WINTER IN SEPTEMBER?

A dark and dreary morning here in the town 'hood

Firewood stacked at the back door -- check
Wood laid in the wood stove -- check
Switch day to winter pajamas for Mike -- check (and not a moment too soon)
Winter bedding in place -- check
Winter outerwear available -- check

Old Man Winter is coming down from Canada, and we're watching to see what he'll do when he gets here. He could arrive as early as this morning. Mike took his bike ride early in order to beat the rain. I wished for my mittens when I walked Bess. 

It's a good thing that I'm changing the bed today so that Mike can put his summer pajamas in the laundry and get out warmer tops and bottoms.

Fall colors appearing

Ken and Mike have been bird-hunting, participating in the Washington "old man's" pheasant season which follows the youth hunts. Fish and Game plants birds for young hunters and then allows the "old men" to hunt those planted areas in the following week. He came back with a scrawny pheasant or two. The plants aren't like the wild birds.

I have an assembly line of t-shirts for dolls in my sewing room. I began by embroidering the fronts, wasting half a day before I figured out that the bobbin was in backwards. Now I'm stitching the shirts together. Then I'll make skirts and pants -- and maybe more shirts. 

I've been distracted lately by Facebook groups begging me to use a certain designer's patterns. I finally realized that such participation interferes with my own "creative" leading. I have my own ideas for Hazel as well as meeting her desires, and that's enough for now. I don't hear from Elizabeth any more. I suspect she's resting under a bed somewhere. (Hazel is younger than Elizabeth.)

 

Almost modest

Another young friend has 11 1/2-inch fashion dolls (like Barbie), which naturally set me to thinking about making Barbie clothes, perhaps crocheted. I've enjoyed the search for patterns (as if I don't already have a bunch). I admit it -- I'm affirmed through the search and download process. I'm also good at collecting and categorizing. I was reminded that occasionally patterns were available in the old McCall's Needlework magazines. "Hey! I have those magazines," I said to myself, so I spent a delightful morning researching magazines for crocheted doll clothes. Knitting patterns were more plentiful than crochet "back in the day," but I found about four volumes with patterns for crocheted Barbie clothes, which are now on file in my notebook. KW

IT'S OFFICIAL -- FIRST DAY OF FALL

Fall color appears in some early varieties

Wasn't it just Labor Day? And I thought we would have at least three more weeks of ripening tomatoes and summer squash. Well, it didn't happen, and it isn't going to happen. I still have oodles of little green tomatoes on the vine, and just a few developing summer squash, but as the days grow shorter, the garden takes the hint. Production stops.

And the other thing is that the first of October is within sight.

Despite afternoons that have been surprisingly warm, summer has had her last hurrah. Mike put away the table fan, and I folded up the coverlet and brought out the electric blanket. Mike's going to want the bed warmed one of these nights, and I don't want to be connecting the blanket when I'm tired. (Gramma Kathy is not pleasant when tired.) I tossed my summer pajamas into the laundry and dug out a warmer pair, inviting Mike to do the same. However, his conservative nature will not allow him to make such a change until we have clean sheets.


I had trouble updating my iPod the other night. Yes, ever behind in technology, I still use the iPod Nano that I've loved for eleven years. I know, I know -- I could do the same thing with my phone, but I prefer my iPod. I like that it doesn't do anything but play the programming I have selected, and I also like the way the programs are categorized. I listen to podcasts when I can't sleep, or perhaps I should say that podcasts put me to sleep. I also like that my iPod is not going to disturb me or my partner by ringing or dinging. So, I was sad when my iPod appeared to fail, I thought of calling my tech, daughter Hallie, but I'm careful about reaching out to her. I know she would drop everything to help me, but she's now a student with homework. Besides, the effort to fix the iPod might well have been a waste of time, so I just poked along, searching this and that on my laptop. Eventually I restarted the factory reset process -- and that worked. Tada! I solved my own problem -- always a good feeling.

This morning I met brother Chuck and Joanne at the Costco parking lot to say goodbye. They have been visiting sister Joni and me over the last ten days. It's always nice to get together with those with whom we share the bond of heritage. KW

LATE SUMMER / EARLY AUTUMN

Wow! I think autumn is here. Sunday was a glorious late summer day here at the farmhouse, but it became windy in the afternoon. I hurried along with the laundry, washing linens and clothes. It's decidedly cooler. Mike lit the pilot on the wall furnace and laid a fire in the fireplace.

We drove here Sunday morning, and I know you're imagining us traveling smoothly along in that bright red Jeep, but no - the Jeep is sitting, sedate and pristine, in the garage. Mike wants the license plates and paperwork in order before we drive it, he says. Okay.

So, we came along in the old Dakota as per usual, arriving before 9:30. "The horse has been here," said Mike in disgust before we even parked. Noting the amount of natural stuff in the yard, he exclaimed that he would have to get the wheelbarrow. And then we saw him. Blaze the Horse was ambling slowly across the north field -- down on the flat, as they used to say -- heading westerly. Mike hopped on the 4-wheeler and took out after him, but the cagey old fella eluded him by running through the scrub. By the time Mike circled around and back behind the house, Blaze had vanished.

Monday morning, we saw Blaze again between the barn and the pond. Of course, he bolted when he saw us see him, but Mike was able to catch up with him on the 4-wheeler. Again he was elusive, running where our 4-wheeler doesn't go. Mike found another horse near the canyon, though, a white mare, and she is emaciated and in bad shape.

Our calls to the outfitter to whom we think these horses belong have not been returned.

Last summer (2018) I let our compost cook, and when Hallie came in May, she helped me empty the bin. My point is that

we started this season with an empty compost bin that is now three-fourths full. Next summer it will be a good fertilizer, whether or not we call it compost.

Today company is coming -- ready or not. KW

[I took these photos at 7:15 p.m. last night (Sept. 16). How quickly the days are becoming shorter! Looking closely at the second photo, perhaps you can see that the solar lights on the fence are already on.]

RED CAR PEOPLE

Sometimes the muse goes away, We've been into serious town time this week -- appointments, decision-making, company a-comin'. Put it all together and the muse becomes tongue-tied. But -- she's back!

We have a new vehicle -- a 2019 bright red Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk. I was put in mind of the time we bought our red mini-van. The kids were in high school. "We aren't red car people," one of them exclaimed. I had to agree with him, but that's the way it was. I always say that in the end, there are no choices.You get what you get within a limited range.

And during the process of buying the Jeep, I concluded that I really hate buying a car. Honestly, if I didn't have Mike, I'd have to take one of my children. Those sales people don't make it easy. Mike visited the dealership four times over three days. I went with him only once so that I could test drive, but I waited quietly through a lot of negotiation, and that's when I decided Mike could have the whole thing. In the end, we bought the one on the lot because that's where the deal was. We would have liked a white one with black trim, and we would also have liked the easy-open tailgate, but they said they couldn't find these options at regional dealers. So -- red it is, and we'll just have to open the tailgate as we have for all these years.


Basically, I'm pleased, though. I have felt for several years that we really needed a rugged SUV for our to-and-from the farm travel. I thought packing the Dakota was unnecessarily challenging. I could say our age has something to do with my opinion, but in the 20 years we've packed the Dakota, I thought it was a hard way to go.




Gone away is the 2006 Dodge Magnum, traded in the deal. We had it a long time and enjoyed it, but it's old now and our needs have changed. Mike considered selling it on his own but decided he didn't want the hassle. We'll keep the Dakota a while longer.

Oh! And the microwave died -- just an inexpensive counter model. We use the microwave a lot -- morning, noon, and at night Mike warms his cherry pit pillow in it. We knew it was failing. It rattled. It screamed. And for the last several days of its life, the turntable commenced to go around when we opened the door. Then it just quit responding. Can't say it didn't warn us. Well, you just can't warm a cherry pit pillow if you don't have a microwave, so we were off immediately to buy its replacement. Guess what color. RED! KW

FARMERS' HOURS

You should see Earle rise early, work and manage here. He insisted on harrowing the bean ground and using the big cultivator, etc., till it only took 4 1/2 days to lay by the 62 acres of beans . . . . In former years, it would have taken a crew of 6 to 8 men two or three weeks at big wages to do it. Ina Dobson to son Vance, July 30, 1933

The harvesters worked at the neighbor's until about 10:00 last night. At 10:00 this morning they came over the hill and began working in June's field.

When I saw the harvesting operation at the neighbor's Tuesday afternoon, my immediate thought was that I should invite them to lunch, but that's probably the last thing they want. Today's crew comes to work carrying their food into the air conditioned cab of the combine, and I don't think they stop to eat, being highly motivated just to keep moving and finish the job.

Vance Dobson, 1961

But I thought of the old harvest days and how working for a farmer included a big meal at noon -- roast beef or chicken, plenty of potatoes, several vegetables, home-baked bread, and pie for dessert. I can just see Ina rising at 5:00 a.m. to start meal prep on her wood cook stove. In Grandma's day, harvest was physical labor for men and boys. As the process has become more and more mechanized, the job is mostly sedentary. 

Elmer and Myrtle Bell, 1963

And then in the '50s and '60s, when Grandma Ina was gone, my mother took over preparing and serving the noon meal, but things had changed. It was always a hot meal -- no deli sandwiches here -- and she cooked it in her modern kitchen in town and carried it to the farmhouse. No longer were many men required. The crew consisted of my dad, a family helper or two, and perhaps Elmer and Myrtle Bell when Elmer was hired to harvest our wheat. Myrtle told Mother that they were so tired at the end of the day that they just had a bowl of ice cream and went to bed. That noon meal was important.

We probably fed Elmer and Myrtle about three days -- and my! -- Elmer's combine looked huge, but today's machinery would dwarf it. The harvest crew doesn't come to work early, but they will work late, and those big lights moving in the field are a sight to see! We came in at night once when the harvesters were working, and I really thought aliens had landed in the field.

And as the machinery gets bigger and better, the process goes faster and faster. Grandma Ina would marvel that what once took 6 to 8 men two to three weeks now takes just a few  hours. 

We often miss harvest, so I feel privileged to be here today to see this awesome sight. Today's harvesters don't think it's awesome, but Ina does. KW

A buck stands on June's hill, watching the machinery below.

ANIMAL TALES

One or two of you have intimated that perhaps we should work harder to find just who could be missing a horse. We also know that if livestock goes missing, owners often aren't in a hurry to correct the situation. So much the better for the budget if they eat elsewhere.

Mike contacted one horse owner in the canyon who said the horse wasn't his, and we believe him. So, yesterday afternoon, Mike climbed onto his XT and approached Little Canyon by road. He found a second horse operation, and the hired hand said they keep a lot of horses, not just their own, and allowed that one or two might be missing. It's unclear if anything will come of this contact.

We didn't see Blaze the Horse yesterday. That doesn't mean he isn't here -- just that we didn't see him. It's usually early morning or evening when we catch sight of him, but after lunch here he showed up at the barn. He moved off into the south field with Mike calling, "Come back." Mike says he thinks Blaze would come to him if it weren't for Bess, who has never cared for horses. Nellie, on the other hand, saw horses as friends. Anyway, Blaze moved away into the south field and kept going. He's been eating too much fruit, and we could all benefit by a change in his diet.



Last night, Mike went upstairs to shower after supper and called down for me to see the doe and her fawn under the pear tree. I took the camera and crept into the downstairs bathroom. They both saw me immediately -- whether by sight or by scent. (I expect I do have a scent of some sort.) The doe was eating the pears while the fawn stood back near the grass where it was nearly camouflaged. Knowing I was there, the doe commenced to stamp the ground, which I took to mean that she really wanted pears for supper. Meanwhile, Bess stood in the hallway whining to go out, and when I opened the kitchen door for her, the doe whistled -- yes, whistled -- for her offspring, and off they ran behind the grove. I think she was a young doe, but she was doing her best for her baby. KW

SUMMER ENDS -- MOVING ON

Harvest at the neighbor's

As one season ends, another begins. As the unofficial end of summer is signaled, the holiday season unofficially begins. "Holiday" means autumn, harvest, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the grand culmination -- Christmas and New Year's. When my children were young, I didn't dare celebrate early because they didn't understand, but in retirement, I'm free to make it what I like. It's a wonderful season that comes on gradually, and that's the beauty of it.

Before we left on Friday, I took down the hummingbird feeders and put them away. It was an odd hummingbird summer anyway. In May, our delicious nectar was in demand, but suddenly the hummers disappeared with the exception of a few demanding diehards. I continued to provide nectar, but then last week they, too, were gone.


Coming back to the farm on Labor Day, we discovered that something had happened in our driveway. It looked as if a piece of equipment had turned around and dug a few ruts right behind where we park. After pondering it for a while, Mike raked it out. We honestly don't know what happened there. Kids on a joy ride? Farm equipment? Aliens? Nothing we can think of seems likely. 


No sign of the horse as we drove in, but we had horse sign in the yard. And then as I glanced to the south out Hallie's bedroom window after my shower last evening, there he was sauntering through the grain toward the pond and disappearing behind a hill. When we got up this morning, he was in the yard on the north side of the house. Unless we spook him, he moves slowly. Clearly, he is right at home now. He has a white blaze, so Mike calls him "Blaze." 

Smoke fills Little CAnyon

So, we're back at the  farm, AND it felt so good to be reunited with my laptop mouse. (I bet you never thought I'd say that I was glad to see a mouse!) In this adventure of leaving things behind, this time I failed to pack my mouse, but Mighty Mike came to the rescue, digging out our old Dell mouse. It was cumbersome dealing with the cord, but I was happy to have it.

I visited my raised beds and picked a handful of cherry tomatoes -- delicious with our salad. I also picked three summer squash. This year I planted heirloom seeds, and while I love the concept, the plants have not been prolific and the squash itself is not large. Gardening is always one big experiment, it seems to me. So many factors influence it. But -- next year I'll rotate my plants and buy regular seeds.

The grain appears ready now. Hark! What's that I hear. Yes! They're harvesting at the neighbor's place. I expect they'll be here in a day or two. I was going to dust, but I think I'll put it off. Yay! KW 

SEPTEMBER -- AND THE SCHEDULE CHANGES

Livingstone, MT, August 8, 1926
Dear Girls:
We are anxious to get home. Please have plenty of vegetables cooked for our first meal, and a big cake, canned or fresh fruit. If handy, chicken.
Love, Momma
(A hungry Ina is returning home after a visit to Yellowstone.)

It was chilly at the farm on Thursday, and in the evening I turned the electric blanket on low to warm the bed, but Friday would be warmer -- and even hot here in town. We took a very enthusiastic Bess to the beach Friday evening. Retrieving a ball lobbed into the water is just the thing on a hot day.

Last week I wondered what I could do to increase production from my raised beds, but it finally occurred to me that we're at the end of the season. I do hope I might have a few more summer squash and that the many existing green cherry tomatoes will ripen on the vine, but gardening at the farm isn't worth a lot of effort now. Regardless of temperature, once the days are noticeably shorter -- and they are noticeably shorter -- the garden gets the message that winter is coming. 

And now it's the first of September, and we experience an abrupt schedule change. College football has begun, and next week the pro-season begins. The dove season opened this morning and Mike went out to hunt, but as he expected, he didn't see a single dove (except maybe those on the neighbor's roof). Often when we have that little chilly spell at the end of August the doves disappear -- at least for a while. Anyway, they have a tendency to hang out where it isn't legal to hunt. Very savvy birds -- just as savvy as the deer.

Despite the heat, I broke down and baked a batch of cookies yesterday and banana bread this morning. KW