Shove Off!

We launched the SS Rolinco this week and headed south to Lewis and Clark Trail state park near Dayton WA.  Roni Jo and Alicia were still home and were so looking forward to the trip.  Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jo joined us as well and we had a wonderful time.

We all used the time to relax, and read, or work on projects.  We had terrific meals, and did a little touring.  Dayton is close by, and a darling little town.  Walla Walla is only 20 miles away, and home to many wineries.

Here are a few photos of our three day cruise!

The SS Rolinco, leaving Rolinco Rd.

Arrived at the camp ground, waiting for dinner to cook!

Grandma and grandpa drove up and set up, just in time for dinner.

It's always fun to have a bouquet of the local flora on the table.

Reynald grilling pork chops for dinner.

Oh man, they were soooooooo good!

I made a table cloth to keep in the motor home, and it was just perfect for covering the camp picnic table for our meals.

Baxter was on guard duty the entire time!

Roni and her book!

This is a series she read in high school which she re-visited for this trip!

Grandma had a cross stitch project that she was working on.

Alicia was working on knitting a sweater.  There was a darling yarn shop in Dayton that we just had to check out!

Reynald reading the new way, with his kindle instead of a paper back like Roni!

Grandpa did a fair amount of kindle reading as well, but right now, he's just enjoying the day!

I brought along a stitching project.  This is a monthly embroidery piece that is my current "carry project".  That means it stays in a carry bag to take in the car or the SS Rolinco!

We saw a sign for Strawberry-Rhubarb pie in Dayton.

Alicia went in and bought a piece for Reynald.  When asked if it was as good as Rolinco Road pie, he correctly answered, "not even close".  He'll be running for public office soon!

More amazing food!  This was our pot cooking meal, plus corn from the garden, dinner rolls and a nice glass of wine.

I had to snap this fast because Reynald inhaled this meal!

One morning we played the farming game for a couple hours.  The girls love this game!

This is one of the wineries that we visited and did a tasting.  

It's an old school building that has been renovated to house the L'Ecole winery.  It's absolutely charming.

We tasted 7 wines and came home with four!

Not sure if Baxter would flunk out of school here or not.  The horses across the street were terribly distracting to him!

Also stopped here to sample some wines.  This is Waterbrook.  Beautiful grounds, though I would have to do a little more weeding than they do.   The wine was good, but not as good as L'Ecole, in my opinion.  

It was a very hot day, 100 degrees, but it was cool and refreshing at the Pioneer Park in Walla Walla.

Many trees in this park are over 100 years old.

Roni Jo found a "sitting tree".  

Grandma and grandpa and Roni Jo and Alicia posing for a photo at the "sitting tree".

Reynald wanted to show how big around some of these trees are!

Here's the other half!

This tree will need to grow a few more years!!!

Baxter was obsessed with the squirrels at the park.  He tried his best to climb up the trees after them!  Here's Reynald giving him a boost!

Pasture Project

I have had a desire to spruce up the pasture for a couple years, but just haven't found the time to do so.  I had bare spots that needed to be re-seeded, and I wanted to do something to keep the water wells around the trees from washing out every spring.

This summer, when I've had extra hands around, seemed like the perfect time to take on this project.

My first idea was to build a dry stream bed through the draw.  Reynald immediately put the brakes on that, saying that it would just fill with mud and dirt during spring run off.

Next plan......just ring the trees that wash, with sturdy rocks, which is what we ended up doing.  I think it looks really nice.  Still would like to move the swing set that we had at the other place, to the pasture, and I think we will do that later in the fall.

Here's what it looks like now.   We have over seeded some sections and are trying hard to keep it wet so that the grass will grow.  I noticed some seedlings sprouting yesterday when I was moving the sprinkler!   Some help from Mother Nature on the "keeping it wet" part would be nice!!!!!

This is our version of recycle.  Over the years, Reynald and I have picked rocks up in the fields and piled them in a few different spots.  This is one cache!  

I hauled the first two loads with the pick up.  Roni hauled the rest with the loader tractor.

In addition to putting rock barriers around some of the trees, I wanted to build a dam of sorts around the culvert.  I dug out around the culvert, in preparation for the rock.

This is the start of the ring around the maple tree.  My goal with this tree was to build a retaining wall so that when I hand water, more of the water will stay around the tree instead of running down the hill.

More rocks around the maple tree.  

The finished ring around the maple tree.  

And the finished dam around the culvert.

Another view.  I tried to use fairly big rocks, so that they would not wash.  This is about as much as I care to lift!

Here's a stronger, younger body to help!  Roni and Baxter!!!

The finished view.  You can see the bare spots that we are trying to fill in with newly seeded grass.

This is the view from the other end.  Baxter is never far away!

This front tree will take the brunt of the water wash, so I made this ring a little higher than the rest.  I may have gotten a little carried away, but it still looks nice.  

My forever job!

I am spraying morning glory, aka field bind weed, AGAIN!!!!  This is a task that I have been doing for 30 years and will be doing for at least another 30.  This plant will survive a nuclear explosion AND the zombie apocalypse.

So, for several days now, I have been going out in the mornings and spraying for 4 or 5 hours, attempting to at least limit the spread of this plant.   It's a hot, dirty, dusty job, especially this year with the drought.  But, I do believe I am making some progress after all these years.  At least that thought is what keeps me going!

The plants that are blooming are easy to see.  The tricky part is finding the ones that aren't.  So, I drive through the field, every 60 feet, following the tractor tracks that were made when we fertilized in June.  It takes a long time to cover the acres, but I have found that if I get impatient, I miss too many plants.  It's mindless work, really, but also allows you lots of "think" time.  I pretty much have all the answers to life's questions, figured out!

Here's what is looks like......

The faithful Gator.  It is such a work horse.  

The flowers are kind of pretty, announcing their presence with these bright white blossoms that you can see from a long ways away.  

Here's a closer look at the flower.  

This is a typical patch, though they can be much bigger or smaller.  

This is a plant that doesn't have a blossom and is much harder to see when you are driving along with the Gator.

This is what I look like after 4 hours on the job!

Next stop, a nice, cleansing shower!  I can only take being this dirty for so long......

Gooley Girls Gathering

This past week my cousins from Portland came for a farm visit,  my cousin Margaret and her son Anthony, and my cousin Therese and her husband Dave.  Margaret's husband Rob is just about home after serving for the past year in North Africa with the Army.  He is a Navy man, but when you are in the reserves, you have to go where you are asked to go and serve with the branch you are asked to serve with.   Soon he will be home though, and their family will be happily re-united.

We love it when the Portland cousins come.  We have so much fun together.  The time is filled with laughter, cooking, eating and experiencing farm life.  The days go by so quickly.

The last night they were here, we had an amazing sunset, which we all enjoyed on the west porch.  It was a bit chilly so we pulled out the porch quilts and bundled up to watch.  It was a beautiful evening on all accounts.

I took several photos, and now I can't decide which ones to leave out!  They are all so pretty, so please indulge me!!

K, get ready for the sunset photos!

Some of our crew....mom and dad, Dave, Anthony, and Margaret.

Baxter had a long day and was ready for bed, even if it was on the grass!

And, it just kept getting more spectacular!

Gooley girls....Margaret and Therese all bundled up in the summer porch quilts.  

Roni, dad and mom jumped the porch quilt season by pulling out the Halloween quilts!  

Volunteer Fire Fighters!

Monday morning we all responded to a fire call that came in as a structure fire.  Ron and the girls hopped on the fire truck and took off.  I waited until I received a phone call to respond with our personal water truck.

It was sad to drive up and see a historic farm house in flames.  Fortunately though, no one was hurt. The house was a total loss, but hopefully a new one will be built one day in a similar style.  A dryer vent is the suspected cause of the fire.  A frustrating and discouraging day for the family involved, but they are happy to all be safe and have a place on their property where they can live until other arrangements can be made.

Three volunteer fire fighters!  Reynald was still out on the call.  We got to come home a little early!