More House Updates

These pictures were taken and uploaded a while back, but i will journal and share and later show you more. I know, i know you all don't believe me. Dave and others built a front porch for me back in November. I say 'for me' because i've been asking for one for 17 years and i don't remember Dave ever pining for one, so i feel pretty special to be given this luxury. In fact, as he was still working on it i came out to investigate one of the kids' actions and then i proceeded to yell out orders from my perch. After i'd settled the matter, i turned to Dave with glee and said "i feel like a queen on her throne!" His response was laced with anxiety as he asked:"what have i gotten us into!" I love my porch!

The back porch/patio is more or less his. He designed and built the patio around the existing screened in porch back in 2002. Now he made a new porch and will rearrange to patio a bit. He saved some gorgeous furniture from Vintage Gardens and this will be a family paradise next summer.Most of this backside is newly painted with our new colors. The rest will patiently wait until Spring.

A better view after construction is cleaned up. These days i have a new picture window, too, so keep watching. I just want to make sure that you have a taste of the old, so that you will appreciate the new with me!

Remember this picture? The bathroom in September.....................

The bathroom in December! Not bad, huh? Britt picked the paint color, and we 4 females shopped together for towels and decor. Still a few touches to be made......

This is Josiah's new room. It's a portion of what was Meg and Brooke's huge room before we left for OR. We added a bit to our upstairs and were able to split a large room into two medium-sized rooms, thus having 3 rooms upstairs. Previously Josiah slept on the first floor, across the hall from Dave and I.

What fine restaurant with outdoor seating, you ask? That's our fireside porch set. Another piece Dave 'saved' for us. Actually, i think we'd sell it still since it's not exactly what we had in mind for here. In the meantime, it is gorgeous, especially with the snow.

This post is dated way back the day i uploaded the pics, before all the rest of my pictures got loaded to Dave office computer when we switched to a new one for me. Now Dave's office is not even close to being luxurious. It's hardly even comfortable and i have been avoiding it like the plague. I know if i go out there, i'll start cleaning and i do not really want to clean my way to my pictures. so in the meantime...........i'm without all pictures taken before December '09.

I'll put on my ( actually they're Dave's) muck boots sooner or later and figure out how to transport them back into the house. Note: i'm not delighted with this situation.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you care.

Long Overdue from Dave

Hi to all our friends in Oregon.

As you may suspect I have been busy since we came back to Pa in August and again since I came home from my three weeks of Elk hunting that Lil told you about. But I am not as busy being busy as we were 2 years ago. Rather it is a more relaxed busy, of working around the house on our remodeling project. Thus far we have enjoyed it. At first it was causing some of the normal stress between Lil and I that you might expect a remodeling project would. But I must say that she is so easy to work with and after I finally convinced her that my way and ideas were far better everything has been going well.

Isn't she just cute?

But on a more serious note we have been learning to work together on our many decisions and I praise the Lord for the many things we learned in Oregon when we spent more time together than normal. It really was good for our marriage. Speaking of marriage's.... I pray that all you couples in DaySpring are doing well and our growing in your love toward each other and God. I really do miss you guys, and it is no stretch to say I think of you most days.
This is a picture of the west side of our house newly painted and new Windows.

This past week we had out Pastor Mark Potter help with the painting upstairs in the bedroom. He is a perfectionist in painting and did a wonderful job.


Now I need to metion politic's. Id did not realize until I live here on the east coast again how far away it feels on the west coast. I think there might be a false sense of security and safety from the decisions made in Washington.

Well that isn't true. And when you live here it does not feel true either.The decisions being made will affect us coast to coast! Things are reaching the point where every day we wonder what next? and nearly everyone I talk to mentions our government in a negative note. I realize that I in particular may have been living in a false reality during our time in Oregon, but surely I am awake now. This past week I took Megan and Brit and some school friends to the Rally against this health bill and For SMALLER GOVERNMENT in Washington. We really enjoyed our time, but I was reminded that we need to fight and win these battles. These are serious times and many future generations are depending on our victory. I would encourage you guys to pray again like we did last year during the election season. Call your Senators every day. You know the most disappointing thing I find when I listen to our current leaders is the refusal to honor the Lord. Even on Thursday as we heard from the most conservative members from the house I never heard Honor or mention to God except in the vague context of 'God, family and country.'
This needs to change. We need to pray for a leader to begin leading the other leaders and the whole country to realize again our dependence on The Providence and graciousness of God.
Let's pray for this leader to rise up!

Guys the following picture is an average Farm here in Lancaster. (notice the slotted tobacco barn Lil mentioned earlier)
And this picture is us behind the zoo fence in the busy East looking west wishing we could come out to visit the rest of you hippo's and penguins.

Last week we were talking about when we might go visit again. I was lamenting that it takes weeks of time and thousands of $. Then dear Brooke said.... "Just for the record , I never said I wanted to go to Oregon, But I never said I didn't either. I think it was worth it!"

Your wishing he could see the mountains again, Nissley

The Hunters Are Home Again

Last year, just after elk season ended, Dave already planned to travel west this Fall. He's never even traveled to Potter County ( a popular hunt 4 hours from home) but now he's fallen in love with Eastern Oregon and simply had to try his luck again. And it was bad again. Actually, Dave is skilled in many areas and i think it's more fair to say that his skills were bad. He admits that he had numerous chances. He missed some, and he hit some. He had lots of action and saw many elk. He also put on 140 miles on foot!
Let me give a brief account: Dave and Chad flew to OR on Sept 9 where Dave's truck that he'd bought in June was waiting for them. They hunted together until the 21st when Dave took Chad to Spokane airport to meet Phil and Richard who flew in that day. Those 3 guys had plans to hunt in the Bob Marshall in MT. Dave came back to OR until the 25th, then he drove over to MT to join his brothers and friend for their last few days. Dave walked 9 miles back to the guys who'd been taken back with horses by Marion Eash. ( Marion took himself and the horses home again, leaving these guys for the fun of their lives) Richy got his elk one of the first days and Phil got one the last day. They'd called off the horses saying they can walk out with the one elk and an extra guy ( Dave) to help. In the meantime Phil shoots one and they sure had their hands full!! Dave and Chad told Phil and Richard to load themselves with as much meat as they could carry and when they were finished D and C took as much as they themselves could carry. So in the end the meat was split 4 ways! I am grateful.

Dave and Chad then drove home arriving here on Thursday morning, October 1.

The kids got to say hi to Daddy, see the meat, the horns, and the hairy face, then it was time to meet the bus. The men did a fantasic job of keeping the meat cold in the Montana creek and then packed it into coolers for the road trip. We took it to a local Amish butcher shop where it weighed in at 275 lbs!
Phil and Richy's prizes.

We kept meat at home for our big party this evening. Because i know how much fun it is to have the skiers get together for a meal after their trips, i knew that we wives, the hunters,and families needed to have a debriefing. Seperate facts from fiction. Lies from truth.

Josiah watches with wonder. Was this really in the woods last week? Am i really gonna eat this tonight?

What a feast! Besides the 4 hunters, we included parents, a few sisters, and Wayne and Lydia, Richard's brother. It's an all-you-can-eat Elk Fest!

Let the man have the best!!

Looking at pictures was a highlight. Montana is breathtaking.

Most of the pictures were Richards, taken with Beth's pink camera, and he did a super job as narriator. Amazingly the meat was finished at 3pm, which worked out wonderfully. It was divided and taken care of this evening.

Counting and sorting.

Hats off! to these two mighty hunters. You're two of the best! We sure appreciate the meat in our freezer. Hopefully next time Dave will be able to give,too. But we do know that he called Phil's in to 10 yd's for the kill!!

See Shelly's blog for more pictures and stories.

Oops, I Forgot

I just realized that i'd promised pictures of the house. Here's a few and one day i will post all the finished work. That will be next year, i'm sure.
A day or two after coming home from Oregon, Dave tore away our screened porch.

We then extended the dormer, which allows for an extra bedroom upstairs. We now have 3 BR's up there and will move Josiah up to join the girls. A day later.....dormer and new porch roof built.

You know you're in Lancaster County when the roofers are pushing along the builders and the job is complete in 3 days! No, my house is not done, but the building crews have done their work and now Dave and a few other individuals are working on the rest.

One Saturday Dave took a detour from his 'housework' and started a treehouse for the kids. It's been talked about for a few years already, so now the fun has begun.

Looking down from the treehouse porch.
I love painting and this day i tried out a new color choice. We love it and will continue to use it on all the faceboards and the dormer.

The new windows in the 3rd bedroom upstairs.

The upstairs bathroom. This is a fun project. I'm anxious to see the final product. Britt's room gets a new window and then a face lift, so she's still upstair with all the dirt. These days we all share one bathroom on the first floor and Meg and Brooke sleep in the basement in a spare bedroom that we never used. It's less than perfect, but i cleaned it up nicely for them, if i may say so myself. Josiah is in his room on the first floor, across the hall from Dave and me. We're in the painting process outside. Yesterday this window was put in Britt's room and the painting got started outside. Dave and i are 98% happy with our color choices. I believe by the time it's all complete, we will reach 100%!! But it is hard to judge small areas and then have the courage to continue.
Finishing up for the day.........alot gets accomplished when Dave's here, i'm glad that 3 week elk trip is finished for this season.

Harvest Time

I realize that my cheese blog is so old that it's probably moldy by now and i thought of my blog often, but as i said before, i'm just being occupied with other things here in Paradise. Dave was elk hunting in OR and MT for 3 weeks, so i had a few extra responsibilities. The kids' schedules keep me hopping. I'm still working on boxes that are not unpacked. We kept alot of stuff stored here while we were in OR. And i do mean 'stuff'. What could it possibly be? Oh. BTW, i bought the Beecher's cheese from Seattle, and it is fabulous!!

I'm doing poorly at capturing all the pics that i'd like, but here's a few.

The Amish in this area grow alot of tobacco. It creates much hand work and keeps the children busy and out of trouble. They plant it by hand, hand pull the weeds, hand pluck the flower blossoms, and later cut it and spear it all by hand. Acres of the stuff. It then gets hung in the barn to dry. It is necessary to keep the doors and windows open for proper ventilation. In fact the Amish build what they call 'tobacco sheds'. Half of the barn boards, which are running up and down, are made to prop open........oh, i'll just go find one one day and take a picture for you! The tobacco then goes to a local auction where it's sold to cigar makers........i think!

I had to pass this horse-drawn wagon the other day.

This i would define as a load; the quantity that can be or usually is carried at one time, as in a cart, or in this case, a wagon. Back at the farm, this will probably be fed into a 'chopper' and spit into the silo for winter food for the cows. We call it 'silage'. Remember, i am not a farmer! I'm not even a farmer's daughter or a farmer's wife, I just live in farming country, so some of this information i give is based on what i believe to be true. I stand to be corrected. I'm just trying to entertain Oregonians from afar!

Every Wednesday, beginning in late September thru mid-November, you can take your apples to the local orchard and they will press them into cider for you. We have two apple trees here at 363 and we use them for eating and drinking. I prefer to buy a specific kind for applesauce and baking. Our 'mailbox' ( because the tree is by the mailbox and we do not know what kind they are) apples are so juicy that i've had the juices drip off my elbow while eating one. You cannot just casually eat these guys, you need a bib. The orchard is Amish owned and operated and therefore alot of patrons are Amish,too. All businesses such as this have horse-ties in the parking lot. The lots was full and other buggies were off to the side, waiting their turn, with someone still attending the horse.
BYOJ. You can purchase new jugs on site, but if you save your own, it keeps the costs down. I am thankful for a few friends that save water jugs for me each Fall. This Press charges 60 cents a gallon for cider made from your apples and assuming that you're bringing your own jugs, which i always do. We do pay this same fellow to spray our trees, but otherwise, no hidden fees. Josiah helped me pick apples this day and i also had some of my MIL's apples to combine for a total of 10 gallons. Some of the parties before me were getting 30-40 gallons to take home. Typically we get 10-15 gallons a week for about 6 weeks. Two years ago we totaled over 90 gallons, but the apples tree is not so loaded this year. We take alittle off the top and put the gallon right in the freezer. Apple cider at the Holidays is wonderful!

For the most part we get 4 gallons of juice per bushel of apples. Some varieties such as our Red Delicious are not as juicy and you can expect 3 to 3 and a half per bushel. Any way you cut it, it's cheap and delicious, not to mention healthy!!! I've only begun enjoying apple cider since we make our own. The store bought kinds are too 'thick' and chalky.

I would've loved to take pictures of the Amish and the press, but the Amish do not appreciate having their pictures taken, and being a local whom they all know, i want to respect their wishes. But i will continue to 'sneak' as many as possible! A few years ago Shelly got a few and she shared them with me today. Here's the one you need to see.

The press is in the background then it comes into the blue barrels and by gravity it is 'piped' into my jugs. The little red and white levers are to open and close the nozzles. Oh, it's so much fun and so yummy. I'm so grateful for my husband who knows how to care for the trees, and for the most part is the one up on the ladder picking.

So long for now. I have fun elk hunting pic, so come back soon.

Cheese

Today as i passed thru Gap, i was 'stuck' at a red light right beside The Gap Town Clock Cheese Shop, ( or something like that) and my Suburban gave a sharp lurch to the right and there i was, for the first in my life. Dave has gotten gift basket there, i've been given cheeses from there, and i read the sign but this was my first time thru the door.

I wanted to splurge, my taste buds were feeling pricey, so i asked and i sampled. When i commented on his Tillamook, he was surprised that i would know anything about a west coast cheese. Of course i told him of Dave and i's love affair with Tillamook's cheeses. Besides, Mary June had bought us "a piece of Oregon cheese" just before we moved to OR last year. When grocery shopping a month later, we recognized it as the same brand. But today i wanted something new. So i tried some far out cheeses. At least they came from "far out"! Ireland, France, Holland, you name it. Then i asked if he carries any cheese from Seattle. Our family had observed a creamery across from Pike Place Market.....then a light when on in his head, he dug into his cooler and brought out a new purchase of his, not yet cut and priced, never before shown here in Gap. When i saw the Beecher's logo, i said "that's it"!

The kids had peered in the window at this HUGE batch of cheese being stirred. We didn't buy any that day, but i am so excited to try it. I promised 'Cheese Man' that i'd be back. He predicts that his block will last a month, so if you'd fancy trying it, be sure and go soon.

Today i settled for a better-than-Brie Fromager d'Affinois and a wedge of Rembrandt extra aged Gouda from Holland. I purchaed Kalamata olives and dark pretzels. I already have grapes and a special drink at home that will go hand-in-glove with my buy. He thought that my husband and i are going to have a fine evening, but no, my husband is in Oregon on an elk hunt, so i called a friend who i knew would appreciate every morsel with me. She was quick to invite me over ( her husband works late) and we will have a lovely chat with our feet propped up!

So if you're a local and have a notion for cheese, be my guest and try the Breeches.

From My Front Porch

You never know what might "be going down the pike". We constantly have interesting sights like this, but i rarely have my camera ready for a quick draw. My kids know that i'm trying to capture interesting pics for this blog, so today when i heard Meg yell "Mom, get your camera, run!", i knew to do so. You can click on the picture and it should enlarge for you in a separate window. Notice that the wheels have no rubber, they are just made out of steel. Someone remind me why the Amish do this. Is rubber modern?I guess one day long ago rubber was invented and therefore it was 'modern' or new and the Amish are all about keeping traditions and not being 'wordly'. ( i believe when the Bible talks about not conforming to this world, it is usually referring to the condition of our hearts, not our tractors, but that's a different story) When they buy a tractor or equipment they convert all the tires into 'wheels' like this. As for any other questions you might have about this picture; "your guess is as good as mine!"





First Day of School 2009. Where's Brooke, you say. Well Little Miss Smartie said "Count to 3 Mom, so we know when you're taking the picture". So i did, and as i snapped, she ducked!!




And so i caught her on the way back up!

Megan= 8th grade

Brooke= 6th grade

Josiah= 2nd grade



Bustime is at 8:20am , lucky kids, and school is less than a mile from home. They're back again at 3:10pm. Brittany's a sophmore and homeschooling again this year. Her perks are afternoon babysitting opportunities and going to market on Fridays. Hey, all the kids in OR have a four day school week, so can we!

That's it for now, i will show you some remodeling pictures in a few days.

~Love from the Nissleys

Welcome to my new blogspot!

In June of 2008 our family of 6 moved from our hometown, Paradise PA to Terrebonne OR for 14 months.

Call it an adventure or a sabatical or just a rest time, i don't care. We simply wanted to go somewhere new and experience a different part of the USA. We knew that if we would not go now, before the kids go off to college, work, or other, we would never accomplish it.

I've kept a blogspot for my Eastern friends and family and that address is "fourdayswest". Now that we plan to head back, i'm opening a new site for my wonderful Oregonian friends!

We plan to settle back into Lancaster County by mid-August and when i've got my ducks in a row ( again ;)), i will occasionally post blogs of our family life and also i'd love to take you on 'tours' of beautiful and unique Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

This picture is one that i took of our backyard last Spring just before we moved. Dave's a landscaper by trade, so we have lots of lovely gardens, flowers and patios. There's always something new blooming and because i'm not much of a gardener i do not keep track of what comes next. Therefore, every season is full of surprises! I'm anxious to find what will be blooming when we arrive home in August.

I do know that these are Spring flowers and will not be greeting me in August. I do remember this much.

So long for now....be sure to check back in a month or so. Lil Nissley