Monday, July 07, 2014

Daylilies, dahlias and dust

We got back yesterday afternoon from Cowboy Campmeeting. Rick and Brian arrived home first (with truck, camper and horse trailer), and were met with a sweltering house. By the time my folks and I arrived with the car (we took the scenic route home, so my parents could see Multnomah Falls and Vista House on Crown Point while traveling the Historic Columbia River Highway), Rick had cranked up the AC and the house was comfortable. As I said in my last post, July=summer here, and roads and pastures have turned dry and dusty. But daylilies and dahlias greeted us out front, and on the deck, my roses are blooming!

Today is being spent unloading the camper, watering the garden, doing laundry, and keeping everyone busy. My folks don't want to just sit around, they want JOBS to do; Brian wants to just sit around (or play), but he HAS jobs to do. Heh; you can tell how I was raised. ;-)

I haven't had a chance to download my photos from the trip yet; there are a LOT. Photos of people, horses, wildflowers, Mt. Adams, Brian's baptism, trail rides, musicians and speakers in the big tent. There was a trail challenge competition on Thursday in which I rode my horse; I was so pleased with how well he did! (Details will be on my horse blog . . . eventually.)

At home the hens stepped up production and the sheep drank so much that our chore person came out three times a day a couple times to make sure they didn't go dry. Bramble (my freemartin ewe with chronic vaginitis) was acting 'off,' so Rick had our chore person start her on treatment, which we are continuing. This morning I decided to separate the two ram lambs, Barbados and Benny, so Annabelle can dry off and Sarai can taper back her production by half. I sure wish we had gotten Benny wethered before hot and dusty fly season....

And since I know you are all so interested in the changes in our neighborhood, I took a photo of the winery construction before and after our trip:

I also took a photo as I sat in my car and waited Wednesday morning, trying to get to the airport on time to pick up my parents and drive on to Mt. Adams:

Needless to say, waiting while construction materials were off-loaded made me late and made my parents wait. This seems to be happening with increasing frequency. Isn't it lovely that the county didn't deem it necessary to require this commercial endeavor to widen the road? Just think of all those stretch limos carrying wine-tasters I'll get to wait on this fall. Yay.

That's it for now from crotchety . . .


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry :(

Florida Farm Girl said...

Oh, honey, I'd be more than crochety!! I'd be livid. Maybe some of those pictures ought to be delivered to the planning department along with loud complaints. That kind of thing really ticks me off.

On another note, sounds like you had a wonderful trip and for that I'm glad. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Mama Pea said...

I'm betting there is a law in your county that a commercial construction cannot block "private" home dwellers from access to and from their homes. But it would, no doubt, earn you ill will to take the complaint to the officials. Hope thing settle down and aren't a permanent inconvenience after all the construction is completed.

Your flowers, as usual, are a lovely sight. Thanks for sharing.

Susan said...

Oy. That is a real pain in the keester. I'm with Mama Pea - look into the local laws. You can be firm and yet friendly, but it is your HOME after all. Your roses are so beautiful, Michelle - what type is the one with varigated petals? I don't think I've ever seen one! Cannot wait to see your pictures (with descriptions) of your weekend doings.

Michelle said...

Glad it's not just me being unreasonable then! Like Mama Pea said, though, making a fuss would cause ill will, and we plan to live here for a long time and want to keep things copacetic.

Susan, I'm pretty sure the variegated rose is Dark Dragon. I didn't keep the emailed shipping notice from Michigan Bulb company when my mom sent those roses to me.

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great summer trip...looking forward to more pictures.

The winery is really coming along. Sorry about the roadblocks... but hopefully it won't last much longer.

It suddenly turned summer here too, with temps in the 90's. Whew...it's a warm one!!

Mary Ann said...

What a pain for you! I once had friends who lived on a road accessed through a rail crossing. They had to wait frequently for trains... standing trains, to be moved forward, closer to the yards. It was a good break for prayer! :-)