we have experienced. Just a nice steady rain accompanied by thunder and lightening. That has continued off and on until today when it is predicted to give way to more sunny days and warmer temperatures. Just in time for another visitor! Daughter Kate will spend the week and we will enjoy some "girl time" poking around new places. We will have double the fun when a friend from the UK stops over on Thursday night before returning home on Friday. Having 2 guest rooms is great!

John gathered some wild blackberries and I put them in a blueberry pie (a black and blue berry pie!). Very yummy. Blueberry pie was the first pastry I ever made and I was 12. It has remained my favorite (followed closely by rhubarb or peach, cherry in a pinch, pumpkin in the fall...you get the picture). Anyway, the wild blackberries are nicely sweet. I don't think we will be doing anything with all those wee red elderberries. At least not this year.

We are becoming "scat detectives". For those of you who do not know what the word "scat" means, lets just say that only a nurse would talk about it in the same conversation that includes a discussion of delicious food. We're funny that way. Anyway, we know we have had a coyote in the yard recently and a raccoon last week. I also learned that black bears don't hibernate during the winter. Hmm. John saw a "garter snake" in the yard. It was 2 feet long! Apparently they only have one kind of poisonous snake up here. That may be, but the operative word here is "snake". Yuck! Personally, except for the rabbit, I don't really want to encounter the resident wildlife up close and personal.

On the life-change front, I am wading through the COBRA process to get us set up with health insurance (when will we fix this system??)and the business end of transferring other employer-paid benefits to individual ownership. Living in one state and working in another adds a layer to the process. So, that is my current task. On a more positive note, the shower enclosure will be installed in the master bath tomorrow. Having 2 guest rooms makes having more than one shower a real plus. Speaking of which, I need to jump in the one we have now and get on with the day...