WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THERE IS ONE SORT OF GRAPHIC PICTURE BELOW...PERSONALLY, I DON'T FIND IT BOTHERSOME AT ALL, BUT I KNOW THAT CORAL AND NICOLE MIGHT, SO I AM JUST LETTING THE 2 OF YOU KNOW.

These are the infamous 27 stitches....very uncommon in this sort of surgery, meaning there are usually much less. Also the TPN in Steven's neck, giving him all the nutrients etc. that he needs. The surgeon who assisted said that he has never seen such a mess in his life: tangles, knots, perforations, inflammations, scar tissue and infection. He said Steven was very lucky...any other surgeon would have done a colostomy without thinking twice, but Dr. Aleem, as far as we are concerned, is a genius, and he spent the time and effort to make sure that Steven would not have to have one. So here's hoping the recovery goes as well as the sugery did.

It's been awhile since I have posted, but as some of you know, Steven had a huge and major surgery a few days ago and he had been in the hospital for a week prior to that, so bewteen that and working, I have just had no spare time.

The surgery went well, he is slowly on the road to recovery although he will be in for another 10 days or so and then a careful recovery at home. 27 staples down the center of his chest and 2 (at least 2) bowel resections. But he is feeling good and anxious to get well to go to Montana for his November hunt.

Meanwhile, here are some pix of Shane and Chase, just how much sweeter can they be??

The noises of summer...birds, children laughing, pulveriszers and graders. The city has decided that the roads on our area need to be repaved (and they really do!) so they started their work today. First the pulverizer comes by and tears up the old asphalt and grinds it up to a dirt-like consistency, the note in our mailbox said: "You may notice some noise, vibration and dust." Do you THINK????

Then the grader rolls by and smooths it out and and then, theoretically, the asphalt people come and repave it with lovely, new, smooth asphalt.

Part One and Part Two are complete, so now we just wait for the pavers. Sadly, I think that they pour oil on it first to seal it, which means icky stuff on tires and feet. Steven will never have icky stuff on his tires, so I hope they do it on my days off...otherwise I'll have to walk ot take a taxi to work. (He takes such good care of his tires that he still have the original ones that came with his 1981 Landcruiser!) Nary an icky mark upon them...

What a wonderful day it was today. The weather was well on it's way to 35 C (yes! 35!!) when Shane suggested that we hop in the truck and take off to this sweet spot by the river. It's not even a 15 minute drive from our house, yet you may as well be 100 miles. We were on a gravel bar in the middle of the Wild Horse, in the picture of Steven under the umbrella you can just see part of the river behind the brim of his hat and then the other part in the lower left of the picture.There was no noise but the rushing of the water. The current was pretty strong, Shane would walk up 100 yards and lie on his back and the river would sweep him downstream. I found it too cold to go in past my knees, as did Gypsy, so we just dawdled in and out. The weather was perfect as their was a slight breeze coming through the trees and it just cooled the air enough to keep us from melting. It was relaxing and calm. We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful country (that always sounds so hokey, but really, it is so true) A day like today is a prime example of all you need to be happy...family and freedom. Who needs all that "stuff"? Not us!

Awww...friends

Such a beautiful picture.

Beauty & the Behemoth

I wanted to write something rather cerebral about the powers of nature, but, as they say: A picture is worth 1,000 words. The imbalances of Nature are shown in these pictures, how the wind can blow down this incredible stand of 3 trees, yet not bow the delicate head of this tiny bluebell.

This is the picture I wss trying to get in the post below.

Cripes...how revolting is a wasp nest? Steven just happened to be looking for a way to hang the hose and he spotted this under the sundeck....it just gives me the creeps. He painted under there last summer, so the little beasts have just built this this year. Oddly enough, we haven't seen a singlw wasp hanging around us as we eat, so they must be quite content under there. But alas...their home is no more...well, the inhabitants are no more. We sprayed with Raid ("we" meaning "he"...the dog and I ran inside) and then I Googled about wasp killing and they suggested some sort of brake cleaning fluid thing that comes in a spray can, and Steven just happened to have some, so he sprayed that into the nest also, and little dead wasps fell out of their home...hahaha, nasty little buggers...we gotcha!

My little "water-otter" heading off after a duck (see it to her upper left?)

Mmmmm....fresh Okanagan raspberries...just picked this morning and in my refrigerator already. Raspberries are so evocative of my childhood, when I was 7 we lived on Vancouver Island in a little town called Courtenay and our house was surrounded by raspberry bushes, and I'd pick them all day long, my little hands (and face!) would be stained by the juice by the time the sun went down. To this day, everytime I bite into a fresh raspberry and feel each little "capsule" burst in my mouth, I am instantly transported back to those lazy summer days.

Finally! It's all finished. First the wrong siding came, so that took forever to correct, and the fellow that was helping with the brick work was side-tracked, but now it's all done. It makes the house look HUGE!

A man and his dog...just enjoying nature and each other.