The year is near being used up — get busy.
Monday, Oct 15
To cheer up this post, I will start with two lovely photos from my longtime friend, Nancy J (Maude Buszek, photographer) with two photos she drove from Michigan 3 hours southwest of her home to take photos at an historical farm in Shipshewana, IN.
This is from Amish country, the 3rd largest concentration in the USA. 
Two of Maude’s farm views – Buttermilk clouds and a disk harrow.
{search ‘images’ for horse drawn disc harrow}
Our day in WA started very early by publishing the previous week’s blog at 12:12 a.m. We both slept in later than usual.
The morning was filled with normal chores and new ones. One thing I had to do was load my medicines for the week, when I realized I was running low on one. I had already planned to go pick up two I ordered last week. I was surprised to have the new request waiting for me when I went in after calling the same day.
Today, apple sorting is first on the agenda, when it warms up a little. John drove his car up to our front gate, so I had access to the landline as I was expecting a call that actually never came through. While we were sorting into boxes to give to the Senior Center (AAC), our neighbor Louaine, Roberta B, and Amy, we got a phone call from Mary Ann M. thanking us for the apples we took her on Saturday, saying she had shared them and everyone was thrilled. We had offered to bring her more, especially because her granddaughter likes to make applesauce and dehydrate them. She was letting us know she would love to have some more for another friend. So, we added two more boxes for her.
We left for town, dropping off a box with our neighbor, and then on to the AAC to give them a large box with 3 different kinds, mostly Honeycrisp, which we had not taken previously. We retrieved all 3 empty boxes today. I stayed for SAIL exercise and John read news using the WiFi. Meanwhile, they repacked the apples in small brown bags – one of our ill-thought purchases at Costco. On the way out in the parking lot, we gave a box to Roberta. This coming Saturday, John will be going to her backyard to retrieve English walnuts she has collected. He will take our own containers so we don’t have to return hers.
We had to go by the pharmacy to get two of my prescriptions, and while there, John picked up a few other groceries we needed. We drove on to Mary Ann’s house, dropped off apples, and on to fill his gas tank. Luckily, we found the least expensive in town at Circle K for $3.36; the 7-11s were both up to $3.50 & 3.54! John talked to the man filling their pumps, asking where the gasoline originated. He said it was sent by pipeline from Billings, MT to Moses Lake (50 miles east), where he had picked it up.
Add the ending stop by Amy’s to deliver apples and go north of town to drop off WSJs to a gal that works at airport storage and is a business student who appreciates receiving them.
Lindsey Babcock of the Bureau of Land Management called at 1:17, 10/15/18 while we were gone, left a number to return her call, in Spokane, but it was after her work hours when we returned, as they close at 4:00 p.m. She wanted to interview John about a trail maintenance WTA trip he was on recently at Fish Trap Lake (9/29). I spent a bunch of time searching for a connection by email and finally found one. She is the District Manager at the Spokane Office of BLM. I managed to get a message forwarded to her to call us in the morning after 8:30 a.m. I ended up finding a web link still published on the web which produced a 404 error, so I reported it to the BLM contact who forwarded my email to Lindsey. It was a win-win situation. She was actually in Portland at the main office. I had found the original news release of when Lindsey was hired in WA in 2015.
Two weeks ago in the blog I posted a link to the Yakima Herald article about one of John’s trips to maintain trails. I also shared it on my Facebook page, and it was commented on by several students, from our past, but the most interesting was from a young woman who knew both John and me as her teachers. She now lives in Leavenworth. I might have mentioned this previously, and that she wrote back her interest in hiking. So, next year, John will coordinate to stop and take her along – if the timing works. Meanwhile, another friend who works for WTA as a crew leader, also lives in Leavenworth, so we have introduced them.
Tuesday, Oct 16
I’m not going to town today, but will stay home to get well.
This morning started off with a 7:52 a.m. telemarketer call from Jacksonville, FL (EST – we are 3 hours earlier in PST). It just rang once and hung up.
Last month, our music group was forced to sit in a weird arrangement and we had issues with hearing and timing. Terri (the activities director at Pacifica Senior Living) where we play this week, presented the dilemma about our music group’s positioning to the Executive Director about the need to move the two heavy tables we are not allowed to touch. She asked for my emails to be forwarded to her (I offered that option to Terri on Sunday). They promised to fix this. Their staff will be moving two heavy granite-topped tables so we can set up in front of the piano.
I ordered the Chevy (1980) truck’s license sticker, but it had expired so I had to pay for it and speed up the delivery by picking it up at the courthouse. I’m not quite sure why that is required.
Wednesday, Oct 17
John left at 5:45 a.m. for Soaring Eagle, a King County Park, 17 miles east of Seattle. He took Gala apples (some washed for the crew) and a separate box for LeeAnne, the crew leader. She got a Butternut squash too, ’cause she cooks.
I put out dry food for the outside cats. When John went out with Annie (in the dark) to open the gate and start his car, he passed Czar, eating near the front door; the companion cat he is, he walked all the way up the long driveway with them in the dark for John to open the gate and he came back with them to the front door. That activity always amuses us.
I took another dose of Tussin Dm because of congestion, and went back to bed until 8:30.
I had previously decided I would skip SAIL exercise today, but this morning, I decided I would not go to the FISH Food Bank for noon music either. John left me some egg omelet and sausage that he took from the freezer. If I had gone to play, I eat there.
I called the doctor’s office in Cle Elum to confirm plans for when we could go in for our Pneumonia shots (PPV-23) when nurses were available (best times are before 11:30 or after 1:30), so we have to figure our timing around that for combining with the need to go with our friend to the Cottage Café on Monday.
I didn’t call until 3:30, and reached her.
Worked on dishes, emails, and charging batteries and phone, and John called to say when he was leaving and would be home.
He was within 3 minutes of the time expected (5:00). Except for the 2 ends, the trip is all on I-90. Unless there is an accident, the timing is easy to calculate.
His trip to the trail work was good, but a bit chilly at the start. No hills. The park (Soaring Eagle) is on a large pile of glacial material left 13,000 years ago when the ice melted.
Thursday, Oct 18
Slept in until almost 9:00 a.m.
I set up the email list for contact with the Scholarship luncheon (new group this year), for putting out an announcement Monday for our Friday hosting event (Amy McCoy & me). I completed that chore, so Monday’s job is ½ done. Now to write the memo to go to the group members. Oh! I have to select apples and make 2 jugs of drink, plus pick up a dessert my friend Amy is making for me to take.
We played at Pacifica today. I requested of Terri, 11 chairs. It went well with the new set up. The staff had moved the tables and cleared a lot of room for us. It’s probably the best it has ever been, except we miss the old Classic Coca-Cola chairs they disposed of when they did away with their old soda fountain memorabilia room. I’m sure that is the worst remodeling decision by the new management they could ever make.
As soon as I could get away, I drove to the AAC with a hand full of brown paper lunch bag size bags, for them to use for putting in produce people donate and bring in to give to the members. That’s how our donated apples we picked across the valley, and before that our plums, and other produce were distributed. Pre-bagging makes things simpler for the staff.
On the way back I went by the Courthouse for the truck license tab with my receipt from paying on line yesterday. It was an easy transfer without a very long wait. I found 27₵ in the parking lot when I got out of my car. One of the pennies was bright and new looking, so there was a little girl coming to get in the car next to me, and I handed it to her, with good wishes. It is a thing I learned long ago as a kid—that if you found a penny it was good luck, and if you gave it away, it took luck with it to the recipient as well. It does make people smile, and that’s good.
From there I drove to Briarwood to take 8 large apples to Lee Kiesel – ½ were Jonagolds and ½ were Honeycrisp. She is going to use them to fix something special for serving Saturday at the meal they fix for us following our playing music. Only five of us can be there to play (small number). She plans to make cabbage & Tortellini soup (see the write-up on Saturday for the rest of the story), and there will be other food. They put on quite a spread every month on the 3rd Saturday.
I delivered the plums (dried) and packaged that I bought at Costco for my friend Gloria. She and her sister met me downstairs at Hearthstone with money and I gave them change and the goods.
We went back to town for the Kittitas Audubon general meeting to a very nice presentation: Ken Bevis: Forest Wildlife, Stewardship – Plus a Few Songs.
It was a fabulous performance tonight. I videotaped it and will share (after I get permission), with a few friends and also with people from Kittitas Audubon (KAS) I have emails for (and here eventually as well).
Okay, got it: so here is the link . . . {If it does not start at the beginning, pull the slider back so it does. }
The fellow is a kick: a musician, a scientist, and bird lover. I bought a CD from him of songs he has written and recorded. It is worth the $. He was singing alone tonight, and none of those songs are on the CD. It has much more involved songs, and with other instruments, and singers, although he is still the lead guitarist and singer. He sang songs tonight with his talk about Bears, Bull Trout, Hummingbirds, and other critters. Ken is an entertainer, talented, and presented a good talk about forest health, wildlife, and trees. His style is unique and enjoyable; you’ll see in the video what I mean. He definitely keeps one’s attention.
John and I didn’t get home until 9:00 p.m. and we hadn’t had supper or fed the cats. I managed to feed two cats but the other two must have filled up on dry food and left for their favorite sleeping place (wherever that might be). Actually another showed up to eat the rest of the food left on the one plate. I fixed myself a nice salad, and John had a baked potato, leftover chicken (an already baked thigh), and some of my Cheez-its I use as croutons.
Friday, Oct 19
We both slept in this morning, but I stayed lying down longer than John. Early, I did take care of feeding hard pellets to the outside cats.
I got dressed to go to Kittitas. I went by way of Thomas Rd to Fairview, and there was a loose black cow on the side of the road. I always call 911 to report such a sighting, and they are grateful, sending out some deputies to find and notify the owner. I know the owner on the south side, but not on the north. Our horses have been out on the road once, were reported, and I have spoken with deputies about ours previously. It’s a nice gesture for law enforcement to be so supportive of the open range area.
My trip was to take two boxes of apples John packed into the back of my car, to the Kittitas Neighborhood Pantry. There I got carrying help from a client. They weighed in at 61# total (a box of Galas @ 39# (actually a smaller apple) and a smaller box of larger Honeycrisp apples at 22#. They were very much appreciated and we were asked to bring more back next week. So we will.
I’m also going to take some already washed to give at least two to all dozen people at Ruth Harrington’s Scholarship luncheon which I’m co-hosting on Friday.
While there, I went around the back to the clothing bank and found two pair of slacks in my new size. One is a purplish red cotton, and the other is a light tan pair of light corduroy; both are rather neat. While there, I donated some time helping sort the jeans and slacks into the proper size stacks. They become mixed up and disheveled incredibly fast. I moved one size 22 from the 16s, and an 8 from the 22s. The 14s had several different sizes mixed in as well. I never tackled any other stacks, because I had to get home. Two ladies volunteering were happy for the help and they could use more.
On my way home I went from Fairview to Rader, to the corner where the large Lavender farm is. She has requested on the Buy Nothing East Ellensburg site before that she needs packing materials so I always share ours from Amazon. This was a large load of air-filled bags that was big enough for a white garbage bag. I had removed them from the large box I used a week ago to take the CPAP machine and all my supplies to loan to Suzy West.
Tomorrow I’m taking some slacks to Briarwood to share in their laundry room giveaway shelves (after I offer the people there for our music to check and take out any to try on). If some go unclaimed, I’ll pick them up and carry them to Kittitas.
Currently, they have more than will fit on their shelves in Kittitas.
Saturday, Oct 20
John plans to go to town this morning with plastic bottles and glass to recycle and tubs and buckets to hold walnuts. They are in the lady’s containers now, but John doesn’t want to have to go back again. He also bought some gasoline without ethanol and additives to use in our yard/garden equipment. I forgot to say one of his chores the day before was mowing the grass on either side of our fence along the county road. That helps to reduce fuel for fire started by passing vehicles, and it makes the approach to our place look better.
The purloined walnuts have messy black husks from a bad case of Walnut Husk Fly. { LINK; with photos – Yuk! }
We have managed to keep ours somewhat under control by cleaning them up quickly – even taking walnuts off the trees before they would naturally fall. The link suggest how to do more, so next year that will happen. The husks are get messy and black but that doesn’t damage the nut. John has about half of them cleaned (about ½ bushel) and doused the remainder with bleach infused water.
I drove to town to play music, visit, and partake of the Briarwood buffet.
It was an interesting afternoon. We only had 5 players there (Maury & Marilyn, Gerald, Me, & Dean), but a full house of wonderful singers to be our chorus. We even sang Happy Birthday to Katie and Betty there, for Amy’s yesterday, and Lee pointed out that we didn’t remember to sing for me last month, so I was also included. Afterwards, they served us a delicious feast. None of us will need to eat any supper tonight. The main course was very hot soup made by Lee Kiesel (in photo with me below). Ingredients included Italian sausage, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, with Tortellini. We had rolls with butter on the side to have with the soup. Everyone there agreed it was Lee’s best soup ever, and she said it is even her favorite. She was sorry that Roberta Clark wasn’t able to be there, because she had apparently told her she wanted to taste her version of that soup. I don’t know those details, but I will give Roberta the message.
They had their normal large dessert table in the place where they usually have salads, except you’ll see the Honeycrisp apples with the special dip were placed on that table. In addition, at the end, we were served a hot crockpot Cherry Crisp topped with a lot of vanilla ice cream, and with our meal a cup of hot apple cider also in a crockpot. You can see why I called it a food fest!
They always decorate with a seasonal theme (on the wall, the plates, napkins, and tables). It’s a class act, and we certainly appreciate their efforts.
Dean brought his little brown jug and told the story behind it – a very, very old bottle, originally with Stomach Bitters in it. The old label is still almost intact. I missed getting a photo of it and will have to remember next Thursday to take my camera and add it to next week’s blog, along with the entire story about where and how he acquired it. I’m sure he will continue bringing it through November, while we are still including the song, Little Brown Jug.
Here are a few captures of the day:
Maury, my plate, Marilyn, & Gerald, other residents waiting to eat.
Desserts with Honeycrisp apples and Jo Ellen serving Cherry Crisp with ice cream.
End of crockpot cherry crisp, served with ice cream and hot cider with our whole meal
At the end, a resident, Aaron took our photo:
A little out of focus, but it is touchy to go only ½ down to focus on my camera and then follow through. I often mess it up myself. This shows me with Lee Kiesel, who was the one who made the wonderful soup and cut up the Honeycrisp apples I took her, made a fabulous dip (cream cheese, with puffed marshmallow crème, & pineapple juice). She and I enjoyed eating more apples and dip than anyone there. Beforehand, we were talking about my pants matching her shirt, and now that I see this photo, I realize she is a little shorter than I, and the pants were too short on me, so I have put them in a bag to take her. She wears the same size. I have another pair of slacks that match the green, but I think her pants match the pink in the shirt better. How funny. I do have a pair of “pink” pants, so I will not have to take hers.
Sunday, Oct 21
We are having sunny fall days. John has been outside removing a few rocks and old firewood of Cottonwood and Poplar. He made a “free” sign and piled some of the wood near the road. His sign is on an old plastic sled and he used funny spelling and spacing. The sign is odd and so is he.
I have been inside all day working on various projects, including this blog, listening to my new CD from Thursday night, processing the video, photos from recent takes, washing dishes, cutting produce to freeze, and other non-exciting things.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan