Through My Lens!

The view from my bedroom window!  How glorious it is to wake up to this each morning!  Connecting with Mersad's Through My Lens meme...check it out for some awesome photography!

A closeup of the far rock face.

Our new home

A view of the deck...can't wait to spend time on this deck when the weather becomes more warm.

Russell builds our first fire in the wood stove on our second night in our new home.

It was quite an ordeal from start to finish, getting the house and accomplishing the move.   We FINALLY closed on December 23rd, the Friday before Christmas, and moved in several days later.  So happy!  So good to be close to the kids again!  Love the house, and love the area!  God has really blessed us, and we are so thankful!

Our New Oregon Home!

Well, we are here!  I hope people can comment now, but if you can't, I will still keep posting and I will start visiting you all again.  We just got our internet hooked up, but have been in the house three days now.  The first two and a half days we were like pioneers....no tv, no internet, dark and quiet after 5:30pm....

Our trip was good...God kept the roads clear and the sky bright blue.  We made it fine after a flat tire on our first night on the road. 

Southeast Oregon

We arrived at our daughter and son-in-law's house in Bend where we immediately got stuck  (twice with the U-Haul and four times with the car so far!.....we need snow tires!) Being with them again is such a joy!  In time for our daughter's birthday, then our grandson's and then Christmas.  LOVE Bend, and loved every minute with the kids....

We didn't close on the house until December 23rd!  What an amazing Christmas gift, though.  It was a long, "painful" process, but it was done, at last!  Still, our house is out in the country, and the road leading to our road was icy the first time we came out with our realtor to see it, and as you can see, someone was being pulled out as we arrived!

It's beautiful here on Crooked River Ranch, and there are deer all over!  Going to connect with Eileen's Saturday's Critters!

Lots of juniper here.

A view from our deck!

At our nextdoor neighbor's house.

More to come soon!

A Little Art & an Update

I am going to post this on a site Mom has been posting on lately to share a charcoal drawing I did in 2008.  To see more or to join in click on  Sunday Sketches.  Also joining Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five though I will be actually short of five things. 

1. While I was packing I came across some of my old artwork.  I am actually looking forward to getting back into painting after we get settled.  I thought I would share this charcoal drawing of pears.

2.  Also, to give everyone an update, we are about to leave our home in Tucson and head to Oregon!  The men will be here Monday to pack up the truck.  We will be heading north  the next morning.  Last week, even though it was in the 60s/70s (basically normal winter temps for Tucson) I heard the ice cream truck music...the ICE CREAM truck! :-)  Where we are going, it's in the teens and twenties.....brrrrr!  But, we are ready!  The big adventure of our later lives is about to begin!  Below is a photo our daughter took while sitting outside our grandson's school waiting to pick him up last week.  Doesn't it look like a Christmas card!? Pray for our safe travels!  I'll be in touch as often as I can!

3.  I made my first etsy sale!  I couldn't believe it!  Opened up my email this morning and there was a message that I have sold two Bee Ornaments!  I am so happy this didn't happen two or three days from now, because I had considered packing the box of Bee things and have actually already packed the other items (though I could find them easily now if I had sold one of those) because we would be on the road!!!!  Much easier to get this sale now.  If anyone does order something while we are on the road, guess the mailing can wait till we get there.  Yikes!  Timing! :-)

 

4.  Daughter's photo

Three Quick Things!

Though I missed the links yesterday, and I don't actually have Five....

1.  I hope you saw my post about having our bid accepted on a house!!!!  We are in major celebratory mode!  It was a long time coming.  See that post HERE if you missed it. 

2.  Went to my last Quilt Guild meeting on Wed.  Even though we won't actually leave till the end of the first week in December, I won't attend the November meeting because of packing etc.  So this was my final time to get to go.  If you want to see it, click HERE.

Here's a quick shot:

3.  Tomorrow (Sunday) I will be attending a concert by the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra that features my former boss for five years at the Festival Institute in Round Top, TX, and renowned concert pianist, James Dick.  Below I copied the information on the performance....It will be amazing to see him again, and to listen to him play!  I have such amazing memories of my time there, and I miss it so much sometimes, and miss my Round Top friends. 

Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 7:30pm
SaddleBrooke DesertView Performing Arts Center

Sponsored by Tom & Carolyn Cochran

Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 3pm
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

Sponsored by Patricia Linder

Program

• Márquez: Conga del Fuego; Danzón No. 2
• Gershwin: Piano Concerto (James Dick, piano)
• Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony

A Treasure Indeed!

Today I am joining in with Tom's wonderful Tuesday Treasures because I have something that is indeed an amazing treasure to share!  Those who know me here in the blogosphere know my husband and I have been desperately searching for months for a home to move to in Oregon.  Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson have been there since late March, and we had hoped to find a house and get moved by the end of October at the latest because of the coming winter.  We have LOOKED and LOOKED....and may I get a drumroll please....

Photo taken off the internet

....Our new home!  Our bid was accepted by the sellers on Monday morning.  We won't be able to move in till December because it is taking the V.A. about two months to inspect and approve a house for purchase.  We may be driving up there in snow and sleet and rain, and well, will need prayer!  But I feel like this is the house God wants us to have, and I am so thankful He led us to it! I am SOOOO happy!  We are about 50 minutes from our kids, but look at this wonderful juniper forest...we are even close to the Crooked River!  I have always dreamed of living close to a river or creek.  We only bought a house once before, in the early 80's and this is a dream come true, a blessing, an answer to prayer....our final home!  A treasure!

Squeaking Back In on Friday

Well, I haven't visited anyone for over a week.  I certainly am not getting out to make photos.  I'm instead having a nervous breakdown of sorts :-)  (See below) But, I can't stand not posting anything in so long, so here goes....

Joining Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five, one of my all-time favorite memes....

1.  A week ago we had our first serious monsoon storm.  It was a week early (today is the first official day of the monsoon season, and the sky is a lovely blue!) It didn't last long, but the wind was 40 miles an hour and we had torrential rain.  The next day, branches were broken off palo verde trees, and this poor agave, after sending it's shoot up and starting to bloom, was broken.

2.  When we were pretty young married, we went to an air show in Alabama once with my cousin Rhonda and her children.  It became a huge joke in our family after that day because as he was being carried around, her little son (maybe two years old) kept saying in this gravelly monotone voice "I'm hot," over and over.  I don't think he looked at a single plane.  The little guy was just HOT! :-)  So ever since then we get hot we imitate that gravelly monotone and say "I'm hot."

Did I mention that I'm hot?  I mean, you have to imagine the sound of my voice as I am saying it.  Let me say it again....I'm hot.   It has already been 109, and on Sunday they are predicting 114.  I leave the house only if we are desperately in need of something.  I mean, we can go one more day without bread and milk, right?  Those of you who know of Chris Rhorer, of Las Aventuras (amazing bird blog!) Well, he lives here in Tucson too.  He's been in Michigan visiting family.  I accused him of heading up there and leaving the rest of us here to die! 

Well, there are some really wonderful things about Tucson, but none of them are attached to summer.  I can't even begin to tell you all how I CAN'T WAIT to get to Oregon!!!! :-)  Mostly because I miss my sweet daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  But, did I mention....I'm hot.

(not my photo)

 

3.  I did go to Trader Joes one day.  There is a cute little shop near it that I've been wanting to take photos of for the longest time, called the Happy Saguaro.  Shops like this are all over Tucson, and then you see their "wares" in yards all over Tucson.  Had we been planning to stay here, and not move, I know I would have had to have bought SOMETHING eventually.  They are just too much fun.

4.  We are in the preliminary stages of buying a house...thus my nervous breakdown! :-)  This is one of the hardest things I think one can do, long distance.  The kids went to look at one we were real interested in, for us, and gave their approval (and answered some of our questions) but before we could do anything, the house was gone.  Apparently the market in the Bend area is 500% greater in demand for houses than most other places in the U.S. because it is growing so fast.  It is considered one of the best places to live on some ratings, and that is no longer a secret.  That will be great for business for the new restaurant, but not so good for the lazy small-town feel it has now....that is going to disappear!  We aren't looking in Bend, though....we were looking in Redmond, but the hysteria has apparently already spread to Redmond, so now we are going even farther afield.  I know the perfect house is out there for us, and I know God will make the right one happen.  But in the meantime, this is a little nerve-wracking! :-)  The last time we bought a house was in 1979.  This is hard on us older folks, who aren't use to the process!

5.  Once again I don't seem to have a number 5.  Well, that's ok.  At least I made it this week with a post! :-)