06-30-2019 Small Town Times in Grants Pass Oregon

Current Location: Sunset House in Grants Pass on a clear summer day with temps in the 80’s

May is probably the most perfect month in Grants Pass, when the rhodies bloom

You probably noticed the giant gap in my writing between our return home from the cross country trip to Florida and our early May camping trip to Nehalem.  I know that I would notice in a year or two when I tried to find out what we were doing and there is nothing but empty space on the blog.  Ah well, I do have my calendars, both paper and Google, and the google calendar has a LOT of stuff in there. 

I always wanted a doublefile viburnum and here she is, growing great, even though bloomtime is short

I read that google calendar went down yesterday for a few hours.  Lucky for me I was busy elsewhere so avoided the complete panic that might have ensued.  Lately it is the only way I can begin to keep track of all the doctor, dentist, eye care, car repairs, hot tub installations with orientation, and other myriad appointments that seem to be filling up all our days.

We actually managed another camping trip in the midst of all this, just 2 nights at a local lake, but I will have to write about that one in a separate post.  This time I am going to try to recreate all the “stuff” that has kept us so busy for the last couple of months.

April was chilly and rainy, but it didn’t stop us from spending a lot of time and energy on cleaning up almost 3 months of winter and early spring debris in the yard.  I love our oaks, but they do drop a lot of “Stuff’.  We managed several dump loads and by Easter everything was clean and fresh and flowers were blooming. 

We also spent some time working with Jared, probably the most amazing tile setter around, who managed to install our antique tiles on the backsplash in the kitchen.  It was amazing to see the tiles go in, and Jared charged us quite a bit less than his original bid because we did all the arranging and planning ourselves and all he had to do was stick them to the wall.

I got to use some of my quilting experience and quilters might notice the repeating nine-patch design, including borders.  The most amazing part of the entire process is that those tiles fit exactly in the 18 inch space between the granite and the upper wall, no cutting required.  We also decided to follow the new trend of not grouting between the tiles. 

Love the look, and Jared was delighted that he didn’t have to try to wipe grout from all those carved intricate tiles. The backsplash really made a difference in the look of the kitchen.  One more thing checked off for completing our Sunset House.

No, it isn’t really curved like that, but I wanted a shot of the entire thing, and the distortion is from the panorama

Another addition to Sunset House that has been waiting for the right time is our hot tub.  We needed to have an additional deck built adjacent to the bedroom to accommodate the tub. We are lucky to have a good relationship with the subcontractors who worked on our house, and when we called Joel about building the deck, he found time in his very busy schedule to come and build it for us. 

We had the same luck with the painters, and Eric and Ian showed up in record time when the deck was completed to get it stained in time for the hot tub delivery.  The entire process went smoothly, and within a week from starting the deck, we had a hot tub bubbling just steps outside the bedroom door.  Ahhhhh…..we had a hot tub in Rocky Point, but when that house sold in late 2016 our hot tub evenings were no more. 

Nothing like a good soak before bed to ease old joints. The pink light is reflected from the sunset view that we have from the hot tub.  Stars are more rare this time of year since we don’t often stay up late enough to see them.

In the midst of house and yard projects, we enjoyed some good family times.  For some reason, Easter is the family holiday where almost everyone manages to make their way to Sunset House for our family time.  We invited the neighbors as well, and instead of our usual brunch we cooked a traditional ham dinner with a ham from our local butcher shop. 

Melody’s guy Robert made his famous deviled eggs again, and as the years go by, it has become a family tradition to enjoy Robert’s eggs with our family dinners, but definitely they are perfect for Easter.  The only hard part was keeping everyone from eating them before he could get the halves filled with his yummy, savory egg stuffing.  They are very popular here!

Jeanne from Vermont just happened to be here visiting on Mother’s Day weekend, and while our time together was short, it was precious.  Jeanne didn’t want to intrude, but I convinced her to stay around for Mother’s Day brunch. Deborah and Matthew shared the day with me this year, and instead of our usual outing for a Mother’s Day brunch in town, Deborah offered to make brunch for me right here at home.  She came over early on Sunday morning with her incredibly yummy eggs benedict casserole and enough hollandaise sauce to keep us all happy.  She also roasted some fresh asparagus with bacon and seasonings that was the best I ever had.  Yum.

After brunch, we sent Deb and grandson Matthew off to do some projects around his place and Mo and I wandered downtown to enjoy the 25th Annual Native American Arts Festival & Mothers Day Pow Wow at Riverside Park. We learned that this is an annual event and the largest native event in Southern Oregon. The biggest surprise was that in addition to traditional dancing and drumming, there were Aztec Dancers from the Bay Area that were incredibly good.  I hadn’t heard of Aztec Dancers before this and discovered that much like Tribal Belly Dancing, performed by people of many cultures, they are people who are dedicated to preserving the traditions and rituals of the pre-Hispanic culture through the expression of dance and ceremony. They perform at various special events throughout the year and regularly at powwows.

Three of the basic forms of Aztec dance were performed; ceremonial rituals, concheros (a rhythmic and slow dance performed to the music of armadillo shell guitars), and warrior dancers, which are very colorful and energetic. It was a new experience for us and incredibly entertaining.

Memorial Day doesn’t have quite the effect that it used to when we were working and treasured the long holiday weekend.  Now in retirement, we tend to avoid camping on those big holidays and lay low.  This year, however, we decided that it would be fun to check out our local Memorial Day Parade.  It was a perfect day, not too hot, and beautifully clear.  The parade was everything a small town Memorial Day parade should be, with bands, and kids, and flags, and lots of different kinds of displays to honor the military.  We took our folding chairs and parked them right on the sidewalk to watch the parade.  Arriving only an hour early got us great seats.  It was a fun day.

Just a few days later, on my Saturday morning foray to the Farmer’s Market I happened on the annual car show that is held in conjunction with our local Balloon Festival.  We had decided to skip the balloon fest, with no need to fight the crowds to see a few balloons.  Instead, when I saw how great the cars were at the downtown show, I went back home to get Mo and we wandered the streets together oohing and ahhing at all the great old cars.  These vintage bikes in the back of an old Ranchero were my favorite!

A couple of times we made our way 15 minutes south into the Applegate Valley to enjoy Friday night wine and wood fired pizzas with live music on the patio.  We love Schmidt Vineyards, not so much for their wine, which is Ok but not our most favorite, but the gardens and parklike atmosphere is just wonderful.  The wood fired pizzas are really great, too. Driving down the Applegate Valley in late afternoon so beautiful and this is one of our favorite places to be on a Friday evening.

One evening in June, as we were settling in I got a text message from Gayle and Wes, our friends who live in Arizona, letting us know that they were going to be in town the following Tuesday and were we going to be around.  I was so glad they let us know ahead of time because we had planned our camping trip for Tuesday and it was easy to postpone it and have a nice time visiting friends. 

This time they didn’t stay long enough for a meal, but I managed to put out some of my favorite little cheesy tartlet things that were a hit.

We also had some surprise visits from friends Maryruth and Gerald from California.  They decided that it was time to leave Oroville and the scary fires that have plagued the Sierra Nevada foothills for so many years.  Their home is in the midst of dry oak woodland, and they have been evacuated 3 times in the last 2 years.  After both of them living their entire lives in California, they have decided to come to Oregon.

I totally forgot to take photos because we were so busy trying to look at houses, but here is a photo from their visit last year when we drove over to Brookings

It was nice that they could stay with us when a house appeared on the market that they wanted to see.  The process was agonizing, with most properties being sold literally overnight, and we all were losing hope that they would find what they need and want.  Finally it is a done deal, and my lifetime friend of 56 years will be living just a mile away from me by the end of August.  Maryruth and I look at each other and shake our heads.  We had no idea that this would ever happen.  I am really looking forward to having them in town and happy that we all get along so well.

Another small town activity that I had read about in years past and never managed to attend was our local Grants Pass Porch Fest. In one of the nicer historic neighborhoods of town, people open up their porches to local musicians, the streets are closed down for walking, and there are food and craft vendors as well.  The music was typically folk and bluegrass type music, but there were also jazz and blues bands, vocalists, guitarists, and other kinds of musicians.  It was fun, although sometimes it was a bit disconcerting to be hearing 2 or 3 bands playing at once from different directions.  Again, it was a gorgeous day, cool enough for walking and yet warm in the sunshine. We enjoyed it thoroughly, the best of small town life and entertainment.

The photo above captures the feeling of that day, with old friends meeting each other and laughing, kids running around playing, and everyone having a great time listening to the music.

Somehow in the midst of all this activity, we managed to attend to an ongoing list of appointments for all sorts of things.  I went to Eugene to see my daughter, my friend Joanne, and to see my urologist checking up on my surgery from 2015.  Mo managed to get successful cataract surgery for both eyes, and we counted a total of 12 different appointments to get that process completed, including the pre and post op visits.  Sheesh.

Neither of us is “sick”, but the mechanics of things seem to be wearing out and time for some repairs. Between the two of us, knees, wrists, ankles, hips, and the like have kept us busy visiting all the various specialists.  I still can’t figure out why a wrist orthopedist is different than an ankle orthopedist, and from a knee doctor.  Sheesh!  Sp many appointments!  I think we are almost done for the time being, except for carpel tunnel surgery scheduled for Mo next month. We should be good to go after that for a few more miles I hope.

The apartments were a bit more charming before the EPA took out all the vegetation

In the midst of all the appointments, Mo decided that it was time to sell the apartments in Klamath Falls.  The EPA project is completed, the papers are signed and the property has been certified safe and good to go.  We thought it might take a bit of time to get it on the market and sold, but to our surprise is sold for cash in just 2 days.  Surely were happy about that, although we did have to pack up the last of our leftover stuff that was in Apartment B and bring it all home to Sunset House. 

Last Day at the Apartments

Last view up Old Fort Road from Apartment B

Finally we are completely through with moving.  It was a process that began in 2015 with the sale of my house in Klamath Falls, in 2016 with the sale of Mo’s house in Rocky Point, in 2017 with the demolition of the Cottage and building of Sunset House, and then finally this year with the sale of the apartments.  We now have only one home to manage.  Finally. 

As I sit here writing, I can see why I might have let the blog slip.  The days sort of run together until I actually look at the calendar and the photos and realize that we have been on the go much more than I realized.  Time to slow down and enjoy the summer. It’s a dog’s life for sure.

May--It started with Iris and Ended with Roses, and More Guests.

I lost last month somehow.  Friend Jeanne wrote a quick note making sure we were OK.  I looked at Mo and thought, “Are we OK?”

Of course we are, everything is great.  Except for a few irritating little things that just won’t seem to go away, like knees, hips, ankles, blood tests, dentists, doctors, an emergency appendectomy for Mo.  Multiply that by two people and you get the idea.  Somehow it all got away from me and the only way I could figure out where it went was to return to the trusty Google calendar, and Mo’s trusty paper pocket calendar. 

Mother’s Day weekend was upon us right after our guests, Erin and Mui, departed, and Daughter Melody and her Robert and my grandsons showed up on Saturday night to help me celebrate.  They came with grocery bags full of food and took over the kitchen to make a wonderful dinner.  I don’t think I even loaded the dishwasher! 

Melody and Robert took the guest room and we spread sleeping bags on the floor for the grandkids.  It felt like old times when I lived in my tiny house in Idaho and all the kids would come over and sleep on the floor.  Axel brought a cute video game to share, promising me that it wasn’t violent, perfectly G rated. 

My daughter took a video of me trying to figure out where I was on the screen and what in the world I was supposed to be doing.  It was great fun to share the silly game with family.

Left to right: Deborah, Matthew, Xavier, Axel, Melody, Robert, Mo

On Sunday morning we drove down to the river to our favorite Mother’s Day brunch restaurant, the TapRock Grill.  The brunch is lovely and there are no reservations taken, so we were really surprised when we arrived and were immediately shown to a table.  In years past we have waitied more than an hour, something I never minded because it is fun to see all the mothers with flowers and corsages.  Remember when all the mom’s at church got a corsage?

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 Daughter Deborah and Grandson Matthew

Deborah and Melody brought mommy gifts, in addition to the surprise package received from Daughter Deanna in the mail, and I was treated to some amazing presents, including a spiralizer for my Kitchen Aid Mixer, and another shredding gadget for the mixer, all to help my new low carb eating plan.  Spiralized zucchini “zoodles” are a new favorite! Daughter Melody brought more magical painted rocks to add to the wondrous tiny painting she made of my favorite spot in Capitol Reef.  It was a very sweet day in the sunshine, and we repeated our traditional walk through the lovely grounds to enjoy the river, the sculptures, and the gorgeous murals.

Trying to remember what happened during the rest of the month, I looked at the blog for a bit of help, and opened to a gorgeous photo of Crater Lake, shared with Erin and Mui more than a month ago.  Once that lovely week was behind us, Mo and I settled into the home routines of mowing and more planting, watering, raking, taking more stuff to the Goodwill and the landfill, the everyday stuff of life.

Someone asked somewhere along the way on a Facebook post, “What gives your life meaning on a daily basis?”.  The question haunted me for days.  What!?  I could think of many things that give my life meaning that  happen much less often than daily.  After a few days of thinking about this, as I cleaned and cooked and laundered, and gardened, I suddenly remembered an old Buddhist proverb.  There is more to it than this, but essentially, it is Chop Wood and Carry Water.  I realized that the mundane everyday chores are what give life meaning on that daily level.  Most of the time, I enjoy those simple things, but the question made me think about it differently, helped me to pay a bit more attention to being in the now and actually paying attention to the wood chopping and water carrying of life.

Today’s simple chores include spraying the roses with Liquid Fence, the natural but very smelly reason that I can grow roses at all in a land of neighborhood deer herds.  I also spent some time picking cherries from our two trees, one with sour cherries for jams or pies, and the other with big, fat juicy sweet cherries for eating.  This year we actually got to the cherries before the birds did!.

The afternoon is warming up and I am grateful for a cool home where I can retreat and catch up on processing photos, and yes, writing this blog.

The second highlight of our “friends” month was a visit from Maryruth and Gerald.  They last visited us when the house was a mere shell, camping at Valley of the Rogue State Park in the heat of August.  This visit we had a guest room and bath to offer them, and pleasant evenings on the porch with more yummy food.

Decisions about what to do were easy, and the choice to spend the first evening and the next day doing absolutely nothing was a good one.  As a hostess, it felt a bit strange to have nothing on the agenda, but the day flowed easily with a long lazy breakfast, good conversation, drinks on the porch, and playing the card game we learned back in April from Carol and John.  Cooking for them is easy, even though Maryruth is a great cook, they both seemed quite happy with our meals.

It was a lovely week, if a bit cool, and perfect weather to explore the beautiful Applegate Valley.  The northern entrance to the valley is just a few miles south of our home. The Applegate Wine Trail is becoming quite well known in the world of wine, and the wineries are beautiful and welcoming.

Mo and I were delighted to discover that many of the vineyards have incredible gardens and outdoor seating areas that include live music and snacks on summer evenings.  With a short 7 mile drive to Schmidt Vineyards, I am sure that before the summer is over the two of us will amble down there on a Saturday evening for wine and wood fired pizzas.

Maryruth and I were the official “tasters”, and as happened before when she and I visited Napa Valley just a little over a year ago, two tastings were just about all we could handle.  The rest of the time we walked and explored, talked and visited with the very friendly wine stewards who shared their knowledge of the grapes, the wine making process, and the Applegate Valley.

Our favorite wines came from Troon Vineyards, but the second favorite was the Red Lily, with their incredible lovely dry summer rosé.  Wooldridge Vineyards had the most beautiful views, and made goat cheeses as well, and the previously mentioned Schmidt Vineyards had the most lovely gardens.

Reaching the charming little town of Jacksonville in late afternoon was perfect timing for a lovely late lunch/early dinner at Bella Union, a well known and very good restaurant in a building that dates back more than 150 years.  The shops and stores beckoned, but after our day we had no desire to shop, in spite of all the cuteness of the historic gold town.

Weather held for another day and we decided that a trip to the coast was our best choice.  Maryruth and Gerald have shared Brookings with us a few times, both at Mo’s condo she once owned in town on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and camping in a yurt at Harris Beach State Park.  This time we decided to explore Crescent City for something new and different.

Jedediah Smith State Park is on the route, and we stopped at the lovely visitor center for the Redwoods National and State Parks, including this portion of Jedediah Smith.  With lots of helpful information and maps in hand, we decided to take the packed dirt road that led past the beautiful Stout Grove and directly to Crescent City through the park rather than staying on the highway.

It was a lovely drive, and in our car, the potholes were impressive, but not daunting.  We looked for a log in the sun to spread a picnic, but no sun was to be found in that deep shade. Instead we opted for a wide place in the road to open up the hatch of the car for an al fresco lunch in the forest.

We were glad of that decision when we left the forest and drove toward Pebble Beach and saw that the winds  would have made a beachside lunch uncomfortable.  Following along on the “ten best things to do in Crescent City”, we visited the lovely lighthouse, inaccessible due to tides when we were there.  We drove Pebble Beach, and found the biggest surprise at the Del Norte County Historical Museum.

I asked if I could take photos, and the docents said they appreciated me asking, and “no”, please do not.  We wandered the three floors and many rooms of the old building, amazing at the incredible collection of “stuff”, all displayed beautifully.  The star of the show, however, was the First Order Fresnel lens that was once in the famous St George Lighthouse located in the ocean on a lonely rock just north of Crescent City.

With the chilly wind blowing hard, we didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors, stepping out now and then to walk a little bit, to look at the ocean and enjoy the surf. 

Once again we decided on a late afternoon lunch/early supper with a visit to the Chart Room, a favorite fish spot for Mo and I that we were happy to share.  Dinner was yummy!  I had a fish taco salad that was quite different than anything I had before, with excellent grilled fish on a bed of cabbage.  Sounds terribly boring, but the sauces are what made it, and I can’t begin to describe them, but really yummy., some kind of chipotle cream and a cilantro cream drizzled over it all that are making my mouth water as I write this.

The drive home was easy, just 84 miles of beautiful highway 199 along the gorgeous Smith River. We spent a last lovely evening visiting on the porch.  It is fun for Maryruth and I to remember other times in our lives when things weren’t so simple.  Somehow looking back at the hard times with someone who shared them with me makes the present good times even sweeter. 

On a final note, I will leave you with an attempted selfie that I took at Schmidt Vineyards in the gardens.  I have no idea why, but every time I see this picture I burst out laughing.  The epitome of silly.