Thank Full

Grant and I

are thankful for fun projects like pilgrim place cards to keep us from doing real work.

I am thankful for a full Thanksgiving table. This is before food, so it gets even better!
Bacon crusted Turkey tastes allot like...regular old turkey. But the gravy? Oooh yeah, now that was worth the extra effort! We are all thankful for bacon crusted Turkey gravy.

I am so bummed that blogger can't find a few of my favorite pictures. I have one of Troy and Danny waiting at the table for the food that is so cute! Both have a little frown and Troy is holding up his fork and spoon. This one will have to do instead.

This cute pilgrim couple stopped by for the feast, we are so thankful they came.

Our Thanksgiving tradition of decorating cookies continues, and for that we are thankful.

The master craftskids are thankful for baggies with holes at one corner with frosting inside, and especially thankful that the frosting comes right out when you suck on it. So convenient. So sweet is it not?

Color is good for you

We did not have a very successful garden this year, but we did get some of these very pretty and delicious purple carrots. "Why would anyone want orange carrots?" says Grant after trying some of these. I am hoping to include them somewhere in our Thanksgiving feast. Have you already started thawing your turkey? Have you made your pies yet? Are you making anything new and unusual this year? We are trying a new turkey recipe. Everything is better with bacon, so we are putting some under the skin. I also made a smokey pepper jelly which is supposed to be a good match with the bacon crusted turkey. I'll let you know how it goes. I actually feel a bit nervous about the whole thing, but we must be strong and brave. So must our guests!

From the "What Not to Do" Chronicles

A recent past customer is a photographer of fine things, including this classic 56 Chevy Belair. Our dad has this to say......

Boy, the Chevy brings back images...I had a friend who had one about
like this one....except for the wheels...the wheels back then were not as fancy.
It was a cool car and he was proud of it. We had a 1957 Ford Fairlane
500 that was also a good looking car. That was back in the days when
"drag racing" was a big thing. One night we went out West of Morning
Sun to a long stretch of straight road with a small hill on each end.
It was probably about 2 miles long. A car went up to the finish line
and flashed their lights to signal that no cars were coming our way.
Somebody dropped a hat and we took off..going neck & neck. There was
a RR track that wasn't used often that was on that stretch...we could
see for a long way both ways so we knew trains would be no problem.
The problem turned out to be that when we hit the tracks the
speedometer on my Ford was bobbing around 100-105 MPH and was still
accelerating...the tracks were a little rough. I heard a BANG and
felt the car start to swerve.. It took some work but I was able to
hold it in the road...the tire just disintegrated and was down to the
rim..the sparks were flying like an arc welder. Well, the rim was
ruined too. We changed the tire and I went home. Early the next
morning Dad came into my room and said "what happened last night" I
said "I had a blowout"...he didn't get angry or anything but just said
"Your lucky to be here this morning and, by the way, you won't be
driving the Fairlaine for a long time....he was right! Anyway, I
guess we all do some stupid stuff when we are young...It's a wonder
there aren't more deaths and injuries. I'm sure you boys never took

those kind of chances. You better hope that Grant has better judgement

than his Grandpa, his Father and his Uncles!

Dad

Some words are hard to say.

Goodbye is the hardest word of all.

I have found much comfort in this poem that was sent to me after we said goodbye to Mom, from my Aunt Hazel. It does make the sorrow easier to bear.

Even death has a wonderful mission,
When it robs us of those we love,
It lifts our hearts from our surroundings,
To long for that meeting above.
No matter how heavy the burden,
No matter how deep the despair,
Does not heaven seem nearer and dearer,
To know that our loved ones are there?

Thank you Michelle for a faithful finish, it helps us to say goodbye.....until we meet again on the other side. May we be as faithful.

What? No Hunting?

In these tough economic conditions it just seems unfair to limit our food options even more but alas there it is. Posted.

Apparently the herd of deer that we have wandering around the streets and byways here was "discovered" by a group of trophy hunters. Local legend is that bow hunters shot one in our neighborhood and had the bad taste to just take the trophy. I am not impressed. So the next week these signs went up around the block. I have to admit I did not see this one coming.

Birthday Boy

For Gentry's birthday we went East of the mountains. It was rainy and foggy even there but the home we visited lightened our hearts. I highly recommend them. Gentry was treated royally for his b-day by our gracious hosts.











H-wood House
Guests will enjoy two gourmet breakfasts with fresh homemade
cinnamon rolls, and a full course epicurean Sunday Dinner
with other delightful and interesting guests.
Also included in the weekend package is a classic cruiser
bike tour into picturesque downtown Walla Walla for shopping
and coffee, a trip out to the historic Whitman mission,
with a stop at the colorful Worm Ranch for authentic fish taco’s.
Enjoy a tour of surrounding towns with heartwarming
local stories shared by your charming hosts, with a stop at
the local combination book and sandwich shop, the local school,
and the hardware store. Best of all you will enjoy the fellowship,
and the hospitality of the H-wood’s.

Thanks for everything!

Passing

Uncle Paul passed away on Monday November 10th. He was born in January of 1918. I am so thankful that he had Aunt Hazel and Uncle Ed and Aunt Fern visiting at the time. Dad said that he had a very nice visit with him a week or so ago. He always was a gentle peaceful man from my perspective. Of all my aunts and uncles I knew him the least since they lived the farthest away and as the oldest of the family my mom didn't know him as well either since he had left home when she was still quite young, she had more in common with his kids I suppose. I do remember stories of them when they were young. Marty came out and worked for a summer at JC so we got to know him a bit. I was the only kid at home at the time so he was stuck doing stuff with me and the folks. I am thinking of all the family gathered together today for the funeral. A faithful life is always a message of hope and inspiration.

Man, I hate it when this happens!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This is what my husband braved the wind, rain, dark, and traffic to go get for me on a particular election day. For me. For my birthday. Smile. I am so happy to be the proud owner of an almost new craigslist special 1940's Sunbeam waffle iron. It is just like moms which I was hoping to get someday but it may have gotten sold at auction, and it makes a perfect set of four waffles each time. Some things cannot be improved on so why do they keep trying? The white marks on the top is an upside down reflection of a chicken, with an apron and a spatula that V. drew on our blackboard. (I love it so I hope nothing happens to it!)

According to Gentry the best part of Craigslist is no tax, but I like the no shipping charges, since I was planning on getting one on Ebay to the tune of 17.00 in shipping. The fun part about Craigslist is the places you go and the people you meet. This particular waffle iron has a story that comes with it. Modern day waffle irons are sadly lacking in stories. It was first owned by a woman who's husband owned the Old Mill in Preston. The granddaughter still lives in the house, part of which was one time the Mill office and built in the early 1900's. It was added onto in the early 30's. The house does have an abundance of charm, and a whole fleet of cats too, sadly. Anyway, it was a fun escape from the woes of being sick, getting older, and watching depressing election news in the rain. I spent some time making it mine (cleaning it up till it shines) and now we can have a waffle, any ol' time!

History is being made, no matter what the outcome of the day.

My question to you is: If you voted today (or earlier), how were you feeling about the future of our country?

No one wants to be bored....

Eating a lollipop and having more fun than you can imagine. Tearing stuff up is always a pleasure!

This is the little one bedroom "guest house" apartment at our old house that we are redoing. It was pretty trashed from the last rental, and a victim of age. We redid parts of it 15 years ago when we first moved in to the "big" house. It has been a great spot for quite a few people to live. This is the bathroom, it will have a new toilet, vanity, medicine cabinet, shower surround, and floors, and even a new door. It is a nice size and has a stackable washer dryer unit which is nice.

Shower stall hole.

We took out the goofy (ugly) closet doors and Gentry is re-framing it for regular bi-fold closet doors. The bedroom is very small, but it does have a view of the mountains out of the other window. Pretty nice! The bedroom also gets a new door.

We removed all the old appliances- it had a one of a kind refrig/sink/stove top combo that still worked but.....was not attractive. Grimace. We will be getting new cabinets, a compact sink, 2 burner stove top, and a convection/microwave oven for over the stove top. We are thinking of putting in a pergo type flooring to add versatility to this kitchen/living area. Gentry will replace the large, very homely, front closet with a regular sheet rocked closet with a door. Question: Should we carpet the bedroom or put the pergo flooring in there also? We have only a month to get this together for our next renter. Hmmm. We may have a guest at our house for awhile. I wonder how he will feel about that?

Spooky, spooky!

Grant loves to carve pumpkins, and has become very good at it too. This masterpiece was his own design, and the only thing I did was help him find the pumpkin carving tools from last year. (I had the hard part!)

Pretty cool comic word bubble isn't it? Grant's cartooning class has taught him some great tricks.

Gentry's scary Halloween (and mine) was the estimate of the work I need done at the dentist. I do brush....the problems arise from stress, grinding your teeth causes them to break, a horrifying thought! While at the dentist Grant became equipped with the tools to do the job, we do what we can to cut costs....I figure I will look a lot like the jack-o-lantern if he gets hold of me! Yikes! Grant on the other hand doesn't look like he has brushed for a long long time, what would his mother say?

And V. was mystery girl from Phantom of the Opera. She hung out with some mysterious and very cool people anyway!