FOOTBALL AGAIN? ALREADY?!

It seems like yesterday we discussed the joys of football season. Was it really a year ago? Well, here it is again. Mike has looked over the sports menu and made his selection of games to watch this evening. The possibilities for me are most enticing – read and crochet, or crochet and read.

Mike arrived home from his Wyoming trip Tuesday afternoon. He says a blog post is forthcoming. After a day to recuperate and stock up on supplies, we packed the Dakota and came back to the farm this morning. “You aren’t taking as much this trip,” observed Mike. And of course, that’s quite true now that I have a sewing machine at the farm. All I have to take is my project box. (However, I forgot to bring along my “tools and notions” box. We’ll see if I can get along without it.)

Today has been lovely – 75 degrees with a cool breeze. Nellie and I like it better when it’s not so hot. But – it’s still dry and dusty with no rain in the forecast for at least the next ten days. Days will be warm (around 80) and evenings cool (around 50).

And it’s still smoky – smoky on all sides, as the pictures here show.

This afternoon Mike and I sat on the kitchen porch and watched a mountain bluebird family play in the yard. The mountain bluebird is the Idaho state bird, but in reality we only occasionally see them here. The hummingbirds are gone now; I washed the feeders and put them away.

And now the game birds come into play. Mike is an avid bird hunter. I play it down, but nevertheless, a big part of our autumn is the successive opening and closing of bird seasons. Mike and his hunting buddy, Ken, diligently follow these in both Washington and Idaho.  Both Mike and Ken are expert hunters, and being "seniors" has yet to slow them down. That’s why we had to laugh when Washington announced that hunters 65 and older will be given a four-day head start on the pheasant season. Ken checked it out. It’s true. KW