1996

I look back on years like 1996 and realize just how fortunate I have been with my life.     Each life comes with some scars, and some bad memories, but there were so many years in my life that simply rolled along with one good event after another.     I loved living in our house in Kingsburg and spent some time each and every day in the pool, until it got too cold.     It was fun to share it with others and I especially enjoyed Sundays, when Debbie, Toby and  Blake always came from dinner and I enjoyed the pool with the kids.

We had one fun event early in the year when Uncle Cecil and Aunt Ruth came to town on a visit from Oklahoma.     Many of the Craig family gathered together in a buffet restaurant (Hometown Buffet I think) and it was fun to see some of the cousins we hadn't seen in a while.     This photo shows Bill and I with Katrina (how many of you remember her with her blond hair?).   

Dick and I did some more RVing, and we especially enjoyed one up the California and Oregon coast and on into Washington where we visited with Cousin Joe Topper and Rosalie.     We were lucky in being there the same time as Cousin Norma and husband Chuck and also Cousin Arva.

This was taken during this visit and I chuckle at this photo - you can how much weight I put on when I quit smoking.     I think I got even higher than this for a few more years.     Looking at Samantha behind us, I think she must have shared my meals!!!

Louise and I took off that summer, just the two of us and headed up the coast first and then ended up in Washington taking the ferry over to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

We stayed with Irene at her beautiful home in Duncan - some forty miles north of Victoria.

Andy was living with her at the time and the two of them took us on many great trips.     Duncan is known as the Totem Capital and there are numerous huge totems throughout the town:

We drove up the island to Nanaimo, and Qualicum Beach, stopping on the way at the town of Chemainus:

This was a very interesting little town.     Apparently it had quite a nice little tourist industry going, but when they put in the new highway it was bypassed and the town was all but dying.     Some enterprising souls came up with the idea of painting murals on all the walls throughout the town depicting the local history.     The paintings are quite remarkable and one can see them all in a nice stroll around the town following 'footsteps' on the walkway.     It became a major tourist attraction and the town was saved.

Of course had to visit Victoria itself and treated ourselves to 'afternoon tea' at the Empress Hotel.     The traditional English tea was served with scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam.    Louise, Andy and Irene all took a pass on the clotted cream, so I got the lot!!!!     Just love that stuff.   (see photo above with RV!).

Of course I had to show off Buchart Gardens to Louise before we left.     On the way we home we took the inland route, visiting with Joe and Rosalie, and then with Hazel and family.   In fact we had Louise's birthday party there.

Debbie, Blake and I spent a few days at the coast late that summer which was fun.     It was nice just to have quiet visiting time with her.

When I go through the albums triggering my memory on what happened in any particular year, I occasionally come across a photo that I had almost forgotten, but just love.     The following one of Dick is case in point.     I call it THE WORKING MAN.

1995

1995 was an eventful year and very pleasant.    We took a number of RV trips, starting with a long weekend in Palm Springs, and then a really enjoyable trip across country to Illinois and Kentucky and back.

We visited the Grand Canyon - Suzanne was working there at the time which added to the enjoyment.    No matter how many times I visit the Canyon, I am still left breathless at its splendor.   At the time of the turn of the millenium, they did a world survey of the 100 places people wanted to visit most - and Grand Canyon was number one on the list.     It's easy to see why.

A lot of this trip was spent chasing up locations of family history and the most exciting one was in Henry County, Missouri, where I was trying to find information on the Claiborne's (who married Sligar, who married Topper).     I had spent almost all day at the local genealogy library and it was growing close to closing time.    Patient Dick had spent the day driving around and just waiting for me!    I was just about to give up with little information found, when I saw a small slim handmade book, which turned out to be list of private cemetaries in the county.     One had the Claiborne name and it gave a rough outline of where it was located.     Dick and I went to the place and it was private land owned by the railroad and in the middle of it was a hill.     "I'll bet it's there" says Dick "they always buried their dead on the top of a hill."     So we climbed the fence (ignoring the no trespassing signs) and headed into the woods aiming for its highest point.     Sure enough we found it.    It is hard to explain the feeling one has when one makes these discoveries.     I guess you have to be the real history buff I am, but it was certainly the highlight of this trip for me:

We visited with Faye Baird in Kentucky.     She died shortly after this visit, so we were really glad to have made the trip.     She and her husband Mark had worked for us for a number of years, and we had always had a very close relationship and stayed in touch.     Mark had died a number of years earlier.  

We took another trip later in the year to Northern California and the coast (always my favorite) and visited with a number of Topper cousins at what was referred to as a Topper reunion.     The reunion was primarily for the descendents of Uncle Alfred and Aunt May (Alfred was one of Lee Topper's older brothers).     Both has passed at this point, but their children and their families had gathered in the Auburn area, a number of them living on Topper Lane. 

The biggest event of the year though has to have been the move we made to Kingsburg.     This was a typical example of the quick decisions Dick and I make.     We had not thought about leaving the vineyards at all, but one day one of the wealthy Indians (from India) stopped by and made an offer we couldn't refuse.     The Indians were in the process of buying up most of the vineyards around Caruthers where they had built a huge temple.     After a couple of weeks, when we were discussing where we would go and what we would do, Singh casually said that he would be leaving a 40 acre vineyard in Kingsburg to move to our house, and it had a very nice house on it.     Why didn't we stop by and take a look at it:

We pulled into the driveway, and before even going into the house we were sold!!    Dick and I have been fortunate to live in some pretty nice homes during our married life but none stacked up to this one.

It had beautiful landscaping front and back and a great pool which our family enjoyed along with us:

 
Becky and Kevin married this year and I especially like this photo of Becky with her new family (wish Kevin had been in this photo too!).

We have Matthew and Michael (his), Jessica (hers) and KJ (theirs)

A few months before we moved, a little dog used to follow our housekeeper Juana to work every day (they lived in a rental on the ranch).     One day he showed up with a broken leg and had been attacked by some other dogs.     We made a bed for him in the garage so he could heal better without the other neighborhood dogs harassing him.    I called him Pedro because of his connection with the Mexican family.     It was time to move, and Pedro never left our garage at this point.     I felt so sorry for him for his owners had never done anything about his broken leg and it simply hung there.     It was time to make the move and I just couldn't leave him, so discussed it with Juana and she seemed to be happy for us to take him.     So Pedro moved with us, rounding off our family to six animals at this time, Callie and Lena, the cats, and the dogs Samantha, Willie, Emma and Pedro:

The saga of Pedro continues though.     I took him to the local vet once we had made the move and they put a pin in his leg.     The vet said that the bone had actually separated two inches by this time, and it was imperative to keep Pedro as still as possible during its recovery.   No jumping up and down.    By this time Pedro had joined our inside family and had found the joys of sleeping on a chair!     But I made him a special bed, right next to the doggie door.     Next morning I found him on his chair and it was obvious that the pin had  moved.    Back to the vet.     We MUST keep him from jumping up and down.     We had a big tree in the yard giving lots of shade, so Dick built a pen around the base of the tree and we made up a nice bed and put down his food and water.    Next morning he's on his chair inside the house - and yes you guessed it.    The pin was moved again.  Somehow he had managed to climb the fend and jump down.
So now Dick puts a 'lid' on the fenced in area, leaving just a small area around the tree itself.    To get out this time he would have to climb up the side of the tree, go across the chicken wire and jump down.    We had him beat!    Right?   Ha Ha.     We didn't know this tough, stubborn little guy.     Next morning, back on his chair and the pin out again.     So the vet kept him, for six weeks, in a cage and he was only allowed out by being carried and monitored all the time.     From then on we always had Pedro with his little limp, but I sure loved that little dog.     I should add the story of this vet.     Think what he did - four settings of the pin in his leg, hospitalized and fed him for six weeks and the total bill was - wait for it - $375!!   Can you imagine what it would cost in this day and age - actually it would have been a lot more anywhere else in California at that time, but we had gone to the same vet for years with all our animals.     He had put Buddy and Duke to sleep, and as he "said, he fell in love with Pedro for his spunk and fortitude".  

1994

When I start to think what to write about on any particular year, I always start by going to my photograph album and reviewing the photos of that year.     When I looked through 1994, I recalled that it was on a trip to Northern California that Dick had medical problems which resulted in our finding out about his diabetes.     But in recalling that I realized that I had missed two huge events involving Dick's health in the prior years.     He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in late 1991 and it we were quite concerned about it.     We had noticed when we were in the Alps that he was having a terrible time handling the altitude, and when his strength and stamina continued to be bad at home, we learned about his condition.     But in 1993 he had a gallbladder attack which resulted in two weeks in the hospital, most of which was spent in ICU.     First he had a major pancreas infection so they had to delay the gallbladder surgery.    He was really ill, and the surgeon was juggling the gallbladder needing to come out with his pancreasitis which made it impossible to operate.     Finally they did the surgery and it was late one evening.    It was passed midnight when I finally left the hospital with Dick in recovery and the surgery declared a success, although it had required larger surgery than they had anticipated.     I was woken up about 5.30 the next morning to say that Dick was in ICU.     When I arrived, his blood pressure was 49 over 18 and they were pumping his lungs.     It was only by the alertness of the ICU nurse that he survived, as his heart failed.     Another week in ICU before he was able to come home.    

Less than a week after arriving home, he had a major sneeze one day and opened up his incision.     We rushed to the doctor at the hospital and he had to remove the stitches and open the wound (about 1-1/2 inch deep and some 10 inches long) all with me standing there!     Since I didn't pass out, he told me that I could take care of him at home and it would prevent his having to drive all the way from Caruthers to North Fresno twice a day to have it done at the hospital.     We can't remember how long it took to completely heal up from the inside out, but twice a day for quite a long time, I had to remove the dressings, open up the wound and clean it out, and put new dressings on.     Quite an experience.
Dick's faithful Samanth would sit on the bed by his side and supervise the whole thing!    She would probably have bitten me if I had made a mistake!!

Dick's strength was slow in coming back and we decided to make 1994 a slow moving year devoted to rest and relaxation.     We spent three months in the winter months at Twenty Nine Palms, California in an RV park with a golf course:

and taking numerous side trips.

Joshua National Forest

Lake Havasu and London Bridge.     This bridge was actually in London when I lived there and I have walked across it.

San Felipe, Baja California, just to name a few.   

Later in the year we went to Northern California

and Crater Lake, Oregon.

I don't know if I ever told you, but the first Christmas Dick and I spent together he took me home to Wales, but the second Christmas was spent in Santa Barbara.     We were out of work at the time and money was tight to say the least.     We didn't have the money to buy any worthwhile gifts, so made a big deal about making elaborate packaging.     We kept this tradition up for almost 35 years and the following is one of Dick's masterpieces (he always outdid me).

We had another addition to the family for a short time during this year - another drop off dog that we named Rusty.    Rusty had quite a personality and I think a real sense of mischief and humor.     He loved to follow me into the bedroom and when I was quiet and my eyes closed, he would take the blanket in his teeth and slowly but surely start pulling it off me.     All I had to do was open my eyes, and he would immediately drop it and look at me in total innocence!    Close my eyes and there came the tugs again.     Unfortunately he was hit by a car up the road from us and we only enjoyed his delightful personality for a few months.

Samantha was two years old when I brought her home from the pound and she lived to over 15.     Of all the photos I ever took of her, this is my favorite.