The Nutcracker

 Last weekend Reynald and I experienced a first.....we attended The Nutcracker ballet in Spokane at the Fox Theater.  Also experiencing a first was Alicia, playing first flute in the orchestra pit!

Alicia got an urgent request to fill in for her teacher Bruce, who has been struggling with some health issues and at the last minute was unable to perform for Nutcracker.  While the circumstances for this opportunity are not what Alicia wanted, the chance to play was welcome. 

We attended the matinee performance on Sunday and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Mostly though, it was a real treat to hear our favorite Sugar Plum Fairy play in the ensemble.

The Fox Theater is so beautiful.

Masks are required regardless of vaccination status. (We are both fully vaccinated and boosted)
  We are happy to comply!

Alicia didn't know that we were coming to this performance and was happily surprised to see us.

Ryan James is Two!

 We celebrated Ryan's second birthday a few days ago with family and friends.  He was especially thrilled with the cow cake that Auntie made for him!  He is a happy little man, with lots of new books to read with his mama and dad and a new knitted hat made by cousin April-May.  And just in time too, fall is definitely upon us.

Struggling To Find a Way Out

Yesterday I dug down in a couple blank furrows near our house to see what was going on under the soil.  My suspicion were confirmed when I found several what plants that have curled and crimped because a crust formed on the soil after the rain last week.  We only had a third of an inch, but it was enough to cause trouble.  

There are places in the field where the wheat is not going to germinate at all, due to the drought, but it's heartbreaking to see the tiny plants that did have enough moisture, struggle and then lose the effort to make it to sunlight.  

  

All Hands on Deck

 After a nearly two week delay, waiting for rain, that didn't actually turn in to much rain, we are back in the seeding game this week.  We have never seeded this late.  This year however, everything is inside out and upside down.  It's terribly dry, and most of the seeds are not even going in to moisture, and those that are, have had enough rain to make a crust, causing the little wheat plants to accordion and go sideways, attempting to find a way out!  

A little piece of good news is that the rain that did fall, was enough to germinate the cheat grass, so we have a chance to eliminate at least one flush of this invasive annual grass.  Controlling cheat grass is an ongoing battle that we will never win, but this year we get to make at least one strike at getting rid of a few plants! 

 We carry on, do what we can and hope for the best.  

I was called back in to service Thursday afternoon to run the coil packer ahead of the drills.  

It was nice to be back on a tractor again for a few hours, and kinda cool to have three tractors working in the same field!

The afternoon sun cast cool shadows as we were working.  You can see the tinge of green in this field, which shows that there are trillions upon trillions of tiny cheat grass plants growing!

A closer look at the cheat grass.  So thick that plants are growing on top of each other!

Another shot of the green tinge.

And more shadow play.  Matthew and Reynald are filling the drills as I continue to coil pack and the shadows grow longer!

And They're Off

 A few images of Reynald and Alicia heading off to their respective tractors to start seeding.  This makes me smile.

Eyes closed but cute nonetheless!

New Year's Eve

 A week ago today we celebrated New Year's Eve on the farm.  We started doing this several years ago, the night before we start seeding our winter wheat crop, which begins our new crop year. And, since we're going to work in the morning, we don't stay up until midnight! 

Peach Picking

 Last week David, Ryan James and I went to Green Bluff to pick a few peaches.  The fruit is as sweet as can be.  Ryan James ate quite a few, right off the tree!  Sun warmed, tree ripened fruit is simply the best.  

Hidden Acres is our favorite Green Bluff orchard.  It's a bit off the beaten path, not quite as commercial as some of the others and the folks that own the orchard and work so hard to provide the produce are delightful.  

Meadow mushrooms

 I harvested these tasty tidbits yesterday in our pasture.  I have been watering the grass in an effort to keep it from dying from drought.  An added benefit is mushrooms, sprouting in the draw, around the trees, where it is a bit more humid.  These mushrooms are so good.  They taste like the earth.