These long days are short on free time!

Goodness, time flies! Blogging is like riding my horse; it gets relegated to the end of the day and usually squeezed out altogether. I have a bunch to catch up on....

The new friend who went with me to BSG came over with her husband Sunday night; we spun together while our husbands talked wood-turning (her husband is Rick's turning mentor). She worked on mastering her Jenkins spindle; I pulled out my old friend Miss Maple, my HansenCrafts miniSpinner, and finally finished plying the Jacob I spun during last year's TdF. I figured if I was going to have any chance of spinning up 8 oz. of alpaca fluff during this year's TdF, Miss Maple would have to join my team! Meanwhile, my new horn spindle is amassing a fat 'getting to know you' turtle; we'll start afresh for TdF.

Gatsby made it all the way back to Kauai, the (is)land of his birth, on Monday. We kept him as a favor to an old friend, my first after moving to Oregon almost 29 years ago, and through that process I got better acquainted with my friend's husband and daughter (Gatsby's 'girl'). I got photos when he was picked up Sunday afternoon, and my friend sent me photos after he arrived home (where he got a new bed, a new ball – and a bath).

The flower show is picking up a bit around here. A special geranium that I put in my urn planter out front was getting regularly savaged by deer, so I bought a calibrachoa to tuck in the pot, too. Two of my three other daylily varieties are joining Stella D'Oro, and the lavender is starting purple up.

I took a walk with a co-worker on Monday, and noticed these HUGE magnolia(?) blooms on trees just outside our office. The trees themselves aren't very attractive and the flowers aren't positioned to draw attention, which is apparently why they have escaped my notice until now.

When we decided to not go to Cowboy Campmeeting this year, Rick suggested a backpacking trip. I demurred, much to his displeasure, but his mom agreed to go so he's recovered most of his good humor. He and Brian have been getting ready, which always includes buying more stuff, including a one-man tent so Brian could have his own space. I will happily hold down the fort alone, even though that includes making Texas sheet cake for 75 on Sunday morning. 😳

Last night Rick needed to make one more run to REI for backpacking supplies and asked me to go with him. I warned him that it might cost him, and sure enough, I found a pair of Teva/Ahnu walking/hiking shoes that feel like heaven. Afterwards we tried the nearby Cafe Yumm for supper; Rick said it was "okay" but I really liked the food.

All vegetarian!

And finally, this Independence Day, I urge you to go to Retired Knitter's blog and read the FACTS she shared about immigration. Despite what many loud, angry voices want you to believe, the vast majority of would-be immigrants today come here for the same reasons that most immigrants have always come to our shores – including long before they were "our" shores – for freedom from violence, religious persecution, starvation, displacement. That includes your relatives and mine, folks. Unless you are 100% Native American, like Gatsby's "dad" David, pictured above, you don't the right to say 'we' have exclusive rights to this land. (And I love the quote ending in "what the hell is it you DO for a living?!?")

That's it for now from . . .

What a way to start July

June ended in lovely fashion. On Friday a friend and I went to Black Sheep Gathering, something I haven't done regularly in recent years. I had signed up to take a Ply-on-the-Fly (spinning and Navajo plying as you go on a Jenkins Turkish spindle) class there from Wanda Jenkins, but she was suffering greatly from a failed tooth and was squeezed in by the oral surgeon for an emergency extraction that morning. I was happy for her, and my friend and I had a wonderful time driving down and back together and wandering through the vendors' hall.

Since I couldn't support the Jenkins by taking Wanda's class, supporting them through a purchase only seemed right. 😇 After getting an update on Wanda from Ed, my eyes fell on two horn spindles. Oooh, that's one model I didn't have but have lusted over! One of the two sang to me, so I picked it up with a bit of sample fluff and gave it a whirl. Yep, it was mine. I continued spinning the sample fiber while following my friend around as she bought yarn, fiber, and a sumptuous, squishy woven alpaca/silk rug, thinking I really needed to buy some commemorative fiber in which to dress my new spindle. I was thinking something colorful, but ended up falling in love with some alpaca cloud at the booth where my friend bought her rug, and came away with half a pound! (I guess I know what I'm spinning for Tour de Fleece!)

The next day we went to church at Champoeg State Park, where our church was holding its annual camp-out. The weather was perfect, the program was edifying, and my spindle kept my hands busy and my body still so my brain could better focus on the message.

That peace was challenged when we got home. While we were out, work started again on the lot to our north – the one that was logged almost three years ago and then left to grow noxious weeds (we heard the new owner ran out of money after the logging and clearing). The ground on the west end had been bladed to clear rocks, and a giant backhoe was tearing out blackberries and scooping up boulders right outside our north-facing windows. The clanging, banging noises drowned out the sounds of any distressed birds whose nests and nestlings were being destroyed, but I couldn't help but think about them. What a rotten time of year to tear out habitat!

This morning at 7:38, the operator was back at it. Oh well, can't sit and stew about the inevitable; I headed out to do chores and pick strawberries. But first, a quick breakfast of boysenberries and black, red and golden raspberries – okay, yes, I had a few strawberries, too.

I'm trying to convince Rick to let me plant some Western red cedar saplings I've had for awhile along our north fenceline beside our house to eventually provide a screen, but so far he's opposed. I don't understand his objection; we already have some Jack pines along the upper part of that fence line.

Backhoe visible through the Jack pines beside the house

Furthermore, he's borrowed an auger to dig the holes for fence posts around our upper pasture; he could dig holes for the trees! Maybe he'll soften, and maybe I'll plant faster-growing Douglasfirs instead....

And finally, this first day of July is our last day with Gatsby. His people pick him up within the hour, and tomorrow he flies home to Hawaii. I wonder if he'll miss us; I know I'll miss him. He's been a good boy and a source of entertainment for over four months. I'll have to busy myself cleaning his nose smudges off the living room windows and French doors and picking up all the toys he scatters around – and love on my boys who may wonder at the change.

That's it for now from . . .

My insurance plan

The meteorologists have been predicting significant rain this weekend, as in more rain than we had in the entire month of May. In other words, we need it! Just in case the forecast needed a little help, I watered the garden last night and this morning. It worked; a gentle rain started mid-afternoon!  ;-)

It progressed from a few tiny raindrops on my first Ketchup & Mustard rosebud of the year to drenched daylilies.

After the horses were out in it awhile, I decided to bring them in before the footing got slick.

It is cool enough this evening for Jackson to enjoy some lap time – but he wouldn't tolerate being packed around like Brian did Gatsby (note the ever-present toy in his mouth). Gatsby needs to get re-aclimated to rain; he's headed back to Kauai in less than a month!

Singin' in the rain at . . .

Entering the home stretch

Road trip project

Last weekend we drove to Spokane to see my dad. SO much happened in two short days. First he reconciled with me, then, at the insistent face-to-face urging of a friend, he called his brother and his wife to reconcile with them, too. We ate and talked and cleaned. The house is a mess, and so is he; my very particular father is particular no longer. Dad's decline in just the month since Rick and Brian were there is dramatic; we don't see him lasting more than two or three months, and the oncology nurse confirmed that.

The view from Dad's house

We met his financial guardian; we met the nurse practitioner at his oncologist's office. Dad signed permission for Rick and me to talk to his medical professionals, a POLST form, and designated Rick and me as his medical decision-makers when he no longer can. After we left, his wife flew over for a short visit, and his brother arrives today for a short visit. Important loose ends are now tidied up – with God, with family, and regarding medical details; it was more than we could have hoped for (oh we of little faith!).

A diversionary dart game with Brian in front of the house

There will be a messy avalanche of stuff to deal with after he dies, but I'm choosing not to think much about that because "sufficient to the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34).

So glad to get back home to my best buddy

Gatsby is the comic sidekick; laughter is good medicine

Thanks for listening. I try to keep this primarily a farm/sheep blog, but as the Yarn Harlot points out, The Blog is community. The older I get, the more I keep between me and God, but outside of that I probably share more of my heart and thoughts with you than I do with anyone else. Now; (mostly) back to our regularly scheduled programming!

The road to Bentley's house

That's it for the family report from . . .