Last minute things...38º

Cooking, laundry, packing, keeps me in a dither, making sure I have everything ready for our 8am departure, tomorrow...Looking forward to a "girls getaway," our 3rd annual "hot springs" trip to McCall, Idaho...I will try to take lots of photos...Wish me luck as my friends try to hide when they see me looking through my phone...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Last year we traveled on the weekend of Oct. 21st and drove on snowy roads for the first 60 miles of our trip...Pam is an excellent driver, keeping a safe speed, but not a snails pace, she remains calm and collected, while the rest of us chatter away and asked that age old question...Are we there Yet?..Looks like we are in for rain/snow mixed all four days of our trip.

Below are photos from 2017.

we will be staying here again!

First 60 mile one year ago.

Halloween for Kids and Adults...38º

Sunday before noon, found Pam and I at the Wallowa Lake Lodge for the 3rd annual "Halloween Haunted House."...Pam recruited me last year to help her and Carolyn with the caramel apple booth...After doing this for two years they were set to streamline the process...No more whole apples dunked in the rich, gooey, sticky, sweet, delicious caramel sauce, for kids to take a few bites, before throwing them away and moving on to easier ways to consume sugar...Instead this year we would slice all apples, place 3 large slices on a plate and drizzle caramel over them...It was a hit, not only for the kids but for the parents as well...At least the children were getting a somewhat healthy snack and many requested apples with NO caramel and even adults stood in line for apples.

Next year we will streamline even more...Can you believe we spent almost two hours before the 2:00 opening, unwrapping caramel candy and melting batches in the microwave before putting them in crock pots to keep it warm for drizzling over the apples??? We did...Next year we hope to buy already melted caramel, do one crockpot and cut out the messy and time consuming process of making "liquid" out of little brown squares of caramel...We used about 20 bags of caramels and 80 large apples.

All in all it was a successful day, the entire upstairs is a haunted house, while the downstairs has stations set up with crafts, apple bobbing, Halloween Bingo to name a few...Over 200 people enjoyed the festivities from 2pm-5pm...After 6 hours on our feet, Carolyn, Pam and I stopped for dinner and visiting at the "Stubborn Mule."...Maybe we'll all be there again next year...Hugs to all...OWAV:)

Waiting for customers

The spider making booth.

Finger painting spooky stuff.

Struggle...42º

I'm struggling with writing a blog today, tired of all the food photos, autumn colors and blathering about fall cleanup, canning and cooking and cleaning...Soon the election will be over and some of the phone calls will cease...Halloween is right around the corner...Life is good here on Barton Heights, I'm looking forward to a "Girls Getaway," next week and Herb is probably looking forward to a few days without "Honey Do's and Honey Don't."...Wishing all of you a Happy Day...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Random photos from October in years gone by.

October sky 2016

Sunrise October 2014

Birthday Celebration 2012

Outside...38º

One more day outside, I should finish in the garden...Asparagus needs to be cut down and also the joe pye weed...One more wheelbarrow load of manure spread on the last garden bed and the asparagus, that should guarantee, new green shoots next spring...Herb has mowed/chopped umpteen bags of leaves, most have been spread but 2 bags will be saved for next spring/summer when the soil needs more amendments...Now it would be nice if we get a little wind storm, to blow the leaves off of the grass and across the road to the flowerbeds over there.

Yesterday I spent the entire day inside...The sourdough start was bubbling away, just begging to be used...I'm so thankful for my Bosch mixer as it easily mixes and knead 10 pounds of dough, I like to knead by hand but not that much...So I placate myself by letting it rise 3 times, punch it down and knead a few times, so it can raise again, before I shape it into loaves.

Several weeks ago I promised to conclude a blog that I wrote about the "Food Alliance."...Food Alliance receives food, that is about to "expire," from Safeway/Albertsons," and I volunteer for this organization... Follow this link to read that blog....Conundrum.

I still have mixed feelings about taking free food, when we don't really need it...The food is available to anyone, no income guidelines, they just want people to use this food, so it doesn't go to the dump!..So to help justify what I bring home, I wait at the end of the line, so other people get first choice and the food I take home has to be shared with friends...I also have been volunteering more days, for the organization, and see how much food that there is available and spread the word to get more people to come on Fridays and Mondays, from 12 to 12:30pm, at "The Place," in Joseph.

While making loaves of bread yesterday, I again made wiener wraps, Herb ate 2, I ate one and I delivered the rest, along with a few loaves of bread...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Rain is imminent...47º

Blustery overnight, trees dropping their multi colored leaves, covering grass and flowerbeds...Herb is out early mornings, with the riding mower, mowing and bagging the chopped leaves...Many people pile leaves and burn them or haul them to the dump...I spent yesterday afternoon, layering the chopped leaves with straw and alfalfa pellets, then topped with a layer of well aged manure...It will compost over the winter and come spring, it is ready for seeds/starts to be planted...I have 5 raised beds, that I rotate plus a couple of small spaces, next to the fence, that I plan to try straw bale gardening next summer...I dug more carrots, (amazed at the size) and will dig more today, before we cover what is left with straw, and if the gophers don't get them, we will eat this winter.

We plan to finish up with the garden this week and probably work on drying garlic and making applesauce and freeze a few apples for winter pies...Then there are windows to be washed, gutters cleaned of leaves, as we transition from fall to winter...Snow can come early to our valley, so we work at being prepared...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

An Autumn Wonderland:

Maple

Red Maple in summer,

orange in fall. 

Japanese Maple, almost iridescent.

A blanket of Autumn leaves.

"Jarring" Marathon...38º

My Mom always called it canning, now jarring (jarring means a physical shock) seems to be the new term...I googled canning and it came from the word canister, not can, as in tin cans of food from the grocery store...Whatever it is called, canning or jarring, it is coming back into vogue.

The pressure cooker I use for canning was bought by my Dad...Mom used it for 60 years before she gave up canning at 85 and said I could take the pressure cooker home...We spent 15 years doing canning marathons at her house in Elgin.

Herb and I started the latest canning session last week...It is a major production assembling all the pots, pans, jars, etc...Grinding burger, soaking beans and washing jars...Friday morning, the first canner simmered away and by Sunday noon, the last canner was done...A total of 90 jars are now on the cellar shelves, mostly chili but also garbanzo beans for hummus, navy and pinto beans with bacon, onion and garlic for bean soup...Also a first for me, are canned carrots from our garden.

Sunday was a special day for me, celebrating my 76th birthday...I received phone calls and cards, from people (friends, sisters, grand daughter and kids) wishing me a happy day...Enjoyed an afternoon at a music concert and wine and food with friends...Feeling blessed and loved...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Chili

Pinto

Garbanzo 

Carrots

Pickled...36º

Cucumbers have been soaking in a salt/vinegar brine, plus seasonings, for 6 weeks, in glass gallon jars...Yesterday I drained and saved half of the brine, added sugar to it, then sliced the cucumbers and heated all together, before putting them in pint jars and processing...All the pickles, dills, sweets and beet pickles are done for this year.

Most of the prep work is done for the chili, meat ground, beans ready to soak, and jars are upstairs waiting to go in the dishwasher...Now we have four days with no appointments, so we can concentrate only on chili.

Turkey wings will go in the crockpot this morning, giving us meat for easy meals for at least two days...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Sweet pickles

Beet Pickles

Busy Week Ahead...34º

At a loss to figure out something for breakfast yesterday, I searched through the fridge and decided on the meat ball, homemade noodle dish that we had the night before...I had never put egg noodles with a tomato sauce before, (always with turkey or beef gravy) but we found it very tasty, and might even add some whole wheat to the noodles next time.

Yummy.

Early morning I was in the kitchen, scrubbing beets (from our garden) before putting them on to boil and later peel, slice and this morning I will heat them in a sweet, spicy brine and jar them for pickled beets.

I was the go to person for Food Alliance yesterday, since both my cohorts were unavailable...All went well, with a choice of meats, salads and milk products all without cost and a great help to stretch their food budgets...The program is actually open to people of all income levels.

Today we start getting everything, jars, pressure cooker, huge pots, beans, ground meat etc...Meat from our freezer will be ground into chunky ground beef, chili's and onions will be chopped and sautéed, will start pressure cooking on Friday...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Indian Summer...26º

Looks like Indian Summer for the next week anyway...Sunny, cool days and frosty nights...It was warm enough to dig in the dirt yesterday and after a struggle, I managed to get starts off of the ornamental grass...All my friends want a start of this showy fall grass.

"Shimmery"

Early morning was too cold to go outside and I really needed to get something cooking for dinner...Ground meat was thawing in the fridge and spaghetti sounded good...I made about 50 miniature meat balls, added them (uncooked) to a crockpot of simmering roasted tomatoes, put the lid on and went outside...About 3 hours later, I was greeted with delicious aromas coming from the kitchen...Looking in the pantry, all I found was thin, whole wheat pasta...UGH...Homemade noodles sounded much better...4 eggs, flour, salt mixed into a soft dough, rolled out, cut into strips and simmered in boiling water...Comfort food at its best...Pam joined us for dinner, a glass of wine and a game of cards...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Entertainment...26º

Last scene from Mary Poppins.

For the second day in a row, I have enjoyed the Wallowa/ Minam Canyon and all of its fall colors, while sitting in the passenger seat...Elgin was our destination and Mary Poppins was playing at the Elgin Opera House...This is the second show using our "season tickets," seven of us attended the Saturday matinee, sitting in our usual, front row balcony seats.

I can never describe how awesome these shows are or how much enjoyment they provide, but they are topnotch entertainment...The Opera House reopened for live performances in 2007...Pam and I have attended most of the shows since then...First we chose the least expensive seats, upper balcony, no padding, then we slowly moved out of the "nosebleed" section but still no padding...Then we splurged for seats on the main floor, but found that we preferred the balcony and have settled with front row balcony, padded for several years now.

Always looking for a good deal on tickets, we started buying 10 tickets, less cost for each ticket, but then we had to find 8 more people that could attend on the same day and make sure there were 10 seats close together...It worked but it was a pain...Then I checked into "season tickets."..Now I have 18 people that pay $45.00, upfront, for tickets, for four shows (that's too many fours/fors) and we can choose our own dates and our own favorite seats...We can also buy guest tickets for a reduced price...It seems to be working well, much less headache for me.

Enough of my blathering for one day...The show was wonderful, one of the very best, as usual the sets are amazing, singing and dancing is totally unbelievable to me, since I can do neither and the fact that after the matinee, these actors/actresses in about two hours will do a repeat for the evening performance...If you have never attended the Elgin Opera House, I encourage you to do so, "Mama Mia" is coming up next spring...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

They did the flying scenes very well!

Runaway Again...40º

Yesterday morning found Pam and I on the road again...She had an 11am haircut in LaGrande, with a friend of hers, who is working in a new Salon "Me Daza Salon."..It was a perfect day weather wise, fall colors making their show and freedom for us to do whatever we wanted...The appointment went well and we decided lunch would be next.

A fairly new renovation has been happening in LG, called  Market Square...We descended down a wide staircase, with steel railings, all surrounded by mirrors and brickwork...It is a labyrinthine of small shops and amazing workmanship at every turn...Thai Fresh Garden was our choice for lunch, we opted to split avocado spring rolls and Drunken Noodles...Loved the spring rolls but will try a different entree on our next visit...Soup and tea came with our lunch...After lunch we climbed a different staircase and continued wandering through the maze, stopping at La Bebe's bakery for a cheesecake to go.

Our next stop was Riverside Park where we found a sunny picnic table, with golden, green, red and yellow trees all around...Families gathered  for an afternoon outing and fun on the wooden play structure...P and I shared the cheesecake, saving half to take home to Herb.

One last stop was Grocery Outlet, where we chose gourds (turban squash) from a huge bin, for 99 cents each...Perfect for decorating and maybe even eating...As always we ended up in the chocolate aisle and in the guise of Halloween treats, we each had mini snickers in our bags, when we loaded our groceries.

Then we took the scenic route out of LaGrande heading for Elgin...The Summerville Tavern caught our eye and as neither of us had been there we stopped to check it out...Peanuts to shell were on every table and we leisurely sipped a small beer, ate peanuts and watched the locals, play pool, eat giant hamburgers (might have to go for lunch some day) and the bar stools were full of what we figured to be "regulars." Another runaway day, added to our memories...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Accomplished...41º

Two jobs totally done...All of the perennial plants are cut down and removed, now the ground is getting a good soaking rain...Perfect timing...Also our firewood is either in the basement, to burn this winter or stacked outside getting seasoned for next winter.

A busy day ahead with water therapy this morning followed by accupuncture in the afternoon...Sounds like a good day for BBQed pork, crockpot dinner...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Yesterdays' Sunrise

Without the electric pole!

Geraniums snuggled on the porch, out of the frost.

It is hard to throw them away

when they are still blooming.

Firewood Saga...43º

Late Saturday afternoon, our last 1 1/2 cords of firewood was delivered, thrown out into a pile in front of our neatly stacked wood from two weeks ago...7am found both of us, warmly dressed, outside ready to tackle the day...Herb worked at filling the small trailer with small pieces of wood to take to the cellar...I rolled the larger rounds into place, where they will spend the winter...Two hours later, three loads in the cellar, (it is almost full), we took a break to have something to eat...We worked for another hour or so and decided we had done enough and Monday morning we would finish the job...It felt good to work hard and this morning neither of us have any ill effects!

The yard cleanup should be finished this week, other jobs that I've been putting off are; canning chili, pickling beets, harvesting the carrots to bring in and store for the winter and leave some, mulched with straw also for winter...I start water therapy this week so will have to juggle other things around that and also take time to enjoy these beautiful fall days.

The fall musical this year is "Mary Poppins," and our tickets are for this coming Saturday afternoon...The great reviews are still coming in, as we anxiously await our turn...Our third annual "Hot Springs Adventure," is on the horizon...Stayed tuned for more details...Also Pam and I are again scheduled to work at the "Halloween Haunted House" at the Wallowa lake Lodge, where we serve up the caramel apples to all the ghosts and goblins and witches...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Not much left to do today.

Our guarantee for a warm winter.

Cold but Sunny..41º

Our day started out with us thinking that it was way too cold to work outside...Herb made the first move and when I heard the 4-wheeler start up, I grudgingly braved the cold and went to help...Actually it wasn't all that cold and not long before the sun was warming us and we shed out outer layer of clothing...We worked steadily finishing the front yard but it was 10:30 when we filled the last trailer with debris...It was way passed breakfast time so we decided to make waffles, covered in huckleberry compote, sausage on the side and called it brunch.

Before we sat down to eat, a text came into my phone that help was needed at the "food alliance."..I hurried through my brunch, left Herb with a messy kitchen to clean up, and arrived to help Virginia unload 6 extra large totes of food...Luckily we had a good crowd and by 12:15 most of the food was on its way to someones fridge/table instead of going into a dumpster...We are so lucky to have this program in our county.

Later in the afternoon, Pam arrived just in time to help me harvest grapes...We have had the grape vine for about 20 years and almost always get a few very sweet grapes to eat and all the grape leaves I need to add to jars of pickles...This year is a bumper crop of grapes, they just needed more warm weather, but most of them are sweet, so we filled three containers and left some for the birds...It must have been celebration time because we finished the afternoon/evening with snacks of cheese/crackers, wine, popcorn/grapes, and several games of cards...We do know how to have fun...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Garden Trimmings.

All in all picked at least 3 gallons of grapes.

Run Away Day...31ª

Mid morning yesterday, I sent a text to Pam about the fall colors, a tree at Water Canyon, that we always watch in the fall and didn't she have one last notice to put up at Freeze Out Saddle...She came back with, "Do I hear road trip in your voice?"...Two hours later, snacks and beverages were packed and we were on our way...For those of you that don't know our county, Water Canyon and Freeze Out Saddle are some distance apart...In both our heads, I'm sure this was already turning into two road trips.

Colors along the Imnaha River

Roadside Color

As always it was a time for us to unwind, reconnect and reminisce, especially after her busy, time consuming, summer job...The winding road to Imnaha is best driven slowly and while snacking on apples and cheese, we discussed the Imnaha Tavern and lunch...Our road trips always include food...We followed the Imnaha River to Freeze Our Saddle turn off, then traveled about 4 miles up a one lane road to the trail head, a "bowl" surrounded by ponderosa pine trees...No views from here, but a peaceful, quiet spot meant for relaxing.

Trail Head

I love Ponderosa Pines.

Mid afternoon found us back in Imnaha, hamburgers ordered, small glasses of beer in front of us...The HB's were served up with fresh Imnaha tomatoes and sweet mild onions, the meat patties were pink inside and juicy, not "hockey pucks" that have become the norm.

Before Burgers, we pose with one of the "wooden Indians."

Our tummies full, headed home, we took one more side road up Rail Canyon, where up on top you can see far and wide...Clouds were building now and a storm looked imminent, it was time to return home...Hope you enjoyed our "Run away day," Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Welcome Rain...41º

We are getting rain this morning...It will give us a rest from cutting down and cleaning out the perennial flower beds...Herb already has a fire going in the wood stove and the first load of laundry done and hanging on clothes lines in the basement...I on the other hand am only thinking about moving out of my chair, as I drink the last of my morning coffee.

Yesterday was a good day for cleanup both in the flowerbeds and also moving chairs and tables from the deck and storing them under cover for the winter...Now we will wait for a dry day or two and finish with the fall cleanup...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...We have tickets for  Saturday afternoon, Oct 13th for Mary Poppins and have been hearing RAVE reviews for this show at the "Elgin Opera House."...Mary Poppins is now playing Friday-Saturdays thru October 20th...The Oct. 19th and 20th shows have just been added...So get your tickets now for MARY POPPINS, I guarantee  you will not regret it.

Looking Northeast on Barton Heights.

Lavender waiting for its fall haircut.

One lone shasta daisy.

A few more photos...34º

More photos for October, when the colors change daily...Herb and I will work outside again this morning, then back inside to cook comfort food on a brisk fall day...Sending hugs to family and friends...OWAV:)

Black Eyed Susans

Fall Crocus

Joe Pye Weed changes his look,

with the clouds behind.

The Colors of Fall...50º

No rain overnight, temperature is much warmer this morning...Yesterday Herb and I were out early, he cutting/chopping down the perennials, that have gone to seed, I followed behind with a rake and filled the little trailer...Some years we have left chopped stuff for mulch, but I like the look of cleaner beds going into winter, they all seem to winter okay and sprout back up in the spring...I also did some pruning on the barberry that is starting to shade the peonies...Our plan is to do another section this morning...A little each day and it will eventually get done!..No firewood was delivered over the weekend so we can concentrate on yard work.

Late afternoon found me outside again, this time with my iPhone/camera recording the fall colors, that are just getting started...Hope everyone is enjoying these lovely fall days...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Ornament grass that was gifted

to us from friend Pat...I plan

to dig sections off the backside

and replant because they are

so pretty in a group.

A newer start of the same grass, 

A few lonely aster blooms that

the deer haven't eaten.

Barberries loaded with berries...A 

sharpening stone in front.