Kind of catching up.......

Following the reunion, we felt the need to "get away" We had no destination in mind, really, just headed East, out of Prineville into the Ochocos. Nice weather, looking to see some new territory. And, we did. Good thing it was a nice, sunny day. We covered a lot of territory - probably passed up a few better camp sites, but finally ended up in a small USFS campground along the Crooked River near the headwaters. No fish, unfortunately. But it was relaxing. Abbey really enjoyed being out - she got to sit for hours at the base of pine trees waiting for the chipmonks to reappear! There was a group camped at the other end of the place, I went down to pay and had Abbey with me. I went over to talk to 3 women who were sitting around, they had a couple of dogs - I asked if they were friendly, then took Abbey over to meet them - she and one of the other dogs did the growly thing with their tails wagging - I wasn't worried, but the lady freaked out and said "get her away - I don't want a fight". Now, if you know Abbey, you know she's not a fighter - the dogs were just talking. But, I took her away and went back to our end of the campground and never went walking back there again!
Dean and I both got a lot of reading done. And our new solar panels worked great for charging the batteries so Dean could use his breathing machine at night. When it got dark, we could still stay up reading, too!
Dean spent a lot of time working on his carving, too. I took this photo to send in to Deschutes for their website where they post photos of people, in mostly exotic places, with their brew.
Here are a couple of his boots - his carving specialty.When we returned home, Dean headed for his workshop and I haven't seen him much since. He and his brother, Larry, are going to have tables at a couple of bazaars - trying to makes a few extra $$$. I will post more photos of Dean's work, but here are a few of his things.



This table full has grown a lot since I took this photo. More to come.

Dona Nobis Pacem

The Flory Family Reunion

Much of Dean's family gathered over the long Labor Day weekend for the first time in many, many years. 3 of his 4 siblings and the children and grandchildren of 2 of them were able to come. Much time was spent just hanging around and catching up. The house wasn't big enough for everyone, so we had people in tents, in our trailer, in the loft. We were crowded, but we had fun!!

L to R are Amanda, Jeremy, husband of Tamara who is holding little Maggie, Karen, mother of Amanda, Tamara and Matthew, Shannon, Bonnie, the youngster of the family, Karen's friend, Nora, and Matthew.A lot of time was spent watching the babies do cute baby things!
Here is Tamara and Maggie
and Karen doing Grandma duties with Mattu - his name is really Matthew, like his father's, but he's been nick named Mattu...... or Matt 2
More chatting - Dean, Karen holding Mattu, Matthew's wife, Amy, Matthew taking photos, and Shannon
Amanda's husband Nathan picked some or our fresh hops to take back to a brewer friend
This is Gary, Dean's middle son, who was able to spend the weekend with us. Unfortunately, his wife Teresa couldn't make it because she was taking care of Gary's mother, Dianne who recently had a stroke. Gary is a long haul trucker and was able to get a load to Bend so he could be with us. Also in the photo is Gary's buddy, Charlie, who keeps him company. A really sweet dog.
Another "sitting around" photo. Too bad it's not closer. Clockwise from lower left is Dean's granddaughter and Gary's daughter, Nikki, Karen, Bonnie, Larry and Carol, their granddaughter Cassie, her mother, Angie, and her husband, Martin, Dean, Nora, and Amanda.
Little Mattu held his bottle all by himself for the first time, so I had to document the occasion!!
Tamara, Karen, Dean and Matthew are going through a box of old family photos and momentos
Maggie is such a happy little girl - she was always smiling!
Proud Daddy Matthew
Amy and Matthew - and little Mattu, barely visible
Tamara and Maggie
Carol, Larry, Cassie, Angie, Martin, Dean, and Nora
Grandma Karen and Mattu

Great uncle Larry had to hang out with Mattu, too!
We all had a great weekend - sorry that everyone couldn't be here, but you just can't come up with a date that fits for all. Maybe next time!

OK - here goes!!!

Obviously, I haven't posted in quite a while.
Understatement.
That said, you, dear reader/s, will understand if it takes more than one post to catch up.
Right?
Chronologically, I will begin with the double rainbow - and, yes, it really did look just like this!
This was the view to the S/SE from the deck.
We had some pretty strange weather all summer. Monster wind storms that laid the corn out horizontally, gully washers, then drought for, like, 3 months.
During the drought period, we had some gravel delivered and Phil, from down the street, spread and compacted it for us. Dean, on one of those 100º+ days, sat supervising, while Phil works. Of course, we paid him for his efforts.
One of the highlights of the summer was the arrival of The Divine Ms K - aka Kerrita. Haven't seen her in a few years since she abandoned us and went east - to teach - college kids......
K and I shared in the experience of accompanying 11 of our church's teens to Tennessee for a combination world wide gathering of youth and mission trip to the "hollers". We had fun. I think the kids did, too!
Anyway, we didn't have much time to catch up properly, but we did have a good time! Here she is, loving our little piece of heaven, overlooking the Deschutes River. Don't tell her I said so, but I really think she wants to come back to this area...
The next big, fun event of the summer (well, actually, the END of summer.....) was our camping trip with some special ranch friends to Hosmer Lake. Here is Kymberli, Gloria, and Larry.And Dean, Gloria, and LarryWe ate well on this trip. Really well.
I wish I had taken photos of Kymberli and Jim's solar oven. We had part of our main meal each day from their oven. Amazing! Cod in a yummy lemongrass concoction, quinoa with herbs and stuff, blackeyed peas. Yummy.
We did not go hungry. Believe me!!
Here's Gloria preparing the salmon for the fire - under the supervision of chef Jim
Sitting around the fire - waiting.... Kymberli (probably checking on Kona, their dog...), Jim, Larry P, Gloria, Carol and Larry - Dean's brother and wife came up to join us. Speaking of dogs, we had 3 who had never met before and they got along wonderfully. The "older" dogs, Abbey and Luke (Gloria's border collie) were quite tolerant of the puppy - Kona. They all were well mannered.Veggie kabobs and salmon......... Can't you just smell it cooking??More veggies in the cast iron skillet - never too many veggies!
The satisfied group. I took several photos - you know how groups are? Someone is always looking away, closed their eyes, something! This was the best of the bunch.
Dean fed the camp robbers - as if they needed it. He was just having fun.

Abbey spent much of her time chasing the chipmunks - we don't worry that she would ever catch one, though! She thinks she has one treed - the monk thinks it has outsmarted Abbey - guess who was right?
A weekend of food, games and a bit of wine...
Poor Gloria - she had to leave early because she got a phone call that guests she was expecting were arriving early....... She hated to go - we hated to see her go
So, we just spent the last day sitting around drinking our woes away......
Not really.
But it was a great photo of Larry - staged, can you tell????

We went kayaking, introduced Kymberli and Jim to inflatables - couldn't get them out! Jim tried to catch one of those huge Atlantic Salmon - only place in the Western US where they're found - but it's the wrong time of year to catch much of anything.
We went hiking, Larry P went hiking - farther - and bicycling, we had some fantastic conversations, learned to play some new games.
We had a great trip. Of course. Great scenery, great food, GREAT company.
Hosmer Lake with Mt Bachelor in the background

My BAD!

Blogging is hard work. I used to know that. But lately, I haven't been very good, have I?
Things have been uber busy around here. We did a comping long weekend with friends before the final push for Dean's family reunion which was here at our house over Labor Day weekend. More prep work than either of us anticipated. Next time, it will be a camping weekend!!
I've also gotten myself involved in a few rather time consuming activities, one of which is being the secretary for our Lions Club. So, long story short - I just haven't taken the time to get my photos ready to post. But I will. Really, I will. Within days. Really!

Cooler?

I know it is supposed to be cooler in the Portland/Vancouver area today, and I am happy for them - although when it gets above 90º it is just HOT! Here, however, it doesn't seem to be "cooling down" yet. There were some big thunderheads last night, but nothing materialized - thank goodness. The fire season could be horrible this year!

I had the most fun this past weekend! I got to go on a camp out with a bunch of adult Girl Scouts!
Here are a few photos that show the fun we had!

Janet and Nancy
Nikki, Barb, and Marian trying to keep out of the sun!
We spent a good deal of time on Saturday sitting with our feet in the kiddie pool - which was filled with water balloons - for water fights and for the balloon toss. No one minded getting wet!
Especially our hostess - Ginger - who found her own way of cooling off.
She filled her hat with water and really felt good!
Cooking was all done outdoors - in Girl Scout tradition. Good food, good fun, good company!
Mary and Barb are making pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning.
Did I say good food? Saturday dinner also included salmon. Yum! Breakfast was a casserole and muffins, both cooked in dutch ovens. Also eggs, fruit, and more.
You really can't tell, but Janet is attempting to play badminton. Nice form! Big tourney!Fran and Janet in the shade. Denise crawled into her sleeping bad inside out and folded in half the wrong way..........
Ginger's yard is wonderful and full of surprises. An imaginative way to use her fruit tree prunings and old wine bottles.More wine bottles used as a garden border.
We learned how to make leaf castings from Pat. She demo'd and I was so taken that I have already attempted one at home. This is one of Pat's leaves - beautiful, isn't it?
On to another subject. A few people have asked about the progress on Shannon's "cabin". It is pretty much finished and he is enjoying having his own "space" although it has been incredibly hot out there the past few days.
This is his vanity/kitchen combo area.
The garden is doing well in the heat - here are the gourds - climbing up on the deck. I hope we get a few different gourds this year - they may have been planted too late.
This is the largest lavender I had seen - until I saw Ginger's.
The hops have outgrown the strings we put up for them to climb on. I'm going to try to make some hop infused hummus like they have at Deschutes pub in Bend.
A closer photo of the hop buds. It's our first experience with hops - we'll see!