Category Archives: Food

The Subaru, American Legion, Class of ’62, & Hump’s

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Thursday 2/26

The peanut brittle sugar rush is finally over and I’m thinking semi-clearly now. Diane will disagree, but I am. Really. I am.

Today I ordered a replacement debit card from the Navy Federal Credit Union because the one I had quit working. Totally. I’ve been hanging on to it for a year or so, babying it along because it still kinda worked, but yesterday I finally put an end to it by ripping in half. Actually, it was already torn a bit, right down the magnetic strip on the back, so I just helped it along a little making it necessary to make today’s call. Amy told me it would be in our mail box shortly.

Yesterday I listed our 1996 Subaru on the local Columbia County Buy Sell Trade Facebook site and couldn’t believe how many folks are interested in it. One guy even paid me a visit so it could look at it in the dark. He used his smart phone screen s a flashlight and looked it over then took it for a drive. I didn’t go with him because I was in my PJs’ already and didn’t want to get dressed. I just stood outside in my jammie bottoms and a T-shirt waiting for him to return. I wasn’t worried because he left his car, with the engine running, and with his wife sitting in the passenger seat playing with her iPad. He didn’t introduce us before he drove off so I didn’t talk with her. He was gone about 10 minutes before he returned and drove off after declining to assume responsibility for the rig. That’s OK because there is still someone out there who will. It’s a good little vehicle, and cheap at $1800. Just don’t need it.

I just saw an entry on Facebook reporting that smelling Rosemary will increase one’s memory by 75%. After considering that astounding bit of news for a while I figured it must be good information because it caused me to remember the time I did that in the third grade and got slugged by Rosemary’s older brother. Lesson learned. Don’t smell Rosemary.

I made a quick fly by at the Kozy Korner Kafe to see if any of my fellow MELCA members were there for our weekly Koffee Klash. I was informed by Kerri, our favorite waitress, that I was the only one who showed up so far. Armed with this bit of knowledge, I vacated the premises so I could return home and embark on one of my many abandoned projects. Not finding anything interesting enough to hold my attention for more than a couple of minutes, I decided to take advantage of another beautiful day and mow our yard. I didn’t do it all because I didn’t want to. I did just enough to make it pretty from the street which pleased Diane. So now our house looks kinda like Hong Kong when viewed from the harbor – it’s really nice and attractive, but once you get past the glitter of the front you enter a maze of clutter that’s astounding. In Hong Kong that happens about two blocks into the city, but at home it’s just a quick trip around back.

In the evening I attended our weekly Post 42 American Legion meeting. It’s been pointed out to me on a number of occasions that I really should attend these meetings since I’m the Sgt. At Arms. Along the way I picked up Mac, a WWII sailor, who doesn’t drive at night. Mac is 88 now and doing quite well. The meeting was pretty normal with the majority of us voting to raffle off another weapon this year. Last year we raffled off an AR-15. Lots of folks oppose those kinds of raffles thinking it promotes idiots to wander into a school and start shooting kids, but the reality is those folks probably have easier access to weapons than the one we raffle. Plus, they are deranged and not to be trusted. We were also mesmerized by Doug, our Financial guy and the Post Secretary, reading the past minutes as well as the current state of our finances. His voice has a hypnotic effect on me as he recites the numbers on the page before him, sharing all aspects of our efforts down to the penny. Makes it hard to remain alert for possible trouble like I’m supposed to but I did it.

Bought a new Sony sound system for our main TV so Diane could hear people talk. It was cheaper than hearing aids.

Friday 2/27

I attended one of our many informal gatherings for the Scappoose Class of 1962 for lunch at Fultano’s in Scappoose while Diane took her Mom shopping and to lunch. Diane was invited, as all spouses are, but she wanted “Mom Time” which was a good idea. One can never get enough of that.

Here’s the group who showed up. I used the pano setting on my iPhone to take the photo so the sizes are a little skewed.IMG_0147

Left to right: Eva, Sam, Mary Ann, Delores, David, Jim, Virgil, Darrell, Evelyn, Judy, and Harold. The gal on the end is Jim’s wife. She’s much younger than all of us. We’re all 70, you know, and she’s probably only 63-64. Just a spring chicken.

I ate way more than my share of everything and was pretty much stuffed the remainder of the day which caused me to not remember anything that happened after the meal. I don’t even remember driving home which would, no doubt, concern Diane had she known about it at the time. Learning now is too late and I’m sure she won’t be upset at all.

Saturday 2/28

The last day of February. Wow! I realize it’s our shortest month, but it still went by faster than normal. We spent a few hours of it, sun and all, driving back to Best Buy with the new, broken sound system to trade it in on one that would, hopefully, work for longer than a day. For some reason the original one got stuck in Protect mode and wouldn’t reset. So, Best Buy swapped it out for a new one. Just took two hours for the round trip plus 30 minutes or so to convince the Geek Squad that they weren’t going to fix it.

Mowed the church lawn and power washed Floyd’s mower in the afternoon. Mowed for 2 hours and power washed for 1. Brutal. But it’s really clean now.

Sunday 3/1

Diane jumped up exclaiming it was quarter to 10! and she was still in her jammies. So was I, but I knew I could change quicker than she can so I lingered here at the computer then got in trouble when she zoomed past me to the Buick all dressed up for church.

After the service we took a nice long drive Clatskanie where we had lunch at Humps Restaurant. We all had great meals that were almost too much for some of us. Diane’s Mom got a plain turkey sandwich …IMG_0143

Diane had a hot turkey sandwich …IMG_0144

And I had a chicken fried steak, two eggs over easy, hash browns, and toast …IMG_0145

As you can see, mine came on two (2) normal sized plates which had all the key points associated with a culinary challenge for normal people. I, however, have instituted portion control in my diet which means I can eat pretty much any size portion of anything that strikes my fancy, which this did. So, I ate everything on both plates and actually felt I had room for a piece of pie for dessert but Diane wouldn’t let me order one. She made us leave in the midst of congratulatory exclamations from all the waitresses in the restaurant. Apparently finishing one of those things is a rare thing, worthy of note. Eating a piece of pie on top of it would have been excellent.

Once done with lunch we went down Highway 30 towards Astoria for about 3 blocks then made a left on Highway 47 toward Vernonia. Out goal was to visit the Elk Preserve that’s out near Mist, Jewel, or Berkenfeld. None of us could remember exactly where it was, but that’s were we headed. The preserve, by the way, is where all the free elk in the greater NW go during elk season. They know when the shooting starts that this is the place to be and they show up by the hundreds. It’s quite impressive. Sadly, we never found the preserve, but we did pass a couple of small elk herds along the highway so it wasn’t a total waste of time. We saw a bunch of elk. Also saw a bunch of big and little cows, horses, goats, and donkeys. It was a regular circus out there on Highway 47.

After wandering around in the woods for about 3 hours, we arrived home right at 5 pm, the time I had an appointment with Misty who was interested in the Subaru. Sadly, Misty didn’t show up, but John was there, with Jeff, our son, and he said he’d take it. So, the Subaru is no longer for sale. John’s going to come get it tomorrow and drive it home whether or not he has a valid driver’s license. Then I’m going to go visit the water department and see if I can find out why our newly installed water meter reports that our water usage has tripled over the last bill. It’s not leaking on our side, so I can only believe that the new meter, which I was told is more sensitive than the old one, measures water in different units that the old one. The bill went from $132 to $370. Something’s terribly wrong in River City here and I’m going to find out what it is.

Sunrise & Quilts

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Here’s what I was greeted with this morning …

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Today the Bethany Ladies opened their 35th Annual Quilt Show and they had a great turnout. It’s always a festive time for me because they always have sandwiches and I really love sandwiches – egg salad and chicken salad. They also have Chicken Noodle soup and Clam Chowder, the best in the West.

The quilt show is mainly a venue for quilters to display their art and there is plenty of that around. There are also vendors in the basement who sell specialty items not related to quilts. But, you can buy quilts, too, of course, just not the ones upstairs decorating the pews.

That’s Jean, Diane’s Mom waaaay in the back.

DSC_2849You could also spend a buck or two on raffle tickets to win one of these beauties …

DSC_2843My favorite is this Crazy Quilt whose owner said she’s been working on it for 10 years.

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In the basement Barb, part of the crew, shows off her special apron.DSC_2841

Here’s Nancy giving me almost her best smile. I didn’t get the best one because she saves that for Floyd.DSC_2837Here’s Jennifer checking out a catalog of quilts created by the Featured Quilter, Terry Maloney. Sadly, I don’t have a photo of Terry to share. Apparently she heard I was coming and left.DSC_2853

Diane taking a break warming her feet on the heater grate. DSC_2850She’s going to have to do some more of this when she gets home this afternoon because they don’t close the doors until 1800 hours and she was there at 0830. Tomorrow will be a shorter day because the close at 1400 hours.

So, if you find some idle time on Valentine’s day, and want to spend some of it wandering around some beautiful quilts created by some very talented artists, pay a visit to Bethany Lutheran Church between 10-3. Kitchen closes at 2 pm. You won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

Church, Sizzler, & Backroads

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Today before pastor started our service he asked those in attendance what they could remember they were told as youngsters that stuck with them through the years as good advice. I had a really hard time holding on to mine while others shared things like, “a job worth doing is worth doing right”, “no matter where you go, there you are” (a little bit of Buckaroo Banzai influence I suspect), “too many cooks spoil the broth”, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day working”, “actions speak louder than words”, things like that. Then there was a lengthy pause leaving us with dead air, and I hate that. When it happens it seems that I’m always the one who winds up filling in that space and it happened again this morning, much to Diane’s dismay, when I shared “don’t eat yellow snow”.

After the noise of everyone’s head swiveling in my direction, the silence descended once again for a moment, then Pastor quickly moved on to the next item in the bulletin. It may have been communion, but I’m not sure. The rest of the service went just fine but Karma caught up to me out by the mower shed while I was walking around waiting for Diane and her Mom, Jean. There’s a short ramp leading up to the doors and I stepped on it. Normally that’s not a problem, but it’s been raining squirrels and chipmunks lately so it was wet and very slippery, something I remembered was true when my foot was about an inch from the surface. By that time, of course, my body was committed to taking that step so I prepared as best I could for the excitement of the fall.

When my foot slipped I went into slow motion mode, analyzing everything around me to ensure there were no sharp objects waiting to penetrate my normally waterproof exterior, then I looked for a likely spot to place my left hand in such a manner that my wrist wouldn’t snap in half. I found that spot OK, but my balance was a bit off so after making land fall I was poised over the ramp a little too far and could not keep myself from finally sitting on it with my next to last pair of nice Dockers. It was a slimy mess, a lot like something that might have come from an ox’s nose.

Since I didn’t hear anything snap, or crack, I knew it would be bet if I regained a vertical stance because I knew the pain was coming. Then I ran to wash my hands warning Diane, as I passed her on the basement steps on my way to the kitchen sink, that I was going to be in severe pain tomorrow. Then I had her look at the back of my pants to see what kind of damage they had suffered, but she said they looked fine. Then I took a towel and wiped all the gunk from my rear and showed her what she’d missed. Can’t blame her really, because my Dockers are dark brown as was the stuff I sat in.

I took the towel to the Buick so sit on when we left because I didn’t want to mess up the seat, then we departed on a scheduled trip to Sizzler, and an impromptu trip down the Washington side of the Columbia River to see what St. Helens looked like to the people who lived over there. While at Sizzler I ate eight chicken wings two chicken legs a modest salad and a soup bowel full of ice cream. Substantial, but not a record because I’m working on portion control.

Although the I-5 freeway would have made the trip much faster, I sat in the back with my iPad giving left/right directions as I studied our location on Google Maps. The goal was to keep us off the freeway as we made the 20+ mile trip from Longview to Woodland and I did a remarkable job. I know that’s true because both Diane and Mom said so. It was a really nice trip on a whole bunch of roads that none of us had ever travelled before.

Then we went back home to rescue the dogs, dropping Mom at her house on the way. Here’s what the rain has done to Milton Creek that normally runs peacefully through her back yard …

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You may remember that it looked like this not long ago …DSC_1819That’s Baylee, Jerrie, and Gilligan, in case you forgot.

Once home we quickly shifted into our pajamas and watched the last quarter of the Blazer game against the Houston Rockets. Blazers won handily.

Now I must go to bed and get to sleep as the pain on my left side has begun. Tomorrow is going to be brutal.

Doug in a Ditch I Dug, & Diane

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Just when I thought everything was going perfectly, I discovered there was a leak in our water line between the new meter that was installed, and the house. I notified the water department asking them to please visit and convince me that installing the new meter wasn’t the reason for the leak. They come up and we had a nice conversation during which they proved to my satisfaction that there were no leaks at the meter. That was disappointing news because it meant I would have to dig around in the yard to find the problem area. A daunting task. I had visions of holes all over the place and the trouble I’d be in if that actually happened.

So, I decided to dig down to the input pipe next to the house hoping I wouldn’t have to dig up the year at all. Grabbing a shovel I got to work. The input into the house is through the basement foundation about 3 feet below ground level. To get there required that I hack my way through the root structure of some really old rhododendron bushes that I dismantled a couple of years ago. Finding the water line may result in the demise of one or more, but that’s OK. I never liked them anyway. Then again, I’ve also discovered that it’s really hard to kill one of those things so they may be just fine.

At the level predicted, I encountered the old water line that was installed, I’m sure, when the house was built in 1957, a good year for Chevys. The 58-year-old pipe I found was very rusty and appeared to be a serious candidate for springing a major leak. Fearing the worst, I sprang to my feet and rushed to ACE Hardware to get the parts I needed to correct this potentially expensive situation.

Upon my return I went to the basement to shut off the water to the house. Normally the whole house cutout valve is located outside the home, but not here. It’s located just above the basement work bench. Then I killed the water on the city side of the meter so I could disconnect the house side from the meter. By adding one crafty attachment to the house side, I was able to attach my new water line hose. At the house, I connected the other end of the hose to the outside spigot that’s conveniently located almost directly above the input water line. Going back to the house cut out valve that’s inside the house, you may wonder why I turned it off. Well, as it turns out, that cut out valve is located below the outside spigot so by connecting the new water line house to the spigot turned the spigot into the house supply point. Here’s what I wound up with.

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I figured my task was done. I bypassed the rusty old pipe, got water flowing into the house again, and when everything was turned off, the meter didn’t spin like it did before. Then I suddenly remember that I was married and that there was no way having the hose strung across was going to be a good thing. I called my lawyer and was able to negotiate a deal that would allow the hose to stay in place temporarily while I dug a proper ditch that would allow me to install a proper water line. The only driving factor for completion is the weather … considering the hose is above ground, freezing temperatures could prove to be problematic.

About this time my friend Doug called and offered to lend his considerable talents to help me resolve this problem. Actually, he called before and was the one who suggested the temporary hose solution. I cannot deny him that success because it was an awesome suggestion. So awesome, in fact, that it could easily be a permanent solution in a warmer climate.

This morning Doug arrived at 0900 to assist me with a proper ditch into which we can stuff a new direct line to the house. We began by laying out a huge tarp onto which we laid the sod we removed from the path we chose from the meter to the house. Then it was time to begin the ditch. Doug chose to work in the ditch I’d already dug next to the house, hence the title to this little ditty. I started digging deep at the meter, piling the excavated dirt onto the aforementioned tarp. As we worked in our respective ditches it occurred to me that we represented over 140 years of life experience in the course of our tasks. I pointed this out to Doug and we both concurred that it was time to take a break. It was time for lunch anyway, so we went in to eat soup with Diane.

The afternoon stretch, after lunch, found us moving a bit slower and taking breaks more often to chat. Soon we were chatting more than working so figured it was time to call it a day, which we did. We were dirty and our boots were caked with mud so it took a little bit of time for us to make ourselves presentable enough to administer a proper adios to each agreeing to reconvene another day that is yet to be determined. Doug commented to Diane that he was afraid I’d go to work on it without him and thereby take all the credit for the big finish. I wouldn’t do that. You know that, right?

After I scraped myself clean, then took a shower, putting the temporary waterline hose to the test, I relaxed for a bit and watched the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens. Then I made us BLTs for supper and we watched the Seattle Seahawks take out the Carolina Panthers. When that was over we switched channels to watch the Portland Blazers play the Orlando Magic. As I rattle this keyboard, there are 33.5 seconds remaining and the Blazers are up by 7 points. In order to maintain their winning ways when they are ahead after three-quarters, they must maintain until the bitter end. Now there are 9.8 seconds remaining and it’s 103-92 Blazers and that’s where it ended.

Now, about Diane. She’s been battling terminal bronchitis for two weeks now and it pains me that there’s nothing I can do for her. She’s on antibiotics and they are helping, but not quickly enough for either of us. She gets exhausted coughing and watching her do that just wears me out. Please pray for her recovery so I won’t get so tired.

Thanks

Happy 1515

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Greetings to you all. If you are reading this I can only surmise that you survived whatever New Years celebration party you chose to attend, and that your gift of sight is still functioning. Could be, however, that some of you may have a third party reading this to you. Why anyone would do that is beyond me, but it could happen. I suppose.

It’s readily evident that Diane and I survived the festivities in good shape mainly because we avoided them. We watched the ball drop in New York, stayed up until 0100 New York time, then went to bed. A few revelers in the neighborhood popped off a few illegal fireworks to let everyone know they could read a clock and knew the precise moment when it turned to midnight. That’s OK. Happens every year the very same way, by the very same revelers. It’s expected to the point where the dogs didn’t even bark. They no longer bark on the 4th of July, either. They are self-taught, in this regard, with a lot of encouragement from we who no longer bark at fireworks.

Diane celebrated the 1st day of this new year by continuing the hacking and coughing cold I had over Christmas. I can share an informed guess that what she’s coughing up is a lot like the photo I shared in a previous post but she won’t share so that I can confirm.

As you may have guessed, not a lot transpired at this domain no New Years Day. Just waking up on the green side of the grass was a positive event. Actually, that’s a good one on any day. When it comes to waking up, green is good, you know. It’s also a primary color in the Oregon Ducks uniforms. Normally.

Speaking of the Ducks … their uniforms are quite the topic of conversation over here in the Far West because of the lack of color. My first take on them was, “where’s the yellow ‘O’, or the green one?” For the the inaugural NCAA championship game they are  gray and silver. After my initial disappointment I gave it a little thought and realized that the uniforms look like something a warrior might wear. Quite stunning, and appropriate. It’s going to be a good game and history will be made because, gee, there isn’t an ACC or SEC team involved which goes against everything the BCS computers stood for; those computers that everyone knows were developed and maintained by a Booster Club somewhere in Alabama.

January 2nd I attended the first Veteran’s Breakfast of the year mainly because Diane, between very productive coughs, insisted I go. It was a good visit with some old guys who used to wear uniforms for a living. Doing this meant I had to get up early and be ready to eat at 0800, something a little beyond normal for me. But, I did it. I couldn’t stay for the entire event because I had to be somewhere at 1000. I can’t remember what that was about, but I know I was on time.

On Saturday I left Diane at home, picked up her Mother, Jean, and joined Barb and Ron at the church so we could dismantle the Christmas tree and get it outside before it decided to spontaneously combust and burn the building down. That didn’t happen so it was a successful day. Also, I didn’t fall off the ladder which was a good thing because I’ve learned that as I increase in age my ability to bounce when I fall is drastically diminished. I’m sure that’s true for all of us. We just kind of land and jiggle for a bit. Then, when all motion has ceased, we evaluate our extremities to see what does and does not work. Sometimes a weak “ouch” or two escapes before the jiggling stops, but not always. Sometimes there isn’t enough air available for that until much later. There may have been times where I was unconscious but I don’t remember them.

Sunday found me at church with Diane’s Mom, Jean, to get the New Year off to a good start. I’m sure something else happened Sunday, but I can’t remember what it was. Surely there was a point in time where I made a light lunch for my bride as the next step in her recovery. At that point she didn’t have much of a voice because of the congestion, so I just fixed her something that I thought sounded like what she asked for. I think it might have been fried eggs and toast, one of her favorite comfort food groups.

Later in the evening I got a text from Whitney, the girl next door, asking me to please let her dogs out because she had taken Scott, the boy next door, to the emergency room to address an emergent medical condition. I did that for them. The dog’s names are Taylor and Trigger and they are well-behaved. It was raining but they didn’t mind. I let them run around for a while, fed them, gave them water, had them visit with out dogs for a while, but ushered them back to their cage in the garage. They went in with no problem. Good dogs.

Monday I got up fairly early and let the dogs out again and just left them out to run because they don’t run away even though one of them is still a puppy. By doing this I learned that they are both quite good excavators when they plowed up the flower beds along the basement wall on the south side of the house. It was a really nice job. I later learned that they had also expressed their love of dirt by churning up the raised flower beds out front. They had fun. Lots of it. Then they took their dirty little feet back into their cage with no complaint.

I worried about Scott all day Monday and was happy when he was released back into the wild before the sun set. At that time Cedric showed up so he could make a Power Point presentation for his church youth group. That was good because it meant he’d be there to help his Grandma get off the floor in the event she fell down while I was gone to our Lions Club meeting. We had a program presenter from Harlyn Medical which is an innovative company conveniently located in St. Helens. Our presenter was the company’s Chief Marketing Officer who, also conveniently, is the son of one of our club members. This young man and the rest of the executive team for the company is bringing cutting edge technology with a global impact home to St. Helens. Pretty cool.

Now it’s Tuesday, garbage day. Thankfully I remembered to put the cans out yesterday allowing me to avoid another early morning reason to get out of my pajamas. No, not that, but a reason to go outside before noon.

Did I mention that we sold the old 1973 Winnebago? Probably not because that happened Sunday, also. I just remembered. We sold it just two days after advertising it on Columbia County Buy Sell Trade internet site. It worked so well that I will be taking pictures of lots of things to post for sale, but next will be our 1996 Subaru. If  all goes well, in a couple of weeks we should be able to clean out at least one layer of “things” that are littering the basement floor, and lots of other stuff throughout the house that I don’t recognize. Then, in a couple of years we’ll remember we had something that was really useful at one time and know it’s in the basement somewhere but we can’t find it. Then we’ll buy another one, not remembering that we sold one just like it, a couple of years ago, for about half what we paid for the new one that could very well be the old one since it was purchased at a thrift store. I guess that’s kind of the circle of life for most “stuff”.

Now I must rest because I took Mom Jean shopping this afternoon. Diane sent me with a list and I got everything she wanted. That makes today a success.

Now … who figured out the 1515 reference in the title?

VA, Costco, Michaels, Fred Meyer, & Lydia

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Today I paid another visit to my psychiatrist at the VA clinic. She officially said that I’m not nuts after all and that I didn’t have to come back unless I wanted to. She was very nice and we had a good rapport. Apparently I speak a bit of her language. Anyway, we severed ties because she’s moving on to greener pastures with her skills. I can’t say that I’ll miss her because I’ve only seen her twice, but it was meaningful and we accomplished my goal of ridding my life of Ambien. By January I should be done with it.

Now all I have to do is lose about 30 pounds so the Diabetes Police will leave me alone. All I have to do is quit eating. Simple.

We returned home by way of Costco, the one on Jenkins Road, where we enjoyed a festive lunch of very large hot dogs. $3.00 gets you two of the foot longs plus two refillable drinks. Can’t beat that for a decent meal. Ok, ok, … it’s processed meat, I know, but it’s still a decent meal. On the plus side, I only had half a cup of soda instead of a full one with a refill, like Diane did.

Then we stopped at Michaels so Diane could get some important things. She let me stay in the Buick and rest. And read my book. On my iPad. Then we had to stop at Fred Meyer to get yogurt. She let me stay in the Buick there, too. Gas was only $2.27 but we didn’t need any. It’s cheaper at Freddie’s than it is at Costco.

One of the things she got at Costco was a dead chicken in a plastic box. It was all broiled and brown and I figured it was destined to be our early dinner. I was correct, as I am many times throughout the day. One of us may disagree on that point and that’s OK. I know I’m correct, like I am many times throughout the day. Again, there may be disagreement, etcetera.

Once home, my job was to dismantle the chicken while Diane made a festive salad. We had to hurry because I was tapped to return Lydia to Hillsboro for her weekly goalie training session. I did it because both Diane and Jennifer were booked for a hot bunco party, something they do once a month at various homes throughout the area.

Lydia and I had a very meaningful conversation on the trip over since it was just the two of us. We don’t get that kind of quality time together very often and it was good. I learn stuff. Today it was that one of the qualities of a good male friend, for a girl, is that he will hold your hair back when you throw up. Every time. She was sick, you see, during a teen conference thing for church and thought it would be more fun to throw up out side on the street than inside in a toilet. The male friend, I’m told, is sweet on Lydia but it’s been made very clear to him that she likes him like a brother. Still, he tries. During this learning evolution she consumed 17 of the 20 chicken nuggets we got at McDonalds on the way out of St. Helens. She only wanted 10, but for another $.50 we could get 20 so I opted for the bargain. It worked out.

Now I must stop. This is post 690. Maybe not a big deal to many of you, but it is to me. Thinking about all those words makes me tired.

Santa Lucia & Snacks

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Today after church service our new friends Angela & Randy treated us to the Swedish version of the Santa Lucia tradition. It was a very stunning event that none of those at church had ever experienced. Let me revise that to say that no one I spoke with had ever experienced. The tradition is steeped in history, beginning in the 300’s, and has understandably changed over the intervening 1600+ years. Being a Lutheran tradition, in our instance, it naturally involves food, tea, and coffee. So, the beginning of this tradition at Bethany Lutheran Church, in Warren, Oregon, was conducted during our normal after service coffee hour.

Cameron, the granddaughter of one of my high school classmates whom you do not know, represented Santa Lucia and served coffee, tea, and pastries to the masses who remained for our after service tradition. The real day for this is traditionally December 13, which was yesterday, as everyone knows. But, it was well received even though it was a day late.

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Angel transported her irreplaceable English bone china to the church for use during the ceremony and it was accompanied by a lot of older folks holding their breath while young people carried their drinks and pastries to their tables. Late in the evening, when Mom, Diane’s, was on the way to her car for her trip home, reported that she was very nervous when she saw me helping put the cleaned and dried china back into the boxes they came in. She was especially fearful when she saw me washing a priceless platter. Apparently I have a reputation for dropping and spilling things. IMG_0126

Here’s a little closer look at Angela, Santa Lucia, and her first customer, Declan. IMG_0127After all the china was safely returned to Angela & Randy’s vehicle, and everyone was leaving the building, we spied two bareback riders sauntering down the road by the church. In the field across the road another horse was making her presence known because she knew the riders and their aged steeds. They all live together over there. That would be Ethan and Jessie.

In the typical country fashion, we from the church wandered out into the middle of the road so we could talk with our newest friends, Ethan and Jessie. Every once in a while someone would shout out “CAR” and we would back away into the parking lot to allow the vehicle to pass then we’d wander back into the road so we didn’t have to talk so loud. It was a very nice visit.

Then we came home, ate stew, and watched 3 Christmas movies before Jean, Diane’s Mom, yelled “Uncle” and demanded to be returned to the quiet of her own home.

That’s about it for today. It was a good one. The sun shined all day, and it was beautiful. We all feel incredibly blessed.

MELCA, Wood, Jerry, Work, & Drones

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MELCA Coffee was at 0900. Although I was right on time, I was late. All the other guys must be on Mountain Time. Once again we solved many of the worlds problems, but no one was listening. Everyone knows what MELCA is, right?

Fireplace Mantel is coming along. I glued a couple more pieces on it today, and sanded the top, again. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to put it all together so I can figure out a way to attach it to the wall. My Gorilla Glue seems to be working OK so maybe that’s the solution. That, and some two-sided sticky tape.

Jerry 3 decided that our women should conspire to schedule a group meeting at which we will ingest food of some kind. This is for the group we normally have lunch with about once a month. You know who you are. Hopefully the decision will be made in such a manner that nothing associated with a goat is considered good. Yes, they are cute, generally, but I personally don’t think they taste good.

While I was enjoying coffee this morning, then researching “stuff” this afternoon, Diane was wearing herself out organizing the Big Room In The Basement (BRB). Up until today, it’s been a gathering spot for a variety of things that were never assigned shelf space, or arrived here without warning. Things like that are what comprise a single layer that makes cleaning the floor impossible because we can’t see it. That’s changing now, however. Diane found lots of extra stuff that is going away and we’ve already made arrangements for part of it. The old curtain rod was removed, a new one installed (with new curtains), and the furniture has been rearranged. Doing that opened up access to many more items about which decisions will have to be made. I’m sure that none of you reading this have similar problems. Everything is in the right place, nice and tidy, right? That’s exactly the way our house is in one of those alternate universes I’ve mentioned in the past. I must point out that whenever Diane wanted me to do something, I did it without question. Ask her. I even did some things without asking. Those are the ones that get me into trouble.

Tomorrow the repair guy is paying us a visit to see if he can resurrect our microwave. In Diane’s words, “it’s tits up.” I thought it was just broken but apparently it’s worse than that. So, just in case, I’ve been researching replacements at DISCOUNTMICROWAVESTOREPLACEBROKENONES.COM. They claim to have distribution centers all over the country and can deliver a new microwave to their customers within three hours of placing an order. They use drones, just like Amazon, but bigger.

Footfall is on now so I’m going to quit.

Family, Friends, Golf, & Crafty Stuff

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Last Sunday Daniel flew to Houston to attend Intel training this week. He arrived safely, but his bags didn’t. Nifty. I understand that an Alaska Airline representative told Daniel to go out and buy some clothes while they searched the world for his luggage. They eventually found it on a beach in Hawaii. Well, not really on a beach, but pretty close since the airport in Honolulu is very close to Hickam AFB which is, essentially, on the beach. The luggage has since been returned to Daniel.

My psychiatrist visit on Monday went well. I completely fooled her and passed with flying colors. Turns out I’m not totally whacko after all. She wants to see me again in three weeks anyway. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s so I can pick out the color of my straight jacket. Rumor has it they come in an array of hues, not just white.

I’m still in the PC resurrection business it seems because I worked on Diane’s yesterday. Turns out Microsoft’s operating systems haven’t outgrown me completely after all. Granted, I’m more comfortable dealing with DOS and Windows XP, but Diane is using Windows 8.1 with a touch screen. The latter aspect is sometimes an issue because I am prone to pointing to areas on the screen to make a point. In my old life as a PC nerd that wasn’t a problem because all I did was leave smudges. Lots of them. Diane’s screen, however, reacts to touch causing it to open all kinds of programs I don’t necessarily want to access while ferreting out solutions for the issues she complains about. I’ve discovered, recently, that many of those issues are the result of one update or another to the operating system. Love those things.

I’ve been doing surveys on online lately to earn a little extra money. In doing so, I’ve learned that I’m not really a specific age, I’m 65+. Apparently survey people just lump everyone 65 and over into one large group while everyone else gets to put down their real age. I think that’s discrimination and may rise up and be heard.

Today I went golfing with Junior. It was therapeutic for both of us, but mainly Junior. His Mom passed away recently and her service was yesterday morning. I joined him, and his brothers Doug, and Jerry, at a reception they held yesterday afternoon. Normally, as most of you know, it’s usually Doug, Junior, and me who go out and amaze all the other golfers, but today it was just Junior and me. We were all alone on the course, like it was our own private club. It was really nice and we took bonding to a new level.

After golfing I returned home to find Diane working furiously in the basement, picking through an array of “things” we don’t need, making piles and lists in preparation for removing the vast majority of it from the house. This is something we’ve discussed numerous times in the past. Turns out she was serious about it. While she did that, I fiddled around with the fireplace mantel I’ve been working on. We bought it at the Restore Store a couple of months ago, knowing it was too wide. But it was pretty, and there was a good chance I could tear it apart and rebuild it to a more appropriate size. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. The parts are cut and all I have to do is glue and screw it all back together so it can be varnished. Then I’ll have to figure out how to attach it to the fireplace.

Just before it got dark Diane made me go down to the Lion paper boxes to find her a Sunday paper. She’s always loved reading newspapers but we had to cancel our prescription because she would always wind up with a stack of them next to her chair and couldn’t get anything done. But, she can handle one paper a week so I go down and dig out a couple once in a while to keep her happy. The other one is for Mom Jean. While I was at the paper boxes I figured I may as well straighten them up a little, like we do every other Wednesday. I insisted that she stay home because she’s got the sniffles and i don’t want them to get any worse.

On that note, knowing the truth that there’s punishment in my future after Diane reads this, I must quit. Hope everyone had a great day. I suspect you did, unless you live in Buffalo, NY, or thereabouts.