Friday

Woke up to some bad news....Uncle Bill passed away in his sleep. I talked with Aunt Venita and she sounded so tired and sad. He was such a kind person, always willing to show his affection and loved to tease us kids. I am thankful Jord and I got to see him at Aunt Mahallie's funeral. It was a little of a shock, he looked so good at the funeral. So, we will be going to Prosser probably Monday, maybe sooner if Jord gets to feeling better. I guess Marty/Kim are going to try and make the trip to the wedding.....they still sound awful....oh....that means we are taking care of the goats...forgot all about that! Wish the cold would go away....I'm ready for the heat!

Tuesday

It was a nice relaxing 3 day weekend at the Wilson's. Creston and Kat were bored! I'm chuckling because we have been going non-stop for weeks now and you would think they would appreciate a weekend home with no commitments....but no....being home means cleaning house. I did go with Kim to the Fat Quarter sale and picked up a few groceries before coming home. While waiting on Kim at Walmart, I managed to talk to Cynthia for quite a while and then called Janice. Jim called also to see if they needed to plan a trip to Spokane for State Basketball. Janice sounded good....she has three weeks to go. Michael has been putting the finishing touches on the baby's room. I'm looking at the summer calendar and its filling up fast with baseball,softball, and two family reunions....I'm penciling in lake time like its a major holiday. If I don't, then I won't get time at the lake!!!! Went up to visit Mom/Dad on Sunday night and they were gone to Conn/Nancy's....we did enjoy Jan and Pet and Pet's cobbler.

Winter is coming

It is suppose to be in the teens by Friday. I'm so looking forward to the cold. I know it is still February, the coldest month of the year, but I'm ready to get outside and work. A wee-bit of cabin fever. I started getting a dry cough on Saturday, it got worse on Sunday and Monday, and now I'm congested again, headache, and generally feel awful. I have caught everything that has come down the line. I'm very thankful I'm not as sick as Lance has been.

Kate and I did get out for a walk yesterday evening.

Coupons

I know, I am way behind the curve here, but I have some coupon questions. I had been getting Purina coupons through the Poultry Press. Buy 6 bags of feed get $15 off. That's a good deal. Sometimes it was buy 3 get $5 off. This last month was insulting. I can't remember for sure, but it was like buy a bag for $2 off. They finally set up a rewards program. Whatever that is, the reward is they send out a newsletter and tell you to use Purina feed. So last month they were going to send out coupons, and didn't. So this month they say that they are going to send them out through Coupons.com to save money. I guess like the "recyclable" plastic bags they've changed to. The closest recyclers for that type of plastic is in Minnesota (possibly a small exaggeration.) I assume that Purina will notify me when they are available. If they don't give me a little incentive to be loyal, I'm going to take my business to Walmart, and send my money to Arkansas.

I'm not much of a coupon clipper, but this site seemed pretty straightforward and simple. So, my coupon-clipping-kin, where do you clip?

jlw

Silver Snow

As soon as the snow stopped yesterday, I put plastic bags over my socks, donned my tennis shoes, and leashed Bandit. Out we went into the silver wonderland of the Okanogan polder. (Did you know that don, like to don one's clothes comes from the contraction do on. That would make doff, like to doff your hat, or doff your silly ideas, come from the contraction do off. Ah, you learned something didn't you.)


The light was incredible on Castle Rock, but I just couldn't capture it.

Sunlight lighting up Harmony Heights.

Fresh snow makes reds and golds pop.

High contrast.

Lower contrast and more color

An all new level of ominous elms.

For five minutes an opening in the clouds hit the sloughs, and the snow turned to dripping crystals. A 180 snaps, and this is the best I had.

I just can't resist this shot

Silvery light highlighting the willows.

Ooo, here it is again. It looks as if I have messed with the color, but most all of my pictures are simply "auto-enhanced" nothing more.
The light changed a dozen times in the span of an hour. It started silver, warmed briefly from splinters through the clouds, and then fell into rich blues.

These little duck panoramas are hard to see, but they are actually quite rich in colors.

The clouds veil the lower valley and bring the focal point up to the peninsula.

The snow has just stopped, the world is silver.

Silver, silver, silver.
I find these trees so compelling, and yet so difficult to photograph.


Enjoy

You got to love Oklahoma

It is no wonder plants generally do not grow well in Oklahoma! They gotta be tough.

Copied from the original Yahoo News

Residents in the Northern Oklahoma town of Nowata experienced a stunning 100-degree shift in the weather this week after a cold front brought temperatures down to a record-setting -31 degrees.

Today, it's a balmy 72 degrees in Nowata. Yesterday, it reached 79 degrees.

"Isn't it crazy? I love it," Nowata resident Julie Koupe told local channel News on 6.

On Feb. 10, it was slightly colder in the region than it was on the South Pole, notes Tulsa World writer Cary Aspinall. More than 3,000 Nowata homes lost power and residents spent the next few days digging their cars and homes out of the snow. There was so much snow in Tulsa last week that city officials began debating provisional plans to truck it out of town.

On Thursday, the 79 degree weather tied for the warmest Feb. 17 since 1907.

Climate scientists note that extreme swings in weather are associated with the gradual warming of the earth's climate. And the Oklahoma Climatological Survey has verified that the state's average temperature readings have been trending upward, with some year-to-year variations, since the late 1980s. You can read the survey's findings and recommendations here (pdf).

But broader climate trends notwithstanding, Oklahoma has long been known for its unpredictable weather. The local saying (attributed to Will Rogers) goes, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait five minutes." This time, Oklahomans had to wait a week.

Ball game

Well, after Wednesday night games....I told Jord that he couldn't sit next to Gideon anymore because Jord gets too excited. He didn't even have a voice after the game. Actually, I was giving him a hard time because he is forever patting my leg telling me to calm down. And it gets my goat!!! So, now he can't say anything and he definately can't pat my leg because he was MUCH worse than I ever thought about being. Ha Ha. Can you believe its snowing today?? I just commented that I was ready for Spring and Basebball/Softball. I'm going to have a hard time keeping Kat focused....she's dreaming of white beaches and palm trees.

The World is Blue

I took the camera yesterday on my walk. I had a pretty good headache all day so I thought I would just take it easy. While walking, I met a miner from Canada looking for the old fort site. I showed him where it would have been out in the river. He said he has found quite a few remote forts in Canada. It was a beautiful day, unlike the ugliness that is coming down this morning.

Take your last look, were headed home.

The Redtwig Dogwood was so bright. The sap must be pushing.

Isn't that blue amazing?

Beaver Dam

I love this vista. I always feel like I'm in a foreign place when I sit here. A fjord in Norway?

Feeling Frazzled?

How about now?

Garden Journal

Just a couple of notes for the Third week of February

• 9:30 in the morning and it is already above 40 degrees. I hope the coldest days of winter are behind us.
• The Red-winged Blackbirds have been back to the delta for about a week now. Huge flocks of Canada geese are obnoxious and can be heard from a mile away.
• The pussy willow burst open this week
  
• The snow is coming off the west lawn and paddock
• The geese are active and I see the beginnings of the first nest
• I planted three packs of onions, Ailsa Craig, Red Zeppelin, and Candy. Ailsa Craig Exhibition and Red Zeppelin are long day and Candy is a day neutral. I grew Ailsa and Candy in Oklahoma and loved them. Ailsa is a very large sweet onion, a favorite in Britain because it is adapted to cool seasons (Eugene gardeners might try this one.) Candy is the #1 field onion grown in Oklahoma, and Red Zeppelin is my red for color onion. Who cares what it tastes like. Its pretty. The key on planting onions in the north, so my sources say, plant indoors in February, keep the tops cut at about 4-5" as they grow. As long as the long day onion has 4 leaves by the longest day of the year, they should set bulbs. Now the latitude in Lexington is 35 degrees and the latitude in Brewster is 48 degrees. I prefer seed planted onions over bulbs. I've always had nicer onions when planted from seed. My onions were planted really late last year and did OK in my soil.

Wednesday

Well I survived the two days training with the Auditor's office. I now get to correct and make changes to things that were done wrong before I took over. Fun times!!! I just glad we found them now instead of later. It didn't happen on my watch!!! Basketball tonight???? When did they start doing District games on Wednesdays? When I pulled up to the school, I told Lance and Creston to play hard, be tough...etc....they rolled there eyes at me and laughed....yeh right....we are the bench warmers. I hope the boys play better and everyone is feeling better----its hard to play when your not 100%. We can actually see the grass in our yard this morning. I didn't think the snow was ever going to be gone. Of course, then you see the big mess in the front where the tree is half way dug out. I was jealous of the pic's on Emma's blog....I would love to have a day at the ocean. No such luck.

Hello

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! What a nice relaxing weekend! Friday night we went out to Pizza with the Evan's....changed our Valentines Day breakfast to Pizza....which was yummy and lots of fun. You always laugh when you go with Marty/Kim. Saturday we had family out for dinner and again lots of laughter remembering old times and funny stories. I enjoyed myself so much. It' times like these that I'm thankful we made the decision to move back.....just think what my kids would've missed out on. I have training the next two days,so I will be out of contact or out of my mind....whichever comes first. Spread a little love today.....its Valentines Day!!!!

Not Sure

Not sure what to do with myself tonight.....no basketball game to go to. I guess I will have to go home and make pies for tomorrow's company. Jord said Grandpa needs Creston's help tomorrow morning at the church, so Jord is taking me out to breakfast for Valentines Day. I asked "what about Kat".....Jord said...leave her in bed, she will still be sleeping when we get home....Ha Ha. Creston is ready for Baseball. He's thrown a couple times in the barn. Kat is still going strong. Her coach clocked her pitch last week and she is throwing just short of 50 mph. Glad I'm not catching for her anymore, she would put me out of commission. I would love to clock Creston's pitch....its fun to see how fast you can throw. Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend.....Happy Valentines Day to everyone.

February 10th!!

Wow, its hard to believe that Abe is 20 big ones!!! It seems like yesterday, he was a little guy in a cute suit at our wedding. Time goes by so fast. Happy Birthday Abe......I don't have pictures of you to post-I will leave that up to Jan or Emma. Have a great day.....wish we could eat a piece of cake with you!!! You could always come home this weekend. I'm making Fried Chicken for Ma/Pop's, Jan, Petra, Gid/Brandi.

Last Home Game

Tonight is the last home game for the us. Its been an interesting season so far......wonder whats going to happen at district. I know we would save alot of money if the teams didn't go to State, but you kind of wish they would win for the kids. I've been having difficulty sleeping at night, can't seem to shut my mind down and get into a deep sleep. I've been in the recliner as early as 3:00 am, wishing for morning. I know I'm anxious about Janice and worried that she is so far away with no family around. Pray, pray, pray.....thats all I do. She sent me some updated pictures of herself and she looks good, and I try and talk to her at least once a week. Creston and Kat are both ready for spring to get here.....they love baseball and softball. I just want the warm weather to come so I can have lake time. I am saving my vacation days for when the Oregonians come to visit in the summer!!! I tell myself....why spend money to travel to another place for vacation when you have Lake Chelan at your back door.

Oroville

Games at Oroville tonight....long boring road to Oroville. Creston woke up this morning feeling worse but determined he was going to school. Tomorrow Creston/Kat have competition in Wenatchee for Band. Home late for the kids and up again early. I don't know how they will ever feel better, they don't stop long enough to get better. Jord or I are always at the kids functions, but I'm seriously thinking I'm going to skip the Wenatchee trip. I need a day at home to do laundry, veg, etc. Plus the expense of us going.....after sending money with the kids, gas, lunch & dinner.....no, I think Jord and I will stay home for this round. I love the pictures of Lionel's Birthday....Aubrea's hair is so sweet. The kids are growing up too fast. The video of Ashton/Lionel was hilarious.....it was my laugh for the week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello

I am dragging this morning. So tired and wanting to crawl back in bed. I had to get Creston up at 5:15 am to shower and get ready for early morning practice. Not fun....especially when I didn't get to bed until midnight. The late nights were worth it though. I truly enjoyed the called meetings and the preaching was so good. Sis Deanna came to visit me yesterday here at city hall. It was really sweet, and it meant a lot that she popped in. Richard called this morning and said he was going through one of Dad's Bibles and a letter fell out of the middle of the book. It was a letter Dad had written to Mom in 1970. Very heartfelt and sweet......Richard even shed a tear when reading it. This is something to treasure for sure. Jord got up this morning and headed to the church to start painting. He's not feeling 100% yet, but wants to get the painting done. He's still got a horrible cough. I've been trying to keep everyone healthy, Creston has been coming home with dark circles under his eyes. He looks terrible. I'm constantly cramming food down him trying to get the kid to pack on a few pounds. We went through 2 gallons of OJ in 5 days. Expensive....but I don't buy pop for the house and I much rather everyone drink juice/milk than pop. We've been planning the Channel reunion and we are finding relatives that none of us knew about (at least not our generation). It's pretty exciting to find family.....most of them are planning on coming to the reunion, so it should be fun!

Surprise!

I was a little late for church last night, and when I walked in I noticed someone at the end of my bench with a sweatshirt on that looked like Abe's. Who is wearing Abe's sweatshirt???? When I walked past to get to my seat, I noticed it was ABE!!!! So good to see him and get my much needed big squeezer hug after church. I know....I'm not like the rest of you guys....I do love Abe's hugs. They just make me feel better. Great meeting again last night although my backside was getting a little sore. Audrey probably thought I had ants in my pants (skirt) because I would rotate from side to side hoping for some circulation to come back. It was worth it. Haven't seen much of Jord this week. I left at 7:20am and didn't get home until 11:00pm.....going to be the same tonight. I do call him to see if he feels better and is drinking his OJ. Wednesday we will actually have dinner at home....no city meetings....no games....I actually get 2 hours at home before leaving for church!