"I thought maybe you would come with us today," invited Mike. "I can use the company to take my mind off the pain," he laughed. Mike and Nellie are practicing for the upcoming backpacking trip into the Boulder White Clouds area of central Idaho accompanied by Hallie, Nick and Clint. I will stay at home. I am the self-appointed anchor person. When they arrive at the house, my role is to say the important thing: "Go take a shower. Dinner will be ready in half an hour." Without me they would be tired and at a loss to organize themselves and get dinner and I know it.This morning at Gilbert is cool and overcast, though not cold -- a great morning for a hike.
So, Mike snapped a very excited Nellie into her pack, hefted his pack onto his back, and picked up his walking poles. Off we went. Much of the time was passed in silence. I could think of nothing to say and he was concentrating.
At the corner I
stopped to take these pictures as Mike moved on down Curfman Road. I paused for only a few minutes, but Mike was walking with uncharacteristic speed and I eventually had to break into a trot to catch him. At the Belding place we turned back, which would make a hike of three miles. We felt drops of rain -- didn't amount to much.
The wheat is turning from green to amber, and it looks good. A farmer never knows until harvest, but this crop of wheat appears exceptional.
And then, as M
ike walked back down "Plank's Pitch," I thought the vista in front of me was beautiful -- the dark clouds over the grain fields on Central Ridge with the sun glowing off the wheat on this side of Little Canyon.We were glad to be back at the farmhouse. Nellie's pack weighed in at 11.5 pounds, Mike's at 41. That's more weight than either of them will carry on the actual trip.
My sewing? Sunday I made a pouch for the water purification kit embroidered with the "M/W" that Hallie designed for us. I made it of some lightweight polyester fabric we picked up at Jo-Ann's as we left town on Saturday. (I tried to talk Mike into letting me re-purpose a cycling shirt he tore when he wrecked his bike a couple of years ago. "I wear that shirt on the farm," he replied incredulously; "that's a nice shirt!" Well, I tried.) Yesterday I repaired Nellie's backpack. Today? Not just sure yet. Several projects call out for finishing, and so do a couple of machine embroidery designs. Hmmmm.
Yesterday I spend some time working at my dilapidated raised bed garden. It can't be said that we're growing our own vegetables -- not yet -- though the other night we had some spinach I had frozen from the garden in town. Here at the farm I have bush beans and lemon cucumbers coming up well, but the carrots, beets, and lettuce were mostly no shows. Why? Old seed? Some critter? Too late in the season? I don't know. But yesterday I replanted -- beans, carrots, beets, lettuce. We'll see. It's probably too late but I had the space . . . KW
3 comments:
Such beautiful pictures!!
It's cloudy and cool up here, too. Dan has gone to get a load of firewood since it's perfect weather, so I'm about to head to my sewing room.
How do you freeze the spinach? Just throw it in a bag and into the freezer? How long does it take to thaw? Is it good? I like to use baby spinach for salads, but it just barely lasts 3 days before it gets yucky and it's hard to eat that much so quickly.
Hi Chris! I wonder what you're doing in the sewing room.
Hallie, definitely consider cooking your baby spinach before it spoils and saving it in your freezer. Rinse it and then cook it lightly -- what they call blanching -- until it shrinks down. Cool it quickly by dumping it in ice water, then drain off as much water as possible, toss it into a freezer container or bag and place in your freezer. It will take up little room and make a nice vegetable for some future meal. You can have it all done while you cook supper or do the dishes.
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