September 9, 2015 Tales From The BBQ

Rose hips ready for the picking.

The salmon we had for dinner on Tuesday.

Monday 9/7. Happy 94th birthday to JB's Mom!

Celebrating birthdays has become a tradition at the BBQ, so even though Larry and Cowboy got older in August, I asked Larry to wear the T-shirt we gave to him - and he did!  I gave Cowboy his T-shirt which said: This beer is making me look awesome!  It is also Mrs. Gridder's birthday in September, so I made some magnets that I thought were appropriate for her.  One of which said: Coffee is that magic potion that turns morning from "Leave me alone or die" into "Good morning, Honey."

Oh, the stories we heard at the BBQ!  One couple was in Waco the same day as the biker shooting and were staying at the hotel where the police interrogated all the bikers.  Mr Gridder discovered, quite by accident, that their chickens love beer, and now will drink right out of the can while he holds it for them.  Larry built a swing for their chickens, but he hasn't seen them use it yet.  And, of course it rained yesterday because Mrs. Westie was here, which happens more often than not.  She was in Texas a few years ago which broke their three-month drought.

And it seems that people living in Wenatchee are not only having problems with raccoons, but also skunks.  Animal Control told someone who called them about the skunks to "Just shoot them."  I guess it isn't against to law in town to crank off a firearm within the city limits. We had problems when we lived in Kirkland with raccoons and roof rats, but never skunks, thank goodness.

Larry was replacing the batteries in his game cam, which is set up by their pond, when he heard some snuffling and thought it was his larger dog, who now tends to get out of breath easily.  It continued and he looked up to see a bear looking at him through the bushes about twenty feed away!  As they made eye contact, the bear turned around and left which allowed Larry to catch his breath.  Just another adventure on the mountain.

Just before dinner this evening we walked down to our neighbors at the yurt to see how they were coming along with the outdoor kitchen they are building.  This weekend they are making the doors and it looks great.

Tuesday 9/8. It was 50 and overcast this morning.  No wind though.  Sandy called and I was able to sit out on to porch to talk to her without freezing.  It was going to be 95 in Santa Rosa today, with even higher temperatures forecast for the rest of the week.  Thank goodness our heat has subsided.

Aunt Nene called me yesterday and was very upset with me for climbing up on the roof and cleaning the chimney.  Between her and Sandy, I may be convinced to hire someone next time.

I was feeling rather melancholy today with the BBQ being over.  But now I have to prepare for my trip to Idaho with Nene.  I leave for her place in Port Orchard next Wednesday.  Then we will leave for Idaho on Thursday and be back on the 23rd.  I will stay with her for a few days after that as we are having a large celebration for her 90th birthday on the 26th.  I will post my blog on the Wednesday, 9/16, but then not again until Monday, 9/28.

We will finally meet Randy in person on our trip.  He had a small bear at his place last week that hung around for a couple hours.  He asked he Mom just what she thought they should do to get rid of it and she said, "Get a bigger gun!"  

I did another load of laundry today to be sure I am all caught up by the time I leave, so JB won't have to worry about doing any.  He was working on hand-held radios, trying to download frequencies on them for some friends, and having problems with the program now that he has Windows 10.  After hanging out the laundry, I walked down the driveway with the dogs and spent almost two hours picking rose hips.  There are a lot more of them that are ripe now and I was able to find a lot of large, perfect ones.  I gathered a total of three pounds this time.  I washed the large ones and put them in the steamer/juicer for two hours.  That produced another pint+ of juice.  When the hips cooled, I squeezed out the seeds of each one, which took me an hour and a half, and will make more marmalade tomorrow.  This time I plan to add some orange rinds to it.  Tomorrow I will also clean the small ones and start drying them for tea.

One of the couples who came to the BBQ brought us three frozen fish that they had caught this summer - two salmon and a trout.  I only had room for two of them in the freezer, so we had one of the salmon for dinner this evening.  They also gave us a box of home-canned goods.  They brought all this last year, too.  JB had never cooked a whole fish before, just fillets.  So he looked up recipes and we tweaked one to our own liking, using butter, thin-sliced onions and dill.  He grilled it and we pigged out, eating more than half of it!  But it was soooo good!

Our high for the day was 66 even though the sky stayed mostly overcast.

Wednesday 9/9. It is 54 this morning and mostly clear.  Lots to do in this good, cool weather.

Thought for the day: Don't be afraid of death, be afraid of an unlived life.  You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.  Author Unknown