What a day!

Today is a big day in Sisters - it's the Harvest Festival. However, first I had to attend a garden club meeting at City Hall. Today's topic was "winterizing your garden". I learned that we need to fertilize our lawns in October or November (just before the first snow). If you fertilize too early - you promote growth and prevent the grass from going dormant which can be deleterious to the root system. At the end of the meeting, the session was open to general questions. One of the club members inquired about the squirrels - everyone agreed that the squirrels have been excessively busy - storing pine cones and dropping cones all over the decks of Sister's most ardent gardeners. One upset member claimed that she had even been hit in the head from pine cones being "jettisoned" by the squirrels. The general consensus was that such excessive activity was an indication of a "harsh winter"to come!

Another garden club member claimed that she has a log in her yard that separates her property from her neighbors. Apparently this log has a long groove in it that has rotted out over the years. She reported that the squirrels in her yard have filled the depression with pine cones neatly stack one next to the other - and even put in a second row!

Following the garden meeting we went to the Harvest Fair. The Lumber jacks were putting on quite a show, and Frank and I enjoyed a ride around town in a horse drawn wagon. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the day so that dampened the festive spirits somewhat.

While we were checking out the vendors, we noticed a lady with two tiny puppies tucked in her jacket. We stopped to admire them - and believe it or not - we ended up taking one home. We've named him "Bogie" (short for Boggart) and he is a toy australian shepherd. He has one blue eye and one brown eye. Full grown - he will only be the size of a cat!

Catching Up!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Frank and I traveled over 3000 miles (by car) in the last month. We flew to Tacoma to pick up our two cars and drove them back down to Sisters. We rested one day and then started out to visit Luke and Lei in Southern California.

Our drive from Carson City to Mission Viejo was really pleasant and we traveled through some beautiful country.The Mammoth Lake area was particularly nice,and Frank and I would like to return when we can spend more time exploring.

As we approached the San Bernardino area, the desert was particularly bleak and the air quality was horrendous. It was really distressing! I shot this picture from the window of car - the whole world looked gray. I hope this picture gives you an idea of what it was like.

We spent a marvelous week visiting with Luke, Lei and Lizzie. Lizzie is now about 5 months and is a beautiful baby! We had fun cooking, decorating their new townhouse, and playing with our newest Grand-daughter! After leaving Luke and Lei, we drove up to Vallejo/Napa area to visit with my Mom as well as see Bunny and Michael (Frank's sister and brother-in-law). Mom was doing surprisingly well, and we were able to help her with some household tasks that needed attention. Our visit with Bunny and Michael was too short, but we had a great time. Bunny cooked up some great meals, and we had fun catching up. Michael and Frank are hatching plans to build their own outdoor oven on one of our next visits!

The drive back home was grueling - as the car did not have air conditioning and the temperature was over 100 degrees. We made frequent stops to stretch our legs as well as get some "cold" refreshments. As we passed through Doris - a small town in northern California - this sign caught our attention. Unfortunately, the restaurant was no longer in business - I guess maybe the food wasn't that great after all!