It's Pumpkin Patch Time

Bauman Farms has the best pumpkin patch in the area. There are animals to pet, toys to play on and lots of great photo ops.

Around the play area is a track with all sorts of pedal toys. Unfortunately Sarah still needs help getting around.

Al was on the other end of the teeter-totter. Yikes!

After applesauce donuts a big glass of milk hits the spot.

Cousins, Cuisine & Construction

It was so fun to see my sweet cousins on Sunday night. Nancy & MeMe had spent 4 days at Deanne's house in Gearhart. After a visit to Cannon Beach on Sunday morning, they headed to Keizer. We had dinner on the patio and caught up with each other's lives. These are the girls I grew up with in Phoenix and then California. We went to Young Life camps together, spent hours at the beach or swim club together, shared many a Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving and Easter dinner together, and now have grown "old" together. They have always been and still are the closest things I'll have to sisters.

On Saturday night, after a day of shopping in NW Portland, Al took us to one of our favorite restaurants for an amazing dinner. The Chart House in Council Crest sits on the edge of the hillside overlooking the gorgeous Willamette River and the east side of the city. I had the best shrimp scampi I have ever eaten. And, their hot lava chocalate cake is a piece of art for the eyes and the tummy.

This is currently the view from the front window of Al's office. There are many very large pieces of equipment digging up the street. As you can imagine, this is not quiet work. Beyond the noise there is the constant vibration of the floor and walls. One would really have to be committed and brave to get to our door.

A New Adventure Every Hour

The City of Salem is replacing all the sewer lines in our office neighborhood. It's always a challenge getting around Salem streets but this adds a new level of difficulty. The block that Al's office sits on is completely closed but there are alleys open and parking lots that can be cut through to gain access. Thanks goodness we are enjoying wonderful weather because policy holders are walking in from all over the place. I can't imagine what things are going to be like once the rain starts. And for an office full of women, having no usable bathroom for days and maybe weeks ought to make for some interesting situations. Completion date is mid November, best case scenario. But we're talking about the governement working aginst time and the weather. Happy Holidays!

It's a Jungle Out There

For some reason, I have neglected my roses for the last couple of weeks. I usually spend several hours a week in the garden because I love having rose bouquets all over the house. Today, I talked Al into helping prune and deadhead and no lie, it took about 2 hours. For a part of the time it poured rain but we soldiered on. I'm so glad that we got it done because as the cooler weather approaches, I get fewer & fewer usable flowers. So by cutting off the deadheads, I make room for a couple of more cycles of blooms. I love this time of year. Hydrangeas are bright blue & green & pink, the roses are going strong, the black-eyed Susan's are taking over the backyard and the lavendar is drying and putting out an amazing fragrance. Some people love to be in the garden and feel the soil in their hands. They love to watch things grow and nurture their little plant friends. The only reason I spend time with plants is so I can hack their little heads off and use them to make my house look and smell wonderful. Cold, I know.

On Fire! Literally & Figuratively.

I probably won't be invited to join the Master Canners Club anytime soon

The humble winners forced the loosers to take our picture. Hee Hee!

On Wednesday, I began my yearly adventure of canning applesauce. I had 120 pounds of juicy & delicious gravenstiens waiting to become yummy sauce. It's more than an all day event but once I get my systems down I can keep things rollin' along. In order to have a place to put the processed jars as they come out of the canner, I put a towel on the counter (the jars have been in boiling water for 20 minutes so they are HOT!). After several hours, my stove top that had all four burners going, started to make a funny beeping noise. Out of curiosity and annoyance, I walked away from the food mill to see what was about to become a 2 alarm fire. My towel looked like the kind of grass fire you see along the side of the road. I quickly filled a pan with cold water and drenched the life out of the sucker. Disaster was averted and and I continued on with my happy chore.

That evening, Jana, JJ, Al & I played in our 2nd Bocce Ball league game. Last week we were killed, loosing all three games and scoring only six total points. Undaunted, we showed up for another night of humiliation and punishment. However...the bocce gods were smiling on us and we won 2 out of three games! We still aren't sure how or why we won but win we did. Yahoo!

A Beautiful Summer Wedding

Last night, Matt, the son of our dear friends Curt & Nancy Kendall, was married to a lovely young woman named Brooke. The wedding was held in a woodsy garden outside of Albany. The weather was warm, the sun was shinning, but shaded by gigantic fir trees and the bride & groom looked ecstatic. Al and the kids and I had a great time visiting with friends of Matt's that were brave enough to sit with us at dinner. We laughed and ate great BBQ and danced till pregnant Maryanne was nearly comotose with exhaustion (she had been on her feet all day doing hair). We wished the bride & groom well and headed home, happy, well fed & pooped.

Today, Al is taking his longest walk in prep for the Marathon next month. After church he will walk around our neighborhood then head out to my Dad's and back for a total of 23 miles. He's getting excited about the big race but will be glad when it's over. Walking long distances every weekend doesn't leave a lot of time for rest and other activities. I admire his determination and discipline.

Too Big To Miss! Part 2

A very busy mom

Our favorite cake

Lovely dahlias

After Sarah went home, Al and I wandered through the Commercial exhibits and then met with our kids for dinner. After dinner we enjoyed a bit of the rodeo, visited the poultry barns, laughed at the crazy little piglets, and marveled at the really talented people who make amazing quilts or take incredible photographs or paint lovely pictures or decorate gorgeous cakes cakes. No matter how updated the fair tries to be, it's always fun to check out the blue ribbons hanging off all the hand crafted items. At 10:00pm we all headed home after a fun day...a little sad that the fair is over, a little sad that summer is over but happy to have carried on our yearly tradition of a day at the Oregon Sate Fair.

Too Big To Miss! Part 1

A lesson in wool & sheep poop

Sarah meets a burro

Who in this picture is the most curious?

It's Oregon State Fair time!. For some reason, Al and I love the State Fair. Every year, we take off work and head out for a day of farm animals, curly fries, waterless cookware, elephant ears, wine in the beautiful gardens, blacksmiths, draft horse competitions, quilts and cakes.

This year, we took Sarah Garlinger with us. It was her first trip to the fair and all 3 of us had a blast. we spent the bulk of our time in the barns as Sarah loves animals. She enjoyed petting cows and lambs and horses but as she so clearly told us, "Sarah no like goats"! I don't think she'd ever seen a goat so we're not really sure where that came from, but she's 2 so she's allowed! She also experienced her first scone. Yum! Her mom Susan told me later that when asked what she saw at the fair, Sarah said, "horsie go poop". I guess for a 2 year old city girl horsie poop is a big deal.

Behind Again

Our garage before the sorting

One last trip to the dump

Believe it or not this is an organized storage unit

Every so often my blog server goes crazy and I'm unable to post anything. Such has been the case the last week or so. Because I know so little about computers I've been unable to find a way around this problem therefore I'm way behind on my posts. So today, I play catch up.

Last weekend Al ans I cleared out our attic in anticipation of making the big bucks at the McNary Estates Garage Sale. However, when we actuall went throught all our stuff, we didn't really have enough stuff to recoup our $10 participation fee. So we headed to AJ and Maryanne's storage unit and cleaned & reorganized all of their stuff (they were there as well). They got rid of a lot of their things too but there wasn't much in the way of garage sale stuff. So...we're not doing the garage sale. Yea! Now I can go around the neighborhood looking at and maybe buying someone else's junk.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

We have had some big changes at Al's office. First Sheryl let Al know that she was looking for a job closer to home. She lives in Aurora and driving to Salem twice a week just wasn't cost effective for her. Al made some calls to agents in the Canby area and Sheryl was offered a job just a few minutes from home. We will really miss her loyalty and availability and her sweet personality. She also provided all of us with the most amazing jams and home grown vegees every summer. We're happy & we're sad.

Several weeks later, Patti resigned as she is going back into nursing. It's been 11 years since she worked in that field so her learning curve is going to be huge. But she is so smart that she won't have any trouble. So, if you have a heart attack, be sure to do it on a day when Patti is working. She will take awesome care of you and you'll be back on your feet in no time. We will definately miss Patti's energy and enthusiasm. Our loss is Salem Hospital's gain.

The sweet part of all these good-byes is that both ladies are doing what they need to do. God provided both Sheryl & Patti with just the right opportunities! Al has hired a delightful young woman to join our team. She will work three days a week and fill in when anyone is on vacation. Sara is fully licensed and State Farm trained so she will be able to slide right into our office. I'm excited to meet her.

The picture is of our farewell dinner celebration at Amedaus here in Salem. This is a lovely fine dining restaurant with absolutely delicious food. If you ever eat there, save room for the creme brulee cake. O MY GOODNESS!