The "Lull" before the New Year...7º

 I like this quiet time between two big holidays, even though our lives are calm and quiet most of the times, this seems a bit different...We talked to both kids yesterday, as they celebrated Christmas at their own homes on different days...It is all about family and friends, love, laughter, food and games.

My mind has been going to baking, after the Challah Bread was such a success...I had made it a couple of times before and in my mind it was time consuming and somewhat difficult...But not so this time...I mixed it in the afternoon (no kneading involved, just folding every half hour for two hours) then into the fridge overnight...The next morning it is divided into 6 pieces (while it is very cold) and rolled into "ropes" to braid into a simple braid...I covered it with plastic wrap and put it in a cool place while we left the house for 3 hours to do our water therapy.

When we arrived back home, it was nicely raised, I did an eggwhite/cream wash and popped it into a 350º oven...It is a very rich dough, browns easily, makes beautiful loaves...Warm out of the oven, it is heavenly, sliced, wrapped in foil and slightly warmed it is delicious and it makes wonderful french toast for a special breakfast...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...I doubled the recipe to make 4 loaves.

Ready for the oven.

Ready to eat.

The Best Winter Day....25º Cloudy

 Winter Solstice was yesterday, and officially the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year...I like today because now we look forward to each day getting "about" 2 minutes longer every day until Summer Solstice, then the days start getting shorter by "about" 2 minutes a day. 

This happens every year and it gives me something to look forward to on the foggy days of winter...Don't get me wrong I like winter and the snow and the beauty it brings all around us, but I don't like less daylight...So do a little happy dance on this day and enjoy those two extra minutes of daylight...Hugs To All...OWAV:)                                   

Foggy Winter Day...26º

 The fog has settled in this morning but it is lightening up in the East, with a promise of sun off and on all day.

Herb and I shoveled twice yesterday, keeping paths clear...Easier to shovel 2 or so inches instead of letting it build up...We had a surprise visitor on Sunday, when John showed up with 4 wheeler and plow, looking for more snow...He cleared out our back parking area, making a place for more snow to be piled if we get the storms that are predicted...So thankful for Bill and John, looking out after us.

I finished up with the candy making yesterday, but still have some of the mess and packaging to do this morning...An easy week with water therapy, today and Thursday and acupuncture on Wednesday...Looks like a no stress Christmas for us, fingers crossed...Hugs To All...OWAV:)     

3 batches of peanut brittle, one is 
very dark, because I ran out of 
Karo syrup and used part 
pancake syrup. 

Last tray of mints, ready to be put in tupperware.

Christmas in real time 2021...30º Snow Showers (all day)

 It looks like a snowy day on Barton Heights and we are settled in for the day...Although laundry has to be done, dinner cooked and one last batch of mints dipped and we will probably end up shoveling paths, later on.

One last "planned" trip out of the county was a lovely drive on good roads and home on a moonlit night from the Elgin Opera House, where we were entertained by "A Christmas Carol." Becky did the driving and we ended the night with a tour of the Fair Lights in Enterprise...Herb kept the home fires burning.                         

Not the usual musical, but a
good message to live by.

Fergie (local ski area) opened yesterday for all the "kids" to hit the slopes...Reports last night said the hill was great with an 18" base but the road "Tucker down," kept drifting shut by the never ending Prairie Creek winds...Much shoveling, snow plowing and pulling cars back on the road, kept many people busy, all on a winter day in Wallowa County.

Night before last, I finally brought our little tree down from its closet home, for its annual week +, lighting up the living room...Herb made it many years ago as an added decoration and now it stands alone and makes me happy!...Hugs to All...OWAV:)                                

I think it will be a white Christmas.

Christmas 1966 Wrap-up...23º

We ended the trip with more celebrating...I know we visited and had dinner with Dad's relatives, his brother Henry, wife Mable as well as a large gathering, with his niece, Barbara and her family.                                 

I remember wonderful food,
laughter and love all around.

Sonny and Doris invited Herb and I to join them, at their annual New Years' celebration...It was an evening that included dinner, drinking, dancing and noise makers as we rang in the New Year, 1967.

Packing and repacking, making sure we didn't leave anything behind kept us busy for the last few days...Herbs family had entertained us beyond all our expectations...A Christmas to remember.

Rusty found entertainment on the
 stairway...Usually to come down
he turned over on his belly 
and slid down, much better
than head first!

                                     

Bobbi Jo got a doll for Christmas.

Bobbi Jo got a doll from Dads' cousin, Marie, she had never been much for dolls, but loved this one...After Christmas it came out in the paper that this doll could be combustable and should be turned into the local fire department to be disposed of...In our infinite wisdom, instead of telling her the truth, we made up some kind of story that it got mixed up with trash and must have ended up in the garbage...Years later when the truth came out, she was not happy with us...I guess the moral is that even little children handle the truth, better than a lie...Hugs To All...OWAV:) 
                 

Hello Dolly, Playbill....28º

 I'm a bit sidetracked this morning with my story, but I think it is good to show how much our world has changed in the last 50 years, and these are only minor changes....The playbill has been tucked away with other treasures from our travels...I've seen it occasionally but never paid much attention to it, until this week, I actually looked at it...The advertising photos really caught my attention and I will post them for all to see...Cigarettes and Alcohol were widely advertised in those days.

We have more snow this morning, maybe a couple of inches, so Herb and I will shovel our paths...Hugs To All...OWAV:)                         

Inside of the playbill

Luxury at its finest

Satisfying flavor

Fine Whiskey

Champagne

The two page spread was about Hanes nylon
for ladies.

HELLO DOLLY Off Broadway...17º

 New York City is about 90 miles South of Poughkeepsie...Aunt Beaty not only gave us the tickets but supplied the car to drive there...Herb would drive and Sonny had hand drawn a map, with directions to get to a parking garage in NYC, near the theater and and the center of NYC...I don't remember much about the drive (Herb has alway been a good driver and had a good head for directions), but as we neared NYC, looking down the road ahead, it looked like millions of big and little ants marching...The ants were cars and people!..We hit 5th avenue at noon, bumper to bumper traffic, cars honking, buses had the right of way...Mom and I were in the back seat, I was shaking like a leaf and had to pee!..Herb got us to the garage and parked, mom and I went hunting a bathroom, only we found that you needed a dime to use one...While Mom searched for a dime, a stall door opened, I grabbed it before it closed and slipped in!..Whew

We spent the day walking, because no one was brave enough to use the subway and we were afraid of where we might end up if we did...We visited Rockefeller Center in all of its Christmas glory, made our way up a bajillion stairs to the top of the Empire State Building and viewed the city from there...Dinner wasn't memorable, except for the prices...We visited Macy's, I think it was the largest department store in the US at that time...I don't remember buying anything, maybe a postcard.

We found the St James Theatre, Off Broadway (meaning that it was a theater that has less than 500 seats)...The musical, Hello Dolly staring Ginger Rodgers was an incredible show, we were all in awe...I think it started my love for musicals of all kinds...We arrived back in Clinton Corners around midnight, safe and sound, thankful for Herb's good driving and his sense of direction!..Continued tomorrow...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

                                        

Playbill from 1966

The photo that inspired me to write this story.
Pat and Brian visited Rockefeller Center
to see this years tree that comes
from the county they live in,
in Maryland.

Santa Found Us....8º

 More presents were silently placed under the tree on Christmas eve, as Aunt Beaty put away wrapping paper, bows and ribbons, saved for another year...We enjoyed clam chowder for Christmas eve dinner and attended a candle light service at the Methodist church, before tucking two excited children in bed, with thoughts of Santa, keeping them awake.

Stockings were hanging on the mantle in hopes  that Santa would find us in a place so far away from home.

Christmas morning found, two wide-eyed children  soon playing with gifts from Santa, while adults watched and enjoyed their first cup of coffee, before we opened presents, one by one.

Bobbi making the first

call on her own phone. :)

Rusty is one happy little boy.

Now in his somber face.

Aunt Gladys served a wonderful turkey (with all the trimmings) dinner...What I remember most, was the next day when we had delicious turkey soup...I imagine that we relaxed and visited relatives and friends in the afternoon.

                                        

Bobbi welcomes Dawn and Gail,

now the fun really begins.

The most memorable gift was from Aunt Beaty, 4 tickets to the musical "Hello Dolly" in NYC...You guessed it, that will be tomorrows story...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Dec.14th Snow storm...32º

The following paragraphs were posted on FB yesterday, but I wanted a record of the snow storm so I copied and pasted into my blog today...It was quite a day, both Herb and I shoveling off and on through the morning...We went to our usual water therapy class from noon to 1pm, where we relaxed in the warm waters of pool and hot tub and visited with friends...Home to a dinner of leftover clam chowder, early to bed and woke up this morning feeling a few muscles that we had forgotten about...It is close to 0º this morning, maybe a little sunshine today...We are home for the day, I have candy to make and dip...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

As I typed Dec. 14 this morning, it would have been my sister Mona's, 85th birthday...RIP Dear Sister.

Good Morning!!! Rained all day yesterday, snowing lightly at 8pm when I went to bed...Woke up 2am and had 12" inches of new snow on the ground and still snowing lightly...Neither Herb nor I could go back to sleep so he stoked and loaded the wood stove and I shoveled a path off of the deck...Now at 3:30 am we are resting, drinking coffee and counting our blessings...Power is still on we have plenty of wood and fuel, lots of food and a warm house...We are good!...Will shovel more paths as the morning goes on, only a little at a time.

Drank coffee, rested for an hour. Shoveled a path to the garage, took a half hour. Resting and drinking, now, still coffee, with a little Irish cream. It is 5AM.

                                            

A beehive of activity...28º

 We arrived in Clinton Corners a few days before Christmas, settled into every available corner, hauled our "luggage" upstairs to the bedrooms, making ourselves at home...A beautiful tree was up and decorated, and a small room off the living room was set up with a card table and boxes, rolls of Christmas paper, tissue paper, ribbon, and bows, all Hallmark, the elite trademark of that time...Aunt Beaty was the wrapper, extraordinaire...The proper size box, lined with tissue paper, then wrapped in Christmas paper, with ribbons, bows and name tags to match...They were a work of art...If anyone wanted a package wrapped, they filled out a name tag and she did the rest, and only Hallmark products were used.

Gifts, similar to the ones by Aunt Beaty.

Aunt Gladys' domain was the kitchen where she had meals planned for all...I remember her and Uncle Stub leaving the house with a long list and returning with enough groceries to feed an army...One of her expertises that fascinated me was the art of making cookies...Tiny, rich, colorful cookies, made with a cookie press and they literally melted in "my" mouth...Under her tutelage I managed to make a few and Mom spoke up and said, "Della, I have a cookie press at home and we can make these cookies next year."..We made them for many years, along with a little snowball of a cookie with many names...Swedish snowballs, Mexican wedding cakes are two that come to mind.

Cookie press with discs.

Cookies like we made, photos
from the internet.

While all the cooking, baking, and wrapping was taking place we were also out and about, visiting relatives and old friends...It was an exciting time...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Rusty wasn't much help making cookies,
so he and Poppy had time to get
better acquainted.

Christmas is coming...36º No snow

I think it is time to give all of you some background on Herb's family...I refer to his parents as Mom and Dad because when we married they became a new set of parents for me...(My dad had died only 4 months after we were married)...They treated me just like a daughter.

Herb was born and lived in upstate NY until near his high school years, when he and his parents moved to Clinton Corners NY, a small rural community near Poughkeepsie NY, where Herb would graduate from high school...Dad had grown up in that area and his brother Henry still lived there, as well as a niece, Barbara and her family. 

Mom's family (where we would be staying) also lived in Clinton Corners...She was the youngest of 3 daughters, Beaty, Gladys, and Francis, (always called Babe, by her family)...Aunt Beaty was a long time widow and supported herself for many years, as a registered nurse...Aunt Gladys, married to Uncle Stub, had a son, Homer (Sonny to the family) who was married to Doris and had two girls Dawn and Gail, a few years older than Bobbi Jo and Rusty...Beaty, Gladys and Stub were all retired (now worked part-time jobs) and for monetary reasons lived together in one house...It was a two story, farm house with enough bedrooms for all.

Aunt Beaty had flown to Idaho a couple of times and came for our wedding in 1961...Mom and Dad had been back East via train, to visit, one time...Over the next three weeks, we would visit, and share meals with not only relatives, but also many friends. 

Herb and his parents had moved to Idaho in 1957, where a drier climate would hopefully help Mom's asthma and Herb would enroll in college at the University of Idaho...to be continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

    Some family photos from 1966...

                                    

My mom, Blanche, Bobbi Jo,
Francis, Elmer and Rusty..
Easter 1966

Della, Herb, Bobbi jo and Rusty 1966

Rusty, Della, Dad and Bobbi Jo
Rustys' 1st birthday.
Notice the old TV

Same day with everyone in the photo.
I have no idea who took the photo.

A trip into Montana with our newest set of wheels.
Dad, Herb, Rusty, Della and Aunt Beaty
Mom taking the photo as always.

The Big Day Approaches...32º, Supposed to snow

The logistics of this trip in December were crazy...Roads were often closed and SLC could get major snowstorms, that closed the airport, but it all fell into place...Herbs parents drove 500 miles from McCall to our house in Duchesne and spent a few days before we drove 100 miles to SLC the day before our flight...We spent the night with some of my relatives in SLC, they drove us to the airport and would pick us up on our return 3 weeks later...Weather was perfect.

We arrived at the airport with all the suitcases and our tickets, 2 children, 4 adults, all dressed appropriately for the trip...Mom and I dressed in suits and heels, with matching handbags...The guys and kids, dressed like they were ready for church...(Which was appropriate, as we were all praying because none of us had ever flown in a commercial plane across country)...Dad bought insurance at the airport (common in those days) leaving the money to a nephew, in case we crashed and burned, someone would benefit!

Our children were well behaved, Bobbi Jo in awe of everything, clinging tightly to Nana's hand and Rusty only 18 months old was oblivious and would be fine if we could keep him fed and in a dry diaper...He didn't sleep like I thought he might and we juggled him from lap to lap to keep him happy...We also took turns, entertaining with books and small toys.

I think the flight was about 6 hours, and the inside of the plane, was in a cloud of smoke the entire way as smoking was permitted...We landed in Denver to board more passengers...Food and drink was plentiful as they kept up with time changes...It didn't take me long to figure out that the stewardesses were "glorified waitresses," catering to passengers' whims,  balancing on high heals and keeping their composure and smiling, while carrying food trays on a long bumpy ride.

Herb's cousin Sonny, met us at JFK, now we were 7 people in one car and somehow all the luggage fit in the trunk!..Another almost 2 hour drive and we arrived at Clinton Corners, where we were welcomed by Aunts, Beaty and Gladys and Uncle Stub...Whew what a trip!..to be continued...Hugs To All OWAV:)

727 probably the plane we flew in...
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

       PS  Couple of other photos, one of our entire family including my Mom (not on the trip) at our annual Easter picnic in Riggins, where it was "always warmer" than McCall...No snow anyway. 

Not very warm this year!

I was trying to get a good photo of the Jeep,
Bobbi Jo and Halloween mask.

Flying in the 60"s...18º 1-2 inches of snow

Flying in 2021 is difficult because of security after 2011 and now because of COVID...In the 60's security was about the last thing we thought of, as I said yesterday, it was easy to buy a ticket that could be used by anyone...No ID was required, if you had a ticket you could board the plane...There was no limit on the size of luggage or how many bags you checked...Flying wasn't really difficult in the 60's but the flights were longer, but the food and service was better...I don't have an exact price of our tickets but $500:00 for 3 of us comes to mind...We had saved for this trip.

There were six of us going on this trip, Herbs' parents, Herb, Bobbi Jo 4 years old, Rusty 18 months and myself...We planned to stay with relatives for 3 weeks...We would be visiting relatives and friends, going to church, parties, and dinners, so would have to have appropriate clothing, with shoes to match...Also winter coats and boots for everyone...Oh and don't forget the diapers...No, we did not have disposable diapers back then...They were homemade flannel diapers...Luckily Aunt Gladys had a washer and drier, so we could do laundry, in house.

We packed all of the bulky items, that we weren't wearing,  in "foot lockers."..Two extra large ones, a smaller one and a couple of Samsonite hard sided luggage...Herb's parents drove a Jeep Wagoneer at the time and since seat belts or child seats were not required, we were all able to fit in one car...To be continued...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

                                                        

Two of these

One smaller

Herb, Bobbi Jo, Rusty and Idella

Close to 1966

Memories...32º...snow in forecast

 Two things have sparked my memory in the last few days reminding me of the Christmas of 1966...First my friend Pat text me that they were doing a bus tour to see The Rockets @ Radio City Music Hall and all the lites at Rockefeller Center, and second looking back at Christmas trees that found a corner in our living room.

1966 found our little family living in Duchesne, Utah...Herb had been transferred there in July... We moved 500 miles away from family, with two children, Bobbi Jo 4 years old and Rusty1 year old and a dog named Pooh.

Herb was born and grew up in New York State, moving West with his parents, when he was 20...They always talked of returning East to visit family and friends.

For whatever reason, Christmas 1966 was chosen for all of us to make this trip...No thought was given to what the weather might be in December and I of all people was delegated the job of getting tickets for our trip...I remember walking into the Salt lake City airport, asked for 5 roundtrip tickets (Rusty would have a choice of 4 laps) from SLC to NYC on Dec. ?, returning 3 weeks later on Jan. ? They took my personal check, no questions asked (we didn't have a credit card) and handed me the tickets...We would have a choice of seats when we arrived at the airport in time to board the plane...That was easy.

Now I have you all set up for a story, I have to find photos to go with it, I will work on that, this afternoon...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

This is Herb and his parents in 1960

Airline Stewardess in the 60's

Christmas Mood...27º No Snow.

 It is hard for me to get excited about Christmas without snow and small children...We've had our family celebration this year and I'm happy with that but think I should at least put up the little fake tree that we have and add a few lights to the front porch...I decorated the front porch last year and a wind storm made short work of that, as it turned everything upside down, broke some things, leaving remnants scattered everywhere.

So I looked back through photos' of years gone by and found a few "Real" Christmas trees from years ago...Trees that we stomped through the snow to find, cut down and brought home to decorate...Good thing we did it back then because no way is it going to happen now and that is okay, we have the memories!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

First Christmas tree in our own house, 
in New Meadows, Idaho

Christmas's in Duchesne Utah,
a cedar or pinon pine 

One of our first trees in Joseph, 
with a bajillion trees to 
choose from, we found a
"Charlie Brown tree"

After Charlie Brown, I decided 
"Yellow Pine" was the way to go.
A tree like this graced our 
living room for many years and 
we added more decorations as
the years went by!

Snow in the forecast...39º

I know some people don't want snow, but we need moisture in any form, at this point...Always trying to look on the positive, snow here means more snow in the mountains, which means "Fergie" can open for local skiing, makes the kids of all ages happy and water for crops next summer will make even more people happy...Can't have food without rain!

Speaking of food, I better put something in the oven for dinner!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Mostly cloudy, few sun breaks...37º

 A new Jigsaw puzzle pops up on Jigsaw World every Monday and this week it was a "field of flowers." Perfect for this rather gloomy day...I took a photo of it and will now share it with all my friends, as I wish them a happy, flower filled weekend...Hugs To All...OWAV:)