Time goes fast to begin with but seems to go even faster around this time of the year.
Only 2 weeks to Christmas, how is that even possible?

As usual I did my research for any events in the area to get us 'into the spirit'!
The tiny town of Willamina (population 2100) is literary 'around the corner' from us and lo-and-behold they were putting up a Christmas parade as well as a Tree lighting ceremony!



I thought four o'clock was a little early for a tree lighting and it was still light when we arrived just before 4pm, but by the end of the ceremony it was getting dark enough to see the lights:

As announced, the Delphian High School choir did a wonderful job 'caroling'. They were really very good, rather surprising for such a small-town little choir!

We were very lucky that although the forecast had predicted some light rain throughout the afternoon and evening, it was still dry.
Since we had some time to kill before the parade would start at 6pm we'd planned to have a bite to eat at the little cafe/restaurant at the Wildwood hotel, which come to think of it is probably the only hotel in town.

   

It's a no-frills but cozy, small cafe. One of those places 'where the locals go', which means the food is usual good.
We chose to splurge a little and shared a prime rib steak which didn't disappoint, it was excellent!

Around 6pm we moved outside to the porch of the cafe and waited for the parade to start, which would conveniently come right by there!



The chamber took the lead and were followed by a surprising amount of decorated and lit-up cars, trucks and even a horse or two!

All in all, it took half an hour for the whole parade to pass. Certainly not the longest parade but also not the shortest we've ever seen!

    

We even lined up to see Santa who'd set up court at the Free Methodist Church.
In fact, we went for the cider and cookies of course, but is was fun to see the little kids having their obligatory pictures taken .. some happily, some shy and some terrified!

But before we could launch the Christmas season for real we had one more holiday to celebrate on the 5th of December, that of St Nicolas, aka 'Sinterklaas', a beloved dutch childhood-tradition.

   

And although we aren't giving each other any gifts (anymore), as is customary on this day, I did bake 'Speculaas' as I do every year.
I'd bought new spices when I was in Holland. They are a different brand than I usually get and boy, are they nice! Much better than the previous ones!

                                               

OK, now that that was behind us I could start 'decking the halls'. I cranked up some Christmas music and 'went to town':

It doesn't take much to transform the RV into a cozy Christmas cabin ..

And the same goes for the outside!

I completely forgot to mention that we had some terrible weather this last week!
The North-West was hit by what they call an 'Atmospheric River', a weather pattern that brings tropical, moist air from the south all across the ocean and than to dump it for several days, in an almost continues 'river', somewhere north!

We have 3 ponds on the property, the largest one right next to us. The water-level rose almost all the way to the path:

                

But fortunately our landlord installed a large culvert last year so when it gets to a certain point, it drains into the second pond below, and from there into a third one below that one ... like this:

There's more rain in the forecast, yet another of those 'rivers', and there are floods everywhere in Oregon and Washington, but fortunately we're safe and warm and dry.
I'm so glad we moved when we moved!

Being stuck inside I finally had some time to finish my puzzle.

By the way .. we recently bought this small collapsible table for me to lay out my puzzle-map, or do anything else like working on something on my laptop.
James often needs the whole dining table to lay out his papers for an appraisal which left me with no room to do anything.
This one is light enough to easily move out of the way and collapses fast when not in use. 
Another problem solved!

Happy camper!

What a gorgeous week we've had! Frosty mornings and clear skies made for beautiful pictures like these ..

 

Everything was covered with a thin layer of crunchy ice ... so pretty!

                                                                                    

                                                                 This was why ..  26F, brrrrr!                                           

          

Good news for our moving plans though!
It meant that the ground had a chance to dry out some and by Tuesday we decided to take the plunge and move the RV early in the morning (8am) when the soil was crusty and hard and fairly dry ...

And we did it! Not without a few hick-ups but we made it!

The first turn towards the path going down was a little tight and James had to swing real wide and make several attempts but he got it done.
Everything went smooth the rest of the way down and he got the RV pretty much in place on the first try but when we tried to make a small adjustment, as in moving it over a couple of feet ... he got stuck!

Fortunately our landlord was on stand-by to pull him out, which went very easy and after a little back and forth they got it parked in it's final 'resting place'.

And voila .. done! Isn't it a beautiful site?

  
 

We spent the rest of the day hooking everything up; electric, water, TV, Internet and James brought the big propane tank over ...

We were so busy that I forgot to take any pictures but here are a few of the end result:

 

We even installed the skirt under the front, laid down the pallets and mat for the porch and brought the awnings out so we have a nice dry place to come into the RV again.

 


                                                 

This is the view from the inside out. They're not the best pictures but you get the idea ..

                                                   

                                                   

We have great views from all windows, the ones on the side look out onto the pond and the tree-line of the little forest on the right, and the windows in the back look out all the way towards the distant mountain range.
We still have a few things to install and more stuff to bring over from the barn where we stored it for the time being when we arrived here but we're functioning and we're warm and dry. 

Time for some R&R!
Well .. sort of ... James got two new orders while we were busy with the move so we took a day of from organizing, connecting and adjusting and spent some time driving through the countryside to measure and photograph several properties.
It's work, but it's also rather fun to see new areas and have a look-see in different houses.

We had lunch at the 'Hitchpost', a bar/cafe somewhere in the countryside around Keizer where this sign greets you at the entrance:

    

                           

We fit right in .. look .. there's a redneck right now! 😁

                                                           

Despite all that, the food was excellent. We split a Tri-tip French Dip sandwich with curly fries and a Prickly-pear cider. Yumm!

Talking about food, it smells really wonderful here at the moment .. I just took this Blueberry pie out of the oven!
Following a new recipe, I used both regular flour as well as cornflour with the berries to avoid a 'soupy' pie, and baked it 10 minutes longer than usual.

It looks like that paid of, no visible running juices ..
They also advice to let it cool down for 4 hours on the kitchen counter and than overnight in the fridge to let the cornflour set even better.
We'll see .. the hardest part is not to dig into it right now!

I guess that's it for this week, it was a busy one and we're rather exhausted, but the move is behind us and we can finish setting up without being on a time-line and without being anxious about getting stuck or not being able to get the RV in it's place.

 Peace out!

 

Due to the much cooler weather this week, we're having some spectacular sunrises at the moment. The colors are just amazing!

                                   

We're also having beautiful sunny days and, although chilly, I love my walks at this time of the year the best!
I'm still finding new ways and paths to hike the property. The little forest area downhill is one of my favorites ..

                                 

As I said I've not come across a lot of wildlife yet but this week there have been quite some ducks in the ponds.
Unfortunately, since Coco is usually with me who likes to chase them, they often all fly up and I can't get a shot, but this little female Bufflehead stood her ground .. or her water I should say:

                   

And at another marshy area I found a bunch of red-winged blackbirds:

                                       

They're noisy birds and I had heard there characteristic call "konk-la-reee" (they also make a sharp "check" or "chuck" sound) many times before, but had a hard time seeing them amidst the dense growth of cat-tails.

And now for the big news of this week:

Yes, we have gravel! Six trucks full! Yahoo!



Despite a couple of sunny and dry days the ground was still very muddy and the delivery-truck sunk deep down into it a couple of times, but fortunately didn't get stuck.
James did a great job spreading and leveling it all out! Always a fun day when you can play with 'big-guy toys' .. !

As usual Thanksgiving snug up on me, like every year, butof course we celebrated  as usual!
I baked a Pumpkin Mousse pie:


I tried to somewhat copy the Edwards (frozen) pie I bought a couple of times a few years back, which they sadly discontinued since, and I think I came close.
Being a no-bake pie, with a Biscoff-cookies crust, and ready-made pumpkin mousse from the store, it was easy-peasy and very delicious!

Once again, we watched the Macy Parade:

                                                      

And saw Santa complete with elves and reindeer 'coming to town' which means the Holiday season has officially begun!

No thanksgiving without Deviled Eggs .. and a few cheeses thrown in for good measure:

             

After which we really needed to get some fresh air, walk off some calories and work up an appetite for dinner ...

So, we decide to check out Hampton Park in Willamina, about 3 minutes away from us.
                                          


The park features Huddelston Pond, previously a plywood logging pond, which has been restored and is now home to a variety of fish and wildlife.
A walking trail with fitness exercise stations leads you all around the pond for 0.6 miles.

It's a pretty little walk, just the ticket for a short holiday stroll ..

I'd scored a free turkey at Winco (if you bought groceries for more than $125), and although I picked out the smallest one I still ended up with an eleven pound bird!
For 2 persons .. I know .. but there's the left-overs!

When I got home and realized that it's sheer seize was pushing the limits of my oven, I thought of our landlord's (who are still on vacation) kitchen which houses 2 large ovens!
Problem solved!
In it went, I used an oven-bag this year, and it came out beautifully cooked and moist.

As happens so often, I forgot to make pictures of the meal, but here's a shot of next day's (leftover) lunch:
                                                           


That evening, thoroughly stuffed and happy, we watched the annual National Dog Show presented by Purina we recorded from earlier that day, where a friendly, tail-wagging 3-year-old male Sealyham Terrier named “Stache” charmed his way into winning best in show!

                                      


And that concludes the Thanksgiving week. I can't believe it's already behind us again, you look forward to it for quite some time and than 'swoosh', it's all over and done with!

The waiting is now for the gravel to dry, or more accurately the soil (clay!) underneath it, so we won't sink in too much and will be able to move!
The forecast is for 4 more days of sunny and dry, although cold, weather so we think we'll move on Tuesday.

Fingers crossed!