Blue Moon...47º

A rare blue moon happens tonight as it is the second full moon in August...Hope our skies are clear of smoke so we have a good view...The Cache Creek Fire is still burning, over 70,000 acres now but coming closer to being contained...Probably won't be totally out until the fall rains come.

Yesterday morning Pat arrived with a morning treat (Iced Mocha's from Arrowhead Chocolates) before we started on the sauerkraut...We sat on the deck sipping mocha's and visited...Pat wanted to hear about some of Herbs experiences when he was an active fire fighter with the forest service.

Now it was time to get started....Herb had already cut and trimmed the three largest cabbages from the garden, brought up the canning jars and lids, while I was assembling pans, bowls and ingredients...Pat and I grated the cabbage, sprinkled it with salt and put it aside to make its own juice...Meanwhile we sat on the deck cleaning garlic heads so I can made garlic braids, to share with friends, and the rest can be saved for winter and used either fresh or dried...Back to the cabbage that was now ready to tamp into the jars, I filled, she tamped and soon we had 16 jars filled and now the fermentation process can work over the next week or so and then they will have sauerkraut for winter dinners.

More cukes arrived so I made another gallon of sweets, iced my knee, fixed dinner of zucchini patties, corn on the cob and of course sliced tomatoes.

Also delivered from Imnaha this morning was 50# of Roma tomatoes for roasting and making salsa...Oh yes, and the sourdough start says it must be used today or it is going to overflow its container and since it is the last big weekend of the summer there are many yard sales listed in the newspaper...Looks like another busy weekend on Barton Heights...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

More Cukes...42º

Yesterday I started out to make sourdough bread, then decided to start a batch of pita bread (I need more practice on this), then since the cuisinart was all doughy I pulled up Bobi's new recipe for hamburger buns and made a batch of buns...Both of these recipes with only 3 1/2 cups of flour in each, are a snap to make in the cuisinart...I made 6 large pitas, Herb and I ate one, warm from the oven slathered with butter...They still are not totally hollow but better than the first batch...Instead of making a dozen HB buns I made seven large ones...They were perfect for our dinner of BLT's and sliced cucumbers...Decided I had made enough bread for the day and will do sourdough another time.

Hamburger buns

Pita bread

Robin called and said she had more cucumbers if I could use slicers...She brought 6 pounds of cukes and it was the right amount to fill a gallon jar for sweet pickles...These are larger than pickling cukes but should work good for my sweet pickle recipe.

Now it was time for my PT appointment and then a brief rest on the deck before the cool breeze chased me into the house.

There are still 6 cabbages in the garden getting larger each day....Pat and Brian like sauerkraut, so this morning Pat will come here and we will grate 3 heads, salt, fill pint jars and Pat can take them home to ferment before storing in their basement for the winter...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Orthopedic exam....48º

My appointment with the young, good looking orthopedic surgeon went okay...His piercing blue eyes never left my face as he poked, prodded, bent and twisted my knee, after he had looked at my MRI...Yes it was a torn and damaged meniscus...His trained fingers felt a foot long and knew right where to put pressure and get the most reaction from me...He explained that if he had seen me 2 months ago when the injury happened he would have prescribed the exact treatment of PT, ice, brace, watch and see how it healed, as has been done...He thought that in that length of time I should be farther along than I am and his thoughts were:  If I wanted to return to my active life. then cleaning the knee up with orthoscopic surgery would give me a better chance...Otherwise I would just continue to reinjure it until I would have to have surgery...He did caution me that with my "age" there was arthritis at work in the knee and surgery would not make that better but the cushion in my knee is still good so that is in my favor...Okay long story over, I am scheduled for surgery Tuesday Sept 25 in Enterprise...That gives me time to take care of any commitments (Mule Days) and finish up the fall canning.

Robin from the "Magic Garden" called and said she had extra pickling cukes, so I picked our patch added them to hers and Herb and I got 2 quarts and 3 pints done last night...He finished them up while I iced my knee.

I have bread to make this morning, get treasurers stuff ready to go to the bank and get those books turned over to the new Treasurer of Sorority...I'm taking a years leave from Sorority and maybe a total leave, will see how this year goes.

Talked to our girls yesterday, they had been to a movie, Ci is at practice every morning at 5:30 and is getting her stuff together to start school after Labor Day...Rusty is home in Bend, finishing up his building, maybe a camping trip over the weekend...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Orthopedic Appointment...48º

The sun is a red ball this morning as it shines through the smoky haze...Winds on Sunday caused problems for the fire fighters and the fire increased in size jumping fire lines...This mornings news is more encouraging as some demobilizing is scheduled for today.

Yesterday morning after Rusty headed for his home in Bend, I did some paperwork, phone calls and wandered the gardens...I fixed giant tuna and fresh tomato sandwiches for our dinner, then got busy washing, coring and halving tomatoes to roast...I generously sprinkled the tomatoes with fresh garlic, basil and sea salt, put them in a 400º oven for 1/2 hour then turned it down to 200º, told Herb they were roasting and headed for my dental appointment.

I arrived back home, the tomatoes were roasted and soon cooling on the counter...At 4pm Belinda (fellow mule days volunteer) arrived for our meeting to refine the list and order supplies for the "Mule Days BBQ"...We are both retired school cooks, she has prepared the dinner for several years now and this year I will help in the preparation.

Now it is Tuesday morning and I have an orthopedic appointment scheduled for 10am this morning for the specialist to check out my knee...The knee is much better but a long way from being healed...I'm hoping he can tell me that it will heal (given more time) without surgery...On the other hand maybe it needs some repair work done to it, before it can heal properly...However I just want it to hurry up and get better!!!!

On Sunday afternoon while strolling through the flower garden checking for dry spots I spotted a different colored butterfly resting on the leaves of the globe thistle plants...After getting the photo I googled butterflies and narrowed it down to a"Lorquin Admiral Brush-footed butterfly"...He patiently waited while I took his picture, then in a moment launched off the leaf and disappeared.

Lorquin Admiral

Globe Thistle

Warm Days...53º

Looks like temperatures in the 70's and 80's all this week, a few clouds but no moisture...It is unusual for Wallowa County to go this long without a soaking rainstorm...The Cache Creek Fire is now 40% contained.

Rusty fixed a special breakfast on Sunday, "Rusty sausage, cheese and egg McMuffins"...He used the pita breads that I made a few days ago because they didn't have hollow centers and resembled English Muffins and we added fresh slices of tomatoes...He could teach McDonalds a thing or two!...A McMuffin made with ham, bacon, sausage or spam add some cheese and an egg has become a staple for breakfast when Rusty and John are on the trail...Quick to cook easy to eat with no dishes or silverware to wash.

Rusty McMuffin

Yesterday morning Herb and I picked cucumbers, found two giant ones that had been overlooked...They are very good at hiding until suddenly they appear...They are still crisp and firm and big enough that one cucumber was enough for all of us to go with our BLT's for dinner and we added 3 pints and 1 quart of dills to the cellar shelves...After dinner Rusty and I dove right in to making Dolmas...Grape leaves picked, rice cooked, onions, green olives and garlic chopped and sautéed with the meat, grated cheese added...Now Russ and I worked side by side as we molded the filling and rolled it into 50 individual grape leaves...Simmered for an hour in broth, olive oil and lemon juice...Now chilled and ready to eat...MMMmmm, tasty and tender appetizers.

Dolmas

Late evening Cienna chatted in, her face radiant, smile ear to ear and the words "Oma, it was awesome"!!! Her first away trip with the Beaverton Girls, Water Polo Team...She had a great time, got better acquainted with her new teammates and is quickly learning the in's and out's of water polo...We chatted for awhile then she said, "I better get ready for bed because I have to be at practice at 5:30am." Go GIRL Go... Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Yard Sales...50º

We awoke to warmer temperatures this morning and our valley filled with smoke...The Cache Creek Fire is now at 40+ thousand acres and only 10% contained...Rusty reads from Inciweb, the latest news we can get..."A fire line, using caterpillars is being built out Cemetery Ridge east of Buckhorn Lookout"...All of this country is familiar to me as we have gone there each fall for several years now getting our winters firewood...On our way to get wood we always stop at Buckhorn Lookout and take in the breath taking view of the Imnaha River Canyon...John lamented last night that the winter horse pastures in Jim Creek have already been burned over...As with every "natural disasters" there are pluses and minus', having a fire here in the county with an incident base and heli base brings dollars into the community...Many people scramble to get a piece of the action and a share of the dollars being spent...Burnt over forest or range is not a pretty sight but fire can also brings a plus side to the land as it clears and eventually renews this land with new growth.

Buckhorn View

Yesterday Pat and I took in most of the yard sales featured in the local paper, first in Joseph then Alder Slope, back to Joseph and out to upper Prairie Creek...She and I both found a few treasures, but mostly it was time to reconnect and visit as she has been busy with company and I with pickling...I always try to take new and different roads as Pat is still getting acquainted with our County.

Back home around noon I caught up on email and games thinking I had lots of time before Rusty and John get back from their 3 day trip into the wilderness where they have worked on trails and packed out a Sierra Club work party after a volunteer stint...The phone call comes about 2pm, then I shift into high gear, enlist Herb to help and we slice and dice our way to stir fry for dinner...Also I've been looking at recipes for "Dolmas", (stuffed grape leaves) and have all the ingredients on hand...I didn't use the traditional lamb filling but came up with a combination of recipes and what I had on hand... Cooked rice, canned beef, onion, garlic, grated green olives and blue cheese...I blanched the grape leaves, simmered the rice, beef, onion, garlic, olives and added the blue cheese at the last minute before I took a small portion in my hand and shaped it like a short cigar...Placed this on the grape leaf and rolled and tucked it together...Stacked each of these into a frying pan, added beef broth, olive oil and lemon juice, covered the pan and left them to simmer for nearly an hour...Rusty, John and Herb devoured them and wanted more, sorry guys there was only a dozen...Rusty decided to stay in Joseph one more day so "WE" can make another batch.

This morning is flying by, Herb is doing laundry and waiting for me to finish because he needs a haircut...Breakfast has to be fixed, think of something for dinner, cucumbers need to be picked and made into pickles...OH MY...Hugs to All....OWAV:)

PS....Chatted with Bob while she was talking to Ci on the cell...Cienna is having a great time at her first water polo tourney  in Redmond Oregon...Gone from home for 3 days with fellow team members and coaches, with moms and dads driving cars...Our little girl is sprouting wings or do I mean fins?

Reddish Sunrise....40º

Smoke off to the east gives our sunrise a reddish glow, both east and west...The Cache Creek fire continues to grow...Helicopters are coming into the Joseph airport on a regular basis to refuel, then return to the steep canyons where they drop water and other retardant onto the fire...The fire is now over 10,000 acres.

I could write many paragraphs about forest fires and how they affected our life over the past 50 years or at least the 34 years that Herb worked for the Forest Service...He anxiously awaited fire season every year, it got his adrenaline pumping and added money to our meager budget...Sometimes he fought fires close to home, other times he boarded a plane and flew to Montana and California, these are two places that come to mind...Sometimes he was gone for several weeks...I got so I didn't worry about him (it was just part of his job) and the kids and I quickly fell into a different routine, kept the home fires burning so to speak but also had a less structured schedule that didn't revolve around his work hours and I took a vacation from cooking...While in Utah, we treated ourselves to fast food at the local "Arctic Circle" burgers, fries and milkshakes was our favorite there...After we moved to Joseph we often could be found at the "Gold Room" having a giant baked potato and their delicious homemade soups for our dinner...Then a phone call or  postcard would jolt us back into the real world, "Dad" was coming home...He arrived home smelling of smoke, exhausted but "pumped" and already talking about the next possible fire...We would readjust to our normal way of life, our mini vacation over.

Enough reminiscing, on with todays world...Yesterday I made the pita bread from Bobi's blog, some puffed up, some didn't but they tasted very good...I bought a box of Imnaha canning tomatoes, mostly to eat fresh as slicers but if they ripen too fast I will roast and freeze them...I met Pat and Amy at Embers, where "we 3" met to discuss writing and life in general, over wine and food...Now I must shower and get ready for the day, think Pat and I are going to a few yard sales...Hugs to All...OWAV:)