Joyful Celebration...11º

I'm thinking this morning about how the Christmas Celebration has changed over the years, how commercial it has become and how it can be all about advertising and shopping and glitter and glitz...I have gone from the excitement of Santa and Reindeer flying through the air and anticipation of what might be hiding inside the gaily decorated packages, under the tree...Worrying about, have I been good or bad and is someone really keeping score, did I asked for too many gifts, will I get what I really wanted?..Is Santa real or are my more wordly classmates right, when they say that our parents buy all the gifts and Santa is but a fantasy for naive children?

Now as I look out at our snowy world, here on Barton Heights, Christmas for me is about the gift of love, as we spend time together, fixing food, playing games, sharing and caring, with family and friends, no matter the season or the place...And of course for children, it is about Santa and Reindeer on the rooftop....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Quiet/Cold...13º

I wake in the night to the house creaking...Just one of the "kids" coming downstairs to the bathroom, I think, and go back to sleep...Hours later I wake up again, more creaking, but now I realize it is just the temperature changing, making our old house creak...The "kids" left for home two days ago and Herb and I are still getting readjusted to the quiet that surrounds us...After a week of celebrating the Christmas Season, cooking, eating, candy making, snow shoveling, cards, board games, puzzles and laughter, we settle back into our routine, with memories of another year gone by.

We have lived in this old house for 43 years now, the place we call home...It was a bone chilling, cold week, so our time outside was limited to only necessary trips to the local store...One day warmed up enough for a freezing rain, which kept us even more house bound...Rusty left on Tuesday morning, only to spend about 5 hours, waiting for highway 84 to open, arriving in Bend after 7pm that night...Bobi and Ci left Wednesday morning, with mostly sunny skies and clear roads...It is good to have them safely home and us enjoying our quiet, warm, creaky house...The days start to lengthen and the weather will warm up, I'm enjoying the foot of snow still on the ground, a real winter...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

A quick photo on the deck!

ZERO DEGREES...0º

No matter how you read it, write it or look at it, it spells COLD...Luckily it is a dry cold, the air is still, sky is partly blue,  a chance of sunshine is in the forecast...Herb keeps the wood stove blazing away and we stay toasty warm, most of the time...Yesterday the guys were out plowing snow and cleaning walks as we had a couple more inches of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.

We've had our Christmas prime rib, cooked to perfection on the traeger, accompanied by baked potatoes, squash, rolls and salad...Now we are enjoying the leftovers and will for many days...For a change, Cienna has the chicken wings marinating, Bobi will make Wasabi noodles to round out the meal for today.

Our little tree stays lit, presents still wrapped, piled nearby...Stretching out the days of Christmas, no one seems overly anxious to start tearing off the wrappings...Will today be the day?..Or will we just sample another chocolate, play another game of cards, check the latest on our devices and revisit memories of Christmas celebrations of years gone by...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

O' Christmas Tree

Prime Rib, ready for the Traeger.

Snow and More Snow...38º

Growing up near McCall, Idaho, our winters were long and the snow was deep...Six feet on the level, covering fences, winter started in November and the snow lasted through April...That was the norm...Temperature could drop to -40º for days on end and if the snow was just right a crust would form on top, so solid that it would hold up horses and sleigh...So it was possible, at that time, to ride on the sleigh, going over top of fences as if they didn't exist...A foot or more of snow overnight was common and if the storm was accompanied with wind our road would be drifted shut and our only way to the outside world was by sleigh...We lived on a county road, 3 miles from a main highway, a small mercantile and the postoffice...County road equipment in those days was minimal and before the road crew could get the roads passable, another storm would come through, dumping more snow...As an 8 year old child, I was in a dream world, not realizing what it took for my parents to keep our house warm, pipes from freezing, animals fed and watered and food on our table...Growing up in that world, I learned to love a snow storm as long as I was safe, warm and surrounded by love.

Not sure where I was going with that story, just a memory sparked by a foot of snow on the ground and possibly more on the way...I am concerned about the ice storm in Portland and the Columbia Gorge and our kids making the trip to Joseph for Christmas...Guess I have a love/hate relationship with snow and winter....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Winter Weather...8º

After a lovely snow storm on Sunday our weather has turned frosty cold...Our old house creaks and groans as the temperature changes and we stay cozy and warm inside...In anticipation of "The Kids" arriving next week the doors have been opened in the upstairs bedrooms, warming than a bit and airing things out...I removed a layer of dust and Herb has remade the beds with clean linens...Yesterday he put Christmas lights on the front porch and now we have to bring a few Christmas decorations downstairs to make the living room festive...Bobi and I chatted yesterday about menus for the upcoming week, prime rib dinner on the day we celebrate Christmas and simple nutritious meals for the other days, with all of us slicing and dicing, stirring and cooking.

Backing up a bit to our Sunday snowstorm, a total of 6 inches of wet heavy flakes fell throughout the day...It seemed like we were living in a snow globe...About 10am the storm let up and Herb and I were outside shoveling, brooming, pushing snow off the walks and deck, thinking the storm was over...Not to be as it settled in and snowed throughout the day...So before dark we again put on warm clothes and this time he used the 4 wheeler to push snow out of the driveway and along our road, while I cleaned the deck and walks one more time before we called it a day.

Today I will make more fondant so the girls can help me dip chocolates when they get here with the dipping chocolate...Today will be cold but sunny, tomorrow snow is in the forecast...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...With the cold weather I like nothing better than having my nose in a book and I was lucky enough this week to have two books that I throughly enjoyed..."The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" about a girl growing up as the "horseless carriage" was being invented in a household full of brothers...She wasn't interested in needlework or cooking but loved spending time with her grandfather in his library or exploring the mysteries of science with him...It was all about caterpillars, plants, insects, birds anything to do with science, much to her mothers dismay...A time when girls were groomed to be married off to a man who could support her and the many children she was destined to have...She wanted to go to college and yes, study science!..It's a young adult book and a Newberry Prize winner..

"Locally Laid" about a young couple, both with college degrees and she thinking of life in the city will all its amenities, but he has other aspirations...Both books can be checked out of our Joseph Library...

Sunday's snow storm.

Barton Heights Weekend...27º

A quiet weekend, after yesterdays road trip to Clarkston/Costco...We pulled into Winco before 9am, clear roads all the way...Dropped into a stinky, foggy Lewiston/Clarkston valley...This valley has a lot of pluses but stinky fog/smog in the winter is not one of them...It was cold, breezy and damp and people were dressed like they lived at the north pole and complaining about how cold it was.

We bought mostly veggies and fruits at Winco as I prefer their packaging  to Costco and we can get large or small amounts to our liking, instead of hugh Costco, indestructible plastic shells!..We left there with just time enough to make Costco's 10am opening...Two hours later we left Costco after spending more money than we had anticipated--Surprise, Surprise...When I commented on this, the lady checking us out said, she has the same problem and thinks that "things" jump into her cart automatically...Herb and I each have a cart and check in with each other to see if we are duplicating, and we did with a gallon of popcorn, that I was supposed to return to the shelf and forgot...Christmas gift for someone!

On our way over we noticed that the little cafe in Anatone was opened so opted to have lunch there on the way home...The wind blew us in the door, where we quickly found the blazing pellet stove in the back corner...Our cook/waitress brought us burgers and a milkshake to share in a timely manner and after a quiet lunch, a tasty burger, we were headed home...Hugs To All...OWAV:)