10 - 10 - 10

This was sunrise this morning of 10-10-10 --

We had a gentle rain off and on all during the night and most of the morning and then there was a rainbow --

After going to church with us this morning, Bill and Leslie hitched up the Rubicon to Serenity and got ready to hit the road --

We watched as she headed down the lane --

And up the hill on her way west --

It was VERY quiet around here after Serenity and her people left. We watched a bit of TV, took a nap, and watched some football games. Even though they had gotten a good start, the trip over the mountains for them was very slow. We saw on the TV news that there was a huge boulder -- almost six feet by six feet -- that crashed down onto the westbound lanes of I 90 after all the rain of the weekend. Evidently with only one lane open, traffic was backed up for 8-10 miles. We did get a phone call from Bill a bit ago saying that they had made it safe and sound!

Finding a Place for Everything...

While Bill has been back at work at that little software company near Seattle this week, Leslie and I have been spending some of our time putting things away and organizing their new motor home, Serenity. Bill came back over last night (met us at Chico's in Moses Lake for pizza) with the Rubicon loaded with more boxes from the house they had sold.

We spent the most time organizing the kitchen and figuring out where to put stuff. Trying to set up areas for baking, cooking, etc.

As we emptied boxes, we also tried to sort out what things would go into the plastic bins that would be placed underneath the coach in the bays. Much of the food items went into the overhead storage compartments above the windows --

It was imperative that we get everything safely stowed, as Serenity and her owners will be heading back to the Seattle area tomorrow afternoon. You cannot have loose items flying around when you are going down the road!

Tonight we tried a recipe for pork chops with sweet onions and apples that was absolutely scrumptious. We ate the last of the prize cupcakes that Bill had brought with him yesterday and then taught the two of them how to play Hand and Foot. Leslie and I had the guys on the run the first few hands, but darned if they didn't rally at the end and beat us by 300 points!

Watching the Harriers

There have been a pair of Northern Harriers hunting in the coulee all summer. I'm not sure where their nest is, but they fly down the coulee from the east every morning. Since we've been here this fall, there has been a third bird with them -- probably this year's chick. This morning there was a bit of squabbling amongst them as a fourth bird joined them. I think they are flocking up prior to migrating south.


This morning I took my mocha and my camera outside and sat and watched the harriers as they soared and hunted. It was a beautiful day with not too much of a chill in the air.

The bird book describes the harriers as "...slim with large rounded wings and long tails. In hunting they glide swiftly a few feet above the ground, tilting from side to side, holding their wings above the horizontal. Sexes differ greatly in color."

All I know is they are absolutely gorgeous birds!

Dinner with Pat, Cindy and Nick

Tonight we went in to Moses Lake and had a Mexican dinner with my Brother Pat, his wife Cindy and youngest son Nicholas. Nick, who calls himself "the best nephew," was pretty tired from working at his farm job today, but stayed up long enough to have dinner with us. Inca, in Moses Lake, has pretty good food. Leslie and I both brought home boxes, but still feel absolutely stuffed!

We had a beautiful rain today. It started during the night and rained until after dark. It was surprising how green all of the field of winter wheat look this evening! Not only is all of the dust washed off but I swear it grew an inch or two today.

We didn't do terribly much today. I washed a load of clothes, we spent time playing computer games and reading. Good choices for a rainy day.

A Nice Walk

As evening approached at the ranch, the reflection of the sunset to the east was so pretty --

Leslie and I walked down the lane and across Batum Road to the coulee on the other side. The farmstead there has been abandoned now for several years.

It used to be when you walked along the lane or down along the coulee, you flushed pheasant after pheasant. The hunters in our family loved hunting here. It's been several years since we have even seen a pheasant on the ranch! There are a few coveys of quail, but absolutely no pheasants.

Another Visitor!

Leslie came around the corner of Auntie Violet heading for Serenity and ran into this visitor!

It's a nice sized bull snake who was checking out the neighborhood --

He decided he really didn't like the company and took off in rather a hurry --

The last we saw of him, he was headed out underneath Forry's old van parked over by the storage unit. Needless to say, everyone now looks down before they start walking between the rigs.

How Big a Crew Does It Take?

It takes one to give directions --

One to actually do the work --

Got to make sure things are being done right!

Oops, here comes quality control --

One last check, everything's looking good --

It was a riot yesterday watching Bill hook up the water and sewage hoses for Serenity. He had so much moral support and supervision!

It's the sort of thing you need to get used to if you're going to be an RVer. All you have to do at an RV park is open the hood of a vehicle or take out some tools with your bays open and you have an audience -- and all kinds of advice!

Auntie Violet Has Company!

Who's that lovely lady parked behind Auntie Violet? That's Serenity!

You met Serenity last when we went to see her shortly after she arrived with her people Bill and Leslie back in Washington State from where she had been purchased in Colorado. She was parked at Tulalip. On Friday she came to Tree Heart Ranch to get acquainted with Auntie Violet!

Forry had mowed a strip of crested wheat grass behind Auntie Violet so that Serenity would have access to electricity and water (Tree Heart Ranch RV Park?). Her original plan was to spend the weekend with us so that Bill and Leslie could help with the Mennonite Country Auction on Saturday. Bill still has another month of work at that little software company in Renton (as he describes his employer) and had planned to drive her back to an RV park in the Seattle area Sunday after lunch.


Since Leslie is finished with her job (they are getting ready to become Full-Time RVers), we couldn't see any reason why she and Serenity should make that long drive back to Seattle this afternoon. Leslie's plans for the coming week were to unload many of the boxes they had just stuck into Serenity's bays and start putting stuff away. We couldn't see why she couldn't do that here while she had me to help her.

So this afternoon we bade Bill farewell as he returned to a lonely week at work while we get to enjoy Leslie's company!

The Big Day at Last!

And at last it is over! I am so exhausted tonight I can hardly wait to crawl into my bed. Luckily I bought BBQ chicken dinners at the sale this afternoon and Leslie bought a "cheery" pie (honestly that's what it was labeled!) and gallons of apple cider so we didn't have to cook when we got home -- or run into town.

The Washington State Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale, Mennonite Country Auction, was a big success. Our preliminary total was over $99,500. I'm sure it will be over $100,000 after all of the Penny Power and other things are added in. The new Children's Auction brought in over $900 alone with over $44,000 from the regular auction. The rest of the money raised comes from all of the booth and concession sales.

The sun was shining and there was only a breeze -- truly a beautiful day for a relief sale!

One More Day to Go --

I think I need to warn Forry tonight that if I start shredding the bedding, it's okay, just tell me to go back to sleep. We shredded 30 pounds of lettuce today for the meals at tomorrow's Mennonite Country Auction. That's two cartons of leaf lettuce and one of romaine lettuce. Thank goodness it was all washed and all I had to do was tear it.

We worked most of today at Diane's catering kitchen. It was nice to have air conditioning and NO flies. Not only were we prepping stuff for tomorrow's food concessions, but we were also getting food ready for tonight's meal for all of the people at the church working on getting things set up. These are the pans of Mexican cornbread that were on the menu for this evening --





Those big pots on the stove are full of barbecue sauce for the roast pork that was also on tonight's menu. On today's work schedule were: barbecued chicken halves (they'll be reheated on the barbecue tomorrow); makings for mandarin orange chicken salad; sliced onions for the hamburger booth; basically everything that had to be baked, sliced or chopped!