FRIENDS AND COOKIES.

After a late evening Doctor's appointment, I returned to Murphys in time for Christmas Open House held every year on Main St.  Fire buckets up and down the street give light and warmth as folks make their way from shop to shop. Or for a bag pipe player to practice his craft for anyone who will listen.


The Murphys Hotel, festooned on three sides, looked like the Fourth of July. A fellow was juggling and spinning lighted batons to entertain the crowds, but my picture was one big blur.


Everyone is welcome to do their own thing. This fairy tale princess rode around town on a bicycle dressed just like her. She stopped for a cigarette.


From the East end of town, I looked into a gallery and ran into Marlene Bradford, a friend and neighbor who tried to teach me to be a sculptor. I watched her make this fish so I took her picture with it. Then  five old friends I hadn't seen in six months showed up, which for me, is why I like the Christmas festivities.


Pam Quyle got separated from her friends, cell phones not on, so she waited for them to find her. We chatted until I got cold and ditched inside the shop...


What did I find?  Like a golf hole, this apparatus is for frisbee players. Murphys, San Andreas and  Bear Valley now have a course. Frisbee is very popular. I took this picture for my son-in-law, Cedric, who is a tournament player. If we were a gift trading family...only $149.


Since I hadn't had dinner, I was searching for cookies. At Tanners Wine Shop, Amy was serving her decadent Cowgirl Apple Dumplings. She gave me a double since I hadn't had dinner. Oh, yum. Better than cookies. She claims the secret is gravenstein apples and dumping a can of Mountain Dew over the whole works. "It is one of two delicious unhealthy things I make," she told me.  "I never use mock whipped cream except for that pretzel jello salad, it doesn't work with real whipped cream."  I know, I've made it too. Ah, let us all praise decadent desserts.


This gallery has a piano player every year. I missed all the choral groups on the street that played Christmas Carols.


The Brew Pub had a good rock band and people were dancing, listening and having fun.


At the tea shop? Bonanza!  Cookies and tea. I stayed and talked to the owner and was surprised to be reminded she has had the tea shop for 10 years. Businesses change hands, close, and each year you miss another one.  I often remember the business that was in the spot before. Beautiful Christmas trees in the shops were enjoyable.  I've off loaded a gob of ornaments, I don't lavishly decorate, nor bake cookies now that Doug does a better job of it.  Hmm!  Maybe this year I'll indulge.


Though I was late, and I didn't make it to the West end of Main St.' I had a terrific time along with an unusual dinner.

BOUNCE FROM OREGON TO MURPHYS.

It has been long between blogs. I find when I'm busy, I'm really an activist at heart and am inspired to rant about the current incomprehensible political situation, which Jim dislikes.  I have not been traveling!  So I rant. Jim reminded me this morning it has been a year to the day (yesterday) since I left the motorhome and took up the business of building a new house and all that transpires both expected and unexpected.

While in Oregon, I got news of the awful Butte Fire from that distance, chagrined that my friend Deborah Mullen,  a co-worker at the Calaveras Enterprise, was burned out. A devastating experience.
Today, after clearing through pounds of mail, I gathered clothing, shoes, tables, chairs, jackets, and stuff you think people will need in the aftermath of a complete loss of everything of a normal household. Deborah posted a picture on FB  of herself and Husband Steve; "We have each other," she said. Always one to look on the bright side.

After connecting with several recovery, resource sights, it became very clear that the stuff I gathered was not what is needed right now. It is more on the order, of paper plates, paper towels, face soap, q-tips, wash cloths,  canned foods, powdered milk, peanut butter, fresh vegetables, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, ice chests, water carriers and so on. So, tomorrow, I'll assemble a different set of household goods,and make my way to Mountain Ranch, then Valley Springs where daughter-in-law Laurie is holding much of my important paperwork taken at my request from my house during the voluntary evacuation order. I'll start carrying my camera again, if I can find it.

My last day in Oregon, I went to a bridge repair meeting and met some neighbors from the private road we share, many of whom,  I'd never met previously.
I also invited 12 people to a wine and nibble about 4 p.m. Saturday,  before my expected leave on Sunday morning. I thought some of the neighbors might be curious about what my place looked like after watching the slow progress from the outside over eight months of building it.

Hmmm. Four people showed up, three from one family. All but  four answered with some enthusiasm, suggesting they'd be glad to come.
I thoroughly enjoyed those that came.  I'm not a novice at entertaining guests, but I've never been so royally stood up in my life, and it makes me chuckle that I've had that experience at this time in my life. If I were a young bride, I'd have been hurt. Not one person bothered to tell me they could not or would not come. I thought it was strange but those that came,  more than made up for those that did not.
It has been fun furnishing a new house, with nearly all second-hand items and attempting to keep it neat and not over clutter it with stuff as I am wont to do.  I'll eventually get pictures hung and curtains up and take photos; my goal to hopefully find this page a bit more often.

ciao-Mary

MURPHYS MUSIC IN THE PARK.

I guess you can say Murphys is a tourist destination. It is an attractive place to visit. The first thing I loved about Murphys when I moved here in 1978 was the creek running through town.

I used to swim in the creek with the other "kids". Now the park is filled to the brim  all summer long with activities, including this venue of Music In The Park. Local caterers prepare dinner you can buy or bring your own along with your ice chest. Or buy wine, beer, tea, coffee and sodas.  My neighbor asked me to come with her, but I had much to do and arrived very late.

I met some old friends in the park, but didn't feel up to dancing so I relaxed and listened to the music. The other side of the creek has room for people along the bank. Not everyone likes the full, crowded areas of the park. Nice to have a choice.

Dogs have to be on a leash and often get invited by their owner's to swim. This one took a long, cool drink before heading back to it's master.

My friend, Jan's,  great granddaughter was hoping to catch the ball in a game the kids were playing.

She caught it and took careful aim at the next person. Ava had been in and out of the water for half the day. We didn't take her home until she turned blue.

I remember those days on the shores of Lake Michigan when I was a kid. Coming in with lips of blue, chilled to the bone, but happy as a clam.

Murphys really is a special place. A lovely way to cool off on a hot day.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS.

Jim Jaillet, Bill Gallagher, and Al Penta call themselves the three musketeers. They met in fifth grade and remained best friends through high school. This is the first time in 14 years they've all been together. We met for a long lunch at the Skagit County Food Co-op in Mt. Vernon. Talk about timely, everyone worried about arriving on time, traffic was heavy, Al was coming from Monroe, Bill from his business meeting in Van Couver, Jim and I from  La Conner, and somehow we met in the parking lot, having all arrived at the same time.

 Jim and I have spent time with Al, and time with Bill, but not together. We are, as they say, old farts now, and much of the talk focused on aging with the conclusion that none of us feel "old", just older. And, a promise not to let another 14 years go by before another reunion. They all attended school in Revere, MA. We last met with Gallagher in New Hampshire, last summer, and Al, in Monroe, last fall. I love listening to these guys reminisce. The stories just reel out, ..."do you remember when we went to school and there were only the two of us in class because it was a big Jewish Holiday and we were the only Christians..?"  And,  "..how many miles have you ridden that bike, Al?"  "About 100,000 miles since I started seriously riding. I try for 5,000 miles a year." He is so amazing and will probably outlive all of us.
Bill showed us a recent picture of his mother at 99 years old. She'll be 100 on November 14th. The whole family will go to Florida for a big birthday party. She gave up smoking at 81, but still drives, and does her own shopping and housework.

We all talked to Bill's wife Loretta, on the phone. She's had some health problems but is doing better.  Al's girlfriend, Kim, had a last minute crisis at work, and couldn't come. She is set to retire about the first of the year. I'm very thankful to them for inspiring Jim to go to Cuba, which we have planned for Oct. 2015. Bill said he'd like to go just to see all the old cars.

They talked about another close school friend, Dolly and her partner Arthur. They were celebrating Arthur's birthday out of town when a tornado went through Revere, the first in recorded history. It took off part of her roof, broke all the windows, smashed lamps and a backyard shed disappeared and two, giant trees in her back yard felled like twigs. It swiped two more houses beyond hers then stopped and wheeled through another section of town before disappearing. Dolly is so dramatic, I can't wait to hear the story from her personally.  Dolly's house was THEE meeting place when they were teenagers. Watching Elvis's first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show, from the waist up. And, so much more. Fun years.


And, all too soon, it was time to say good-bye with a promise to meet again as soon as possible. Al will travel to Revere in September. We are so glad Bill had a business trip to the West Coast to make this reunion possible. The most important things in life, family and friends. We are thankful and fortunate to have both.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE PARTY.

Daughter-in-law, Laurie hosted a cookie making party.


Laurie and my sister-in-law-to-be,Theresa, had dual mixers going and gobs and gobs of cookies were the result under their expert hands.


Stewart and Mason, home from college for the season, enjoyed the snacks and the game and the food and just being home.


Abbie and Anthony kept themselves entertained until there was room on the counter for rolling the sugar cookies.


Ken always likes me to taste the latest brew he has discovered. I rolled sugar cookie dough for the little ones.


Anthony and Abbie had never cut and decorated cookies before.


Norma got into the act along with the kids. She decided to make it a family tradition since the kids enjoyed it so much.


Laurie couldn’t resist decorating a cookie.


Doug, too, whose idea it was in the first place since he remembered doing the same as a kid, one of our family traditions every year.



Some of us recognized the best part of the party was not the cookies, but the lunch. Friend Tynna swooned. We had friend Norma’s enchiladas, and chocoflan, Doug’s turkey chili verde, I brought spinach souffle, that everyone loves. And, doncha know we all enjoyed  cookie tasting.


And, then the bakers took a break, enjoying the great food everyone brought to share. Yum!

MYSTERY ANTIQUES, PEND OREILLE COUNTY MUSEUM.

My daughter-in-law sent me a picture of an item from an antique store. The store owner couldn’t identify the object.  Laurie thought, since I go to so many museums, I might be able to help.  Well folks, I’m at a loss. I hope somebody out there might know what it is. (You can click on it to enlarge the picture.)

Same item with the cover closed. I can’t even figure out how the cover closed? It sort of reminds me of a catering dish of some sort.

We zapped through the panhandle of Idaho, with a night at Sand Point, and slipped into Washington State at Newport. The Pend Oreille County Museum there is a terrific visit, not only because of the great collections and multiple buildings, but because the docents are so friendly and helpful. I couldn’t identify the item above and the docent demonstrated it for me. There was no tag because they don’t know what it is either? We both laughed. It has a bellows and obviously puffs something  out of the rather large hole at the point. But, what? If you know, please satisfy our curiosity.

Then she took me over to a cabinet of items they have not been able to identify. They are numbered and she has set out a paper and pen for people to guess what they might be. #10 looks like it could be a nail puller, except it doesn’t look strong enough. # 7 isn’t a bell. It has two big screws on one side of it.
I turned it around to the opposite side for a better look.

The inner works of #5 make me think it could be a telephone lineman’s test kit?

This Springfield Morgan Envelope Company gadget is not an envelope opener.  The handle on the right lifts up and down. The gadget is all hand-operated and a mystery?

#’s 6 and 8?  Six resembles a honey dipper without the knob on the end. Eight resembles a wool carder or maybe an animal grooming tool?

The copper comb, you can’t tell it has fine teeth, has a heat protected handle and might be a hair straightener or curler?  #4, a possible gear, definitely a machine part.  (Sorry the picture is so poor.)

These home made tools didn’t have a tag either? Maybe fruit pickers like apples or cherries.  But, apples and cherries have spurs. These gadgets would damage the spurs.

One item the docents make and sell in the gift shop is this “button buzzer”. a toy my generation of kids made and played with. She likes educating visiting children about such gadgets.  She told me that kids today, some of them, have never even seen a dial phone.  We had fun.

The museum is a complex of preserved buildings like this settlers cabin.

Two small chapels. This one room for one person for private meditation with an altar and stained glass windows.

This chapel has two pews enough to seat four people.

This was a first for me. A root cellar. I thought, how nice. You can walk in through doors like a little house and get into the root cellar. Except, this one didn’t go underground like they were meant to be. Maybe, in a winter clime, they prevent food from spoiling by freezing. In Michigan as a child, the root cellar was underground and held potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, rutabagas and apples. Mostly root vegetables. Thus the name.  A sloped piece of tin kept the snow from blocking the cellar doors. Down the musty steps and onto a dirt floor with hay bales holding boxes of good stuff.

This cabin chimney is stone at the bottom.
Above the stone, the chimney is wood strips with cement between them. A fire hazard? Naw! Nobody thought it dangerous.

Because on the inside of that cabin is the only part that touched fire with a generous (joking) hearth. Oh,my.

There are about a dozen buildings, plus three giant sheds like this with much to see.

These docents joked that the woman was doing all the work while the men stood around and watched. She was making a flower bed around the ice house. There is a fire look out, a train car with signals and stuff, farm machinery, a dynamite shack and…you just have to see it for yourself. Nice, nice place. Two big buildings with the collections.

I saw a lot of things I’d never seen before and this easy to use sock making machine I had never even heard of before.

The all volunteer staff of docents  knew how to make a sock. Super! The docents made this such a fun place to visit.

After the museum, we met Jim’s friends that live in Newport,  Jim and Sharon Davison. Jim and Jim spent the winter of 2001-2002 deep in the Baja, a six month small caravan of RVing friends. They share a lot of memories of that trip to Mexico. And, as it turned out. Sharon has volunteered for the Museum and provided the church doors for one of the little churches. Jim says, the only trouble with living on the road is you see your friends so infrequently.