Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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We are back in Los Angeles for more doctor visits, tests, and procedures, and we are the healthy ones! Los Angeles is supposedly in COVID-19 lockdown. However, we have been in bumper to bumper traffic more than once, which is frustrating since restaurants aren’t open, except for take-out or delivery. We are relegated to eating grocery store food in our room. It’s Friday, and we’ve been here since Monday, so needless to say, eating in the room has gotten old. We have tons of trash every day....
4 is finally coming to an end, and we have endured. I know I hope for a great new year to enjoy with abandon. Maybe that’s why I’m a bit more forward-looking than usual. Not that I am planning to make a list of New Year’s resolutions. I know myself, the first time I break one, I will break them all. Maybe it’s just semantics; but, no resolutions; instead, it’s break bad habits and add good ones. First, I will pay my taxes on time this year and avoid the penalty I just paid for last year. Some...
I don’t usually believe in karma, probably because I just don’t want to experience the wrath of someone imposing a karma curse on me. Lately, though, I am beginning to feel my sister may be getting me back with some sleep karma. I’ve recently experienced insomnia, which is not something I’ve ever had. Until recently, I was the best sleeper ever. My mother used to say that I could sleep anytime, anywhere, and on anything; a bed, floor, bed of nails, in a car, plane, tent, it didn’t matter. I...
This year our family Thanksgiving will be a virtual party, sadly, but then it does save me driving two hours each way to my sister’s house, just to sit in a corner and read or knit with a big glass of wine while she overcooks the turkey and focuses on her grandchildren. The guys sit glued to the TV, watching football, not moving or helping, because they can’t take a chance they might miss a throw, sack, or touchdown. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday; there are no mandatory gif...
We returned from our brief trip to Los Angeles, and although I am glad to be home, I did discover that there are still some things I miss. Los Angeles is one of those places where people can go to reinvent themselves, hideout, wait to be discovered for a starring role in a blockbuster feature film, or like me; rediscover some of the things I miss. First on my list, of course, my friends, then sushi and outdoor tennis year-round, but I rediscovered other aspects of the city that I miss as well....
The combination of a Sunday morning, the 5:30 a.m. flight, and a prediction of snow hardly made for the perfect travel day, but we made it to the airport on time, before the snow without hitting a deer, checked our bag, and zipped through security. A smooth start to our trip to Los Angeles for our doctor and dentist appointments. I love to fly. I still get an adrenaline rush when the plane takes off, and admittedly I breathe a quiet sigh of relief when the plane safely lands. I also love the...
Once again, I say “thank you” to the parents of Waitsburg. Your children made Halloween a much-needed fun evening during these challenging times. The kids were cute and always said, “thank you” for their treats. Even some of the younger ones didn’t require additional prompting from their parents. I apologize in advance for filling their bags with more candy than usual, and your upcoming struggles with the inevitable day-after sugar rush, and your future dental bills. I thought since they didn’t...
This week was somewhat sad reading about the spread of COVID-19. It will make the holidays a very different experience this year, and not in a good way. But then I remembered a plaque a former boss had in his office. It read: “Not all the bad things happen.” In the past, when something annoying, problematic, or unexpected happened to me or someone close to me, my usual knee jerk reaction was to panic. Maybe it is maturity or maybe just exhaustion, but now I’m not going crazy about the little thi...
Just a week ago, I was on the tennis court in a short skirt and tank top; now, I’m making an appointment to have my tires changed to my snow tires. I blinked and the weather changed, and I mean dramatically! Not a simple 5-6 degrees, but below freezing and even a prediction of snow this Saturday. I think mother nature is out for revenge. I once mentioned that I was a little disappointed in my first autumn here because I just expected more of an explosion of color, so now she’s just decided out...
Last Friday, I think at least half of Waitsburg probably heard my deep, tortured sigh as I parked my car and put the top up for what will likely be its permanent status until next spring. No more racing down the highways at 65-70 mph with the sun in my face, hair blowing in my eyes. Mugsy, tethered in securely, will certainly miss the smell of goats, sheep, roosters, and growing wheat. I won’t miss his whining while he tries to break free of his restraints to sit in my lap while I’m dri...
It’s a minor miracle, but the kitchen is done, finally! The correct glass panels were installed on Monday, the silicone holding the glass in place has dried. Our new sod has taken, so we have ceased the twice-daily watering, and the muddy footprints have subsided. Now that the major remodeling is complete, I knew it was time to clean the house from the construction mess. I mean really cleaned, including windows, baseboards, the works! I hired a cleaning crew, especially to clean the windows i...
I hate to be cliché, but, Wow! Time does fly. And, sticking with clichés, it seems like yesterday that I wrote my first article for The Waitsburg Times. It’s been a very full year, and I can now say I’ve experienced all four seasons here. My first winter was brutal. Everyone was apologetic because we were experiencing the most snow and the coldest winter in 15 years. Lucky me, what an introduction to my new home. Good heaters, gloves, great new friends, and a little scotch, I survived. That firs...
I am not, nor have I ever been accused of being a “romantic.” Even as a young girl, I didn’t fantasize about wearing a big white poufy wedding dress, or a white knight charming and romancing me. It had nothing to do with being levelheaded; I was just more enthralled with action, adventure, and getting dirty. My sister, brother, and I have all been married twice, and none of us opted for big parties or over-the-top events. We had small weddings at home, except my last one to Daniel; we elope...
As you all probably know, I’m a city girl. Born In New York (Brooklyn), we then moved to Queens, and eventually to the suburbs of Long Island. We grew nothing in New York, except for one crab apple tree and a pear tree, that never bore fruit. Our vegetables didn’t come from the ground; they lived in little white boxes in the freezer. My mother would boil salted water, drop in the frozen vegetables, then cook the life out of them. We eventually moved to Tucson, Arizona, because my father’s arthr...
When I’m not in the mood to watch one of the binge-worthy shows on Netflix or Prime, I turn to TCM and watch old movies, some of which are art to me. Recently, I watched a movie that I hadn’t seen in years, called The Egg and I with Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. The movie is very old, in fact, it was released before I was born. It’s the story of newlyweds; Fred MacMurray (the groom), has just announced that he has purchased a ramshackle old farm, and they are going into the busin...
A slug could slime its way across the country faster than it will take to complete our kitchen remodel. The cabinets need different trim than they anticipated. Evidently, the walls and ceiling were even more crooked than initially thought. The wrong doors have to be replaced with the right doors and glass panels, three drawers still do not have facing or knobs, need I go on? Like dominos, Daniel can’t finish his part (moldings, trim, painting, pantry door paint, and doorknob), or install the dis...
I understand that half a loaf of bread is better than none, and half-baked ideas may be better than no idea, but half a kitchen is just frustrating. As scheduled, the cabinet installers showed up Tuesday morning, and I was ecstatic, to say the least. The installer was the dourest man I have ever encountered, and obviously, he did not appreciate my excitement. I was like the entire town in The Music Man, singing and dancing enthusiastically at the arrival of the Wells Fargo Wagon. He just...
It’s almost scary to write about our kitchen remodel because it is moving along at breakneck speed and with fewer snags than anticipated. I don’t want to jinx the amazing progress we’ve made and still need to make. To date, we have a level floor, and we have light. Daniel has been busy; he demolished the kitchen. He worked with our contractor, Gary, to level the floor, lay down the new floor, complete drywall repair, add sockets, fix broken sockets, change the refrigerator socket to the new sub-...
At some point, I imagine most of us say, "never again." I have had to "eat my words" one too many times, so I try not to say, "never will I..." When the last of my dogs had to be put down about six months before I moved here, I vowed, no more dogs! No more coaxing and dragging prissy dogs out in the rain waiting for them to "do their business" while I got drenched in the process. No more trying to retrain my lab, who couldn't wait to go out in the rain, because what lab doesn't love water....
On my first trip to Waitsburg to officially meet with contractors to discuss my home renovation, (or tear down), I arrived early and fortuitously wandered in to Ten Ton Coffee. After some introductions, I owned up to the fact that, yes, I was the owner of the wreck of a house on Orchard. The information whirlwind began. I received an encyclopedia of unsolicited advice, which I rapidly turned into solicited advice. Everyone encouraged me to renovate the house, their suggestions and contacts gave...
I would bet money that even Alan Turing couldn't solve the mystery of my Waitsburg garden. To say the least, this year has been an interesting experience trying to decode what grows, and why and where it grows. It will probably always remain an enigma to me. I planted eggplant from seed in a separate planter this year. I had three sprouts spring up and over the course of a week, one just wasn't making it, so I pulled it and let the other two flourish. We now have 2 very full and prolific zucchin...
Last summer, my first in Waitsburg, I planted three tomato plants and harvested enough tomatoes to keep Heinz making ketchup for years. I was so proud, I sent pictures back to everyone in Los Angeles, bragging about my abundant tomato crop. Then came the frost, and all I had were limp dead plants, and planters loaded with green tomatoes. Experienced gardeners advised me " don't be discouraged, pick them, put them in a box in the pantry or laundry room and you will have tomatoes through...
We have started the kitchen remodel. The discordant sound of drills, hammers, compressors, and cursing is ongoing. The cabinets have been ordered, we need to fix our ski slope floor, the appliances have been here for a year. Big news—the dishwasher is out of its box and is installed! It’s in a temporary place, waiting for the new cabinets, but it works! In anticipation of the new cabinets, I figured we could start to make a little progress. The first manageable task, installing electrical out...
Oops! Happy belated Father’s Day. I apologize, I missed the date. (Senioritus?). The title of this column was probably a fourth-grade assignment, one that I was happy to complete because my Dad was the best! I miss him and Mom, every day. He was adamant that my brother, sister and I stayed in touch with one another. Thanks to Zoom, FaceTime and Houseparty, we see each more often than when we lived in the same state. One of the COVID benefits, we can see and visit with one another without b...
Yay! Governor Inslee has approved Phase 2 status for Walla Walla County. Such fortuitous timing, in the midst of so many other "phasing" events, like high school and college graduations, now those students will phase into their new lives as college freshman, or (hopefully) employees-maybe graduate school? June is also a big month for weddings, and couples "phasing" into married life. And some of us are just phasing into rural life, (and loving it). But, like all things in life, "phasing"...
