ANOTHER NATURE HIKE

Wildlife Management Area on the Snake River near Asotin, WA

 Over the past week, we have been exercising three dogs – Bess, Nellie, and our friend Pepper. Bess and Pepper run and play while Nellie explores here and there at her leisure. So, we’ve been hiking in spots where dogs are welcome and we don’t have to worry about traffic. Our favorite is Critchfield Gulch, which is in our neighborhood. But there are other nice places.

Shirtsleeve weather -- finally!

Monday we went to a wildlife area near Chief Timothy Island, but the sky looked threatening and I didn’t take the camera. Pepper is boarded with her veterinarian, and on Tuesday she had her teeth cleaned, so we didn’t take her out. But yesterday was a lovely warm afternoon and we went to the Wildlife Management Area just beyond Asotin on the Snake River. The pictures here were taken there.

Interesting rock formations

Trophy houses with views

I’m not entirely comfortable with these hikes. The trail winds through grass, and it’s tick season. I removed a white one from Nellie’s head yesterday, and Mike felt one crawling on his neck this morning. Mike says he can always feel them, but I have a vivid imagination and feel them crawling whether they’re there or not.

Scenic

As we returned to the parking lot at the wildlife area, a young man pulled in and said that he was planning to fish. Mike asked if he could be successful when the water is so high. He said he had been in the past and would give it a try. 

Yarrow is everywhere

I think Pepper’s people return tonight, so our time of responsibility for her exercise comes to a close. KW

POSSIBLE – JUST NOT PROBABLE

Mike ambles above Critchfield Gulch

“It’s going to be nice on Saturday,” said Mike hopefully on Wednesday as he gazed at his weather app. My heart went out to him because he so looks forward to some real warmth. He hopes every fire he builds in the little stove will be the last one of the season.

Evening rainbow (several days ago)

“It’s going to be nice on Saturday,” Mike reminded me on Thursday. “We’ll see,” I said to myself.

“It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow,” said Mike on Friday. “70 degrees. I’ll grill a pheasant for supper.”

“Okay,” I said, still skeptical. It was 32 degrees again Friday morning and we haven’t seen much sun. It just didn’t seem likely it would turn into spring by the next day.

And it didn’t. Temps in the mid-60s, more clouds than sun, and a little rainy. It’s just too soon to expect consistency.

We’re exercising three dogs for a while. Our friend Pepper is boarded at a facility nearby, so we pick her up and head to a dog park. She and Bess, both five years old, run ahead exuberantly while independent Nellie, now 14, prefers to explore by herself. Today Mike dubbed her the “Ridge Roamer.” I worry because she lags so far behind, sometimes out of sight, but Mike says, “Don’t worry – she’ll be first at the pick-up,” and sure enough – she is!

Nellie

Bess smells something

The real problem with Nellie is that she’s deaf – or nearly so – and doesn’t respond to voice commands. Of course, as in any situation of hearing impairment, you never know what she will hear, so we’re careful what we say in her presence.

Spring cleaning for the Dakota

On today’s walk up Critchfield Gulch, we saw a coyote watching us from the ridge above. It continued to watch us as we were leaving. Sometimes it’s tough to remember that the coyote is my ally in the great rodent war. 

And don't think that because we walked the dogs this morning that they'll be willing to let us off the hook for the afternoon walk. Oh no! Promptly at 2:30 they begin to think about it, and by 2:45 they are insistent.

Yarrow plants

Today I’m planting 15 yarrow plants (root stock) in pots. The next step will be to be plant them on the bank behind the house at the farm. That's the trouble with ordering plants -- they don't come at a convenient time -- but oh! -- I do so hope this works! KW

Yarrow -- copied from Brecks.com

WONDERFUL THINGS

Bess & Nell

The computer tech called promptly at 10:30 this morning as arranged. Working remotely on my Acer, he eventually found that my profile had become corrupt, and it took him several hours to correct the problem. And don’t question me about this because that’s all I know. Now I’m to use the computer and let him know if I have trouble. Yay! I can now play with my new toy, which is pretty much like my old toy – just better.

As brother Chuck observed last night, I haven’t posted much recently, and of course, we all know the reason. The laptop was down, and beyond that, when things aren’t right, the muse goes away.

Bess & Nellie

And yes, it’s food for thought that we seem to be lost without our devices, and when they go away, we’re worse off than before we had them. But, they are wonderful, aren’t they? Even 20 years ago, it you had told me that I would have my own computer and what I’d be able to do with it, I wouldn’t have believed you. When the personal computer concept began to appear in what seems like recent history to me, I couldn’t imagine what I would be able to do for the price of connection to a server. And – it’s both good and bad.

Mild but windy in the 'hood

And as Chris suggested, I, too, wonder if I should go “cold turkey” and get my old life back, but . . . my computer literally makes possible some wonderful things that I would not have without it. I say again – WONDERFUL THINGS! KW



[Formatting is not great here. I'm now using Libre, a free program, instead of Word. I'm not impressed with the paste into Blogger. (I wasn't really impressed even with Word.) Well, I'll get it worked out.]

MOSTLY PICTURES

Looking west over north field from trees midway the lane

While Mike was out cycling the other day, I took the dogs for a walk. I felt a certain uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm on the part of the dogs. It's not unusual for Nellie to hang back, but Bess is usually up for any activity. Perhaps it was a little too hot. Or maybe they thought we should wait for Mike. At any rate, once we reached the top of Plank’s Pitch, they were willing enough for an early return to the house.

 

I had the camera with me and enjoyed vistas that included neatly planted fields and puffy white clouds. 

 

I took this picture from the neighbor's. From this angle, we see the CRP at Plank's, then June's field, and then the north field on the right side of the photo.

 

Despite the heat, the scent of rodent caught Bess' attention, and Nellie joined the search.

 

   

We have a family of seven juvenile American coots living in the pond. We don’t know what happened to the parents, but the youngsters fend for themselves, living on the abundant supply of algae. It’s difficult to get pictures of them through the cattails. It’s very nice to have this activity on the pond. KW