To join in the fun of sharing our morning over coffee, write your post, publish it, then head over to Part Time Monster and add your post’s URL to the Linky at the end of Diana’s post. It’s great fun to pop in and see what others are doing each weekend.
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If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that although it has been incredibly hot this week, it did cool down to the 60s over night so the house is relatively cool right now which means we can have our “coffee and convo” here where we can relax and listen to the birds chirping and a couple of my wind chimes as they let us know that there’s a slight breeze out there. It won’t last long so let’s chat!
It was a busy week. I normally watch my grandsons on Wednesday and Thursday (will be adding Fridays from now on) but on Monday my daughter went to have her car appraised at Carmax (where she used to work until March) so I stayed with the boys. The appraisal turned into a car purchase which takes a lot longer than the appraisal. That meant that she wasn’t home until the late afternoon and then we went for a drive on the new car so I ended up babysitting that day and it threw me off of my calendar as I kept thinking it was a day later than it was all week. The car is great though and she’ll be saving $70 a month on gas! That evening, we all went for a walk down the trail at the end of the mobile home park. It leads down to the Clackamas River. I’ve lived here for seven years and I had never gone down there. It’s an enjoyable walk (although the climb back up the hill on the way return is a bit strenuous) and it takes you right down to the river bank. It’s kind of a spooky trail though because no one goes back there although I hear the teens go there to get drunk and high. We did see remnants of a campfire, beer cans, and cigarettes so someone goes there!
I didn’t end up babysitting at all because the boys’ dad wasn’t feeling well this week (sinus pain and problems) so he stayed home and watched the boys. I always take them for a little bit anyway so this week we ran some errands and they came over here to my house. Anderson stays for a long time, overnight a lot of the times. Spencer just stays for a short while then we walk him home (in the stroller or he’ll have you running after him). He’s like a homing pigeon. Let him loose and he runs off where he wants to go. He can get from their house to mine without getting lost or confused and he will do it if you turn your back on him. He’s only two so that can be quite a problem as we found out last Saturday when he ran off while playing in the backyard at their house. His dad was sweeping the driveway. He took off (there is only a bush fence in the back) and ended up on the street behind their house and four doors down. They took him in and called 911. His dad had tracked him down by the time the sheriff arrived (they got here amazingly fast) so all was okay but he had to do some explaining. Then he had to explain to my daughter…that was the tougher of the explanations! I’ve since ordered a “child locator” alert for him. It will let us know (with a loud beep) when he gets more than the set footage away from us. It arrives in a couple of days.
I went to the Goodwill on one of those babysitiing-less days. It was the first time I had gone alone, without either of the boys, in a long time. I spent two hours in there. It was like a vacation. I found clothes for me and both of the boys and a few other things I’ve already put to use. Everything I bought was the half price color for the week then I got the senior discount on top of that! Yay!
Yesterday Anderson and I went for a hike. It was incredibly hot but I had promised and I don’t back down from promises, especially to children. I grabbed my hiking stick and off we went. We ended up at Mt. Talbert Nature Park where I’ve wanted to go exploring for some time. Every time we drive by the parking lot entrance, I wonder what it’s like up there. It’s a nature park right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I finally made it there. It was great! It was shady all the way up the hill and we only ran into about four or five other groups in all the time we were there. I stopped to talk to a young couple, tourists from France. Anderson was super. He didn’t want to stop. He led the way, stopping only when I asked him to (so I could catch my breath a couple of times).
We placed love rocks along the trail. Anderson loved doing that. We left about ten there and on the way back down the hill, about an hour and a half later, the rocks were all gone so someone(s) found them and carried them off (which is what is supposed to happen). He was so excited about the love rocks that when we got home he ran to the yard (we have tons of river rock) and picked out a bunch more rocks so we could make more love rocks. I now have about another 50 love rocks ready to go. He wants to go on another hike today!
Well, I’ve taken so much time and it is beginning to get warm in here. Grab another coffee if you’d like while I turn on the fans (no AC here) and put the wash in the dryer. I want to hear about your week. Your plans. How hot has it been where you’re at? Any travel plans? Are you in the U.S.? If so, what are you doing to celebrate Independence Day? It is so hot and dry here in Portland that conditions are not good for fireworks but you can bet there are plenty that won’t heed the warnings. Here in our mobile home park, the management has banned all fireworks from the property under threat of eviction should anyone set any off so hopefully people will listen and we’ll stay safe.
Until next time, have a wonderful week and if you get a chance, take a hike! 🙂
Happy Fourth to you! 🙂
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Happy
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Fourth to you! (Damned return button got in my way again!) 😔
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I hopes hat your 4th went well. I love those love rocks and the fact that someone loved them enough to pick them up so quickly.
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Your little coffee chat space sounds lovely!
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Yeah, people don’t heed bans and warnings here either. Beautiful picture of the River. I’m actually from Oregon, originally – born in Portland/raised (for most part) in Beaverton. Sounds like Spencer is quite a handful.
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Thank you for the coffee! I will take one to-go! It sounds like you had an absolutely wonderful week. That is crazy about your grandson running away. He is a natural born explorer! I have never heard of a child alert like that one. You will have to let us know if it works!
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A wonderful week to you and yours. Loved hearing about those love rocks.
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We had one of those locator alerts for my daughter when she was a tot, after she somehow managed to by pass a Church full of grown ups (I was busy making teas) and head off down the road to home. Thankfully, she didn’t go onto the road, and was tracked down and hugged back up the road to Church within minutes…but Oh my…the panic during those minutes…it might well have been hours! – I’m glad your little runaway was found safe and unharmed.
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I lived in Washington in the late 70s early 80s and I hiked there and in Oregon a few times. It’s beautiful country as confirmed by your pictures. Thanks for the memory jog.
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[…] a MeetUp group. It was our first time meeting that group. We went to the Mt.Talbert Nature Park where Anderson and I hiked in early July. It was a fun hike. We made it all the way to the top of the mountain this time! Well, […]
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