Soap Box...42º

For the past several months I, like everyone else have watched the political signs materialize like stars on a clear night in July...They are one of the many things that now put a blight on our landscape...Thirty years ago when I still worked at school, we all did our part to pass a bond to remodel or rebuild...One thing that has always stayed in my mind is the admonishment..DO NOT PUT SIGNS in the Public Right of Way!

So this year as the election moves into the last two months, the signs multiply overnight, like measles in an epidemic, with each one trying to outdo the other, getting bigger and closer to the highway...What happened to "public right of way?"...This law/rule/mandate has been in effect for at least 30 years and now the very people who are in charge of making said policy are breaking the rules...Do they not KNOW or do they just have a blatant disregard, because they are above the law?

I was pleasantly surprised just yesterday, when I heard that odot was driving along highway 82 north of Joseph, pulling each sign and unceremoniously throwing them one by one into the truck and hauling them off!

End of rant...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Redundant...44º

Today I will write about tomatoes for the last time this year...Starting with the 20 pounds of tomatoes that have been "ripening," in our living room for over a week now, they are in the freezer!..Herb "chased water," (my mothers term) most of the day, changing settings every 90 minutes, for one last fall watering, as we hope for rain this weekend...He then dismantled the siphon hose, from the irrigation ditch and drained the pumps, before moving them to the garage, for the winter...Now there is no way that I can say, "But Honey, I think there is a spot you missed in the far Northwest corner of the yard." 😇

While he was doing that, I stayed in the kitchen scalding, peeling tomatoes, before placing them on cookie sheets, covered with garlic, basil, salt and olive oil, then into the oven...I did the extra step of peeling to see if it is worth the effort to not have pesky tomato skins in sauces and soup...These little tomato morsels are hard to resist, when they come out of the oven...A cracker, a roasted tomato and a thin slice of smoky Gouda cheese, make a wonderful snack...By 3pm, Herb was done watering, I was done with tomatoes and we were happy to sit down to a bowl of ham and bean soup and sliced fresh veggies for our dinner...It was easy and filling and we were tired.

Roasted, with a few missing.

Delicious!

One more tomato that I will mention are the 2 bushes of "Indigo Rose," the name suckered me in to buying them...They produced an abundant crop of beautiful, eggplant colored, salad tomatoes, but alas our season is not long enough for them to ripen properly or to develop the flavor to go with their vibrant color...After admiring them for one last time, I pulled the bushes, cleaned up the tomatoes, from the ground, ate one of the riper looking ones and chalked it up to fun experiment...Join me here again tomorrow for another fun filled, exciting day on Barton Heights...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Indigo Rose

Stacked/Cleanup...44º

The load of firewood that was delivered late Sunday evening is stacked...We worked for about 2 hours in the cool of the morning, before breakfast...Herb split some of the big rounds to make them fit better, so our stack is neat and tidy...We like it that way...Now we wait for more, that might be delivered this weekend or maybe not...It is the start of hunting season and in Wallowa County that takes preference over most other things...We will be happy if it arrives but if not, we now have plenty of wood inside and ready to burn.

On to other things, I didn't get tomatoes in the oven yesterday and opted to go back outside after breakfast to work in the garden, pulling squash and cucumber vines...Also covered the garlic bed with fence panels to keep the straw in place...I'm still thinking about the straw bale planting, so I moved straw bales around and into place, anticipating where they might work the best...I moved bales by pushing and rolling, with very little lifting...With the sun beating down, I did work up a sweat so after a hot shower, I fixed dinner of chicken thighs, fresh pulled carrots, sliced tomatoes and onions...While I was in the garden, Herb was working on the never ending laundry, that he hangs on the line and then folds, stacking in neat piles, so we always have clean clothes...Thus ending another day on Barton Heights.

This morning my blog is done early and just maybe I will get the tomatoes into roast, before I go outside!...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

A few photos from the garden.

Grapes are turning a bit each day, 

just need to be a little sweeter.

So happy for the late blooming

sunflower.

The straw bales under the grapevine

 are now moved...Neighbors house

in the background.

Work Day...36º

Most every day is a work day, because we don't do very much in a day...It is good to spread it out and hope we get most of it done before winter rolls around.

Early yesterday morning I chopped onions, celery, garlic and peppers to sauté before adding them to navy beans and ham for a huge pot of ham and bean soup...My latest method of cooking beans and ham is an easy one...I put navy beans (unsoaked) into a large pot, add water, broth, ham juice, cooked ham and bone and the veggies, cover and seal with foil...About 9am this goes into a 300º oven for about 1 hour, then lower heat to 200º and forget about it until 2pm...Remove from oven, turn heat up to 425º and mix a batch of cornbread...While that bakes, remove ham from pot, dice and return...Voilà, the perfect fall dinner...To make it even better, whip up honey butter for the cornbread.

Today we return to the wood pile for more stacking and splitting, if I hurry and finish this blog, I might have time to prep a sheet or two of tomatoes for roasting in a slow oven, while we are hard at work outside...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Sunrise

Moonset (is that a word)?

Work/Rest...39º

More firewood was delivered late Sunday evening, so yesterday in between loads of laundry, Herb was out stacking and splitting a few rounds...I joined him and we worked slow and methodically until we called it a day before noon...Today is sort of a day of rest, more laundry and house work to do.

Now that is a pile of wood.

Where does he start?

We had a hard frost on Sunday night, I'm kind of glad in a way...I gleaned patty pans, cucumbers and parsley, put candy onions in the garage to dry and covered the purple tomatoes for one more night...Today I will pull squash and cucumber vines and Herb will turn on the overhead sprinklers to give the empty beds and garlic a good soaking...No measurable rain in the forecast...Everything I read says that even though you want to be done with watering, fall watering is very important as we move toward winter...We are anticipating the ditch water being shut off by October 1st.

Last patty pans and cukes for this year.

Parsley is now dry and stored.

I have more tomatoes to roast and still thinking about canning chili, beets to pickle, also freezing apples for pie this winter and garlic to dry...Today I will put ham and beans in the oven, for a long slow cook, using the leftover ham bone from last week...A good fall meal...We went to bed last night with the "Harvest Moon," rising and were up this morning to watch it going down behind Ruby Peak...Beautiful fall days are on the calendar this week...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fall Ritual...45º

My FB page says the first day of fall has arrived...We typically, can look forward to Indian Summer here in October, cold nights with sunny days...We used to wait until mid to late October to harvest potatoes and plant garlic but as we "age," it seems smart to get it done in September, so we don't get caught in an October snow storm or really wet weather...Yesterday with a slight chance of rain in the forecast seemed like the perfect day...Herb and I gently tugged on the potato vines and found nests of potatoes, clean and scab free...The yield isn't very big, but what we get are nice potatoes and we also have to consider that we "robbed" quite a few for summer eating.

All Sizes.

After breakfast, I sat at the picnic table, where I broke garlic heads apart and separated out the largest cloves for this years seed...I filled 11 "hallocks," with enough cloves to plant a row, about 200 plants will sprout and grow next spring.

Remember, I talked about getting sidetracked when I write, here I go again...Many years ago we grew lots of raspberries and my neighbor Jane, explained to me that the little boxes I put them in were called hallocks, not "thingies"...I didn't question her, but I liked that name and have used it every since, sometime getting strange looks from people when I use it...Today I googled hallocks and from the "Farmers Almanac," got this definition...Your trivia for the day.

The proper spelling is “hallock”, a name applied from that of the company that originally produced the small wooden baskets in the middle 1800s (Hallock of New York). Hallocks were held in a “flat” of berries (a flat usually weighed 20-25 lbs) and we (Oregon kids in the late 50s/early 60s) were paid by the pound even though we had punch cards that got punched for each flat we took to the field boss (poundage was recorded on the back of the card as I recall).

Herb dug the rows, I carefully planted each clove, covered then with dirt and walked all over them, just like Mom taught me...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Planted garlic bed, still needs to 

have a straw mulch on top.

Day Off...45º

I took the day off from writing yesterday as we left early to drive to La Grande for a 9am eye appointment...I always think I will write when we get home but I seem to be a morning writer or at least words come easier then, than afternoon or evening...The drive along the Wallowa River was alive with the beginning fall colors, little traffic and no wildlife on the road...We left early on purpose so we can shop at Grocery Outlet when the store first opens, and has few customers.

Arriving at Dr. Pettits' office, the parking lot is full, which means the office is also overflowing...Herb opts to stay in the car and wait...I was there for over an hour but many tests were done in that time and my eyes were dilated, which I hate!..I come out into bright sunlight, wearing disposable dark glasses, my eyes (pupils) big as saucers...I cautiously report, Dr. says he is amazed at how good my sight is and how slow the cataracts are growing...Of course he then adds "at my age."...I felt good about this news but will not get smug, because I know it can change in an instant!

We shopped at BiMart, before opting for Burgers and fries for lunch, our morning piece of toast at 6am is long gone...Our last stop is in Elgin, where we are able to buy flour (unbleached, all purpose and bread) in 25 pound bags, something not found in Wallowa County...We are back home and unloaded by mid afternoon...It was a good day...Hugs To All..OWAV:)

Last shot of the river and meadow

as we leave Wallowa Canyon

First sighting of our Mountains

and the Wallowa Valley.

Random Thoughts/Photos...34º

I have promised myself that each day, I will spend a couple of hours in the garden doing fall cleanup...So far the raspberry bushes have the old growth cut our and new cut back...Weeds pulled out and fertilizer applied...Today I will cover the row with a mulch of straw...The drip system is running, the last irrigation of this fall.

I could accomplish more each day but sometimes, instead of working, I sit on a bale of straw and work through in my mind where next years crops will go...Some things are obvious, some not so...I'm thinking about planting cucumbers and tomatoes in some of the straw bales...That would save me from bending over to harvest and water, but it might not work with my drip irrigation because it is gravity feed...Something else to ponder...The nighttime temperatures are hovering just above freezing, so nothing is growing, but I'm still hopeful for tomatoes, grapes and more cucumbers to ripen...While pondering, I also can't help picking or pulling a few things, mostly patty pans and carrots, oh yes and a few potatoes to appear on our dinner table...I also cut parsley and basil, trimmed off all the leaves and dried them in the microwave...Now they are in the spice cabinet for winter meals...Time to get dressed and moving today....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

1 potato, weighed over a pound.

The patty pans, so prolific.

Candy onions are a real hit, big and sweet.

Such a nice crop of carrots.

Resting easier...41º

Sometimes we long for the good old days, when we went to the woods, just the two of us or along with younger friends and got our winters wood...Then we graduated to buying a load of wood logs, that Herb sawed up, we split, loaded and hauled home...Always staying ahead of the game with a winters supply stacked in our back lot.

John, Becky, Rusty and Herb

John, Becky, Me and Herb

What we called a cord.

For the last few years we have ordered cords of unsplit wood...Last year we anticipated more deliveries than were forthcoming, the back lot, looked empty...This spring I called and ordered 4 cords of wood to be delivered at any time...September rolled around and no wood appeared...I was beginning to panic...So when an ad came on FB, split wood for sale, immediate delivery...I ordered two cords, it took a few messages and some waiting but on Sunday afternoon we had two cords of wood in a pile in our "wood room," waiting to be stacked...I helped what I could, but it is a small space, so Herb did most of the stacking...We both breathed a sigh of relief.

Sunday afternoon an email came in that we could expect the 1st of our 4 cords, on this coming Saturday...It is unsplit, but we can take our time now and finish filling the wood room...Sometime over the summer we placed an order for I think 3 cords of wood, but haven't heard anything about that...If it shows up, it will be like money in the bank...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Herb does a great job of stacking.

Multiple Choices...37º

Many days I struggle to come up with a topic for my almost daily blog...This morning several are running through my mind, such as: animals/wildlife, winters wood, annual harvest, more about fall cleanup...I could probably tie all of these together but then what would I write about tomorrow...Sometimes I start writing about one thing and find it changes, midstream, to something out of left field...I have a hard time staying focused.

Yesterday morning started out good, sunny, partly cloudy, cool...Perfect for working outside in mid September...Herb was out early, cutting down spent perennials...I decided to pick apples...Our Gravenstein apple tree is old, it was here when we moved into this house 45 years ago...I remember it blooming that first year, (for the first time, so our neighbors said,) I don't remember if we picked any apples...We knew nothing about taking care of an apple tree...Some people said top it, some said, never top it...We ended up topping it and began the yearly pruning to keep it that way...It has rewarded us with many bushels of apples, we use some and give many away...For many years Enterprise high school Home-ec department was a recipient and students were taught to make apple pies and how to can/jar applesauce...Now this is where I could go off on a rant about the home-ec program, being cut from the school curriculum, but not today.

Since we have done such a good job of keeping this tree pruned, I can pick many of the apples from the ground or from the second step of our very stable ladder...I enjoy this process, as I methodically pick and sort apples into 4 boxes...Due to proper thinning this spring/summer, the apples are large and beautiful and we have enough to share with friends...Looking back at this blog, I see it is getting to the length where people are becoming bored with my rambling and I must get to the point or lose then completely...Herb helped me finish picking, with his added height he got the few apples up top.

I carefully arranged the boxes, called friends, to come get them, sat on the deck, surveyed our domain  and felt very smug about this accomplishment...Finally I went back inside to the dreaded housework and maybe 2 hours later looked out to see apples dumped out of the boxes, scattered everywhere, with bites taken out of many...Not a pretty sight, I swore, I yelled, I threw half eaten apples and threatened to shoot every deer that dared even get close to our property...Another rant in the making.

I was so angry I couldn't even cry, finally I calmed down, cleaned up the mess, with Herbs help and we salvaged all the "whole" apples and moved them into the garage where I should have put them in the first place...Lesson learned, maybe I shouldn't feel so smug about a job well done or realize that it gives me more subjects to write about!

The sun is out this morning, life is good, we are very blessed and have 2 cords of wood scheduled to arrive this afternoon...That is another story...I must remember to get photos....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Before Deer.

So Lovely.

Cooler Weather...35º

Most of our flowerbeds are looking quite sad as the flowers move from blooms to seed but the front porch with geraniums still have their bright red blooms that greet us each morning...Nice to have as the weather is forecast to be cooler and cloudy this week.

Cheerful

Yesterday Herb worked cutting down more foliage in flowerbeds and I worked in the veggie garden amending beds for next spring...I had mixed a batch of bread early in the morning, left it to rise while I was outside, by noon it was in pans, doing its final raising before going into the oven...I had enough dough to make 4 double loaves and a sheet pan of wiener wraps, using up the leftover wieners from our family picnic at the lake.

Since Herb and I ate only 1 wiener wrap each, I shared the others with Margaret (who taught me to make them, when she was my boss in the school lunch room) and Mike, who also lives at the Alpine House and is an old family friend...We shared the rest with B & J, who help us out by eating many of our leftovers. 😉

I have put off a project until the weather cooled down and now think I must get busy and prep everything to make a huge batch of chili, to put in jars and pressure cook, for our winter supply...Life is always busy on Barton Heights...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Fall Ritual...37º

Several years ago, Herb and I both volunteered at "Mule Days," he was usually on garbage duty and I worked the souvenir booth...One year as we did the final cleanup, bales of straw were left in a stack for anyone to take home...That first year the bales were delivered to our garden, they had served their purpose, so we paid the farmer, who had donated them to the event, and it was a win/win situation.

Early Tuesday morning, with trailer hooked to Herbs' little red pickup, we arrived at the fair grounds to get our 10 bales of straw that we use for mulch in the vegetable garden...As Herb got ready to move the first bale, a voice out of nowhere said, "Need some help?" We said, "YES" in unison...A girl in her late 20's (I assume) had all the bales loaded in no time...She was a pro at throwing bales...Her family had participated in Mule Days and would soon be heading for the Pendleton Roundup...We thanked her profusely and were soon back home, where both of us got the bales off the trailer and stacked for the winter...As we were doing that I said, "Herb, we should have brought that girl home with us!"

Temperature dropped to near freezing last night and we are well on our way to the fall cleanup, hoping for a few weeks of Indian Summer before harvesting potatoes and planting the garlic...Our little grapevine is loaded this year, I'm trying to have positive thoughts that they will ripen but the cool nights won't help, not sure that green grapes will ripen off the vine, any more than half green peaches ripen off the tree...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Rustic pie from Gravenstein Apples

Half ripe purple tomatoes

Dinner of stuffed peppers, corn from our neighbor.

Smores'...43º

Our summer "Get-Togethers" have traditionally included a wiener roast and smores' at Wallowa Lake State Park...We could do this in our "backyard with the view," but its' not the same...So we pack up everything, check off the list, drive 6 miles to "our spot."...It is at the head of the lake, alongside the Wallowa River, away from the touristy traffic of the State Park...On Thursday afternoon, we have our choice of picnic tables and fire rings, it is quiet and peaceful, with a view of the lake.

When Ci was just a "wee girl" and Papa and I had her all to ourselves, we would come here earlier in the summer when a small ditch still had running water in it...Ci would entertain herself all afternoon with sticks and anything that floated, running along and in the little ditch, until she tired herself out...Then we finished the day with roasting wieners and smores' before taking this sweet girl home for a bath and bedtime.

This year she is 20 years old, still sweet and still loves a wiener roast and smores'...So we were back at our favorite spot for an afternoon of peace and quiet...Instead of playing in the ditch, we played cards while waiting for the fire to burn down to coals, ready to roast...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Photo's from memory lane, I don't have any early ones, in the computer of picnic, so these will have to do.

Mushroom hunting.

Cupcake on the deck.

This is at our spot, a few years ago.

 Sept. 2018

Cienna, Bobi, Della

Ci still loves a smore.

Della, Herb and Cienna

Decompress...47º

The old cliché "Time flies when you're having fun," fits our week perfectly...Laughter, play, work, canning, roasting, cooking/eating, road trip, wiener roast/smores and games all crammed into one short week...When the girls pulled out of the driveway early Friday morning, it was like letting air out of a balloon in one fell swoop...The calm and quiet took place of the hubbub of activity that has been life for a week...No more dosey-doe dance in the kitchen where the 4 of us jockey for space, the quiet is deafening.

Herb deals with all this by sorting sheets and other laundry and soon has everything washed and on the line...Out comes the vacuum, to clean and make noise...I on the other hand, sit in my chair doing scrabble on the computer, before moving to the deck, where I sit staring into space, sorting through the last week in my mind, breathing deep, counting our blessings and taking in the view!

Today Herb has another load of laundry going, I've finished my coffee and am trying to put enough words on paper to qualify for a blog post...Thoughts run through my head, meals to plan, phone calls to make, tomatoes to finish roasting...Slowly I move back into my routine...It was a wonderful week...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Before the girls left we robbed some potatoes, pulled carrots and beets, cut a cabbage and of course included garlic in their box to take home...The carrots always grow in interesting shapes, giving us one final chuckle.

Crazy carrot

Our Mountain is covered in haze on this morning.

Busy, Fun, Crazy...47º

Tuesday I took a break from roasting tomatoes...We ate leftovers for breakfast and lunch, in anticipation of dinner out in LaGrande Tuesday night...Bobi met Sandy at the newest Thai restaurant and Ci and I met Sue and Cindy at Moys' (Chinese) restaurant...It was a lovely afternoon for a drive and the trip home was uneventful.

Yesterday Bobi and I cleaned garlic, now it is ready to share and soon we will plant the largest cloves and powder the rest for our winter supply...Cienna, using some of the culinary skills, that she learned in Thailand made a coconut cream pie, for all to enjoy...So rich, so delicious, there might be a fight. over who gets what is left, for breakfast 😁...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Toasted coconut on top.

Late Summer Fun...45º

Saturday was a full day of pickling...I started early washing/scrubbing cucumbers and stuffing quart/pint jars with dill, garlic, hot peppers and grape leaves...Everything but the hot peppers and cucumbers were picked fresh from our garden...Bobi, trying to stay out of my way, but still be productive made a lentil/quinoa/tuna salad for our lunch...After lunch, Bobi took over scrubbing cukes and I stuffed the jars...We also had enough cukes to fill two gallon jars, cover with salt, vinegar, alum, and water, and let them brine for 6 weeks...Then I will slice them, add sugar to the brine, pack in pint jars and process for sweet pickle chips...By dinner time we had 12 pints and 22 quarts of dills cooling on the kitchen table...Herb and Cienna made their own peanut butter sandwiches for dinner and Bobi and I had more tuna salad and we all had a glass of wine and some of us had two glasses of wine!..Maybe we will have enough pickles for two years.

Ready to eat by Thanksgiving.

Early Sunday morning, Herb carried all the pickles downstairs to the cellar and I started washing/slicing tomatoes to roast...By 10am, we were all up, showered and had a big breakfast of pancakes covered in huckleberry compote, sausage on the side...The tomatoes were doing their slow roast, so we girls left Herb to babysit the tomatoes and we went yard saling...Lunch was fresh roasted tomatoes on bread or crackers or tuna salad...Cienna came home from yard saling with the original "Trivial Pursuit" from the 60's/70's and we spent the afternoon on the deck finding out how few of the answers we knew...Cienna is really at a disadvantage coming up with answers and I never was any good at this game, so we ended up giving each other lots of clues, so we could end the game and get onto dinner!

\

Tomatoes Ready to Roast.

My famous "Mock Eggplant Parmesan" made a good dinner, although Herb got tired of waiting for us to cook and ate brownies and ice cream for his dinner...Hmmmm, might have to try that today, wonder how it will taste with wine?...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Mock Eggplant Parmesan ready for the oven.

Pickling Season...48º

I think I mentioned awhile back that for the first time in 30 years, there are no dill pickles on our cellar shelves...Early in August I put in an order for 40 pounds of small cucumbers from Edwards' Farm in Milton Freewater...I got the call on Wednesday, that I could have Friday mornings picking, I immediately said, "We will be there."...My mind (what is left of it) went into overdrive...I had a bajillion things to do because "our girls were coming." Cleaning, cooking, yard work and now cucumbers that were 230 miles away, round trip...As I sorted things through my mind, the light dawned, the girls could make a 50 mile detour and pick up the cucumbers on their way to Joseph.

40 pounds waiting.

Perfect size.

 That left me time to make oblong rolls for BLT's for dinner when they arrived, I washed jars, mopped floors, cleaned the bathroom and made an apple/walnut pie (not very good, won't try that recipe again)...They arrived about 6pm with cucumbers and Bobi succumbed to a small box of peaches, that look delicious, we hope they taste good.

Oblong buns.

 Square buns for burgers or sandwiches

on another day.

Lovely Peaches.

It is 7am Saturday morning, girls are still sleeping, my coffee cup is almost empty...I must get a move on, gather some fresh dill and grape leaves from the garden and heads of garlic, make a vinegar/salt brine and we will start packing cucumbers into jars and the tomatoes are still waiting to get roasted...I love this time of year...Hugs To All...OWAV:)