The Many Talents of Z2!

Today is my niece Z2's thirteenth birthday. The day she was born was as hot as today . I was staying in Kellogg and Dad and I suffered through the heat while Mom went to help out in Meridian, Idaho where my sister's family lived. My niece has many talents. Above she is spending some quality time with Grandma before a family picture. She has always had a way with fashion and been the one that loved frilly clothes and up-dos... right? She has always been an enthusiastic child, especially when she learned to say "cheese" before a picture was taken. Here my nieces were preparing to celebrate at my wedding reception. Z2 loves the finer things in life. She is a talented musician, vocalist, actress,and dancer. Here, at an early age she took dance lessons from her Uncle Raymond Pert at my house. The outdoors is a place Z2 loves to embrace. A few years ago we went camping and she hiked, swam. and did glamour shots on a log at Sherman Creek. You can't keep her out of that camera lens. Z2 is also very helpful. When her father needed the back-end of a cow in the current melodrama he is acting in and directing- she came to his aid. While he is milking the cow, she had a carefully choreographed part with her leg . Have you ever seen a lovelier cow leg and black hoof?
She is also a good teacher. Here when she was visiting Memorial Day week-end she patiently taught her sister the proper way to make and enjoy a s'more. Finally her sister decided to try a s'more for the first time. We have all been blessed with Z2's talents, sense of humor, love of nature, and enthusiasm for life for thirteen years. It is fun to have another teenager in the family. Have a great year Z2! Happy Birthday!
You can see Silver Valley Girl's post ( her mom!) about her birthday here.

Skull Busters, Dippity Do, and Suffer to Be Beautiful

The topic for Sunday Scribblings this week is hair. I am going to date myself tonight as I think back to what we did to have beautiful hair before the time of curling irons, electric curlers, blow dryers, or those crimping irons. What I know for sure is that we suffered. Women in my age group and older may recall having their hair done up in bobby pins, clippies, brush curlers, multicolored plastic curlers or pink sponge curlers. We then slept on them. Who had time to sit under a hair dryer like the ladies at the beauty shop? Besides, not too many of us in my neighborhood had those fancy portable Sunbeam Hair Dryers at home.

When my mom moved from brush curlers to the plastic ones with a thing that snapped each of them in place, my dad called them skull busters. We laughed recently when we found a picture of Mom in her famous curlers. I didn't think she would appreciate that picture on my blog tonight! For me the ritual was washing my hair on Saturday night and Mom "doing up my hair" in bobby pins. Later I think they fell out too easily so she used silver clippies. If I had a home perm I think the curl lasted quite a few nights. I guess I only had to suffer to be beautiful on Saturday night before Sunday School the next day.

All this hair care required tools. We had to have curler bags, clippie and bobby pin boxes, pink picks to hold brush rollers in place,hair nets to keep our styles intact, and fancy, lacy roller caps. We took our hair styling serious. The worst nightmare at our house often times wasn't the "sleeping with curlers in your hair" torture. It

was the moment my dad was barefoot and stepped on a clippie, a brush curler, or a bag of plastic curlers in the bathroom. We brought out the Cuss Box when that happened. My brother probably had his moments of annoyance as a bobby pin had to be fished out of the toilet or curlers fell in the bathtub. They always seems to be where they didn't belong.

When I was older suddenly everyone wanted just body in their hair. Dippity Do was the product that helped when we rolled our long hair in orange juice cans or huge plastic rollers. We kept our bangs straight with pink hair tape. I remember not having pink hair tape one time and using scotch tape. Not a good idea! The pink mark across my forehead took days to fade away. Then we ratted our hair, smoothed our hair, lightened our hair with lemon juice, and grew out our bangs. It was amazing the rituals we suffered through in becoming a woman just to be beautiful. I laugh now when I hear someone say, " I am having a bad hair day." Try having a bad hair decade! There was relief when it was cool and hip to wear bandannas over your hair and it didn't mean you were in some gang!

Today I'll take an occasional curling iron burn or hair that needs a trim over bobby pins, skull busters, and Dippity Do! To find other Sunday Scribbling posts on hair go here.

Campsis Radicans: The Heat-Loving Trumpet Vine

About four years ago our neighbor and dear friend SH had an incredibly beautiful trumpet vine climbing on the side of her garage. I loved that vivid orange color, but thought this plant was difficult to grow. I learned different. She gave us a start of the vine and the top two pictures illustrate what it looks like today.
" The campsis is a vigorous climber that will cling to wood, brick, and stucco surfaces with aerial rootlets. Use for large-scale effects, quick summer screen. All produce open, arching sprays of trumpet-shaped flowers in August and September. They grow in full sun or partial shade with moderate water." Sunset Western Garden Book
With our temperatures over 100 for the last three days these deciduous vines flourished early. We loved the plant so much we purchased another one a couple of years ago and the pictures on the bottom of the grid show how well it is doing. You can't miss with trumpet vines. They grow in most zones, will bloom in full sun or partial shade, and all we do it hook it to the structure and give it water and nourishment.
Our friend SH died a year ago in March. On days like today I think of her vibrant personality and how much she loved this plant. When I gaze at these gorgeous orange blossoms I can't think of a better way to honor my special friend in my garden.

Funding the Fight to Find a Cure

Every letter my mom sends has this stamp on it. She is a breast cancer survivor and funds the fight to find a cure. In 2000 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and fought the disease with strength and dignity and won the battle. Recently at her yearly check-up with her primary physician, he was concerned about irregularities on her back. The family knew from our immersion into breast cancer information in 2000 that breast cancer will sometimes go to the bone. She had a bone scan done, then a MRI. Finally an appointment at the Cancer Center in Coeur d' Alene was set up. Raymond Pert had already arrived in Kellogg and I drove down to join my brother and Mom to the appointment and try to be a second set of eyes and ears. In her own ways Mom demonstrated that she was rattled as we drove over Fourth of July Pass enroute to the Cancer Center. Entering the building brought back a flood of memories from the visits in 2000 when I accompanied Mom to her chemo treatments. It is tough when you sit in the waiting room knowing many of the people surrounding you are there for treatments or consultations about cancer.

When the doctor walked in the exam room his first words were, " Mary, you are cancer free in your back and neck." I felt relief. My brother wrote that one line on my notepad to ease the tension. The doctor went on to patiently and thoroughly show Mom her MRI pictures of her back and talk to her about what it was- arthritis. We left the room with lighter conversation. Mom's face was much more relaxed, and we could call our sister with good news.
Cancer free... two words I had waited a few weeks to hear. We headed over to Starbucks for a coffee drink to celebrate, did a little shopping, went to lunch and laughed despite the heat. Since she has been cancer free for seven years she was told that her chances of the cancer returning is only 5%. I like those odds!

Baby It's Hot Outside!

When temperatures reach above a hundred degrees I spend more energy figuring out how to stay cool then anything else. Today is one of those days. Of course there is nothing like cold lemonade on a hot day.
Isabelle heads up the ramp, through the cat door, and finds a cool spot in the garage when she is hot.
Shelby loves it if we are near a creek where she can cool her pads and get a long drink.

Annie sits quietly as she gets a haircut, then she will join Shelby in the water if she can!

We drink our morning coffee at the table which is still in the shade.

I don't care how old you are... running through a sprinkler is always an option for cooling down.
When the needle pushes up past 100 do you ever wish for rain?
When we were kids my Dad used to love to swim in the Clearwater River.
When Silver Valley Girl was a baby she had to share her little pool with a turtle. They both stayed cool though!

At the end of the day just watching the sun go behind the trees seems to drop the temperature in the garden. I think I will go adjust the fan and add some ice cubes to my lemonade.

"Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters"

When I was back home in Kellogg last week my sister Silver Valley Girl and I spent her birthday night going through old pictures. We laughed and remembered events that took place sorting through the piles of pictures that long lost any sense of organization. The picture above is in Mom's backyard about forty years ago. The picket fence is long gone. The lilac bush has been moved and a deck has been built by the sidewalk. Smelter smoke kept the grass from growing much then, but now it is lush and green. Today my sister and I are back together with our brother Raymond Pert. We are enjoying an evening of visiting, looking at more scanned pictures, blogging, and conversation. One of our favorite songs is "Sisters" from "White Christmas". The lyrics are fitting as we enjoy an evening together:
"All kinds of weather,
we stick together
The same in the rain and sun
Two different faces,
but in tight places
We think and we act as one."
-Irving Berlin
You can see Silver Valley Girl's take on the evening here. You can also see that we have changed just a little bit!