Greetings from the Last Outpost

Ha!  At least I think that's how my poor husband is feeling these days.  At least the weather is crummy, so he's not tempted to be outdoors right now.  Rain! Wind! Cold! 

As I told my longtime pal, Kathy of Homestead Happenings, this whole situation is like a challenge to me.  How long can I keep making meals with what we have? Meals that taste good! I had a win tonight.  We often have waffles and bacon for dinner on nights when a cozy meal is called for.  But we had that last week. Somehow or other, I stumbled onto a recipe for pancakes this afternoon. Normally I'm not much of a pancake fan; they've always tasted too heavy to me. This recipe had rave reviews so I printed it off and gave it a try.  YUM! Simple, simple ingredients, but awesome flavor and texture.  And Dan, who loves pancakes, gave them two thumbs up, too.  Here the link. I halved the recipe and we got ten yummy pancakes, which was perfect for us.  

To backtrack a week or so, I have a couple more things to say about our vacation house.  It was kind of a "smart house."  It had a thingy in many of the rooms that turned out to be a Google version of Alexa.  We drove that poor thing crazy with a myriad of questions such as When's low tide? When does the sun set in Rockaway Beach, Can you play some Ella Fitzgerald? and so on. The best part was when we were cooking.  "Hey Google! Set the timer for ten minutes!" and she would.  Do I want such a thing at home?  Nope, but it was fun for a while!

And here's a picture of the intrepid Keat cleaning off our windows for a better view after a naughty seagull left splatters all over them.  

And those pillars under the house?  It is supposed to be tsunami resistant.  The angle of the photo makes them look a little weird, but they were straight up and down. ♥

Catchin' Up

Well hello there, faithful readers!  We're back home and settling in as we weather this virus thing. I'm a homebody anyway, so staying home is no problem for me, but Dan likes to wander so this is a bit unsettling for him.  He's trying to find ways to keep busy, but even yard work is at a halt because we're unable to use the recycling center or transfer station for leaves, etc.  Right now he's studying up on how to use a camera he's had for years but balked at learning all it can do.  (I should be doing the same with my camera. . .)

We had the most wonderful time at the coast.  The weather could not have been more perfect! Blue skies, fifty plus degrees, and little wind.  We sat out on chairs (me), walked the beach, and some intrepid members of our group even donned swimsuits and braved the waves, if only briefly.  

View from our house

The house we rented was built with the living areas on the second floor, along with a luxurious master suite which Dan and I got to use.  Another master suite was on the first floor along with a nice queen room and a bunk room as well as a lovely big family room.  These, along with the four baths allowed us all to spread out all over the house and never feel cramped.  The kitchen was beautiful and pretty well equipped so we were able to have wonderful meals with not much adaptation.  The house is less than two years old and had windows everywhere giving us gorgeous views from dawn (Dan and Daniel) to sunset.  

It was definitely barefoot weather!

Now that we're home, I resolutely turned my hands to finishing a doll sweater that has challenged me for the last month.  I definitely learned some new skills with this one!  How could one tiny sweater take so much time?  At any rate, I finished it last night and here's Rose modeling it for you all.  She's quite happy with it.

A full view

And a close-up of the pattern

I don't think I'll ever make another one, but I am pleased that it turned out and fits her perfectly.  She thinks it'll make a lovely open cardigan with dresses when it warms up a little.  (Did I mention that it snowed here this week?)

I hope all my readers will take care and, as we are all under the "sheltering at home" order, find time to do things we've wanted to do but didn't have time for. Reading?  Knitting?  Quilting?  Hang in there, friends. As we say at our church, "God's got this!"  ♥

Beach Exile

Clear last summer we, and by we I mean Dan and I and Ann and Eric, decided we needed to spend spring break at the beach. And here is the northwest that usually means the Oregon beach. Over Christmas we picked the house we’d rent and made our reservations. No corona virus then. It turned out that spending a week at the beach is an excellent way to stay sane in these crazy days. As Ann said in the days leading up to our trip, we were “about to commence Operation Bury Our Heads in the Sand.” 

Our trip is winding down and we’ll probably be home by the time most of you read this. We’ve ignored the news, read, walked the beach, rested and enjoyed a relaxing time together. Our only real exposure to the situation was when we stopped at a Fred Meyer in Tillamook and found no bread or buns (last two packages of Kaiser rolls from the bakery worked perfectly for our burgers), got the last jugs of apple juice and milk and noticed the rice section was empty. People were pleasant and the clerks were very helpful. They said people were traveling down the coast until they found what they needed.

I’m writing this on my iPad and have no idea how to add a photo so I’ll sign off for now. Stay safe out there! ❤️

Ahh . . . Vacation!

Bruder Bear and Karen had been asking Ann and family to come for a visit as it had been quite a while since they'd been down.  They worked out a time and we were glad to be able to join them for our annual trip to the Bruder Bear Resort.  Ann and family went to Jackson Hole first and would join us Sunday evening, but Dan and I drove down on Friday, arriving about nine.  A major remodel has been in progress at BB's, and we spent our first minutes seeing what had been done and being amazed at the transformation.  Karen is a fabulous cook and she now has a beautiful kitchen worthy of her efforts.  The rest of the evening was spent in a wonderful visit, catching up with one another.   

Dan and John spent much of Saturday working on one of the jet skis and the jet boat.  Both turned out to be fairly easy fixes--a stick in the intake of the jet boat and a new spark plug needed for the jet ski.  Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a boat trip up the Snake River to the dam, arriving back in time to welcome Ann, Eric, Cameron, Keaton and Daniel.  Sunday was also Dan's birthday, so dinner that night was barbecued ribs with all the trimmings courtesy of Karen and a Poor Man's Cake I had baked earlier that day.  It was a splendid birthday party! We were just sorry John had to fly to Nashville early the next morning.

The jet skis were, of course a hit with everyone. (Except me--they look like fun but there's no way I'm going on a rocking and rolling machine with my balance issues.  I was doing good to get on the boat although I was fine once I was on.  The getting on?  Not so cute.)  Cameron was soon zipping all over, Keaton was content to drive as long as someone rode with him, and Daniel was up for riding with anyone who would take him!  I forgot to take my camera when I was down at the dock so the following were taken from the deck at the house on zoom:

Keaton and Eric on the left, Ann and Cameron on the right

Ann and Cameron coming in to the dock

Part of the remodel included expanding the deck and adding a roof over half of it, making a wonderful outdoor room.  We made good use of it from the time we got up (coffee overlooking the river) until it got dark.  

Ann enjoying some of Dan's birthday cake

Cameron enjoying a relaxing moment

Daniel playing on Papa Dan's iPad

The lovely view

An evening game of ladder ball

What a wonderful time we all had!  Spending time with family is just the best gift of all.  How blessed we are!  ♥

Home Again

It seems that for the past few years, August is our month to travel.  We're not very adventurous, often preferring to remain home after years of both of us working long hours away from home.  In fact, I distinctly remember sitting in my living room one morning four years (!!) ago when I first retired and thinking, "So this is what my house is like on a Tuesday morning in September!"  And I loved it!

But, I digress.  We had our wonderful trip to the coast a month ago, and we returned home for a week or so and then it was time to leave again.  Dan had a talk to give in McCall and we used it as a springboard to further adventures.  We had a leisurely drive to McCall and it was my first road adventure in our new truck. Let me just say that it goes!!  What fun to drive!  And the six-speed automatic transmission was amazing as we blasted up and down the grades between here and there.   So fun to kick it up and down the gears--Dan may be wondering if he's lost his truck to me!  

After a night at the hotel and Dan's talk in the morning, we headed for Boise where I requested a stop at Target for new sheets for our bed (I think it's a sign you need a new set when the thin spots are so thin that hole might be a better word...)  Following that, a little visit to the Quilt Crossing was in order, and yes, several purchases were made, but none were fabric.

We met special friends Michael and Suzanne for dinner and had such a great time!  Michael is the pastor who married both our kids and Suzanne is a dearly loved friend.  We chatted and shared as the time flew by. After three hours, we had to leave because our next spot was Bruder Bear's house, two and a half hours further down the road.  

Suffice it to say, we had another great time with John and Karen.  We did a little shopping in a neighboring town, drove to Sun Valley and on to Stanley on Sunday, and did no labor on Labor Day!  It was a lovely, restful visit and we loved every moment.  John was looking for a new pickup so some time was spent perusing the local dealers with no decisions made.  He did find just the perfect truck the next weekend, though, and is happily getting acquainted with his new Dodge diesel.  

Monday afternoon John, Dan and I spent a little time down at their dock.  You'll remember that Dan and John put in the framework for the adjoining deck two years ago.  It's a wonderful spot, right on the water, and the weather was perfect.  John snapped this picture of Dan and me.

We drove home Tuesday after Labor Day and had two days at home before we drove to Spokane to take part in Dan's high school's 50th reunion.  By the time we got home from that, we were ready to stay home. However, work beckoned both of us and I've worked two days this week and Dan is in Coeur d'Alene doing another tour. It's good to be busy, but it's also good to be home. Maybe next week.  ♥

UPDATE:  Just visited the tour FB site and snagged this photo of Dan doing his "thing" (the caption they had on the picture was "Dr. Dan's bus classroom").

Vacation Part Deux

My last post was getting so long that I decided to spare my readers and do a part two (but doesn't deux sound so, so much cooler?) later in the week.  Guess what?  It's Thursday and I work tomorrow, so I guess later in the week is now!  

Really, I just have a few pictures taken last Tuesday when we made a trip down 101 to Tillamook, Oregon. What a nice little town!  And home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  If you live in the west, Tillamook cheese is the premier cheese.  They have a lovely facility with large viewing windows and we watched the big blocks of cheese move down conveyor belts as they were cut and wrapped.  

We didn't get any samples because the place was packed with people and the lines were long, and well, we had a two-year-old in a stroller with us, but we did all enjoy ice cream cones filled with delicious Tillamook ice cream!  In a word, yum!

While at the cheese factory, we took a few minutes to check out their gift shop and I scored!  I've been wanting to find some decorative pieces for summer to go with my patriotic decorating theme and I found this perfect Williraye figurine (click to enlarge so you can see how cute he is):

Our other stop that day was the Tillamook Air Museum, housed in a huge old blimp hanger from World War II. There weren't very many visitors so we enjoyed roaming around inside the gigantic space seeing the planes on display.  Dan had read that they had a Skyraider and he was thrilled when he found it.  (Whenever we're watching a movie on a DVD or DVR that features one, he always rewinds so he can hear the engines over and over.  He says he loves that sound!)

They also had a Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune.  When Dan was stationed at Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam, his day job (as averse to his night job in a guard tower) was to work on engines for P2's.  Who knows?  He may have actually worked on the engine attached to the propeller he's touching in the picture below!

They also had "trainers" for various aircraft.  Here's Cam and Keat in one for a helicopter.  (I think they were into it!)

They also had displays featuring items from WWII when the hangar was part of one of eleven or twelve Navy blimp bases in the US.  Here's Daniel giving one display a close look:

Amazingly, the only money I spent on the whole trip was for that figurine.  There was a quilt shop in Cannon Beach, but I've been in it before and it wasn't my style. There were several in Tillamook, but with the whole family in the van, I wasn't about to make them wait while I checked one out.  Truthfully, shopping on this vacation wasn't even in the picture.  It was good to just relax, walk the beach, and spend time with the gang. It was a perfect, relaxing week.  And I even survived Portland traffic, for which I am truly thankful.  ♥

Vacation!

'Long about last spring, Eric said it was time for all of us to go to the beach again.  Our trip to Orcas Island was in August of 2010, and we were due.  Fortunately, not only is Eric a good prodder, he's also a great planner. He cruised the internet and found a number of houses for us to consider and we all got to vote!  We came up with a winner and reservations were made starting Sunday, August 11 at Rock A Way Beach.

As is usual, time passed and all of a sudden, it was time for packing!  We decided to leave on Saturday and just go as far as Portland so we wouldn't have to drive like crazy, be tired and grumpy once we got the beach, and then still have to go to the grocery store for items too difficult to bring with us.  It was an excellent plan! We enjoyed Multnomah Falls and walked the trails, with Eric and Cameron hiking clear to the top.  It was a great break and fortified us for the final drive into Portland where we had hotel reservations for the night. (Photo below shamelessly stolen from Ann.)

We had a very yummy breakfast at the hotel (I'm so glad hotels serve breakfasts as part of the stay now, and not just juice and a "Danish"), and hit the road for the coast. We stopped in Cannon Beach since we couldn't get into our house until four o'clock.  Let me just say that a Sunday afternoon in August is not an opportune time to tour Cannon Beach.  Wall.To.Wall.People.  We were thankful to leave.  

The drive down Highway 101 is spectacular.  The sun was out, the sky mostly clear, the water sparkled.  So beautiful!  And then, we were at our house!  Four levels with the living and kitchen areas on the top floor so we had wide views of the ocean.  We settled in and loved that it was about five seconds from the house to the sand.  The beach was very private--only a few people on it at any given time.  Here are a few beach photos and as you can tell from the photos, we had the most amazing weather!  Sunny--at the Oregon coast!

Daniel loved the water!

Note the empty beach!

We went for long walks every evening...

The great thing about having a house is having a kitchen and this house had a large and light one.  Here are the boys making biscuits as part of one night's dinner.

It takes a group to make biscuits!

Ooo, biscuit fingers!!

Another great amenity that came with the house was a hot tub on the lower deck.  Needless to say, it got used!

All good things must come to an end, however, and on Thursday we packed up and left our happy vacation home.  We spent Thursday afternoon at OMSI where the boys enjoyed experimenting with various things, Eric and Dan toured a real submarine docked in the Willamette River, Ann chased Daniel, and I was thrilled by a National Geographic photo exhibit.  We spent the night back in our same hotel and got up the next morning to breakfast and a visit to the Portland Zoo.

Here's the gang, queued up to buy tickets. (Interestingly enough, I qualified for "Senior" at OMSI, but not at the zoo! We won't mention Dan...).

 What a colorful group--kind of like a bunch of Skittles!

Sure do love this bunch!

On our way home we stopped by the Tri-Cities to visit niece Kirsten and see her new house.  We loved it! Beautiful home, lovely neighborhood.  We gave it our stamp of approval.  After the viewing, we drove to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a good long visit with her as we ate a yummy meal.

Cousins!  

And now, we are home, with wonderful memories.  ♥

A Little Trip to Bruder Bear's

Did you miss me??  It was time for a little get-a-way. Dan had to be in McCall to give a talk last Tuesday morning, so we took advantage of that to plan a visit to Bruder Bear's.  We drove to McCall Monday, and following Dan's talk, we headed out for southern Idaho.

John and Karen were both working Wednesday and Thursday, so we had a chance to sit around and enjoy the incredible views from their deck.  Their house is right on the Snake River and the water is wide there due to slackwater from a downstream dam.

Some kind of gorgeous, huh?

John took Friday off and he and Dan began to work on a new dock. Their house is on the bluff side of the river, so they have stairs which zigzag down, somewhat like the stairs on a lookout; so instead of a beach, they use a dock as a sort of deck between the hill and the actual boat dock. The guys purchased the lumber and brought it around in John's boat. The poles for the supports were already in place and working from the boat, they began to attach the 2x8's to form the framework.

Here you'll see John in the boat and Dan in the lower center as they move in the planks:

They were forced to discontinue the plan to use the boat as there were so many other boats on the water that the waves kept John's boat in continual motion, which didn't work too well. Plan B: work in the water.

By eight o'clock Sunday evening, they were done. The frame is ready for its Trex decking. Here's Dan rolling up the tubing from the compressor to the nail gun. You can see the framework behind (the other half is behind the Russian olive tree on the right). I know it looks like it's sticking up in the air, but it's actually me who was up in the air--on the stairs--getting everything in view. The guys were well pleased with their work.

So, you ask, what were Karen and I up to as the guys slaved away? Well, so glad you asked. On Thursday evening, as Karen was fixing dinner, I brought up the subject of the wallpaper on her soffits. Both of her daughters had been "encouraging" her to get rid of it but so far, she hadn't. I sort of lifted an edge and said that it looked like it would be easy to take off. Karen came over, gave it a bigger yank, and we were off. Turned out there was another border underneath, but with a little work and a few hours of time, we got it all off. There was white paint underneath, and with a little touch-up, they'll be good as new.

Saturday, in addition to the dock work, a party was on the schedule. A local reception for the daughter of some friends was on the agenda so Karen spent the morning baking three delectable desserts, and John spent the afternoon deep frying eight, yup, eight, turkeys. We all had a good time at the party, which was held outdoors at the home of the bride's parents, in spite of a couple of rain showers and a beautiful lightning show. Oh, and the father of the bride did a bad slice job on two of his fingers as he carved a turkey. He refused to go for stitches until the next day and wore a lovely gauze mitten the rest of the evening.

As usual, we had a fantastic time at the Bruder Resort and loved every moment. The visit, the fun, the work, and food were all perfect. Thanks, Bruder Bear! XXOO

Home Again

We're home after being gone for almost two weeks. A trip to Colorado to help our son and his family move into their new home in their new town. We had a wonderful time. And hopefully we were of help. :-)

We opened many boxes and unwrapped many items. All seemed to have survived their trip across the country from Virginia. Amy was happy to begin finding things that have been in storage since June; however, the packers seemed to have their own method for loading the boxes: cookie jar lid found, but no cookie jar; pots, but no lids (Amy did announce during a phone conversation on Saturday that they had finally been found!); baseball bats and a tennis racket on top of silk flower arrangements. Hmmm...

The weather was incredible. We spent a Saturday afternoon in 80 degree heat, slathering on sunscreen, watching grandson Ryan play soccer while in the distance the peaks of the Rockies were white with snow. Most spectators were wearing shots. Amazing!

Here's our number eleven, on the field:


Matt behind the boxes in the kitchen:


And one of Amy making a cup of Russian Tea on a much colder day with rain and snow coming down (note the cookie jar lid to the right!):


Our trip down was accompanied by perfect weather--sunshine and beautiful fall days. Our trip back was quite different. Snow as we left and up into Wyoming. The roads were terrible and we lost four hours because of delays caused by accidents. Gratefully, we were not involved in any of them. We finally arrived at Bruder Bear's house fourteen hours and fifteen minutes after our early morning departure. What a welcome treat to settle down in front of their fireplace and just relax and visit. In fact, it was so wonderful, we stayed an extra day and night. (Thanks again for your hospitality, Bruder!)

And now we're home. The weather has changed and it's cold and wet outside. The wind is whistling down the fireplace chimney and I can hear the wind chimes ringing. We're thankful for a trip filled with time with our wonderful family. We are blessed.

A Birthday and a Baby Orca

While we were on vacation last week, I had a birthday. Dan had been so busy before we left, and was so relaxed now that we were on vacation, he completely forgot. Ann got up and when she found me in the living room, wished me a happy birthday. Dan got a shocked look on his face and confessed his forgetfulness. I didn't care. Actually, birthdays are no big deal to either of us anymore. We don't really have need of anything, and parties have never been our thing, so . . . When I got my 830 in April, I laughingly told Dan to consider it my present for Mother's Day, birthday, anniversary, etc. Everything except Christmas. I have to have presents at Christmas!! Ann told me my present from them was back home as she didn't want to haul it all the way over and then back again, so we just continued to enjoy our vacation.

The day we left, we got in the ferry line very early, remembering our five-hour wait on the trip over. On Orcas, there are a few little tourist shops near the dock so we investigated several of them. Later, Ann and I waited at a nearby picnic table and while Eric and the boys continued to shop and Dan explored the "countryside". In a little while the boys came back and Keaton handed me a bag and said, "Happy birthday," as Cameron chimed in. I opened the bag to find a little stuffed baby orca! They told me they wanted to buy it for me so I'd remember our trip. And then they hugged me. Don't you know this Grammy's eyes got a little misty!



Her name is Olga, after the little village by our farmhouse.

Orcas, Ferries, and Seahawks, Oh My...

Now that we're home, I can tell you we were gone! Our friends Will and Briana were married last Sunday on Orcas Island in the San Juan's in a beautiful ceremony, and we were part of it. Dan was a groomsman, and I was part of the kitchen help. Ann, Eric, Cameron and Keaton went too, and we extended our stay to make it a real vacation.

To get to Orcas Island, you take a Washington state ferry from Anacortes. Apparently it's a popular destination because although we arrived in what we thought was plenty of time, we were too late for the 11:45 ferry. To make a long story short, because of fog, we had a five-hour wait for the next ferry. Trapped like rats at the dock, we eventually found ways to keep busy: grilled sausage dogs at an outdoor eatery, finding four other couples from church also waiting, reading the paper from the motel room the night before, watching other ferries come and go...

But we made it! Eric had found a farm house for rent and it turned out to be a wonderful, relaxing place to park for the week. It was on the quiet end of the island and we loved it. We stocked up on food at a store in Marysville, and our kitchen was well supplied with utensils. But no dishwasher. Here's how we managed:



The wedding was outdoors on a deck in the town of Eastsound. Briana was a beautful bride and Will was beaming.


The ceremony ended with a bubble machine and the sounds of the theme from Chariots of Fire.

Dan was quite handsome as possibly the oldest groomsman on record! :-)


With the wedding over, we relaxed and did some sightseeing which included going up to Mt. Constitution to see the amazing view of the water and islands.



Ann, Eric and the boys did some paddle boating on the lake near our house and had great fun. Grammy and Papa guarded the towels and snacks on the beach. :-)


Our last great adventure (including surviving Seattle traffic!!!) was to attend a Seattle Seahawks training camp on our way home. Here's part of our gang. I should tell you it was 95 degrees, with no shade anywhere to be found. Hot, it was hot. We can only hope the 'Hawks will be as "hot" this season!


It was a wonderful week.