Had a wonderful weekend with Brian, Alison and Brandon, who drove from Sacramento to be here for T.More's memorial picnic on Saturday. They were here 19 days ago and it is amazing the changes in Brandon in such a short time. Here are a few of my favorite pictures I took this weekend.


Loves his new swing especially when you hold him by his feet and let go.
Brian will hang from their back yard tree.


Fingers are constantly in his mouth!



Helping dad and grandpa with the scalloped potatoes before going in the oven. Helps in the kitchen just like his dad used to do.

Tom More obituaries in the Needles Desert Star and local newspaper where Tom's sister, Mabel lives.

Happy 85th Birthday Dad !

Didn't get to spend much time at my folks. My knee got worse and I couldn't walk and the pain was pretty intense. So headed back to Needles on Wednesday and direct to Valley View ER. After bloodwork, IV's, CTscan and ultrasound of leg double checking for blood clots, received the same answer - arthritis and "here are more drugs to take".

My only sense of sanity was that I had an appointment the next day with my orthopedic doctor, Dr. Stamper, in Kingman. Chris called in the morning and they were able to get me in at 10:45 am. The doc took one look at me and then the knee and asked why the ER doctor's didn't drain my knee? They never mentioned this and frankly I would not have wanted to be the "pin cushion". Didn't take him long to prepare to drain the fluid off my knee. Extracted 60cc of liquid and blood and then gave me a cortisone shot. He said if this happens again to call the office and tell the girls that he said to get me in immediately. Have an appointment tomorrow at 9 am for possible re-draining. Bottom line is I am facing knee replacement.

More later!

Garden gifts for the back yard.

Left for Phoenix this morning to spend a couple of days with my folks. My dad's 85th birthday is March 24th so will be celebrating it early.





A yellow poppy just started growing in my folks front landscape.

Tom & Darque - 3/22/96 - Needles Peaks Posse Ride

Tom More – 11/9/19 to 3/4/09

Thomas More was born in Needles on November 9, 1919 at 811 Fourth Street. His parents, Richard John & Isabella were immigrants from Scotland. Richard worked water service for the Santa Fe Railroad. Tom was raised in West Los Angeles with his siblings, John, Annie & Mabel. Tom worked on ranches and then the Santa Fe Railroad for 43 years.

Tom raised homing pigeons at age 10 and continued that sport until 1983.

Tom married Corinne Crewe in 1950 and adopted her sons, John & Chris. Tom was an ardent hunter and fisherman and passed that sport on to his sons.

Tom & Corinne explored all of the surrounding desert and mountains by foot, horseback and jeep. He became a rockhound by going with Corinne and carrying the big loads.

Tom belonged to the Cerbat Mounted Posse, a Search and Rescue organization in Mohave County. He was a super rider.

After retirement from the railroad, Tom became a Brand Inspector for San Bernardino County for the desert area east of Barstow to the Colorado River, north to Nevada and south to Riverside County.

Tom’s favorite saying was “Life is So Uncertain, Eat Dessert First!”

“A picnic to remember Tom More” will be held at Catfish Paradise, Arizona on Saturday, March 28th at 1:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided. Please bring a side dish and chairs to sit in. RSVP – 760-326-5005 or 760-326-3713 by March 24th.

Chris was out of town today and I left to do an errand, which only took about 45 minutes. Obviously our 3 year old Labrador, Sasha, was rather busy in the short time I was gone! It was just too tempting not to dump over the dog food container.

Today we visited Sally at her home in Mohave Valley.

On Friday, Brian-Alison-Brandon drove down from Sacramento (Orangevale, CA) to be with family after the loss of his Brian's grandfather,Tom. He and Alison felt it was important to be here to support Brian's dad and granny. And what a joy knowing I would have time with my grandson, Brandon whom I haven't seen in a little over a month!

Brandon has changed so much - his grin is getting cuter, responds to your smile, garbling more with a little squeal sometimes, hands able to grasp more things, able to occupy himself with toys more and sleeping through the night.

Remembering

Composed by Bee & Dick Huff
Mt. Pass Mine, Nipton, CA

T MORE WAS THERE AHEAD OF US
NO MATTER WHERE WE WENT,
WE FOUND HIS NAME ON MANY ROCKS
WHEN WE ARRIVED ALL SPENT

WE FOUND HIS NAME IN CANYONS
AND ON A CABIN FLOOR,
WE FOUND HIS NAME ON LITTLE FLAGS
AS DOWN THE TRAIL WE TORE

WE FOUND HIS NAME ON LOFTY PEAKS
AS TO THE SKY WE TOILED,
WE FOUND HIS NAME ON WATER HOLES
WHEN WE ARRIVED PARBOILED

WE FOUND HIS NAME ON HANGING WALLS
IN LONG LOST MINES OF YORE,
AND WHEN WE LOOKED UP AT THE CLOUDS
BY GOD! THEY SPELLED T MORE

Farewell T More

Thomas More aka Tom More aka T More passed away today, March 4, 2009, at the age of 89. Tom was born in Needles, California on November 9, 1919 in a house on Fourth Street, behind the City of Needles Offices (the house is still there). He was always proud to say to anyone that he was born in Needles, California in 1919. And if you ever spelled his last name wrong - look out! "The name is M O R E, with one "O" and don't you forget it!" The Needles Desert Star found that out on numerous occasions when his last name was misspelled in the paper.



Tom's father, Richard, came over from Scotland and eventually found a job working on the railroad in Needles, California. He left is sweetheart, Isabella, behind in Scotland. When he was settled in Needles, he sent a letter to her asking for her to come to America and marry him. She wrote back that if he wanted to marry her, then he would have to come to Scotland and marry her there.....so he did. Way to go Isabella.



Tom was always famous for leaving his "tag mark" in places he and Corinne had hiked to from the highest peak to the deepest cave. I cannot begin to list the number of people who have said "we hiked up a mountain and found a cave or rock outcropping that we were sure no living person had ever been to and to their surprise, etched in the cave or a rock were the words "T More was here". Tom left these tags long before there was a Bureau of Land Management and once they were formed, they got on his case about what they considered defacing the environment. Any friend of T More can tell you that this was not defacing, this was his way of showing that he beat you there first!



Four months ago, Tom and Corinne were blessed with the birth of great-grandchild #4. Our son, Brian and daughter-in-law, Alison gave birth to a son who they named Brandon Thomas More, in short Brandon T More. Who knows, maybe someday Brandon and I will be hiking in the desert and come across a rock that is marked with "T More was here".



Tom taught this City Gal many things about the desert; hiking, climbing mountains to see what was on the other side, walking on old Indian trails, viewing Petroglyphs, and appreciation of the desert and what it has to offer and I will cherish every moment and memory I have.




T More I miss you but know you are up in the heavens climbing every mountain to see what is on the other side. I love you.

Your daughter-in-law, Anne

After almost 10 years waiting, Chris finally "got around" to painting our front coat closet. As the picture depicts, you can barely fit inside the closet. Needless to say, it took years of planning to accomplish this project. Gosh, now what can I find to "nag" Chris about??



Chris finished installing a cargo box on the back of the 5th wheel for the BBQ and satelite antenna equipment.



Chris installed two new porch light fixtures and will add two more on the front of the house - eventually! I'm going to cover the gold on the address sign with silver paint.