Fly fishing, family and fun

Last week, when we were at Tin Can Flat, near Avery Idaho, we had some time to relax, and some time to play, and some time to practice casting a fly on the water, attempting to lure a fish to take the bait.  There was more casting than catching, but that's ok.  A great time was had by all.

Happy couple!

Baxter always finds a sunbeam for a snoozer!

more casting instruction

David perfecting the craft.  David actually caught the most fish!

Love this image of the lines flying!

Reynald found this comfy rock from which to watch the activities.

Sisters!!!!

Reading in the sun with feet in the river.

Even Baxter took some time to relax

Chilly morning snuggled up around the fire.  

Tin Can Flat

Last week we loaded up the SS Rolinco with food and kids and a dog and followed Grandpa and Grandma to the St Joe River near Avery Idaho.

Setting up camp.

And, the requisite flower arrangement for our table.

One of our meal gatherings.

 It's hard to capture the spectacular scenery.

This is the St. Joe river, at the bottom of a very steep mountain slope.  This is dad's favorite "hole".  We didn't take the time to hike down this time, but it's on our list!

What a fun group we are!

This shows how deep one has to hike to get to the river.

The kids were eager to learn how to fly fish and grandpa was the perfect instructor.  He brought along three fly rods and it wasn't long before all three kids were casting like, well....almost like pros!

The expert, testing the water!

As my mom is fond of saying, the fishing was great but the catching not so much.  We decided that there was a lot of casting practice.  It really didn't matter that there were not a lot of fish caught.  The scenery, the memories created, the sound of the river babbling along, the intoxicating fragrance of the air.....all worth the trip.  A few small fish were caught and brought in, lest you think we were totally skunked!

Here's Alicia getting her first casting lesson....

Once Alicia was settled, David was next up.....

And he caught one!!!

And then Roni had her lesson......

Even Baxter got in on the fun!  You can only imagine how a flopping, splashing fish got his attention!

I'll post more photos of this wonderfully relaxing family time.

Happy Birthday Anthony!!!

My cousins are here from Portland.  They arrived on Tuesday and we have been working in high gear doing wedding chores!!  My cousin Margaret and her husband Rob have a son, Anthony.  Anthony celebrated his 15th birthday here at the farm on Wednesday.  Time sure marches along when you are watching a child grow.

Les came over to help us celebrate and did a great illustration on the manila envelope that held a super cool t-shirt for the birthday boy!  He's modeling a vintage hat that my cousin Therese is updating for me!

I got out all the birthday stuff and found a way to hang it around and on the patio!

Our family birthday tradition is for the celebrant to choose all their favorites for the meal and dessert.
Anthony suggested hamburgers and potato salad with cheesecake for dessert.  Not one of us objected to his choices!

Even the nearly full moon got in on the celebration!

A great time had by all.  Happy Birthday Anthony John!!!

Morning Thunder Storm

There is rain predicted for Tuesday so we are scrambling to get as much wheat cut as we possibly can, just in case the prediction comes true.  We planned to work most of today, but Mother Nature had different plans.  A spectacular display this morning, with thunder and lightening, just as the sun was coming up, made for dramatic color in the unusual cloud formations.  A partial rainbow, and bolt lightening made us stop what we were doing and watch for a few minutes.

There was enough rain to stop our harvest progress until 1pm this afternoon.  We got a few loads hauled in to the elevator, and a couple more acres chopped off.  Hoping to finish the winter wheat tomorrow, then on to spring wheat for a couple days.  We're making progress.

After we indulged in the storm, I went to the garden and picked a few vegetables for our lunch!  I hadn't looked at the garden since a week ago today.  A lot has happened since then!!!

Field Manager

When Alicia is in Boston, her job at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is Concert Manager.  When she is at home for harvest, her job at Rolinco Farms is Field Manager!  So that there is no confusion, Les got Alicia a T-shirt with her job title printed on the back.  Not that there is any doubt who really runs the show around here!

Alicia, getting ready for a day of work in the harvest field.

Les taking a photo of Alicia and her t-shirt!

Here she is, hard at work, loading my truck with grain.

A few days ago, Les was enjoying a picnic lunch with a friend, at Steptoe Butte.  When he wasn't looking, a yellow jacket landed on his last bite of sandwich.  the yellow jacket was not pleased when Les decided to take a bite of HIS sandwich!  The result was a very swollen face, for two days, from a nasty sting on the lip.

Yesterday, Les posted this warning for us to heed as we were hauling grain past his house.

Warning to the harvest crew.

Advice that we are happy to pay attention to!

Drive Thru

Chemyn came to ride with me today in the truck.  Wish she could have stayed all day!!  She did hang around long enough to snap a few photos.

We are harvesting at Les and Greg's.  To get to the field behind Les' house you have to drive through these two trees the flank his lane.  We thought it looked like those photos that you see of the cars driving through the giant redwood trees!  This is my giant truck, driving through some giant trees!

As usual, Baxter was along in the truck today.  He would have loved to have gotten out to play with Les' dog Zora, but we had too much work today, to play!

Lastly, Chemyn took this cute photo of me and Baxter!

We're making good progress with our harvest.  We should finish the winter wheat by Saturday night, and then there are a couple days of spring wheat to cut.