Thanksgivings I Remember, and Don't Remember

It is a beautiful sunny cold clear day in Newberg. My weight training instructor opened up the gym for us this morning so I walked over there, worked out for an hour, and walked home. Now I need to make a pie! Rich is making the sauce for the squash raviolis that we put together last night. We were up until midnight. The first time in years when we haven't had our boys home to cook for us! It was a lot of work. I hope they know how much we have loved and appreciated their cooking all those years!

Past holidays all sort of blur together, maybe because we always did the same thing, or maybe because I'm not terribly fond of holidays, for some reason I have not ever figured out. I don't necessarily remember the different ones, either.

I really don't remember any from my childhood, except that we must have had lots of people because we always had to sit at the kids table. I think sometimes they were at our house and sometimes at other people's houses.

I remember Thanksgiving 1966 because I was at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and at the last minute got a ride home with Craig Emerson's older sister, who went to Scripps I think. I can't remember her name - Craig was a friend from high school. Mary, I think. She drove a Mustang. We left Claremont the night before and drove straight through, except the part where we ran out of gas in the Siskiyous. Somehow we got help, and made it home. That was fun. My first year away from home and I was a little homesick.

I remember Thanksgiving 1967. I was living in an apartment in Redwood City, California with Deeda Chamberlain. We were cooking in our tiny kitchen, and had to call home for advice. I don't remember who we invited to dinner.

Thanksgiving 1968 was in Portland, and 1969 was in Puerto Rico, which I actually don't remember. Maybe at Jose's house with his roommates? In the haunted house.

Then those years in Portland after that all kind of blur together.

1975 was the first year in Alaska, and although I don't remember particulars, I'm sure we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Teen Home. And 1976, I think we must have cooked at the Main Street house in Ketchikan. Rich, Phyllis, Jude Brown, and me.

The next year, 1977, Rich and I were in Sitka, living in the little tiny house on the beach that we rented from those weird people Scott and Janet. I don't remember if we cooked or went to someone else's house. I think we probably just stayed home. I think Rich was working at the airport restaurant.

1978 was our first year out in the woods, except I was in town and Rich was out there by himself with Annabelle the cat and the pooper dogs. That was when I had the job working for Social Services, and I worked a week on and a week off in town, so flew back and forth. Actually, I may have had the cat in town with me, because after the first few times of leaving her alone with Rich, she was driving him so crazy I had to take her with me. I had a tiny apartment on Creek Street. That was the year that Rich finished our little cabin enough to move in on Thanksgiving, out of the tent. And I had Thanksgiving at Phyllis's house with an odd assortment of Ketchikan people. I was pregnant with Oliver.

Thanksgivings of 1979 and 1980 we spent in our little cabin with Oliver as a baby. 1979 must have been the year we were listening to the Ketchikan radio station and the power was out there, so everyone was fussing about how to cook their dinner with no electricity. We were all toasty and warm and cooking in/on our big wood coookstove. There was an advantage to not ever having electricity because we didn't depend on it. We were feeling very smug and very superior. 1980 I was pregnant with Danny, and we cooked uszki (tiny polish dumplings) from a recipe in the Vegetarian Epicure. I remember that, because that is the name we gave Danny while he was in the womb. (Oliver's name was Hemlock.)

1981 and 1982 were in Ketchikan, at Jack's house, I think. Then back out to the woods with our 2 little boys. I actually have a journal entry about Thanksgiving 1984. Flashback:
Sat. Nov. 24, 1984
Three whales still in the bay.
Went to Hollis & Craig Tuesday morning. Before we left, 5 swans landed on the pond. Two adults and 3 grayish babies. They are enormous. We were afraid our noise would scare them but they stayed even through us starting the outboard. We stopped at Mark & Suzi's and spent the day in Craig. Stormy on Wednesday and wild on Thursday, so we went with Mark & Suzi to Dave & Marilyn's for Thanksgiving. Bob Guest was also there. Carol has been ill due to stress and is now at her parents in Sitka. The kids are with her. They will stay there until the end of the school year, I guess. Paul & Sue came a little later. They had had high tide problems with their boat floating away. Paul went swimming to rescue it. It was a strange party. Marilyn is in to making everyone play games instead of just having conversations, so we ended up playing truth or dare. Only the women had played it before. It was weird. We finally de-antagonized it by putting questions in a basket for people to draw. That worked better. It was funny how obedient people were, or at least appeared to be. I lied on questions that were none of any one's damn business. wonder if anyone else did. We ended up spending the night. Paul and Sue had to go home about 11:30 to catch the tide right, and Bob went home about 2:00, but Mark and Suzi and us stayed, all of us spread out on the living room floor. It had been rainy & stormy and we didn't want to go home in the dark. Next day was foggy and cold and sunny. We went to Mark & Suzi's house and then packed up our stuff and came home. It was starting to blow just a little on the way home. The plastic had blown off Rich's workshop skylight and there was rain all over. Rusty tools, rusty stove, wet boards. He put new plastic up and has had a hot fire going since. It's starting to dry out. More rain yesterday afternoon and today.
While we were gone the chickens laid 10 eggs in 4 days and there were 3 this morning.
Oliver & Danny are both being very testy. Time to read some books about parenting again.

1986 was the year we moved back to Oregon. From then on we had Thanksgiving at my parent's house. A few memorable ones, but mostly they all blur together. I was always annoyed about Thanksgiving because Baba insisted that we have it at her house, and everyone had to bring stuff, but when we got there with our contributions she would fuss because we needed counter, stove and oven space. We played games and yelled about politics. One year Andy Day got drunk and lamented the fact that he could have been a professional baseball player. One year Danny brought two girls. One year Oliver got drunk for the very first time and puked all over. One year we drove to Boise. One year we stayed home and Diane and her boyfriend came with Alex and Kristin. The year that Daddy passed away, 1999, was a sad one. And this year is sad as the first year without Baba. The end of an era really. Now we will start new traditions.

We are going to visit at Sue's for awhile, then go over to Phil & Eloise's for dinner. It will be nice to have Thanksgiving with Rich's relatives for a change. Oliver is alone in DC, which makes me feel sad, but I'm sure he is just fine.

So Happy Thanksgiving and love to all my faithful readers. I love you and miss you.

A Sad and Fond Farewell to Plato 1993 - 2007

More geese flew over while I was waiting for Dr. Holveck to get here to look at Plato.

A few days ago, Plato was laying in the shed and wouldn't get up. I noticed that his leg was caught, so we pulled a board off the side of the shed to free him. He still wouldn't get up, even though his leg did not seem injured. He was drinking water, but not eating. I made arrangements for Dr. Holveck to come look at him today. He couldn't get him up either, and said there really wasn't anything he could do that would prolong his life for more than a few days anyway. So I decided it was time to say goodbye.

I had about 15 minutes with him while the doctor went back to get the drugs for the injection. I just scratched him and talked to him. He seemed quite calm, although he still kept trying to get up a little. I'm sure he understood and I don't think he was quite ready. That old sheep was a fighter. The last 2 winters we thought we were going to lose him and he pulled through. When Lota was here one time he was just laying in the shed. She told stupid me that he needed water. I had not been giving him enough. We gave him some and he perked up right away! So maybe now Lota will take of him.

Dr. Holveck was very gentle and Plato went really fast. Now we will bury him out in the field near Aristotle.

Geese

This morning I was sitting in the kitchen reading the news on my laptop. Inside with the door closed, of course. The heat was even on, which is pretty noisy with the fan. All of a sudden I heard a ruckus outside, like there was a big crowd of people in the neighborhood or something. So I put my tea down and opened the back door and went outside to check it out. The noise was really loud and there were dogs barking in the neighborhood. Geese. Thousands of geese flying overhead.

Happy Halloween

For the first time in 31 years I think, we dressed up for Halloween. Went to a party friday night, and put our costumes back on tonight to frolick around the yard a bit.The last time was in 1976, when we were living in the Main Street house in Ketchikan. Our house had a big Halloween party. At least I think that's where it was...
I think I dressed as a prostitute. Rich wore a suit and went as a politician. Terry Gardner, who was our state legislative representative at the time, was at the party. Rich didn't know who he was, and introduced himself as a politician. Funny memories.

So what we wanted to do tonight was get some of the other neighbors to also dress up like skunks (in case you couldn't tell from the photos what we were), and go trick or treating with us at Ken and Vickie's new house. One of the reasons they finally decided to sell their old house was because the summer before they had skunks move in to their crawl space. They had to go to great labor and expense to get rid of the skunks and their lingering odor.

None of our neighbors cooperated with us though, so we remained content to frolick in the yard for a few minutes to take the photos, leave costumes on long enough to see if we got any trick or treaters, which we didn't of course, and eat some spagetti. Exciting times, here.

Happy Halloween!

Something Odd

Monday I had to go to Astoria. I was meeting a co-worker in Carlton so we could ride together. I left home about 7:15 am. When I got to the intersection of Honey Lane and Highway 240, there was a fire truck blocking off 240, and sending traffic down Old Yamhill Rd. As I traveled on Old Yamhill Rd, off to the left I could see that there were about 5 more fire trucks at least along Highway 240. I was able to get back on 240 at the intersection with Tangen Rd.

Whatever this was, it was something major. At first I thought it might be part of the statewide disaster drill that was supposed to be happening this week, but when I got home I looked on every news site I could think of to find information. All the disaster drill stuff wasn't starting until Tuesday. But there was no information about whatever this was, and still there has been nothing.

Just strange.

Catching Up - Our Great Neighborhood

Last Saturday night Ken and Vickie Summers had a housewarming party to celebrate their new house. It was so fun. There were neighbors there we know pretty well, like Daryl and Vonnie, and then people we never even met at all.

There are 3 people in this neighborhood who actually grew up in this very neighborhood. Merle, just around the corner on Honey Lane, Allen, across the street, and Steve, who lives behind us (refer to the pipe bomb scare last summer). Merle said when she was little there was a really mean lady who lived in our house, so they didn't play here.

Paul and Catherine, who live just at the top of the dip on Stan's side of the street, were there. It is always fun to see them, and they brought Catherine's 81 year old mother along. She is going to be moving in with them soon. She is really funny - I'm looking forward to spending more time with her.

What was especially fun was that everyone was giving Ken and Vickie a hard time about actually having a house that is finished! And new, and nice, and not cluttered with junk! Because everyone in our neighborhood is just as bad as we are about finishing projects. Lots of people have rooms without trim, doors without doorknobs, unfinished bathrooms.

There is a new couple with teenage children who just moved into Ken & Vickie's old house, and one of their mother's is living with them also - Ana is her name. She seems nice too.

I think I'll have a tea party.

One neighbor said she had gastric bypass surgery 15 years ago. She used to weigh 320 pounds. Now she weighs about 125. She has kept the weight off all this time. She said the highest she has ever gotten again is 175, but she knows of several people who have gained all their weight back.

Stan and Lori weren't at the party because they were off on a 3 day trip with a group of people in their Model A's or whatever their little old car is. To the gorge or somewhere. And their little dog Shadow just died too. So I won't say anything bad about Shadow. Actually, there was one good thing she did once. One time the goats or sheep or maybe all of them together escaped and they were running around the neighborhood. Shadow actually rounded them up and chased them home. She went just as far as the gate, saw them safely in, and then turned around and went home. So maybe she wasn't all bad.

Sometimes we think about other places we want to live, and paying someone to build us a small, new, finished house. But there is something to be said for living in a neighborhood where everyone is nice, and in 18 years we have had not one problem with any of our neighbors.

Today I picked a peck of peppers and popped them into the freezer.

Catching Up - My Lovely Garden

All summer long I have been, as usual, frantically working in the garden. There is more work to do than I can ever possibly keep up with. On weekend mornings, I get up, put on my grubby clothes, go outside, look around, and then go from one thing to another, rarely feeling like I really get something done, because it is never finished. Occasionally, when we have cleaned up the patio and have guests, and actually sit down and enjoy it, I realize just how nice we have made our back yard. But those times are rare. Usually I see the weeds and the work to be done, rather than how much we have accomplished and what a nice place we have created.

On Saturday morning, a few weeks ago, I did what I usually do. Only this time, I was in the middle of the vegetable garden, and all of a sudden, dramatically, I was struck by how lovely everything was, and I had to stop and just look. I felt elated. I tried to take some pictures of it at the time, but the sun was shining pretty brightly so it was hard to capture.









This is the arbor Rich made for me, leading on to the patio.





And this is my little bed of amazing zinnias that just bloom and bloom and bloom.















And my gorgeous red and orange and yellow peppers!

Uncle Bub comes to visit

Back a few months ago, I was talking to Rich's brother Bub on the phone. He mentioned that he wanted to come out to Oregon some time, that he had turned 65 and had never seen the ocean. So Rich and I got him a ticket, and here he is. He arrived late Saturday night. This was after a near catastrophe when he called Wednesday or Thursday last week because he didn't have anyone to take care of his dog, Dickhead. He and Rich ended the conversation with Rich promising to check with the airline to see about bringing Dickhead along. Instead, happily, Sharon arranged for a kennel at a very reasonable daily rate. Reports from the kennel are that they love Dickhead, and are treating him like a member of the family.

So Sunday we hung out at home. I was busy making tomato sauce and salsa. Sent Bub and Rich to New Seasons to buy lemon and lime juice for the salsa at one point. Bub was very intrigued by the high prices at New Seasons and wants to go back to take pictures of the meat case. Rich is going to take him to Whole Foods instead, which is much worse. My sister came out to join us, and we barbecued the fresh Wisconsin brauts that Bub brought with him. During all this time, Danny was in the process of moving out, to a house he is sharing with some other people in N. Portland.

Bub had promised to stop smoking before he came, because he knew I wouldn't allow him to smoke here. He ended up not getting acupuncture, unfortunately. Instead, he got some patches. Put one on on Sunday, but it made him a little nauseous. And he was still smoking. So by 10:00 at night, instead of being asleep, he was wired from all that nicotine. I gave him some Calms and then I went to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, he stubbed his toe on a table in Oliver's room, where he is sleeping, because Danny had shuffled some stuff around while moving.

Monday we went to the beach, so Bub could see the ocean. We stopped first at Lincoln City, which is the first beach we come to when we take the road directly west to the coast from Newberg. The weather forecast promised 80 degree weather, but as is often the case when it is really hot in the valley (in the 90's), the fog hangs in over the beach and never quite burns off. So he could see the ocean, but could not see very far out into the ocean. After a brief stop in Lincoln City, we headed south, hoping for better weather. We stopped at Depoe Bay and Devil's Punch Bowl, then went to Newport.
We stopped at Yaquna Head Lighthouse, which was pretty cool, but because of the fog could not see much. We were hoping to see some whales. Then we had lunch at the original Mo's on the waterfront in Newport, and then decided to head back north as it just seemed to be getting foggier the further south we went. We went on past Lincoln City, and finally about 4:00 in the afternoon stopped at Neskowin, where the sun was actually shining on the beach, with the fog hovering just a little ways off. We stayed there for a couple hours, so he at least got to experience the beach. But neither he nor Rich wanted to even walk down to the water. Bub's toe was hurting him, and Rich's ankle is still bothering him.

On the way home, we had dinner at the Rooftop Bar at McMenamin's Hotel Oregon.

Tuesday we took it slow in the morning, then took the kayaks down to the boat dock in Newberg on the Willamette. We had a little picnic first with crackers and Wisconsin cheese, and Bub was drinking pop instead of beer.

He was also wearing shorts for the first time in 25 years. I had to get a little sunscreen for his legs from some other boaters - didn't want to add first degree sunburn to his little list of ailments! He was very cute.

All the photos of the beach and kayaking are on my public album in Picasa.





Bub ventured out a little and paddled around, so got to experience kayaking.















I think we're going to try another trip to the beach later in the week, and combine it with some kayaking, maybe in the little river at Seaside. We'll see how it goes...

This morning I sent the two of them off to Yamhill to get a load of mushroom compost for me. Then they are going to tour around Yamhill County while I stay home and work in the garden and do more tomatoes.

Drunk Robins

We didn't get a picture of them. Too bad. Last night we ate dinner out on the patio. Then I went over to pick a few grapes. Some had dropped on the ground, and there was a robin at the edge of the patio eating them. I stomped my foot at it, and it hardly moved. Sort of hopped into the garden a little. Then I picked up some of the grapes that had fallen to the ground and threw them out in the yard. A little later Rich came into the house and commented that the robins were all over the blueberries. (Blueberries have been pretty much done for a few weeks now, and he had taken down the bird netting.) Then he went out a little later and the robins were out in the middle of the yard. A whole bunch of them. Just sort of staggering around in a sort of stupefied daze. They were drunk from the blueberries. We were going to take a picture of them tonight, but there aren't any out there. The orange cat from next door was wandering around in their midst last night, and it didn't even phase them. I wonder what happened to them?

Summer in Newberg

This weekend was one of work and play. The tomatoes are starting to ripen just enough every few days to make a batch of sauce. Friday I stayed home and made and canned one big batch - 7 jars I think half liters. I also pickled and canned the rest of the beets. 12 jars. That was a lot of work!

Saturday I made 3 hypertufa pots and had a birthday party, drank piña coladas and ate salmon. And Rich is making my arbor off the back patio for my birthday present. Pictures to follow when it is done.

Today I made 2 more pots, and another batch of sauce. We picked some corn and beans from the wild and crazy 3 Sisters Garden, and froze them.

We saw this blurry little frog while we were trying to find the beans...

Also picked some wild blackberries to freeze.

The cat loves Baba's chair, except there are some books in her way. Cats always love that chair.

New Residents in the Neighborhood

When we got home from wine tasting today with Hope and Sue, I was working on our new Three Sisters garden. Rich was wandering around the yard, thinking about where to put a new sheep/goat/chicken house, and noticed a new little home behind the big storage tent.


When we had our garage sale a couple weeks ago, a beekeeper guy came by and asked if it would be okay if he put a hive on our property. He and Rich walked around and figured out a good location, and he said he would bring it by some day soon. So he must have come while we were out. Very exciting! He is going to give us some of the honey, and teach Rich how to manage a hive. So someday we'll get our own bees.

Also, while I was working in the garden, the blue jays were flying around and making lots of noise, so Rich got Daryl's BB gun again, and this time, he got one. Shot it right out of a tree!

A Contest

What I didn't tell you with the blue jay story, because I think I already told someone in an email, and it was a lot to write, was that after he knocked the nest down, he put the 3 babies in one of the live traps and put it over by the blueberries, thinking maybe he could catch the parents by using the babies as bait. But instead, the babies wandered out of the trap and wandered off. Then all the other stuff happened with the BB gun and all, and he forgot about the trap sitting over by the blueberries.

Meanwhile, something has been living under the sheep/goat house, and digging out underneath. We didn't think it was skunks this time, because there was not even a faint odor.

So when I got home from my weight training class tuesday evening, this conversation occurred:
Rich: I have to tell you something, but I don't want to because I'm afraid you'll put it in your blog
Me: Tell me! I won't put it in my blog.
Rich: I don't want those Washington liberal elites to make fun of me.
Me: Just tell me, I won't put it in my blog.

And so I didn't. But I have given you a few clues. So you guess. Make up a story.

Something You Don't See at Our House Very Often

Rich is hunting bluejays. With Darryl's BB gun. He tried getting rid of them by knocking their nest out of the camelia bush and turning the babies loose to fend for themselves, hoping the neighbor cats would eat them. (Our cat is afraid to come out of the house because they have been dive-bombing her and even trying to follow her into the house.) But at least one of the babies survived and now the parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents are all flying around and squawking. He missed. Made them nervous though.

It is STILL cold here. Yesterday we had a garage/plant sale. We sat outside all day and froze. It was cloudy and windy and below 60 degrees. Every once in awhile the sun would come out and we would warm up for like 2 seconds, and then it would disappear again. Sold a lot of plants though. Not too much other stuff.

Today I planted 14 tomato plants and a tomatillo. Still have at least 2 tomatoes to plant. Going to make much more of that wonderful sauce that we have been eating all winter. Four varieties of paste/sauce tomatoes. So I'm going to try some different recipes to have some variety in sauces. Mmmm.

Forget-Me-Not --- In Memory of Baba

Every year, about this time, the forget-me-nots start blooming in my garden. They provide a beautiful blanket of color until I get things cleaned up and the later plants start blooming.

My mother, Dorothy Decima Barclay Zimmerman, (better known by her family as Baba) passed away on March 14. She died peacefully in her sleep. She was 89 years old, and she lived a long and happy life. She got to live long enough to get to know 4 great grandchildren.

My mother had lots of hobbies and interests. She loved collecting stuff, and her house was full of interesting things that she collected from all over the world, as traveling was another love. I think the fun for her was as much in the adventure of hunting for bargains as it was in having the stuff. Everything she had held some sort of fun memory for her - either a trip to some place at the far ends of the earth, such as Antarctica or Mongolia, or just a fun afternoon "junquing" with her friends. (She liked to call her stuff "junque" instead of "junk".)

She also loved decorative painting, and has left behind many beautiful pieces of painted furniture and smaller items. I think she started paint class when I was in high school 40 years ago, and she has been doing it ever since. She was an incredibly talented woman.

And finally, she loved gardening, and she was very very good at it. Many of the plants my siblings and I have growing in our yards came from Baba, as she always had plenty of things to share from cuttings and dividing. But almost everything that came from Baba came with some forget-me-nots, hidden away in the soil, waiting for the middle of March to appear again.

Every year I love seeing them come up and start blooming. Even though they are profuse, they are not invasive, and after they are done blooming they are easy to pull out. And even though I pull most of them out, they always come back the next year.

What a gift! So now, truly, they have meaning. They will always say to me, from Baba, "forget me not!" How could I?

Seedlings!

Baby asparagus, baby tomatoes, and a cat who discovered the heating cable in the greenhouse!
Finally things are warming up and coming up and the weather is maybe clearing up!

Complaining

A little lesson from the comics:




For me. I was lecturing my mother on a similar topic yesterday. She should not be driving and she has the means to hire a town car every time she needs to go somewhere, and to sit back and relax and let them do the driving. And yet she complains because it is hard to make the phone call to order the town car. Life should be so hard for everyone in the world. I've been whining a lot lately too.

It is cold in Newberg

Hardly warms up to 32 during the day. Have to take hot water out to the sheep. Had to build a plastic wanagan around the washing machine on the back porch, and put a heater in there to thaw it out enough to use.

Recovering slowly from our vacation to Peru. Have pictures to post soon when they are organized. Hard to not be on vacation anymore. It was warm there. Just right warm. Not too hot. Cool breezes at night.

But someone is bugging me to post. So I am.