Christmas in the (PNW) Woods.....Post Views....14, 886

Senior Ladies Unplugged!!!

Nancy

Jo

Grandma G

       How did we get there?

Well, it started with Comet and Cupid.......AND

Nancy at the Senior center

On a winter's foggy Saturday afternoon.....

       

 

          

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Then in the park's van with fogged up inside windows....

(View from the very back, next to the back panel.....guess who got to sit there.....Grandma G and Nancy....at one point we were glad for the seat belts when the van [driver] made a sudden stop....we could see ourselves sliding down that middle aisle.... no seats in front of us) 

      After a 90 minute drive to Silverton, OR we drove into the Oregon Gardens resort....along with a multitude of other visitors. 

 A tunnel of lights ushered us into our foggy evening's adventure through the twinkling forest and craft vendors....

 Warming up on a frosty 40 degree evening.....

(with souvenir mugs full of hot cider)

A beautiful "otherworldly" forest scene

     This has been a good "in the PNW woods" day in the life of Grandma G.

    "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows after me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'."  (John 8:12) 

Christmas in the PNW....Post Views....14,877

        Grandma G's Formal Christmas Outing...... 

Myrtle's Tea House.....

....And Gift Shop......

In Ridgefield, WA.....

Our Ladies' Out to Lunch....13 of us....

(about a half hour rainy ride from home....I didn't drive...)

(rainy.....the start of the Pineapple Express)

 A 
tea lover's

delight.....

 Guests are served three selections of tea.....
Each guest has a unique cup....

      Raspberry sorbet to clear the palate
              (Yay!  start with dessert....)

                 Cream of potato soup.....assortment of finger sandwiches...fruit cup.....

                                                                   

Finished with a selection of yummy sweets......and.....YES.. CHOCOLATE MINT TEA.....

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     Thursday there was a pause in the rain (Pineapple Express)....

A few hours of a "sun break".   Great opportunity for a 50 minute walk.....

      Wisconsin DOES have nicer "creeks"
This is "Burnt Bridge" creek that runs through most of the area.....though I think it is more impressive in other locations......

The Pineapple Express moving back in....







One of the many big birds that fly over my house.....
I love hearing them.
(Reminds me of early youth with my foster family..... me lying in bed and hearing the frogs croak) 


       By 4PM the wind picked up to 40-50 MPH with some mighty gusts.  Several thousand people were without power in Portland. Here in my house the lights blinked 2 times.   
      That evening was the night of our park "pitch in" Christmas dinner.  I wasn't sure how many would be there considering the strong wind.  (The temperature was in the 50's and no rain.)  The meal proceeded as planned. Lights blinked only once. I, for one, had brought a flashlight in case of power outage.  Several folks were there. (No pictures)  We had a great time of visiting and singing a few carols.  Woo!  Woo! By 8pm all the wind had passed.
(The Pineapple Express is the name given to a particular weather pattern, originating in the Hawaiian Islands, that brings strong winds and a deluge of rain  to the west coast.  Mid and northern California received huge amounts of rainfall.) 
    Later in the evening on TV I found the movie Seven Years in Tibet.  Great movie....highly recommend it...

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     Friday was another day..... of rain......what to do......sleep in a bit...
Clean the kitchen....try wiping the floor with vinegar water...nice




What to do with a sweet potato that thinks its bloomin' sweet potato.....I remembered many years ago growing a sweet potato vine.  I recall it grew quite large before whatever happened to it happened....



Time to grow another one.....no need for an amaryllis this year...

I will keep you posted on how the vine is vining.....

        Friday was also a great day to clean out tons of paper nuisance.  With all the emphasis on being "green" there seems to be an explosion of paper, paper, paper.....There is recycling....I have boxes of paper recycle constantly.....Figure that one....

      Finally closed out my "stay at home" day watching TV as Admiral Kirk and his crew went looking for Spock and getting him back home so he could regenerate....love those Star Trek adventures....helps pass the time as one is doing 90 minutes of stretches....Ahhhh.....   

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...

    "And a partridge in a bare tree....."

    What?    

     Oh.....

     ..............

    "And a partridge in a pear tree....."




     
      This has been a good 3 "Christmas in the PNW" days in the life of Grandma G.

     "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights as sons."  (Galatians 4:4) 

Busy and NOT Bored......Post Views....14,821

     Grandma G is coming down from an adrenalin high....

Pacific Northwest Red Hot
Red Hat Mama.....

On Thursday...

We held our Red Hats lunch Christmas party at the 
Red Lion at the Quay...

Views of Columbia River and I-5 bridge
on a rainy day in Portland...Oh, My.....

Great big sandwich for an itty bitty mouth....
.....How did Georgia know that Georgia is a tea drinker (that's a riddle for you....)








Ready to face the rain.....

That same evening Angie and I attended our church's first ladies' get together and ornament exchange....FUN....

Friday afternoon there was a pause in the rain.....out for a walk



LOVE... the PNW moss....(and plastic bunnies)






On a full moon Friday evening my friend, Kahana, picked me up for a drive into Portland for the Women of Faith conference
......and again on Saturday morning through 5PM....

  

     In between times during the week and Sat evening I worked hard on learning The Revelation Song to play on piano and sing for Sunday service since it was a special one to commission a young missionary heading overseas.  I just became aware of the song that Monday, though I have heard it before.  I thought I could pick it out from Youtube and figure it all out and know it all...well... by Sunday.....even with several activities happening all week.   (This must be Grandma G's manic phase.)  Saturday evening I gave up and ordered the music to download. Even with that the song is rather tricky....rhythmically challenging.  We did practice before service with the intent of including it.  Turns out our time was filled with other events and we did not sing it.  Which is OK because now there is time to actually learn it well before including it sometime after Christmas.....But, trying to learn it stretched me a little beyond comfort....that it, it tired me out.      

Come Sunday, after a great service, I was invited to a "send off" party in a little church/cafe in the neighboring town of Battleground just 10 miles north of where I live.  I hadn't driven there on my own before, but decided it was time to expand my horizons.  The drive went fine.  The building was very quaint, painted in muted colors.  I met new folks who in time will become friends.

     The result of all this busy activity is satisfaction, but

 also.....fatigue.  And a bit of a headache.  Monday I slept in, took a half hour walk during a "sun break", then spent the rest of the day sick with a headache and stomach pains.  

    Ahhhh......a rainy Tuesday and no place I have to go......time for dishes (a week's worth), laundry, BLOGGING, stretches,  AND....

5 episodes of Star Trek I hadn't seen before. (Well, one I had, but had forgotten it.)   

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

      This has been a good 5 "busy and not bored" days in the life of Grandma G.

      "Come to me [Jesus], all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  (Matthew 11: 28 &29)

Busy, But a Bit Bored.....Post Views....14,694

               I find it hard to realize that Christmas Eve is 3 weeks from this evening.   Last January I knew that 2014 would pass quickly, but I didn't think THIS quickly.   They say time goes faster as one gets older.....I must be getting older....
   I don't know what I did noteworthy since Sat.  Lets just skip over Sunday and Monday, then start at Tuesday.  ( I do remember Monday because it was Cyber Monday and I found a really good deal on a round trip air ticket to San Diego.....SO....San Diego here I come in January!!)
    On Tuesday I talked with son, Burt, about arrangements for Lou to come out here for a couple months starting in January.  He and Lou will travel out together since Burt has business in Portland.  More on that as time goes by.  AKA....how to stay occupied from now until April 1....
    Tuesday was also "hang out at Freddy's (a store)" for 4 hours.  There were many % off coupons and many items for me to check over.  A good outing for Grandma G.
    Our indoor pool is closed for maintenance this week, so I don't have to make up excuses not to go to water aerobics.....but need to find other exercise.    
    Today, Wednesday, I decided to beautify the local  environment by getting my hair colored and nails done.   Yeah! That was after an invigorating 2 miles walk while the weather was somewhat balmy.   This evening we had our second sing-along gathering at the club house.  We had 4 musicians and 4 singers, enjoying Christmas songs.  We are a little group that has not played together before so it was fun getting in sync.   
      I have several activities coming up the rest of this week.....Red Hat ladies' dress up Christmas party Thursday noon and then an ornament exchange party with our little church in the evening.  
Friday PM and all day Saturday is a Women of Faith conference in Portland.  Sunday morning is a special commissioning service at church. In the afternoon I am invited to a "sending off" party.  Me thinks Grandma G is getting a life here in the Pacific Northwest.  
     I am trying to learn a song I am familiar with, but don't have music for.  Trying to pick it out from youtube.  That is taking a bit of time.  

    When grocery shopping I bought fresh veggies and today took time to put together a "mega salad".  I haven't had salad since the tooth extraction 6 weeks ago.  "Mega salad" consists of mixed greens or romaine lettuce, onion, garlic, sweet red pepper, cucumber, peas, black olives, shredded carrots, dried cranberries, walnuts, almonds, grated cheese, whatever meat or boiled egg one has on hand and walnut oil mixed with a vinaigrette.  I make up 2 of them so that next day's meal is ready much quicker. (This also makes a good  visual aide.) Since I don't eat fish, the walnuts provide needed omega 3's.  (fish allergy)  All part of a healthy life style....
       I am trying to retrain my sleep cycle for me to get up at 7 rather than 8 or 9.  It worked for 2 days, but doesn't go so well when one can't close out the day until midnight.  Mornings have always been a challenge to me.  In boarding high school I received many "demerits" for not jumping out of bed at 6:30 AM....still can't do it.  But I've heard so much about the benefits of early rising I thought I would find out for myself.   Rising tomorrow probably won't be at 7 because it is now almost midnight once again......

     This has been a good 4 "busy, but a bit bored" days in the life of Grandma G.

      "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."  (Psalms 5:3)