Life Repeats...33º, Rained last night

 When memories pop up on Facebook, I'm always amazed when a year ago or five years ago our life repeats over and over...The first week in November seems to be when we finally have everything done outside preparing for winter, and now find time to process this years garlic...Herb and I sit at the kitchen table, where we take all the cloves apart, peel the outer skin before we slice them in the cuisinart...From there they go to the basement and the dehydrator...Now our house will smell/reek of garlic for several days and then the garlic is pulverized in the blender, all dried and will keep forever.

We grow a variety of garlic, called Music, that produces huge bulbs, that have only 4/5 cloves, that are equally huge, making it much easier to peal, slice and dry than the tiny cloves of most garlic...In a few days, the garlic will be in jars and take its place on the cellar shelves...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Took a break yesterday and visited with friends of many years...Always fun to share stories and laughter!

Ready to separate and peel

Such lovely cloves

Dried and ready for the shelf

Maggie Blooms...37º Partly Cloudy

 Our mornings have been cold and foggy until mid morning, then our mountains appear in the distance and the sun brightens our day...The sun coming in our south window warms our house and keeps us cozy.

I was looking for a photo this morning to get my mind working on a blog when right in front of me "Maggie" is in full bloom...Many of you remember that "Maggie" is a cactus, given to me by the granddaughter of a dear friend, when she "Margaret" passed away...I didn't really want a cactus, never could keep one alive, let alone get it to bloom but I could't say no.

Maggie has surpassed all of the negative thoughts that I had, she bloomed a few months after I brought her home, has tippled in size, went one year without blooming and now is blooming like crazy...She reminds me very much of my friend Margaret, who was a bit contrary, doing what she wanted to do, following her own path, not trying to fit into the norm...She was her own person...Now it seems, Maggie is not a Christmas Cactus, or Thanksgiving but a Halloween Cactus...Margaret would have been pleased with that, she liked Halloween, and the dressing up in costume, going trick or treating as an adult, where she visited friends to share a beverage...I am so glad that I brought her home!..Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Preserving Food...33º Mostly Sunny

 It wouldn't be summer without making pickles, roasting tomatoes, maybe jarring some meat!...It started with dilly beans and zucchini relish, after my friend Rene, dropped off a bag full of beans and two really big zucchini...Herb started his summer routine hauling jars, lids, and canning vessels, not only up the stairs but then hauling it all back down the stairs after I have filled them with pickles for the winter.

Next came dill pickles and mustard pickles in jars and roasted tomatoes, bagged and frozen...Also is isn't summer without eating as many BLT's and fresh sliced tomato/mayo sandwiches as one can possibly fit on the weekly menus...One of the benefits of those hot summer days!

Dill Pickles

Roasting tomatoes

Tomato sandwich for breakfast.

We took advantage of Rusty's visit home and enlisted him into, setting up the gas stove, hauling up jars, lids AND the pressure canner to do 18 pints of canned pork, one of his favorites...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

90 year old pressure canner

Mustard Pickles

Sweet Pickles

Garden Produce...30º, Sun predicted...

 As I've mentioned before, the heat and lack of rain, made for a different summer on Barton Heights...No matter what the weather is our garlic crop is one that we can always depend on...Maybe they weren't quite as big but we still had good yield...Potatoes and onions did okay and the carrots are the big winner and really surprised us!.

Over the years I have found my own way of planting carrots, (I mark off a 4x8 plot, mix a package of seed with sand, then broadcast this on the plot, lightly rake over them, sprinkle with straw and water every morning)...I have to cover this plot with netting because the quail love the soft moist dirt and will come in the night and rearrange all the seeds!..I have very little thinning to do and once the carrots start growing, there is no stopping them...We had a bumper crop this year...Bobi took a bag full home with her, I have a crisper full for us for winter and I took a 5 gallon bucket full to water therapy and shared with everyone there...You would have thought I was handing out gold coins, they were delighted to get carrots that smelled like carrots!

Carrots were amazing

Gardens are a lot of work, but compared to the joy we get from eating and sharing, it is a great way to pass the hot summer days...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

A new garden addition, baby pumpkins

Flowers...50º light rain.

 Next year will be our 49th year in Wallowa County...Herb transferred from Duchesne, Utah (after 7 years) to Joseph in 1973...Normally with the FS back then, you stayed in one place anywhere from two to 6 years before moving on...We found the only house for rent in Joseph and settled in...We had no intentions of buying a house or living here very long...Little did we know.

I started this, thinking about the passed summer and that it was the hottest and driest summer we have experienced, in my memory anyway...We struggled all summer to keep the lawn and gardens watered...The flowers were less than spectacular and at one point, Rusty said, "Mom you have many shades of green, but where are the flowers?"

We did have a few flowers...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

   

Wedding Day...45º

 After many years together, Becky and John exchanged vows on July 3 2021... Family and friends gathered at their own private spot next to the Wallowa River for the ceremony...A BBQ was set up and copious amounts of food was kept cold in ice filled wading pools and drinks were on ice in "watering troughs."...The hot, humid day didn't stop guests from celebrating this occasion...Voices and laughter could be heard over the rushing water and the party went on into the night.

Becky and John are like part of our family and we wish them happiness in the years to come...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Just a Normal Windy Day...34º

 Was I disappointed in the wind storm?..Just a little because we were totally prepared for the house to shake and rattle, the lights to blink off and on and finally the power to go out and we would have to huddle around the wood stove and heat up leftovers for dinner.

But what really happened and made us both happy was, just a normal windy day...It blew all the leaves off of the big maple tree in the front yard and Herb and I were able to go outside and rake leaves onto the grass, where Herb "mowed" them into a nice leaf mulch for the veggie garden this winter...We have 4 huge black bags of chopped up leaves.

Our maple tree in all its autumn glory was quickly rendered naked by the wind...We look forward to springtime when it slowly leafs out and gives us shade for another summer...I'm happy that we didn't get the "Big Windstorm."...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Autumn Glory

Winter Naked