CONTINUED COOL – ER, COLD

Dad [Jack] finished seeding last week and would have been done weeks ago if the weather hadn’t been so bad. As it is, he won’t get to planting before Monday and won’t finish probably till the middle of the month. June [Jack’s twin brother] is still working his ground.

Ina Dobson to her son Vance – June 6, 1933

Friday evening, June 5

It was 45 when we began to stir this morning. 45 on June 7! And it's not much more than 50 this afternoon. Well, we’ve had cold Junes before.

Friday, June 5

I often think of Grandma Ina when we’re at the farmhouse. It was her house first, after all, and she likes to be here. No, she’s not a ghost. She was ready to move on when she left us in 1958, and she doesn’t linger here. She’s simply a figment of my imagination, and I enjoy thinking about her, especially in the evenings. 

Friday, June 5

As daylight wanes, Ina scurries around the house to finish her chores before dark. And the house is dark before it’s dark outside. Of course, she had more chores to make the house comfortable for the evening in winter than in summer. During the warm months, she and Grandpa Jack would  work late into the evening, taking advantage of the long days.

Nevertheless, I thought of Ina Friday evening when dark clouds at 5:00 p.m. made the evening much darker than we would expect at this time of year. We had to turn on lights during supper, a luxury Ina didn’t have. We had a thunderstorm here with some rain.

Mike cleaned a room at the barn today, and Bess thought it must surely be about shooting clay pigeons, one of her favorite activities. She was so excited, so hopeful, that we finally humored her. Mike grabbed a shotgun and I climbed into the loft to throw the pigeons. I just don’t have words to convey Bess' enthusiasm for the sport. KW

CHILLY BUSY DAYS

We hear rumors that it’s been hot in the valley, but it’s on the cool side here at the farm. In fact, early this morning we pulled up a second blanket, and now we have a fire in the fireplace. It would be a good day to bake.

During these last days of spring, the sun will warm us, but it competes with a cool breeze. The high has barely reached 70. In fact, we met up with Farmer Kyle on our afternoon walk the other day, and he expressed his wish for some heat to make things grow, but the forecast for at least the next ten days is for continued cool temps with some rain. 

My peas and spinach are quite happy, though, and my summer squash has poked through the soil even so. The rhubarb plants are healthy, and so are the strawberries. The cherry tree is full of cherries. Finally! The late-season lilacs are coming into bloom while the early ones fade away.

Yesterday I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Bird encouraged their fledglings to fly. They got as far as the fence on the raised bed, and there they sat – three or four young-uns complaining while mom and dad flew in and out. Occasionally one of the “teens” would take off. They appeared big enough to be learning this lesson. I wish them well.

I set out fresh nectar for the hummingbirds when we got here on Tuesday, but they aren’t much interested. They are going to have to do better, or it’s hardly worth the effort. As it is, I divide one cup of nectar between two feeders.

Mike and I have been fairly active – no lounging on the chaise or swinging on the hammock. Mike mowed and trimmed on Tuesday, made a long bike ride on Wednesday, and rode to Grangeville on his XT yesterday. (More about the purpose for his trip later.) I left the Miracle Grow on the back steps last week and it got wet, so in between hanging loads of laundry, I carried a dose of Miracle Grow to raised beds, young trees, and most plants until it was gone. I also planted short rows of leaf lettuce and carrots.

I made a start in the sewing room but met with some discouragement. I found it difficult to pick up where I left off on the doll quilt I was making.

“Then do something else,” said Mike.

“Don’t you think I should finish what I start?” I asked. He said I probably would eventually but for now I should do something I enjoy. I was glad to be let off the hook, so I began cutting out the pieces of the Tea Time Daisy Sundress while also squaring the little quilt blocks and fitting them together. Meanwhile, Mike has started a leather project – a scabbard for Yancey’s hunting knife.

This week we have spotted the occasional deer instead of that group of six or seven. Farmer Kyle said that the deer will nibble the canola while it’s young, which doesn’t really hurt it, but they won’t touch the mature plants. We’ve seen plenty of garter snakes but no rattlers yet.

They sprayed the canola fields yesterday. KW

COOLING DOWN

Clarkston on the left, Lewiston on the right -- hazy due to inversion

At 3:00 a.m. Sunday, the anticipated storm finally hit right here in river city. The little men playing tenpins woke me up. The lightning flashes seemed constant while their bowling balls rolled over our roof and off into the distance. I couldn’t tell who was winning. In an hour's time, it rained .61 inch.

Agricultural land south of Lewiston

I got up and moved into the bathroom, thinking to check on Bess though I had no reason to worry about her. As I looked out the window towards the kennel, I couldn’t see it for the wall of water that was coming down from the roof, a situation I reported to Mike the Maintenance Manager as soon as he was up. He spent a good hour Sunday morning cleaning the gutters and downspouts. “Just think,” he said, “if you hadn’t looked out the window, no telling when I would have found out the downspouts were stopped up.”

Then I guess he was on a maintenance roll because he decided to adjust the refrigerator doors so they close “automatically,” and while he was at it, we cleaned under, over, behind and all sides of the refrigerator. I don’t think he was able to accomplish his original mission, but at least that corner of the house is clean.

Speaking of the problematic refrigerator, we turned it colder for the milk and dairy, and then the produce would freeze. Checking online for a solution, I found the suggestion to insulate the produce drawer. I had insulation from a box of specialty ice cream that family shipped to us, so I cut that to size, and it seems to work well.

A fun cache

It was hot – 95 or so – on Friday and Saturday, and today it might reach 80. Checking those weather apps again, it looks like it’s going to be a cool week. As an old Idaho gal, I know not to put the electric blanket away with the first wave of heat. The temperature can be up and down through June, sometimes longer. I remind myself that it would be well to bake cookies and weed while it’s cool.

The photos here are from a little jaunt into the countryside that the three of us took on Saturday to retrieve a geocache – a magnetic cache at a remote intersection. KW