THE PHANTOM HORSE

The sun brightens the fields while a storm plays in the distance

We arrived at the farmhouse at 9:45 a.m. yesterday (Wednesday, Aug. 28). It was lovely -- 72 degrees with a fresh breeze, and even though I knew it would be a hot day, I was lulled into complacency and left windows open into the afternoon. It did turn hot -- into the 90s -- but typical of fall, it came on slowly and temps dropped quickly as evening approached. Today is much cooler, and we watched a storm to the south. 

The smoke from field burning

Mike and I had dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Orofino last night. Guess we're eating like elders now because we brought half of the order home for tonight's supper. We stretched out in our recliners to watch a little TV, but at 9:00 I looked over at Mike and caught him dozing. He allowed that it had been a taxing day. Besides the organizational effort of getting here, he also mudded the wall in the bathroom and made other repairs. "Let's just go to bed," I said. We had two hours of peaceful sleep before Bess, confined to her woodshed doghouse, commenced to bark. Mike went out and discovered the phantom horse in the yard. This was repeated at 4:30. Mike said he was able to get within 20 feet of the horse before he moved off.

Taken through two window panes

At 5:30 a.m., I found the horse grazing on the other side of my compound. He then moved on up the south side of the yard, stopping to graze under the poplar tree. Eventually, he moved to the edge of the field behind the grove, and I went out the sun room door with the camera. He didn't seem to notice me until I started back into the house. Then we stared at each other a long moment before he turned and sauntered westward into the field. 

On the other side of the grove

Just think, if we really had a horse, I wouldn't be relaying all of this. It wouldn't even be interesting. Maybe it isn't interesting anyway.

Well, it's probably time to put the hummingbird feeders away. Their mortal enemies, the yellow jackets, are here in force. I still see a few hummers, but they barely make a dent in the nectar. It's hardly worth the sugar. KW

ANOTHER FARMHOUSE REPAIR

The days all blur together. I guess I should make notes. On the other hand, what does it matter? It matters nothing in the long run.

Friday morning as we began to wake up, Mike commented that winter came overnight. Our light thermal blanket wasn't enough, and fortunately I had left another at the foot of the bed. It was 52 degrees that morning. Does it signal the big switch to fall? Yes. The shorter days and longer shadows are here to stay. I have to turn on a light now as I prepare our supper. Chilly mornings and evenings are typical as summer swings into autumn in the intermountain northwest, and we're having those now. It's just hard to believe that the summer vacation season is over. I'm preparing my autumn / Halloween display. 



Well, I'll "come clean" and tell you about the latest water debacle. As I said previously, I found the upstairs toilet sitting in a pool of water, which we cleaned up. Later in the day, I noticed damage to the ceiling and wall  in the bathroom downstairs. After the mess we went through last year, we were initially in shock. Neither one of us wants any sort of repeat. So, Mike began to work on the drywall and we set up fans, etc. We also cleaned out the upper cupboard in the downstairs bathroom, which doubles as a utility room. I was every-so-grateful I had thrown away those useless jars because I had room to move some things to the back cupboard. Our favorite drywaller encouraged Mike to repair the existing drywall himself, saying he would help if that fails. So, yesterday we shopped Home Depot for the needed supplies. We'll see how it goes.

Mike went out to scout for doves yesterday evening and didn't find any -- except the one in our backyard. Last year doves were abundant, but when that cool spell hits in August, they will disappear before the season opens. Mike wonders if a second flight will come in and if so, when. KW
 

EARLY MORNING VISITORS

Evenings are lovely as the grain reflects the setting sun

Well, let's see. I'm just going to write this post here in Blogger and see what happens.

We drove to the farm early Monday morning (Aug. 19). As we drove in, we noticed the harvesting crew at work on the neighboring property. Our grain (hard white wheat, by the way) isn't fully ripe yet. We saw no sign of horse and no rodent activity. I watered the gardens and picked a summer squash and three tomatoes.

I slept fitfully Monday night. A cold breeze developed in the wee hours of the morning, and our lightweight blanket wasn't enough to warm Mike's knees. Later I heard a snorting sound, like an animal clearing his nostrils, and in the distance I heard coyote yodeling.



I finally got up at 5:30 (it's Tuesday morning now) and crept downstairs to begin my day. Entering the downstairs bathroom, I discovered a white-tail buck devouring pears right off the tree. I watched him a long time. You know, if they rear up on their hind legs and stretch out their necks, they can reach a long way into a fruit tree. Disheartening! Well, I finally decided I wasn't going to let him get away with it, and of course, when I opened the sun room door, he was off at a lope.

Still on Tuesday, Mike cycled into Craigmont, taking extra safety precautions because of the grain trucks he knew he would meet on the road. Of course, the best precaution would have been not to go, but that's too much to ask. Trust me -- I know this. He left at 8:00 and was back just after noon, and I think he really enjoyed the outing.

While he was gone, I visited the black hawthorn tree in the lane for more berries (haws). I invited Bess to accompany me, but she declined. Nellie would have gone with me and stayed with me until I came back but not Bess. A "Nellie" Bess is not! And when I got back to the farmhouse, Bess did not get a pig ear.

Anyway, as I walked down our drive on my way to pick haws, I noticed horse sign near Mike's hammock. He is now complaining that the horse has made his favorite spot smell like a barnyard.

And then as I passed the dormer bathroom this morning, I noticed water on the floor around the toilet. The last thing I want to see is water on the floor! Yes, the toilet is leaking. I grabbed towels and a bucket, and when Mike got up, he assessed the problem as a dry gasket. He was thinking of going to Orofino for a new one, but I said we have other toilets and I can only use one at a time. He can pick up a new gasket next trip to town.

I've been making time to sew -- just some simple, contemporary outfits for "Hazel," which I'm not ready to show. KW

[Okay -- I'm going to push "publish," and we'll see if this looks anything like my draft.]

OF HORSES AND JELLY

I was awake in the wee hours of the morning (Saturday, Aug. 17), and I thought I heard something – ka-lump, ka-lump, ka-lump, kalump, ka-lump – you know, like a horse taking a few steps. (Not that I know much about horses.) Looking out the window, I didn’t see anything, but at 5:30, when I approached the kitchen for my hot chocolate, once again I spied the horse through the dining room window. I grabbed the camera and took his picture, then quietly alerted Mike to his presence. He crept downstairs and out the kitchen door, but the horse bolted in the same manner as before, running behind the woodshed and through the grove to the field above.

I’ve been busy in my farmhouse kitchen. On Thursday I thawed some serviceberry juice and made jelly. On Friday, Mike and Bess made an early hike out west to the canyon edge to survey the elderberry bushes. He found plenty of berries, some bushes better than others. Then the three of us walked down the lane to the black hawthorn trees and picked “haws.” However, when Bess saw that we weren’t moving along, she returned to the house. Nellie would have enjoyed just being with us and exploring the area, but not Bess.

Returning to the house, I resolved to be methodical about this jelly-making process. I got out my kitchen scales and weighed our berries – 3 pounds. It said to cook one pound of berries in one cup of water, so I added 3 cups of water to 3 pounds of crushed haws, but I had to keep adding water in order to make the mixture thin enough to drain. In the end I had five cups of juice, and it was still rather thick.

I’m not really very patient when it comes to making juice. My mother now, she would hang that fruit in her jelly bag and let it drip overnight. I suppose the old-time rationale was that those last drips are best, but I figure if I have enough juice, why not get on with it?

The recipe called for 3 ½ cups of haw juice and ½ cup lemon juice. As luck would have it, I had these huge lemons on hand. I easily squeezed ½ cup juice from 1 ½ lemons. And to that, I added 4 ½ cups sugar. That was the basic recipe. It turned out great. At least, we liked it. The haws are quite mild, but the lemon is a nice touch. I still have 1 ½ cups juice, so I think I’ll pick more haws this next week and make another batch of jelly.

Saturday, Mike met several other cyclists in Kooskia, and they rode a circuitous 60-mile route through Grangeville and back to Kooskia. While he was gone, I invited Bess to walk with me to the mailbox. She reluctantly agreed and accompanied me to the bottom of the lane, but at the black hawthorn trees, she approached me, nestled her head against my knee as if to make apologies, and then she ran – RAN! – back to the farmhouse. Nellie would have accompanied me to the mailbox. KW


[Please forgive the odd formatting. I'm trying to find a new word processor.]

2nd of Two Motocaching Trips of 2019

Son Clint and I recently finished the second of our two planned motocaching

trips of the summer. On this three day trip we picked up geocaches in Idaho, Montana and Oregon. We left Clint’s place in Lewiston shortly after 6:30 am Friday. It was cloudy and threatening rain so I had my rain gear on when I left. We headed east up Highway 12 and stopped in Kamiah for gas. We had no rain up to that point but it soon began. It wasn’t bad but enough to keep our speed in check. I have traveled up the Lochsa so many times that there aren’t any caches along that route that I haven’t already found so we didn’t stop for a cache until Montana.

Cache at very top

Near the top

Success

Our first endeavor was one called “Hippy Music Fest” a little west of Lolo which has little to do with the cache other than the beginning point was at a large open area with a stage near the highway. The cache was only about 100 horizontal yards from where we parked but maybe 200 feet or so in vertical distance. The first three pictures will give you some idea. Not only was it very steep but the poor footing was exacerbated by the rain. We eventuality made it to the very top and looked quite a while before Clint found it. This cache had been placed 10 years ago and had not been found in over two years. It was easy to see why. Going back down was as bad as going up.

We continued to Lolo where we stopped for gas and ate lunch. I had lined up quite a few caches along Highway 93 but we stopped for only four and didn’t find two of those. One was supposed to be a 5 gallon container near the Lost Trail Pass Rest Area and I’m sure it was gone or we would have found it. I’m pretty bad sometimes but not that bad. And Clint certainly isn’t.

We had reservations at the Super 8 in Salmon and it was very nice. We hiked about ¾ mile down town to try to find some Mexican food. We eventuality settled for a Mexican fast food place. Mine was fairly good but certainly not what I would call Mexican. Just before we started to hike back a downpour ensued. It finally let up somewhat and we made our way back from awning to awning.

Thermal Hot Springs

Sagebrush find

We had a nice breakfast at the Super 8 and proceeded south down Highway 93 to Challis. This is a fun ride along the Salmon River. A little south of Challis we turned east on Highway 21 to Stanley. We continued south on Hwy 21 picking up a few caches along the way. One was at a thermal hot springs where there was a crowd of people. The sun was shinning and it was warming up so I decided to take off my rain pants. As I was leaning against my bike trying to get the pants over my boots the bike rolled back a bit and down it went. It wasn’t even on pavement so I told Clint it didn’t hurt anything to which he answered, except your dignity. I told him I didn’t have any to hurt.

Not the Waldorf

This is a great motorcycle road with lots of tight curves. We passed through Idaho City and began descending into the Boise valley. This was the warmest part of our trip but it was only in the mid to upper 80’s. We took a route through Boise south of the interstate mostly on Victory and Amity roads taking us to Nampa.

Our stay in Nampa was at the Downtown Inn right downtown as the name states. It was an old unkempt dumpy looking place but it wasn’t all bad. It was clean, everything worked and the help was friendly and accommodating. After settling in we rode over to visit son Milo. His roommate was out for the weekend so we ordered pizza and had a good visit.

Rodentville

We had a decent breakfast the next morning at the motel and were on the road by 7:30. We rode the interstate to the Fruitland exit and proceeded north to Cambridge on Highway 95 picking up one cache along the way. Then we took Highway 71 west which was new territory for me. It was a nice motorcycle road with lots of turns and pleasant somewhat open scenery. It looked like the beginning of chukar country. At the summit we stopped for a cache in an old abandoned cabin which was part of a cabin series. You could not see the floor for all the animal droppings. The cache was supposed to have been in a coffee can but all we found was the container and lid. I suspect the rodents had gotten into it and made off with or eaten the contents.

We began a long descent down to the river and across and eventuality to Oxbow dam. Idaho Power has a campground there which was about as nice as any I’ve seen. Clint had been there for some training when he worked for Idaho Power. They had placed one of a series of twelve caches there. It was an ammo box chained to a tree. We took a nice break there at a picnic table in the shade.

Clint has it

Next we resumed our ride on nothing short of a world class motorcycle road. There were so many twists, turns and ups and downs that you literally had a workout by the time you got to Joseph, OR. All this was on a narrow but smooth road in thick forest. I was surprised than I hadn’t heard about this road from some of my friends in our riders group.

We picked up a couple more caches a few miles from Joseph and then one at a Fish and Game office in town. It was in a long cylindrical container representing fish eggs placed in a box full of rocks like where salmon would lay their eggs. It had received over 30 Favorite points from previous geocachers.

I’ll only briefly mention my leaving Enterprise in the wrong direction heading to a cache in Lostine that we hadn’t found on our previous OR trip. After noticing that Clint wasn’t following I turned around and went back. Like I said, I have no dignity so I just took it in stride.

The rest of our trip was familiar territory north and down Buford Grade and up Rattlesnake Grade. We got to Clarkston before 3:00 pm having traveled over 900 miles. We did more motoring and less geocaching on this trip finding only 16 with 5 more that we didn’t find. It was a great trip and the rain failed to dampen our spirits. M/W

FALL NIPS IN

Pre-harvest moon (Harvest moon is Sept. 13.)

I thought maybe I was the only one feeling this, but Chris also observed that autumn has “nipped in.” We’re loving it! Summer to autumn is my favorite seasonal change. As the days grow shorter, the shadows grow long in the afternoon and evening. The sun is still as warm as summer, but mornings and evenings are cool. In the country, a kind of expectation seems to hang in the air as the grain silently ripens.

Mike suggested we begin to use the Magnum for our back and forthing. The all-wheel drive is good on the grade. It’s also easier to load, and our things – and Bess – are inside, out of the dust and heat. I drove it to the farm yesterday while Mike came along on his XT.

We had been away from the farm for almost a week. Cooler temps and the plant nannies saved my gardens. I picked four yellow crook-necked squash and two zucchini, some of which I will saute for supper. I was dismayed that the tomatoes are so slow to ripen, but as I watered, I spied a bit of red peeking out from under the plant. I picked at least a dozen ripe cherry tomatoes, some of them quite large, and they tasted so good! It looks as if I might have to wait awhile for more garden bounty, though.

During our absence, the horse came to call, leaving his cards in the yard. Mike collected those into the compost bin. That’s the best thing about having the horse around. We found more rodent activity in the lower part of the yard. Seems like they started in the grove and have gradually migrated closer to the barn. The yellow jackets are here and giving the hummingbirds – and Bess – fits. I’m kinda surprised that the hummers are still here.

Yesterday Mike built a new door for the woodshed. Ken came today to pick up some of our lifetime supply of firewood, and while he was here, he helped Mike hang the new door. 

My dad took this picture at Plank’s Pitch in 1957. On this morning’s walk, I tried for the same view. His has more personality than mine. KW

STAYCATION CLOSES

It’s a lovely day – 78 degrees with a cool breeze. Rain is predicted, but it might not happen right here. And – it DOES feel like fall. It even looks like fall.

My tendency is to want to organize new projects during staycation. I can spread out and focus better without the inevitable interruptions. But often this just results in another unfinished project, so with this staycation I decided to finish what I already had going, including this doll dress.

 

Maryellen models “Scrap-Happy Hootenanny,” a pattern from Doll Dress Boutique by Erin Hentzel. The skirt is made of 2 ½-inch squares from a “mini charm pack.” I often purchase charm packs (5-inch squares) or mini charm packs when they are on sale. These are samplers of the coordinated designs in a specific line of quilting fabric. They don’t cost much, and it’s a day-brightener when the postman delivers the package.

The lace on the bottom of the skirt is from my mother’s stash of trims, left over from a bedspread she made about 1930. I still have yards and yards of it.

I also finished this crocheted shopping bag. I’ve had the cotton yarn for many years. I think it was a kit that came as a bonus with a yarn order, and I always meant to make it, but I decided I didn’t like the pattern. I found this pattern online and used it as a guideline to do my own thing. I don’t know how practical it would be for groceries, but it might be serviceable to carry purchases from JoAnn’s.

And now, staycation draws to a close. Mike and Clint won’t be late getting in, I’m sure. The road is long and winding from the Boise area, but with an early start, they could be home early afternoon. I’ve sorted the laundry, but I’m waiting for Mike’s contributions before I start washing. KW