Giving Thanks

What warms the heart and hearth more than to have family come together? What makes the trials and tribulations more worth surviving than to be filled with thankfulness for loved ones, warm home, nurishing food and love? Here we attempt on Thanksgiving Day to get all our grandkids in one place for a snapshop. See - we still have one - in the mirror - to corral. For such as this - every day should be designated Thanksgiving Day.

Michael enjoyed the day in his way - first blowing all our leaves in the sleet and snow showers, then blowing the leaves of an elderly neighbor and even cutting up the spuds. Thanks Mike.

For these and all Thy gifts........


we thank Thee, Lord.


Even the turkey gave his all! And Amy made and brought yet another of life's temptations....deep fried mac and cheese balls....OMG! I'd have them in place of pie!


Ian fortified by his "porch" = "fort"

My Day

I took a walk and took some yummy photos.


I discovered a spring flower blooming up out of the fallen autumn leaves in my front garden.


We had visitors - Lar's brother Dan and his wife Leenie. We went to Barclay Farmstead and toured it in all its Christmas finery.





It was, all in all, a perfectly fine and dandy day!

Good Grief - Leaving Comments!

Could it get any more difficult?....probably not! But I have tried to get a process down for those who have asked about leaving comments. It may work....but it may not be worth all the effort!
At the end of the particular entry click the blue line "comments"
Write your comment in the text box that comes up
Select "Profile" to click it open and check Google (don't know how the other ones work)
Click "Post"
Click "Preview"
You'll get a Google place to "sign in" and type in your e-mail address
Click that you "don't have a google account yet" Unless you do.
Type in your e-mail
And type it again
Select a password that you can remember - you'll need it every time
Type it twice
Choose the name by which you wish to be seen....ie.; Johndoe - whatever
And that "should" do it.
If I see your comment, I'll assume this works.
Meantime, to those who have asked or written for these instructions, I thank you for your interest.

My Neighborhood in Fall

There aren't enough pictures to capture the beauty in fall.


I often walk early in the morning and as the sun rises in our beautiful neighborhood, I also often wish I had my camera with me. Today I wasn't feeling well, but Lar drove me around and I snapped up memories to hold us over the winter. Hmmm....winter - a whole new theme of wondrous pictures!
Hope you enjoy what we saw today.

Veterans' Day

I've always loved this picture I took of my two little brothers....and since it makes me smile on a day I always get teary, I decided to use it for this little blog of thanks to all of the men and women who set out from home, trusting, believing that their service would make this a safe and democratic country in which their children and their children's children could grow and thrive.

Reminds Me of Me

Turn off my music at the bottom and enjoy this little song by Mindy Gledhill - reminds me so much of me when I was little...took a long time for me to learn that anything wasn't actually possible. Sometimes I still catch myself thinking so.

Crater Lake OR

We drove on to Crater Lake. As we approached, Lar was getting more and more excited. He had this destination in mind almost from the moment he had begun to plan the trip. We were driving through some very dense forest, and occasionally there was snow on the ground.
Even as we pulled up to park the car, we couldn’t see the lake, but the surroundings were very different from anything we’ve seen before. It was evident that this was land shaped by volcanoes, along with some pretty drastic weather.
We walked up the incline and suddenly there it was – an expanse of the deepest, darkest blue you can imagine. We were enthralled.
Crater Lake National Park protects the deepest lake in the United States. It is fed only by rain and snow – nor rivers nor streams. It is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world. The caldera in which it lies was formed about 7,700 years ago when a 12,000 foot tall volcano collapsed after a major eruption. Old growth forests and open meadows blanket the outer slopes, harboring a variety of plants and animals, including several rare species. The area is central to the cultural traditions of local American Indian tribes. The depth of the lake is 1,943 feet and it is from 4.5 to 6 miles wide.
The park is open year-round, 24 hours a day, but some roads, trails and facilities are closed seasonally due to snow. They have an annual snowfall of 44 feet!
We met two really nice couples during our walk around a short distance of the rim (the total rim drive is 33 miles)– one couple about our age from Chicago – have you ever met people you just wanted to pack up and take with you? – and a second, younger couple from OH. A bit later Lar struck up a conversation with a gentleman from Switzerland. He has made this trip a number of times and absolutely loves it. He says he comes here for “nature” as Europe is so “crowded”. And we have always thought we needed to go to Switzerland to see mountains!
We couldn’t stop taking pictures…..wanting to capture every inch….(read that as a warning, anyone coming to the house to see them!) but finally we realized we were quite starving. We had stopped at a 7-11 kind of store along the way, and had sandwiches, chips and drinks in the car.

Lar had this wondrous place in his mind throughout his planning of this trip. Crater Lake! What beauty in every direction.

Blues, blues and more blues.

Happy man, being sure I don't miss a thing.

History.

We picnicked in the car and then did a bit of souvenir shopping.
Lar called ahead for reservations, and we regretfully drove away from the beautiful Crater Lake. As we drove, the mountains were so beautiful we don’t even need the pictures to remember them….the many shades of blues….layered upon the blue sky.
In Roseburg OR we found our very comfortable room, and were recommended to the small pub/brewery in town. At first we intended to sit out on the patio, but flies were horrendous, and Lar decided we’d fare better inside. Lar selected the Portland Dip for diner and a wheat beer; I chose fish and chips with a porter. We found the food and the beers to be very satisfactory.
Back in the room, we watched just a bit of TV and were soon fast asleep. The room was fabulous and the setting very nice.

Leaving, but still .... beauty!

Back yard of our hotel....that's a hot tub in the gazebo - wish we'd had time to use it.

It felt so much like home....the smell of the river - the sounds.
On Wednesday we felt like we had been driving for weeks. We finally decided nothing would do but a good cup of tea and a bite to eat. At first we pulled off the highway into a college town, but could find nothing. Continuing on, we saw a sign for Brownville and Lar declared he had a good feeling about that name. Brownville is a delightful little town and we happened upon the perfect place to eat.
Randy’s Café is such a step back in time. As you enter you are met with indescribable scents – home baked breads, rolls, scones (the best I think we’ve ever eaten!), cakes, cinnamon buns and cookies. The aroma of homemade beef barley soup, hot tea was welcoming. We sat at a long table, shared with two young moms with their kids. A frosty pitcher of iced water sat in the middle. Next to us was a smaller table of 5 local people, men and women chatting about work, their farms, and the weather. You can find Randy’s on face book and it is my understanding they do mail order.
Once we were more than sated by the delicious offerings we went back outside to take a look around town.
As we were walking, we noticed a yellow lab strolling up the road leisurely and behind him a car and a truck. Everyone was patiently moving at the lab’s pace for quite some time until finally the driver of the car gave a gentle tap on her horn. The dog looked back over his shoulder, then, having taken a few more slow steps, he turned and meandered up onto the sidewalk and “traffic” all two of them were permitted to proceed. I told Lar, “everyone needs to live in this town!” Goodbye blood pressure!
On to the quilt shop in town. The owner came forward not long after we had entered to inquire as to our needs, but when she found out I simply wanted to buy one spool of thread and look and see and touch the fabrics she invited us to enjoy and went back to the back room where a class was apparently being held. No suspicions, no worry about what we were up to. The owner’s grandmother’s furniture – over stuffed chairs, organ, tables, etc., are the furnishings. Lar immediately found a comfy seat and was content as I rummaged around. He also noted a really interesting crazy quilt hanging from the ceiling and suggested I have a look. The owner had applied an edge of fabric upon which there were hand painted daisies – very interesting and unusual.
I purchased my thread and a couple of fat quarters and we were off again, on our journey to Portland.

Randy's - home baked breads, rolls, scones (fabulous scones!), homemade soup....yum.

The yellow lab's strolling street!

Once there, we rested up in our excellent room, showered, changed and went down for the hospitality evening – wine, beer and snacks accompanied by a jazz guitarist. We sat alone for a while, but my attention kept being drawn to two other tables. At one a man was sitting alone and I felt he was surreptitiously looking at us, and at the other table was a couple – the man featuring an amazing waxed and curled mustache. Something about the woman intrigued me.
Lar was commenting on his beer and had me taste it. It was quite good and as we were discussing it, the lone man approached us and asked if he could join us. He introduced himself as Jerry (Gerald) and began to speak about the beer, but he was a travelling salesman and simply wanted the company. He was very funny, and we were enjoying his company. He decided to go get a business card to give us and when he arose from our table, the lady I’d been eyeing called out “Kellogg?” Jerry stopped dead in his tracks and looked at their table. It turned out they had been school chums in Kellogg Idaho when they were children. The couple’s names were Jack and Georgia. We were invited to their table and the five of us talked from 6:30 until after 10:00! Jack and Georgia had been travelling to a Corvette show and Jack took Lar out to see his beautiful car. Georgia and I were two peas in a pod with so much in common that we could still be sitting there talking, I suspect! When Jerry had had more than enough beer, he went on to bed, but the four of us lingered. The stories they had told about the lead mining in their little town were rather horrific. But their company was so delightful. We will remember them fondly.

North by NorthWest Chapter Six

As usual, these last chapters are taking the longest to get done....I apologize for that....but here goes!Saturday Sept 11
We had docked at Seattle at 7 AM and after getting our rental car, we drove directly toward the Columbia River Gorge. Because of the combination of pub hopping, being up quite late and the early departure, Lar was exhausted so I drove the second half of the way. During the drive, we called my sister Carol and spoke with her, with my brothers, Bill and Chick, my Aunt Florrie and my cousins Mary Ann and Harold. There was a family reunion going on that I really missed. But the call helped. No sooner than I had hung up, it dawned on me that it was Bill’s birthday so I called right back and we sang Happy Birthday to him. He reminded me it was also Carol’s anniversary.
Along the way we stopped at a rest stop and they were offering, in addition to clean restrooms, free coffee and crullers. Very welcome, indeed!
The Best Western we were staying in is amazingly nice and has stupendous views. I just couldn’t believe the river view outside our window. There was a small terrace and we both went directly out to sit and soak in the mountains, the river, the air.
Then Lar lay down on the bed and that was that with him – out like a light. I tried a nap but no dice, so I got changed and went down to soak in the hot tub and then have a swim in the pool. After, I sat in the sun on the common deck outside the pool area until I was dry. I had left a text on Lar’s phone to tell him where I was but had heard nothing. Finally I called his cell to discover he was on his way to meet me. He said that he had noticed some quilters gathered in a conference room. So after we had sat together a little while I went down to meet the quilters. It was an annual seminar; I got on their mailing list and relished the beautiful quilts they were making.
Before going to our room, I stopped at the desk and inquired from the young women working there where to go to dinner. They did not recommend the char-grill restaurant attached to the motel but instead recommended the pub about a block down the street. We dressed and set out for the PUB. While it is a little place and nothing in particular to look at, they have good food – fabulous soup – and local beers.
On Sunday we set out to travel the Old Historic Highway - it runs from Corbett to Dodson, paralleling Rt. 84 with 5 falls to be seen from the highway and more to hike to along the way - and to see the various waterfalls along its way. We entered at Dodson, passed through Ainsworth State Park and stopped first at Horsetail Falls.

The falls were really lovely, and the setting so serene, the warm sun filtering through leaves and the shadows welcoming. About 2 miles on was the entrance for the hike to Oneonta Falls - we didn't stop, and then we got to Multnomah Falls - zero mark on the highway, and it is a sight! A double falls, the sound is awsome.

We hiked part the way up, but it was just too steep for me, I wasn't breathing well - I think somewhat to do with altitude and some to do with the fact that I'm out of shape. I did see a good number of younger people who gave up too, so didn't feel too too elderly! They have a really nice restaurant and we were able to enjoy a yummy lunch just to our liking. Soup and appetizers, and hot tea.

There were local artisans there showing their wares and I bought earrings for myself – Oregon polka dot agate – and some other lovely stones made into Christmas Tree ornaments for souvenirs.

Continuing on, we saw Wahkeena Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Latourell Falls and we had then arrived at the Crown Point Vista House.

After a long day of sight seeing, we walked to the pub once again for dinner.
On Monday we were up and out by the noon check-out time and drove over the Bridge of the Gods to Stevenson, WA in search of a quilt shop I’d heard was there. The GPS found it immediately, but it is closed on Mondays! Instead, we decided to walk through the little town a bit, we found a bookstore and were about to go in when Lar spotted a coffee/tea shop next door. We entered and found it to be charming. I had tea, Lar had coffee and we ordered several of the homemade goodies – muffin, cookies and bars.

We chatted and enjoyed the ambience for a while, I took a few pictures and we bid the owner farewell to go back over the bridge to Oregon. We drove on 97S through absolutely beautiful territory – Mt. Hood kept up its tendency to “pop up” in front of us from time to time. Much of the land through which we drove was Indian owned. At one point we stopped to take a much needed rest from the non-stop driving and stand in awe at a gigantic gorge spanned by an impressive bridge.
Finally we were in Bend Oregon and fairly quickly found our accommodations. Our room, once again, was terrific. The front desk advised Lar that we should consider going to dinner at an Italian restaurant featured on our door key card. It was super advice. The food was really delicious, our server Ian was attentive and at the end of the meal, he sent us back to our room with a large, free serving of tiramisu.
Before leaving that morning, I had “made sure” our bags were organized and we only needed to take one bag in with us this stop.
Got time to take that bag in and I couldn’t remember which I’d designated! Finally we settled on one and took it in.
Not the right bag.
Lar and I went out into the light drizzle and got another bag.
This time, the right bag – but not so organized…still didn’t have everything we needed. This time the rain was coming down hard, but finally, after 3 trips we had ALL the bags in!
On Tuesday we continued the drive on 138W to Crater Lake.

View from our room of the Columbia River Gorge


Drying on the deck - view of the river and the Bridge of the Gods View from outside our hotel.
Yesteryear


Today

View from Point Vista

Wonderful, relaxing grounds of our hotel.

Horsetail Falls



Multnomah Falls



On the trail.





Tasty lunch
Crossing Bridge of the Gods to Washington

Tearoom in WA