LET IT SNOW....35º

NO, I didn't really mean to say that!..Bobi is on the road today, coming from Portland, to spend a few days in Joseph, for our "Thanksmas celebration." .It will be a different celebration, with just the three of us, but we will celebrate being together...A week of laughter, tears, cooking, eating, playing cards, doing puzzles, reminiscing of other years and of the years to come.

I celebrate today because Casey delivered two cords of wood last night, now stacked in the wood room...This wood, along with wood that John and Rusty got earlier will keep us warm all winter...This is the reason I said, "LET IT SNOW," now amended to let it snow, in December!

We are a very lucky family, wood for the winter, cellar is well stocked, freezers are quite full, AND we are able to text, talk, maybe FT with Cienna in the next few days, to catch up with her life in far away Prague!..My posts might be a bit sketchy for the next week, Lots of Hugs to All, OWAV:)

This puzzle was fun to do!

Whoa, what a response...32º breezy/possible snow.

 When I signed off of my blog yesterday, I thought "Well that was kind of a bomb."..But no, it hit a nerve with several people and I hope it encourages some of you to fill a box/bag of stuff and get it out of your house and if you have a storage unit, add up what that is costing you for a year and multiply that by the years you have had the storage unit...Maybe that will make an impression!..That's enough preaching for one day.

Now I have another semi rant...For over a year now I've been billing my "Blue Cross," insurance for massages and acupuncture treatments, (both are covered under my plan) and when the providers billed them they paid, no problem...But the providers were having multiple problems with other insurances who were supposed to pay but didn't, that they decided to go to a cash only basis.

I get "super bills" from the providers that has ALL the info on them but "Blue Cross" wants it included with their claim form, (that I have to fill out and take a photo of, so I can put it in the email along with the "super bills.")..I have talked to multiple people at "BC," all with different and special ways that I can make sure the claims get taken care of in a timely manner...I can send them, ATTN: "SO and SO," but if I do that I must call their office, when the email goes out (where sometimes the wait is an hour)and tell "SO and SO" to watch for these emails that are labeled for their attention!

This has worked, on occasion, and sometimes I get a phone call that says, your photos are blurry, please send again...So I do...Now when I get my EOB (explanation of benefits), SO and SO has mixed the acupuncture and massage together in one bill, so that makes the coding wrong and they don't pay the entire bill...Such craziness, I feel bad for the people who do this job but I would like to strangle "SO and SO."  Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Just writing this blog has me all wound up, so to relax, I will finish my latest jigsaw puzzle...Have a "Happy Day."

What to Write?..35º/ partly cloudy

 I could write about the boxes still in the living room, waiting to go to Soroptomist...I was thinking Monday morning might be a good day, when I go to PT...But no, Soroptomists is closed all this coming week to donations until they are able to sort more stuff and put it on the shelves...It seems we are a world of stuff, so far mine is still in my house, not in a storage unit...It is hard for me to believe that people are paying to store "stuff," that could be labeled "junk" for years, until they have no longer remember what is in storage...Many people stop paying, some people die, leaving the unit to be auctioned off...I wonder if other "collectors" buy the unit, at auction, then don't have time to sort it, so they put it back in storage for years and continue paying the rent.

Maybe I would have been better off this morning to just say "no blog to day." instead of going off on a rant...Hugs to all...OWAV:)

Chief Joseph Mountain

Joseph, Oregon

Foggy Friday...32º

 My iPhone weather says clear and sunny by 7AM...That is fast approaching and the fog is so thick, I can't see across town, right now...Hoping it will clear out soon, for another nice November day.

Rusty spent yesterday burning brush piles across the road from our house, that have been accumulating for several years...Maybe that will help to get rid of the weed patch that has taken over.

I did more sewing/mending, just mundane stuff, nothing like when I used to spend hours sewing clothes, simple lap quilts and jean quilts...Balance class in the afternoon, an easy dinner of pork gravy, potatoes and salad, and a game of cards ended the day. 

Today Connie will be here to give the house a once over, before Thanksgiving week...Bobi and "critters" will arrive on Monday to spend the week...Then the kitchen will be busy with prepping, cooking, eating and card games, when the 3 of us "dance" around the kitchen making good food!..Hugs to All...OWAV:)

PS...Several years ago, Bobi brought a Thanksgiving Turkey for our table...We found that all of us prefer chocolate turkey over the real thing.

Thanksgiving 2015

Surprising Weather...37º

 Snow and/or rain has been in the forecast for many days now, but we have had cloudy conditions in the morning, then mostly sunny afternoons...Can't ask for better fall weather.

The push to get ready for winter has slowed down, time to enjoy and appreciate the fall sunshine...Rusty keeps busy everyday, either working in the basement or outside, still always something to do, fix, repair or clean up!..Then he is in the kitchen, cooking, helping, getting in my way, (not really) as we come up with food for the day/week/month...Bobi will be here soon, and that puts 3 of us in the kitchen, plus 2 dogs, underfoot...Looking forward to cooking with my kids or maybe this year I will sit back, sip a glass of wine and watch!

It will be strange without Cienna in the mix, as Prague is too far away to come home for the Holidays...But it will be interesting to hear about her adventures, in a foreign land, while we celebrate our "America Thanksgiving."

Speaking of adventures, she went on a hike last weekend and sent us a photo...To me it looks like a hike for Mountain Goats, but looks like Cienna and Friends are enjoying the mountains...Cienna said, "Oma, it was a lot of climbing uphill."...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Hiking in the mountains

in the Czech Republic.

Soup for Supper/Dinner....37º

 Another favorite comfort food for me is chuck roast...I slow cooked it in the dutch oven last week and we had yummy mashed potatoes and squash for side dishes...Two days later I sliced leftover roast into very thin slices and assembled them into french dip sandwiches, salad on the side...Then we had polenta and roast beef, and last night it was vegetable beef soup, with thick slices of homemade bread and more winter squash...We do love good home cooking...Hugs To All...OWAV:) 

Vegetable beef soup.

Fall has me looking for comfort food...33º

 Polenta has been on my radar for many years, as I read through recipes, looking for something different in our meal rotation...I remember buying a "tube" of polenta at the grocery store, took one bite/taste and promptly threw it in the trash...Last week at my acupuncture appointment, (Terry and I always talk about food) she said, "I love Polenta, it is my favorite comfort food, Nathan has a great recipe."So as I checked out that day, I asked Nathan about a polenta recipe and he said it is pretty simple, "1 part cornmeal to 4 parts water/milk, cook over low heat, stir occasionally, add butter/cream and cheese,,, takes maybe 45 minutes.

I asked Rusty if he had eaten polenta and he said, "I think it is similar to grits and we ate that a lot when I worked in Savanna for LTW."..So I went to google, did some research and decided it was worth a try...Our dinner last night was polenta along side leftover roast beef, simmered in au jus to give it that rich beefy flavor...I wouldn't say it was a total hit but certainly worth trying again and a good change from potatoes or rice...I will tell you more after we finish our breakfast this morning of "polenta fried in butter, alongside bacon and eggs?"..I think "shrimp and grits" might be in our future...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

It was much better, 

than this photo looks.