Diane's Visit...06/30/11...52°

My niece Diane and I share many of the same likes and dislikes...While she popped in and out of our house over the past three days, we talked nonstop about gardens, food, sewing and families and friends...She had attended a school reunion in McCall, Idaho, so filled me in on the many people she visited with, that we both knew, while living in McCall, many years ago...I babysat her and her sisters when I was a teenager, so have a strong bond especially with the three older girls.

She the third girl in my brothers family of six girls, is an upbeat, fun loving person...a teacher of elementary, jr high, and some high school classes in Burns, Oregon, for the past 30 years...she exudes enthusiasm at every turn...I would have loved to have a teacher like her in my school days.

As a little girl she resembled me, but as she grows older, I see her mannerisms and build more like her mother.  Although the personality is totally different.  We had a great visit with her, know she will return, but her visits are too few and far between...Diane, we love you and thanks for coming to visit the "older folks".

Last nights meeting at Pat's, for Mule Days...It went well with new ideas passed around... Pat brings her knowledge on marketing and non profits and is a great addition to the "team"... We had a lovely dinner and wine, visited with Pat and Brian, toured their remodeled "cabin" then got down to the business at hand...Home about 10pm and crashed...~OWAV:)))

Patty's Plum is bloomin'...06/29/11...5am...cloudy

Patty's Plum

Two years ago I ordered, on special, two new Oriental Poppies, Patty's Plum and Pink Picotee...This year each of them have put on five buds...Yesterday it happened, Patty's Plum opened...It is absolutely breath taking!.. Photo doesn't do it justice...Now I anxiously await the Picotee...Poppies are one of my favorites plus the deer aren't attracted to them…I've also learned how to propagate them through root cuttings, as the hybrids don't come back true to seed…It is fun and easy!


I will have new peonies blooming this year for the first time…I await those with bated breath…This morning I've been looking at Iris collections from "Schreiner's Iris Gardens"…I have a spot for a new bed and they start shipping in July…


The ever changing garden...Now I understand why my Mother made the comment at age 85 after a day working in her garden..."Oh Della, if I was just ten years younger." (I would have wished for at least twenty.)  Now I'm the one wishing for the ten years younger as my knees don't like me kneeling on them and my back doesn't like bending over from the waist for any length of time...The more perennials that I can plant the less planting and bending I will have to do later...

French Lilac

Last but not least another favorite in my garden is the "French Lilac Tree"...This tree was old when we moved here thirty eight years ago, so I'm thinking it is now over sixty years old and still blooming...I have managed to get a start off of it and that start is now a good sizes bush, also blooming.  


Yesterday, niece Diane brought a friend from Seaside, Oregon to visit our gardens...She was amazed at all the perennials that I have and we spent an enjoyable afternoon walking around the yard, then sitting on the deck drinking a beer and visiting.


Tonight we have a Mule Days planning meeting here, so must get going, move water outside and clean house inside...~OWAV:)))

"Sorry"...60°

Have dentist appt this morning, maybe write when I get home...

"Diane arrived"...5am...51°...Sun/Clouds

Rhubarb custard pie

Warmer this morning, much better growing weather...down comforter is still on our bed and I'm not ready to exchange it for a lighter summer quilt...will wait for the temps to rise more.

Yesterday was a fun day, first spent making rhubarb custard pies, one very large, to share at the potluck and a smaller one for us to eat at home...AGAIN I forgot to take a photo, can you believe that?..Okay I just took photos's of the half gone pie and my bouquet of columbine.

Pat and Brian's BBQ was lots of fun (sun was shinning) with a wide variety of people from Wallowa, County, all friends made over the past year...BBQ and drinks were furnished and everyone brought a side dish to share...We met new people and enjoyed visiting with neighbors and friends...Thanks Brian and Pat.

Columbine, all colors.

Back home we relaxed on the deck, waiting for Diane to arrive...Visited, ate pie, visited more, and crashed way past our bedtime...Must get moving, a trip to soroptomists this morning, figure out dinner and talk some more...~OWAV:)))

Pie to make...06/26/11...47°...6am

Busy day ahead, have a rhubarb pie to make for a BBQ today...Niece Diane is arriving some time today to spend a day or two...will be so good to see her...~OWAV:)

CYBERSPACE

Defined by Wikipedia, as the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.

First we subscribed to an internet server, so a world of information was at our fingertips.  No more dusty tome’s in the library to page through and take notes.  Now all we have to do is google a subject, find the info we want, select print and with the clickity clack of the printer the information appears on our desk.

Next came email, messages flew through the air between computers, sorted out via an internet server.  Most messages found their recipients but some are forever lost in the giant cyberspace.  For me email was not always reliable, many times after sending a message I would pick up the trusty old telephone, place a call and inquire if my email had been received?  Something called “Forwards” found their way into the world of email and seemed to be a new way for many people to communicate.  It is possible to send words of wisdom, comic graphics, or political and religious propaganda to hundreds of people by hitting the return or enter key.  Photo’s could be sent to families of a newborn baby, a wedding, graduation or other special event.  We no longer had to take a photo, have it developed, address an envelope and send it by snail mail.  Every thing was instant.

My family used email but we still resorted to the telephone, because the sound of a loved ones voice can’t be replaced by the typed word.  I think only by going back to the hand written word in letter form would you get the warm loving feel of a real voice.

I seem to be getting off the subject here, so back to Cyberspace.  New venues have opened up, and now we have chats.  By opening up our chat line, my kids and I can send instant messages from one computer to the other, keying and sending, as fast as one can and a message pops up on the computer screen.  But are you ready for this?  We now have video chat.  Yes, now I open my chat line, click on the green camera icon wait for Bobi or Rusty to answer and they appear live on my screen, as I do on theirs.  Now we can chat, as if we were all in the same room.  See the expressions on each other face, look each other in the eye, all laugh at one time.  As yet, we can’t touch or smell the other person, makes you wonder if that will be possible someday.

It seems to be a communication world.  Now we have facebook, twitter, flikr, and probably many I’ve never heard of.  These are all cyberspace sites where you can connect with friends via live chats, posting a message on a wall, displaying photos for all the world to see or just for your friends or friends of friends.  It is extremely mind boggling.  I think some of it is good, some not so and find you can waste an extreme amount of time that could be spent on things that are much more productive.  But I do love chatting with my kids.

Writing my essay...06/25/11...41°...Sunny

Have been writing my essay since 4am this morning, I'm on page 7...now I have to go do roundup in the cold before the wind starts up...First page of essay "Whistlin' Joe".

Whistlin’ Joe

My father, Elmer Isaac Ashton born in Woodruff, Utah on May 14,1907 to George and Idella (Eastman) Ashton.  He, the fifth child in a family of seven, four girls and three boys.  In his lifetime he was a sheepherder, cowboy, coal miner, farmer, and logger.  More importantly, a husband, father, grandfather and a friend to all. 

 He was a happy little boy and learned to whistle at a young age.  His two uncles, Rawl and Marsh Eastman, nicknamed him “Whistlin’ Joe”.  His name became Joe Ashton and he signed Elmer only on legal documents.  Rawl and Marsh looked out for him and were more father figures, as his own father was sometimes mean to him.  He spoke highly of his mother and was devastated by her death when he was twelve.  She had been injured in a buggy accident and spent the last few years of her life in a wheelchair.  Even when in the wheelchair, she continued her job clerking at a small grocery store.  Daddy told the story, of how she could add up the bill in her head, faster than an adding machine, seldom making a mistake.  

At the age of ten Daddy took a summer job herding sheep, to help support the family.  He talked little about his childhood but I can imagine him trying to be brave, when inside he was a scared little boy.  Terrified at night with only a dog for company, he lay in the bunk, listening to the howl of coyotes and prayed that all the sheep in his care, would still be alive come the next morning.  
He always had fresh lamb at the sheep camp and prepared his own meals, usually a lamb stew or lamb fried, along with potatoes and gravy and biscuits.  He not only learned how to care for animals and brave the world alone he also learned the rudiments of cooking.   When I was fourteen he patiently taught me how to make gravy.  After he had fried the lamb chops he carefully poured out some of the grease, scraped the browned bits off the bottom and edges of the fry pan.  Then he had me sprinkle flour into the grease with one hand, while stirring continually with the other.  When the flour and grease started to thicken we added milk and kept stirring, adding more milk, until soon we had a fry pan full of delicious milk gravy to cover biscuits, baking in the oven.  A few years later as a new bride I didn’t know much about cooking, but I could make milk gravy.  

"Lewiston with Pat"

06/24/11...6am...41°...Sunny...Roundup this morning...

Pat and I left shortly after 8am yesterday bound for Costco, located in Clarkston Washington...  I almost always say we are going to Lewiston, Idaho, because it use to be that all of the major businesses were in Lewiston...But now Costco and Walmart are in WA... Nice for us because by showing and recording the number on our Oregon drivers license we don't have to pay the sales tax on everything we buy...Food is exempt under WA law...We still pay tax on alcohol and any food consumed on the premises...Anyway Pat was on a mission, buying supplies for the BBQ that she and Brian are hosting, at Wallowa Lake in celebration of the completion of the remodel on their "Cabin".

Pat and I met as volunteers at "Mule Days" last September and found that we enjoy doing some of the same things and have a good time while we are together...Pat was driving Brian's pickup this morning and we enjoyed our drive through forests and hills, with wildflowers blooming profusely...We spent almost two hours in Costco, filling a "flat cart" with all the heavy stuff, and then finish up with the smaller carts...Shared a lunch of a chicken roll and ice cream on a stick, dipped in chocolate and nuts...Yummy!..A stop at Walmart and Joann's and we retraced our route and arrived back in Joseph about 4pm..

I regrouped, did scrabble, visited with Herb about his day, threw a salad together, picked up my neighbor Shirley and went to our sorority meeting...Enjoyed a potluck supper, finished up our meeting at 9pm and home to crash after a long day. ~OWAV:)

FOOT BRIDGE TO BARTON HEIGHTS

Barton Heights Footbridge

A small mill once sat beside the Wallowa River not far below the Wallowa Lake dam.  I imagine they milled lumber for some of the surrounding houses and barns.  Above the river in the early 1900’s one to five acre parcels were sold and Joseph’s first subdivision was formed with houses soon to follow.  With surplus lumber a footbridge was built from the mill spanning both the irrigation ditch and the river to a trail leading to Barton Heights.  By using this bridge the people had fast and easy access to the town of Joseph.

       Jumping ahead many years to 1973, the year we arrived in Joseph, the bridge still standing and usable was in a state of disrepair.  Our children walked over it every morning on their way to school.  Now, what was left of the old millpond was a frog pond where our son spent many hours with his new friends catching frogs.  A perfect playground for little boys. 

       We worried about the rickety bridge, but until we received a letter from Joseph City didn’t really think about doing anything about it.  It seems that because the bridge joined our land to the city we were responsible for it and had to do something about it.  After talking with our neighbors we decided to attend a city council meeting and stressed the importance of the bridge, not only for our convenience but the historical side of it as well.  They agreed to let us use a CETA crew for the labor and the lumber was donated by Monschke’s mill.  Down came the old bridge with the high span and two new lower bridges one over the river and the other over the ditch, were built.  Everyone on Barton Heights agreed to help with the upkeep and we used the bridge for the next twenty years.

       Walking to work in the early morning hours the bridge became a special place for me.  I loved to stand on it listening to the leaves rustle in the breeze, the water rushing beneath my feet.  Maybe a squirrel or a bird would bid me good morning as the sun brightened my path.

       But things started changing on and near the bridge, parts of the railing were pulling off and sometimes it would get vandalized.  It was harder and harder to keep it repaired so it would be safe.  When I walked home from work there were signs along the river of small campfires, cigarette butts, beer cans and garbage.  I started carrying a bag to pick up the litter on my way home from work.  We put up no trespassing signs but they did no good.  It wasn’t the same place and I started walking by way of the road. It seemed inevitable that this bridge also would have to come down.  After shedding many tears I talked to the city officials.  They volunteered to tear the bridge down and burn the lumber. So now the road is the only way to Main Street.  I can take the trail down to the river where it is again quiet and peaceful without any garbage strewn about and I know that tearing down the bridge was the right thing to do although it still brings a tear to my eye.

06/22/11...8pm...75°...Thunder Storms

Rusty and his favorite mule

Today Rusty celebrates his 46th birthday...He is at home in Bend after spending 2 weeks with us here in Joseph...We kept him busy with all the Honey Do's or as he calls them Herb Don'ts...Some of them anyway.

Rusty 

We went out Zumwalt way, with Becky and John twice to get wood... cut down some almost dead trees in the yard and one that was too close to the garage...Rusty got to go hiking and horseback riding with John a couple of times...We cooked lots of dinners and ask people to join us... Played dueling computers, he perusing Craig's list and I doing my scrabble games...Checked out a few yard sales and visited with the new mule baby every few days...Rusty is always great company and we love that he comes home often.

Talked to him on the phone yesterday and looks like the job in China isn't going to happen so he may have more time off than he thought...Looks like New Jersey will start maybe in September.

Guess that is all for tonight, we had thunder and lightning, little rain, lots of wind this evening...I did some roundup this morning early, then Herb and I did some house cleaning... Spent all afternoon on the deck reading until the wind drove us inside...we've had two glorious days in a row and now the daylight starts getting shorter...

I'm going to Lewiston with a friend tomorrow, so will probably be back on Friday... Hugs to all~OWAV:)))

OWAV:)...06/21/11...5am...46°...Sunny

The weather is taking a turn, warmer days and sunshine appear on the horizon...Yesterday, Rusty left early for Bend and Herb and I kept our appointments to have blood work done...We both take lipitor to lower our cholesterol and recently changed to a generic, so needed to have follow-up blood work...Also my thyroid was a little out of whack, so that had to be readjusted.

I went to book group where four of us discussed the book "The Help", interesting book and I recommend it as a good read!..Came home and got engrossed in a memoir called "Blackbird", Jennifer Lauck, very interesting, but strange, really makes me feel lucky when I compare childhoods...

Talked to Bobi and Cienna on chat, they are busy needle felting and getting bags and cosy's ready for the craft fair this Saturday.

Must get busy and fix something to take for lunch at write group today and figure out what I'm going to read..~OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/20/11...5am...42°...Sunny

A few warm days are in the forecast!!.Yahooooooo...Herb and I are scheduled for blood work at the clinic this morning at 7:15am...So I'm sitting here drinking hot water instead of coffee...Yuk!

Rusty is leaving for his home in Bend this morning after a two week visit...He helped us on two wood hauling excursions, went on a couple of trips with John and yesterday cut down the two small dead trees in our yard and a quaking aspen that could possibly cause damage to our garage floor...chipped all the limbs to add to the chip pile.

Father's Day yesterday, BBQ a steak for dinner, with baked potatoes...made a rhubarb custard pie to go with it.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

6 cups cut rhubarb           3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar              1/4 cup cream 

3 tbls flour                      1 tsp nutmeg

                   

Mix sugar and flour add beaten eggs, cream and nutmeg...pour over rhubarb in a large bowl, stir well and put in an unbaked pie crust...You can add a top crust or lately I have been just using the pieces that are leftover from the bottom crust and placing them on top of the filling...or you can make a crumb crust using flour, oatmeal and sugar for the top...Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, cover top with aluminum foil and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes... This is a yummy pie and one of our family favorites.  Sorry I forgot to get a picture!!!

flowering crab

allium

So will add a few photo's of what is blooming in the yard...~OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/19/11...5am...43°...Foggy/possible rain

Up early working on my assignment...have decided to work on Daddy's story, broadening the picture, adding half scenes, dialog(maybe) and hopefully work it into a 15 page document?

So today I looked back in my collection of stories and will post this memory of a trip to Portland, a few years ago.

Fun Fun Fun

Last weekend I had a chance to catch a ride to Portland & spend the weekend with my daughter Bobi and granddaughter Cienna.  We, Pam and Becky Frolander and myself, left Wallowa County early Friday morning, they were going to visit with family and friends in the Willamette Valley.  It was an enjoyable trip with us talking and laughing all the way.  We arrived in Portland around 2:00 and met Bobi & Cienna at the Phoenix Inn where the three of us were going to have a girls weekend.

Bobi had asked if I wanted to do anything special & I said no just hang out with my favorite girls and do what they usually did.  So from the motel we went to their house and put dinner in the oven so it would be ready when Stan (husband and dad) got home from work & we got home from Cienna’s violin lesson.  The violin lesson was very entertaining but rather exhausting for me as I found myself trying to help them hit the right notes using body language, similar to watching a kids wrestling match.  Cienna’s violin teacher has soooo much patience and has been a music teacher for years.  Lesson over and  back to their house for dinner.  A shepards pie is ready to come out of the oven so along with hot bread and a salad we have a wonderful dinner.  Then it’s back to the motel where we grab a warm cookie as we go through the lobby, take a quick swim in the pool and back up to our room.  Bobi and I have a glass of wine, read cookbooks & Cienna puts together a puzzle that I got for 25 cents at soroptimists.   The next morning we are up, showered, have complementary breakfast and go to Ciennas archery class.  That is pretty boring compared to the violin lesson.  Next on the agenda is a matinee and Cienna has invited a friend to go with her.  For the next two hours we munch on Popcorn, candy bars & soft drinks and watch Kung Foo Panda.  It is rather entertaining.  Next we go to a book sale at the local library and leave there with a big box of books, more cook books, kids books and also some books for Christmas gifts.  Now back to Bobi’s house to put the finishing touches on the stir fry that we are having for dinner.  After dinner Cienna practices her violin and we head back to the motel for a swim & hot tub before an early night to bed because we have to be at the Tigard Farmers Market at 7:00 in the morning.  Bobi is the assistant manager of the market so has to help with set up and make sure all the vendors have a spot and they are ready to open by 9:00.  Cienna has some jobs that she does each week so I help her and just watch all of the preparation.  They have about 50 booths, everything from flower bouquets, breads and pastrys and crafts, to every kind of fruit and vegetable that is now in season.  It is very cold and we have to keep moving to stay warm.  Market opens at 9:00 and the people began to stream by with bags and carts as they make their purchases.  Market closes at 2:00 and we are home by 3:00 and I take everyone out for burgers and beer at the Macminimam’s pub.  Next morning we walk Cienna to the bus stop and Bobi and I go to Washington Square where we meet Becky and Pam, have lunch and we are on our way home by 1:00.   

Have a Happy Farther's day to all fathers...~OWAV:) 

OWAV:)...06/18/11...6am...50°...Sun/Clouds

Much warmer overnight but today brings less sunshine and the threat of rain...As I drove in our driveway yesterday the overwhelming scent of lilac's filled the air...finally blooming by the middle of June...Most years, they, along with the peonies bloomed in time for Memorial Day.

We have a wren building her nest in one of our birdhouses, Rusty watched yesterday, as first she spent the morning cleaning the birdhouse and the afternoon carrying in new materials...then she starts this years cycle of laying, hatching and feeding her new babies, until finally she coaxes them out of the nest and lets them fly away...We enjoy listening to her song as she performs this ritual.

John and Becky

John, Becky and Pam joined us for a dinner last night as Rusty showed us how he uses chopsticks (no forks allowed) to eat meatballs and rice with peanut sauce and pot stickers dipped in soy sauce...Also the sounds of slurping noodle soup filled the room as we snagged noodles and vegetables floating in a bowl of broth, then tipped the bowl and drank what was left...Beer and wine were the drinks of choice, no sake for us... ~OWAV:)

Rusty and Pam

                                  

OWAV:)...06/17/11...5am...45°...Sunny

Morning is sunny and the promise of a nice day...Meeting friend Pat at a yard sale this morning...then on to Arrowhead Farms to pick some fresh greens...Home to start preparing a chopstick dinner for Rusty's early birthday celebration...We are having Chicken Meatballs in peanut sauce over rice (Bobi's recipe, wish you were here!)...Pot stickers and maybe a noodle soup like Rusty had in Vietnam, so he can teach us how to eat soup with chopsticks and slurp noodles...With a few glasses of wine it should be a fun evening...

Rusty is quite sore after his horseback excursion with John but says it wasn't because of the horseback ride, but the hike downhill, because it was too steep to ride the horse!!!If you want the full story am sure he would be glad to share it with you sometime...

Diane, you can sample my lemon pie anytime, just let me know...Here is the recipe just in case you want to practice and maybe you can teach me how to make meringue!

Lemon Meringue Pie                                                                

Not my pie but I come close.

5 cups water               7 egg yolks (beaten)  

2 1/2 cups sugar          1 cup lemon juice       

3/4 cup cornstarch       Grated lemon peel (Lots)

          

Mix sugar & cornstarch together add to water and cook until thick. Add some of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, stir well, then add this mixture to hot pudding, cook about  5 more minutes. Add lemon juice and lemon peel... Pour into two 10" baked pie shells. (Bobi and Cienna made this pudding and served it in cream puffs, it was a hit in their neighborhood.) 

Never Fail Meringue

2 tbls cornstarch             1 cup water

few grains salt                7 egg whites          

12 tbls sugar

                                       

To prepare meringue: Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, water in small pan. Stirring constantly, cook until thick and clear. Cool. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add salt and contiue beating while pouring cooled sugar mixture over. Continue beating 5 min. Cover pie, sealing edges at crust. Bake at 350 for 20 min.  (Note*  I've started cooking the corn starch, sugar and water in the micro-wave works really well, stir about every minute.  2 large pies 

This recipe was perfected by Idella and mother Blanche about 20 years ago...It is less sweet than the original and makes 2 large pies with lots of filling...I still have problems with the meringue but Rusty and Herb say I just need more practice...

That's all for today, hugs to all ~OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/16/11...5am...40°...Foggy, Sunny

Yesterday Herb and I worked outside, he setting up our summer watering system, and I planting the rest of the garden...The temperature was over 50°, sun shinning and looked like a perfect day...A cold breeze blowing off the snow covered Wallowa Mountains insured that we kept our heavy shirts on and didn't stay too long in one place...Finally, shortly after noon we finished our work and came inside to the warmth of the electric heater...I fixed cream of tomato soup (using roasted tomatoes, from the freezer) and grilled cheese sandwiches for our dinner...Perfect cold weather food...

Our watering system consists of two small electric pumps that connect to a 2" water line that syphons out of the small irrigation ditch running in front of our house...With the pumps boosting the pressure we can run two sprinklers and have our flower gardens and lawn watered in no time...I use gravity feed most of the time on the vegetable garden, using a series of 10 foot pvc pipes that, many years ago Herb drilled small holes in and made a "drip" system...It works well, giving everything a good soaking...With all of the rain we've had, you might wonder why we are watering...it dries out fast with the cold breeze...

I'm working on a writing assignment for our Memoir teacher and have to have 15 pages to send her by June 30th and for the next 6 months...So I will fill in the blog maybe with excerpts from my writing project or just stories I've written in the past.. OWAV:)

Much-Loved Story

This story is about my son, Rusty, when he returned from a four-month stay in New Jersey where he had been working for a construction company.  On his return trip to Bend OR where his home is he often takes the southern route and stops to visit his aunt and uncle in Oklahoma.  He loves to stop there because he can talk “cars” with his Uncle Jim and his Aunt Bobbie is a wonderful cook and she always fixes some of his favorite meals. 

On this particular trip he decided to swing by Joseph and visit with us.  I also spoil him by fixing his favorite foods and I was making lemon meringue pie when he arrived at our house.  After he greeted me with a big hug, he said “Aunt Bobbie made lemon meringue pie while I was at their house”, and I said, “Well I’m sure you will eat it again won’t you?”  “Sure” he said, “you know I will”.  That night we ate our supper and for dessert I cut and served the pie.  As he was savoring the first bite I saw his eyes start to twinkle and because I know my son I knew what he was going to say.  He said, “Aunt Bobbie’s lemon pie is better than yours, Mom”.  I replied, “you don’t have to eat it you know and I probably won’t be making you another lemon pie.”  But my eyes were also twinkling and I knew that he was pulling my leg and he knew that I would always make lemon pie for him.  We will probably never know, nor care, who makes the best lemon pie, my sister or me.

    

OWAV:)...06/15/11...5am...45°...Sunny, few clouds

Up early this morning to see Rusty off on a two day adventure checking trails with John... Rusty has never spent much time on a horse so this will test his balance and hanging on skills!!!

I spent most of yesterday with the "write group" as we drove the north highway to Flora, enjoying the scenery and wildlife along the way...we spent the day sharing stories and lunch at Cathy Putnams' secluded home nestled among the trees..

In the early 80's her husband Dan bought this property and started a tree farm...During the winter months Dan lives and teaches, coming home for long weekends, at the Idaho school for the Blind in Lewiston, Idaho...Cathy spends the winter in this cold, snowy country with her cats and chickens for company...Last winter while shooing an aggressive rooster off of the porch, she fell and broke her shoulder...She has just had a partial shoulder replacement and will spend most of the summer recuperating...It was a lovely day spent in a beautiful setting with friends.

I arrived home and joined Herb in the sunshine on our deck!..a first for this season...We read and enjoyed the warmth until late in the evening...We had a late dinner of roast pork, gravy, mashed potatoes and salad when Rusty got home about 7pm..Words not coming easy today, maybe more later...OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/14/11...4am...41°...Sunny

As I type the date I realize it is my sister Barbara's birthday...82 years old today...Bobbie as we always called her was 13 the year I was born...She more like a mom to me, was my favorite sister.

A few years ago I asked her why that was?..She told me that our mom was very sick after I was born...I was her 6th full term pregnancy, don't know how many miscarries along the way...Common in those days...She was 32 and had been married at 16, divorced, remarried, lost a 2 1/2 year old son...husband injured in a mining accident...in the midst of the great depression...moved to a different town...almost died when pregnant with me when she had an emergency hemorrhoid operation...then a most difficult birth when I was born...and a hysterectomy shortly after my birth...No wonder she was sick...Bobbie took over the mother role and cared for me and the household for the next 3 years until she married and had her own son.

Sister Bobbie

Bobbie today, is still the sister with a bubbly personality and when we are together entertains us with her many stories...she can keep us in stitches for hours retelling stories about the many crazy people she has worked with or had for neighbors and friends ...She worked many years as a waitress, store clerk and food supervisor in a nursing home... Always working with people and always adding to her repertoire of stories...She and her husband Jim, live their retirement years in McAlister, Oklahoma, a lakeside paradise in tornado alley...Bobbie always adding beauty to the world, has transformed this acreage, from an untamed brush patch, littered with garbage, to a garden alive with blooms...Just ten years ago when she ran out of space to plant any new gardens, she decided to dig a pond in an old driveway...Armed with pick and shovel, she in her early 70's started digging...always the thrifty one, she didn't buy a pond kit but made her own out of recycled materials, she added a pump to the pond...Her husband Jim made a birdhouse so as they sit by the new pond in the cool of an evening, they are entertained by birds building a nest and starting a family...Soon an unexpected visitor in the form of a "cottonmouth snake" appeared...Bobbie rigged a hot wire, low to the ground, around the pond and the snake learned to keep its distance..

She is a friend and "grandmother" to neighboring children, always ready with food if someone is sick...an animal lover, she always has pets...dogs, cats, and one time adopted a nest of abandoned magpies, feeding them first with an eye dropper then soggy dog food until they were old enough to eat the dry stuff...How lucky I was to have her for my second mother...OWAV:) 

OWAV:)...06/13/11...10am...50°...Rain, foggy

John, Becky, Della, Herb and Tate

After a day of getting wood, I slept late and am having trouble moving this morning...My neck and back are really stiff and sore...The job of getting wood is for younger people!..I love being out in the woods and enjoy the ride out, looking for deer, elk and coyotes... The Zumwalt prairie is beautiful this time of year, so green from all the rain and the abundant wildflowers in full bloom.

Actually I like getting wood, the smells of the forest and fresh cut trees...My Dad taught me to split wood with a maul and wedges when I was about 10 years old...As to most young children, chopping wood with an axe looked like fun to me...Daddy got tired of me constantly nagging at him to teach me to use an axe...he took the safer route with a double headed maul and wedges...He took me out to the wood pile and set me up with several rounds of a wood log and patiently demonstrated how to start the wedge in the wood, then lifting the maul higher, pounding the wedge farther into the wood, until it broke in half...I spent many hours pounding wedges into wood rounds and after I had all the wedges stuck, Daddy would come and split the wood for me and I would start over again...To this day I love splitting wood, and once I get started hate to stop until I'm wringing wet with sweat and totally exhausted...But this year I am so out of shape, that today I am paying for what little splitting I did yesterday.

John, Becky, Rusty, Herb and Tate 

John had some trees spotted, so we drove right to the spot and spent all day in that one  place...John suits up, (chaps, wedges, axe, hard hat, ear plugs) he picks up his saw and climbs the bank to  the trees...Becky makes Tate (Johns dog) wait with us until John has the trees on the ground... As she says, "Okay Tate" he is off like a shot, straight for John, barking and yipping...then Herb and Rusty limb and the trees are "snaked" with cables onto the road and into the shade so Becky can mark the log into wood length sections...then the crescendo begins as all three guys, start their chain saws...Becky and I visit until they have some of the logs cut into rounds and then we, with our ear plugs in, 6# mauls and wedges, start banging away making the rounds into loadable pieces, it is hard work for us...Soon the guys are finished sawing and they take over the mauls and make the job of splitting look easy...Herb and Becky start loading a trailer and I gather dried moss and twigs to start a fire...Rusty joins me as he loves to build fires as much as I do and soon we have a blaze going... As the blaze dies down and the larger pieces turn to charcoal, I arrange the dutch oven that is full of home made burritos over top of the coals...Place a few hot coals on top of the lid and leave lunch to heat on its own...An hour later we have two cords of wood loaded and we are ready for lunch...Everyone grabs a plate, and a foil wrapped burrito, salsa and sour cream are added to the hot burritos...pickles, chips and watermelon finish out the meal with chocolate bars for dessert.

Tagging the load

Lunch is over, I clean everything up and with help from Rusty and Herb everything is again loaded into the truck...John has two more logs ready to go and the saws start again...An hour later wood is loaded and tagged and we are ready to start home...By 4pm the wood is unload and stacked...everyone is ready for a hot shower and a light supper before we climb into bed...My day started at 4am and I'm in bed by 8pm!

OWAV:)...06/11/11...4am...43°...Sunny

Weather is warming a bit, a few nice days are forecast...Certainly improves my outlook.

Just Married

Might be fun to write about our wedding day in retrospect...It was an unusually warm Saturday, June 10, 1961 in McCall, Idaho...Wedding at 2pm with reception (cake and punch) following in the Community Church basement.. All my family came home for the wedding..
Steve and Loraine came from Utah, with eight children, George, Stephanie, Melvin, Vickie, Jody, Mona, Blanche and Joel... Bobbie and son Alan, from California... George and Marlene with Susan, Pode, Diane, and Rhonda, lived in McCall and Mona and Jerry with James, from the Boise Valley.

Our wedding had been several months in the planning...I looking at bridal magazines, visiting shops full of wedding gowns in Boise...all seemed out of reach price-wise...but I was getting ideas...Aunt Carrie, who had been making my dresses for years,

With our Parents

would be making my wedding dress...Mom, Daddy and I made a trip to Twin Falls, so Aunt Carrie could help choose material...While looking at different designs, we found a dress, that matched what I wanted and cost $50.00...decision made that even in those days the dress couldn't be made for much less than that and much less stress, since I lived in McCall and Aunt Carrie lived in Twin Falls...We picked out material and pattern for bridesmaid dresses, which the bridesmaids would make themselves... along with white heels, they now would all have matching outfits...No one worried much about hairdo's or manicures in those days, everyone took care of their own and looked their best on the big day...Lists were made and invitations mailed to family and out of town friends...Local friends were invited by putting an invitation in the local paper, "The Payette Lake Star"...Friends of our family's planned a wedding shower...Since most of Herb's family lived back east we received many gifts and checks via the mail...

Herb's friends Lee McDougal and Lynn Robinson (my cousin) were Groomsmen and George Ashton (my brother) was his Best Man...Herb wore his Dad's suit (that he was married in) and the guys wore, "probably" the only suit they owned.

Idella and Attendents

My sister Barbara was my matron of honor and sister's Loraine and Mona were in charge of the gifts and refreshments at the reception...I had toyed with the idea of having flower girls and a ring bearer, but decided with so many nephews and nieces, I couldn't pick just one or two so opted to have none...I remember them at the wedding... Girls hair curled, decorated with flowers all in dresses and boys hair slicked back, wearing starched white shirts and new levi's...

Friends of our families took over the planning of the reception, with the cake being made by friends and given as a wedding gift... Flowers were ordered,

Daddy and I

church decorated...I think the total budget was in the neighborhood of $200.00... Rehearsal the night before had its funny moments, when Daddy and I practiced our walk down the aisle... He couldn't quite get the hang of the "step-slide-step" and called it the "goose step", so after several tries we just settled on a simple slow walk down the aisle...Herbs parents hosted a birthday party for Herb's 24th birthday afterwards, for all that could attend.

A little lighter in those days.

Saturday June 10th dawned bright and clear...as I've said before, it was a bitter-sweet day...  family snapshots were taken,everyone with smiles, so we would have good memories of this special day...but all knowing that it would be our last family gathering...
Daddy walked me down the aisle and he and Mom gave me, their last daughter, Idella in marriage to Herb Allen...We honeymooned overnight in Boise, Idaho...Sunday night back in McCall, our first night in the apartment we had rented for the summer...I was up early the next morning fixing breakfast and packing a lunch for my new husband as he left for work, as he would, for the next 34 years...OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/10/11...5am...46°...Sunny

After fifty years of marriage to the same guy, I should be able to write something profound and give sage advice to all my younger friends...But since I don't feel quite as old as I am...there will be no advice or profound statements...other than I think we both deserve a "Gold Medal"...I'm going to enjoy the day planting and weeding, puttering and muttering in my garden...Wishing all of you a good day and hope you have as many blessing as I...OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/09/11...5am...40°...Sunny

Fresh snow on the mountain, this 9th day of June...sunshine in the valley...I'm remembering a time fifty years ago...Today is Herbs 74th birthday...Herb said this morning that he doesn't feel a day older---than 104...aches and pains included.

How did he or we, get this old?..seems like it happened all at once...We were young, then all of a sudden we are senior citizens...hair changing colors, arthritis setting in, wrinkles take over, skin sags, cholesterol goes up, our step loses it's spring, takes at least three minutes to move after standing or sitting...all of these these things cause our blood pressure to rise..How did this happen?..was it when we became Mom and Dad, retired, became Oma and Papa...Why, is it still a young person that looks into the mirror, but an old person stares back, mimicking our every move, shadowing our every step...invading our very being...

Consolations...Love from two fine grown up children, who spend time with us on a regular basis... asking what can we do to help?...lightening our load whenever possible...always giving back...one granddaughter bringing joy, love and laughter into our lives...Oh and don't forget, all of the senior discounts awaiting us...all we have to do is spend your inheritance to qualify.

Our "We 3" writing group got off to a good start...We now have a schedule and a goal... Write, Write, Right!!.for the next six months...then reevaluate.

Daylight is burning, so I better get moving while the sun is shining...Still have a load of manure to unload, the "Guys" say, "You wanted the manure, now you unload it"...I still have garden to plant and more flowers to get into pots...OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/08/11...5am...40°...Socked in...

The sun is supposed to come out sometime today...right now it is cold and damp looking out there...I have Pat and Amy coming to my house today for a meeting to decide on our goals for the "correspondence course" that Katey has offered us...We will write 15 pages a month, send them to her to critique, then back to us...will try this for six months and see how or if it works...

Yesterday I spent most of the day sitting with heat packs on my jaw and face after the crown prep...hate the way the deadening feels...I have a bruise spot on my cheek, maybe from the rubber dam that is used...I was in the dentist chair for 1 1/2 hours...the procedure was more complicated than at first glance...Jaw is still swollen this morning but feels better...guess I'll live.

Rusty got us moving yesterday afternoon and we went mushroom hunting...found lots of mushrooms but had to sort over and clean carefully as they are starting to attract bugs and worms...I get really squeamish when this happens...

 I made a macaroni salad yesterday and Rusty did BBQ chicken for dinner...now have to think of something for dinner today...Must head for the shower and clean house before the meeting today...OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/07/11...5am...49°...RAIN...

Greeting at the back door.

I'm so tempted to tell the rain to go away, but the last time I did that it turned to snow... Maybe I should just say, please don't snow...Sure am glad that our house is above the river.. More rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

After our breakfast yesterday (last of the morels☹) I said, "Why don't we go get Llama Poop?"..My guys were willing so with shovels and rakes loaded in the trailer, we headed to Debbie's and Tim's for our annual load of my secret ingredient for the garden...Since Rusty is with us he takes over Herbs job of running the John Deere loader and Herb and I shovel and rake...Of course they both disagree with that and said I held up the shovel and talked to Debbie, while they did all the work...Llamas are tidy animals and have designated toilet spots...Debbie points out several large piles and Rusty follows with the loader...An hour later, the trailer is full and a light sprinkle of rain has started, before we arrived home it was pouring down in buckets full...Herb backed the trailer load of manure under the carport, where it still sits this morning waiting for a dry spell to get it unloaded... We started getting llama manure about eight years ago, first shoveling it by hand into the trailer...We didn't get near as big a load in those days...

Apple tree, 40 years old.

We had leftovers for dinner and the rain let up in the afternoon, so I planted more of the annuals in pots for the deck and front porch...went out to see the baby mule...he now has little braces on his front legs so the tendons will stretch and it will be easier for him to walk...He didn't cooperate when I tried getting photos, just kept hiding behind his mom... came home, took some photos of the yard and called it a day...The rain has made it so lush!

Must go I have a date with the dentist at 8am for a crown prep...Oh Joy...OWAV:) 

OWAV:)...06/06/11...6:30am...50°...Cloudy

I slept late this morning and am having a hard time "gettin goin"...No scrabble game waiting for me so just drinking coffee and thinking about what I need to do today...Rusty has been up since 4:30 when he got a phone call from the east coast, saying that the company tool container had been broken into...He had packed and sealed the container when he left Maryland...After several phone calls, it sounds like everything was still sealed and nothing seems to be missing...He was really worried that he would have to fly back and inventory everything and miss his trip into Jim Creek...That is his real vacation away from the working world.

Yesterday was a beautiful sun filled day...Herb and Rusty were up early unloading wood from the day before and I planting potatoes and cabbage starts...Debbie and Tim brought a bummer calf to put in our little pasture instead of the usual rams and llama...The calf lasted about 2 hours before jumping the fence looking for companionship...The minute I heard my neighbor yelling Herb, Idella...I knew the calf was out and headed for her flowerbeds... Rusty gets a rope on the calf, she is broke to lead and back into the pasture...I call Debbie... Rusty "baby sits" the calf until two rams arrive to take its place.

 I have sauerkraut and sausages simmering in the oven for dinner...We spend a few minutes on the deck before the clouds roll in, looking like rain..eat dinner, then I try to help Rusty kill the last of his pigs (on the computer game "Angry Birds")...We chat with Bobi and Cienna, catching up on life in Portland...It got hot overnight there and humid.

I smell morels cooking for breakfast and Herb announces that the eggs are in the pan...Are we spoiled or what?..OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/05/11...5am...50°...Sunny

Wallowa Mountains

Where to start??.Left yesterday morning at 7am headed

Becky, Rusty and Herb

north/east through the Zumwalt Prairie and first stop at Buck Horn Lookout...The view from here is incredible...a first for me is to look back and see the looming, Wallowa Mountains still totally covered in snow... Balsam root is the only wild flower showing a bloom, due to the late spring...I imagine that with a few day of sun the Prairie will be alive with color...Wood is hard to find these days but finally John starts falling trees, I get a fire going and the "guys work up the logs"... Pot of chili is simmering in the dutch oven, loaf of bread warming, while the first cord is being split and loaded...We all fill our plates and enjoy lunch while soaking up the warm rays of sunlight...Now back to work, falling, sawing, splitting and loading...Becky and Tate take a walk and come back with morels...a side benefit of getting wood...Finally we are loaded and headed for home...We stop to tag our two cords of wood and visit with other Wallowa County neighbors who also are out on this fine day getting wood and mushrooms...On the way out Rusty spots several small herds of elk grazing in the sun...At home we park the vehicles and decide to wait until morning to unload...

Elk Herd

Rusty prepares salmon for dinner, first coating it with sour cream and mayo, adds dill, garlic and onion slices while I fix a rice pilaf and a side of asparagus...John and Becky arrive and with glasses of wine in hand waiting for the salmon to come off the grill...we replay the events of the day...Another hard days work, a fine meal with friends, the day comes to an end and our bed is going to feel really good tonight!..OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/03/11...5am...37°...Cloudy/Sunny

Fresh snow on the mountains, but sun is peaking through and supposed to be warmer today, tomorrow, maybe even Sunday...Could we be so lucky?

I'm going to start a batch of bread today, plant the planter boxes on the deck, maybe the garden will be dried out enough by Sunday to plant potatoes and squash etc...If I'm still alive after getting wood...I roasted soup bones and oxtail yesterday, with celery and onions...should make a good base for a hearty soup served with fry bread this afternoon...

Herb and I went to Enterprise yesterday in hopes that the weather would clear enough to sit in the car and listen to the first music performance of the season...The temperature hovered around 50° and breezy...still threatening rain so they moved it to Stage One...We decided to come home as we prefer the outside venue and will go again next week...Weather so bad that only three booths were set up for the Farmers Market...Spring in Wallowa County...OH JOY!

My friend Marion stopped by yesterday to pick up a pound of asparagus...She had time, so we visited as we walked through the garden...Marion is 88 years young...still a strikingly beautiful lady, both inside and out...Recently she has been going through chemo treatments... putting on a brave front and staying active...She is admired by many of her younger friends, me included...She loves gardening, cooking, and playing cards with her wide circle of friends...Always the first to volunteer when a job needs to be done.

I must get started on my day, bathroom to clean, food to fix for tomorrows wood gathering...I'm always in charge of the lunch, that way I don't have to work so hard doing the wood...I can build a fire and pretend that I'm working on lunch...even if it is tuna sandwiches...Hope the sun is shinning in your world today... OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/02/11...6am...40°...Raining..

Awoke at 2am, very warm, to the sound of rain...got up opened the window wider and removed the small quilt from the bottom of our bed..back to sleep until 6am...raining harder and is supposed to continue off and on the rest of the day...chat from Rusty, in answer to my pleading voice of "Please can you come on Friday as John has a wood getting "party" set for Saturday"...Of course he said NO, but I caught a glimpse of the twinkle in his eye that really meant YES...He will go to friend Dave's, today, spend the night, catch and bring live stewing hens to our house, will kill, pluck, clean and freeze on Friday afternoon...They will make wonderful chicken and noodles on a cold, rainy day...

The smell of mushrooms cooking is strong as Herb cooks his bounty from yesterday...He picked a small batch while I was playing in Walla Walla...We are supposed to get warmer weather for the next few days so the mushrooms will grow again by Sunday..we hope...

Lovely Asparagus

Pat and I had a great trip yesterday, The 2 1/2 hour drive, first through the Minam Canyon with the Wallowa River almost to flood stage...Contrasting green of the fields and trees as we arrived in Elgin... from there going over the Blue Mountains, snow banks lining the highway as we reached the 5000 foot level...then dropping to the WW Valley floor of 1000 feet and the patchwork quilt of sprouting grain and freshly tilled fields...then acres and acres of vineyards in the distance...multi million dollar home also "sprouting" on the horizon...we spent two hours, soaking up the warm sunshine, at the nursery, while choosing grasses for Pat's new garden, then quickly scanned the hundreds of perennials growing in huge greenhouses... Then on our way to meet my friend LeaAnn for lunch...LeaAnn had made reservations at Brassier 4, one of her favorite places...following her suggestions we had special "French" fries along with garden salads and topped it off with a rustic ham, mushroom and cheese pizza... definitely a gourmet lunch...Our next stop was the Bonnie Close, Asparagus farm...50# boxes of freshly picked asparagus everywhere we looked...We loaded asparagus into Pat's car, making room around the many starts of grasses and retraced our route, first the Blues, then Minam Canyon...Rain falling softly from the top of Minam all the way into Joseph...A wonderful way to spend a spring day especially as the day in Joseph had been cold and breezy.

Our breakfast this morning was sauteed mushrooms, steamed asparagus, both seasoned with butter, garlic, salt and pepper, toast and an egg over medium...Heavenly!!.OWAV:)

OWAV:)...06/01/11...40°...5am...sunny/cloudy

1st day of June, sun peaking in the west window...clouds over the mountains...There is hope that June will not be as rainy or cold as April and May have been.

I'm on my way to Walla Walla this morning with friend Pat...we are going to visit nurseries so she can plant her new garden spot at the lake...with plants that the deer won't eat...if that is possible...we will have lunch with a friend of mine...stop by to pick up the asparagus I have ordered for both of us...then make our way home enjoying the same breath taking scenery that we viewed on the way over...we will talk non-stop, share laughter and conversation...should be a good day.

Yesterday, went to write group and shared writing...left early and home to more mushrooms to clean...Herb had been hunting, while I was gone...LeaAnn wondered if anyone had a few to spare so will take her a taste of these spring delicacies...They seem to be plentiful this year...Herb has some drying and I have sauteed and frozen some...

Worked outside yesterday pulling the dreaded weed called "Hounds Tongue"...it has invaded my flowerbeds for three years now and I think it came from the old mill chips that we have hauled in...some people love that mulch, but I don't think it is worth all the weeds that it brings...

Talked to Rusty on ichat early morning, he will be in Joseph by this weekend, do honey-dos and maybe go to the river with John.

Worked on Scrabble last night while talking to Bob...we ended up laughing and bantering, like we do...so good to have her to talk to everyday, maybe several times a day, as if she lived next door...Love to both my kids...OWAV:)

7:30pm...PS...First the internet was down, then this wouldn't post and I had to be ready to leave for Walla Walla at 8am...Had a great trip to WW with Pat...talked non stop all the way over and back...warm weather, sunshine and green everywhere...