This posting is by Rylie Patching, my granddaughter so bear with us all.


Dad, Mom, Rylie, Grandma, Ruby and Major. The gang out camping.



Mom, Dad and Rylie fishing. (Grandma loose with the camera.)

The best Grandma in the whole wide world. (Subject to personal opinion)


Oh Foam, take it from me. Smores and Vodka just don't mix too well.



Just give me the bag and I will take it from there. Much too slow to roast them.

Have a nice day everyone.

Whew!!! Just got the parents from Oklahoma out the door, listened to a two year old cry her heart out because they were leaving, Grandma is in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast and I have disappeared to the computer area for quiet and solace. It has been an enjoyable visit though... just noisy. Grandma and I realize we live a life of quiet and sometimes it is hard to adjust to the clamor and bustling life style of a young family. However many memories came flooding back as we watched the kids teasing each other, agitating each other and loving each other.

I hope to start posting some pictures fairly soon. Cheryl has mentioned that every time I download her pictures onto the computer I seem to lose some of them. Now being the perfect person that I am I reminded her that it is not I who has the problem but SHE thought she had taken some pictures which she did not. Me making a mistake. Hah, it just does not happen.

Took a ride on the ATV's yesterday up into the mountains that surround us. The mountains are so lovely and green with black eyed susan's all over the place. The choke cherry trees look like they are going to really produce this year. YUM, YUM, YUM. Nothing like chokecherry syrup on waffles unless it is native cherry syrup then it is YUM, YUM, YUM all over again.

Sounds like my friend Foam had a good time on her camping trip. I would like to be a squirrel in a tree listening to that silly bunch of women especially when they started nipping on the spirits.

Pam is on Facebook now. I must admit I don't know much about Facebook and am too lazy to find out. My daughter in Nevada introduced me to Facebook but that was about as far as it got.

Well, the boring person from Idaho has rambled enough so will close.

Have a nice day everyone.

Good morning everyone!! Happy Memorial Day to all of you and I hope it is a safe one. Just a comment about Memorial Day. I am so grateful for those who gave their lives for the freedoms that I enjoy. Thank you men and women of the armed forces.

I have my children from Tulsa, OK visiting this week and it has been enjoyable although Grandpa is not used to having little ones under foot all the time. Cheryl and I worried terribly about these kids moving to OK but it has been all for the best and they seem happier than we have seen them in a long time. I know from reading blogs (Pam's mainly) that there are those who think their grandchildren are the cutest and the brightest but my "blondie" tops them all. She already knows that if she gives that cute smile she will get her way. Hmmmmm, must be a female thing.

Sounds like breakfast is ready so this will be short. Having biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs and bacon. Wish those kids would visit more often so I can get fed better.:))

I hope everyone has a flag in their yard or on their house to remind us of this great country we live in. Problems? Oh yeah, but still the best there is.

Have a nice day everyone.

Whew!! I am finally home from a four day trip to Boise with the track and field team. I enjoyed watching our kids compete but the overall experience of watching track and field is as exciting as watching cars rust. BORRRRRRRRINNNNGGGG. It appears that I am finished for this school year. I now have a full time job ducking and dodging Cheryl and all her honey do projects.

My friend Foam posted 10 things about herself that were interesting and eye opening. I thought I would give it a try about my 10 things.

1. Turn Offs:
Loud talking people, male or female.
People who seem to have no concern about their appearance.
Uncourteous people in stores and etc.

2. Turn On or Pleasing To Me:
Soft Music.
Mountains in the springtime.
Cheryl's laughter.

3. I love to tease and it gets me into lots of trouble.

4. I enjoy large equipment like trucks, buses, trains, airplanes. No boats though since I am slightly afraid of water.

5. I enjoy most animals. I really like horses, cattle, dogs (friendly ones), cats and the list continues with deer, elk, moose, bear, mountain lions. Just about any mountain animals in the northwest.

6. I am not romantic. I don't need a special day or time to get my wife a gift. Everyday she is a gift to me and she is my best friend as well as my lover and wife.

7. I like creating friendships to a point. I truly dislike it when others start to take advantage of our friendship. I like to flirt but if anyone truly made an advance on me I would run like a scared jackrabbit. However on the down side I have a very hard time trusting anyone. I keep wondering when they will do me dirt.

8. I do like guns and using them. Being raised with one was as natural as drinking water.

9. I enjoy movies and even an occasional chick flick.

10. I love living in Idaho with it's beautiful mountains, streams, fairly clean air and the freedoms I get to enjoy. I love the USA and am proud to be called an American.

So there you have a little something about me. I guess I should include that I am boring, boring, boring.

Guess I better close and get something done today. Cheryl is off to the cannery where she is volunteering her time making chicken soup for those who struggle. I just took a percocet to help with the pain and now am feeling sleepy so that will be the first project I will tackle.

Jeralee, I don't know if you read my drivel or not but we have Russian records that we are indexing and could sure use anyone who can read them. Hint, hint, hint.

Have a nice day everyone.

I cannot believe that I never wished all mother's out there a very happy Mother's Day. I am truly sorry.


Happy Mother's Day!!!

My computer developed a problem some time ago and I still have not worked all the bugs out. I wanted to post a picture of two but have not recovered them, soooooooooo no pictures.

Yep, I have been very busy traveling and it looks like it will continue at least for another week. It is amazing how many trips the schools have right before shutting down for the summer. Our track team qualified 21 for the state meet which is next week, our girl's softball team qualified for the state tournament which is next week plus who knows what else. I will either be in Boise or Post Falls, ID which is in the panhandle in very beautiful country.

Cheryl and I are doing fine. She is busy planting raspberry's and other gardening delights while I set around and watch. My back is so bad that I have a very difficult time walking 100 yards. The only thing that does not seem to bother it (as much) is driving.

Cheryl is a happy woman right now. She just had the floor replaced in the kitchen and it turned out lovely. When she first started the kitchen project I just groaned but now that it is almost finished I must admit it is very nice. It scares me what she will want to do next. She is already talking about designing some exercises that will help me supposedly. It made my back start to ache just to listen to her.

Pam, I do enjoy your blog. You are so darned creative. I really enjoyed the pictures and post about your family. It has been a long time since I have seen chickens being fed that way and it brought back memories of my feeding chickens. The one thing about chickens that I will never forget is cleaning the coop. Now there is a job that every young person should get to experience.
Of course there is also the springtime when old hens must be butchered which means the chopping block, the bouncing bodies, the blood squirting all over the place, the boiling them in hot water so the feathers can be plucked and last but certainly not least, the taking care of the feathers so they can be used in pillows. Ugh and double UGH, UGH.

Foam why do you hide your beauty? You are a pretty lady.

Yesterday I treated Cheryl to her Mother's Day present which was dinner and a movie. Why yesterday you might ask? Because Sunday might not allow us to have the day to ourselves. We ate at the Texas Roadhouse (yum, yum but expensive) and watched the movie "Star Trek" since my wife is a trekky fan. It was pretty good and I will add it to our home library of movies. We came home so she could watch "Ghost Whisperer" ( I can't stand the show anymore it is so mushy gushy), and then watched the movie "Bedtime Stories". I am not an Adam Sandler fan of any kind but this movie was fairly good and we will add it to our home library as well.

Guess that is all the blarney for today. Oh, Sarah. I do read your emails but like everything else I don't make many comments. I am just a quiet, bashful, reserved, humble person full of Irish blood.

Have a nice day everyone.