The Traveling Kiwi

By popular demand here are some photos of the Tipi and Cheyenne. Farmer Joe on his tractor and taking it easy after a hard day cutting grass.

Posted in Uncategorized

Just a few photos from Ori’s beautiful garden.

Posted in Uncategorized

Time for an update since we have a connection at last. I am weeks behind so I will try and add things in order. While we were at the Tipi in Wyoming Joe and I decided to go to Pine Bluffs on the border of Nebraska and only 15 miles up the road. There is nothing there, but we did find the place that gas pumps go to die. We also found a strange custom of dressing the dogs in pinafores and having them drag a purse along with them, or it could have just been one of the locals – we are not sure.

Posted in Uncategorized

We have settled in to the Tipi and enjoying the wild weather and the prairie.  Two Swainston Hawks have a nest in the tree behind the Tipi. You can hear the chicks but can’t see them through the foliage, but if you get up early enough you can see Mom and Dad out hunting. Joe has watched them swoop down and catch small rodents, but so far I have just seen them waiting on the fence line for the speeding trucks to scare up something for them.

Joe has been working on the airstream and I have been heading down to Fort Collins during the week to exchange some consulting work for Joes medical treatment. Its been lots of fun, I could almost be tempted to stay.

At night we watch the wild weather and are actually disappointed when we don’t get the thunderstorms or the strobe lightening shows. One night we saw this cloud and thought that Nebraska must have just been nuked.

Posted in Uncategorized

Monday we moved up to Ori and Kens tipi near Burns Wyoming. Set in the prairie you can see the weather coming for miles, incredible cloud formations, wind, hails storms, rain storms, lightening, sometimes it moves right by and sometimes stays  right overhead. There are Swanson falcons nesting with chicks and different birds that I have no idea as to what they are, a fox that visits at night and various rodents and reptiles that I would just as soon not get to know too well. The tipi is Ori and Kens summer home and houses his hot rod collection and now Joes bike. Joe is going to do a bit of work on the 1957 airstream that is in the process of being restored. We plan on being here for a week, no internet or TV so updates will be when we find a coffee shop with wifi. So far we have only found one in Cheyenne which is about 20 miles east.

Posted in Uncategorized

Owaissa is the bluebird from the song of Hiawatha, Ori and Ken invited us up to their family cabin in the mountains for 4th of July weekend so after we saw Jac we headed off to Indian Hills. What an amazing cabin, it was like stepping back into the 30s. This cabin was built by Ori’s grandparents in the late 1920’s and they stayed there for the first time July 4th, so it is a family tradition to go to the cabin on July 4th weekend.

The driveway was steep and narrow and a challenge to get hobbit home into – once Joe got it up there, we found it was way too steep for it to level out so we couldn’t set up. Owaissa is in such a lovely natural setting and peaceful except for the fireworks and thunder. The first night we saw mamma fox, a glorious blond with black feet and on the second night we saw the two kits with darker coats and black socks. There were squirrels, chipmunks, blue jays, chickadees, magpies and birds I couldn’t recognize and we could just sit on the back deck and watch them come down to feed. The chipmunk stuffed its cheeks with the peanuts and seed – Joe thought it had a thyroid condition. The blue jays bought their chicks and taught them to open the peanut shells. Owaissa is a special place with such a cosy welcoming ambiance and steeped in family history. There is a story behind every piece, from the hand built chimney to the old rocker and the art deco vase with its naked figures that for years was hidden under a pillowcase. Thank you Ori and Ken for sharing this with us.

Posted in Uncategorized

Well its finally time to say goodbye to the old girl, she has been in the family for over 30 years.  We really didn’t want to sell her but at least we feel like she is going to a good home along with some Jaguars and a french cousin in what will eventually be a small car museum in Snohomish. We hope we can visit and give an update once she is settled.

When we first realized we would have to sell Citronella we wrote an ad for her and I think it says everything about her.

My name is “Citronella”.  I am a 1955 Citroen Traction Avant.  I was born at a Citroen plant in Slough, England that produced cars for the British Colonies.  While I am a French girl at heart, I speak with an English accent.  That is why my steering wheel is on the wrong side.  I was delivered new in New Zealand and spent the first half of my life there.  Fiona discovered and adopted me into the family. Late in the 1970’s Fiona’s father David  imported me to the U.S. and I spent a number of years in  California hanging around with some hunky vintage American iron.  Later I was transported to Washington State where I currently enjoy the island life.  David repainted my body (original color) and re-upholstered my interior.  My running gear is all original.  I am now owned by another one of David’s daughters and while I have been lovingly cared for, the family is relocating and has decided to find me a good local home for my senior years.

I may be an old gal, not as fast as I once was and a bit saggy in spots, but look at my front bumper and headlights.  With a rack like that I attract more attention than girls half my age.

 So if you have room in your garage for an old girl with good bones and a great rack, give Kristina and Joe a call at 360-620-3346 and they can arrange the necessary adoption papers.

We took her for a last drive today and she

sputtered her way up the small rise on the way into town and we realized with all the funds we have sunk into her she is a beautiful car with lovely lines and in need of a completely rebuilt engine, something we know we will not be able to fund in the near future. So with sadness and many memories we say farewell and hope the next part of Citronellas journey will be a good one for her.

Posted in Uncategorized