Winter

Well, we really haven't had a winter in Dallas, Oregon this year!

I think the lowest the daytime temperature 

has been is in the high 40's 

and we have had sunshine many days. 

Rain has been light, 

so I'm wondering 

what the rest of the year will be like?

Catching up, here's what's going on in MY life. 

Joe left for the desert middle November. 

He's doing great there and has spent much of the past few months nursing an out-of-whack back. 

He's been doing his physical therapy exercises faithfully 

and the back is doing much better. 

However, this week he's down with Covid. 

Not sure where in the heck get got it, 

as he doesn't really socialize much.  

He thinks maybe at the market. 

But he's on the mend and I talk to him almost every day. 

I miss his company 

and will be glad when he's home. 

I'm doing great. 

After leaving the Camino early 

because of a lot of weird, seemingly unrelated symptoms, I was diagnosed with Silent Reflux. 

That pretty much explained everything 

and I'm doing a lot better after making some dietary changes 

and never eating after 4 pm.  

The doc offered me meds, 

but I don't like taking chemical medications and at 73, 

am still not on any meds and would like to keep it that way.

I'm exercising nearly every day. 

Upper body on Monday, Wednesday, Friday 

and lower body on Tuesday and Thursday. 

I'm walking at least a mile when weather permits. 

But I still seem to have no stamina - and I mean NONE. 

Just going up slight hills winds me - can't figure out why. 

Hopefully as Spring comes, I'll get out and walk more. 

Joe and I are talking about doing 

a VERY slow Camino at some point. 

No groups, just us, and only walking 

as far as we feel like it each day. 

No real plans yet, just in the talking stage. 

And not sure which route we'd take 

but most likely the Frances since it's so well-supported. 

Another option would be to take a small tent 

and attempt to finally finish the Via de la Plata.  

I'm enjoying my time alone at home while Joe is in the desert. 

(He won't come back until end of March, first of April.) 

I'm making greeting cards and really enjoying it. 

If you know me, you know I have to be doing

some type of art or I go nuts!

You can see my cards and my dotted mandalas 

in my Etsy shop at Dotty Dame Art

Since learning I can actually eat sourdough without issues, 

I've been baking a lot. 

Today I made sourdough English Muffins

 and man, oh man, they are good! 

Here is me cutting them in half with my new bread slicer! 

That thing works like a charm. 

Now I can put those muffins in the freezer 

and just take them out each morning to toast them.

Today I pruned the pear tree and the blueberries. 
I think the weather will be good enough tomorrow 

to get the golden raspberries and fig tree pruned. 

Yesterday I planted red onion starts 

and today I got my Walla Walla onions in. 

Tomorrow I'll put in the brown storage onions 

and then I'll be finished planting for a month or so. 

Soon it will be time to start the other garden plants 

like tomatoes and sweet potatoes, 

but I don't want to do it too early.

The strawberries are doing great.
The garlic looks a little wonky - not sure why.
Last year it did great, even under the snow, 

but the leaves are not going straight up - 

it will be interesting to see how it turns out. 

We still have a lot of garlic from last season 

and Joe is talking about making black garlic out of it 

when he gets home. 

I'd like to make the garden a bit smaller this season. 

We still have a LOT of food canned and frozen 

from last season and need to eat it up before we put up more. 

At least that's what I think. 

Joe seems to think we need to keep storing, storing, storing. ::laughing:: So we'll see. 

I have bell pepper and eggplant plants 

overwintering in the garage. 
They're looking fine so we'll have a head start on those. 

I have dahlias I'd love to put in some of those boxes this year. 
But if he's willing to do the work, I'll listen.

I guess that's all the news. 
Life is great, as always!

Love,

Annie