MY "STAY-CATION"

August – the great vacation month. Mike is motocaching Utah accompanied by son Yancey. A friend is vacationing with her family on the Oregon coast. And last night Hallie called enroute to northern Idaho to visit friends and take in a concert / festivity in Sandpoint.

I read the made-up word “staycation” online yesterday and loved it. It so describes what I’m doing this week. I’m here in “paradise” staycationing with the dogs, and it’s the best kind of vacation ever.

So, Mike donned his cycle duds, and you can see that Nellie knows what’s happening and doesn’t like it while clueless Bess asks, “Mike's leaving? And that matters -- how?"

The farm is the best place to staycation with the dogs. We are all three much happier here. It’s cooler, easier to walk them, and they like to lounge on the lawn (which we don’t have in town) or go to the pond. I actually have more freedom to pursue my retreat activities than I would in town.

 

We were late leaving the town house yesterday (Friday, Aug. 9). I had a meeting with friends in the morning. And by the way, one of them no longer sews and handed me lovely scraps from her stash. Fun!

I was back home by 12:30, and then it took me two hours to pack and load the pick-up. I was miserable in the 98-degree heat as I pushed and shoved coolers and crates and boxes in the back of the Dakota.

 

Staycationing is not entirely without problems. Seems like some problem is always left over. It had been impressed upon me that my first duty was to check the woodshed to see if we successfully trapped the “monster” that had taken up residence there. No such luck, I thought – and thank goodness!! I really didn’t want to deal with it. My headache went away.

It then took another hour to unload and unpack, but I set right to it. It was 87.5 degrees, and both the dogs and I felt relieved for the cooler temp and a breeze. Then we went for a walk down the lane to the hawthorn trees, and I picked more berries while they patiently explored.

I thought it would storm. I heard distant thunder and the breeze briefly became gusts. After supper Nellie moved off to her house in the woodshed where she feels secure, but Bess was nonchalant. Apparently we were just on the edge of a system and it moved on through. We had a quiet night with the exception of the coyotes, who set up a yodeling session fairly close. Ferocious Bess felt obligated to warn them that they better not come closer, and the coyotes seemed to respond with more yodels. It was a bit unnerving, but I shushed Bess and the coyotes moved on.

About that “monster” in the woodshed – I realized I hadn’t been thorough in checking the traps, and it had to be done. So, first thing this morning, I checked the woodshed again, and long story short, I disposed of a woodrat that has been plaguing us for about a month. (For forensic purposes, photographs were taken. I'm glad I'm not a forensics pathologist.)

Staycationing means maintaining a certain amount of routine. The dogs and I took our early walk out to the mailbox, and on the way back, I picked more “haws” in the lane. I also picked three cups of ripe strawberries from my garden. I’ll see what tomorrow’s pick brings and then decide how to preserve them.

A friend notified me that several fires have burned in this area, so Nellie and I walked back to the canyon rim to check it out. Lots of smoke but I couldn’t see the burned areas. 

Later . . . KW

HOT AND GUMPTIONLESS

That cooler spell was just that – a cooler spell, a suggestion of things to come but not the real thing yet. Now it’s summer again – the hot days and warm nights of August. Anything to be done outside, such as a bike ride or weeding, had best be done before 8:00 a.m. After that, gumption fades.

But – I’ve done some things. Mike said that he could use a bag for his toiletries so that he could pack them more compactly for motorcycle trips. I try to make what he wants so that he knows how much I appreciate the machines. I quickly stitched up a bag out of black cotton (I think it was Halloween fabric) with his brand in orange. And that showed gumption.

This week I assisted at a morning coffee hour, and when I took my crystal pitcher from the shelf, I resolved that I would not put it away again without cleaning the whole shelf. How can items which stay behind a closed door get so dirty? It took a day or two but I finally got the gumption to do the job. I never use the goblets, you know, nor do I want to. They seem so out of place in my life – just taking up space. My mother would be appalled to know that I feel this way.

Still singing the praises of August, we enjoyed a concert on the LCSC campus, a local group called “The Big Newtons” singing songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The campus food service sold lunch at $5.00 a plate. I was impressed when an Asian student handed the cashier a hundred dollar bill. Without blinking an eye, the cashier counted out $95 in change. When I was a student (and it matters little that it was a long time ago), I had very little spending money in my purse.

That contrasted sharply with the experience the evening prior when we attended our community’s annual National Night out against Crime. We bought nutritious hot dogs for our supper, but people manning the booth had no change and were turning away those who couldn’t pay with the exact amount. Luckily we had dollar bills and were served. We attend this event for the interesting exhibits, to watch the goings-on, and -- all right – mostly to pick up freebies that Mike uses for geocache treasures.

“Man it’s hot!” remarks Mike. “It was 30 degrees cooler this morning when I went on my [bike] ride, but I wouldn’t want to be out there now [99 degrees].” He said today’s ride was a real ego-booster for him. As he rode Alpowa Grade on Highway 12, he passed a well-organized cycling tour of 90 or so riders from all over, including eastern states. He felt sorry for those riders, he said. “They were hurting and they hadn’t even got to the hard part.” KW

THE GERMAN SHORTHAIR MIND MELD

Today was another glorious August day, especially at the farm where it was cloudy and cool in the early hours. I was going to bake orange loaf for the P.E.O. summer coffee, but when I realized that Mike had things to do in town and nothing much to do at the farm I suggested we pack and leave.

Remember, we’re participating in the August geocaching “get-one-every-day” challenge, so on the way to town we stopped at the “Ant and Yellowjacket” geological formation and historical marker located where Highway 12 intersects with Highway 95. This cache is hidden in rocks on the levee, and we’ve looked before without success, but because of a new hint Mike thought we could find it. He let the dogs out and the four of us moved to the cache site and then the dogs explored beyond. Meanwhile we found the cache, but the dogs were only gone a minute – honest!

Then I felt it. Nellie was gently nudging my knee with her snout. In the field, I am not Nellie’s person of choice, but she knows that I am more apt to intuit her messages than Mike. I call it the German Shorthair mind-meld, first practiced by Nellie’s predecessor, Nobie, who would stand at the sliding door and stare until I noticed her.

So anyway, because Nellie was tapping me, I knew she was trying to tell me something she thought was important, and since Bess wasn’t with her and was nowhere to be seen, I concluded that Bess had wandered off on her own. I was concerned and said so to Mike.

 

“She’ll come when I call her,” he said.

I explained that Nellie wanted us to know that something had happened and immediate action was in order.

I began walking along the levee in the direction towards which the dogs had gone. Before long I saw a campsite below and a woman (later joined by a man) moving my direction, occasionally beckoning behind her. Yes, here came Bess – prancing along with her ears bouncing up and down. The woman and I communicated enough to establish that Bess was our dog. The woman pointed Bess to the trail and I called her and soon she re-joined us on the levee. We said our “thank you’s” and “good-byes” to the couple below.

This afternoon in town it was 97 degrees, and we couldn't find much gumption. KW

IN PRAISE OF AUGUST

My August posts will sing the praises of this unsung month. From an early age, I’ve felt that August is a step-sister month. It has nothing much to offer by way of celebration – except, of course, my birthday and my childhood pal’s. (Happy birthday, Chris!) She was born early in the month and I at the end, and both of us grew up hearing stories about that hot August of 1949. My brother’s birthday is also in August – and I’ve added many special August dates to the calendar as life went on, including my daughter’s wedding anniversary.

But, aside from personal events, August has no official celebrations – no national holidays and not even an unofficial "fun day," like Halloween or Grandparents’ Day. It’s a vacation month, the back-to-school month, and in our part of the world, it’s harvest. So, it’s play, work, or get ready to work in August – take your pick.

August can be a warm month, or it can be a little on the cool side. The nights can be hot, as in “hot August nights,” or you might need an evening wrap, an extra blanket on your bed, and a sweatshirt in the morning -- you never know. “Always take a sweater,” was my mother’s mantra when we left the house. One thing is certain -- somehow the days begin to feel like fall. Just the fact that the days are shorter makes a difference, but sometimes there’s a cool quality to the air even on a hot day.

August might mean work but also signals nice things. We eat of the garden’s bounty and put up the extra for winter. We bake zucchini bread and make jams and jellies. We wait and watch as the apples and pears ripen. We can buy local corn and melons. We hope we get some tomatoes before Jack Frost arrives.

It’s just the great “get ready” month. Get ready for what? For summer’s last hurrah. For Labor Day weekend. For county fairs, “elderberry fest,” “Octoberfest,” – and then Halloween, Thanksgiving, and yes – even Christmas. The year is moving right along, especially if there are things on your 2013 “to-do” list.

So, to begin the August celebration, Mike is participating in the “31 days of geocaching” challenge sponsored by geocaching.com. On our way to the farm yesterday (August 3), we picked up a cache near Lenore. The views were spectacular. That’s the Clearwater River and Highway 12. Today he rode his dirt bike down the Greer Grade to pick up a cache at Greer.

Last night we watched the deer coming closer and closer to the house from the south. Eventually one took a drink from the pond, and as she and her companion continued to graze, they watched the house closely. I managed to take these pictures before they bounded out of sight.

This afternoon I made my first batch of black hawthorn jelly. “Insipid” is the word my tree book uses to describe “haws,” but other writers had good things to say. I just wanted to try it as part of my foraging effort. We picked a gallon of berries this morning, and then I cooked and strained them for juice. I followed the rest of the jelly-making process, ending with four jars of sealed hawthorn jelly. It’s mild, but I like it.

And here’s one last photo of the day: Hallie and Nick’s garden plot in West Seattle. They spent considerable time weeding this weekend. KW

Motocaching the Top of the Big Sky – Day 5

Super 8 serves a good breakfast at 6:00 am and I was there.  I had a nice cook your own waffle and visited with some of the other guests before loading up.  As mentioned earlier, it had rained during the night so my saddle was wet.  I dried it with a motel towel and it wasn’t too bad.

I headed west and then angled north toward Stanford, the county seat of Judith Basin County.  Before reaching Stanford I stopped at the small community of Hobson to try to find one at a little mini park.  I looked quite a while with no luck and some others before me had had the same experience.  So on to Stanford and the next cache called “Cemetery Gates”.  As I got to Stanford and began navigating toward this cache which was a little north of town I encountered road work and the road was closed.  Now I was getting a little desperate.  My fall back was my iPhone so I got it out and discovered two caches very near the courthouse.  Would you believe I couldn’t find either of those?  It showed another one at the edge of town which was a micro with the hint of “A gray rock”.  It was a kind of cutout of a cowboy over a planter surrounded with rocks of various shades, mostly gray.  I didn’t find that one either.  I don’t know when I’ve had 3 DNF’s in a row.  I went back and got into a discussion with the flagger lady at the closed road which now said “Closed to thru traffic”.  She finally let me through and I found the road wasn’t that bad at all and made it to the cemetery.  The hint was “hook, line and sinker”.  I looked quite a while and was about to give up when I spied a paper clip hanging on the top of a metal fence post.  The micro cache was on the end of a line down in the post.  Boy was I glad to find that one.

I continued north on that same Highway 80 toward Great Falls and Chouteau County.  I didn’t really have any close calls as far as accidents were concerned on this trip but I did have what could have been one on this road.  The country was pretty much rolling prairie until I came to an abrupt valley with an 8% grade.  As I was heading down the grade there was a sign near the bottom reading 25 mph on a sharp right curve.  As a motorcycle rider I like curves so I was pleased but since I didn’t know the road I didn’t take it too aggressively which was a good thing.  Half way through the blind curve the road abruptly turned to gravel.  No warning or anything just about a 100 yard stretch of gravel and then back on pavement.  I guess the motogods were with me because I went through it with no problem.  I encountered another 1 or 2 of these little gravel stretches but they weren’t on curves.

 Chouteau is a rural county and I soon came to the little community of Square Butte and my next cache which was the “Square Butte Jail”.  This was really a neat cache at a tiny isolated jail with a sign giving its history.  The cache was a magnetic key holder located on part of the door but it did take me a little while to find.  I found four caches in this little rural county.  Two more were at places along the highway and another was at a little park in Ft. Benton along a trail under a bridge.

This completed the counties so now my priority was getting home.  At Great Falls I took Highway 200 to Missoula and got there in the early afternoon.  Even though this was my longest day I thoroughly enjoyed motoring down the Lochsa as most motorcyclists do.  By the time I got to Lowell it was really hot.  I stopped at Kamiah for gas and a cold Dr. Pepper and visited with another motorcyclist who had stopped there.  I got back to Clarkston between 5:00 and 6:00 having covered 555 miles.  My GPS read 2,155 miles of which 1 or 2 may have been on foot and maybe 400 in Idaho and the rest in Montana.  The rain and heat were not pleasant on this trip but still it was fun overall and I did accomplish my goal.  Montana is a big state and I still have a good portion of the bottom half to cover which hopefully will be next year.  M/W

. . . AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

 Nick and Hallie arrived from Seattle about 9:30 Friday (July 26) evening. They love to forage for berries and experiment with jams and jellies. In these pictures Hallie and I are picking wild black raspberries (or whatever else they might be called) in the draw north of the house. In some respects it's really less than pleasant to pursue this. The bushes have sharp thorns and we encountered ticks. We also picked berries on Gilbert Grade, including a beautiful roadside stand of blackberries.

Of course, the main reason for the visit at this particular time was so that Hallie (and Nick) could bond with little Bess. Socialization went pretty well until Bess chewed on Hallie's new sandals.

"Gentlemen (and lady), start you engines." Mike showed Hallie and Nick the CRP at June's, and Hallie found a site for her dream house.



Here's the view that appealed to Hallie. That's Central Ridge beyond Little Canyon. And to the right we see the grove behind our farmhouse from the same spot. The left side shows the trees at the pond.

Mike captured this shot of Nellie playing "the pine cone game" with Nick. She loves to jump for those cones but was rather stove up the next day.






We foraged for berries behind the house but didn't find much. (That stand of trees is the west side of the grove.) Looks like we'll have a good crop of elderberries this year. They won't be ripe for some weeks and they are best when it's cooler.

And then -- all good things must come to an end, but we can't be sad about that. It was a good visit. As a result, the cherry tree is enjoying an application of worm castings and the raspberry patch has been expanded and its fencing improved. We picked enough berries to make two batches of jelly -- mixed berry and black raspberry. (Yes, both are seedy.) Plant identification continues to bring new discoveries. This time Nick found a gooseberry bush in the draw.

We're all busy and it's on to the next things. Mike will meet Yancey in Utah for the "motocaching Utah" experience. We look forward to a visit from brother Chuck and Joanne later in the month. And as you know, it's time to think about those holiday projects. KW