True Grit...24º

Continuing the "Big Read"...Movie last night at the Josephy Center was well attended...An extra large screen was set up, light snacks of cookies, popcorn and cider was enjoyed by all...This week was the 1969 movie starring John Wayne, next week Jeff Bridges stars in the 2010 Coen Brothers remake..Click for a comparison of the two movies...Having just read the book and watching the movie for the first time I enjoyed both of them...Last night was definitely "Hollywood style" and I look forward to next week to make my own comparisons.

We welcomed a sunny day yesterday after several cold, gloomy days...Our toasted tuna/cheese sandwiches on homemade sourdough biscuits was a perfect dinner choice...A simple salad of peach on lettuce and cranberry sauce on the side...Herb said it was so good he could eat another one but had better quit before he was too full...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Toasted tuna/cheese

Good Food...23º

In between reading True Grit, A new mystery series, Get Your Pitchfork On and thumbing through the Smitten Kitchen cookbook, I'm about half way through a book called "French Kids Eat Everything..."I should have moved to France about 60 years ago or at least read this book to further my belief that kids should eat what is put before them...No snacking, no choices, no short order kitchen, no whiny kids, no playing with their food...It is all about coming to the table hungry and eating what is on your plate or going away even hungrier...(I have to qualify here that it needs to be good food...) Meaning home cooked, as fresh as possible and not prepackaged, filled with preservatives, instant preparation (cheese and crackers in a package...)

According to this book, children in France are educated about eating at home and also in school...A half hour is dedicated to eating a hot lunch at school, (no choices) where teachers are present to explain any new foods...Lunch is considered a "class." It is also a popular belief that a child might have to try a food seven or eight times before they learn to like it...I like that!

I could go on and on here but I see eyes glazing over and eyes rolling as my audience thinks "Oh no, she's on her soapbox again."  But I won't go on, just one more comment...In the good ole US of A, it was decided that kids should have choices, they should never be reprimanded for fear of hurting their "psyche" and they should be praised for every act good or not...So what have we raised?..A whole generation who thinks they are God's gift to the world and that the world owes them a living...(I know this is a generality but I think it has some truth.)

I believe that children should be loved, held and cuddled, nourished, encouraged to do their best, expected to respect their parents, friends, teachers, fellow man and the earth we live on...Done for now...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Changing Weather...15º

Predicting badly needed precipitation...After a dry summer, a good snow pack this winter would be nice...However after some early snow storms, nothing has come our way...A few clouds and cooler temperatures, not so much sunshine but still very pleasent weather for January.

Yesterday I volunteered at the Josephy Center...It was a quiet day, after a weekend wedding...Thursday night will see activity there with the showing of "True Grit" (for the Big Read) the original John Wayne movie and on Saturday night a release party for Carolyn Lockhart's new CD.

The dog races are over for another year...Weather was beautiful and participation was up...Hopefully this event will continue to grow, giving Joseph another winter event...Sun is shining this morning and I have write people today...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Frosty Morning...14º

After many, many, days of sunny weather, the fog finally rolled up the valley from Wallowa and Enterprise...Daytime temperatures stayed in the teens for the past 2 days...So far this morning the sun is out, with a promise of spending the day...Just FaceTimed with Pat in sunny florida where they had been out for a bike ride in 80º temperatures...Things are very quiet here on Barton Heights so will post some photos of last week and also our frosty morning, and called it good...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Frosty Morning

Rusty Cooking

John and Becky ready to eat.

Fun on Barton Heights...15º

A routine morning with nachos planned for our dinner skidded to a halt when Pam called wondering if we wanted to play cards early evening...I said, "Sure, come for dinner as well."  My mind was thinking I can make nachos for 4 as easy as two...Herb started his routine, bringing things up from the basement and I opened jars of home canned deer meat and chili, soon heating on the stove...He grated the cheese, I sliced and chopped the toppings, before putting together a "rustic cherry pie"...At 4pm we played a game of cards before eating the "finger licking good nachos," played another game of cards and finished up with cherry pie à la mode...A fun evening with friends...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Fire On The Roof....16º

Somewhere between 6 and 7am on Wednesday morning, I sat in our living room typing my blog...Rusty was on the sofa and Herb in his chair...My chair is a good spot to watch our morning sunrise, so in between sentences I glance out at the sky...This view also includes the back of Belle Peppers bed and breakfast...(No longer in business)....As I looked up on that particular morning, there was no sunrise but suddenly a red, florescent ball appeared on the roof of Belle Peppers, located at the base of a chimney as it comes through the roof...I did a double take and stood up to get a better look and said to Rusty and Herb, "Guys does this look like the start of a fire to you." They both looked at me like I was delusional (again), until they got a good look and said, "Yup, looks like it."...No flames but by now it was smoking and looked like it could be coming out of the attic...I dialed Belle Peppers, (disconnected number,) when Rusty said, "Mom just call 911" and Herb headed out the door saying, "I'll go knock on their door and make sure they are up and aware of the fire."

Rusty and I stood at the window and watched as the red glow got bigger and smoke began to appear...Then we could see someone at their back door and thought oh they are aware of the fire, but no the figure had just let the dogs out for their morning business and had no idea of the fire on the roof...Seemed like forever before the fire department arrived (only a matter of a few minutes) and quickly had water spraying on the roof...Only minimal damage to the roof and probably very lucky that it didn't happen in the middle of the night...You can read about this Joseph Land Mark, by clicking on the Belle Peppers link above...So glad we are still looking at the back of slightly damaged house and not a burned out shell as this is a nicely restored historical home...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Yesterday/Blur...23º

Up early yesterday, sun shining, with a normal Write People day and acupuncture in the afternoon...Rusty & Herb were in charge of dinner...I also had two other issues, that I really didn't want to deal with...1. Laptop battery is dying...2. New printer waiting to be installed.

First on the agenda was a filling breakfast of sourdough pancakes and ham...Now I was ready to face the day...After some research I found an authorized computer repair/apple store in Moscow, Idaho...Doable for us as we could combined it with a trip to Lewiston/Costco...First I had to convince the store to order the battery so we could make the trip, have the battery installed and back home all in one day...After talking to the store rep he agreed to have a tech call me late afternoon to see if we could work that out...Had a little time before WP, so with directions in hand Herb and I got ink in the printer, plugged it in and started the setup with the enclosed CD...Right away I had flashing warning signals going off in my mind as the CD was printed with MS/Windows...Not a good sign when you have a Mac computer...Put the printer install on hold and went to WP...Back home about noon, call Canon support to see about installing drivers or whatever I needed...An hour and a half later "Carlos" (english speaking, patient man) and I had installed 4 drivers for printer, scanner and wireless stuff...I hung up just in time to speed to Enterprise and my acupuncture appt...Couldn't have come at a better time!

Back home Rusty has elk roast in oven, Herb has potatoes ready to boil and Becky & John are coming to dinner...R and I decide to make a chocolate cake but I have a little time so decide to try to get the scanner to work on the new printer...It will work just won't let me open photo's in iPhoto (will work around that)...An hour before dinner time R starts on the cake with me helping, H is busy emptying the dishwasher & sets the table..The three of us do-si-do around the kitchen...As B & J walk in the door, I'm frosting the cake, table is ready, dinner is on the table...As I sit down and look around I say "OH S--t we forgot to cook the green beans!...The guys were sooooo disappointed that all they had to eat was meat, potatoes and dessert...(NOT)...We closed out the evening playing cards until nearly 10pm....Computer tech had called and is going to order the battery.

Sitting here this morning writing I have a full view of Belle Peppers Bed and Breakfast...I glance out and see a red "ball" atop their roof at the base of a chimney...More on this in tomorrow post...( Looks like only minimal damage to the roof)....Hugs To All...OWAV:)