Oregon City, Oregon - Week 12 - March 23 - March 29, 2020

Well this has been quite a Coronavirus Week - so much happening - so much misinformation being spewed from Trump's mouth --- no one knows who or what to believe....except we know we can't believe Trump.  I will let history books record this mess

Spring is trying so hard to come - even though the Osmaronia cerasiformis has bloomed weeks ago.  As proof of spring - on my morning walk, I noticed the huge flower buds bursting on the Big Leaf Maples.



Then in the afternoon, there was hail



We have begun our battle against the holly trees in our woods.  The tree is invasive and deserves to be cut down in every instance.  It is hard to win the battle because they seem to all be on a steep hillside, but we prevailed.





And dragged them up the hill, kicking and screaming, and lined them up to the side of the burn pile.



A couple days later we cut off all the limbs and dragged those heavy trunks to a "ready to be cut into firewood lengths"pile





Dad later started a fire and burned all of the limbs.  I was so impressed - it was raining, and he was successful anyway.

On one miraculous day this past week when it didn't rain, we went up to Goodin Acres and gathered up trailer loads of downed branches and trunks and burned them all.  Ethan Booth helped us which was really nice - so great to have the help.












While at Goodin Acres I took a break at loading a trailer, and instead, removed ivy from one tree - took about two hours.  It was,perhaps, the worst cast of ivy I've yet seen.







Maybe this photo was after Dad had been working hard..he loves Cinnamon, the rabbit.



Two of our missionaries from Kaz got married......they were truly great servants while in Astana.  They were going to marry in the Idaho Falls Temple, but the temples have closed, temporarily, and they decided not to wait.  Since there is a "ten person rule" they got married in their living room and had a Zoom session with their friends.....we were honored to have been invited.

Haley Critchfield of Oakley, Idaho and Trevor Lowrey of Alaska/Rexburg March 28, 2020










I have restarted working on the quilt for Natalie - the one I started 7-8 years ago while they were still living on Cherabon Ct.  What a perfect time to finish it - we are self isolating and when it is raining....what else is there for me to do?










Next week I'll post the photo of the finished top.  It will take some time to get it machine quilted.

The coronavirus pandemic is playing havoc with the world and will, undoubtedly, get worse.  At first Temples were on a reduced schedule, but now they are completely closed....temporarily.  Missionaries are being sent home early, we have Sunday meetings in our own homes, church administrative meetings are held on the phone...........sigh...........Even Evan is being sent home and is supposed to arrive in Salt Lake City Monday night ( the 30th) between 7 and 9 PM.  We don't know yet when he will get a fight to Portland.  But today, on Sunday in Buenos Aires, they gathered (see photo below) and will arrive tomorrow night......it's going to be a long trip for Evan. He will self isolate for 14 days and then be reassigned.....or, we don't know.

Oregon City Oregon - Week 11 - March 16 - March 22, 2020

I would call this "our" first week of experiencing the Coronavirus pandemic.  Schools have been closed until April 28....but since that announcement, the situation has worsened, and school closures will go much longer.........we're thinking that there will likely be no more school for this school year.  Non essential businesses have been closed, restaurants, theaters, anything recreational is closed.  It doesn't bother us much because we don't have little kids, but it is difficult for Jessica and Bev.  Also, non emergency medical appts are canceled - for instance, my appointment to get a cavity fixed was canceled.  Dad has a tentative appt for a hernia surgery and was told it probably won't happen.  Sigh...we really are under no hardship, but it's like a big gloomy cloud hanging over us.

Life still goes on.  Jude came over wondering if I had been able to fix his lizard.  The lizard is stuffed with sand, and it had a big wound on it's tail and was bleeding a lot of sand.  I took an afternoon and sewed it up.  He was really happy with it.



And he discovered my magnetic pin cushion and liked playing with the pins to see how they were affected by the magnetism.



Ruby is, reluctantly, learning how to ride a bike.  I have her set up on Brunner Rd so she can go a ways before the road levels off, but she is hesitant to actually push HARD on the pedals when she gets to level ground.





One day Clara and Abby opened the drive through restaurant again; the drive through is the sliding door that goes onto the deck.  They spent hours doing this.  Clara formated menus and job application forms and numerous other printed forms.  Personally, I think a dollar per item it way too expensive, especially when the food is invisible.



It's hard to believe, but the east side of the barn is cleaned out!!  I even cleaned out the side of the cooler where Bev and Warren have stuff.  I took a car load of things to Warren's.







Then - oh joy -  Paul came over and helped install bike hooks in the barn!!  Now the bike shed is empty, and I can dismantle it and take it to the recycling center.  It is a mess - rusty, leaky, and the squirrels have dug up under the floor and made a mess.

Ten bike hooks from Home Depot is all it took.



Paul was so good - nothing fazed him









Dad and I went geocaching once, trying to find a puzzle cache.  We had Natalie and Clay help us with this one which used an old Celtic language for the coordinates.  But when we got to the location, we couldn't find the cache.  I've asked the owner for a hint.



Malcolm is planting numerous pots of flowers



Dad cultivated between the grapes and berries.  He also spent an afternoon applying an herbicide.



Natalie surprised everyone (except Jessica who knew in advance) by showing up early Friday morning along with Clay.  Classes at BYU have kinda been canceled, and the weekend was free.  It was good timing because we'd planned to hike to Alder Flat, and now Nat and Clay could join us.



Some wazoo put up this sign - I am sure it is not an official USDA sign.



We replaced the two caches that we own - somehow both had been taken by muggles.  And we loved spending the afternoon at one of our favorite places.

Indian Burial Rock has always been a favorite



A walk up the river to the rapids





and a lot of climbing











Now that one side of the barn has been cleaned out, it is time to start a new project....hmmmm, yes let's work on "the holly and the ivy".

We cut down one holly tree with two trunks.  It seemed pretty massive to us.  Now both trunks are by the burn pile.



And, ya gotta love the ivy



Even another project has presented itself.  Dad "rediscovered" the spring and cistern in the woods.  We want to clean it out, make a lid for it, and try to make it functional again.  Who knows if the water will meet the Clackamas County "standards", but having a nearby source of flowing water can never be bad.



Sunday was Malcolm's thirty-second birthday.  Dad made a chocolate cake (using boiled wheat rather than flour), stuck a candle in it, we sang, and ate.  It was pretty good....pretty.



What will happen next week???  Will we have dodged the Corona bullet again???