Cold and Windy...44º

Weekend over, pig cut, wrapped and frozen...Now we are in the process of rendering lard...Herb and I have chunked all of the pig fat and have half of it rendered out for lard...The fat that clogs arteries and has nearly gone out of use since crisco came into vogue...Now crisco (hydrogenated) is out and lard slowly comes back and maybe not so bad after all...It makes the flakiest pie crust ever and we should have 12 to 15 pounds when all is rendered...Rendering is the slow process of heating the fat until it turns liquid, straining it off, cooling, then it will keep for a long time either refrigerated or frozen.

Last night found Pam and I at the Hurricane Creek Grange Hall for the Big Read Fanale...Luis Alberto Urrea was there to talk about his book "Into the Beautiful North." Luis is an entertaining speaker, talking in both Spanish and English, he told about his childhood, born in Tijuana to Mexican/American parents, growing up in southern California and how the characters in his fiction book, are based on people (mostly relatives) in his life.

The Grange Hall was packed with people, the food was abundant and I was home by 7:30...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fancy Cake

My Plate

Pam's plate

Dessert

Weather Warning...Strong Winds...43º

I could label this "Wind Storm of 2015," but since 2015 is just starting there could be another worst storm before the year is over...One never knows...We spent a sleepless night (night before last), wind gusts shaking our house, like a fist full of dice in a crap game...Then dozing back off to sleep, waiting for the next one to hit...I gave up at 2am, to sit in my recliner and wait out the storm, knowing sleep would not return...Our power and internet was still working so I entertained myself with Facebook, scrabble and my latest ebook before the lights went out around 3am...I lit a small candle, its flame flickered and danced, keeping me company as I sipped my now luke warm coffee and braced myself as the roar started far way in a canyon before it hit our house one more time, unleashing its furry, over and over.

The storm raged through the morning, downing trees, taking power lines with them and we gave up on power being restored anytime soon...Our damage seemed minimal and we had other more immediate jobs to take care of...A 200 lb, butchered hog was hanging in the garage and the overnight temperature was hoveing about 50º...We had started the cut and wrap process the day before but only did a quarter thinking, "it is February and the nights are cold"...Thankfully our garage stays cool enough, but we couldn't put freshly wrapped meat in our freezer, with the power off...Luckily the power had been restored in Enterprise and Pam's freezer had an empty shelf...So with the wind still howling and gusting we worked in the garage cutting and wrapping...We took the meat to Pam's freezer and treated ourselves to burgers and fries at "North Street Pizza" since our power was out and the peanut butter sandwich each of us had for breakfast was long used up.

It is morning now, (day after the storm.)  Our power is on and we both got a good nights sleep...We have more hog to cut and wrap, put it in our own freezer, and hope the power stays on!..We are in for more wind and rain storms today...If interested you can follow this link to blogs written years ago and learn about more Wallowa County Wind Storms...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

$36 Million Dollars...33º

Our country, "Our County" is just coming out of one of the worst economical times in recent history and I read in the Chieftain yesterday that a project is being considered to build a bike path from Joseph to the head of Wallowa Lake...5 miles of path could cost anywhere from $21,000,000.00 to $36,000,000.00....Middle of the road estimate is $28,000,000.00...Yes that is MILLIONS...It was calmly reported in the paper like it was mere pennies, even stating that it might be more feasible to do it one mile a year, rather than all at one time...Is anyone else shaking their head over the blatant stupidity of how to spend ones money?..After all, you can call this grant money, or state money or special funds money but when it comes down to it, it is TAXPAYER MONEY...

"Our County" has been hard hit over the years, starting with the loss of the timber industry in the 80's/90's resulting in less money for schools and roads, counties and cities...Belt tightening in all areas...Enterprise lost its outdoor swimming pool, when it was in such a state of disrepair that it was bulldozed under...The Enterprise City Cemetery, once a beautiful spot, has now become a haven and playground for rodents, since the city can no longer afford to irrigate...Joseph, home of the Main street beautification project is struggling to keep enough volunteers to maintain that beauty...Joseph City streets are more potholes than blacktop as the city fathers try to come up with answers.

Our County schools all have their own fundraisers so children of this county can have Art and Music along with other programs that were dropped from the curriculum when the timber industry went out...Josephs school are now having a fund raiser for money to put new playground equipment in after moving the grade school onto the high school campus.

When attending my water therapy class at a small motel pool in Enterprise (the only indoor pool in Wallowa County) I see preschool kids flocking to this pool for lessons...75 kids are signed up for the latest sessions where a dedicated volunteer and her helpers take small groups and teach them how to swim...Where will these kids practice their new skills?...In Wallowa Lake of course...In years to come for two months out of the year they can watch the bikers riding along the lake on their million dollar bike path, as they freeze their little butts off in the icy waters, because no one could come up with the money to build an Aquatic Center...A facility that could be used daily, summer and winter by every citizen of this county!..Gotta go take a blood pressure pill....Hugs To All....OWAV:)

Soggy Day...33º

I long for the days of a good blizzard...I know be careful what you wish for...Yesterday morning was busy as I had a dental appointment, write people and water therapy...I did the dental appt...Decided to skip WP so I had time to get corned beef in the oven and prep some veggies...Picked Pam up as she is joining us at WT for the month...WT looks good as we have more people joining us to help pay for the pool...While exercising it was snowing huge flakes and hopes were high that we would get a much needed storm to add to the winter snow pack...It snowed/rained/sleeted all day but added only enough to cover the grass that thinks it is spring...Looks like more dreary/drizzley weather today!

While I was doing all of this Herb got the call that our butchered hog was ready at Fluits Farm...It is now hanging in our garage for a few days waiting for us to cut and wrap for our freezer...We haven't had good fresh pork for several years so this will be a real treat, along with good beef and elk and deer meat...Of course we will share with our kids.

That's all for today, my murder mystery (audio book) takes place in Southern Thailand, and is getting very interesting....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Devices....34º

Phones, tablets, laptops, desktops and all the sub categories....Audio, video, dvd's, mp3's (whatever that is,) on and on...As I've told you before Herb and I get most of our reading material (library books) on line and read them on either ipad or mac pro...Now I have progressed to listening to audio books on my iPhone...It is hard for me to just sit and listen, so I'm thinking about taking up knitting again just to have something to do with my hands.

So far I've tried cooking while listening, but this also can include reading a recipe while listening to a "murder mystery." 'Something about dead bodies buried in a VW in an old well or is that in my recipe that says 'Make a well in the flour and dump in remaining ingredients.' or 'Dump the dead bodies in a well filled with flour, pour into pan and bake at 400º until well preserved!'...Welcome to dinner at the Allens, "Burnt offerings are on the menu one more time."

Picture this...Yesterday I was sitting on the sofa; ear buds in, listening to a book, Macbook open on my lap, checking email, scanning Facebook, doing scrabble (came up with some new words), then resorted to doing a jigsaw puzzle (less concentration.) All at once the screen went black on the macbook, voice still reading in my ears and I thought "Oh Darn"...just blew the whole thing up!

Actually it just ran out of battery and needed to be recharged...Now if there was only a way to recharge my batteries...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Drizzly Day...30º

We have some red sky this morning with a forecast of scattered rain showers...Same as yesterday...It was the perfect day to stay inside, which we did, cozy and warm, reading/computing.

I worked at having a half way healthy dinner when I decided on a Chefs Salad (my version, whatever I can find in the fridge)...Didn't have any ham so substituted kielbasa sausages (heated and browned in a fry pan,) sliced sharp cheddar, grated carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, hard boiled eggs and blue cheese dressing...We topped that off with apple pie...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...I think apple pie sounds good for breakfast.

Dinner

Rustic apple pie.

Super Bowl Sunday...30º

Just writing my post title this morning I feel a soapbox moving under my feet and I'm not even standing up!!!

Many years ago "it" was not to be missed at our house...No sledding parties or ice skating parties unless they were over before "it" started or started after "it" was over...Now we no longer have a dish or a cable hookup, in fact the old TV sits forlornly in the basement, waiting for "The Girl" to return, when she might or might not watch a movie.

I could get on the "box" and rant about the salaries that the "Super Stars" are paid or about the wonderful "Role Models" they are NOT!..Or that companies pay millions of $$$$'s for a 30 second spot to tout their wares...Or all the greasy, sweet, calorie laden foods that the grocery ads temp us to buy...Or the price of a single ticket to see this super hyped up event and the possible wardrobe malfunction that might occur at halftime!..I feel my blood pressure going up.

I do find one thing interesting about this game...The Venue in which it is played...When in Phoenix several years ago I saw free tickets to a Home and Garden show so snagged a couple, thinking it would be a good outing for Herb and I, since we had grown bored sitting poolside, sipping the drink of the day...We had the address of the Garden show and a map, we arrived early, enjoyed the show and learned a bit about the Venue...Follow the link, it really is quite a place.

Today for us will be like any other Sunday, laundry to do, plants to water, floors to mop, rooms to clean, come up with something to eat for dinner...Hmmm, keeping with the Super Bowl Theme,  how about bacon wrapped little smokies, drowned in butter and brown sugar and roasted for 30 minutes in a 400º oven?...Maybe there is enough lettuce in the fridge for a side salad for each of us...Hugs To All...OWAV:)