Spring Pledge drive

I spent a few hours this past week pitching for Spokane Public Radio.  I really love doing this.  Who knew that if given a microphone, a set of headphone and an audience, I can babble on and on and on?  OK, that's probably not a huge surprise!

I am a big fan of Spokane Public Radio.  Because of my job, I have an opportunity to listen for several hours each day.  I have no trouble extolling the virtues of public radio in general and our little station in particular.  It's great fun, I love the people at the station and volunteers that come in to help out during the drive.  We had a super successful drive.  There are great things ahead for Spokane Public Radio. And of course it's not to late to give your pledge of support, which you can do by calling 1-800-328-5729 or hop on line to make a secure pledge at spokanepublicradio.org

Here are just a few images.....

Jim Armstrong has been involved with Spokane Public Radio for three decades.  I've been listening and supporting that long, but have only recently gotten involved with the nuts and bolts of the station.

This is the "Wizard of Oz" control panel.  It makes me nervous to even get close to all these electronics!

Brian Lindsay and Peter Glarborg keep everything running smoothly.  

This is a shot of the pledge room.  Lots of organization needed to keep this running smoothly as well.  It's a beautiful dance that I'm honored to be a part of in a very small way.

Gumball Rally

We finished seeding Saturday evening.  Yay!!!  Sunday was partly sunny but windy, so we were not able to get started spraying the winter wheat.  We decided a treat was in order so we hopped in Little Oliver and drove to Ritzville, WA to join the Gumball Rally.  We did this two years ago and had such a great time and this year was equally as enjoyable.

The route is a surprise which just adds to the fun.  This year the planners decided to head our group of 34 cars in a southerly direction. We stopped at Washtucna, Starbuck, Pomeroy, LaCrosse and then finally back to Ritzville, for a total of 207 miles. The weather was perfect for a drive, a gorgeous sky and beautiful scenery kept us engaged and entertained.

Here are a few photos from our day.

Look at this Lincoln Continental.  It's one third hood, one third passenger and one third trunk!  A smooth ride for the day!!

This Rambler is just fabulous!

Reynald loved this Nova SS

Not sure what year this Studebaker is but isn't it fun?

The smallest car on the tour.  A darling MG.  Not an original color, but one that I love of course, it being brown!

This is a 1967 Plymouth that was a common squad car in that era.

The owner of this car has replicated a squad car, down to flashing lights in the rear dash, a spot light, period radios and a homemade grill to separate the front seat from the back.  It's just wonderfully done!

Remember these Rambler station wagons?

Love this Mustang!

The Pataha Four Mill, just outside Pomeroy where we stopped for lunch.

A more typical outhouse than the one you will find on Rolinco Road!

A few folks packed their own lunch.  We took advantage of the cute gazebo to eat and visit.

Outside Pomeroy the clouds were threatening but beautiful.  Notice how green the hillsides are due to all the rain our region has received this spring.

Not sure if dandelions are the permanent residents of this planter box, or if they are just providing color until something else is planted?

Someone has turned these old nesting boxes in to flower pots!

Here's little Oliver!

Sometimes a car doesn't make the trip on it's own power!  This is anticipated and a car club member volunteers to drive a "pick up" rig, just in case!

LaCrosse has a beautiful city park, our last stop on the trip.

Once back in Ritzville at the city park there is a final awards ceremony then we all go our separate ways.  The folks that organize this event spend many hours planning, and it shows.  Hopefully we will be able to join again next year.

Attention Deficit Day

Today I went in four different directions, sometimes more than one at the same time!

The day started out sunny, warm and very little wind so we decided we could spray some of the stubble ground with round-up to kill control the volunteer wheat and other weeds that have germinated this spring. It was too wet to run the coil packer and also too wet to seed.

Ron ran the sprayer and between hauling loads of water out to the field, I managed to get the lawn mowed.  It needed to be mowed!

Sheets on the line, a lawn that needs to be mowed and my spray boy flying along.

The width of this applicator makes me stop and take notice when it pops over a hill.

Mowing the lawn with my spray boy in the background!

Just after lunch time, the kindergarten class from Harrington arrived for a tour of our chicken house.  They are studying eggs and chickens and today was their farm tour day.  They visited four different farms that have chickens!  16 lively little folks piled out of the bus!  Their energy was matched by Baxter's enthusiasm to greet humans roughly his size!

Some of the kindergarten kids and their teacher, who was our kids teacher back in the day! Ron is in the background with the sprayer.  He honked the horn and the kids all waved!

A couple hens and a couple kids!

Each kiddo gathered an egg to put in the egg basket.

The kindergarten class!  

After the kiddos left to continue their tour, Reynald decided that it was now dry enough to run the coil packer over a few acres before the sun went down.  I left him with a full load of water in the truck and went to spend some time with my favorite tractor, Colt.

Late in the afternoon, storm clouds began rolling around.  I was lucky and only a few drops hit my windshield, so I didn't have to stop my work.

More rain is predicted for tomorrow.  It doesn't take much these days to halt our forward progress in the fields.  It's getting late in the season, according to the calendar, but not according to the weather.  We're trying very hard not to panic, but not having much luck with that!  It will all get done.....

Rainy days and Mondays

More rain overnight, which was predicted!  We started fertilizing the spring crop ground on Saturday and finished late last night, beating the rain.   Sun is forecast for Wednesday so we're hoping we can start seeding that afternoon.  We've never started this late.  It is tempting to complain about the delay, but after a few years of drought, we don't dare.  All this rain is re-charging the aquifers up and down the west coast which is welcome indeed.

.30 of an inch over night.  Reynald worked until midnight last night to finish before the rain.  He said just as he was making his final pass, the first rain drop fell.  

This image is supposed to show just how dark and damp the soil in my garden is!  

Drip, drip, drip little April showers.  

There is a strong wind blowing this morning, moving the clouds along.  Though more rain is predicted for tomorrow.

So, what's a farm girl to do when she can't be on a tractor.  Pull out another quilt to work on of course!  This is going to sound crazy, but I've been having this debate in my head about which quilt to do next.  I have this seasonal quilt goal that I started a few years ago.  So, do I finish quilts according to season or do I complete a four season set per room?  Seriously, I have gone back and forth and back and forth on this.  Obviously there are much larger issues in the world to contemplate, but this is something that I have direct control over.

This morning a decision had to be made and I reached for a fall quilt!  That's not to say that a spring quilt can't sneak in after this one is buttoned up and before the final fall quilt is started.  I'm leaving my options open.

I really, really love this design though, and it will be an easy one to pick up when there are long periods of time between sewing, when the weather finally warms up and dries out a bit and I am spending time on my tractor instead of with my sewing machine.

This is what the finished product will look like.

This is my test block.  Beth says you always want to make a test block, to make sure the cutting instructions are correct, before you jump in and cut everything.

The cutting instructions were correct.  Everything is cut, ziplocked, and marked.

This morning I started sewing the 1 1/2'" strips together.

There are more strip sets to sew as well, but I'm focusing on the 1 1/2" strips for now.

Once the strips are sewn, you press them then sub-cut to 1 1/2" units.

These units make up the 9 patch block and the 4 patch blocks.  For the nine patch blocks another strip needs to be sewn on.  I'm working on the 4 patch blocks right now.  

I don't have the luxury of sewing all day, though wouldn't that be fun? There are a few other things that can be done during a rain delay, like work on the vintage Christmas ornaments!  This is the reason a person needs to have more than one project going at once.  That way you are never without something important and valid to be working on!

New arrival

My parents traveled to Cheney today to pick up my new bees.  Sadly, the group from last year did not survive the winter.  I have made every possible bee keeping mistake, and even added a few to the list!

The girls have arrived just in time.  The temperatures are supposed to warm up a bit this coming week, which will cause the cherry and apricot  trees to bloom.

The new girls in town!  Tomorrow I will put them in their home.   It's supposed to be sunny and warm.

One of the sweet cherry trees nearly ready to bloom.

These sweet cherry blossoms are just about to burst open.

My yard is a mess, but the daffodils don't mind!  They are happily blooming away, making me smile when I walk by or look out the window.  Right now getting our spring wheat crop planted is taking priority.  Pruning the roses, and mowing the lawn can wait, and will!

Kind of a mess, but the daffodils take the focus off the things that need to be done.

More than once a mouse has built a nest in this bull skull.  It is on Baxter's yard patrol route.

You can see that the roses need to by pruned and the lawn needs to be mowed, but the daffodils are giving quite a show.

'Tis the season for Baxter to check the sprinkler control boxes for mice.  Every day he will pry them open and look inside.

I really love this pasque flower.  

A few years ago Ron brought a clump of buttercups home in his hat for me.  Once they lost their bloom I planted them in the yard.  One of my favorite things about spring!

Year after year, I am a little underwhelmed by this dwarf forsithia. I need to give some serious thought to it's permanent spot in the yard.  

This plant name is Audrey.  It only blooms in the spring.  I found this plaque last spring at a flower shop and bought it to place in the garden in remembrance of our dog Audrey.  

I love all the color in this photo, and Baxter!

The sky was beautiful today.  

These daffodils at the corner are so bright and cheerful.

I was in Spokane this week and stopped at Fred Meyer where I found a great deal on seeding geraniums so I bought a few!

The garlic is coming up nicely, in very crooked rows.  I foolishly thought I could make a straight line with out drawing it first.  I'll call it artistic planting.

Look how much the rhubarb has grown.  Can't wait for that first pie!