GIS Butterfly: Passport to the Sky

First Passport

Breathe~ Deena Marie Orr has a passport; this is my first passport. I don't know where it will take me, but I am ready🌻

Last Weekend with my Friends

Ducks

Dog

Cat

Coffee and Music

My friends have been in the Emerald Islands for the past four weeks and I have been enjoying their place with my: Duck, Dog, Deena and Cat Team.

The week they left we had a forest fire scare. After the awful fires of 2018 that caused the displacement of thousands of people and the loss of many lives the California Fire First Responders were very careful. The fire was 10 miles away as the crow flies, but there are few roads out and really only one major road. I am staying near the Highway entrance (less than a mile). To open this main thoroughfare they closed the Community College and had an emergency evacuation of the Staff and Student Body. I had just returned to my house sitting "home" when my daughter, who drives a bus for the college, called to say that the college was evacuating and she would be taking the entire preschool staff and students from the college. I got a call from the son of the "home", who lives in Chico, to say that he would come up and watch the house through the fire, as the college is basically across the street and I did not sign up for "Fire protection". Meanwhile, my friends had just arrived in Ireland.

A neighbor had snuck in the back after the road was closed and told me that he would help me collect animals. The wind had double the fire from 300 acres to 600 acres in an hour and was headed our way. Then the wind switched direction with a near tornado force... the umbrella in the back yard taking off like a bamboo-copter. I had never seen anything like that! The umbrella was open and in a stand through the table one moment, then it rose into the sky like it had been twisted by giant hands and spun across the patio landing four feet away. The glass table tipped over, but did not break!

bamboo-copter

The "son of the home" stopped in to check on me just as the main road was reopened. The fire was contained within a few days. The smoke cleared in a few days and life went on.

A New Year

These same friends went on their first trip after retirement just a year ago. I began house sitting for them on September 11, 2018. In the past year I have spent over 4 months in their home with my: duck, dog, cat, chicken, fish and froggy family. I had two major skin conditions start here; one a serious insect attach and one may have been shingles. Neither were as a result from this house, but life in general. It was so great to spend a month here and not have any itches.

I have been visiting my apartment to prepare for Fall and moving home. My down stairs neighbors had politely mentioned that my bed squeaked so loud that they heard it below. My bed is a daybed with rusty old springs that were not too great on comfort. So, I spent one afternoon taking the bed apart and dumping the squeaky part. I then moved the old "Click Couch" into my bedroom as the base for my box-spring and mattress. Now there are clean sheets and a quieter, sturdier base awaiting me after work Wednesday night.

home sweet home

My Second Job

We have had a big change in staff at Pier1 this past couple of weeks. I'm excited about the new Manager and feel really great about the changes that the company has been making in the past couple of months. We spent over a month changing the local store layout per the Corporate Plan. Fall has come in and we have an event in a week to show off our new look and new management. I love our events, it is a party at my favorite store.

Since the click couch decided to move to the bedroom, I got a new chair for my living room. My landlady came up to be my first guest to sit in the Markus. That is one way to remember the furniture names, if I buy a piece 😂

A chair for my long legged guests

In the two years I have worked for Pier1 I hadn't gotten to create my own statement in the store until last weekend. The new manager had mentioned wanting to change out the dishes on display in the front and I asked if I could do the change. It was a lot of fun. I also got a 35 cent an hour raise this week. An extra $25 a month is better than a kick in the pants.

A new pillow that looks like Reba, my 3 legged dog friend

This is my Chas chair I purchased last Fall. Using velvet place-mats to protect the back and arms like Grandma did with doilies is a fun way to change the seasons. The cat was a P1 fall favorite that made a come back this year. The lab which resembles my buddy Reba is new this Fall.

New Bible Study

I started a new Bible Study at RCF this past Tuesday. My sweet friend, Virginia, who went to heaven on my birthday had been attending RCF for a while. We went to the first service on the occasion that her folks were out of town this past year. Before her passing it seemed God was telling me it was time to settle into a church home. It has been four years. An evening study once a week is doable. I have my reading chair all set and an alternate with my new left-handed desk. This was another Pier1 find that I repainted.