Monday, November 7, 2011
Shopping...17º--38º
The list is made and shopping is on the calendar...A trip to Costco, a day out for us...Lewiston/Clarkston is usually warmer, maybe sunshine...We hope so...Not sure if we save money going to Costco but the outing is worth it for us...We always head out early...Herb got the snow tires on last week, filled the gas tank and we have our cell phones...Not much cell service between here and there but that's the way it goes...Always makes me think back to other winter trips...two little kids packed out to the car in their jammies still half asleep...Bedded down in the back seat and we were on our way...Cell phones didn't exist...4-wheeled drive was only on jeeps...front wheeled drive was on select automobiles...We looked outside to see if it was snowing...and away we went...Now I must get dressed and we will be on our way...Hugs to all.... OWAV:)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Daylight Savings Time...25º--38º
Have decided that this may be the longest day of the year...It is now 5am, been up since 3am...Yesterday it would have been 4am...Herb said he may have to take a nap about 10am...I could get on a real "Rant and Rave" about this crazy time change but will spare you...and move on.
Have spent my time this morning, scrabbling and googling...Checking out the location of Curitiba on the map and trying to find the building project that Rusty is working on...Doesn't seem to be listed, maybe he is really on a Holiday...We chatted with him yesterday...It was a nine hour flight from New Jersey for them, but their luggage must have taken the scenic route because it didn't arrive when they did...Rusty said the motel is nice, no kitchen but they serve a buffet breakfast and dinner everyday and he thinks lunch on week days...Said the food was even good, lots of fresh fruits and juices...The following link should get you to a map of Brazil, then you can find Curitiba, south-eastern area.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/southamerica-political-map.htm
Not much happening here, I'm trying to clean out drawers and accumulated stuff from the past 40 years...Very slow process...OWAV:)
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Have spent my time this morning, scrabbling and googling...Checking out the location of Curitiba on the map and trying to find the building project that Rusty is working on...Doesn't seem to be listed, maybe he is really on a Holiday...We chatted with him yesterday...It was a nine hour flight from New Jersey for them, but their luggage must have taken the scenic route because it didn't arrive when they did...Rusty said the motel is nice, no kitchen but they serve a buffet breakfast and dinner everyday and he thinks lunch on week days...Said the food was even good, lots of fresh fruits and juices...The following link should get you to a map of Brazil, then you can find Curitiba, south-eastern area.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/southamerica-political-map.htm
Not much happening here, I'm trying to clean out drawers and accumulated stuff from the past 40 years...Very slow process...OWAV:)
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Saturday, November 5, 2011
Brrrrr...16º--40º
It was early to bed last night and up early this morning, feeling rested...House is a cool 58º, even with the wood stove going...The snow storm yesterday put about 4" of wet snow down, then melted some off and now it is icy and frozen...Pat and I made it around the track twice yesterday before we gave it up as a bad idea...The wind was blowing, visibility was bad and our tracks looked like a couple of drunk people staggering around...We had a few good laughs before leaving, then stopped at Svendsens' on the way home, where we warmed up with a hot drink and visited with Marsha.
Back home the chili and tamales were heated and ready to eat when I got home...Good dinner for a stormy day.
Had an email from Rusty when I got up this morning, he said, "arrived in Brazil, all is well, internet a little spotty"...He is a man of few words, when it comes to email...Just happy he keeps us posted!...OWAV:)
Back home the chili and tamales were heated and ready to eat when I got home...Good dinner for a stormy day.
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| Looks like winter! |
Friday, November 4, 2011
Snowing...31º--35º
Winter Weather advisory in effect this morning for Joseph Oregon...Up to four inches of snow could fall by afternoon...Traveling could be treacherous...I think this is a little overblown!..The first snow is always problematic, catching people unaware...Think a little common sense to slow down might help!
What did we do before, television, computers and their instant news...I can remember my Dad intently listening to the "crackling" radio news in the 50's in Lake Fork, Idaho, trying to get a handle on how many inches of snow we might get on any given day...Lake Fork/McCall is a snow belt...We lived three miles off of the main highway on a county road...County snow plowing equipment was very basic... It was impossible to keep the county roads cleared, when the snow was coming down, wind blowing a gale, with no end in sight...An almost daily forecast (from November thru March) repeated on the radio for that area, which included Boise (100 miles away) was, possible rain in the lower elevations and "snow flurries" in the mountains...After our first winter there, Dad figured out that for our area "snow flurries" in the mountains meant that we could wake up to two feet of snow in our front yard and more on the way...The hardest part was keeping food and water available for our animals...My parents kept our house well supplied with food, we had wood heat, could get by without electricity, so we were prepared if we were snowed in for two weeks at a time...If the weather turned cold (-40º was common) the snow would crust over and Daddy would take us to school on the bob-sled, horses and sled skimming across the frozen snow for the two miles to the school house...Eventually there would be a break in the weather and the county would come in with a D-8 Caterpillar and open a one track road.
Looking outside we have a couple of inches on the ground, still snowing and Herb just left to go to Schwabs and get the snow tires mounted on the car...Winter has arrived.
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| Mona and I after a "flurry" |
Looking outside we have a couple of inches on the ground, still snowing and Herb just left to go to Schwabs and get the snow tires mounted on the car...Winter has arrived.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Where's the Beef...34º--38º
On Tuesday afternoon Herb and I went to a small ranch, just outside of Wallowa...We were going there to glean hearts, tails and tongues from a mobile slaughter truck that comes here from Union County...Now some people might not want to read this and that is up to you...but if you eat even an occasional hamburger, you should know where your meat comes from...For any of us to eat meat something has to die...That's just the way it is...I suggest you read "Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, to get a better idea of the meat that you eat in a "Big Mac" or buy at the grocery store. http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/
Growing up on a farm this was a natural process, we raised animals for food just like we raised a garden for food...Our animals were loved and well taken care of and when the time came they were killed as quickly and humanly as possible...This was not always easy, I have cried over more than one animal that was slated for the dinner table...But I happen to love meat so I got over it!
A trend has started to eat local meat including beef, lamb, goat and pig...I won't go into the options of grass fed, grain finished etc....This is mostly about Dale Baker, and his mobil slaughter wagon...I've watched this process several times over the past twenty years, sometimes in our own back yard...Every time it amazes me more and is fascinating to watch...On this particular day Dale had seven steers to kill for several people, we had ordered one...Our family's Christmas present...With a cold wind blowing, he was already gutting and skinning the second one when Herb and I arrived with our 5 gallon buckets, motioning us where to set the buckets. He said, "We'll fill 'em up, you want tongues, tails, and hearts"...I shook my head yes...His knife never stopped its motion of slash, slash, slash...hone, hone, hone...His young assistant was at his side with a spray of water when needed and they worked together like a surgical team in an operating room, hardly a word was spoken...Each had their own jobs...Dale doing the skinning and his assistant the clean up...Soon the carcass was hanging on hooks on a sliding extension, where the assistant sprayed and washed until every trace of foreign matter was cleared away, with a mighty push it went into the back of the truck to await the trip to the butcher and another steer was now almost skinned and ready to be hung...I managed to tell Dale that he was like "Poetry in Motion and how much I enjoyed watching him", he gave a half grin and said, "Years of experience".
After about an hour of watching mesmerized, we departed...Herb picked up our now full buckets and we headed for the car, me opening gates to exit the corrals...Talked briefly with Pam, the owner of the steers, catching up on family news and making sure we knew about the billing, cutting and wrapping process...Beef should be packaged and ready in 14 to 18 days.
Last night the aroma of simmering tongue, garlic, onion, celery and spices filled our kitchen and set out mouths to watering...OWAV:)
Growing up on a farm this was a natural process, we raised animals for food just like we raised a garden for food...Our animals were loved and well taken care of and when the time came they were killed as quickly and humanly as possible...This was not always easy, I have cried over more than one animal that was slated for the dinner table...But I happen to love meat so I got over it!
A trend has started to eat local meat including beef, lamb, goat and pig...I won't go into the options of grass fed, grain finished etc....This is mostly about Dale Baker, and his mobil slaughter wagon...I've watched this process several times over the past twenty years, sometimes in our own back yard...Every time it amazes me more and is fascinating to watch...On this particular day Dale had seven steers to kill for several people, we had ordered one...Our family's Christmas present...With a cold wind blowing, he was already gutting and skinning the second one when Herb and I arrived with our 5 gallon buckets, motioning us where to set the buckets. He said, "We'll fill 'em up, you want tongues, tails, and hearts"...I shook my head yes...His knife never stopped its motion of slash, slash, slash...hone, hone, hone...His young assistant was at his side with a spray of water when needed and they worked together like a surgical team in an operating room, hardly a word was spoken...Each had their own jobs...Dale doing the skinning and his assistant the clean up...Soon the carcass was hanging on hooks on a sliding extension, where the assistant sprayed and washed until every trace of foreign matter was cleared away, with a mighty push it went into the back of the truck to await the trip to the butcher and another steer was now almost skinned and ready to be hung...I managed to tell Dale that he was like "Poetry in Motion and how much I enjoyed watching him", he gave a half grin and said, "Years of experience".
After about an hour of watching mesmerized, we departed...Herb picked up our now full buckets and we headed for the car, me opening gates to exit the corrals...Talked briefly with Pam, the owner of the steers, catching up on family news and making sure we knew about the billing, cutting and wrapping process...Beef should be packaged and ready in 14 to 18 days.
Last night the aroma of simmering tongue, garlic, onion, celery and spices filled our kitchen and set out mouths to watering...OWAV:)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Write Group 101...20º--??...Windy
Wind is in the forecast for today, not unusual this time of year...Herb is trying to catch the leaves as they come off the trees (visual :)) before they blow away...Running the mower over them and saving mulch for the garden.
Yesterday Pat and I walked... cold, invigorating, talking and laughing...I wonder what people think if they happen to see us two old ladies doubled over with laughter out on the track as we take a pause in our laps...Or maybe they think we are trying to catch our breath or having an attack of some kind....I would hate to have an ambulance show up...OR worse guys with straight jackets and haul us off to the "looney bin" as it used to be called when we were allowed to make jokes about such things.
On to write group, five of us read, discussed and ate...again gales of laughter filled the room...It was to be our last potluck lunch for awhile, we are looking for a place to meet and eat, trying places with food or maybe brown bagging it...Whatever we find will be a far cry from a warm home, tomato pie, hearty soup, chili verde and home made bread...But I know the laughter will still be there and that in itself will keep us going...Might have to tone it down in a public place.... OWAV:)
House plants that spent the summer on the deck, they loved it out there.
Yesterday Pat and I walked... cold, invigorating, talking and laughing...I wonder what people think if they happen to see us two old ladies doubled over with laughter out on the track as we take a pause in our laps...Or maybe they think we are trying to catch our breath or having an attack of some kind....I would hate to have an ambulance show up...OR worse guys with straight jackets and haul us off to the "looney bin" as it used to be called when we were allowed to make jokes about such things.
On to write group, five of us read, discussed and ate...again gales of laughter filled the room...It was to be our last potluck lunch for awhile, we are looking for a place to meet and eat, trying places with food or maybe brown bagging it...Whatever we find will be a far cry from a warm home, tomato pie, hearty soup, chili verde and home made bread...But I know the laughter will still be there and that in itself will keep us going...Might have to tone it down in a public place.... OWAV:)
House plants that spent the summer on the deck, they loved it out there.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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