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October 27, 2017
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
Last Saturday was kind of a "Payback" day. We had promised granddaughters that we would come to town to watch them play soccer. In one case - Jordyn - we had to cancel a couple of weeks ago to come home early. We picked Saturday, not realizing it was going to be the stormiest day this year! So, we got up at Oh-Dark-Thirty, packed the umbrellas, rain gear and boots and headed into Hillsboro to watch Paige play at 9:00 a.m. She had a great game and she scored two goals, leading her team to a 3-0 win. That alone made it worth the early start! This was the first of two games we came to town to watch. The other soccer game was in West Linn to watch our youngest granddaughter, nine-year-old Jordyn play her game. She also had a nice game and equaled her cousin with two goals of her own. By this time it was raining sideways and the wind was blowing umbrellas and canopies across the field. You have to either be crazy - or grandparents - to sit out in that kind of weather to watch them play. But it was worth it to see both of them score and win their games. However, we may take a closer look at the weather forecast before promising to go to games in the future!
We also had a birthday celebration at Red Robin. Lara had a birthday on Friday and so the whole family was together (except Ashtin who is in college) to celebrate.
There was a donation from the local police who were raising money for the special Olympics at the restaurant and a drawing for a huge cuddly bear - which we entered. Guess who won the bear! Jaysa scored on that one!
After all the celebrations, we headed back to the coast. It was storming pretty hard all the way down there and Dave had a tough time just trying to keep the car on the road. He finally got tired and turned the wheel over to me to drive the rest of the way home. I hesitated on taking our usual route down Highway 53 where it was dark and narrow. I considered continuing the rest of the way on Highway 26 to take Highway 101 at Seaside and double back over Neah-kah-nie Mountain - knowing we'd probably get blown off the highway with 30-40 miles per hour wind gusts. Since it's a big drop off the edge of the road at the mountain, I chose Hwy. 53 and dodged downed tree branches in the road all the way home .
When we were a mile from home, we saw that Hwy. 101 was blocked at Hwy. 53. A chip truck had blown over in the high winds. Good thing we didn't try to come home by way of 101! By the time we made it home, the yard looked like a huge fan had come through and had blown the leaves off the trees. The wind was so strong that it bent our flag pole.
By Monday, the weather turned nice and I have been spending some time outside raking leaves. And raking leaves. And raking leaves! Dozens of bushel baskets full of them! I wish that job was done, but there's still a lot more to go. The worst part of it is, I know the next wind storm will just blow more down.
Speaking of leaves, the trip through the Oregon Coast Range is so beautiful this time of year. All the leaves have turned to a bright yellow and orange. It is just spectacular.
Our park committee got together and drove down to Cloverdale to a nursery called "Monkey Business" to buy some plants for the Upper Park in Wheeler. We decided on some really beautiful plants called Pieris which are drought and deer resistant and like sun. They should do well once they are all planted. We are also installing a split-rail fence next to the newly-paved parking lot. It is going to be really nice when that is all done. While we were out and about we decided to take in lunch at the Pelican Pub which is located on the beach in Pacific City. It was such a nice day for this event.
The next day it rained, so I stayed busy indoors, staining the louvered doors for the bathroom remodel. I also got the ceiling and walls in the closet painted. The color I chose for the bathroom is called "Mac'n Cheese" and it really looks nice with the dark walnut cupboards and doors. Dave got his project in the bathroom completed. We had to move the toilet paper/magazine rack from under the window wall to the other side of the toilet. He had to cut a hole in the bead board to make it fit and then put it all back together. Somehow, it didn't fit going back together, but he finally got it worked out. I stained the bead board too. We still have to paint the magazine rack and mount it. I'll get a picture of that when it's done.
I got my pumpkin and am ready to carve it this weekend. Halloween will be next week and although we don't have many trick or treaters our way, I will be ready for them just the same!
