And of course there’s much to do for fun and much to do for tradition. I’ll be posting slides of my travels to Northern Europe in September. And perhaps I can round up my pictures from two trips to Hawaii — one last year and one in about 2014? Plus the new dog, outings with Will, and the ever present involvement with Eastrose UU. You can see their website at eastrose.org and enjoy the fruits of my labors there. Yes, Amateur with a capital A, I know.
Yep, a long time.
So much has happened. The biggest is the arrival of a guy named Will in my life, and then the dog Lucy. Combining households, camping, traveling to Africa again, and working as a volunteer at my church implementing the PowerChurch accounting system and entering 2015 and 2016 data.
Goals *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
1: make a market link on this website so you can see and buy the jewelry and art that I’ve got in my collection.
2: To make links to the groups I am part of now — Oregon Power and Light, Lyceum of Trees, Eastrose, and Nadaka Park.
3: To become adept at word press while I assist Eastrose in updating and keeping their website current.
4: CAMPING in my new Tin Tent! 
the bedroom . . .
The glow of new adventures is fading, but not gone. There’s been a paper bag floor at the house the church owns, the chart of accounts for the church finances, church personnel contracts, and getting ready to be church treasurer with a fully implemented finance program still about a month off.
The living room with the fireplace . . .
The paper bag floor —
it turned out B – E – A – U – T – I – F – U – L – !
It’s a tough project, that finance stuff. I hope by the next budget cycle (October, 2015) that the software will be smoothly functioning. I didn’t realize that membership, contributions, and a bunch of other data besides the money part will have to be set up in tandem. It is lots more fun to do other stuff than focus on the chart of accounts, but I DID promise to do it!
The hardest part is that this finance project feels just like my old job . . . I’m SUPPOSED to be retired, eh? And yet, I can work on it at my own pace and not worry so much about getting fired!
The great mosque in Djenne — the largest mud building in the world gets a new coat of mud this month. It takes the whole city to get it done!
Vieux at dinner.
We did our Timbuktu and Back worship service at the end of March. It was so well received that we’re doing a West African dinner and the show — in October — a fundraiser for the church. Talked to Mamadou today and they are spending the second Sunday in a row putting mud on the mosque in Djenne. It is great to keep in touch with the new friends from Mali. I got to meet Vieux Farka Toure on Monday night — he played a concert at the Melody Ballroom after he visited at the Ko-Falen dinner at the Queen of Sheba restaurant. Such an exciting evening.