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.]