Oregon Weather and Salmon

Fall has definitely arrived to the Oregon coast, after one of the shortest summers ever! We had no days where the temp got above 70, and few days where it was even in the high 60s. Everyone commented on the sunny days - they were so unusual. And now the rains have begun again. It has rained every day for the past week, and came down in buckets yesterday when the annual Salmon Bake was taking place in the community park. Eleven bus-loads of senior citizens came down from Portland for the event, and stood in the rain to get their salmon.

The salmon is cooked in the Indian fashion on stakes over open coals of alder wood. The salmon is filleted and then woven onto the stakes - so that it is smoked while it roasts. Wonderful! I hope everyone went home with smiles in spite of the weather.

The Kids Zone had a table of desserts to sell, and hubby was there in the rain selling his cards to raise money for the Kids Zone. He did pretty well considering most people weren't too enthusiastic about standing there getting wet while he gave his spiel! His next big sale will be the two days after Thanksgiving, and will be at a craft fair indoors. We'll hope he'll make lots of money for the kids in Depoe Bay! He spends hours every day getting the cards and gift tags put together. It's a hobby that has become an obsession! But it does raise money for the Zone.

Off and Away!

We leave soon for our trip back to the mid-west for several important events. First we'll get to meet Sylvie - a very important new member of the family - our great-niece in Colorado. Then a stop in Kansas to visit a member of Bill's family - His cousin Sabine who is his first cousin's daughter from Germany. Then to Nevada, Missouri and Catherine's graduation from Cottey - and a visit with Val and Neal and Catherine before they head for San Diego and we head on up to Lincoln, Nebraska. There we'll visit the Jacksons and Schers. And that will be a fun time for me with Maddie and Emily! And then on home. We're keeping fingers crossed that the weather will be nice to us!

Brrrrrrrrrr,Brrrrrrr

I shouldn't complain about how cold it is here when I see how cold it is in Lincoln, NE! And we don't have snow hitting us as well. But it was 21 degrees this morning when we got up, and it is still in the mid-twenties now - at 10:30A.M. The sun keeps shining, but the plants are looking as if they won't survive the constant cold.

So today is the day we get a new furnace. So today, with the temps in the twenties, we have no heat in the house. I'm going out to a P.E.O. luncheon, so I'll be warm while poor Bill will suffer.

But the sun is shining!

Brrrrrrrrrrr

It is really cold here! Cold for the coast, anyway. When I got up this morning the temperature was 25 degrees. Now it is 32 at noon. Even my rhododendrons froze last night - and the daphne looks very sad. I hope they'll all come back. The hummingbird feeder was frozen as well, so the poor little hummer had better go south.

We have almost finished the Christmas cards, and next week I'll start baking, and Bill will start making his peanut brittle. This week is pretty busy with a P.E.O. luncheon tomorrow, a trip to Portland to the dermatologist on Wednesday, and a League of Women Voters luncheon on Thursday. Next Sunday is the Holiday Party at the rec center. I have a cheese/cranberry thing for that, and I'll also make a wine cake.

In between we're getting a new furnace tomorrow, and we hope the appliance repair man will be here to fix our refrigerator again - for the fourth time this year. I think we are now eligible for a new one! This one is only two years old and the repair people have been here eight times.

I've been finding a lot of new recipes for cookies, and since I'm in a baking mood I'll try some out next week. It feels like winter outside, but I'm not really into the mood of the season yet. Baking will help that!

Sunshine

Bill's sale at the Eden Hall Craft Show went quite well. He had some fairly big sales, as well as $1 and $2 sales. He had a helper both days - one of the young girls from the Kid Zone, so she was able to tell customers what the Kid Zone was all about and give Bill a lot of conversation!

The League table also did very well for the three hours we were there. We gave out about eight registration cards. Most of them were for change of address for voting in the next election, but a few were to change affiliation - to Independent. Doesn't bode well for the Obama administration.

We were fortunate to have sunny days for both sale days. Even today is sunny, and according to the weekly weather report, we will have sun and clouds all week, so maybe we are finished with rain for a while.

Bill is busily working on his latest project - his memoirs. He's been at it for several years in a rather sporadic fashion, but now is engrossed, so will get far this winter. I think the Kid Zone project will gradually close down. It's a lot of effort for not much reward.

We've sent off the packages for Christmas, so my next project is Christmas cards. I could send an e-card to everyone, but I still enjoy getting cards in return! As a child I frequently sent off for things advertised "free" in magazines just so I would get mail. "Mail Call" has always been an important part of the day for me, and I really regret that most people don't write letters anymore. Maybe if I start writing instead of sending emails, I can start a new trend!

A Little Windy?

Well, last night was more than a slight wind. Waldport registered 95, and I'm sure it was much the same here. Things kept bouncing off the roof, but no tree fell on us this time. We also got about 3/4 of an inch of rain over night, with more predicted all week.

I'm now beginning to look at recipes for pies for our potluck dinner on Sunday. For the potluck dinner tomorrow night at the rec center I'm going to make the corn bake I used to make when we all gathered in southern California. I never make it any more since Bill doesn't like corn, and it's really good.

I'll make Nan's sour cream apple pie and a pumpkin pie for Sunday.

Windy Day

The wind started last night, is growing stronger now. No rain today, but it's expected for tomorrow. We've begun winter weather very early this year. Rather gloomy days and a lot of rain.
With the weather change I've started to get the Christmas wrapping and posting done early. But then I'm always early! I love buying gifts all year long, and then getting them off to my dear ones so that I know they'll arrive in plenty of time for shaking and peeking!