LIFE CHANGES

Life can change in the blink of an eye, the ring of the phone, or a knock on the door.

Mike gave us a scare on Tuesday when he collapsed while walking Bess in our neighborhood. A neighbor came to the door to get me. In all, half a dozen people were showing concern. The ambulance had already been called when I got there. With the neighbor’s help, I got him back to the house, but he kept losing consciousness. The EMTs said he was having a cardiac event and whisked him off to the ER in Lewiston.

I reached out to my children because I felt they should know in case the worst happened. Son Murray was available and readily agreed to meet me at the hospital. Within a few hours, we had the diagnosis – clots in Mike’s lungs requiring a procedure to clear them. The cardiac specialist said he could work Mike in that day, and by Wednesday noon, he was good to come home with no restrictions on his activities. It had felt like a close call, but by Saturday, he was happily bird-hunting with friends. KW

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

 

“What made you decide to take on this project today?” asked Mike. Well, I didn’t tell him, but Christmas is coming. (He thinks it’s a long way off.)

Cleaning the kitchen soffits (the tops of the cabinets) is a challenge. First, it requires a plan of attack. Then I need a ladder, a vacuum cleaner, a Swiffer duster, a sink full of hot soapy water, a soft rag, and the discipline to stay on task. It needed to be done, and I just decided that Sunday was the day. Further, I display my Christmas figurines on the soffits, and they have been there for several years. Well, no sense to put them away now, but they must be cleaned anyway. The whole thing is time-consuming – and not very interesting.

I have always found when cleaning that one thing leads to another. I couldn’t find the Swiffer duster, and it was logical to think that it was behind the washing machine. Mike helped me, and we managed to retrieve it, along with a glove and a shoelace. And while I was looking for a flashlight in the utility cabinet, I found Mike’s missing cap. (Mike is part packrat.)

And then I remembered a basket stored in the shed which would be useful to trap random items on the washing machine. (There will always be random items on my washing machine.) I retrieved the basket, but its canvas liner was very dirty, so now I had to do a load of laundry. And what does this have to do with cleaning the soffits? Everything and nothing.

Oh! And while all this was going on, I was also baking the molasses cookies I mixed on Saturday.

Since the basket has vacated a spot in the shed, I decided it would be a great place for my rather extensive collection of cookie cutters. (I love cookie cutters.) So, yes, I moved the cookie cutters from the cabinet above the fridge to the shed where they are actually more accessible. (I love my shed!)

“Are you finished with the ladder?” calls Mike, and I just can’t help but feel defensive for the fact that, I’ve barely begun. And I’m already tired, and I’d rather do something else, but I promised myself I’d stay on task.

And yes, I did finish before suppertime. It was a good day. I got a lot done. KW

WINTERIZING THE FARMHOUSE

Autumn at the farm

On Friday (Nov. 8), we drove to the farm in the old pick-up to winterize the house. Son Clint went with us to a lend a hand. It was a decent day – 40 and sunny when we arrived. The sun was warm and an impediment to taking pictures.

First, Mike and Clint loaded the 4-wheeler into the back of the pick-up and the lawnmower onto the trailer.

The old maple has lost her leaves

While Mike and Clint pumped antifreeze into the pipes, I took fussy Bess for a walk. She usually insists we go to the pond, but she gleefully agreed to walk down the lane, working both sides of the road and into the fields as we went. At the bottom of the lane, I suggested we return to the house, but she made it clear that we should go on. “What does she know,” I wondered. So, we moved up the road, beyond the old apple tree and the elderberry bush where she went over the bank and was soon on point. Then she stealthily crept into the scrub brush, and within seconds, the elusive covey of Hungarian Partridges (probably 25-strong) got up and flew farther up the hill. Bess continued to hunt the scrub brush and was soon on another point. This time a pheasant got up – and then another. (Pheasants here are escapees from the hunting club in Little Canyon.) And then another bird flew out, either a hen pheasant or a hun. (My bird identification skills aren’t the best.)

Next, Bess led us on up the hill to the edge of the field where we knew those huns had parked themselves. Bess pointed them again, and as she moved in, they flew farther away – this time across Plank’s field, which is now a homesite. Well, no matter. I wasn’t hunting anyway.

So, we headed back to the house to tell Mike about our hunt. We knew he would be sorry he missed out. Bess was satisfied with her hunting experience and finally settled down.

As a part of winterization, we unloaded the refrigerator into two crates and the cooler, and that was about all we had room to carry back, though I did bring the bin of Christmas stockings and Hallie’s stuffed Dalmatian that barks “Jingle Bells.” Also, Avista has alerted us to the possibility of electricity outages this winter, so we brought the generator back, too.

But I’m making another list of things to get from the farmhouse because Mike wants to return so that he and Bess can search for those huns again. Mike says we’ll go as soon as the rain is over. (Apparently he thinks the predicted rain will actually happen.) And that will give me a chance to pack up more more stuff. KW

HALLOWEEN IS OVER -- MOVING ON

 

Looking across the south field to the canyon

Mike and I went to the farm Thursday – just a quick trip (really quick!). I wanted my sewing machine and some machine embroidery supplies, and while we will make at least one more trip before Christmas, I brought back the bin of small cars that I know Silas will expect when he visits. He will remember the bin of cars for sure. He’s been playing with them since he was one, and even last Christmas, when he was two, he watched me carry the bin from the shed to the house and exclaimed, “That’s my cars!” Knowing that the cars will be Silas’ priority, I left our Christmas stockings behind until the next trip. If it comes to that, Silas won’t care if Santa fills a paper bag – or even if Santa doesn’t come – as long as he has the cars.

Mike had things he wanted from the farm, too – a bicycle, his power saw, and the homemade ice cream that I’ve forgotten twice. I packed a couple of crates with open packages from the pantry that should be used.

3-year-old Silas as a monster truck

That night was Halloween. We turned on the porchlight and had just one caller, the adolescent from across the street. Just as well. Mike added the leftover M&M snack packs to his trail mix. He has already taken down and stored our Halloween yard figures.

I have long felt that my standard ironing board took up too much space in my cramped sewing room. While pressing is important, I make mostly small things and seldom need to iron our clothes. I searched for and eventually found exactly what I wanted – a small ironing board affixed to a cabinet, available from Wayfair. “Will I have to assemble it,” asked Mike, and I affirmed that he would. They made it sound easy, but it was a nightmare – heavy, awkward, some of the holes not punched, inadequate instructions. It took us at least 3 ½ hours, and don’t believe them when they say you won’t need an assistant. The good thing is that it fits the room as I expected. The standard ironing board is stored in the shed and accessible if I need it. KW

THE LANGUAGE OF SALES

Little girls ready for the Halloween party

I sign up for email promotions from those online retailers from which I purchase. If I didn’t, I’m afraid I would forget all about them. So, everyday my inbox is filled with sales promotions with the expectation that I, and other shoppers, will be drawn in:

·      Hurry! Your deal expires soon. (Trust me, if it ends, it will be back. They always want to sell me something.)

·      Last chance (Fat chance! There will always be another deal.)

·      Final hours

·      Get it before its gone! (Okay. It might be gone.)

·      Your 10% (or 15% coupon) ends soon. (Are you kidding? I might pay attention at 25%.)

·      Free shipping / free gift / save 20% (And then you open the website to discover this deal only applies when you spend a certain amount, like $69, $85, or $150, carefully calculated so that you won’t reach that amount with just the item you have in mind.)

·      Buy one, get one -- and variations thereof. (This is my least favorite promotion. When you only want one, as is often the case, this is a useless deal whereby they lose my purchase altogether.)  

·      Today Only! (Give me a break. There’s always tomorrow.)

·      Here’s your $10 bonus (which upon ordering, doesn’t seem to mean very much in the total)

·      This weekend only – $4.99 (original price: $5.99)

·      Or, they invite you to the clearance sale, and everything you might want is no longer available. Penney’s and Blair are big offenders.

·      And then we have seasonal sales, such as “Spooky Good Deals,” “No Tricks, Just Treats,” or “Monster Sale.”

Sometimes I get sucked in, but my goal is not to add more fabric and yarn to my stash without a definite purpose. (Notice that I am enticed by fabric and yarn, not clothes and home dec. Sometimes I have to be stern with myself. “You’re shopping,” I say, “and you don’t need a thing!” True but not much fun.

I used to think that I should never shop JoAnn’s without a discount coupon. If I got to the store without a coupon, I just didn’t go in. Then I realized that for the little I actually spend plus the fact that the coupon doesn’t apply to sale merchandise anyway, I really don’t need to bother with coupons. These days I seldom present a coupon, and they never ask for one. KW

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

THE AT-HOME DESTINATION CHRISTMAS

The purple ash passes

The thermometer didn’t quite register freezing Friday morning, but I saw frost on the rooftops. It was 35 as Bess and I took our morning walk at 8:00. I wore my winter coat for the first time, but it wasn’t the first time that I’ve worn my gloves. We haven’t had a fire in the little stove yet, but we’ve talked about it. We’ve turned the furnace on a couple of times. Our space heaters are in place.

What about the farm, you ask. Well, we aren’t worried about anything there – yet. We were going to go on Thursday, but Mike’s appointment at the pain clinic was moved up three weeks to that afternoon, a significant improvement in timing. And then, son Clint asked Mike to accompany him to Tri-Cities on Friday to pick up a used motorcycle, an opportunity too good to pass up. Saturday, Mike has football games to record and watch, and then there’s a chance of rain. And that’s the way it goes. Wait and see.

The red maple begins to turn

But as it gets colder – and it is getting colder – winterization of the farmhouse is on our minds. Overnight freezing is definitely happening at the farm now. It’s only a matter of time until that first cold snap is upon us. We keep a watchful eye on the forecast. Besides winterizing, Mike, wants to bring the 4-wheeler and the lawnmower back to town, and as for me, I don’t want much – just the sewing machine, the Christmas tree, Christmas ornaments, and six or seven projects in progress.

The "burning bush" begins to "burn."

You see, this past week I decided to put my desire for a farmhouse Christmas aside and pursue “Plan B” in earnest. I suggested to daughter Hallie, my logistics go-to person, that we rent an Airbnb here in the Valley for our holiday get-together. She was on it! It would have been better to have arranged this earlier, but it’s okay. She rented a house for Dec. 24-27. She says we can decorate quickly, so we’ll “haul out the holly,” drape a few red and green afghans over the furniture, put some stuffed toys in strategic places, set up a pre-lit tree, and hang a wreath on the door. What more could we want? What, indeed? We’ll be together. KW 

IS IT FALL YET?

 

Ash tree glows in the morning sun

If I had posted this essay several days ago, I would have said, “Okay – it’s cold now. 33 this morning.” It went from a high of 80 to a low of 33 on Thursday in a matter of days.

“Fall weather switch has flipped,” read the headline in Wednesday’s newspaper. It goes on to say that it might snow soon in the mountains. And that reminds me that my brother Chuck predicted this six weeks ago or so. “It’s going to be warm, and then it will be winter,” he said. I begin to think he might be right.

Once again, I washed my summer robe and t-shirts and put them away – “for the last time,” I pronounced to myself. But no! The high in the Valley on Saturday reached into the 70s, and hit 79 on Sunday. Mike wore shorts. But the change is here again now with rain and highs in the 60s.

Well, it just leaves us wondering when we should winterize the farmhouse. I’d like to have Christmas there, but Mike says he’d like to winterize before it gets cold. Seems like that would be pretty soon. So -- I’m working on “Plan B” for Christmas.

We went shopping this morning, and it was cold in Walmart. I suppose they kept it cool over the weekend. Our house is still reasonably warm.

I came back from the farm with two containers of tomatoes – ripe and green. I didn't expect the green ones to ripen, but every day, several of them turn from green to orange. It happens so quickly. I'm getting quite a collection on the kitchen window.  Such fun to watch! KW