Sunshine!!!!

We are finally in the sunshine!! We left Sutherlin yesterday (Tuesday) under clear skies and only ran into a couple of low clouds on the way to Reno which is where we are now. There was quite a bit of snow on the side of the highway in several places but none on the roads. We cleverly took I89 out of Mt. Shasta - that is one monotonous 2 lane highway through the mountains and trees. Seems to go on forever.
We are in a concrete RV park right across the street from the Peppermill Casino. We wanted to be very near a large casino so we did not have to walk far - it is still quite cold even with the lovely sunshine. We got the rock chip repaired today - gave us something to do to stem the gambling losses. Terry says we will get our money back later today! (this should sound familiar to some readers). Also paid $10 to get some of the dirt removed from the truck - had to be the world’s worst car wash.
We plan on leaving here tomorrow but are not exactly sure of our destination. Still is rather an odd way to travel. Stay tuned.

And the snow continues...

I think there are forces conspiring to keep us from the warmth and sunshine! We planned to leave Rochester first thing yesterday morning and woke up to 4 inches of snow. A security guard came by as we were packing up and told us that I5 was a mess with the southbound lanes closed because of an accident. So we waited until the casino opened at 9 and had breakfast and then played the slots while we waited for conditions to improve. About noon I checked with a casino employee who had driven on I5 shortly before and he said the roads were clear of snow. So we quickly finished securing everything and left - in a light snowfall! The weather changed about 15 times by the time we arrived at our destination in Sutherlin, OR. Rain, snow, clear, hail - we saw it all several times but made it OK. We are at a P.A. resort that has an 18 hole golf course but I don’t think we will be playing this trip.
We are going to stay here tonight as well so we can get the oil changed in the truck, get a rock chip repaired (thanks, Canadian roads!), get some keys made to replace the set that we forgot at Gary’s when we picked up the 5th wheel and catch up on laundry. 1 to 3 inches of snow were forecast for here last night but it did not happen so it is just cold and overcast. With our luck, the snow will arrive tonight!

Leaving the Great "Not-so-White" North

Well, we did not get out of painting the basement floor. We found a half full can of paint with no label but marked “basement floor” on the lid and a full can of floor paint. We were smart enough to check the color of each before painting and found that they were slightly different so we mixed them together. We started with the smaller portion of the basement that has the wood stove, one side of the bottom landing to the stairs and doorways to a spare bedroom, Dad’s bedroom, a bathroom and the laundry room. We finished moving everything, washing and painting about 11 am one morning. The can with the label said “dry to the touch” in 4 to 6 hours. We were wondering where Dad would sleep when it was still sticky at 7 pm and were panicking a bit when it was still sticky at 8:30. Luckily it did finally “dry to the touch” by 9 so all was well. The next day we painted the other part of the basement which included all the coats, boots, hats and gloves along with the door to outside. So we had to put necessary clothing in the other section of the basement and then go upstairs, outside to the deck, put on chore clothes and go down the deck stairs to do chores!
On Sunday the 19th we picked up the 17 boxes of butchered lambs. We had to allow for rain in Vancouver and be able to keep the boxes dry and also keep them frozen until delivery on Monday afternoon. We had a huge plastic bag used to keep hay bales dry and the plan was to put the boxes inside, add blankets for insulation and tie it all up. The plan almost went awry when there was a high wind when we were loading the boxes and the plastic bag nearly took Terry right out of the back of the truck. By the time we got everything tied up we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. On Monday we drove to Vancouver (5 hour trip), picked up Marg at the hospital, went shopping (yes, this was Marg’s idea to go shopping on her new knees), had lunch and then delivered the meat. The buyers all come to one lady’s house between 4:30 & 5 - we were out of there by 4:45 to join the rush hour traffic out of Vancouver.
Marg is doing pretty well but has a long way to go. She can walk very well using crutches just for balance (and insurance!) but she has limited bending at the knees with quite a bit of pain. She can navigate the stairs easily with the newly installed hand rail.
On Tuesday we invited some friends over for a “welcome home party” for Marg and I cooked a turkey dinner. This had the advantage of leftovers for Marg & Dad for a few days! And somewhere in this time frame, the snow melted again!
We left 100 Mile House early on Wednesday. Marg had some help lined up (including cousin Pat & Rick arriving on Sunday) and we wanted to get back to Spokane to spend Thanksgiving day with Terry’s parents. Long day driving back but only lots of rain to make it less enjoyable.
And wouldn’t you know it - Snoqualmie pass was a miserable, snowy mess and we were heading west on Friday. We decided to play it safe and go to Pasco and then along the Columbia gorge, It was a lot longer trip but we did not have any bad roads, We arrived at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester about 6:15 and snagged one of their RV sites on the edge of the parking lot For $14 a night you get a narrow spot (but we found one where we could get the slides out) with water and 50 amp electricity. We had the seafood buffet dinner with our son & family (Dean, Jennifer, Victoria and Cameron). On Saturday we put things back together in the truck & fifth wheel and then went to dinner at Dean’s. Cameron asked if we wanted to watch Cars - we did and really enjoyed it. Today has been some shopping and the kids are coming here for dinner in the rig. Of course there have been visits to the casino between all these activities - I am writing this because I lost my “mental” limit, Dean & Terry are still at the casino.
Sorry for the long gaps between entries and then posting a small book. Oh well, you get the idea of what has been happening.

Let It Snow.......

We are once again in the snowy north. It snowed about 5 inches last night - light & fluffy with just enough moisture to stick all over Dolly's feet, tummy and face.
We went to visit Rick and Pat (cousin) today in Logan Lake. A 2 hour drive each way - left about 9 am, Pat made lunch for us and we left there at 2:50 pm. Rick is doing well after his surgery. He still has a problem with swelling and focus in his left eye so reading, puzzles and TV watching are tiring - this causes boredom to set in since he was told by the doctor not to work on house renovation for 3 months! It was great to visit with them - we also got to see their daughter Morgan and her 2 kids Landon and Ryleigh.
We delivered the last 15 lambs to the slaughter house on Saturday - 3 trips with the little farm Chev pickup. So chores are easier without grain and hay for the lambs. But feeding hay to the cows will probably start tomorrow - as soon as the chains are put on the tractor. There is always something to do on a farm.
My brother, Bob, drove from Pemberton (4 hours each way) for his birthday on Saturday (11th) and left on Sunday to get back to his farm. I made him a nice birthday dinner and we were able to invite Josef and Eva who are part-time neighbors. They live in Germany and Josef makes frequent visits to manage businesses and investments. Luckily this was one trip where he was accompanied by Eva so we were able to get to know both of them. Their English language is very good but there are still slight misunderstandings which led to a very funny situation where we were talking about Marg's cat Pumpkin and they thought we were referring to the large orange vegetable. They could not understand how the shy "Pumpkin" was sneaking up the stairs.

Down on the Farm

And the farming life continues. We are being blessed with unseasonably warm weather so all the snow has melted and the mud on top of the frozen ground is mostly dried up. Wonderful conditions for weaving stakes into page-wire fences to make it more sturdy and extend the life of the wire! Dad says this weather makes even ugly jobs better - but I didn’t think cleaning the sheep barn was top on my list of fun things to do again! We moved the shelf frame that we welded outside to spray paint - the previous coat of paint that I applied in the shop made it hard to breathe and I could hardly get a brush through my hair from the paint floating around.
Marg (sister) called last night and reported slow progress. She sounds upbeat though and pleased with the projects that we have gotten done. We even were gluttons for punishment and asked what else she needed to be done. Now we are trying to think of any other projects to get out of cleaning and painting the basement floor!
I finally took some pictures but I am not sure where to put them so bear with me while I learn.

Heading North instead of South

As a lot of readers of this blog already know, our retirement plans took an unexpected turn - we are in 100 Mile House, B.C. rather than heading south for a warmer climate. My sister, Marg, had knee replacement surgery on both knees on Oct 26th so we are looking after her farm and my Dad who lives with Marg. We expect to be here for 3 weeks - but we all know about plans changing!
Terry's last day at work was Friday, Oct 27th and my last day was Tuesday, Oct 31st. Terry picked me up at work on Tuesday about 2:00 pm and we headed out - without our 5th wheel. We left the 5th wheel at Terry's brother's place at Long Lake ("Spokane") rather than hauling it into the snow. We stayed overnight at Aunt Jessie's in Summerland and then continued to 100 Mile on Wed.
Yes, we are in snow now. A bit on the ground when we arrived and more added yesterday. Warmer today so a lot of thawing. My sister had a folder of notes for things that we need to do so we will keep fairly busy. Of course, there are the farm chores morning & night but they are not extensive. My Dad has a project going in the shop so I have tried my hand at welding and I can end up with a bigger hole than I was trying to fill/weld in the first place!
The picture is the first day of Terry's retirement. We were playing golf at Liberty Lake Golf Course with Mike & Mary Lightfoot.