Estate Sale/Bernina...45º/Breezy

This ad in last weeks newspaper caught my eye...Not often that you see a Bernina sewing machine for sale and since it was an estate sale my thinking is that it might be really old, like 40 yrs old...Of course in a small town you take the chance that someone will call before the sale and get "the deal." Pam was game to go with me and we were there just before 8am with only a few people ahead of us...I enquired about the Bernina and of course it had been sold before the sale (all kinds of reasons why) and I was immediately "cranky," but we continued to wander through the house, each picking up a couple of items...When I paid I asked, "how old was the sewing machine?" Answer, "Oh it was at least 10 years old, but had hardly been used." I was relieved, I didn't want a 10 year old computerized sewing machine, but hope whoever bought it is happy with their purchase...I am still of the opinion that if you advertise an item to be sold at a yardsale, it shoud be at the yardsale...Just one of my little pet peeves.

Pam and I had a good visit before I came home to make noodles for our dinner of chicken and noodles...Later in the day Becky called to say she had been grocery shopping and had two big turkeys, did we have room in the freezer for one?..So over a glass of wine, we visited with her, hearing all about the coast trip and her busy life at the court house....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Had an early morning text from Pat, she and Brian were on their way to early Mass and a breakfast of scrapple and eggs, two of the things they like better, found in the East...:)

Chex Mix...34º

Second batch out of the oven, total of 6 gallon ziplocks full, stashed in the cellar...Enough left over for Herb to snack on for a month...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Lazy Exercise...35º/Cloudy

Water Therapy; buoyant, effortlessly, relaxing and fun...The 45 minutes spent in warm water mostly bicycling around the pool, riding a noodle, speeds by with little effort...Dripping wet as I climb the stairs to exit, all the body weight returns and fatigue sets in...10 minutes in the hot tub and it takes all my strength to climb the stairs, shower and dress before I return home...If I was ambitious before leaving the house that morning, dinner would be simmering away in the oven or almost ready and with a few zaps of the microwave it would be on the table..If not I would be racking my brain all the way home as to what the next meal will be.

On water therapy days I have big plans for the afternoon, sewing, cleaning etc...But most of the time seems to be spent on the sofa or in my recliner thinking about doing!..By 8pm I'm falling asleep reading my book and last night I slept a full 8 hours...It must mean that water therapy is not as effortless as it seems...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Turkey Time...23º

Buy one turkey, get one free, if you buy an additional $35.00 worth of groceries...(no alcohol, dairy, cigarettes) that's what the ad says...I have my list, mostly chex cereal, pretzels, nuts, to make the annual, quadruple batch of holiday "chex mix."...The two turkeys will be stored in Pam's freezer, until next year when I get the urge to do some more pressure cooking...Becky will also have her list and add two more turkeys...four is enough to can, if they are 20 pounders.

This turkey canning is a tradition my mother started when she lived in Utah in the 70's/80's...In those days before ground turkey came into vogue, "turkey hinds" (leg/thigh portion) were cheap...Mom, always looking for a bargain and remembered the days, before freezers, when she canned chicken, would stock up on turkey hinds to can or jar (as they say now.)

An interesting sidenote here...Years ago(50s/60s) whole, canned chickens could be found in grocery stores, priced reasonably, they made a quick meal for the busy housewife or for some of the first career women...Maybe the start of convienence food....I just did a search and found that Amazon still sells them.

I never know where, on any given day this blog is going to go, but think for today it has gone on long enough...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Stories and more...32º

Instead of writing my blog yesterday, I dug into my "word files," on the computer...After a two year break I was ready to resume editing, rewriting and sorting all the essays I've written about my family and my life in Lake Fork, Idaho...For three years I wrote 15 pages a month and sent them to Katey for her critique, she sent them back, I made changes and filed them away...(sometimes I sent them to Katey more than once.)..So now in my "word" files I have Della's essays, Sent to Katey, Katey's replies, to name just a few....There are multiples of everything and no easy way to tell without opening the documents and trying to compare to see if it is the final one or the first draft or somewhere in between...Damn, I started out writing a few simple stories for my kids, so they could see what life was like in the 1950's and now I have a quagmire to sort myself out of...Yesterday it felt like I was slowly sinking in quicksand, trying to keep my head from going under...Taking deep breaths was not recommended.

Yesterday I did manage to find what I think is the latest draft of "Dumpster Diving Mama." I printed the 17 page document so I had a hard copy to read at write group, make corrections, before I move on to another story...This morning my head seems cleared, and later today I will look for the final draft of "Whistlin Joe."...Deep breaths and one step at a time.

Yesterday was busy Tuesday; write group, water therapy and home to make tomato soup and pizza for our dinner...Herb put the snow plow on the 4 wheeler, cleared our driveway and the neighbors of hard crusted snow from Mondays storm...As I drove to Enterprise the snow ended at Egglesons Corner, sun shining, it seemed almost balmy when I left the swimming pool...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS...Thanks for the check marks, up to 11 yesterday...:)

Wintery day...34º/snow falling

Snow overnight and supposed to continue off and on for the next 4 days...If it will just let up when the kids come home for "Thanksmas," that would be good, and after that it can snow all it wants, we need snowpack in the mountains.

Had kind of a lazy day yesterday, Herb did tri tip on the grill and I made salad and mashed potatoes...The time change, dark earlier, makes the evenings seem long, might have to change our dinner time to 3pm and see if that helps.

Thanks to my friends/followers who are checking the "reactions" box at the bottom of my blog, gives me encouragement to continue writing...I've had 6 check marks for each of the last few days, more are alway welcome!...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Winter

Tri Tip

Salad

Day Out...34º

Early morning went quickly as I mopped floors and cleaned the bathroom...Spending extra time cleaning water spots off the glass tile that surrounds our shower...Our three year old shower is a piece of cake to keep clean compared to the old tub/shower that we installed in 1982...The tub/shower was a step up from the original bathtub that came with the house, but was difficult to get in and out of, as our knees/bodies grew older and it was a beast to keep clean for over 20 years...I won't go so far as to say I "love" cleaning the bathroom now, but certainly tackle the job with less dread than before...Plus I was looking forward to a fun afternoon, and that always makes cleaning easier.

Herb made oatmeal for our breakfast and said he would "dine" on sausages/wieners for his dinner, I fixed a tuna salad for my dinner, eating early, so I would be ready to pick Janice up for our trip to the Elgin Opera House and the matinee performance of "Annie."..After a lovely drive we arrived in Elgin, greeted with a cold wind blowing and hurriedly made our way through the crowd to the will call window...As always the production was wonderful, played to a full house and the time flew by...I wasn't looking forward to driving home in the dark, but the roads were bare and dry, traffic light and with Janice for company, we had no problems.

6pm and we were both hungry...I sliced a few veggies, quickly browned sirloin tip steaks, and Herb and I sat down to a mini meal, before we relaxed/unwound before bedtime...Hugs To All...OWAV:)