Diane and her friend Rhonda had made an enormous number of sauerkraut balls...fried, delicious with homemade sauce, and filled with cheese. Next came the Brats served with two kinds of red cabbage (one vegan, one traditional), and two types of potato salad. Everyone had brought some tasty item for the meal or dessert and I tried them all...with no regrets (after all, that’s the purpose of spandex!) Sorry, no pictures...my fingers where fully occupied with plates & glasses full of tasty treats and adult beverages. I also am very fortunate that I live just down the hill from Griffins and had walked to the event so I could walk (sorta) home and burn off at least two bites of my afternoon of feasting and beer "tasting".
I spent most of the following week at home trying to catch up with my house chores, yard work, and paperwork. The weather has been too good to work on my deck consistently...it's been much more fun to do "anything else". I got the front stairs rebuilt before I went to Vancouver and Jim’s hip replacement. I had planned on only needing to replace three or four boards (on the stairs...not Jim) and figured it would just take a couple hours. Started to work on the boards and found that most of the under-structure had not used pressure treated, outside rated wood and needed serious attention (i.e. replacement). There was only one word for how I felt about the extra work I that I had to invest on the stairs and it doesn’t rhyme with fudge. I finished up in the dark the night before I left for Vancouver...and the Malicks thought I was happy just to be in B.C.
The Friday after Octoberfest, I finally got to bake bread for the first time in a month and did 23 loaves for the neighborhood + 15 craisin/apricot buns for a dinner at the Yoders. Dan & Cheryl were the home stay volunteers for a delegate from the Ukraine, Liubov. Umpqua Community College has been involved with bringing professionals from the Ukraine to study and learn from comparable jobs here in Oregon. Liubov is a really interesting person and I enjoyed meeting her and another delegate, Pavlo (sp?). I was very amused when they announced that they were leaving in a couple days and had only the time after dinner to go to the one location left on their bucket list for this trip–Walmart! So Dan loaded ‘em up in the car and off they went...I wonder if the Roseburg Walmart knows it’s internationally acclaimed?
Realizing that I planned on going to Newport for the last weekend of the month, I decided that I’d better get to baking for the Community Cancer Center staff and my doctor’s office (best to keep them all happy with me!) So on Sunday I baked 17 loaves for the CCC and on Tuesday, I baked 16 loaves for the White Oak Medical Clinic.
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| One load out of the oven cooling, while the next is baking. |
After the bread delivery to the clinic, I arrived home and determined that I had to get at least one board replaced on the front deck. Miracle of miracles, I actually got the rotten board out and replaced it with a new one before dark. I know it may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I’ve been thinking about this job for 7-8 months now and it was a relief to actually see something in the way of progress. (At the far end of the boardwalk you can just see part of the reconstructed front steps...but I don't think anyone can appreciate what a pain in the a$$ that job was!)
That last weekend of October, I headed over to Newport to walk the beach. Sunset was stunning that evening and the wind had almost completely stopped...just a perfect autumn evening.
My primary task for this trip was to place one of Susan’s memorial glass disks at Yaquina Head Lighthouse State Park. It was one of her favorite places to visit over the last several years and I certainly believe she would heartily approve of having a “little bit of herself” in such a beautiful spot. It was a gorgeous day as I cast off my flip-flops and walked down the beach to the lighthouse.
As I climbed up the path to the viewpoint, I was pleased to note a pair of Peregrine falcons hovering in the skies above Salal Hill. I don't mean to make it seem like a spiritual event, but I do feel they were like an honor guard watching over me as I thought about our last visit here together on the 8th of November 2018...less than a year ago. I placed a glass memorial disk containing a bit of her ashes and inscribed with her initials SHS (Susan Helen Stansbury) at the Northwest corner post of the viewpoint fence.
The spot where I placed the memorial disk is noted on the photo with a heart. I thought she would have an incredible view of the beaches, whales, birds, sea lions, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse for as long as this hill existed.
On the beach, I ran across a live sand dollar--another memorable moment on this day's walk. I had forgotten how interesting they are with their little “underbelly” spines used to move through the sand. I placed it back in a little deeper water so the seagulls wouldn’t get a “free lunch” quite so easily.
One last look back at Salal Hill overlooking the lighthouse and I felt a surge of happiness that this was always going to be a special spot for "us".
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| 10/28/2019 - Susan's memorial glass rests at one of her favorite spots, Salal Hill. |
The surf fishing was apparently quite good and I watched several surf perch caught while I walked back along the north beach to my motel. That day's walk on the sand (both North & South beaches) and then to the lighthouse registered 40,715 steps (20.45 miles) on my pedometer...my feet were tired, but my heals were soft as I headed for some dinner and a beer at The Chowder Bowl in Nye Beach.
So here’s the stats for the month of October:
548,027 Steps = 275 miles walked (85 miles while in Vancouver)
56 Loaves of bread baked
48 Castelvetrano olives (consumed with Hendricks Gin martinis)
26 Staples (removed from Jim's hip incision)
15 Craisin/Apricot buns baked
4 Pounds gained (from Layne's fantastic cooking & cookies)
2 Liters of Hendricks gin consumed
1 Board (2x6) replaced in my front deck at home
0 Lost/Damaged hip replacement patients under my temporary supervision
... Cookies (too many to count)
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| November 2018 |
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