2nd Day...08/16/11...5am...45°...Sunny

Off to a great start yesterday...Cienna and I battled the crowd at Soroptomists, meeting up with John's crew that I had shared a beer and toasted marshmallow's with on Saturday night...I had mentioned this to Cienna describing the boys, one with dreadlocks and all originally from the east coast, working here for a few weeks this summer and now ready to return home, look for jobs there or continue their schooling...Cienna tugged at my shirt sleeve and said, "Oma is that one of the boys, the tall one with dreadlocks?"...Of course it was, not many guys in Wallowa County with dreadlocks, and he being tall he was easy to see over the crowd...We visited briefly, agreeing that this is the best place to shop in WC...They paid for their purchases and were gone while Ci and I continued to shop...Ci got two plaid shirts for her and found one felting sweater for her Mom.

Next stop was Fishtrap House and my book group, we each talked about books we have read... discussed books for next months read "Major Pettigrews Last Stand", "Blind Your Ponies" and finally chose Ivan Doigs latest book "Work Song" for next months read, and put the others on our list for later this winter...Cienna joined in our discussion about her favorite books of the summer..."Something Wicked this way Comes" and "My Life in Dog Years".

One bunch

We moved on to shop at Safeway, picked up prescriptions, bought chocolate at Cienna's insistence for a daily treat and back home to join Papa and Ginger (Cienna's dog) on the deck...Soon a cold breeze started and clouds moved in...We decided to harvest our garlic patch, before we get another rain storm...Both Ci and I started digging, then Herb took over my shovel and I cleaned each garlic head of dirt and piled them in bunches of ten to hang in the lean-to...We now have over two hundred heads of garlic hanging to dry...(I'll add a photo later).

The front row

Fixed enchiladas and salad for dinner, which Ci loves and inhaled like she was starving... Neither Herb nor I could finish all of ours...Spent the rest of the afternoon inside because of the cold...Ci and I played scrabble game on the antique board, played more angry birds, read books and chatted with Bobi and Stan...Had ice cream and chocolate cake late in the evening...Another day on Barton Heights...~OWAV:)

Cienna's visit...08/15/11...45°...6am...Breezy

Oma and Cienna

Ci prodded me into a walk shortly after 6am this morning...It was invigorating but I was sweating by the time we got home...Now we have done the scrabble games, Ci has eaten a biscuit and Papa has the laundry started... I'm still trying to finish my coffee...

After meeting Bobi, Cienna and Gramma Jo yesterday in Boardman, splitting our usual Bozo burger and milk shake for brunch, we hit the road to return to Joseph...Bobi and Jo were going to visit a couple of cemeteries around the Hermiston area leaving flowers on Jo's daughters grave and then on to look for Grampa Walls grave...

With Herb driving and Cienna chattering in the back seat, we made a nonstop drive, arriving in Joseph at 3pm...Just in time to unload the car and go to Becky's going away party...We ate John's special BBQ'ed ribs, all kinds of salads, really hot stuffed japaleno peppers and Oma's hot rolls...All the kids and dogs played in the two ponds below John and Becky's house, soon they were all shivery cold and ready to towel off, change into dry clothing and call it a day.

Back on Barton Heights we settled in for the evening, chatted with Bobi, then Ci and I worked on the finer points of Angry Birds until bedtime...

Cienna and I will go to soroptomists, then book group this morning and hopefully be able to sit on the deck this afternoon, enjoying the peace and quiet...Hugs to all...OWAV:))

Get Moving!..08/13/11...6am...54°...Sunshine

This is the last day before Cienna gets here...Need to do some cleaning upstairs, finish up some of my list...Have a few things planned to do, but mostly will just let things happen and see what she has in mind...Will do some cooking today for a BBQ at John and Becky's tomorrow evening...Ci is pretty easy to have around and has alway been good at entertaining herself...I'm sure we will have lots to talk about!..She has been saving up conversation.

In all my glory, new glasses,
 bed head and all! 

On Thursday night we enjoyed the outdoor music at the Gazebo in Enterprise, lovely evening...tasted some wine and bought fresh corn on the cob...Went to LaGrande yesterday to pick up my new glasses, mostly just out and back but it always takes all day...We did a little shopping, stopped for more cherries, they have been so good, we just keep eating and eating...Didn't stop anywhere to eat, so Herb and I just snacked all afternoon on whatever we could find in the fridge or cupboard...Today I will fix chicken, fresh corn, broccoli salad and hot rolls.

Angry Birds finally got their new update so I have been playing that in my spare time...I have twenty pounds of pickling cucumbers ordered for this morning...Will check the market at 10am and see if they came in...Guess that means I better get dressed, and moving...That's all the news on Barton Heights for today...Hugs to all...OWAV:)

Friday

Have a great day, will write later...OWAV:)

Catchin' up...08/11/11...7am...54°...Sunny

Spent yesterday morning making phone calls, balancing the check book for sorority and organizing stuff to do...Found ham and bean soup and meatloaf patties in the freezer so had that for dinner...Finally have everything returned to the fridge and freezer...Seems to be running and keeping the proper temperature...Did some reading and deck sitting.

Not much to write today so will post some photo's on here and call it good...Then I'm going out to thin the apple tree, change water and just check out my world...Hugs to all, have a good day...~OWAV:)

Volunteer Shasta Daisy

Sea Holly

Clematis climbing old lilac tree

                                 

                                     Day lily

Quiet Wednesday...08/10/11...6am...50°...Sunny

Tuesday morning started with reloading the fridge, throwing away more stuff and organizing what is left...The fridge is amazingly bare looking, clean and shinny...Herb vacuums first thing, between changing water and checking the inlet...fixes us cold cereal for breakfast, while I'm cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and utility room...Pat arrives just as the rhubarb crisp (todays dessert) is ready to come out of the oven.

On our way out we look at what is blooming in the garden and pick out plants that Pat can landscape her hill with..."We 3" writing get together is about to happen...Lunch at Embers was good, eaten outside in the company of Amy and Pat...Talk is nonstop between bites... We finish up and go to Barton Heights...Then each of us with a glass of wine, we discuss Katey's comments on our essays, and look for ways to improve our stories...Four hours later we have talked and laughed ourselves silly, eaten dessert and adjourn for another month to work on our August assignment.

Begonias and Alyssum

I spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on scrabble, try to chat with Bobi and Cienna but the connection is very iffy so we text a message or two and say goodbye for another day...I deadhead day lilies, spray liquid deer fence and snap more flower photos...All the time my essay "Whistlin Joe" is running through my head, mentally composing what I will write to finish up the story.

Today I have phone calls to make, sorority stuff to work on, apple tree to thin, etc...All things to finish up before Cienna arrives and another whirlwind starts in my life...~OWAV:)

Best laid plans...08/09/11...5am...54°...Sunny

As I finished my blog yesterday and was ready to start a day of shopping and cleaning to get ready for the "We 3" write group, I heard Herb say from the kitchen, "Della, the refrigerator doesn't seem to be working."...Oh great, I thought to myself...I vaguely remembered taking lettuce from the fridge on Sunday, and thought it wasn't very cold, but then I had just brought it in from the garden, washed it, put it the salad spinner and then bagged it, so it hadn't had much time to chill...Didn't give it another thought...So in checking the fridge,.. It was not running or making any kind of a sound...main compartment was luke warm, the freezer stuff was starting to get soft but still cold and frozen in the center...So after checking the instruction manual, fridge is less than ten years old...We think of all the things, did it trip the breaker, no, the light is still working...Herb gets his tool kit and fixes the fridge so it will roll out of its spot in the corner,..I think maybe if we vacuum front and back it will run...No such luck...I call a repairman, the only one in Wallowa County, and he can be here between 4 and 5pm today...That is good, since if I called the Sears toll free number I would probably be on hold for that length of time, just waiting for someone to turn off the damn music and come to my assistance!..

Now the fun begins, fridge is slowly emptied, I examine things carefully in the freezer, guessing at what some of it is and find myself thinking, "I might use this" but then throw it away since it has been in there since 2002 when the fridge was new!..Herb carries everything downstairs to store in his fridge and freezer until this one is fixed...I proceed to clean the fridge inside and out, removing all of the shelves, washing them and putting them outside to dry in the sun...Herb says, "Wow the fridge is all sparkling and clean, just like new, but what if it doesn't work?"...GRRRrrrrrrrrrr!

I call Pat, relate my story and suggest we meet for lunch in downtown Joseph, and then come here, sit on our deck and discuss our stories...Thought runs through my mind, that she is thinking, this woman will do anything to keep from cleaning house!..(Just kidding Pat, remember I have to make this interesting, with a little humor.)...She graciously offers her house until I remind her that she is flying to Maryland in just a few days and has way too much to do...So it is set we will lunch at "Embers" then to Barton Heights to share a glass of wine and discuss.

Herb and I decide to go to town for a burger, finally choose the "R and R" and order two of their R&R specials; burger, milk shake, large fries...Hold one of the fries as we will share one...good thing as they were really bad fries (does anyone make real french fries any more?) and dry burger not much better, milk shake good... just reaffirms why we don't eat out very often!..Herb had suggested we have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, maybe next time.

Repairman Dan arrives early, diagnoses right off that we have a "stuck defrost timer" but takes him an hour to find it, of course it is in the last place he looks...I never knew that there were so many hidden places inside a fridge that can be opened up!..Now it is all back together and slowly we will start filling it back up, throwing away more stuff and vowing to date and use up in a timely manner all the things I put in there...I was pleasantly surprised at the bill...New timer, generic, $12.00, 1 hour labor $50.00, milage $14.00, Total $76.00.

Now if I've bored you long enough I will quit for the day but I have one question...Why do they spell fridge with a "d" in it and refrigerator without the "d"?...~OWAV:)))