Counting my blessings...45º

Tuesday late afternoon, I prepared for one of those dreaded moments in life, a procedure...After ingesting only liquids all day,  I dutifully swallowed 2 tiny pills, drank a bottle of magic potion, chased it with 2 glasses of water and stayed near the bathroom knowing without a doubt that soon my colon would begin to cleanse...8:30pm rolled around and I felt confident that I could catch a few winks before the next stomach cramp signaled another bathroom call...I slept soundly until midnight, spent the rest of the night dozing so I would hear my wakeup call at 4am...The second bottle of potion waited patiently on the kitchen counter...I poured it over ice, started drinking while my 2 glasses of water heated in the microwave (my chaser for the morning)...From 4am to 6am I pretended the hot water was coffee, worked my scrabble games, read a novel, again staying close to the bathroom...About 6am I felt it was safe to take a hot shower, dress in comfortable clothes and let Herb drive me to the hospital in Enterprise.

All this time, in the back of my mind an old memory was playing of 10 years ago and my first colonoscopy...Everyone told me, the worst part is the prep and the procedure is a piece of cake, you go to sleep, wake up never knowing what happened...In order to have a colonoscopy you must have a blood vein willing to cooperate, and the only one in the mood that day, 10 years ago, was my jugular vein...The rest of the day didn't go much better...You see my colon is a bit "kinky," and didn't cooperate...Enough detail, other than it turned into a 12 hour ordeal instead of a 3 hour piece of cake!
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Wednesday morning, at the hospital I donned the backless gown, the nurse's covered me with a warm blanket and said now you can relax, and we will get your IV started...It went off without a hitch, I breathed a sigh of relief and a half hour later I was in dreamland...My "kinky" colon still didn't want to cooperate, but my doctor was persistent and with instructions for me to breath deep, they upped the dosage of anesthetic, and with a few tries the colon relented and the procedure was completed...Herb talked to the doctor, who said everything went well, except for one extra sharp bend, coming out of the appendix and that I would be ready to go home as soon as some of the anesthetic wore off.

Back home Herb fixed us a light breakfast of milk toast for me, not sure what he had as I was dozing in my chair for the next 4 hours...Dinner he fixed us sausage, toast, tomato and cucumber slices...The day went by in a haze and by 8:30 we were in bed.

Up early this morning, watched our usual beautiful sunrise, thankful for another day and that maybe in 10 years from now I will be too old to have another colonoscopy...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Sweet Sunday...40º

Herb did laundry, I made cinnamon rolls...Temperature moved into the 70's, leftovers made an easy dinner...Line dried sheets greeted us as we nestled into our bed, a good nights sleep and we are ready for a new week.

Life is different when retired, no more dreaded Mondays and no more TGIF's...Other things fill our days along with the yard work and house work...Dreaded medical appointments on one end of the spectrum and TGIGOOB without assistance, on the other end...The time in our lives to be thankful for the little things and count our blessings...Hugs To All...OWAV:

Autumn Joy...39º

It was my plan yesterday to work cleaning up the garden, pulling the beets, drying the greens for soups and smoothies this winter, and finally making the beet pickles, that I've been talking about!..Derailed again!..Herb had the 4-wheeler out to haul chairs, flower pots etc. to the "little garage" that we now use for gardening tools, potting soil, fertilizer and the lawn mower, adding in winter the deck furniture...Only one problem, the garage still houses many things from days gone by, such as, pots and kettles that I no longer use and supplies that Herb had many years ago, when he used it for a wood working shop...Things were stacked, covered in many years of dust...We filled 2 huge garbage bags to go to the dump, another one to go to soroptimists and yes saved some things, not ready to part with...I swept the shelves, he the floor and we both put things back in an orderly manner.

It was afternoon when we finished and plans for dinner were floating in the back of my mind...I stirred up a simple pizza crust, let it raise, rolled it into a thin rectangle, smeared it with pesto, dotted with roasted tomatoes, added cheese, sausage, artichokes, peppers, onions and another sprinkle of cheese...When it came out of the oven, we covered each piece with fresh sliced tomatoes, added slaw and sliced cucumbers to our plate and inhaled!...It was a good days work...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Autumn Joy in the shade.

Autumn Joy in sunlight

Dinner, Pizza hiding under tomatoes,

we each had two pieces.

  

Fall Ritual....45º

The forecast is promising sun and rising temperatures for the next four days...Perfect weather for more cleanup...The last couple of days I harvested the last of the green cabbage heads, grated them, added salt, tossed and stirred until it turned soft and juicy...Then I carefully tamped it into sterilized jars, put on lids and set them aside to work the magic of sauerkraut...We still have 3 small heads of purple cabbage keeping a space in the garden, harvest time for them can be later...Yesterday I pulled vines and gleaned patty pan squash and cucumbers...We enjoyed them with our dinner and have cukes left that we will eat in the coming days...Maybe even make another jar of dill pickles...I keep talking about and promising myself that the beets are next on my list, but somehow they keep getting bumped down another notch...Could today be the day?

Our dinners have changed in the days since I enrolled in the chip program, they are more like a hearty lunch with a small amount of meat and extra veggies...We use a medium sized plate and come away from the table comfortably full, not stuffed and uncomfortable like we did after a huge meal...Portion control is so important and I have to work at keeping them small, when what I really want to do is crowd or stack the food on my plate...This works well now with fresh produce so readily available, not sure how we will fare this winter...At least we are both moving closer to winter carrying a few less pounds then before...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Sauerkraut ready to work.

Grilled Tuna Sandwiches with fresh

veggies and slaw on the side.

Sunflower Saga...Cloudy/Sunny 45º

Early spring I planted sunflower seeds along the garden fence, away from the deer, after years of trying to grow them in the flower beds, where the deer promptly ate the plants down to bare stocks...Inside the garden fence none of them germinated or the quail decided that I put them out for their buffet...A few weeks later a lone volunteer sunflower sprouted in the middle of the garden, so I carefully transplanted it on the edge next to the fence, hand watered it daily and watched it grow and bud...Herb was also watering it with the sprinkler...We were both feeling quite smug as finally we would have a blooming sunflower, but with one swipe of a deers tongue as it reached through the fence, the big bud was gone...Gritting his teeth, a scowl on his face, Herb reinforced the fence...So now 3 months later, that lone sunflower branched out and we finally have a blooming sunflower with many buds left to open..Perseverance pays off...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Blooming sunflower

Using the fisheye app.

Sunny/Cloudy...48º

Another beautiful fall day as Herb finishes the last of the flowerbed cleanup...I made jam yesterday, using the last of the apricots, adding crushed pineapple, one of my favorites from childhood...It was always on Moms cellar shelves...Today more apples will be sliced for drying and I have cabbage to grate and make into sauerkraut.

Pat and I are meeting our mentor Katey, at the Thai place for lunch, she and husband Brad are visiting Wallowa County for a few days...Hopefully I will remember to take some photos...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Oma Returns...45º/Cloudy

It didn't happen on purpose but missing a blog one day soon turned into another and another, until I've chalked up 21 days of not publishing a blog...That doesn't mean that nothing has happened in our lives, I just haven't documented it!..My sister Mona finally called me on Monday morning to find out if I was dead or alive, my friend Becky text me, asking why my rants and ramblings had ceased...Now as I think about it, I really enjoy on any given day looking back at what we were doing last year or even 4 years ago...Maybe it was something mundane or maybe it was our latest gathering of family/friends...I love having this record of memories, otherwise they get lost with the passing of time, especially with my foggy memory.

The past three weeks have passed in a flash as we (mostly Herb) worked on the fall cleanup in the flowerbeds...We have picked bushels of fruit, plums, apricots and apples, mostly to freeze for our daily smoothie or to make into jam later in the year...It was a bumper year for fruit and we, like squirrels, are hoarding what we can because it is doubtful that our trees will produce much next year...Some has been shared with neighbors and friends.

In the midst of this we took a seven day trip to the Oregon Coast with our kids, spending 5 nights in a lovely beach house in Manzanita, walking the beach, watching sunsets, eating scrumptious seafood, playing cards and other games...It was a lovely interlude.

We had eye appointments in LaGrande and I enjoyed with friends "The Little Mermaid" musical at the Elgin Opera House, it was magical.

We still have garden cleanup to do, potatoes to harvest, garlic needs to be planted as October is looming...Fall is a beautiful time of the year here in Wallowa County and we are enjoying awesome sunrises and sunsets as the days/nights cool off and the vibrant colors appear, everywhere we look...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Cienna on the Beach.

Fruity Days...45º

Plums, Apricots, Tomatoes...Oh My!..Where do I start?...Temperature is cooling, busy day ahead, I think meat roasting in the oven sounds good...Turkey wings seasoned, in my newest cast iron pan, covered with a tight lid, oven set on 250º...The ripe plums are next, rinsed then sliced off the pit, about 2 quarts total, add some sugar and onto the stove to simmer...I fix smoothies for our breakfast before starting a batch of bread...Bread flour, whole grains (whole wheat flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, flaxseed, rye flour, cooked quinoa,) all dumped into a large bowl...Make a well, add water, oil, salt, molasses and yeast, mix in some of the grains and leave to rise/raise?..Remember to stir the plums, take a break to catch up on scrabble games and Facebook.

While I've been doing this Herb has been outside cutting down all the garden perennials that have gone to seed, both in the yard and across the road...While across the road he has also gathered the fallen apricots and brought them to the kitchen, along with pint jars for jam, making sure I have everything I need from the cellar...Back in the kitchen again, I mix and knead the bread, give it a final pat, cover and leave to raise...The plums are getting thicker and need more stirring, jars are in the 250º oven getting hot...I'm making what I call old fashion jam, no pectin needed...Just simmer fruit, add sugar to taste and cook until thick, ladle into jars and seal...Fresh bread and jam for supper tonight.

At about noon, the smell of roasting turkey reminds me to go to the garden, gather a few new carrots and potatoes, rinse and scrub, place alongside the turkey wings...Two hours from now dinner will be ready, my first real meat meal in several days, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes will be added to the plate...The plum jam fills two pints plus and since the kettle is sticky with jam, why not pit the newly fallen apricots, cut into pieces, add some sugar and make a batch of apricot jam.

About 4pm we have eaten our dinner, I savored every bite, cleaned up the kitchen, have jam and bread cooling on the counter...Time to take a break and enjoy the view...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

I remembered to take a couple of photos, 5 loaves of bread and 3 pints of Jam.