More Events...19º & 1" snow

Coen Brothers remake of True Grit was on at the JC last night...Arrived in time to help make popcorn before we settled in to watch the movie as the "Big Read" is winding down...Two events are left with the battle of the books on Sunday and the Grand Finale February 16th, at the Hurricane Creek Grange...Sandwiched in between these programs is opening night of Sweethearts at the Josephy Center.

I enjoyed this movie, I think, more than the original...It seemed to move faster and seemed a little more believable...Although Mattie Ross spent a couple of scenes in the water and never seemed to get wet or cold...I closed my eyes through the snake scene as I knew what was coming and saw no reason to endure...I like endings that give closure and wrap things up, which I thought this did a better job.

Today I will prepare food for tonights opening at JC...Have cookies and chocolate cake already made...eggs boiled and peeled, the start of deviled eggs, sandwich makings and veggies (for a tray) ready in the fridge...Have to finish editing another short essay then will send 15 pages winging their way through cyber space to Katey...This said, guess I better get out of my jammies and get moving...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Blooming Orchid...-3º

It is nice on these cold winter mornings to have at least one bloom in the house...An orchid I bought about two years ago was blooming when I brought it home and sprouted a new baby plant...So last fall I repotted the mother plant and put the baby plant beside it in the same pot...Mama quickly died but baby flourished and soon put up a bloom stem...It couldn't have bloomed at at better time than these cold Jan/Feb days of 2014.

News from our Portland "Girls"...The Girl is embarking on another adventure this weekend...A much anticipated trip for Cienna to Eastern Oregon with other Rotary exchange students...A long bus ride will take them to Cove's Ascension camp, their base for the next 3 days...A side trip to Anthony Lakes ski area where Cienna will try snow boarding for the first time...Most important she will also find out the name of the country where her Rotary exchange will take her...Hugs to all...OWAV:)

Brrrr...6º

Temperatures are staying cold for the next few days, below 0º tonight...I just looked back at last year and on 2/5/13 it was balmy and 30º but on 2/8/13 we had 8" of snow...We were getting ready to leave for Utah/Arizona...This year we will leave for Florida in March for a week, then on to DC for a few days.

We had a little snow over night with more in the forecast...Usually when it is this cold the snow doesn't amount to much...Yesterday I "broomed" snow off of the deck and porches while Herb did our driveway and Barton Heights neighbors, with the 4-wheeler...It was cold and invigorating!

Acupuncture with Amy yesterday left me totally wiped out...Barely stayed awake until 7pm...Slept for 7 hours, made a trip to the bathroom, then slept for another 2 hours...Feeling rested :), thanks Amy.

Will make bread today and mix cookie dough to chill, before baking cookies on Friday morning for the "Couples" opening at the Josephy Center...Plan to also make deviled eggs and sandwiches...I have enlisted Pam to help me Friday afternoon/evening as WP are busy with other commitments...Stay warm...Hugs to all...OWAV:)

7"--Fluffy Snow...14º

It lived up to its promise of snow, most of the day yesterday and on through the night...However when the temperature is in the teens the snow is more like frost...Several inches of the frosty fluff accumulated over night...I took this photo out the back door last night before I went to bed...It looked like thousands of feathers floating to the ground.

Click to get a better view

Write People is on the agenda today, then home to revise another essay to send to Katey for this months submission...Also I will be making cookies and other snacks for the Friday night opening of the "Couples Art" display for February...Making/prepping stuff ahead will make my Friday much easier...Hugs to all from a snowy Barton Heights, maybe I will go sweep some snow and get some fresh air...OWAV:)

Brrr

Snowy morning

Looking toward town

Super Bowl...19º

Super Bowl Sunday came and went without much notice at our house...The usual Sunday laundry took up the morning and bread baking the afternoon...We had breakfast for dinner (ham and eggs with sliced fresh pear)...I googled the SB at half time and found the score very lop sided so were not disappointed that we might be missing something...A sunny day turned cloudy late evening and 1-2 inches of snow fell overnight.

Got a call last night from friend and fellow docent Bev, who fell and broke her arm/shoulder over the weekend...So I will be filling in for her at the Josephy Center this afternoon...I have an 8am appointment this morning with Kathy to have my teeth cleaned and a trip to the grocery store after that...Maybe a quick stop at Soroptomists to cruise their basement for bargains...Supposed to snow off and on all day, looks like a winter wonderland on Barton Heights this morning...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Crabby...25º

A fun evening with friends, old and new...Everyone was in a crabby mood or at least in the mood to eat crab...The Elgin Crab Feed is famous in Eastern Oregon for its, all you can eat crab, fresh caught on the Oregon coast...Cracked and then transported across the state that same day to be served family style, help yourself to all you can eat...There is nothing fancy about the setting as it is held in the rustic "Stampede Room" at the Elgin Rodeo Grounds and is their main fund raiser for the year...Long tables set up, paper plates, plastic spoons and forks, styrofoam cups for either water or coffee...Large bowls of crab meat, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans and warm garlic bread line the center of the tables...We waited in line for nearly a half hour before getting in the door, then waited again as we watched the first "wave" of people finish eating...As seven chairs were vacated volunteers replaced their plates with clean ones and seated us at the table...We helped ourselves to crab and side dishes, again and again...More food just kept coming as busy volunteers moved from table to table making sure no one had to wait for a second or third helping...We visited over the noise of the crowd taking in all the activity and catching a glimpse of other people from Wallowa County, who had traveled the 50 miles to eat crab...All I saw was people smiling and groaning but not a crab in the bunch!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Pot Pies...26º

Down memory lane this morning, I go back in time over 40 years ago...We lived in Utah before moving to Oregon...Herb was always on fire call and during the summer could be gone from home for days or even weeks...A vacation for us left behind...I took time away from cooking and we all got a break from meat and potatoes...In Utah from 1966 to 1973 our favorite was a little "Arctic Circle" just a block from our house, where we could each have a hamburger, fries and a milk shake for $2.00...Mac and cheese from a box with wieners another speciality....In Oregon we often went shopping for Banquet meat pies, each picking our favorite..."Meat" pies was a misnomer as usually the meat consisted of itty bitty chunks of tough gristle swimming in gravy with small pieces of carrot and peas...But fresh out of the oven, burning our tongues on the first bite, the crust was crusty and rich, we were in heaven...We branched out as the kids got older, going to the "Gold Room" in Joseph, for homemade soup and pie, sometimes a baked potato with butter/sour cream/bacon bits (think big) and a cup of soup...The "Snack Shack" in Enterprise had the best burgers or "Russell's" at the lake with outdoor seating and real fries was another choice...Then "Toma's" opened in Enterprise with their burgers so juicy that you needed a bib...Aaah those were the days.

Sorry I got off of the subject just a little...Yesterday's dinner had me scratching my head, what to fix?...A small amount of leftover turkey and gravy was in the fridge and turkey soup sounded good...As I rummaged through the freezer for veggies and broth, I found a frozen round of pie crust dough and the light bulb went off...In all these years I have never made a pot pie from scratch...I could have ignored all the leftovers and sent Herb to the store for pot pies (I hear Swanson's is better than Banquet) but no it would be much more fun to make my own...Three hours later, dishes piled in the sink, flour dusted everywhere (just kidding) I fixed our plates...My version of "Turkey Pot Pies...I was having so much fun that I rescued another round of pie dough and frozen apples and we had apple pie for dessert...I better finish up I think Herb is eating apple pie for breakfast...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Pie in its own little tin

Cooling on the plate

Yummy