~Friday, December 31, 2021~
Day 565
I’m in mourning. One of the most beloved actresses, a vibrant, generous woman and animal lover Betty White has died at 99…..just 17 days shy of becoming a centenarian. She was one of those special ladies that you thought would just live forever. It seemed everything she touched turned to gold by her wit, smile and humor. She has always said that the key to a long life was to see the good in everything and avoid anything green. Shall I change my New Year’s resolutions to fewer smoothies then? She will be greatly missed!! Thank goodness for my Golden Girl’s reruns!
It was so sweet of Tim’s sister and her husband Steve to invite us all up to their special property in Dallas, OR for New Years!
Before we hit the road, Tim went to pick up his son’s puppy, Kai, so that he could get in some fun playtime with the other dogs and to give Dillon a “daddy” break. And who doesn’t like being around puppies?
The drive to Linda and Steve’s was about 90-minutes from Lake Oswego with gorgeous scenery along the way. Their 11-acre property sits at about 1,000 feet, sort of at the top of the surrounding, forested area, with beautiful views all around. While they were recently completing the first phase of their construction…..a LARGE barn/studio, they were living in their travel trailer on the property and going back and forth between Dallas and their condo in Portland.
They hope to start the second phase of building the main house, soon after construction costs drop and the labor shortage improves. It was fun to get a glance of their preliminary drawings/floorplan for what’s in store. I guess we and the dogs were fortunate to have such a beautiful winter white landscape for New Years! It definitely made for gorgeous photos.
Their pup Ginger is one lucky lady to have such a big, beautiful backyard as her domain! Thank you for sharing Ginger! The dogs pretty much kept to themselves, entertained by dog bones, toys and snow. Kai just wanted to be where the people were. I guess Sadie was considered the “old lady” at 7, Ginger 3
and Kai 6 months.
With the temps dropping, Steve got a rip roaring fire going (eventually) in his large, above ground fire pit, a recent birthday gift from Linda. After many repeated attempts using the hand blower, we had ignition! (Feel the power!). I don’t think they’ll have to worry about a shortage of firewood with the many Douglas Firs on their property. In between visits to the Elf puzzle table and time by the fire, we began our pizza building for our New Year’s Eve dinner. What a team effort. Jeff had the dough rolling station, Tracy and Tim had the toppings station, and Steve had the pizza baking duties…..“Shakin’ and Bakin” as he said. Linda was the perfect hostess making sure our glasses were full and our tummies satisfied. While watching New Years happen everywhere else on the planet and trying to hang in there until midnight, we played several rounds of Jenga (always interesting while drinking) and a fun new game perfect for a large group called “No Thanks!” The challenge is learning a new game when drinking is involved, especially when strategy is involved.
Before we knew it, the champagne bottles were poppin’, the embraces began and 2021 became a year of the past as we welcomed a new one. And as tradition would have it, New Years would not be the same without a call to our mother. Yeh!! She made it until midnight to ring in the new year and receive our call. Let’s hope 2022 is a year of much love, happiness, health, prosperity and more greens!