Holidays

The weather has been cooler, making for some lovely ice formations

and we've been enjoying spectacular sunsets as well here in Central Oregon.

Thanksgiving was a blast, with headdresses, placemats and napkin rings by Stevie,



No pilgrims in our house, my conservative friends will be shocked to discover.


and delicious victuals by Andi and me.



The obligatory Desilets sausage rolls.



Yesterday we watched the Civil War (Go Ducks!) and decorated the house for Christmas,

and last night was the Redmond Starlight Christmas parade.  It wasn't too cold so we had a terrific time watching the floats and the people go by.



Andi and Molly.





A five-year-old giant next to Stevie.



Christmas llamas.




Stevie quickly learned that the more you wave, the more candy you have thrown at you.



While we didn't wait around for Santa (these small town parades are loooooong), it was a great time nonetheless, and we returned home happy and tired!

Ted and I are off to Orlando this week for my first visit to DisneyWorld.  Happy holidays, everyone!

Memories from the Road

Andi, Stevie and I recently took a road trip to Las Vegas for my niece Danielle's wedding.  Here are some highlights....

Stevie:  [Half a mile from the driveway]  AAAAAA!  WE FORGOT HOCUS POCUS!  AAAAAAAA!
[I turned around, returned home and Stevie ran into the house to get the movie for her portable DVD player.]

Ted on the phone:  [Half a mile again from the driveway]  Honey, you forgot your camera!
Me:  I don't need no stinkin' camera.....
(BTW, it was 12 degrees F when we left)

* * * *

Stevie: [At the Agricultural Checkpoint on the California border near Alturas]  Grandma, why are we stopping?
Me:  Well, honey, California is one of the largest food producing states in the country, so they need to protect their crops from pests like the Mediterranean Fruit Fly which almost decimated their food industry --
Stevie [interrupting]:  Are you talking to me?

* * * *

Stevie:  [After announcing she had to go to the bathroom]  I want to wait for a rest stop.
Me:  Stevie, we're pretty far away from the nearest rest stop.  You're going to have to learn to go in the desert.
Stevie:  I can hold it!
[Andi and I explain to Stevie that it's something she's going to have to learn how to do at some time, since there isn't always a toilet around.  I pull over and Andi shows Stevie how it's done, handing her some toilet paper to use.  Andi instructed her to dispose properly of the toilet paper, at which point Stevie tosses it in the air like a kite, and the breeze threatens to blow it back into the car.]
Andi and Me:  AAAAAAAAAA!

* * * *

Andi and Me: [Generally discussing the fact we are overweight and how hard it is to lose pounds]
Stevie:  Can I have a Tic Tac, Grandma?
Me:  Sure, honey.  But don't have too many or you'll get a bellyache.
[Andi and I continue on the subject of our excess weight.]
Stevie:  You're not fat, Grandma, you're thin.
Me:  [Pause]  Have the whole pack of Tic Tacs, sweetie.

* * * *

Stevie:  Mommy, my tummy hurts. 
[Andi lays back her seat so she and Stevie can cuddle].
Stevie:  [50 miles later] Mommy, my head hurts.
[Andi again lays back her seat to hug Stevie].
Me: [Later, after another complaint] Sweetheart, if you want your mommy to lay back her seat so you can hug her, just say so.  I'm starting to wonder if you need to go to a doctor and get an examination!
[Pause]
Stevie:  Mommy, I'm having chest pains.

* * * *

I have to say, considering how long that poor little girl was stuck in the backseat of a Prius, she was so good that Santa should use her for an example of "nice."  While I'm not ready for another road trip any time soon, this one was a lot more entertaining than many!

Happy Nevada Day - er, Halloween - everyone!

The Joys of Summer

It's the second day of autumn already, and we're supposed to experience a 20-degree swing in temperatures tomorrow.  I remember how LOOOOOONG winter seemed to drag on (well into what I would otherwise have termed "spring") and so I want to take this chance to reflect on the joys of this past summer, which I have, until now, failed to share.  What a fabulous summer it has been.

I was once again put "in charge" of the beautification committee for the front of our subdivision.  Actually I AM the committee.  You may recall from earlier blogs that I started a bunch of zinnias from seed to plant out front.  Well, they were tiny when I put them out, and they stayed tiny for quite a while.  I gave it up as a failed experiment, when everything just burst into bloom:

My Facebook friends will remember the great pics I posted of the tomato canning session with my sister, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the internet.  Here are a few more, of me in her plot at the community garden, and of our canning session:

These grapes tasted just like grape Kool-Aid.

And who could forget this little gem on a sidestreet near She's garden:

That's right.  A stretch Prius.

We had some lovely dinners as well, and this fantastic pinot at one of them.  I'm posting a picture because I really don't like pinot (a handicap for one living in Oregon) but this one was exceptional.  Many thanks, She and She's husband!

I also had the chance to see She on one of her two rather fine horses, and learned that there is more to dressage than sitting on a horse tapping your heels against their flanks.  I learned this  because her trainer never stopped shouting out crazy commands, like "right hip down" and "left thigh out."  Does a horse really feel that through a saddle and all?

When driving home from She's city, with a nice box of home-canned tomatoes in the backseat, and a belly full of tomatoes (in more ways than one), I laughed aloud when I passed a convoy of these:

My own tomatoes are ripening sloooooowly, but I'm getting two Black Crims and plenty of Green Zebras a day.  When it threatens to freeze, we run out and cover everything. We have the added security of Walls of Water in the beds, but even those won't keep things going for much longer when the cold weather comes.

She also came to visit us here in Oregon, and joined me on my morning walks with the neighbor ladies.  Of course, we had to wear our competing NFC North gear.  Ignore the "Champion" part on her shirt.....  I love her anyway. 

She found a pick your own potato patch, and we visited it with Stevie.  We had a great time.

Ted and I went to see A Prairie Home Companion's summer of Love tour in Bend, and it was one of the best concerts ever.

At intermission, Garrison and and female singer (lead singer of the Wailin' Jennys - can't think of her name) walked through the crowed singing whatever tune came to mind.  It was fantastic, and all the people in my neighborhood loved it.

All in all, it's been a beautiful summer of love!

It's Not Easy

A Day at the Fair (with moooving pictures)

But first, another outdoor concert in Redmond!  Judy and I this time, and it was another beautiful evening with good food, good wine and good friends.

More people in my neighborhood

Including this tiny genius - GO VIKES!

And these two sitting next to us in the shade

Again, the band stunk but I'm taking a lesson from the locals - enjoy the beautiful weather and company.  It's nice just to be outside on an August night without melting in 117 degree heat.

The next day Ted and I were off to the Deschutes County Fair!  We had a great time!

Part of the fairgrounds as viewed from the Ferris Wheel

And another part

Ted as viewed from the Ferris Wheel - what a good sport!

You get the idea - I dig the Ferris Wheel.

Thence off to the livestock competitions.  I never thought I'd have so much fun looking at 4H and FFA exhibits, but it's a blast.  Bunnies,

This is a bunny being blow-dried.  Lordy.

and chickens,

goats,

and my personal favorite, this guy from the Jersey Shore.

We even saw baby longhorn cattle,

and the place where the insurance defense lawyers were meeting.

One of the highlights was watching a dog water leap practice (if there's an actual name for this, I do not know it).  The dog you are about to see first ran to the end of the ramp (without his owner), dropped the retrieving dummy in HIMSELF, then jumped in after it.  Ted and I predicted a quick elimination for that pup, but once his owner got up there, he was poetry in motion. 

Well, darn.  I can't load an avi file.  That's a shame because he was AWESOME!

All in all, it was a wonderful day, one I wish we could have shared with our loved ones.  Maybe next year!