Happy New Year!

I was lucky enough to spend the last few days of December in Florence, and ring in the New Year from my favorite place in Oregon. The dog and cat made the trip over with me. The weather was great the 29th-31st. I took the dog for quiet a few walks and enjoyed them all...not much wind and no rain. My friend Susie, from Eugene, came over and stayed the night on the 29th. We put a puzzle together and enjoyed home cooked goodies, read magazines and "talked garden". Randy arrived on the 31st and we watched the OSU Beaver beat Pittsburg in the Sun Bowl. I can't say it was a terribly exciting game, the score was only 3-0, but at least we won. On the night of the 31st a big storm blew in and we were expecting winds to be 25-35 mph with gusts to 60 mph. I wondered how that was going to go over, but it really wasn't bad at all. I could hear the wind blowing, but without any trees nearby to fall on the condo, I wasn't that concerned. Only the BBQ and chairs on the patio gave me cause to worry. Despite my concerns the night was fine. We were treated to our own little fireworks show, coming from over the bridge, at 0445 hrs that morning. It was quiet pretty and I didn't mind the hour, Randy was up anyway to take the dog out for a doodle.
January 1st offered more wind and rain so the dog and I didn't get to go out much. When we did, I came back with a soaked jacket and he needed a toweling off. Because of that it was fortunate that Randy returned home that afternoon and took the kids with him. I got to stay another night and we had a bigger wind event. The storm peaked around 2am and I spent much time looking at the BBQ on the patio to see if it was moving. It held it's ground.
I spent the rest of my time cleaning up and getting ready to head home. It will be a while before I can return as our home away from home is being rented until mid spring. I look forward to a spring trip.