Thrown Some Lemons

Well some times life just takes some unexpected turns. On my last post I was proudly expounding on the slow pace of the beginning of our journey. We went to the Bonneville Hotsprings Resort on Wednesday and enjoyed a couples hot soak, wrap, and massage. In the evening we had a tasty dinner; I had the half rack of lamb and Dan enjoyed salmon. My favorite dish was a starter of saucey mushrooms served with buttery toasted slices of baguette. 

The phone coverage was very weak for our AT&T phones so it wasn't until about 6 Thursday morning that the message came through that we had trouble back home. Our house had been burglarized about 3:30 in the morning. Most of our near neighbors were awakened by the very loud siren of our security system. I have sometimes wondered how I would personally react to being robbed & I was about to find out. I am not going to go into any great details. Suffice it to say the bad guys got some "stuff" and that is all it is is "stuff". We have insurance for that. As I was putting things back in order I was thinking these poor guys have no idea what real treasure is...treasure is memories of your child's first teddy bear and other toys, photos of days gone by. 

These are the things they tossed aside & that I was grateful to find safe. Treasures are friends and neighbors who stood out in the cold rain worrying and watching as police and their canine unit searched our house. Apparently one of those neighbors said "Boy Jean makes a mean berry cobbler I think she is going to owe us one for going through this experience!"  When I heard that I thought "absolutely!" So when life throws you lemons...make berry cobbler!

Sweet to treats to you dear reader, remember the things that matter are not things. 

P.S. I keep imagining punishing my bad guys by making them sit with me while I re-sort the photos they tossed and explain to them the memory attached to each and every one, until they are bored to tears. 

A Little Finishing on the Beginning

I Today is the first day of a new journey. The plan is for it to be our longest trip so far. Long both in distance and duration. It will be great if the pace we have today is typical of the rest of the trip. 

We closed the house and pulled out just before noon. We drove across town and had lunch with our good friends Cathy, Janice & Larry. After a leisurely visit we drove north to Portland then 35 miles east to Ainsworth State Park. We were already parked for the night by 3:30. 

The "finishing" I am doing is on a little lap quilt I started during last fall's trek. I am calling it "9 on the Rails". Each 9 patch has five squares from one shirt, which I picked up at a thrift store in Rapid City, SD. The piecing was complete by February, then it was at my favorite LAQ (that is long arm quilter's) while we traveled this spring. 

I saved this final bit of hand work for the road. I think the quilt will be a nice car sized comfy to have along.

 

To whomever finds these words I wish for them the pleasure of birdsong summer breezes and good company. 

jb