The crowd was bigger than ever, as was their enthusiasm. And the sun was shining–hallelujah!!!
We spent the afternoon (a) napping, (b) sitting in the sun on the dock and (c) sitting in the shade on the dock.
The Funny Grandson spent all afternoon frolicking in the water with the neighbor boys who were here visiting their grandparents for the long holiday weekend.
Then I grilled burgers and hot dogs. Tradition, right? Pasta salad and baked beans completed the menu. We decided to hold off on the strawberry shortcake until later on.
Note: the strawberry shortcake dessert has been postponed until tonightdue to the consumption of many, many hot dogs and burgers.
Will built a pre-fireworks campfire at sunset. The fireworks were fabulous, as was our view from the dock. Boats and cars honked their horns to say thanks for the show. My favorite night of the year did not disappoint.
Meet our eagle. This spring he has enjoyed perching on trees close to the house and terrorizing the ospreys nesting on the west side of the house.
We’re in the middle of an ongoing ospreys vs. eagle war.
When this picture was taken one recent afternoon, the eagle was making the ospreys absolutely crazy with worry. In fact, starlings and sparrows and robins joined in to shriek their panic to anyone listening. We assume the eagle is after the osprey babies, tasty morsels in a nearby nest.
He refused to be intimidated and sat there waiting for an opportunity that never came. As usual, the ospreys tried to chase him away. He ignored them, but eventually gave up. For the moment. I think he enjoys causing trouble.
Another evening the ospreys and eagle were fishing, soaring in circles over the lake. The eagle dropped his recently caught fish and the osprey wasted no time trying to retrieve it. War ensued and eventually the eagle reclaimed his meal. From what I’ve read, eagles enjoy swooping in on ospreys who have just caught a fish to them drop it. Then the eagle grabs the floating fish and takes off. An easy meal, and called “pirating” by folks who know such things. This time the osprey attempted the maneuver. How they avoided colliding I’ll never know, but there were several close calls.
Thursday night we gathered around our first campfire on the beach and witnessed an epic battle. The eagle once again swooped over the osprey nest and one of the ospreys lost his mind. He went into full “attack mode”, chasing that eagle over our heads at full speed. The eagle rolled over on his back, talons up, ready to defend itself. Screaming, they disappeared into the trees on the eagle’s side of the cove. Long minutes later the osprey zoomed back to his nest.
They continue to fight over fishing rights, but we haven’t seen the eagle perched on one of our trees lately.
Friday afternoon this guy showed up:
The huge heron stood on the neighbor’s dock for at least thirty minutes, maybe longer. He looked perfectly content to gaze out at the lake and was not the least bit bothered by passing boats. This was a first for me, as I’ve never seen one so close.
Otherwise our little cove remains quiet–just us, the birds and the deer–but we hope for the return of neighbors for the 4th of July weekend.
Sometimes you just need hot fudge on your ice cream. The recipe came to me from my friend Sharon, in Massachusetts. It’s always a much-anticipated treat.
Here’s a link to a website that shares the recipe, too:
Banjo Man couldn’t wait to spend the night in the cabin with his sons and grandson. Nothing would stop him, especially not the predicted freezing temps. He had a wood stove, sleeping bags, a freshly made pot of chicken soup and plenty of firewood, so what could go wrong?
Photo by John.
A hail storm????
Photo by Will.Photo by Ben.
For reasons unknown to mankind, Banjo Man chose to sleep in the unheated bunkhouse and the Funny Grandson chose to sleep in the unheated bunkhouse loft. Ben and Will chose to put their cots close to the woodstove.
Photo by Will.
When they arrived home Sunday morning they wanted hot drinks, warm beds and hot showers (not necessarily in that order).
Father’s Day was very, very quiet.
Amber made beans (her specialty), I put together a macaroni and cheese casserole and Ben’s favorite banana cream pudding in a trifle dish. The guys eventually woke up and, recovered from “winter camping”, ate a grilled chicken dinner and played a few rounds of Mexican Train dominoes.
Needless to say, any more camping up at the cabin will happen when the weather finally warms up (although the forecast is still for much cooler than normal days).
The Funny Grandson once again jumped into the frigid waters of Lake Pend Oreille immediately after arriving Tuesday afternoon.
He made some heavy panting noises as he emerged from the water and swam back to the dock. Undeterred, he kept jumping back into the water. The following morning he was back at it, as if it was August and 96 degrees out.
Ah, youth…
He spent time resting in the sun, as you see in the picture, in order to warm up in between leaps into the cold water. Nothing would stop him.
Yesterday Amber and I headed to town for opening day of The Peach Man’s fruit stand. This season will be different, sadly. Apricots, peaches and plums will be in short supply, as the cold spring hit the crops really hard. In other words, I won’t be making apricot jam this summer. We bought several huge bags of Bing cherries, so there might be cherry jam. Amber has volunteered to pit as many cherries as I need to make a batch or two.
I’ve heard a rumor that “the guys” are camping up at the cabin tomorrow night. Banjo Man’s perfect Father’s Day morning–pancakes and bacon in the isolated mountain man cave–is going to come true.
Tomorrow’s weather: a low of 45 and a high of 55. With a 45% chance of rain. This is joyful news, as it means Banjo Man will have a reason to fire up the wood stove.
Amber and I are heading to water aerobics this morning and the guys are heading up to the woods to get firewood and make up their sleeping cots.
Yes, we were in Costco. Banjo Man wanted to have the famous hot dogs for lunch, which we did. It was pretty busy on a Sunday afternoon, but not insanely crowded the way it was before Memorial Day. We had a great time, despite my reservations about my husband’s patience.
But he had a ball. I actually took a picture of the back of the car as he was loading up our purchases, but it no longer exists in my phone. Sigh. Trust me, it was an impressive sight.
It was fun to shop knowing that for the next month we will have plenty of people to eat everything we bought.
Will texted that he was delayed in Denver due to a storm, so off we went to Kohl’s due to a 30% off coupon and Banjo Man’s constant need for new clothes. He has worn his old clothes to death and lately I have been refusing to leave the house with him due to poor wardrobe choices.
These sandals are for Will. I texted him the picture and he picked the brown ones.
Five shirts, one pair of slacks and one pair of sandals later, we were back in the car with lots of time to kill.
“Let’s park over to the side and take naps,” Banjo Man suggested.
“And look like we’ve made a suicide pact? No way,” was my response. So we broke into a container of Costco cherry danish pastries and shared one.
On to the Spokane Valley Mall and Macy’s, where I hope to find comfy shoes. My feet were killing me, but what else is new? Macy’s didn’t have my Easy Spirit clogs, so I staggered to a nearby shoe store and had no luck there, either.
On to the airport, which was what we had been waiting for. The plane was only a little over an hour late, so we collected Will and his suitcase and headed back to the lake (with one quick stop for sandwiches and Jimmy John’s).
Arrived home a little after 9 pm, oh my goodness. We managed to get the freezer/refrigerated stuff into the house and left all the other things to be unloaded today.
Pot roast, hamburger, beans, croissants, olives, salad dressing, coffee, pesto sauce….it goes on and on.
The Funny Grandson arrives tomorrow afternoon. I hope he’s hungry!
Daughter Nancy sent pictures Monday of owls sitting on our Rhode Island patio. They were there for at least an hour, she said, and were not the least bit disturbed by her taking pictures through the window.
I think they miss their tree, the one that fell on our house a few years ago. An owl used to sit on the largest horizontal branch and survey the world for breakfast chipmunks.
Last Wednesday Banjo Man came home from town and told me he’d seen a moose walking down the middle of Highway 200, across from the gas station that used to sell ice cream cones and only a mile or so from Walmart.
Highway 200, though a state road, is only two lanes. And can be busy.
“Are you kidding me?” could be my only response.
“No,” he insisted. “Cars pulled over and slowed down and everyone gave it a chance to decide what it was going to do. I was too busy driving to take a picture. And it ended up standing by a barbed wire fence. I don’t know what happened.”
Oh, if I had been with him we’d know what happened. We would have pulled over and watched. Taken pictures. My shock and awe and commentary would have known no bounds.
“It was just like Northern Exposure,” Banjo Man declared. One of our favorite shows, the opening scene shows a moose strolling down the main street of the small Alaska town.
This fabric is just about the cutest fabric I’ve ever seen. Alpacas with hats? Who knew?
I finished a quilt top yesterday and this was one of the main fabrics, along with bears carrying “Be Kind” signs and smiling sloths hanging from vines. The blocks are big, the sashing ivory and the little animals should make any anxious seven-year old smile.
Yes, the family action around here starts a week from Wednesday with the arrival of the Texas family. My freezer is full, so I can’t wait for people to arrive and start eating.
Alas, the weather is still awful. Retired Mountain Lady informed me that we are in the middle of a “atmospheric river”.
I do not like atmospheric rivers. It has rained all night and this morning the fog has settled over the lake and I can’t see the mountains. I think we’re in for another couple of days of bad weather. Heavy rain, while gray and annoying, also means that our internet goes down completely or slows to a crawl. Therefore no streaming TV shows or doing anything online. As I type this I am using the hotspot on my I-phone, which should have been an easy fix but ended up only working by being plugged into my laptop. Go figure.
Friday Banjo Man said, as he was packing up seventeen little plastic containers of food to take to the cabin for his lunch, “You should go to town and buy fabric so you have something to do. You know, so you don’t go crazy like one of the Border Collies who needs work to do.”
Hmmmmmm…..
Of course I don’t want to go crazy.
So Saturday we went to town and I did just that. I had the bright idea to make little quilts for Will’s second-graders’ story time. This might seem like an insane plan, but at the moment I think it’s great. I have not told Will yet, though I did get approval to make a small quilt for the times when one of his “little guys” needs to take a break. Kids are dealing with a lot of anxiety these days, which makes me sad.
I think quilts will help.
Banjo Man dropped me off at the fabric store on his way to Home Depot and then picked me up an hour later. There was plywood in the car when he returned, but I didn’t ask what it was for. I know it is going up to the cabin, though. I hear rumors of a “camp kitchen” being created.
I had certainly had a good time at the fabric store. I spent too much money. I bought a new pair of large scissors. It was a great sixty minutes, believe me.
Check out the prints for boys:
Pretty cute, huh? I sewed some of this into a quilt top yesterday. I’m collecting easy patterns on Pinterest.
I’ll keep sewing until the sun bursts out from wherever it’s hiding. Maybe Thursday?
First stupid thing: booking an early morning flight out of Austin the day after the concert. I got in bed around 11 PM and had to be up at 4:20 to catch the airport shuttle at 4:40 am.
Why did I willingly put myself on an early flight, you ask? Because it landed in Spokane at 10 AM, giving me plenty of time to drive the two hours back to the lake after…shopping.
(Yes, shopping. What on earth was I thinking???)
Stepping outside of the hotel to the shuttle at 4:40, I was hit by a wall of Texas humidity so thick it took my breath away. Made me dizzy. Sick to my stomach, even. The airport was packed with people, so it took a while to get through security (even with my TSA Pre-check status). By the time I arrived on the other side I was questioning if I was well enough to get on the plane. I lined up to buy water, drinking the water in line even before buying the bottle, and felt better. Bought an overpriced scone. Got on the plane, finished the water, ate the scone and felt a lot better.
Note to self: hydrate.
Damn that Texas humidity.
And damn my stupid decision to fly out of Austin so early. Never again, especially if I’ve had a late night.
Second stupid decision: Armed with a mug of coffee I found my car in Parking Lot C and, triumphant and relieved and delusional, I drove to Total Wine to buy a case of my favorite summer white wine. I panicked at the register when I couldn’t find my car keys in my purse. The very nice Total Wine worker carried my case of wine to the car and there were my car keys, sitting on the console of my unlocked car.
That’s when I realized I needed to pay a little more attention and Respect the Jet Lag.
Oh, I forgot to mention I was wearing a sundress, cardigan and clogs. Everyone else was in winter clothing. The woman next to me on the plane had thick socks and Ugg boots on, plus a down vest. It was raining. And cold. I thought about retrieving a pair of black socks from my suitcase, but beige clogs, black socks and a sundress? Not a good look, especially if you want to appear sane.
Stupid decision #3: going to Costco. AND even worse, going to Costco two days before Memorial Day weekend, something I’d forgotten about due to all of my Texas fun days.
In my defense, I will say that Amber and I had gone to Costco on a Tuesday morning and had had such a good time cruising the aisles, sampling the samples and looking everything. And I mean everything. It was so much fun that I pondered getting a membership and having the same kind of fun in north Idaho while picking up or dropping off family members at the airport.
Costco was a mad house. Truly gridlocked. By the time I got inside and stood in line to join, I was starving. The $1.49 hot dog and drink meal was my only solution to not passing out from hunger and jet lag, so I stood in line once again and eventually retrieved my meal.
Half the hot dog sufficed. I fled the crowded eating area, having shared a table with several other hungry old people. Time to get a cart and hunt down all the bargains.
I couldn’t get to the bargains. I could barely navigate the aisles that I did dare to enter. I grabbed olive oil, steak (still trying to up my iron intake!), cheeses, and a few more things. Then I became totally overwhelmed and ended the whole experience by getting in yet another line and praying for the energy to get out of the store.
Check it out. We have enough dinner napkins to last until August, 2026.
I did manage to drive the 90 minutes home. I stopped for nothing, no drinks, no coffee, no bathroom breaks. Just pedal to the metal all the way to the lake.
Banjo Man was overjoyed to see me and cheerfully unloaded the car without too many comments as to why on earth I decided to join Costco and shop on the way home from a lengthy trip. He pretended to be thrilled with three new bottles of olive oil.
But…the steaks were delicious, as was the blackened salmon and the Japanese dumplings. I think the olive oil passed the salad test.
I am definitely going back when I’m feeling smarter.
is there any more pie? 