Grandma Sharon

This week daughter Lora 2 lost her mother-in-law, and son-in-law Cliff lost his mother.
She was also a Sharon. We had been friends/in-laws for a long time, close to 30 years. She was a pleasant little lady (not quite 5 feet tall).
My Shar met Sharon at Thanksgiving time. She looked healthy, though there was mention of a doctor's appointment. Our visit was short and now Grandma Sharon is gone. The end came much to quick.
She was a good mother and grandmother. Lora's children lost both of their grandmothers in a bit over a year. 
She will be missed by all of us.

I am asked about my work as a photographer. This picture was taken about 1968. It was pretty radical for the time. The young lady was a beauty queen in the town I had my studio. Clothes and hair styes change, but I still think it was a good portrait.

Odds?

Lady Shar and I have been married almost 110 years, just not to each other.
My first marriage went over 57 years and her was over 50. So we begin with a good bit of  experience. One of my friends sent a congratulations note with this line: “If this marriage lasts as long as your last one, you will be an old man.” Most of our past was very good.
We are both pretty set in our ways, pretty hard headed, maybe we even be called a bit stubborn. So, what are the chances of this marriage between two septuagenarians working long term? Of course it is too early to do much beside guess, but from this perspective, it seems that we have a pretty good shot at long term (there is that term again) happiness.
For one thing, though we are both fairly (or more) stubborn, we are also smart enough to know that most battles are just not worth the trouble. And we laugh a lot.
We are both more resilient than I might have thought. We both own houses and while neither is ideal for the two of us, we have both agreed that we could live happily in either, though we are keeping our eyes open for something even more suitable.
I hope that is a predictor of good times ahead.
So, while it is way to early to know for sure, we are off to a decent start.

Ever notice that when there is no water around that thirst is more intense. Well there isn't any acceptable sweet corn around right now, but it sure would taste good. I grew these in a garden a season or three back.

We live in her house.
My house is 25 miles away.
Neither is perfect for us, but either would work for us if we set our mind to it. But for now we have the luxury of thinking and planning.
So I was at my house making bread. I know I could bring the gear over here and make bread in this kitchen, but this house has more construction going on right now, and there is not a real good space for all of the gear I use to make bread.
That includes, but is not limited to: a grain mill for making flour; a big Kitchen Aid mixer, bread pans that are just the size I am used to; the 3 or 4 bins of the flour that I use; plus a bunch of things that I am used to using.
In other words, I am nuts to think I have to go to Caldwell, but I do and did.
So I had the bread made and the cake made (Christmas is Lady S's Birthday) and was ready to load up.
I looked outside and it was raining.
A few minutes later I grabbed a load of stuff and headed for the front door. There was 2 inches of snow on the ground and it was snowing hard. I loaded the car quickly. The bread was cool enough to fit into open ended bags.
The cake was right out of the oven, baked in an ancient 12" skillet. It was really hot. I put it in the top of a wood crate I made once.
The trip home was uneventful, though slow. On the freeway I drove in the fast lane screaming along at 25 to 40 mph.
Just another crazy day on the farm! 

This is us on our wedding day. We were (and are) happy. Note the white shirt!