SADLY THIS IS NOT THE SCENE THIS YEAR

There is no star jasmine this year. It is cut back to a few inches above it's roots. I am not even sure if we will even have a sprout this year. I am hopefully that the roots are not dead. The whole entire plant was encased in ice.  It makes me really sad not only that this gorgeous plant is missing from our deck railing but the aroma of that jasmine plant was so sweet and fragrant.  But we will move on, I have put our patio set in this spot and rearranged things on the deck as to take my mind off the jasmine plant.

You know our weather has been warmer and sunny or clouds and sun but we have had wind every day coming at us from the north bringing it's cold breath.  I am thankful for the sun but please Mr. North wind would you stop visiting us.

A report on my son Mike. He has been back in his hometown now for almost a month. He is fairly well settled into his home. Talk about happy he is flying high. Loves his property and his big shop and the climate and on and on. Sometimes where you grow up holds tight in your soul and it is hard to let go of even if you wanted to.  Mike has always had a soft spot for Central Oregon. He loves the pines and the way the wind makes that swishing sound as it moves through the branches and needles. He loves the dry air and cold nights and the deep blue sky days. He told me yesterday that we are going to love coming and staying there for a few days in summer. We will have our own little parking area being all cozy in our little trailer. Mike is setting up a horse shoe pit and we will have campfire at night. So I must admit we are looking so forward to that. I love campfire and staying up late and star gazing and he is right, in Central Oregon the stars seem so close you can reach up and touch them. Summers are wonderful there.

My daughter Gina will be moving in May. They are thrilled with the house as it is quite grand, but it is a neighborhood scene. Where they are now is quite country. Though there are houses around they have a huge lot which is totally private. There is a lot of wildlife chatter and critters abound.
I know how it is when we lived in Sherwood a suburb of Portland we had a very lovely house but everyone could see us from our back yard. I did not like that, we were in a fish bowl. 
Our  backyard now though small is very private. No one can see us, though I am sure at times they can hear us. But better seen than heard I think.

It was good to see Sarah last night and meet her fellow Michael.  Hubby and I are going to try and work it out to take them through our wine country while they are here. We will tour three or four wineries and I will pack a nice little lunch that we will eat at Sweet Cheeks Winery. The view there is incredible. We will have a bottle of their good wine to share.  I think it sounds like a perfect day and I think that Sarah and especially Michael will enjoy seeing that beautiful area.

Tonight we are grilling steaks. I went to the market and picked up chuck steaks this morning. As in days of old when budgeting we bought those steaks and marinated them all day. So that is what I did today. It is such a pretty day and will be a nice evening so grilling is perfect. To the side, coleslaw and bakers.

I am going to leave you now as I am tired. Though I got to bed at a decent hour it has been a busy weekend. Our company left about ten this morning after a breakfast of biscuits and gravy.
I have a busy office week this week. I am going to switch insurance companies for our vehicles and trailer. And need to get the taxes sent with a check....ugh.

Have a nice Sunday evening.