Hello Spring!

Well, it's been a long rough winter, 

and Spring has finally sprung!
The buds on my beautiful giant Norwegian Maple 

are a welcome sight!

Joe Walsh, my housemate and best friend 
has started on his trip back home 

from the California desert

today and should arrive home tomorrow.
I'm baking a rack of ribs and a loaf of sourdough

to welcome him home.
It will be good to have company again!

We are chatting about a solo trip to the Camino.
We'll see how that pans out.
He's worried about the war.
I reminded him we traveled there 

during the Iraq war.

The news on Joe Barry, 

my childrens' father, is sad. 

He still has not passed, 

but today I was told he is talking to people

who are not there, in the room.

I believe our ancestors and dead relatives

come back to help us cross over

and I believe this is what is happening. 
The nurse has told us he most likely has

less than two weeks left.
He sleeps much of the time now.

My son, Rob, and his girlfriend,

are exhausted. 
It takes a LOT 

to care for a dying person at home.

I know . . . 
I cared for my stepfather, my brother, 

and my mother.
Then I took the trip to Georgia 

to set up hospice for my ex.

Sometimes I wonder if I should change my name

to the "Death Doula!"

I hope this is the last of that job.
It's rewarding, but sad, and emotionally draining.

On another note, 

I've started my garden plants!
The tiny tomatoes are doing great,

but the bell peppers are slow to start.

I spent several hours yesterday doing cleanup outside,

and transplanting my sweet potato slips into water.
I have spinach and collards coming up

in the garden.

I tore out the last of the giant kale 

and will be planting new seed this week. 

My strawberries did fine overwintering.

My garlic and onions are doing great!

The golden raspberries are putting on leaves and buds.

The peas are up and happy!

The flowers are all blooming!

Even the rosemary is blooming.

One branch of my grafted pear tree is blooming. 
I wonder which pears these will be?
I have 5 varieties on this tree.

And about Vanlife:

I'm planning a trip to Breitenbush next week.
I need a break after the stress of this past winter.

I'm talking to Vern, a van friend,

about putting a solar panel on the roof of my van.
I'm pretty excited about that!
I don't use a lot of electricity but it will mean 

no longer having to carry a heavy folding solar suitcase.

My friend Carol is sewing a cover for my

Luggable Loo. 
I'm going to make it into a usable stool.
It's good to have multi-use objects 

in such a small space.

I bought a catalytic heater to replace my Buddy Heater.
It is safer and uses less propane. 

I also have replaced my little Butane one burner stove

with a stove that takes both butane and propane. 
I'm dropping the Coleman 2-burner stove.
It is just extra weight and I never use two burners.
Also, since the influx of homeless and druggie van people,

you can no longer leave your propane or stove set up outside

without worrying about someone stealing it.
So the small one-burner makes more sense.

Once I get all set up, I will do a video of my van.
I had a tripcheck done this past week 

and it's in great shape.
I'm looking forward to more trips this summer

to the coast,

and spending the winter in Quartzsite. 

What else?
Well, today I'm getting ready for Joe's return.
I started the morning off by breaking a glass

in the living room,

so I have to clean up that mess.
Then I'm baking a loaf of sourdough

After that, 
I need to think about where I'll plant

the three artichoke plants I picked up this week.

Life continues to be GREAT!
More later.

Love,

Annie

Praying for a Peaceful Transition

 

It's been a sad week.

I have flown to Georgia to help my son and his girlfriend care for my ex-husband, who has been put on hospice. 

He and I have remained good friends through the years since our divorce. We would have been married 50 years in May.  He was invited to come out to Oregon and spend time with our extended family every Thanksgiving.  He will be missed.

For the father of my sons, the end is coming soon, and this has been difficult for my son to accept. 

This have been a lot of sadness, memories, regrets, and tears. 

If you can send prayers or peaceful energy or just good thoughts, all are appreciated.

May his Spirit fly free and may he find peace.

Annie

Joe Barry and I our last Thanksgiving together

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