Renewing Friendships...50º

Early morning yesterday, I disiplined myself to continue cleaning the kitchen counters...Removed clutter, sorted papers, made room in cupboards and drawers for some stuff and filled a garbage can with throw away stuff and cleaned off the dirt and grime that accumulates in a well used kitchen...That is a good feeling.

I finished up as Pat drove in the driveway for our computer date...The new system El Capitan has thrown some curves our way, so we decided two "brains" working together might be better than one...Not sure how much we accomplished but we had fun doing it.

This date led into another as we reconnected with Amy (We 3) for lunch...It has been two years since Katey (our writing mentor) visited Wallowa County and we all had lunch together...We had no problem picking up where we left off and made a major decision to get together more often.

After a 2 hour lunch Amy had to leave, but Pat and I connected with Katey via FaceTime and chatted with her for nearly an hour...She has married since we saw her last and is working full time, giving workshops and editing and critiquing monthly manuscripts for budding authors...She credits We 3 with being her first students that trusted her with our work...We were so lucky that she was willing to mentor us!..Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Drowning ones sorrows...34º

Thursday morning started off with a big breakfast, then dinner was put in the oven to simmer, (Herb watching) while I went to water therapy...Pat and I join a new group of friends every Tuesday and Thursday for a "do your own thing" water therapy...Not only do we exercise and stretch our bodies, we visit, laugh and relax with a final soak in the hot tub...It is becoming the high light of our week!..Yesterday we were a mile out of Joseph, on our way, when my cell phone started ringing...Herb called to say that the swimming pool was out of order today, meaning no water therapy!..I pulled into a turn around spot as Pat cried out, "It can't be, this is my last day," she said,  about to burst into tears...Thinking fast I said, "Lets go to the chocolate shop!" A big smile replaced her tears.

So we drowned our sorrows in steaming mochas and talked about her upcoming cross country trip next week...She and Brian will be making their home in Maryland (where they lived for many years) for 6 months out of the year and return to Joseph in May for the alternate 6 months...This plan allows them to spend more time with their only grandchild and time on the farm helping their son...Pat wants to do this for obvious reasons but also would love to spend the winter in Wallowa County...We soon had our chocolate fix and went our separate ways, Pat to finish packing, me to fix dinner...All will be well, life move on...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Trees Trimmed...40º

The day warmed up, no rain fell and the wind stayed away...Now our trees look naked going into winter...9am the big truck and 5 guys arrived...Eric refreshed his memory as to exactly what trees we wanted trimmed and they went to work...Off and on all day we saw 2 guys geared up, safety harness and rigging on, climbing the trees to hand trim, after 1 guy in the "bucket" had all the big limbs sectioned and on the ground...The other worker was on the ground cleaning and stacking limbs to go into the chipper...Eric was on the ground, up a tree, on the cell phone, then he left for a couple of hours, returned to check on his crew, before accepting our check in payment...2 workers and the big truck were left behind to finish the last tree...Finally shortly after 4pm, after every limb and twig was cleaned up, they climbed into the big truck and called it a day...Only for brief times during the day had they been idle, lunch break was 1/2 hour...It is not cheap to have your trees trimmed but we feel that it was money well spent and they returned our thanks with, "Thank you for the work."  They will be back in January/February to "groom" our fruit trees and we highly recommend "Sinclair Brothers" for your tree trimming services.

Herb and I kept busy in the house, managed to stay near a window so we could watch all the action while still cleaning...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Trimmed Maple Tree

Front Porch Geraniums 

Changing Weather...35º

After a long and beautiful October, it looks like we are in for rain, wind and I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into snow...Halloween is this weekend and trick or treating in a snowstorm is common in Wallowa County.

Last night we watched the almost full moon rise (tonight it is full) and this morning a beautiful sunrise is taking place out the east window...Possible rain this afternoon as a front moves in...The tree trimmers are scheduled this morning at our house, hope they can finish before the weather turns...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Last nights moon.

Cleaner...34º

Windows, light fixtures, cobwebs, flies, greasy dirt...The more cleaning that gets done the more I can see to do...Windows are as clean as they ever get in our house...Light fixtures removed/replaced and clean...Even the top of the china closet was ridded (archaic, but a word, non the less) of a layer of dirt, all the vases, pitchers and blue jars were run through the dishwasher and now stand sparkling clean waiting, as a new layer forms...Oh how I wish I could twitch my nose, making everything shiny clean, house purged of all the "stuff" we have accumulated over the last 42 years, at least the stuff that has no useful purpose for us!..I've been to enough estate sales to know that we are not alone, but I also know the sinking feeling I get when walking into an estate sale, where closets and drawers have literally been thrown open with an invitation to "make an offer."..Another way of saying, "I can't deal with it, just take it away!"

Herb and I did get a lot accomplished in the last two days and I have to be glad for what is done and keep plugging away at what is waiting...Sun is shining this morning, life is good on Barton Heights...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Photos of Ci, Apple is still working on getting my photos to transfer from iphone to mac book..:)

Celebrate each day...42º/Rain

Janice and Margaret treated me to dinner last night, at El Bajio Mexican restaurant in Enterprise, for my birthday...The last big event for me and a lovely evening for all of us...The food was good, hot, plentiful and the place was quiet...Before we knew it, darkness was settling in outside, three hours had past as we visited about old times, present times and the changes we've seen in Joseph, the last 20 years...At times our laughter filled the silence, as it did over 25 years ago when we all worked in the Joseph School system...We all have fond memories of times gone by, when it seems that kids were taught respect for elders, discipline for themselves and a positive attitude all around...It was a fun evening and we look forward to more as we look for ways to entertain ourselves through the winter.

Yesterday didn't go as I had planned...Instead of starting on big windows, with Herbs help I tackled the small window (many paned) in our bathroom...From there I asked him, since he is taller and stronger to take the bathroom fan down so I could clean it...One job led to another and another as I then cleaned medicine cabinet and drawers, throwing away stuff and finding way more dirt than should be there!

Our world looks bright and clean outside today, after several hours of soaking rain, the leaves continue their parade through many colors before falling to the ground...Time for me to get moving...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Blathering...40º

Almost finished with outside window washing yesterday, it was nearly noon...A buzzing feeling in my bra alerted me to the fact that my iPhone was ringing...Checked the number, expecting another random call from someone I don't know as my phone number had a previous life and the person in that life has really bad credit...Sister, Mona's name was on the phone so of course I answered it with, "Hi 'Moner'...She immediately said, "I didn't forget your birthday, just thought we would have more time to talk on the weekend."..."Likely excuse," I said, the usual sibling banter.

We had a good visit, catching up on kids, the weather, other family news, gardens, canning, cooking and growing older but not dwelling on the aches and pains...My sister Bobbie had called earlier in the week and our conversation went much the same...I keep in touch with sister Loraine through her girls on Facebook chat...Loraine, our oldest sister, resides in a care center, living mostly in the past...Many miles separate all of us, so we follow our Mothers tradition of birthday phone calls, to connect.

I finished up the outside windows, Herb helping with the taller ones, before he ran the lawn mower over grass and leaves, gathering it all into bags to be saved for next spring...He also finished storing deck furniture in a dry place for winter...Today we will move furniture, vacuum corners, knock down cobwebs and wash windows inside the house.

As I write, Herb is doing laundry, building a fire in the basement stove, temp won't get past 60º today, but our house will be nice and warm...I have a dinner planned with friends Margaret and Janice this afternoon, I love spreading out my birthday celebration!..Herb will have one of his favorite dinners of a hamburger, sausage dog or sometimes just a peanut butter sandwich...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Bobi, following my wishes is always looking for little things for a birthday gift...(I don't need more stuff!) My birthday package was a set of sticky, rubbery hedgehogs, that stick on the sliding glass doors and will hopefully keep people from walking into the glass after a semi annual washing.

Hedgehog (look close)

Plugging Away...37º

I couldn't stay in the house when Herb was in the garden early, 9am, while it was still nippy outside...He had bales of straw, strings cut and ready for me to either scatter on garden beds or lay out for garden paths...Also huge bags of leaves gathered from maple and aspen trees, ready to layer..Bags of alfalfa pellets were nearby...Herb would bring loads of manure for me to unload later...It didn't take long for me to shed the extra shirt that I put on as I left the house...

The way this works is: The garden is separated into 4 beds, one is already planted with garlic and the other three will be piled/layered with leaves, straw, alfalfa pellets, then covered with well aged manure and topped with fence panels to keep everything from blowing away in the fall winds...These beds have all winter to decompose...It was 12 noon when we finished laying down the last fence panel...We rolled hoses, gathered rakes, shovels etc to put away before the job was finished.

Back in the house, the roll dough was overflowing its bowl...I mixed it down (after I scrubbed my hands) and gave it a half hour to get some air back in it, before I rolled it and cut into buns for our BLT's that was on the menu for dinner...Some of the buns, I cut the centers out of and fried them into donuts...Not the best as the dough wasn't rich enough but with a little lemon frosting or sugar coating, they tasted darn good! (And took care of my donut craving for a few days.) Fall weather, Halloween is donut time!

Needless to say, windows didn't get washed but today is another day and clouds are predicted, which will be a better day for window washing....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

One of our views

Another view

Herb doing leaves

Friday Rolls Around...31º

What to do first?...With the temp hovering around freezing, think I will spend some time inside this morning, housework, cooking, all that stuff...Later the outside is calling...Garden to finish, windows to wash and much more...October is racing off the calendar...Tree trimmers are scheduled for next Wednesday.

Still waiting for a call back from Apple, hopefully with a fix for my computer problem...I did another 3 hour download/install last night and it did not correct the problem.

Yesterday water therapy was good, water warm, only 6 of us in the pool, spent time in the hot tub, lovely...Home to finish dinner, I had made rice in the morning then cooked chicken livers and gizzards for our dinner, along with turban squash from our garden and fresh veggies...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Birthdays...40º

Busy playing on Facebook this morning, changing photos, posting photos, reading and answering comments from the many friends that remembered me yesterday...FaceBook has its faults, but it is a great way to unite and reunite with friends old and new.

I really didn't have a clue yesterday morning that a party was in the works...I was just excited that Herb was taking me to, what I thought was breakfast, at the new Sugar Time Bakery in Enterprise...Even when I saw Pat and Brian through the bakery window, I just thought, he had invited them to join us...Little did I know that he was just a part of the bigger plot and Pat the "chief plotter." (I was in dense mode.).. It soon turned into a small gathering with balloons, flowers, friends and of course chocolate cake...Everyone should eat chocolate cake for breakfast at least once in their life and we did yesterday...The effects finally wore off about 10pm last night when I turned over one last time and didn't move again until 4am this morning...What a day.

Mixed in with the birthday celebration, Herb and I came home to rake leaves to be piled on our vegetable garden, I heated leftover chicken noodle soup for our dinner, chocolate cake in ones tummy at 10am needs company to balance it out...Also I wrapped the leftover cake to freeze and share with our "kids" when they come to Joseph in a month and we celebrate a combined Thanksgiving/Christmas with them.

Other things on my mind are computer problems, so I spent the better part of the afternoon until 5pm talking to tech support with Apple...Good thing that chocolate kept me going...Enough of this blather, all is well on Barton Heights, I don't feel any older...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Happy Day

Brrrrrrr.....34º

I have a date this morning, with none other than my better half of 54 years...Two days ago, Herb looked at me with those blue eyes and said, " I hope you don't have anything scheduled Wednesday morning 8-10am." I looked at him, wondering what he was thinking and said, "Uh what do you have in mind?" "Well we have to go to Grain Growers (I think, oops this is going downhill) and get pellets for the garden, you mentioned it yesterday, AND then I'm taking you to the new bakery in Enterprise for breakfast on your Birthday!" Ahhhh, now that is sweet...We really have no idea what their menu is other than lucious looking cupcakes and sweets of all kinds, but they open at 7:30, so guess I better get moving as I hear they sell out of all the good stuff early in the day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Photo from 2012 on the Alaskan Cruise

Busy...41º cloudy

More rain yesterday morning, but looking just partly cloudy for the rest of the week...Should give us time to get leaves raked and bagged so they can be put on the garden, before they all blow away.

Yesterday Pat and I had our annual "Birthday."...Mine coming up soon and hers in December, but she and Brian will be leaving for Maryland in two weeks, so we celebrate when we can...Our favorite mocha at Arrowhead Chocolates makes both of us happy, no travel involved.

Trouble and Double Trouble

Wired from the chocolate I came home to mix a batch of sourdough bread before making turkey noodle soup for our dinner...The soup was yummy and slices of warm bread were eaten for our evening snack...Hugs To All...OWAV:) 

More Rain...45º

Clouds and rain, daytime temps dropping into the 50's and 60's, more like normal fall weather...The fall colors seem more vibrant this year and change rapidly from one day to the next.

Friends Leita and Steve dropped in for a visit and glass of wine on Saturday, followed by Pat, so we spent time on the deck, enjoying the last of the nice fall days....Yesterday Tate and Becky stopped in for a visit and "beverage"...She has a super busy schedule at work, with a little reprieve at home while John is on his annual hunting trip in Idaho...(Less cooking)

Yesterday I caught up on some sewing, Herb fixed lamb ribs for our dinner and did the usual Sunday laundry...Rusty checked in from Bend and Bobi from Portland, keeping us caught up on their activities...I will let Bobi and Cienna fill you in on details of Home Coming activities and Ciennas one day driving lesson at the Portland race track...Girls???

No help from Apple yet on my transferring photo problem but have figured out on my own that if I restart my iPhone each time I want to transfer, in come the latest photos...That's a pain...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Geraniums on the front porch

are loving this fall weather.

Homecoming ....45º...rain overnight

A short blog this morning, as I have to get on the phone to Apple again...Will only download one set of photos and is now acting like it doesn't know what I want it to do...So have photos that Bobi sent last night by drop box so will post a few and go make a phone call....Hugs To All...OVAW:)

Photo Glitch...44º

Started off yesterday morning to download/upload photos from "Photos" (the latest new and improved update from Apple...) That is debatable...My recent photos did not show up in Photos, so therefore I couldn't use them in my blog...For the next two hours I backed up the iMac, including a restart, I synced the iPhone in iTunes and did a restart...I plugged and unplugged the iphone from the computer making sure they were communicating with each other...No luck...I called apple support...Worked with tech Jada, actually I waited on hold more than we worked, while she put me on screen share, and tried to figure out what was going on...She told me that she had a degree in computer science working with Microsoft Windows and Apple was so different that she was troubleshooting what to do for my problem...Nice lady with a southern accent, and she couldn't fully explain to me why she was working for Apple...Finally she put me on hold one more time and transferred me to Kim...(I didn't ask what her expertise was) because our connection wasn't the best...Long story short Kim had me hold down my home button and the start/stop button at the same time, then unlock my phone and voilà, it worked...By then I was totally out of the mood to write a blog.

I simmered the turkey wings until the meat was falling off tender, boned out the wings and put the bones on to simmer with onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes, chard and garlic...The house smelled wonderful and Herb and I were both lazy...Spent some time on the deck, made bacon/tomato sandwiches for dinner, relaxed most of the day away!..I have almost two quarts of flavorful, yummy broth...The weather is supposed to cool off, so I'm thinking turkey noodle soup will be on our menu.

News update from our girls in Portland!..Cienna has a date for the Homecoming Dance tonight...She and her Mom are all in a dither, looking at, trying on and coming to agreement which is the best dress for the big night...Oh the joy of teenage years and so much fun to experience it with Cienna at home instead of watching it on FaceBook in Thailand. (Don't get me wrong, that was also fun!)

We again watch from afar but get first hand reports...Hugs to Cienna as we watch her make more memories on her teenage journey...OWAV:)

PS...My other photos will just have to wait...Important things first!

Cienna and Austin at the football game.

Headway...37º

I harvested the last purple cabbage before pulling old plants and cucumber vines...Herb helped me trim out the old raspberry canes before turning on the sprinklers...Everything now has been well soaked before we start adding leaves, alfalfa pellets, straw and manure...All of the barrels on the deck have also been emptied of dead and dying petunias and marigolds.

Today Herb is grinding the dried garlic and fixing turkey wings for dinner...I have water therapy on my agenda...Looks like another beautiful day on Barton Heights...Hugs To All....OVAW:)

Mental Labor...43º

Write Women continue to struggle with simple guidelines for acceptance into the group...Two years ago we went through this same process, and today we ended up almost exactly where we were two years ago...Wasting much energy on futility...I find this totally draining, frustrating and maddening...It should be simple...Like it or not, we need a path that gives us structure and continuity and to stop knit-picking it to death.

Moving on Pat and I attended a lovely pizza/salad luncheon for Josephy Center Volunteers, put on by staff members...Gwen, the new docent coordinator was introduced and everyone had a chance to voice concerns, as well as the joys of the center.

For the last event of the day, P and I joined 6 other members of the Garden Club for an exchange of ideas about gardening...Books were reccomended for educating ourselves or for our reading pleasure...Ideas were shared and discussed for different gardening techniques...On a beautiful fall day we enjoyed refreshments and took a tour of the backyard garden...Many beautiful flowers blooming in a very small space...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Worn Out...35º

Yesterday morning was busy as I did house work and prepped sweet pickles to jar when I arrived home from water therapy...Water therapy went well and I added a weight to my left leg hoping to strengthen my bad knee...Using a noodle I bicycled, cross country skied, helicoptered etc around the deep end of the pool for about 45 minutes, with no stress...Back home I soon had the pickles processing and all the slicing and dicing done for our taco dinner, sometime after 2pm...Herb finished peeling the last batch of garlic to dry and we spent the rest of the afternoon---relaxed.

I was in bed early and think I slept a full 8 hours, woke up feeling groggy but rested, no ill effects from the extra exercise...But think it was the reason I slept so hard!

Busy day ahead with the Write Women, then a docent luncheon, and garden club...Only exercise today will be my jaw muscles and that only makes me stressed not tired...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Cleanup/Gleaning...37º

I "tackled" the two tomato plants yesterday...They were overgrown and tangled together, one a cherry and the other a little larger salad tomato...We have enjoyed the tiny orbs of "burst in your mouth flavor" all summer...Mornings found me grazing the garden, a green bean, small cucumber, handful of peas, maybe a carrrot (dirt wiped off on my pant leg, just like my mother) finished off with super sweet cherry tomatos...Sitting on an overturned crate, using hand pruners, I cut the tomato stems and carefully plucked each tomato, eating only the ones that were split!...I ended up with a small dishpan full and now have them divided up to share with friends and a bowl full of split ones on the kitchen counter for grazing!

Sitting in the garden I could smell pork ribs cooking on the grill, along with a few potatoes from the garden...Dinner time rolled around and the ribs were succulent and tender, just right for gnawing on the bones...Pam came mid afternoon for wine, leftovers and a visit...The deck was sunny and warm, the perfect place for resting after a busy day.

A change in schedule today; Pat and I will do water therapy today and tomorrow we have write group, docent luncheon, (meeting the new docent coordinator) followed by garden clubs last meeting of the year...Fall is a busy time as our activities wind down.

House work, dinner prep is on my agenda this morning, the garden will have to wait until Wednesday...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...thought I got a photo of tomatoes...Maybe later

Checking the list...43º

Working on the list of fall chores, Herb was able to cross off wood...He brought the last load from the log deck yesterday and will unload and stack today or tomorrow...Too bad for me that canning was not on the list, it was in addition to...Anyway it is a good job done...My friend Jane always had a list and if she did something that wasn't on the list she added it and checked it off...I like that idea.

All told we have 30 jars of canned meat in the cellar, 24 sausage patties and 10 pound packages of ground meat in the freezer, all the mess is cleaned up, equipment is put away until "Thanksmas" when the kids will be home and a tuna canning frenzy takes place...In our spare time, garlic is being peeled, sliced and placed on the dryer and that job will soon be marked off the list...I must finish garden cleanup in the next few days.

Herb has started watering the lawn and is due for a haircut this morning...I have tomatoes to sort and possibly start roasting...We had yummy tomato, bacon, cucumber, onion sandwiches on homemade buns for dinner yesterday...Ribs are seasoned and ready to go on the grill today...Sun is shining, breeze is cold, snow on the mountain tops...Life is good...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Yesterdays sandwich

Mixed a small batch of bread for buns,

while watching the pressure cooker.

and had enough for a 10" pizza crust.

Satisfaction...50º

36 pounds of chunked elk/pork thawed and ready for grinding...We started with chunks of seasoned port (sage, salt, pepper and garlic) to grind into sausage...Herb brought up the first batch and I quickly fried small pieces for a taste test....Just right...I scooped out portions, plopped then on a cookie sheet, covered them with parchment and smashed them all flat using a second cookie sheet, then into the freezer, cookie sheet and all, to freeze individually...After frozen they were packaged for the freezer in quart ziplocks...Herb was busy at the grinder while I started filling each jar with ground elk/pork, a few slivers of garlic and topping them off with beef broth...Processing 7 jars in a batch, we have 14 total and will do 14 to 17 more smaller jars in one canner today...We could have finished it in one day, like we have done in the past, but decided to take a break for the afternoon and leave it for another day.

Sausage gravy and homemade biscuits along with fresh veggies was the perfect dinner.

Pat and I delivered appetizers to the Josephy Center on our way to Fishtrap so we could hear fellow writer Pam read from her book, Temperance Creek, slated for publishing next spring...Home before 9pm and grateful for a warm house and comfortable bed...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Plate of veggies

So Good!

Choc/Zucchini Cake for the JC.

Canning 101...50º

It is easy to slip back into the canning mode and with 14 jars of pears lined up on the table my mind goes crazy...All the canning equipment is set up, what else can we can?..We have deer and elk from last year that is the most likely to go into jars...Sooooo, Herb and I will get busy this morning sorting through the freezer, pulling out elk/deer and also pork that has been labeled sausage/canning...I really liked the pork and game that we ground together last year...Some of it was made into sausage and the rest canned in pint and a half jars (3 cups)...Since the meat will take a couple of days to thaw in the refrigerator, that leaves me time this morning to make another choc/zuchinni cake for an event at the Josephy Center on Friday night, before water therapy class at 12 noon today...On Saturday we will swap the water bath canner for the pressure cooker and will again be elbows deep in chunking, grinding, filling jars and keeping a close eye on the pressure canner.

In our spare time tomatoes will be roasted, garlic peeled, sliced and dried, the last of the wood pile will be stacked in our back yard, daily meals cooked, minimal house cleaning done and the garden totally cleaned up and put to bed for the winter.

We have some clouds this morning but a beautiful sunrise looms off to the East, another perfect day on Barton Heights...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Home Canned Fruit for Winter.

Odoriferous...37º

Anyone walking into our house this morning might think we had opened a 5 star Italian restaurant...Our basement is the perfect place for drying our winters garlic...One batch peeled, sliced and in the dryer...Our house is very odoriferous!

It is just breaking daylight here and Herb stepped out on the front porch and much to his delight watched a red fox saunter down the road on Barton Heights...Over the years we have seen many foxes in the 120 acre field that borders our property in the back, but never one practically on our front door step...Nice way to start the day.

Today is pear canning day and Herb has made several trips up and down stairs, outside and inside...Jars are washing in the dishwasher, gas stove and water bath canner set up and ready for me to start peeling pears, making syrup and filling jars...In a few hours we should have 14 quarts of canned pears ready for the cellar shelves.

My canning has been minimal this year after last years bumper crop of fruit...Our cellar shelves are still well stocked...I did order another 30 pounds of tomatoes from Imnaha, (they should arrive today) mostly because I haven't gotten my fill of bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwiches and just plain tomato sandwiches...Also one can never have too many roasted tomatoes in the freezer...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Potatoes/Garlic...37º

Our potato harvest was small but the potatoes are nice size and clean...We do have a few that have been gnawed on by gophers and will use them first, cutting away the damage...As we were harvesting, kept seeing Mr. Gopher scurring around under the straw...Herb landed a well placed whack with the rake and did him in!...One less gopher but am sure he was not the only one...We have been eating fresh, new potatoes for the past two months and have enough stored in the cellar now, to last until February...Asking ourselves, is the work worth it?..Both agreed that the taste of home grown produce is so much better that we will keep up the war on critters, drag our creaky, groaning bodies to the garden and take it one year at a time!

Earlier in the morning we had separated garlic cloves, saving the largest ones to plant and the others will be peeled, sliced and dried for our winters supply of garlic...The large garlic cloves were planted in the loose, moist soil of the previous potato patch...Nine rows are in the ground, mulched with straw and watered once...We will keep watering, until we get some measurable rain...The garlic will develop a root system before winter sets in and put in an appearance next April, as soon as the ground is bare.

We finished the days work (potatoes/garlic) shortly after noon, just in time for a rest before our dinner of French dip sandwiches, made from Sundays tri tip, which by the way was perfect...Added a fresh fruit salad to compliment the meal...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Pears ah ha...37º

A welcome gift was delivered yesterday...Pears from the pear capitol of the world, Hood River, Oregon, arrived on our door step yesterday....P and B arrived home after a month of cruising and traveling in far away places...Italy, France, Spain...On return to the states, an overnight stop in Hood River, they thought of us and our love of canning and eating...Within this week we will eat as many fresh pears as possible before canning the remainder for the cellar shelves.

Another beautiful day in Wallowa County, a smattering of rain was all we got as the trees continue the changing of the colors as we march into fall...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Last of the Snapdragons.

Bounty...45º

A small fenced in garden keeps the deer away from our veggies and we glean what is left before winter sets in...Now we are wondering HOW do you fence out the gophers?..We've always had them but they were happy to stay out in the fields, now they have found the garden with carrots and potatoes...Our neighbor Bill has gophers traps, that he has had some success with...Set a couple yesterday but they are empty this morning...Hmmmmm...Deer, bear, gophers, marmots, what next?...I love wildlife but wish they would stay in the wild...Since we have two freezers full of meat this year, can't even get the satisfaction of a fall hunt!..Life goes on, Barton Heights is still the best place to live...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

All grown on Barton Heights....

Gala Apples

Sweet seedless grapes

Cherry tomatoes fermenting

Water Therapy...45º

Friendly faces, old and new, catching up on everyones summer and plans for the winter...Travel, animals, moving, children, grandchildren, vacations, company...Scattered along the pools edge are kick boards, ankle weights, foam dumb bells and noodles...Some ladies in the deep end bobbing in continual motion, others in the shallow end walking, bending, stretching...The water gives us freedom to move without pain, creaky joints loosen as we languish, buoyant in the water...I see smiles almost everywhere, two ladies are back pre-surgery, they grimace with each step finding little relief even in the water....Hip and back surgeries are scheduled before the month is over, then they will be back, first for physical therapy (in the water) and then to join us again and work on their recovery...Voices, laughter, we are happy to be back...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fall Sunset...53º

Fall is the time of brilliant colors, cold nights and warm days, as the seasons change...We are still picking cherry tomatoes, have a couple of cabbages left and a few cucumbers that I parcel out so we can have one a day with our dinner.

Had a surprise package in our yard yesterday morning, I'm thinking it is bear scat...A pile of digested apples and berries...I immediately picked the gala apples that I've left to ripen, so the bear wouldn't climb the tree and break branches while eating our apples...Will be extra careful about going outside after dark until he goes into hibernation mode.

I start back to water therapy today and will continue all winter, twice a week until May...A good exercise program as well as social activity for the long winter and the nice part is freedom of structure, no bylaws, no offices to fill, no meetings to attend.

Herb is again working on the wood pile, repairing fences and getting things in shape for winter...Cloudy here today with a slight chance of rain...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Pile of Bear Poop

Mountain sunset

Through the trees

Reflected in the kitchen window