It SNOWED!!

I am pretty sure I am glad about it. It snowed pretty much all day, but it was the really light, floaty (is that a word?) stuff. And the "breeze" was blowing, so it's hard to tell how much we have. But it's sure purty to look at.
I remember when I was a kid in Vancouver (Washington, not Canada, not DC...) we had a good snowfall every winter. Schools were never closed or on 2 hour late schedule, things just operated like normal. We kids just bundled up and played outside like we always did. No video games or computers back then, and we didn't even have a TV.
The exception was one winter when we were living near Fern Prairie (it was really in the country back then) and it was the winter after my father died. It was my mother, my sister, who was less than a year old, and I had just turned 5. It had snowed a couple of feet - really!! We had no way to get anywhere and all I can recall is my mother pulling us in a sled to a neighbor's house and how deep the snow was. Remember those old sleds that looked like a wooden box on runners? Or maybe it WAS a wooden box on runners! I just remember that for me it was an adventure, but I doubt if that was what my mother was feeling. After that winter, we moved to town.
This year, with the bitter cold here and unusually cold in the valley area, there are a lot of people who are homeless. And more families than ever before. Unemployment is HUGE and there are people who have never before experienced homelessness. Please think of them when you go Christmas shopping this year. When you can't decide what to get someone because they have everything under the sun, buy something for a stranger. Take toys to your local fire department, clothing and blankets to the shelters, food to the various food banks. I know you can think of something better to do with your money than get someone a toaster that also poaches eggs, or some other gimmick.
Just a thought...........

Yep, I know...

I'm not too good at regular posting. Been kinda busy with gift making since I'm not too flush with $$$ lately :(
I'm not going to spell out what I've been making, but just sayin' - some folks will be surprised!
Weather is going to turn nasty, it looks like. We're supposed to have temps in the single digits by Sunday and a bit of snow, too. If you go back to my earlier posts, you'll see that we were living in a tent trailer while building our house - the upcoming weather sounds very much like what we went through then. It's about time, is all I say. I've been waiting for a snow that I could enjoy!! Went out and got snowshoes after the "big one" and haven't been able to use them yet! Maybe next week, huh!
Well, it's snowing now, so maybe I'll have some fresh photos tomorrow. Until then, I'll just prop my chin on my pillow and look out the window. I'm a sucker for a good snow storm. When my nephew was little, we used to call each other and compare snow depths - we only lived a few miles apart in the foothills, so got more than town did. Now, he's all grown up, has his own home, and I moved 150 miles away. Maybe if he reads this he'll call me tomorrow to see how deep our snow is...........

What Colors Are You?

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

This is amazingly accurate. Thanks to Lori for posting this first.

For My Politically Correct Friends:

"Please accept with no obligation, explicit or implied, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher."

For the rest of you:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy Solstice

In remembrance and honor of all our friends who have been or are victims of AIDS.

Turkey day was FANTASTIC!

We hope that everyone had a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving with family and/or good friends, as we did.
We used a new turkey recipe, so thought I would share - it came out soooo good!
We brined it in salt/brown sugar water for about 24 hours - sat it out in the garage - it has been cold enough here! Then, I rubbed it all over with melted butter/olive oil, we placed it breast down in the rack, covered it with a tent of foil and put about 3 cups of chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. I cooked it at 400º for the first 45 minutes, then turned it down till done. Basted it several times with the liquid in the pan. It was super juicy and the taste was amazing!
The only "problem" we had - was the broken leg. The turkey's, that is....... If you notice in the photo above, the lower right corner - the meat is particularly dark - that is the broken leg. We couldn't use any of the meat in that area - the pan we put the turkey in to carve it - well, TMI, so I will stop there.........
Below, Janet is pouring the water. Dean made the nice turkey cut-outs. It was Larry's birthday, so that is a card on his plate.
The happy group - trying to eat while I was trying to take a picture. L to R - Janet, Jim, Dean, Larry, and Carol. The empty chair is mine :)
Janet and Jim are sad that their kids are not with them for Thanksgiving (and so were we.....) Denise was home in Chehalis, and Jimbo was with his uncle's family in Hurricane, Utah (Jimbo now lives in Las Vegas)We were lucky enough to experience a beautiful sunset, too. Another beautiful Central Oregon day!

Thanksgiving

Pablo Neruda's poem "The Great Tablecloth" gives us a hint of what this celebration may one day look like....

Let us sit down soon to eat
with all those who haven't eaten:
let us spread great tablecloths,
put salt in the lakes of the world,
set up planetary bakeries,
tables with strawberries in snow
and a plate like the moon itself
from which we can all eat...


BRIEFLY IT ENTERS, AND BRIEFLY SPEAKS
Jane Kenyon

I am the blossom pressed in a book,
found again after two hundred years....

I am the maker, the lover, and the keeper....

When the young girl who starves
sits down to a table
she will sit beside me....

I am food on the prisoner's plate....

I am water rushing to the well-head,
filling the pitcher until it spills....

"Dreaming of gardens is something that always elevates my mood.
A single green sprouting thing
would restore me...."

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

~Author Unknown