Christmas Letter 2009

Dear family & friends:

It has been a busy year for a retired person.  

In May, my sis and I went to England and France (just Paris) for two weeks; which, of course, was not long enough.  We did a literary tour of places we had read about or had seen on TV or in the movies.  My favorite event was evensong in Gloucester Cathedral. My favorite place was Paris, I suppose because I thought I would never get there.  

But the big event of the year was the arrival of my first grandchild, Leslie Marie Helbley.  I am in California for a year to help with Leslie while Jennifer teaches chemistry at La Sierra.  Kieth is working for a company that makes sensors--mainly for oil companies.  

Neal and Jenny are both working for La Sierra University.  Neal is interim network chief--not official work title--and Jenny is secretary for the art department.  She is enjoying talking Photoshop classes.

I drove my Mini out to California in June.  It has run flat tires so is a hard ride, but not uncomfortable.  I was able to stay overnight at my cousins in Grand Junction.  We had a very nice visit.  I wouldn't mind living in Grand Junction.  

There are not many Mini's out here.  California tends to buy Japanese.  I guess there would be more Mini's on the east coast. I try to buy local so I don't have to drive the freeways.  But Keith and Jennifer, and Neal and Jenny have taken me to IKEA.  Truly an experience.  Also have been to the San Diego Zoo.  

Christmas is strange without snow and cold......but I am not missing the zero weather back in South Dakota.  

I have started painting again and have managed to finish four acrylics of various sizes. 

Happy Christmas to everyone and a wonderful New Year.

Mini Cooper - how to fix broken car latch

if you are in the middle of the nation where there are no mini dealers, maybe you shouldn't have a mini, but if you know the right people--well then it is ok.
i thought i had broken the latch on the driver's side.  i foolishly tried to open lock and latch at same time and heard a terrible ratcheting sound.  i could open door by reaching my hand outside and pulling the latch, but not by the inside latch.   the fix! well, i drove to california (not just for this, but for an extended visit) and my engineer son-in-law volunteered to have a look see.

after removing the door, (many visits to internet) he discovered (internet also) that many minis have this problem.  the latch is not broken, but the cable has stretched.

following are pictures of his fix.

1. cutter and inside clicker part of mechanical pencil

2. cut piece

3. cutting piece to length to use a shim

4. cutting grove with hacksaw

5. shim in place on cable

now all that needs to be done is to put door in place.

getting armrest off was a bit of hassle - slightly different that the one shown on line.

YEAH!!!!!!!

around riverside

this summer i have been water walking in jennifer and keith's community pool.  i try to go early in the morning before there are a lot of people.  some mornings the air is cool, but after a few laps it is just fine.

now that jennifer is in school i watch leslie in the morning.  it is still too hot to go in the afternoon even though the kids are now in school.  i have been talking leslie for stroller rides around the neighborhood for her entertainment and my exercise.

grandbaby's weekend

four generations: 2-kaye, 4-leslie, 3-keith, 1-ellen




almost all the grandparents. grandfather & grandmother helbley; grandfather & step-grandmother lawson; and of course, leslie




dedication pastors with leslie & parents
la sierra church, california, september 5, 2009.

trying to get the roots right

there are versions of my attempt to get the bottom part of the picture correct. it looks better on here than it does in life. does it need a little bird in a nest, or squirrel or something a little cutesy? i started out trying to making in light and airy, but it turned out rather gloomy, rather like a old russian novel.
i think the roots in this one look a little awkward and not attached to the tree although the photograph is rather like this. sometimes it is hard to believe real life.


the background of trees and grass has lots of color but lacks vitality.

connections

I am in California for a while as nanny for my first grandchild. She is a cutie, but a great occupier of time as most babies are.

Therefor, I am learning new routes, new driving rules (motorcycles, for example, can drive in the space between lanes), new stores, and new faces.

My daughter does a lot of shopping at Food-4-Less, which I immediately figured out was part of Kroger (cans labeled Kroger!). I tried my scan tag which said King Soopers and it worked. I have now used the card in Colorado and California in the following Kroger stores: King Soopers, City Market, and Food-4-Less. I have seen Ralphs in California, but have not been inside...yet!

Libraries across the country must have very tight connections. When I got a new card in Belle, they would only let me check out two books. When I got a new card in Riverside, they would only let me check out 2 books!. They are centuries apart in technologies. The 2 book rule must go back to the dark ages.

In some ways our country is way too homogenized, probably impossible to stop considering tv, movies, social networking sites, and ease of travel. Every semi-large place has a McDonald's or two, Olive Garden, Starbucks, Target, Pizza Hut, etc. What I really like is to eat and shop at places that are really rooted in their place (like the Tattered Cover, McGuckin's Hardware, The Green Bean, The Wild Rose, and MONA{Museum of Nebraska Art}).

Even with all the connectedness, this sameness in our culture, there is not a greater understanding of the essential likeness of all of us.

end of spring, beginning of summer

bonfire in back yeard







leslie marie

contrary to what most school children believe, summer does not begin on the day school is dismissed for summer vacation. confusing, i know, but summer usually starts around june 21 or 22 on the summer solstice.

all the holidays in belle are mostly appropriated by sis's relatives and friends, so we thought we would have a summer solstice party. granted it is fairly close to the fourth, but it was the best candidate for a get together in the month of june. we decided to have a burning of old financial papers party in the back yard, so the party started at 8:30 and went till all the papers were turned to ash. it went well, with some people bringing a box or two. it is either burn the papers or shred them and the cheap shredders only take one or two sheets at a time.

after the solstice, a raced out to california to be with my daughter who was having a baby. the drive through south dakota, wyoming, and western colorado was great. utah and nevada ....well, not much to say. the worst though was the drive from las vegas to los angelos , especially since it was a sunday night. lots of dead and resting cars along the way to go with the slow and go traffic.

leslie marie was born on monday evening, june 30. since she was tiny, she has to be in the hospital till she gains a little weight, but she is working on that mightily. mom gets to come home earlier.

that is all the good news, and the really great news. the bad news is i had to put dennis my buddy cat asleep, and the other bad news .... i think there is something wrong with the brake on the front right of my mini. urgg.

you can't go home

top - port isaac, cornwall
middle - gloucester, england
bottom - edinburgh, scotland

in the early seventies, i was in edinburgh. i remember it being charming, sweet, and green. i remember going through the old part of town and taking a tour through holyrood castle (which was especially meaningful as i had just finished reading Mary, Queen of Scots, by Frazier).

this time it seem noisy, dirty, and uncharming. there may have been extenuating circumstances for this impression. one, all the streets downtown were torn apart and there was a lot of accompanying noise. two, we didn't visit the castle or the old part of town. three, we were rushed and did not have time to really spend time poking around in the little nooks and crannies. we stayed next to the zoo and did not even have time to visit.

i remember going back to the street i spent my high school years living on to find the house were i had lived. half of the houses on the block had been torn down including my old home. now i am fearful of going back to boulder and boulder county for all the changes i will find. the small funky town is no more.

if you live in a place the changes are gradual enough (even the startling changes) so you are not shocked. you grow into the new stuff. guess i will not be doing a schmidt trip!

on the other hand the visit to gloucester cathedral was wonderful. i had seen pictures in art books and have watched the Harry Potter movies that used the cathedral as background. but real life is always more. the fan ceilings of the hall was wonderful. i originally put it on my itinerary to cross off one of the items on my bucket list--to hear an organ in a gothic church. i scoured the guide books to find a church that had evensong and gloucester happened to be on our way to port isaac. i didn't quite hear a pipe organ--they were singing baroque music hence were accompanied by a small electric organ in a box. BUT....it turns out that the cathedral is famous for its singers. people come from all over to go to school in town so they can sing in the choir. all males, ages ranging from quite young to older. we were able to sit in the quire and the accoustics were all that i had expected. i was supprised that their were not more people there to listen (only about 10).

port isaac also turned out to be a pleasant experience. even though i had seen it on tv and in the movie Saving Grace, it was my first visit. it was a little touristy, but not spoiled like rye.

sometimes expectations can be totally crushed, sometimes altered as in the case of the organ (i didn't hear a pipe organ, but the singing was a great replacement), and sometimes it turns out just right. i would guess that if i were to go back to port isaac in a few years i would experience the same sense of dissapointment i felt when i visited edinburgh.

being old

my sis and i went to overseas for 2 weeks and when i came back i found my cat ill. he did not bond with the house sitter and was very weak and had fluid in his longs. he is an old cat. i guess the lesson is old things do not like changes very well. the older you get the less you like them.

my great aunt in her last years...she lived to be over a hundred...ate the same food for her meals everyday. she didn't want any changes. i notice that as i get older, my eating habits are less adventuresome. more and more foods do not settle well.

i had changed cat food, because science diet raised there prices every month...or so it seemed. i had been feeding the cats that since they were young. dennis did not like the new food. i had changed it just before i left. turned out not to be a good idea. had to change back to get him to eat.

the doctors told me ...when i was thinking about moving mom to nebraska... that very old people usually die within a short time after a move. she chose to move rather than stay in boulder where she knew where things were and were she had friends. withing six months she had passed away. she was 90.

so i am thinking that if i don't move soon...and it is not a good time to move....i will be in this house (which i like--just don't like the cold weather and am far away from kids) until i die. the question is, how old is too old to be thinking about moving around?

even though i am an older person, i planned the route for our overseas trip. my computer got quite the workout. i especially liked that i could plan and print out railroad schedules for our trips in england and france. i am old but not foolish. my sis and i decided it would be less frustrating to ride the trains rather than try to drive on the left side of the road. she made all the reservations and so we went and had a great time.

and even though i don't program or do all the things that young people do today on computers, i still try to do new things. my kids help me:)

girly girl

my grandniece was given the assignment to make an easter bunny collage at school. as you can see, she is a girly girl. her bunny has hair, hairband, earrings, necklace, eyelashes with a special touch on the tips of the eyelash, and a little blush on the cheeks. i especially like the fetching attitude of the bent ear! i don't know how my daughter will cope if she just happens to have a girly girl. i don't think there is much chance; but you never know. my grandniece sometimes comes over to visit and last time she had a bag the size of a small carryon filled with her makeup and her mother's old makeup. BUT, she plays a lot with legos. yeah!

good neighbors

sis and i gave it a try. we would go out, shovel; come in, rest; and repeat. but i could tell we were not making much progress toward getting out even though the snow pile was really getting tall. so i went down and asked the neighbor with his little four wheeler if he could help. and he did. we paid him brownies and some gas money. he was very nice. he said the city working all day (plus yesterday) would only have about an eighth of the city plowed. they don't have the equipment. i think the big highways are probably open. at least we are not trapped in our house anymore. ranch mart is open (so our neighbors tell us) so we could buy food if we need. sort of....ranch mart is a gas station store.

another fun little project

i decided i really couldn't afford a messenger bag, so i decided to make one. ha~ it may or may not work. will test it out in the next few weeks.

Not a care free place to be!

last year it was the rainy spring with flooding....serious flooding and water almost coming into our basement. this year it is a big, big blizzard and if the snow melts quickly; we might have water coming in our basement.

new skill

everyone else probably already new how to do this. but finally i had a new high score so i could try it out. i used keith's instructions plus putting it in photoshop and cropping it to get rid of extra stuff. so here it is....my new high score.

what was cyn thinking?

it was partly my fault ... we were looking for a movie to show the first through fourth graders. when you see disney you think...okay that will work. wall-e is a very good movie. but........... it is a little to sophisticated for first through fourth graders. actually now that i think about it, i think it is more for grown up types. so about one fourth of the kids wound up at my table drawing. sigh.

what was I thinking?

another day with the after school program. i try to think of things to do that are educational, take only a small amount of time, don't use a lot of materials, and that are fun. the one thing that i do that i shouldn't is forget the age of the students. i tried playing the word game where you make up definitions to words to use with the real definition in order to bluff your opponents. what was i thinking? i got questions like....we can't do that, we don't know the definition of the word! i tried to get them to make up a def before looking it up. sigh. some wrote sentences, some stared at their paper, i wrote some, and i will never do that again.

new high score

i am sure that people get lots higher scores, but i just need to record this for my sis to see.

bed making

i always get the pictures in the wrong order! i have trouble making my bed with clean sheets because of the 'great' help. dennis was under the top sheet and sam was poking him from the top. dennis is making his get away. but a few minutes later they were taking up space at the end of the bed as best buddies.

it doesn't matter where dennis is in the house; the minute a snap the sheet to spread it over the bed, he appears. it doesn't do much good to push him off the bed as he jumps up just in time to be covered by the sheet or blanket; then it is toes up with claws out. poor sheets.

superbowl party

well, it is over. my nephew always has a party at his house. he has a big tv etc. so everyone was cheering for the cardinals, therefore, just for fun i decided to cheer the steelers. never has my team ever won. maybe this time doesn't count either because i really wasn't that serious. the last big run by fitzgerald was impressive as was the last td catch by the steelers. the steeler bully act was uncalled for. all in all it was very entertaining. but i won't say anything about cheering for the steelers in this part of the country.

finished canyon

the canyon painting is finished....i think. am starting a new one since i have the paints out!

changes for the new year

when.....the sun is shining in the morning, our living room looks cozy. we have changed things around a bit. we decided we didn't like green. plus, we were trying to work out the best seating without making the space look small. so the little green love seat went to a new home. it blocked the room visually. then two new wicker chairs came which provided the same amount of seating, but took up less space visually and spatially.
sis's chair from nanny came back into the room. then we traded out my old striped green couch (dirty, grungy, and breaking down) for a new tannish couch (covered to keep it nice for company-hey, at least it is not covered in plastic!). i am trying to talk my sis into painting the wall in the kitchen dark blue. we are putting away the green stuff and looking around for blues and golds. we are turning very swedish!.

painting progress

i am finally getting around to working on the foreground. i put it off for a bit. there are a lot of bushes and grasses. i still have to work on the lower right hand corner, but i think it is working out. the brush is rather light and some is golden brownish color, but it can't be lighter than the rock with the sun on it. so am using devious methods to gray down the front and still have it be light. is that an oxymoron. it works though.