STAYCATION DAY 4 -- FRIDAY, MAY 12

93 on Wednesday, 83 on Thursday, and today? – 50! It rained in the night and then commenced to rain heavily when I got the dogs up. Our weather center registered .28 inch of rainfall for the day.

I promised that today I would share something besides making doll clothes, but first, just let me say that I finished this cute “panel” outfit for Hazel. Isn’t it interesting that this “Sunday best”-type dress includes a matching apron? If dolls were little girls, my little girl would change into jeans and a t-shirt instead of wearing a skinny apron over her good dress. I sorta think the designer ended up with extra space on the fabric and said, “I know! We'll add a skinny apron!" Oh! And I got another staycation gift – a set of fat eighths and an item that fits over a wide-mouth jar and converts it to a pin cushion and tool caddy.

Clearwater Paper Mill across from boat launch

I knew Clint planned to go to the farm when he got off work today in order to pick up the 4-wheeler, so I invited myself along. I really had no personal agenda except to get out of the house and talk to someone who would actually respond in human-speak. (Dogs don’t “talk” in words, you know.) To save time, I agreed to meet Clint at a boat launch where I could leave the car. Shortly after 3:30 he arrived and we were on our way.

Friday at the farm

I advised Clint of construction on Hwy 12 and the potential for several waits. He said he’d prefer that route anyway. We traveled along fine until a point between the old bridge site at Spalding and the roadside vegetable stand when we suddenly came up to stopped traffic. We remained stopped for at least 20 minutes. We couldn’t see the beginning of the line, and it continued to back up behind us – all types of vehicles (as you would expect), including RVs leaving town for the weekend. It was baffling that batches of cars came through traveling the opposite direction (west), while eastbound traffic never moved. It was not until I read the paper this morning that I understood the reason. An accident occurred at 1:40 which blocked the eastbound lane for more than two hours. I did vaguely wonder because I saw two flatbed trucks carrying wrecked vehicles, two state police vehicles, and a sheriff’s vehicle in westbound traffic. At any rate, we got the picture: it would be a slow trip to Orofino, so when we could, Clint turned around and we went back to the Hwy 95 turn-off. The rest of our trip passed pleasantly.

 

All the fields looked so green as we passed through the agricultural country of the Camas Prairie. Despite intermittent rain, it was a beautiful evening with banks of clouds in the distance. As we approached the farm, the familiar scene was dressed in spring finery -- blossoming trees (apple, black hawthorn, serviceberry, plum, chokecherry, the pear tree, etc.) against the green backdrop. And of course, those rapeseed fields are turning a deep, vibrant yellow. Four deer cavorted at the edge of the north field.

The view to the north

We didn’t stay long. It was cold, and we agreed that there had been a lot of rain. I tried to avoid walking in the wet grass as much as possible and still my feet got sopping wet. While Clint loaded the 4-wheeler, I went to the sewing room to retrieve some doll clothes panels I had stored there. The trip back to town – Hwy 95 again – was uneventful. We arrived at the boat launch about 7:20. Bess and Nellie, who had stayed in their kennel, were so happy to see me when I arrived at the house.

Day 4 Staycation at the farm

As I went off to bed, it was 43 degrees. I turned on the electric blanket. KW