That’s what it’s been like around here this week. Lots of things going on. People coming. People going. Everyone is going somewhere except for me.

You see, Rick has been traveling since last Sunday. First to Cannes, France and now Bucharest, Romania. We’re separated by bad internet service and seven hours. By the time I get up his day is half over with. He’s eating out at nice restaurants and I am eating hot dogs.

We are in the midst of yet another remodel job: the upstairs guest bathroom. Every morning promptly at 7:30 Tim arrives, so I need to be up and showered, dogs and cats fed and scooped by the time he comes. This is not my normal routine. Sure, I get up because the dogs wake me up between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., but I usually sit around in my robe and check email before I shower for at least an hour.

I can’t really go anywhere while people are working in the house. I’ve had plumbers and electricians here this week plus the landscape person to look at some shrubs they planted last year that didn’t do well over the winter and need to be replaced. There are always questions to be answered and decisions to be made because things don’t always go exactly as planned. So I’ve been kind of stuck. Once they leave I scoot out to the grocery store and pick up whatever I need. Not exactly exciting or satisfying. I’m not really complaining. I know the end result of all this will be wonderful. It’s the getting to the wonderful part that is a bit painful.

Then there is the Johnny story. Before we left for vacation Rick mowed for the first time. He got too close to the edge of the flower bed and hit a rock that got sucked up into the shoot. We thought it was okay, but when I started to mow last week I didn’t get very far before I noticed an odd, hot smell and all of a sudden the deck was not cutting the grass anymore. When I looked underneath the mowing deck I could see a belt hanging down. Great. Rick pulled the deck off to see if he could fix it himself but the belt needed to be replaced. We called John Deere and made an appointment for them to come out and fix the belt and check Johnny out to make sure the rock had not done more damage that we couldn’t see.

In the meantime we really needed the grass to be cut since it had really grown in our absence. So, we called a local lawn service that we’ve used in the past and he was able to come right over that same day. Only problem was, while maneuvering in a a tight space in the back yard he bumped our brand new fence gate and broke the hinge! He promised to get us a new one.

The earliest that John Deere could come out was Friday. Johnny’s string of bad luck events continued since they had sent Justin (the repair person) out with the wrong belt. And Johnny’s blades had gotten nicked pretty good from the rock and needed sharpening. So he ended up taking the whole mowing deck with him. My grass continues to grow daily. sigh.

While he was here working on Johnny, the lawn service guy showed up with the hinges. So, I had Tim cutting tile right outside the front door, the John Deere guy in my driveway and the lawn service guy all at the same time. See? Three-ring circus!

This week will be even more hectic since the painter will be here too. And the pool is getting opened. And Johnny is due back. And they will be replacing the shrubs out front. And they start the remodel on the downstairs powder room. And Rick is due back mid-week (yeah!)

All these things are good things but they all require me to be here at the house. (Well, except for Rick, but how would he feel if I wasn’t here to welcome him home?)

So there you have it. Tomorrow I will be by myself for Memorial Day and I plan to BBQ myself a juicy hamburger, make a small portion of potato salad, and have an ear of white sweet corn. Hope you all have great things planned for the holiday!

It’s been nearly three years in the making. Waiting. Hoping. Three years ago I planted some heirloom iris plants given to me by Becky. They survived their first New Jersey winter only to be partially dug up by Bella. My, she was a bad little puppy!

They’ve been looking the same for the past two years now. They come up but that’s been about it. This year I noticed the plants were much bigger than they had been with a lot more foliage. I had hope. We had a gardener come in and trim back our flower beds and unfortunately he trod on another iris that I think may have been going to bloom this year too, but not now. Clod. Two of the remaining six iris have buds and this one was the first to pop this morning.

Since they got mixed up when Bella “transplanted” them (you need to follow the link above and read the story) I really don’t know which variety is planted where now. This one is either Silverado or Alabaster Unicorn. Both descriptions of the flower that I found did not help me much since either of them can be white-ish. My guess is Silverado. It’s a beautiful bright white with maybe tinges of blueish purple around the edges. It’s very delicate looking.

I could ask Becky what it is but unfortunately Becky doesn’t read my blog any more. Not only that but she took me off her blog roll. I was sad about that since I have no idea why she stopped reading and commenting. Her sister who used to read and comment stopped too. Maybe I did or said something to offend them? I don’t know. I kept commenting on her blog for a while but she never responded in kind or acknowledged my comments, so I stopped, assuming she did not want me commenting anymore.

Anyway, if Becky is out there and she does happen to see this blog post, Thank You Becky! What a wonderful gift. And please follow the other link above to read both my entry of receiving the gift of heirloom irises and the back story (linked) of Becky’s mother’s love affair with irises. It’s worth reading, trust me.

Now I can’t wait to see what color the other one in bud is! I really wanted Hot Dogs and Mustard to make it…

Stay tuned for more vacation blogging! Coming up next in the vacation series: Reserva Natural Volcán Mombacho; Walking the crater’s rim

While I am preparing the next rather large blog entry on our walk around the cloud forest, I am offering photos taken around the city mostly to show how colorful it is. Some of the color choices are interesting.

And to end this post, a couple of churches.

Antiguo Convento San Francisco

Iglesia Guadalupe

One of the tours we took was a late afternoon trip to see Volcán Masaya, an active volcano.  It’s the only volcano in the western hemisphere where you are able to drive right to its rim. At the entrance to the park we stopped to look at the lava field left by its big eruption in 1772.

Its latest eruptions have been in 2000, when it hurled huge boulders down on people and cars in the parking lot; and in both 2004 and 2008. The Spanish called it “the gates of hell” and and the local Chorotegas tribe called it “the mountain that burns” and made human sacrifices in the hope of averting an eruption.

After a short, steep climb the road led to the parking lot at the volcano’s rim.

These were a little scary.

Just in case you need to make a hasty exit! They say the volcano gives no prior warning, it just erupts when it feels like it. But, the volcano behaved itself for our visit. It was putting out a good bit of sulfurous gas and steam though. Such a big, deep gaping hole!

More parking lot warnings!

Next, we climbed the 184 steps to the top of the observation point.

The view was great from above!

We found two videos on YouTube that people had made in 2008 when it last erupted. One can be found here and the other here. Both are worth watching and I highly recommend you follow the link. The second video is funny because they are talking about whether or not the volcano is dormant or active when it erupts. In both videos the people are on top of the observation point and have to hurry down the 184 stairs to reach their vehicles in the parking lot.

Afterwards we watched the sun go down. Here in the far distance you can see the hazy outline of another volcano that is still active (in fact they harness the gas and steam to produce power), Momotombo. I just love saying that name. Momotombo. It’s hard to see, so I’ve outlined for you just in case. It’s never blown its top like Masaya has so it still has its classic conical shape. The cross in the foreground was erected by the Spanish Conquistadors as they begged for the Volcán Masaya to cease its eruptions in 1529.

After the sun went down we drove to another spot in the park and met with a park ranger. We donned helmets and flashlights and headed off down a path to a underground tunnel formed by lava streams. Lots of little fruit bats and very interesting rock formations. It seemed like we walked and walked down that dark tunnel before we reached a spot where visitors can not go beyond. Our ranger made us turn off our flashlights and take in the total darkness. Creepy. And not a place for people who don’t like bats since they whizz by, barely missing you. I don’t mind the bats.

The last and best stop on the tour was the viewing point on the opposite side of the crater from where we were before to look directly down into the crater and see red, glowing lava. It was a little scary since there was no guard rail. Nothing but two pieces of wood crossed over each other to stop you from falling. in. I got just close enough to the edge to see the red glow, but not too close. This crater opening was recently formed during its 2006 eruption and is located deep down in the crater and can only be seen at night. The volcano was putting out more gas and steam than it was when we visited the rim earlier and our ranger said that was a sure sign we’d be able to hear the magma exploding—and we did! It sounded like grumbling thunder, only coming from deep in the ground instead of the sky. It’s something neither one of us will ever forget.

Here is a link to a short video Rick made although it does not have the drama of the two videos linked above!

Side note added: If you want to see Part 2 of the first video of the volcano erupting as they drive down the road it is here. Trust me, this bus is going very fast down this steep road! Obviously the driver is thinking “get these tourists outta here—fast!”

I am taking a break from vacation posts today to share this.

Yesterday morning when I let the dogs out in the back yard at around 6:30 a.m. they started barking and looking towards the front yard. I looked out and didn’t see anything, but they kept barking for a while longer. (I can’t see all of the front of house from the windows that I looked out of.) I guess I should have known something was up but it’s been so long since we’ve seen any kind of bear activity. I didn’t think too much of it, or at least not enough to go outside and check.

A few hours later I went outside to let the plumber in the garage (we are in the middle of a bath remodel at the moment ... oh joy) and noticed one of the little trees that we planted last year was knocked over and smashed in. Take a look.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! My tree! What the $#@#? It’s supposed to look like the other tree in the photo seen here. I was almost in tears.

That’s when Tim (who is doing our remodel) said “bear.” Sure enough, there were the footprints in the mulch—big ones—leading up to the tree. We are thinking that the bear made himself a cozy bed and just curled up and slept there.

Why my tree? Those trees aren’t exactly cheap! Mr. Bear checked into the Hilton instead of the Motel 6. Thanks a bunch ...