A Day in the Life by Paty Jager

Yesterday, I woke and wrote posts for blogs I'm guesting on this month with Haunting Corpse. I guess I should back up and say, Monday I drove 5 hours to Wallowa County where I grew up. I visited with my dad who was in the hospital last week for a few hours getting an idea of what I needed to do to clean his house. Then I went on to my brother's house where I spent the night.

Tuesday I was back at my dad's by 9 am and started cleaning all of the downstairs of his 1880s vintage farm house. I stopped for a 15 minute lunch before getting back at it. I left his house at 4 o'clock. I was tired, dirty, and ready for chocolate chocolate ice cream. ;)

dogs and SIL

Wednesday, I woke, wrote guest posts for blogs I'm visiting this month to promote my latest Shandra Higheagle mystery, Haunting Corpse. Still in my pajamas I sat in the living room visiting with my sister-in-law and niece as we ate granola and yogurt. I dressed and my SIL asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I'm always up for a walk.

We put leashes on Dizzy and Maria and headed up the road. The view was gorgeous even if the clouds were hanging on the tops of the mountains.

My SIL suggested we walk to the Alder Slope Cemetery. Always ready for a jaunt through a historical cemetery I wasn't disappointed by this one.

Most of the tombstones were dated with births in the mid to later 1800s. As always when visiting the older cemeteries there are ones that make you sad. So many babies and children were buried during this time. I also enjoy finding great period names to use in my books. I found one for a character in a Silver Dollar Saloon book.

There was a good variety of types and I loved the granite posts that held up the cemetery fence.

granite posts

After our walk, I had lunch and headed to my dad's. I took him to his doctor's appointment and then back to his house.

I spent the evening writing this blog and visiting with my SIL and extended family. I'll be driving back home today as you read this post.  I'm looking forward to the author day happening at our local library on Saturday.

Diamond loop, backwards.

Our place in eastern Oregon is off the Diamond Loop loop. Today when I should have been writing, I decided to take the loop. I had specific reasons to take the drive.

First I had to go by the post office in Princeton and pick up a package sent to me for a prize for the conference I'm headed to tomorrow. So I drove off the loop long enough to pick the package, visit with our neighbor who works at the Post office, and then get back on the loop.

This is where I ended up backtracking. Because I wanted to hit Narrows for lunch, I went to the Peter French Round Barn visitor center/book store/museum, which was the opposite direction of my next stop. At the visitor center as always happens I bought a book. I always buy books when I'm there because they have the best collection of nonfiction historical books. I always find one that pertains to what I'm working on at the time I visit. They also have western clothing, knick knacks, dishes, cards, and snacks.

View from Malheur Refuge parking lot

Then I backtracked to drive the thirteen miles of gravel road to get to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. This has a wonderful visitor center with a gift shop, a building that houses taxidermy birds of every species on the refuge in a building, picnic areas, and a great few of the Malheur Lake with resident birds.

From there I drove twelve paved miles to Narrows and had a wonderful lunch at the cafe there. Also had a great conversation with the owner of the store who loves her kindle and was ready to look up my books when I left. ;) I brought home with me a mini cherry pie to eat tonight while I watch a movie.

Lava escarpment with Steens in background

I left Narrows, turned south and continued to the turnoff to Diamond. Before reaching Diamond, I turned back north and stopped to stand awestruck at the Diamond craters once again. It is such an odd site to see bubbled up lava and deep craters in the middle of sagebrush and bunch grass.  continuing on, I by-passed the Round Barn and returned home.

I love the diversity of the country in the one loop, the wildlife that abounds, and the way my mind conjures up how it must have been in the late 1800's when people first started homesteading the area.

One of the craters formed by volcanic activity