Giving thanks

'Tis the season. I hope all of you, no matter where you are or who you're with, take some quiet moments to count your blessings. All the problems, craziness, and sorrow will still be there when you're done counting, but it does help to think about more positive things for awhile . . . every day.  😉

Our Thanksgiving plans were late in the making (such are the complications of blended families), but in the end we gathered at my MIL's house for dinner yesterday. My contributions were homemade crescent rolls (a perennial request), one of Costco's giant pumpkin pies, and a rather impressive, if I do say so myself, salad of homegrown butternut, radicchio and escarole from a neighbor's garden, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, and feta. I took my knitting along for any down-time, but didn't work on it until we returned home. My short-term goal to get through the colorwork yoke before the calendar turns to December, and I think I'll make it. The horses have been revealed; I'm pretty tickled with it!

before the fancy salad bowl

Last Saturday night we were blessed by our son's thoughtful and generous joint birthday gift, tickets for all three of us to a Straight No Chaser concert at the Elsinore Theatre in Salem. I've been singing scraps of songs and grinning on and off ever since; it was fabulous, great fun as always. And I love that they encourage taking and posting photos and videos, so here you go:

I am thankful for getting some more medical stuff taken care of this year, since after my knee replacements my out-of-pocket obligations have been met. After five weeks of PT for my sciatica without resolving my symptoms, I was referred for a lumbar MRI and was able to get in for that right away. Now I'm trying to get into a pain management practice for a consultation (at least) and possible treatment (likely an injection) before the end of the year.

I am thankful for beauty. The sensory feast of fall is abating, but it is still lovely to me in its more muted phase.

entrance color, before the 'fall'

HUGE, beautiful mushrooms just up the hill, seen on a walk with Poppy

Mt. Hood, across the Willamette Valley, taken from horseback

all of these are from just one changing sunrise

I'm not counting blessings that haven't happened yet, but I'm encouraged by an email exchange with someone interested in buying three ewes. That would be a boon in several ways, including being able to merge the 'barn ewes' with the bigger group, and easing the demand on our too-meager hay supply.

Speaking of sheep, I've been swapping out tight coats for bigger ones as I can. The other night Bitta got a fresh coat, and even though it was after dark I snapped photos of her and Bauble mid-side. Considering that Bitta is black and Bauble is a black gulmoget, the photos turned out surprising well!

Thankful for the readers of this blog from . . .

Chaos

I'm going to bury the lede by dumping a bunch of photos. If your own life is stressful right now, you may want to skip reading about mine. (Then again, sometimes I find it helpful to know that I'm not the only one dealing with 'stuff'. If the shoe fits, read on!)

First, photos shared on IG/FB (plus a few extras), which have gotten more regular again:

"My eastern view from home and on my way to work this morning. I could not capture Mt. Hood's magnificent  presence!" (2 photos)

"Looking forward to a great concert date with my honey!"

Lyle Lovitt and his acoustic group put on a great show

A detail from the lovely Elsinore Theatre

"The sheep are getting ragged around the edges. WHEN will I have time to shear them???"

"The past few days have felt like a spring fling!"

"Last night's clear sky. Orion is my favorite constellation."

"Hmm,  those colors remind me of something. 😍"

"I chased this sunset up the hill a few miles past our lane trying to get a good shot."

"Interesting wisps in the eastern sky this morning."

"Happy Sabbath!"

"Bitsy and Lance, making my day.." (4 photos)

"The ear gnats are out again, so Stella's bonnet is back in use. She knows it helps and accepts it readily."

"Good morning!"

"We're having fungi weather again."

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Rick has almost vacated his old clinic space. The only thing holding us up from giving the new owners the keys they've been hounding us for is getting phone service switched over to the new office. For now we have to keep the landline in the old space and forward the phone to the new secretary's mobile phone during the day and to the answering service for nights and weekends.

The rest of 30 years of accumulation has been moved, some (not enough) to burnpile/trash/recycling, some (shoehorned in) to the new office, and some (WAY too much) to our home. There is stuff stacked in our garage, our daylight basement, the barn aisle, the shed, and on our big trailer. Rick hasn't been able to park on his side of the garage since he brought home a truck AND trailerful of stuff home from Dad's shop last summer; now I can't park in the garage, either. Supposedly most of what he has brought home will be stored in the shop once it is finished; Brian is grumbling that there will be no available space to actually work on vehicles in the 'shop' (which is an indication of other issues).

Through the process of losing both my dads, my desire to declutter and downsize has grown increasingly stronger, and I have taken steps to both get rid of things and minimize further accumulation. But I'm shoveling out with a teaspoon while the men of the family are hauling in with a dump truck, adding despair to the physical/mental/emotional exhaustion I was already struggling with. In my experience, what my guys bring in never leaves, even if it is large and visible (prime examples are a dead pick-up, a dead car, one dead and one dying tractor, two dead riding lawnmowers, and a homemade trailer, now rotting, that we pulled behind the car when we moved to Oregon in 1989). Our little acreage has become an embarrassment and a burden, and I see no way to effect change – not a good emotional state. On top of that, I am aware that FAR worse things are happening to many in our country and on our planet; Lord, help us all.

State Fair and Sweatember

Other than two hot days at the end, this year's Oregon State Fair was blessed with moderate weather, which is a whole lot easier on the livestock that Rick is tasked with overseeing. I went with him on both Saturday nights, and we spent most of Labor Day there as well. That's when I finally got to walk through the Creative Living exhibition hall; I never did make it to the photography show. I had my share of favorite fair foods – raspberry milkshakes from the Oregon Dairy Women's stand, garlic and herb pretzels, and falafel with sides from the best of the three gyro stands. And for old college days' sake we stood outside the amphitheater (it was packed and the fire marshal wouldn't let more in) and listened to the tail end of Foreigner's farewell tour concert.

I'm aware that I've shared lots of photos from our State Fair over the years, so feel free to scan through quickly or not at all.

I am always fascinated by the pigs. There is so much intelligence in their eyes, and they are adorable when they sleep.

Caesar the "No Drama Llama" does this every day of the fair, no spitting. I talked to his owner, who said he has been easy-going from the git-go.

A few of the entries in the miniature cattle category:

I do love goats. My first was a Saanen, like these:

Another sleeping pig, and the ever-popular sow and piglets:

A stunning sunset to close out August:

A fancy drill team on their way to the warm-up arena:

Apparently these sea lions put on regular shows, but I only saw them doing photo opps. The handlers put the people in place, the sea lions promptly put their chins on heads or shoulders, the people were moved off to receive their photos, and the sea lions hammed it up for their fish treats. It was hilarious, and I could  have watched them for hours!

Catching a bit of the Foreigner concert (with a lot of others) outside of the amphitheater.

On our way back to Rick's vet truck, we caught a bit more music by the marching band The Beat Goes On:

And on the way out of the fairgrounds, I thought I saw fireworks in the sky, but as the lights changed, I realized it was a complex and amazing drone show. The legs of this horse moved in a galloping motion!

The following shots were from Monday,  the last day of the fair.

This is an entry in Decorated Cakes!

The only equine competition that I watched was the Draft Pulling Contest Monday afternoon. These horses were brought in just for this; they didn't compete in any of the other draft horse classes.

Unofficially, the end of the State Fair and the beginning of a new school year mark the transition from summer to fall, but no one told the weather. We just endured several more days of 90+ degree weather, and today was extremely smoky on top of the heat. I sure hope that's the last oven blast of the season; we could use some rain to grow grass and reduce our current 100% reliance on hay. But I am loathe to end this productive season in the garden; the tomatoes are really putting out now. I got enough this week to can seven pints (and green beans enough for four pints of dilly beans).

The big yellow tomatoes are called "Taxi;" that variety's a keeper!

That's it for now from . . .