Brothers' day out

Eric and I had a nice weekend during his peregrinations about the West. We got out on the Touchet River for a morning of fishing. I am nowhere near the level of guide that he had the previous weekend (Jim Mullen), and it showed. Eric caught a couple of li'l ones, and I got a fair amount, including two of very respectable size for our little creek.

The other big event of the weekend was a dinner of homemade fried chicken, with some good potato salad and macaroni and cheese, which Eric can vouch for. I was pretty proud of the fried chicken, myself--great crispy crust that shattered when you bit into it. Here's how much we liked it:



It was a lot of fun to have all the siblings here in Dayton. Y'all are welcome any time!

Where there's Smoke...

There's misery.

I don't know how much you all know about the fire here, but it's the number one priority wildfire in the nation right now. Not the largest, but there is still lots of growth potential. Two homes, including one belonging to the son of our neighbor, have burned, as well as several barns and cabins. The fire started Monday night from a lightning strike--originally it was at least 3 or 4 fires, but they have now all burned together. We could see the flames from the closest one from our house--it was less than a half mile away.


That top picture was taken this morning at about 10 AM. The smoke cleared out shortly after, but has been back every night due to some sort of inversion. We've taken to sleeping in the guest room, the only spot in the house to stay clear. This old, leaky house of ours fills up with smoke pretty well--it's worse in here right now than outside. Unfortunately, it's also 100 degrees out there, so there's no point in opening the windows.

If you want to read the fire updates, the best place is actually the Chamber of Commerce website. Lots of nice photos there, too.

Tiffany and Mae at the Weinhard Cafe have been doing a good job taking care of the local, volunteer firefighters. I brought a couple sacks full of cookies on Saturday, and Tiffany just dropped off a bunch of paper plates, toilet paper, napkins etc. They were thrilled. Many of the local businesses have signs out on the highway thanking the firefighters (apparently there have been some sort of dustups between locals and the out-of-towners that resulted in the fire camp moving to Waitsburg, 10 miles away).

Anyhow, we're hanging in there, staying cool with popsicles and trying to blow the smoke out with fans in the evening. Send eye drops!

2 Posts in One Day

I know that I'm getting a little carried away today with the blogging, but my camera is plugged into the computer, and I wanted to show off my cute nursery. Brandon and I painted those stripes- it was a lot of prep work, more than we bargained for. The crib was a gift and we repainted it. I guess I should actually give credit where credit is due- Brandon did all the painting. I did the sanding and helped with the prep. That lamp was a garage sale find from my mother-in-law. And the glider and pail with flowers on the wall is from mom. I just love walking by that room now that I have a few things together. I still have a little more work to do before I can show off the rest of the room- maybe that will be a follow up post in a week or so. Brandon and I are getting pretty excited for our new addition to come. She's growing, I think she's getting squished actually, and we're just holding out until the Daddy comes home.

Pickles!

Don't be deceived by our 3 proud looks as we pose with our pickles. Dave did most of the work, but it was a lot of fun to cook with him and learn from him and Tiffany. Has anyone tried the pickles yet? I'm going to wait for Brandon, but the jam couldn't wait, it's delicious!

progressive family reunion

Okay, I'll break the two months' silence with a plain old (no pics, no clever words) blog. It has been very fun to get together even if it has been a rather stretched-out reunion. Lots of fun to visit with extended family in Island Park. Love all those cute babies and good to get caught up. We missed David and Tiffany, but Liz and Kathryn had a great weekend in Dayton. Both were excited about the canning projects, the great meals, and seeing David and Tiffany. Dad and I were excited about the plum jam, pickles, and chocolate caramel tarts that came our way. After hearing about Tiffany's biscuit lesson with Elizabeth I'm thinking I may need one two. Bisquick mades better biscuits than I do.

I'm excited about the plans for a Christensen reunion next June or July. I understand the Northwest is our destination. Dad and I are easy and will go wherever you all are. Maybe we can have a blog discussion about the pros and cons of Portland, Seattle, Oregon Coast, San Juans, and Victoria (and anyplace else you can dream up.)

Are we thinking an extended weekend? Anyone willing to be in charge of accommodations? food? events? transportation?

Speak now or forever hold your peace (or at least until the next reunion).