Keeping Busy...30º

The house is quiet and I long to sit and stare into space, but know it is better if I keep moving...I start with the first load of sheets in the washer...Then I rinse white beans, chop celery and onions, take the bag of ham bones from the fridge and dump all in the dutch over, set the oven at 200º, this will simmer until mid afternoon, when we will feast on ham and bean soup, Texas toast and what is left of the pie.

Next I check the fridge for leftovers, some get frozen, some consolidated for future meals and a few small portions go to the disposal, Herb and I can only eat so many leftovers...Herb keeps busy hanging clothes downstairs, where the heat from the wood stove will dry them in short order.

Recapping some of the fun things we did, Cienna and Justin dipped chocolate mints, that they got to take home and share with family and friends...Also we made a batch of "Idaho Spud Bars."(My Maryland friend Pat, thought this was a potato buffet.) Idaho Spud Bars are a candy bar made only in Idaho, since the early 1900's...The were a favorite of ours and many years ago we started making our own and now prefer these to the store bought...They are messy and fun to make, a combination of chocolate, butter, nuts, marshmello's, mixed together and rolled in flake coconut.

Today Rusty leaves for Bend and we will be back at Water Therapy and our usual routine...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

                           Dipping Mints

Surprise

                         Lots of smiles

                             Ham ready for the oven

We did eat a few veggies.

                 Rolling in Coconut.

                             Idaho Spud Bars

Two Holidays in One...35º

 Mild temperatures made for good roads, sunny days, snow capped mountains and blazing sunsets...We celebrated Christmas on Thanksgiving morning as we opened packages to find Christmas Jammies, snack foods and lottery tickets...We made finger foods and grazed all day long and fell asleep with visions of ham, baked beans and pies for our Thanksgiving celebration on Friday.

The next two days found the younger set shopping downtown Joseph, checking out scenery at Wallowa Lake...Back home they tried their hand at dipping chocolates and making Idaho spud bars, to take home and share with families...Card playing, a jigsaw puzzle, eating, drinking and visiting filled the rest of the hours.

Justin took our "good natured teasing," with a grin and usually a comeback and left wanting to come back in spring or fall so he can travel the backroads and get acquainted with land that his ancestors owned...All in all, it was a wonderful celebration...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Lots of snacks

Cienna, Justin, Rusty

                                Parting Shot

Three Day Plan...17º

 Looks like better weather today, cold temps, but some sun, that is always good...Rusty arrived yesterday afternoon, Bobi, Cienna and Justin will get here this evening.

Thanksgiving day will find us making/eating/snack foods of all kinds, celebrating with beverages, card playing and visiting.

We will save the big meal of ham, baked beans, sausage artichoke dressing, veggies, rolls, bread pudding and pies, for Friday. 

Saturday we might, dip chocolates and take in the festivities in downtown Joseph, where the businesses have open houses with drinks and goodies...Jingle thru Joseph parade starts at 5pm...That might be fun for the younger folks.

Sunday will be a day of travel as our families head home to Portland/Bend and Herb and I give a big sigh of relief, when they are home safely...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

I'm happy but exhausted already!

Push comes to Shove...23º/Snowing

 With Thanksgiving looming, my mind racing I finally got into gear and accomplished several things in just a few hours, I made a batch of fondant and a batch of fudge, mixed flour, lard, butter into 4 pie shells and made a huckleberry compote to use on pancakes or waffles for one breakfast...During this time the Ziply guy came to install a router for fiber optic phone and internet...I managed to keep a close eye on him, stopped him from drilling another hole in our house and got the modem downstairs instead of in our living room where he wanted to put it...All this time the overpowering aroma that he carried with him, either cologne or something he was smoking wafted throughout the house...I Don't Know what it was!..Anyway the phone is working and we can at sometime hook up to their internet, if we so desire...Right now I prefer our local eoni service.

Snowing now and supposed to continue all day but not accumulate over a couple of inches...Rusty will be on the road today, so that will be in the back of my mind as I hopefully can have another productive day!..Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Perfect batch of Mint Fondant.

Another Great Show...23º

 Another trip to the "Elgin Opera House," a fun visit on the trip and another outstanding show...The set was indescribable, acting, dancing and singing as well...Two hours of pure enjoyment.

Sometimes I have gotten photos of the set but not yesterday...It's not easy to balance popcorn, drink, purse, program and take a photo, that requires me to unzip the purse, pull out the phone, keep the popcorn and drink upright, don't elbow the lady sitting next to me, Ugggggg... So I just sat back and enjoyed.

The trip out and back on dry roads, mostly sunshine and lively conversation was great...We are looking forward to a "Christmas Story," in December and hope the weather cooperates!..Hugs To All...OWAV:) 

PS...Order your tickets now!

Oma's Bread...24º

 Bread making day is not a chore, but a joy...I ended up with 10 pounds of dough, a mixture of bread flour, whole wheat, oatmeal, cornmeal, quinoa, chia seeds and hemp meal...4 cups of working sourdough, water, a little molasses for sweetener, salt and butter...All mixed in a Bosch mixer...It was a heavy dough and I let it raise all day, with several kneadings throughout...We have plenty of bread for sandwiches, toast, etc. for the upcoming holiday.

While the bread dough did its thing, I was busy making another batch of Chex Mix, it got a little toasty around the edges...Supposed to have snow flurries today...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

A successful bread making day

Checking off the list...27º

 One batch of Chex Mix done and ready to put in bags, for our usual Christmas treat...Now to clean off the counter, again, uncover the marble slab so I can cook a batch of fondant, pour it on the slab to cool, then stir and stir until it sets up...Two batches should make enough mints for our Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration...I can make more in December.

We had a crazy windy day yesterday...It blew everything away that wasn't nailed down and I think it wore the leaves out, blowing them back and forth...Some major wind gust, shook the house and rattled the windows...Clearing with sunshine this morning.

I fixed a Pork Enchilada Supreme for dinner yesterday, it was yummy...Have a wonderful day, Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Pork Enchilada with Waldorf salad on the side.

Warm November Morning...44º Cloudy

 Sunday we awoke to a 60º morning...Very unusual for November, last year at this time we had about 7" of snow on the ground..Herb and I took advantage of the warm sunny day...The front porch got a good cleaning, the car was next, and while Herb did that I cleaned the deck of leaves, twigs and other debris, and hauled flower pots and garden tools to the garage. 

Back in the house about noon, it was time for showers and finish prepping our dinner...Pam joined us about 3pm for dinner and cards...Great way to end a warm fall day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Becky and Tate came for a visit on Saturday, which we enjoyed very much...

Cloudy Blue Sky

Amazing

Perfect Sunday Dinner

Thanksgiving fast approaching...36º

 I have a to-do list made for me to accomplish before Thanksgiving...But I think it needs to be refined...When I wrote it I must have been thinking of all the things I could get done many years ago...No way can I complete the list, plus keep up the everyday chores...I will redo the list, knowing that in the long run, it won't really matter what gets done, only that we will fill our house with love and laughter, for a few days when our family joins us.

We are having rather mild weather for this time of year, lots of clouds with sun breaks throughout the day...I took photos yesterday of a huge cloud/fog bank, as it rolled around the foot hills behind our house...We live in a beautiful spot...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Road Trip...43º Rain Showers.

 It was a perfect day for a trip to Costco, located in Clarkston, Washington, across the Snake river from Lewiston, Idaho...For the past 48 years we have made regular trips to that area for shopping in larger stores than we have here in Wallowa, County...In the 70's we went for school clothes and Christmas gifts and some groceries...There was a Penny's, Bon Marche, Pay Less, Kmart, Great Western and pizza restaurants and Issy's for giant hamburgers....Now most of those places are no more, instead we go to Winco, for bulk items, and Costco, usually bypass WalMart and eat at Tomato Brothers...It is always a full day as we leave at daylight and get home at dusk.

It is a 2 plus hour drive on winding roads, as we go north to Buford grade and down to the Grande Ronde River, in Washington...Then climb up Rattle Snake grade topping out at Anatone before dropping down into the Clarkston/Lewiston Valley and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers...The day was warm, no rain/snow, roads were perfect...Some people hate this drive, but I always enjoy the curvy road and ever-changing terrain...Pam does the driving for us or we probably wouldn't be making this trip!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fall Colors

The long road home.

It was a fun day...26º

 Herb and I did a quick once over on the house yesterday morning...Dust, Vacuum, mop, scour and pick up the clutter!...Sue and Wally arrived about 11am...We met them with smiles and hugs all around...For the next two hours we talked, non stop, laughed a lot as we reminisced about other days, other visits...Wally grew up in Wallowa county, graduated from high school in Enterprise, got married, and started working at Bank of Wallowa County/Community Bank, as a teller, right out of high school...She got fired from that job (the story is too long to go into here) but basically that was back in the late 70's and her boss didn't think much of women in the work force, who also wanted to have babies!..Shortly after that her husband got a job in LaGrande and she got a job with a bank there...Next year she will retire from Banner Bank after almost 40 years in the banking world...Mr. Alexander, (the one that fired her) only lasted about 6 months with Bank of Wallowa County before he was fired, by the then owners of the bank "Cheatum and Steele." that is another story.

We drove to the lake, enjoyed a great lunch at the "Blithe Cricket" in Joseph and the girls were on their way back to LaGrande by 3pm, a rainstorm in progress...It was a great day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Sue always brings me new hand towels for the kitchen and Wally still has flowers in her gardens...They brought some to share.

A bouquet from Wally's garden

 

Visitors Today...37º Cloudy/Rain?

 Always nice to see my niece Susans'  name pop up on my phone and hear her voice..."Aunt Della, how are you?" is usually what she says....This time she added, "Our friend Wally, wants to come for a visit, and she is bringing me with her."

Today is the day we settled on and even though it is supposed to be cloudy and raining, it will be a sunshiny day for Herb and I...Sue and Wally are fun, upbeat ladies and we will enjoy the day and hate to see them leave...We will welcome them to our "Garlicy" smelling house and they will love it!..So I better cut this short and get busy cleaning up some of my messes, so we have a place to sit down!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Life Repeats...33º, Rained last night

 When memories pop up on Facebook, I'm always amazed when a year ago or five years ago our life repeats over and over...The first week in November seems to be when we finally have everything done outside preparing for winter, and now find time to process this years garlic...Herb and I sit at the kitchen table, where we take all the cloves apart, peel the outer skin before we slice them in the cuisinart...From there they go to the basement and the dehydrator...Now our house will smell/reek of garlic for several days and then the garlic is pulverized in the blender, all dried and will keep forever.

We grow a variety of garlic, called Music, that produces huge bulbs, that have only 4/5 cloves, that are equally huge, making it much easier to peal, slice and dry than the tiny cloves of most garlic...In a few days, the garlic will be in jars and take its place on the cellar shelves...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Took a break yesterday and visited with friends of many years...Always fun to share stories and laughter!

Ready to separate and peel

Such lovely cloves

Dried and ready for the shelf

Maggie Blooms...37º Partly Cloudy

 Our mornings have been cold and foggy until mid morning, then our mountains appear in the distance and the sun brightens our day...The sun coming in our south window warms our house and keeps us cozy.

I was looking for a photo this morning to get my mind working on a blog when right in front of me "Maggie" is in full bloom...Many of you remember that "Maggie" is a cactus, given to me by the granddaughter of a dear friend, when she "Margaret" passed away...I didn't really want a cactus, never could keep one alive, let alone get it to bloom but I could't say no.

Maggie has surpassed all of the negative thoughts that I had, she bloomed a few months after I brought her home, has tippled in size, went one year without blooming and now is blooming like crazy...She reminds me very much of my friend Margaret, who was a bit contrary, doing what she wanted to do, following her own path, not trying to fit into the norm...She was her own person...Now it seems, Maggie is not a Christmas Cactus, or Thanksgiving but a Halloween Cactus...Margaret would have been pleased with that, she liked Halloween, and the dressing up in costume, going trick or treating as an adult, where she visited friends to share a beverage...I am so glad that I brought her home!..Hugs To All...OWAV:)