STAYCATION 2020 -- DAY 1

We thought that because it was hot in town, Bess and I would be better off staycating at the farm. So, after Mike left at 6:00 a.m., I took Bess for a walk and then began to pack our stuff. It seemed to take a long time. I wasn’t ready to leave until 8:30. Mike had suggested I avoid construction and go through Kendrick and Cavendish to Orofino. “That’s the long way around,” I said, and it was! It took me nearly two hours to get to the farm! Construction or not, I’ll go back by the river road. After all, the windshield is already cracked.

As we arrived here, I immediately noticed that it was hot and windy. It was 85 in the shade, so I had no way to cool the house, which was 80. By afternoon, it was 98 on the kitchen porch (shade) and 104 at the barn (sun). I felt for poor Bess and briefly considered going back to town, but it should be cooler tomorrow.

Bess immediately took to the shade of the maple tree and watched me unpack the car. I didn’t blame her, but I could have used some help. Once I had taken care of the food, I watered the raised beds, which fared well in the heat this past week under the care of the plant nannies. I see three zucchini and as many crooknecks. I also picked a few nice-sized strawberries.

I could hear the hummingbirds, so I made nectar, and a couple of them came as soon as the feeders were filled.

I decided that I might be more inclined to sew if I brought the machine downstairs. I wished I’d had that idea last week when Mike was here to help me, but I managed even though carrying a table down the stairs was easier said than done.

Mid-afternoon, Bess insisted on a constitutional. It was too hot to walk in the sun, so we went around the pond. I heard an oddly insistent whistling sound when we got to the apple tree, so I crept to the edge of the field and just caught sight of a doe disappearing into the canola along one of the many deer trails.

And so, Bess and I had supper at suppertime – a little early maybe, but that’s okay when you’re staycating. And then, at 7:00, she looked me in the eye and told me that it was not acceptable to skip the afternoon walk. (Mike probably put her up to that.) So, I put my shoes back on and down the lane we went but only as far as Plank’s driveway. We startled two deer from under the big apple tree in the bend of the road, and on the way back, I spied a rattlesnake stretched out near the top of the lane. I was watchful because this is just the kind of day when one would see a rattler. Happily, Bess was on the opposite side of the road and didn’t see it. At my presence, the snake rattled and coiled, but I gave it wide berth and joined Bess at the house.