A PLEASANT FEW DAYS AT THE OLD HOMEPLACE

We enjoyed a short stay at the old homestead last week. Before I move on to other things, I wanted to post the pictures.

From June's looking northwest

We haven’t seen many hummingbirds. I hung the feeder the day we arrived, but I never saw a visitor. The morning of our departure, I took the feeder down, and as I was sitting in the dining room, a little hummer hovered at the window. “Yo the house!” he seemed to call. “We need a feeder out here.” He even lit on the scream and clung there a moment. I felt bad about it, but I think they can find plenty of natural nectar right now anyway.

From June's looking southwest

Another highlight of our stay was a lightning storm on Thursday (May 5). When Mike put the dogs to bed at 10:00, he noted that the lightning was spectacular in the southern sky, and we decided to sit out on the sun porch steps and enjoy the view. To add to the eeriness, a distant light, undoubtedly a plane, appeared to be heading straight for us, then banked to the west, perhaps heading for Lewiston. We went in when it started to rain, but I don’t think that amounted to much.

The farm yard from June's

It’s tick season now. For the first time we’re trying Bravecto for Bess, an oral treatment that lasts three months and should protect her through the season. We used a topical treatment on Nellie.

Lilac bush

Now it’s on to other things for a while. Mike is getting ready for a solo motocaching trip to locate geocaches in the counties of southern California, and I’m organizing things to do here in town while he’s away. My list is long and varied and I won’t accomplish near all of it, but if I don’t make a list, the time will slip by with nothing accomplished. As it is, I know from experience that the time will fly.

Mike always seems to think he has to earn his play time, so he’s been working hard at the home chores. This week he’s weeded, hung a new blind in the kitchen, and repaired the 4-wheel drive in the old Chevy pick-up, as well as preparing for his trip.

The lilacs inside my garden "compound"

Last year I became frustrated with the flimsy, filthy blind on the kitchen window. “Take it down!” I ordered. Well, that was fine until summer came along, and then we discovered how useful that blind was in shutting out the sun’s rays and keeping the house a little cooler. So, now we have a new, heavier blind. It took several hours to install because of detailed adjustments, and then Mike hit the easy button. KW