YET ANOTHER SHORT STAYCATION

Yes, all right. I got it wrong. My prediction that autumn had arrived with cooler temps and no more heat-related alerts was totally wrong. In the Valley, afternoon temps this past week soared into the high 80s or even the 90s. I had to get my summer pajamas and shorts back out and leave the blanket folded at the foot of the bed. And this weekend, the weather service alerted us to the fire danger. But I really do think that it will be cooler this next week. We’ll see.

Bess and I are together again while Mike is off on another adventure. Bess mopes, and I don’t say I like it, but I make use of the “alone” time to spread my projects out all over the house. I will have to clear away the clutter before Mike gets home so that he has a place to sit.

I have had two Daisy Kingdom Christmas border prints in my stash for 25 years. I bought them to make dresses for granddaughter Annie, who is now 28. I really wanted to make those dresses, too, but when it came right down to it, I realized I couldn’t overcome the difficulties. My sewing time was limited, and Annie lived a thousand miles away. Still, I love that fabric, and when we downsized 20 years ago, I retained it.

fussy cuts -- apron bib and pockets

So, yesterday I cut a bibbed apron with a full skirt out of that fabric. I did some fussy cutting (cutting specific designs from the fabric as decorative elements for the apron), which isn’t optimum use of the fabric, but I figure its value has depreciated anyway. Even so, I think I have enough fabric left over to make another apron. And that’s just from the first fabric.

And I crocheted on the latest scrap afghan, did some reading, went to Walmart, had phone conversations with family members, etc., etc., etc. Tomorrow: clear the clutter and fix a nutritious supper complete with an apple / pear / blueberry pie. KW 

HAPPY FALL

Get out your flannel PJs. Turn on the electric blanket. Fall is here and with it the autumnal temps – cool mornings and warm afternoons. Gone are the excessive heat and smoke warnings, and now we have a respite before we’re alerted to freezes and excessive cold.

Just another week and October will be here and we will segue into Halloween, then Thanksgiving and on to Christmas and New Years. For me, it will have its downside as we work through our first year without Milo, but we will weather through. We always do. We must!

The garden here at the farm is still “viable,” to use Mike’s word. I picked 17 tomatoes and 8 zucchini following a week’s absence and two more zucchini today. Some of the zucchini went into the compost bin. I don’t know how much grated zucchini I need to store in the freezer. On the other hand, perhaps there won’t be so many game birds this year and the zucchini will keep us from starving. (LOL)

Times are changing. It’s just inevitable. Sadly, Mike’s hunting partner had to have his dog put down. Besides losing his pet, this is a dilemma because he wants to keep hunting, but his own age is a factor. He’s been searching for a settled, trained older dog with a few good hunting years. It’s a nice idea, but no such dog has stepped forward to serve.

At 11, Bess is still an active, happy hunter, but Mike says when she gives it up, he will, too, and adds, “If not sooner.” If he had successful hunts, it would make a difference, but good places to hunt are scarce and growing scarcer, along with the game birds.

Here at the farm, we see quail, doves, Hungarian partridge, pigeons, chukars, and the occasional pheasant – just not in profusion. And as I always say, they aren’t stupid. They hear a few shots, and they are gone. At least, that’s the way it seems. It’s probably just the time of year.

While Mike was hunting on Saturday, he came upon better elderberries than he found last week, so he picked another six cups or so and I made more juice. Sunday I made jelly – four batches: black hawthorn berry; elderberry; a wild berry mix of haw, elder, and serviceberry; and elderberry / apple. I have 18 jelly jars in all plus partials for immediate consumption. And I’m tired, but I kept at it because once I had organized all the paraphernalia, I just wanted to keep going and get finished. KW

PROJECT MUSINGS

Cheerful sunflowers on the bank

“Start searching for a new project today,” messaged one of my favorite project retailers. That’s one thing I don’t need to do. We’re in town this week, so it’s an opportunity to clean and reorganize my sewing room, an activity that always brings me face to face with my many ideas and works in progress. (Do I sound like a broken record?) Well, it can be discouraging, but I’ve concluded that at this point in my life, it’s the process that matters, not the finish. Maybe I want to see how a pattern lays out, or on a given day, maybe I just want to cut into fabric. But if the project doesn’t continue to inspire, I give myself permission to let it go.

Last year I made a scrap afghan – gray with colored stripes in the wattle stitch. The bright colors pop against the gray, and a family member admired it several times, so I’m making one for him. (Shhhh – It’s a surprise.) It’s repetitive work, perhaps even boring, but I love it because I can just pick it up anytime and add a row or two. It’s such a relief not to have to read a pattern.

Through the magic of video, we attended court in Ada County today for the arraignment of Milo’s cellmate. Hallie went in person. As I predicted, he did not enter a plea. This will be a slow process, and it doesn’t matter. Life goes on. 

Mopey Bess

Autumn is upon us, and now it’s really time to get with the plan for sure. The cooler temps are invigorating. I note that Bess is energized, and so am I. Speaking of Bess, she refused to lick my cereal bowl this morning. “What’s wrong, Bess,” I inquired. “She’s moping because she isn’t going hunting today,” responded Mike on her behalf. Oh yeah – I forgot that she mopes. KW

A RECLUSIVE MUSE

Sometimes the muse just goes away. Fortunately, Mike’s travels have given him something to say, which relieved my muse during a testy week. And it’s not over. This next week, Milo’s cellmate has a court appearance to enter his plea – IF it happens. We know all too well that these things are often postponed. And we are fortunate that we don’t have to go. It doesn’t really matter about that guy, you know. I’m not vindictive toward him. He’s in prison, and he will stay in prison. It’s the system that’s at fault, and we have joined with others to support change.

Anyway, we went to the farm in the pick-up on Monday (Sept. 9) and stayed until Thursday. On Tuesday, we loaded the red fir that Mike had cut the previous week and then topped off the load with pine from our stockpile in the barn. Mike is glad to have some red fir to add to his firewood mix.

I finished the white “afghan stitch” afghan except for the embroidery. I laundered it, and now I will put it away so that I can enjoy more seasonal projects during the wonderful “-ber” months. KW

IDAHO BACK COUNTRY GEOCACHING

 

After picking up a few caches in the Mt. Idaho area I decided I'd like to try to get the back country caches farther south and east of Slate Creek. Most of my geocaching is done by motorcycle (motocaching) but on pavement as I am far from an accomplished off-pavement rider. Nevertheless, with the help of my son, Clint, and friend, Jim, both of whom are accomplished off-pavement riders I was eager to give it a try. I left the farm 50 miles north of Grangeville at 7:00 am and Clint left Lewiston even earlier trucking his bike to Grangeville to meet Jim, a retired Forest Service employee who knows that back country very well.

"Slate Point Lookout" was our first cache in the area. Although it was a very challenging ride for me somehow I made it up without falling and learned a bit in the process. Beautiful scenery although somewhat limited by smoke today. This one was well done and we had no trouble finding it. 

"Ruins of the Nut Basin Forest Fire Lookout" was next on our list.  This one was a real disappointment. The three of us searched for a half hour with no success. Based on previous logs I'm pretty certain we were looking where it should have been. However, it was a beautiful location.

Slate Point Lookout

The one we didn't find

We next traveled to the Florence cemetery which is about all that is left of the wild west mining town.  The cache is called "Florence, Oh What A Gal" and is located at the cemetery.  I had heard of Florence over the years but never made it up there. Very interesting history and the cemetery had just been restored with nice wooden markers.

Jim takes in the view at Nut Basin LO

Clint and I look over the cemetery

Our helpers on the grandpa-jack cache

The "Centennial ATV Trail" was our next one. There is no way I would have found this one without Jim's help. We traveled several obscure roads not even on my GPS.  I located the cache with no problem although it was under a fir, not a pine tree as the description read.

Now we traveled much farther east over to the Gospel Hump area looking for the "grandpa-jack" cache.  We looked and looked for this one with no luck. There was a father and two sons camped there on an archery elk hunt and they helped as well. Finally we gave up and proceed up to our next cache. On the way back the boys flagged us down and had located the cache on the other side of the road from where the coordinates stated. Not only that, but the hint was totally wrong. The cache is now located in an old stump just off the side of the road and I posted the new coordinates.

Clint and I at the Upper Gospel Overlook

Our last one for the day was the "Upper Gospel Lake Overlook".  It was quite a ride to get to this one and a fantastic view to boot. It was a nice placement with accurate coordinates. After finding the cache we traveled farther up the road to get some water from a spring that Jim knew about. 

It was after 7:00 pm by the time I got back to the farm having ridden 185 miles, more than 50 on rough gravel and dirt roads.  M/W

UPDATE: MILO WARNOCK WRONGFUL DEATH

Why don't they use THIS photo?

James M. Johnson has been charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence in the homicide of our son Milo Warnock. It's just another step in a long process, and it undoubtedly means more waiting. 

Read the article which appeared in today's Lewiston Tribune here. (Click on "here.")

SUMMER WINDS DOWN

Today, Sept. 2 -- smoke, clouds, rain

 It was another few days of “excessive heat” in the Valley, so Mike and I escaped to the farm where it was 10 degrees cooler. However, it takes the day a while to warm up now. It’s mostly just a hot afternoon. And today – Labor Day – it’s quite cool. And it’s so smokey!!! It’s so smokey that we can’t tell what kind of day it is, though it’s so dark and dull that we assume it must be cloudy. I have no specific info on the fires, but they can’t be all that far away, judging from the smoke.

Elderberry Bush, Aug. 20

While Mike was riding his bicycle last week (Aug. 20), Bess and I hiked behind the farmhouse to examine the elderberry bushes. Some bushes had no berries at all, and those that had berries were far from ripe. I vowed to keep an eye on them because last year I said they wouldn’t be ripe until October, and when October came, there were no berries.

So, yesterday (Sept. 1), I went again to look at the bushes, and to my surprise, the clumps of berries I had noticed before were dry and dropping. Just touching a clump made the berries drop. Ten to 15 years ago, we were picking elderberries in October and making jelly. We called it Elderberry Fest. So, no Elderberry Fest this year, and perhaps never again for us, but thanks to Mike, we will have haw fest. He picked more than three pints two weeks ago, which I cooked into 3 cups of juice. These berries were plumper than the prior picking and made juice more readily.

Picking haws (black hawthorn berries) isn’t easy. The branches have long thorns, and the trees grow in awkward places. Mike said he was picking in the deer’s bedroom and he hoped they appreciate the berries he dropped.

The thing about the haws is that they aren’t tasty – sometimes described as insipid. I add a good bit of lemon juice, which at least gives it some tang. They have a lot of natural pectin, and when I make the jelly, I’m not going to add any. Wish me luck.

I was ready to take the hummingbird feeders down last week when one lone hummingbird came up to the window and asked for more nectar, so I refilled both of them. That was a mistake. I saw the little fellow once more, and then he disappeared. We saved the nectar to use in the wasp traps, so at least there’s that.

Harvest of the spring wheat to the north of us has begun. We only caught a glimpse of the combine once, but we know it’s there. We can hear it. KW

Central Ridge