Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Changes in Life!

Understanding it has been a while since my last post, but I have been trying to come up with a blog that will be fun to read, helpful and inspiring with a twist of intrigue on what I might talk about next. Glenn and I are now empty nesters and what you might say "middle age", I am OK with that but your prospective on your life style and the freedom that comes with this stage in life is a little unsettling to say the least.

I wonder what it would be like to blog as a couple about this stage of our life?

Or

A blog that travels through the new life style of a women who became a parent of young adults on their own?

If you have any ideas that might inspire me, please let me know otherwise I guess I need more time to think about this!

Thanks for the support, Betty

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Garden boxes not as easy as they say!

 
After much discussion between Glenn and I we decided to "mix up" our yard. For 8 years we have planted our garden in the backyard, planting your traditional garden plot in rows of corn, beans, zucchini etc. Glenn has played around with the garden watering trying to get to the most bang for our buck but if you know Central Oregon the watering is one of the many challenges you come across in your garden. Just to list a few; cold nights, short growing season like under 50 days, deer, rabbits this is what makes up gardening in the high desert of Oregon.


http://www.sunset.com/garden/perfect-raised-bed-00400000039550/

The above link is what we used as "guidelines". Those of you that know my Husband will understand what I mean. Our good friend Lisa was over for the weekend, she got to see 1st hand Glenn and I trying to get the 1st box built. After we were well on our way Lisa states that most people hire out to have this done or buy kits. My only comment to you my dear friend is "now do you really think we are like most people"?

I am please to say we are 1/2 way done with the 3 boxes we are building this year deciding to build the next 3 in 2012 for a total of 6 boxes. Moving the boxes to the front yard is a good decision but pulling up sod is a killer. My core muscles are so sore, but I guess that is a good thing right. Every night since we have started this project both Glenn and I are popping aspirin for our aches and pains, it is so silly getting old and what you have to put up with isn't it.

If I could see into future I would say the 3rd week of June will be the date I can sit back and wait for the seeds and baby plants to start growing. That is my personal goal to have this all completed. If you are wondering what we are going to do with the huge garden space in the backyard, we are turning it into a small field of wild flowers mixed with sunflowers it will be a sight to behold so you can be sure I will be posting some wonderful photos for you to enjoy.
Getting started is the easy part!   
One frame built.

Pulling up sod, Google it, they make it sound so easy. Just do this they say, oh the pain it puts on your body:(...

All 3 frames built as I type 2 frames have sod removed, 1 frame has its mixture of dirt in it, just waiting to be planted.
Remember to mix your dirt you buy from the dirt place with peat moss. What is peat moss anyways??

I don't like that old sod, it is going to the dump.

Micah taking a break from studies to play us a tune or two. Thanks we needed that and I am sure he did too.  
I will update my blog on our progress as it happens. Thanks for reading my blog and have a great growing season. Betty

Monday, May 2, 2011

Good People don't come along that often but when they do....

With a title like that what do you suppose I am up to? I work with the most wonderful Lady (leaving her name out to protect the innocent), Lol. How this all started is when  I was discouraged with my outdoor bathing area it wasn't going as smoothly as I had hoped and I was venting one night at work about it. While no customers were in the store if that matters to anyone reading this post:). I got some wonderful advice from her and she understood exactly what I was talking about, I was explaining that cost was a big issue and anytime you want to create something outside you can just see the $$$ adding up. So I think you get the drift.

The conversation I was talking about happen well over 6 mos. ago, to bring you current, my co-worker/friend is moving out of the area, and there we were working together on one quite evening. What I didn't know was her next statement was going to completely change my thoughts on well lets say a lot of things and what she didn't know was she was tapping into one of my passions that very few people know about outside of my wonderful Husband Glenn, my kids and a few very close friends. The passion being my yard. Now if you know where I live, you might wonder why I say its my passion because I differently don't have the "Good Homes and Garden" yard but I have yard that is me and I always say its a work in progress that seems to get me off the hook when needed.

After a nice conversation and I find out she is not going to be able to take a lot of her yard belongings and they are for sell. She invites me over to take a look, I can hardly wait to get home to tell Glenn, he sees how excited I am and really doesn't understand but says OK we can take an hour out of our weekend to stop by and see what she has for sale. 2 loads later and well over 5 hours invested here is what I picked out, I should say Glenn had his eyes on a few pieces also. Lets see if after looking at the photos you can tell me which pieces Glenn picked out. Go ahead and leave a comment I like the feed back...

We don't have everything placed where we want it, but most of the stuff is in the vicinity of its new home:)..

This beautiful bronze Dancing Lady is going to be placed by the outdoor bathtub. Perfect!!

One of many heavy pieces that Glenn was a real trooper in helping me with. Solid concert what a wonderful piece.

The sound is amazing, it lingers on well after you ring the bell.
These are the pieces my Friend knew I would like and boy was she right. Front yard is their new home, when we gaze at the stars in the summer we will feel  like a King and Queen due to the size of these chairs.

This is the detail on each of the chairs and bench, each post has a bird house on it.
OMG, the quail they are so cute and if I remember correctly they are from Sundance Utah, you know Robert Redford's stuff, you can look it up online, fun outdoor items and more.

What can I tell you about this "jack" rabbit I can tell you "I Love It"!!!

Pots, I only wished I had, I think all 5 of them are going on the back patio, summer photos in a few months.

The top of this photo is our roof line off the garage, this wonderful sunflower is at least 6'5". It will welcome you to our backyard all year long but especially in the summer/fall. As a side note ignore the paint that needs to happen on our house that is on our to do list.

I am not a fan of bird houses but this one is different and I knew when I saw it, it belonged  in our front yard..  




 So I have plenty more to show you but that will have to wait, they require plants or ?? on them or around them. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I purchased this weekend for the yard and as you can see I am very excited about everything I got. A special THANK YOU to My Friend who will always be welcome in my yard for a glass of tea,,I am going to miss working with you!!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Wild Huckleberry Merlot Cake


key ingredients

The cake mix

The Wine
 
cook for 20 minutes, cool for 10


cooling before being frosted

Have you ever used Merlot instead of water in a cake mix, all I can say is amazing. Micah brought back from Glacier Park a cake mix which calls for wine. Sometime in the near future I am going to try using a regular cake mix and see if I get the same wonderful results. The next time you decided to bake a cake see if you have a bottle of wine sitting around use it instead of water and if you are so incline why not have a glass to enjoy while you are baking your cake:)..

Thanks for reading my blog,  Betty

Friday, March 18, 2011

Let's do this together!

This past month has been very stressful for both Glenn and I. There were times I was wondering if we could handle just one more thing in our lives. Now with all that has been going on, it hasn't been life threatening or any thing like that but just little stressful life situations.

A few days ago I decided to just sit back and look through some magazines that I have not had the time nor the energy to look at. While looking through Whole Living Magazine I am across this article, boy did it hit home. The article reminds you to work with your marriage and remember it's not just about you, you have a partner that might be having just as hard of a time as you. This article gives you 5 steps to build a happy, lasting marriage.

1. Create Rituals - Researchers found that the shared emotional investment in the ritual made the couples feel a closer bond.

2. Be a Daredevil - so go ahead and pursue some exciting activities together.

3. Sleep (well) Together - the better you sleep the more positive you are about life.

4. Support Each Other - When a spouse felt supported even in daily obligations, he or she was significantly happier in marriage.

5. Build your Career - A dual-career marriage is OK!

Just thought I would share these five strategies with you,  if anything reading this reminded I am not the only one feeling the stressful situations that life throws at you from time to time.

Hope you enjoy reading my blog, Betty

Friday, February 25, 2011

Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash

Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash
About 2 weeks ago Amanda gave Glenn a spaghetti squash, I am assuming she did not know quite what to do with it well neither did I:). I had heard how good this type of squash tasted but never really cared or explored to find out. I now have a new found desire, yes that would be spaghetti squash!

The texture is amazingly just like noodle spaghetti, hence the name I guess. The taste is nutty and something else I can't really explain. I bet most of you have tasted or cooked with it before so this is nothing new to you. Amanda it is so easy to cook and the following recipe is wonderful.

This is something so easy to make but is very intimidating to try. All you do is slice in open length wise, sprinkle with Himalayan salt and cracked pepper, lay the two pieces face down on a cookie sheet add 1/4 cup water cook for 40 minutes at 350. Cool, take out the seeds then scrape with a fork and "Wa Laaaaa" you have spaghetti. Truly amazing.

So my next step is to find the growing season for spaghetti squash, if it is under 60 days I just might be adding this to my garden. Try the attached recipe it is a keeper.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roasted-shrimp-with-spaghetti-squash

What a great day to cook and thanks for reading my blog,
Betty

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Positive Enneagram - a new approach to the nine personality types!

Today I was able to attend a 2 day class on emotional intelligence provided by my husbands work. Wow talk about some soul searching or should I say finally I a beginning to understand why I am the way I am, Lol...

The Positive Enneagram/a new approach to the nine personality types - have you ever taken a class about this? Well let me tell you it sure can be an eye opener and as for the question asked so many times, "Why please tell me why I decided to proceed this way or what was I thinking"?? All good questions with some real soul searching answers.

Glenn and I were placed at opposite ends of the room and more then once we looked over and each other, both thinking "so that is why you are like that". This class is designed for us to get a better understanding about the people you work with and also the people you live with, IE, spouse. So far today I am showing up as a 9, a 9 The Storyteller - they are referred to as some one who brings people into harmony, for one example but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Wish me luck and thanks for reading my blog,
Betty

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Snowy Day Off

It's funny the things you find to do when you have 2 days off in a row and you wake up to 6 + inches of snow that you didn't even know was suppose to happen.

 I have had this funny desire to sew and quilt before spring/summer arrives. The attempts I have tried in quilting in the past month, which I might add is my 1st time at this art, have been OK, I guess.

 I saw this pattern in a Martha Stewart magazine for quilted coasters, and that is what I did today while the fire was going in the wood stove and the snow was stacking up outside. Let me show you;

Start of my day, watching Glenn leave for work. Drive safely!


This is in my backyard, look at the snow build up on the rails of our trellis. If you look real close you can see how much snow is coming down.
Here is the fabric scrapes I had to work with, as you can probably tell already, the coaster are really for my Husband Glenn to use when he is drinking beer or whatever.
Close up shot of the finished product, cute isn't it.

Take a look at my set of 4. I need to work on my measurements, each one is a different size:(
They were all suppose to be 4" x 4". I guess just like anything else practice makes perfect. But one thing is for sure Glenn will like them and he will use them because he knows that will make me happy.

Here is the link for the pattern I used, just in case you might want to give it a try.
                                      http://www.marthastewart.com/article/quilted-coaster-set

Have a great snowy day, and thanks for reading my blog,
                                                                                          Betty

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Month of January!

I have come to realize I can't wait for the month of January to be over. Why you might ask, I really can't give you one reason or the other but it is just how I feel. I "googled" "the month of January" just to see what was said about this long cold month. It really is a pretty busy time of the year as history states. So take a look at some little snippet's of what time has to say about JANUARY....

Facts about JANUARY



Most of the world uses the Georgian calendar, which has January as the first month of the year. It is named for Janus, a Roman god. Roman legend has it that the the ruler Numa Pompilius added January and February to the end of the 10-month Roman calendar in about 700 B.C. Pompilius gave the month 30 days. Romans later made January the first month. In 46 B.C., the Roman statesman Julius Caesar added a day to January, making it 31 days long. The Anglo-Saxons called the first month Wolfmonth because wolves came into the villages in winter in search of food.


In the northern half of the world, January is the coldest month. Nature is quiet and the birds travel less. The woodchucks and bears sleep day and night, in hibernation. The plants are resting, waiting for the warmer temperatures of the Spring. In the southern half of the world, January is the warmest month. Animals are very active, and plants are growing.






Information taken from World Book Millennium 2000


Also did you know that;

Gold discovered in California, January 24, 1848.


The snowdrop is the flower for the month of January. It often blooms in the snow.



Fairy-tale collector Jakob Grimm born January 4, 1785.



Cicero, Roman statesman, born January 3, 106 B.C.
 

Thomas Paine published his Common Sense, January 10, 1776.


I bet by now you are wondering where I am going with this post. You might say I am trying to show myself that January is as important as any other month of the year and I need to respect that fact. So for those of you that choose to use this month as a "catch all" for your current state of mind; sad, crazy, weird, or just plain bored with life take a second look and ask yourself "really should I be blaming it on the month of January"..? That's what I did, so now on my daily walk I am watching the crocus and the snowdrop flowers poking their stems out of the frozen ground only to turn their buds towards the winter cool sun. So guess what, they only do this  in January (normally). That tells me if they try that hard every year to push their way through frozen ground just to enjoy the month, then maybe I need realign my thoughts...

snowdrop

crocus

yellow crocus


Hope this helps, have a great day and thanks for reading my blog,

Betty Jo





Saturday, January 22, 2011

Quilting/log cabin pattern - My first time!

January through May can be a little frustrating if you live in Central Oregon and you are a gardener or you like to be outside but not really found of the winter sports. Well that would be me! Don't get me wrong I love the snow but I don't really partake in skiing or snowboarding. I will occasionally snow shoe but that is really it. So my point here is what do I do with myself after the holidays when everything has really slowed down? This time I have decided to learn how to quilt beginners style.

With Glenn gone camping for a few days (crazy), I put my thoughts together and decided to test my skills at this wonderful art. What inspired me to do so was this article in the Martha Stewart Magazine Jan 2011 issue.


I really don't have a clue as to what I am doing nor what I will do with the squares when I complete them but I have to say it is really quite fun and boy do you use a part of your brain you don't use a lot, at least it felt like it.

Thanks to Leslie who owns a small fabric store in Redmond I was able to get started. I started going to her store because of the quality and variety of her fabrics, when I talk about her fabric I tell people it is "top shelf":).  I love her assortment, having made Glenn shirts, robes, pjs. they have all worn well. And yes he does wear everything I make for him. He is so good to me, I miss him when he goes camping! Anyways....

If you like to sew or like color/patterns and your in Redmond stop in to see Leslie she is a great lady and will help you with what ever you need when it comes to sewing.  Every Saturday is her SALE day that is a great day to go in.


So enough said here is my 1st quilting square I have ever made.


My very 1st log cabin block! I can't wait to see what I can do from here:).

Until next time, have a great day!

Thanks for reading my blog, Betty


Tuesday, January 18, 2011


What a great cookie to make; I couldn't find the recipe on-line so here you go. You can see the list of ingredients above I will give you the low down on what to do from there.

Mix 1st 3 ingredients together in one bowl
Blend next 4 ingredients in 2nd bowl
use mixer to mix bowl 1 slowing into bowl 2
put 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl or plate
roll dough into  1-inch balls and roll in sugar
place on baking sheet
with bottom of a glass flatten balls
use small cookie cutter and imprint figure not going all the way through the cookie.
cook for 9 minutes at 400 degrees
after cookie cools frost with power sugar, vanilla and water mixture, which is call glaze. 



as you can see I had a small star shape, cute don't you think.

What a nice batch of cookies!

Thanks for reading my blog,
Betty

Friday, January 14, 2011

Bringing on the new year 2011 right! / Hot Springs

Happy New Year to all my Blog readers!

I thought I wanted to do something different this year with my blog, but after some thought I have decided to leave my entries as they are. So this year you are going to get my personal thoughts and some crazy ideas I might have or take a trip to somewhere I just experienced, and last but not least my fun projects.

With that all said, I had the most wonderful New Years, Glenn and I went to Crystal Crane Hot Springs in where else but Crane, Oregon. (website attached at the end of the post)

The snow that had fallen the week prior was incredible, and the chill in the air at night when the temp. dropped down to  -15 wasn't even noticed. Our cabin was well heated and the hot spring pond was a hot 101 - 102 degrees. Our hair would ice up, that was sort of weird and if you got your face wet it burnt from the cold but other then that it was wonderful. 

Glenn enjoys and loves to experience all kinds of hot springs from rustic to resort, we have traveled to the ends of the earth to see hot springs that are so deep, hot and amazing but you can't soak. Why you might ask well it would "cook" you inside and out. I on the other hand always go with him, (of course) but I partake in the more updated  civilized locations ;) wink wink...if you know what I mean.

After enjoying myself so much this last time, I suggested to Glenn that we spend a week at Crystal Crane this year as one of our vacations. I think that would be the most relaxing, rejuvenating vacation ever.

I have to admire my husband he is pretty smart when it comes to making sure I have all the luxuries I might need while I follow him on these types of trips. We all get a chuckle out of my fashion wardrobe for camping or visiting remote areas. He is very good at making sure I am outfitted to my liking and for the elements of the outdoors. You might not understand but you will see by the photos in the past and future that I post on my blog.

Great trip Glenn "you want to do it again"?? Yes of course you do!

We were so excited to be there, fun photo it is one of my favorites.

The cooling tower, can you tell what is iced over?

Wow, 102 degrees in the water and maybe zero out of the water amazing!

Snow on the rocks right by were we swim.

Heading back to the cabin, have you ever walked on top of snow bare foot, I have...

I have the footprint to show it.

Glenn making our morning coffee. I am glad you brought enough creamer:).

Crazy pretty out in the desert of eastern Oregon.

My new cape, I will have to talk about it later. 

 Glenn checking out the hill side about 2 miles away.

Back home to the real world. I so can't wait to visit again!



Now don't go telling everyone about this place, it will be our little secret!

Great to blog, Betty Jo