Warm November Morning...44º Cloudy

 Sunday we awoke to a 60º morning...Very unusual for November, last year at this time we had about 7" of snow on the ground..Herb and I took advantage of the warm sunny day...The front porch got a good cleaning, the car was next, and while Herb did that I cleaned the deck of leaves, twigs and other debris, and hauled flower pots and garden tools to the garage. 

Back in the house about noon, it was time for showers and finish prepping our dinner...Pam joined us about 3pm for dinner and cards...Great way to end a warm fall day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Becky and Tate came for a visit on Saturday, which we enjoyed very much...

Cloudy Blue Sky

Amazing

Perfect Sunday Dinner

Thanksgiving fast approaching...36º

 I have a to-do list made for me to accomplish before Thanksgiving...But I think it needs to be refined...When I wrote it I must have been thinking of all the things I could get done many years ago...No way can I complete the list, plus keep up the everyday chores...I will redo the list, knowing that in the long run, it won't really matter what gets done, only that we will fill our house with love and laughter, for a few days when our family joins us.

We are having rather mild weather for this time of year, lots of clouds with sun breaks throughout the day...I took photos yesterday of a huge cloud/fog bank, as it rolled around the foot hills behind our house...We live in a beautiful spot...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Road Trip...43º Rain Showers.

 It was a perfect day for a trip to Costco, located in Clarkston, Washington, across the Snake river from Lewiston, Idaho...For the past 48 years we have made regular trips to that area for shopping in larger stores than we have here in Wallowa, County...In the 70's we went for school clothes and Christmas gifts and some groceries...There was a Penny's, Bon Marche, Pay Less, Kmart, Great Western and pizza restaurants and Issy's for giant hamburgers....Now most of those places are no more, instead we go to Winco, for bulk items, and Costco, usually bypass WalMart and eat at Tomato Brothers...It is always a full day as we leave at daylight and get home at dusk.

It is a 2 plus hour drive on winding roads, as we go north to Buford grade and down to the Grande Ronde River, in Washington...Then climb up Rattle Snake grade topping out at Anatone before dropping down into the Clarkston/Lewiston Valley and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers...The day was warm, no rain/snow, roads were perfect...Some people hate this drive, but I always enjoy the curvy road and ever-changing terrain...Pam does the driving for us or we probably wouldn't be making this trip!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fall Colors

The long road home.

It was a fun day...26º

 Herb and I did a quick once over on the house yesterday morning...Dust, Vacuum, mop, scour and pick up the clutter!...Sue and Wally arrived about 11am...We met them with smiles and hugs all around...For the next two hours we talked, non stop, laughed a lot as we reminisced about other days, other visits...Wally grew up in Wallowa county, graduated from high school in Enterprise, got married, and started working at Bank of Wallowa County/Community Bank, as a teller, right out of high school...She got fired from that job (the story is too long to go into here) but basically that was back in the late 70's and her boss didn't think much of women in the work force, who also wanted to have babies!..Shortly after that her husband got a job in LaGrande and she got a job with a bank there...Next year she will retire from Banner Bank after almost 40 years in the banking world...Mr. Alexander, (the one that fired her) only lasted about 6 months with Bank of Wallowa County before he was fired, by the then owners of the bank "Cheatum and Steele." that is another story.

We drove to the lake, enjoyed a great lunch at the "Blithe Cricket" in Joseph and the girls were on their way back to LaGrande by 3pm, a rainstorm in progress...It was a great day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Sue always brings me new hand towels for the kitchen and Wally still has flowers in her gardens...They brought some to share.

A bouquet from Wally's garden

 

Visitors Today...37º Cloudy/Rain?

 Always nice to see my niece Susans'  name pop up on my phone and hear her voice..."Aunt Della, how are you?" is usually what she says....This time she added, "Our friend Wally, wants to come for a visit, and she is bringing me with her."

Today is the day we settled on and even though it is supposed to be cloudy and raining, it will be a sunshiny day for Herb and I...Sue and Wally are fun, upbeat ladies and we will enjoy the day and hate to see them leave...We will welcome them to our "Garlicy" smelling house and they will love it!..So I better cut this short and get busy cleaning up some of my messes, so we have a place to sit down!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

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:)