Goodbye, Dearest Sister

My precious sister, Patricia, passed away last Wednesday, the 16th, at a little before 6:00 a.m., from stage 4 lung cancer.  It took her fast; she had only been diagnosed two weeks before.  This photo was taken in 2006, when she was 74, and she hadn't changed much during the intervening years. We were trying on tiaras in my studio, being silly (it's what we did best) and I'm so glad I took this photo. 

Bye for now, Sissy...I know we'll see each other again some day.

Sisters Are Gathering

Walking back from my studio a couple of nights after the Harvest Moon, the still-bright moonlight was suddenly obscured by a series of fast moving shadows.  Quickly lifting my camera, I managed to catch the last one of a magnificent procession of witches flying through the sky.  I heard their melodic laughter, slipping back faintly to me on the night breeze, and their words: "See you on Halloween, sister!"

Waiting for Rain

Sunday Sunsets and Sisters

I took this on November 4, 2009, out on the rim (Highway 18) at about the 3,000 foot level looking southeast towards Redlands.  It's hard to believe that under that orange haze there are millions of people living ... and breathing in that smoggy crud, my sister among them.  I used to bring her up here a lot, but I can't do that anymore because of a small stroke she had several years ago.  Her doctor said she can't have any signifigant changes in altitude.  Other than that though, it hasn't slowed her down much.  I'd drive down and visit her tonight, but she's out on a date.  Oh, did I mention she's in her 80's?  And, she needs a hearing aid but refuses to wear one because she says, "Who can look sexy wearing a hearing aid?" 

I hope I'm just like her if I'm lucky enough to live to her age!

I Hate Teeth

I wish my past week had been as tranquil as this photo looks.  Numerous trips up and down the hill getting my sister to doctor appointments and getting a nasty surprise while my sister and I were having lunch.  I started to bite into a sandwich and felt a very odd sensation in the front of my mouth.  I took the sandwich away from my mouth and there, stuck in the bread, was half of my tooth!  It had a crown on it; the entire crown came off but only part of my tooth was in it.  I was hoping the dentist could reattach it using some sort of dental super glue, or whatever they use, but no such luck.  I have to have oral surgery on the 20th of this month...YUCK.  Then I have to wait for at least four weeks for it to heal so he can put a bridge in, or whatever he's going to do to fix it.  I hate teeth, they just cause no end of trouble!

5th Annual Halloween Party - A Sisters Halloween

It's that time of year!  It's Vanessa Valencia's 5th annual Halloween blog party, and my first time participating in it.  Thank you so much, Vanessa, for hosting this.  To see the other parties, click the link at the top right of the sidebar.  (Left click on the photos to enlarge them).

I had a hard time deciding what piece of jewelry to wear...so I just piled all of it on!  I do so love moons.  Of course, my eldest sister, Patricia, will probably 'relieve' me of some of it when she arrives, ha!

Won't you come in?  Watch your step on the walkway, there are lots of spirits floating about.  Oh!  Is that the Great Pumpkin I see on top of the arbor?  Yes, yes, I think it is!

I have some goodies for us to nibble on... 

And some lovely goblets from which we can sip a delicious potion or two...(I couldn't find my Halloween 'Spider Venom' mugs, I can't imagine where they've gone off to...)

Look!  They have little images of our sisters flying on their brooms at the bottom (although I don't know why people insist on making witches look ugly...I've never ever seen an ugly one).  Ooh, and there are pumpkins and ghosts and even a little cat!

And an owl and a flying monkey.

Please, have some cookies and candy corn...

and cupcakes, too. 

This is Miss Georgia, don't you just love her red curls?  That's Miss Tabitha Twitchett behind her.  She's in a bad mood because she didn't want to sit holding the lantern for so long, so please excuse her expression.

Miss Georgia insisted on a close-up.  Well, who can blame her? 

Miss Georgia thought you might enjoy having your fortune told by her friend, Miss Fortuna.

Miss Fortuna is a very wise, kind witch with a wondrous gift of seeing the future...your future.  I'm sure she'll have something good to tell you!

Gloria (on the left) and Stella Bella (on the right) are waiting for us to get our hats and cloaks and fly up to my studio...they've heard my sister's party has started.

Of course, Merlin wants to go along, too! 

Just let me plop my hat on my head before the cats eat all the feathers. 

Edwina says sisters are flying in from all directions!

What a lovely lavender light Luna is glowing with tonight!

Oh, we'd better stop on the stairs to say hello to the Faeries that live in this forest.  We wouldn't want to hurt their feelings... 

Yep, my eldest sister is definitely here!

She made a pumpkin path for us.  She doesn't get that whole 'yellow brick road' song.  She likes to sing 'follow the orange pumpkin path.'  Yeah...I know. 

I just noticed, she managed to talk the trees into producing magical pumpkin fruit! 

Oh yum, it looks like she has caramel apples and chocolate cake and champagne!  Hey, there are my Halloween mugs.  No wonder I couldn't find them earlier.  And I think I see my Halloween plates, too.  Ahhh, sisters...but what would I do without her?

And both of us are..........

Filled with lots of good magic, wonderful amazements, and, of course, lots of candy!

Heat, Handsome Men, and Sisters

                                             (Image from Pinterest)
This just really summed up how I'm feeling today.  Hot weather wipes me out and I can't remember it ever being hotter up here than it is right now.  But, it could be worse.  Down in the San Bernardino valley where my sister lives it's 113 degrees F.  Thank God/dess her air conditioner is working.  She's over 80 years old and she just can't take the heat anymore.  (But don't tell her that; she'll probably verbally annihilate you and there might be some slapping involved, too.  I know this from experience).  I was down there today looking for a replacement air conditioner for the bedroom one but had no luck.  It seems everyone's air conditioner is broken!

I stopped by my sister's for some sweet tea before starting the drive back home and I'm so glad I did!  She was working in her garden and when I said, "Sissy, don't you think it's too hot for you to be out here?" she replied, "NO!  I swan, if you don't stop trying to..." and then she fainted!  I caught her before she hit the ground, thank goodness.  I called the Paramedics and they wanted to take her to the emergency room but she refused.  I was really worried, but when she started flirting with one of the Paramedics, a very buff, handsome young man (about SIXTY YEARS younger than her!) I knew she'd be just fine.  Me, I'm not so sure about.  Why?  Because, after they'd left and we'd both had several glasses of sweet tea, she looked at me thoughtfully and said, "You know, it's been quite a while since I've had that many handsome young men paying attention to me...I just may have to faint more often!"

Quirks

Love thou the rose, yet leave it on its stem ~ E.G. Bulwer-Lytton

To pick or not to pick? I choose not to pick flowers, except in very rare cases, while my sister feels that flowers aren't living up to their full potential unless they're stuck in a vase. And while I gratefully accept the bouquets that she usually has for me when I visit her, I always feel vaguely guilty.

Just a quirk, I guess.

Speaking of quirks, I wish Blogger would get its quirks and kinks worked out! My photos appear very blurry on this page, but when I left click to enlarge them they appear crisp and in focus (well, most of them...some are just blurry because of me!) And I can comment on some blogs, while on others Blogger requires me to sign in, accepts my sign-in, then still won't let me comment. Very strange...

A Mystery

Life With Sisters

My sister is steadily improving after her stroke and today I was able to take her out to lunch. She had to let me push her in a wheel chair, which annoyed her no end, but the home health nurse said it was that or there would be no outing. My sister said that being in a wheel chair would make her look like an old lady (she's nearly 80). The nurse replied matter-of-factly, "You are an old lady, you've had a stroke and you need to be careful for a while."

Now, my sister still refers to herself as middle-aged. I've pointed out that the phrase means being in the middle of life and I've never heard of anybody living to be 160, but I only said that to her once.

I almost ran for the door right then, but I just had to wait to see what my sister would say. (I was praying it wouldn't be "you're fired" because it took me forever to find this nurse, and she is a real gem). My sister leveled 'the look' (a freeze-the-blood-in-your-veins look that she inherited from our mother) at Shannon, who is in her thirties,blond and very pretty, and said in a sweet but deadly tone, "I had always suspected that you were Nurse Rachet masquerading as Barbie."

I held my breath, waiting for Shannon's reply. She leveled a look of her own at my sister and said, "That's right, Mrs. ---------- and don't you forget it."

Shannon and my sister just looked at each other for a moment. In that moment I was thinking how much I was going to hate looking for another nurse.

Then my sister burst out laughing and said, "Honey, don't you think it's time you called me by my first name?" Shannon laughed and said she would like that very much, and I started breathing again.

Sisters. Life is definitely better with them.

Most of the time.