Mother's Day; Crawfish

 

To all who nurture:  Happy Mothers' Day. 

🌺🌼🌻🌷

Bill wore his McNeese State University hat. 

Yesterday was the annual Crawfish Boil at his alma mater in Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

But wait, with gas prices and airline tickets sky rocketing, he did not have to go a couple of thousand miles to enjoy a crawfish boil. 

Instead, we drove to Callen Crabb Road in Sagle, to be exact.  

For 26 years, Tim and Sherril Hartzog have been hosting crawfish boils, almost all in Omaha, Neb. where they lived until moving back "home" last year. 

With their house built and having settled in to their new digs, it was time to start the crawfish tradition in Sagle.

Bill and I were fortunate to have been invited.  I figured I wouldn't have to ask Bill twice if he wanted to go to an event featuring some of his Louisiana culture. 

In fact, Bill was so enamored by the idea that he took along his annual invitation to the Lake Charles crawfish boil to let Tim and Sherril know that he had passed it up in favor of their Sagle version. 

I told Bill that we probably wouldn't know too many people and that was okay.  There was a pleasant surprise in store----I knew many of the other guests and even taught a few of them. 

So, for me it was a crawfish-oriented reunion, involving lots of conversations about the good ol' days at Sandpoint High. 

The event was also low key, comfortable and laid-back as folks stood around visiting and Tim stirred the pot. A few of the crawfish about to meet their demise even met some of the guests. 

I don't know what was more fun, the food or the visiting.  It all blended for a wonderful evening with a fun family of hosts. 

AND, with the help of a few nimble, experienced fingers peeling away at the main dish , I even sampled my first two bites of crawfish.  

I liked it. 

Thanks so much to Tim and Sherril and family for including us in your annual event.  It was a delightful evening from start to finish. 

I know Bill enjoyed it because he was telling me about viewing some You Tube videos this morning featuring crawfish farms. 

Happy Sunday and blessings to all the moms. 

 

Bill showing Tim, Sherril and Sherril's mom Sharon the McNeese State Crawfish Boil invite. 

No minimum age necessary for sampling crawfish. 

Saturday Slight

 

First columbine bloom for the year. 

They are all about to burst open, and it will be so pretty with the pinks, ambers, purples and whites. 

They are such artistic blooms.  The architect of all flowers does a magnificent job, and columbine blooms are among the best. 

The "beaut-y" goes on with new flowers coming alive each day and putting on a show. 

This morning I'll pick up my deck flower baskets.  This year I decided to purchase them from the Gold n Grouse 4-H Club so they may be a bit different from past years. 

Can't wait to pick them up and hang them up. 

Left to right:  Will Love, Debbie Love, Marianne Love, Bill Love, Cindy Wooden, Marcia Pilgeram and Chris Moon. 

The Friday-night dinner plan started with just one friend joining us, but then I got to thinking and decided that two other friends needed to meet this one friend and vice versa. 

So, Cindy Wooden, recently retired from her Papal journalistic adventures; Marcia Pilgeram, local food columnist and travel consultant; and Chris Moon, retired Pacific Lutheran professor, all joined us four Love's for dinner last night. 

It soon became evident that they knew people who knew people, so they connected quickly and the evening featured a lively potpourri of story-telling and sharing some of the highlights of each others' lives.

I loved it all as three women friends whom I really admire and enjoy are now friends with each other. 

Such gatherings are among the truly fun benefits of living in one's hometown. 

No introduction was necessary as Marcia and Cindy met for the first time.  

Marcia's daughter Ryanne and Cindy's niece Francie grew up together in Sandpoint and are still friends, living in the Moscow area. 

So, the Marcia and Cindy wasted no time getting acquainted.

And, by the way, welcome home Cindy.  Nice to have you back in Sandpoint after all these years. 

The horses lived through Day 1 on the pasture, but they looked pretty weary with those full bellies after a couple of hours on lush green grass.

They'll be whinnying soon to nudge me into taking them to pasture. 

So, Happy Saturday. 

Enjoy the beauty and all the blossoms of May.  

Daze in May: Ahh!

 

Such a glorious week we've had and more lovely days to come.  

Blossoms aplenty along with pleasant sunny days and spring fragrances of nature have enhanced the senses in welcome ways. 

My horses are aware of what all this glory in weather patterns mean, and I'm thinking that they may also be quite aware of the calendar date. 

This may seem hard to believe, but it's absolutely true---Lily launched the "take-us-to-pasture" campaign around mid-breakfast yesterday. 

With piles of hay still uneaten in the barnyard, she saw me outside, came over to the fence, looked toward the pasture and, with her Lily longing expression, told me it was time to go eat grass instead of hay. 

What Lily didn't know was that I had decided to hold off putting the horses in pasture until the growing green grass seemed a bit out of control. 

These warm days have helped that happen (especially with the lawn and dandelions).  Plus, a brief but substantial rain shower Wednesday night added a nice touch to the growing process. 

So, I had decided that today Friday, May 8 would be the day for Lily, Lefty and CB to go to pasture. 

Unaware of my decision and unwilling to take my explanation to heart, Lily rounded up the other two horses and offered a full-fledged all-day campaign at the fence every single time she saw me walk past the barnyard. 

A well-timed chorus of whinnies of varying levels but all consistent in their persistence greeted me throughout the day. 

I held tough, though, and today, after I've posted on the blog, they are in for a surprise.  

They're eating their breakfast as I type and should be almost finished when I go outside, meet them at the gate, throw a rope over each neck and lead them one by one to pasture. 

The annual pasture campaign is over, and my daily ritual begins. 

They'll go to the pasture each morning for a while with reasonably full bellies from their flakes of hay. For a while,  they won't stay long. 

I'll lead them back to the barnyard around 11, and they'll let the morning meal digest and take their afternoon siestas until around 3:30.  Then, it's back to pasture and finally a return to the barnyard a couple of hours later. 

After they've made the gradual transition from hay to grass (usually a week or two), they'll go straight to pasture first thing in the morning each day.  

By mid summer they'll stay on pasture all day. Over the summer, I'll be rotating them between four enclosures.  

So, it's a ritual that changes a bit throughout the pasture season.  The horses will be in their own little Heaven and I'll be taking care to see that they don't eat too much rich grass too soon. 

In doing so, I'll be adding plenty of steps to the Fitbit each day, especially with upcoming hose dragging as the flower and garden areas become filled with new life.  

All good. 

Some of today's blossom photos were taken over at the Colburn compound where some beautiful varieties abound.  

Barbara's bleeding hearts are amazing, and the flower trees are spectacular. 

I love the warm weather, but its downside is that the beautiful blossoms come and go much too quickly. 

Yesterday a former student, working for Sandpoint Glass and Cabinets, came to the house to pick up some screens needing repair. 

Jim Webb graduated in the Sandpoint High Class of 1982.  I learned yesterday that he's been in the glass business for a number of years. 

We had a great time during his visit talking about class reunions. 

And, it was obvious he loved Foster.  Lots of friendly petting for the little guy, and, of course, Foster enjoyed Jim. 

It was a nice visit, and soon we'll have decent screens for the sliding glass door and some of the upstairs windows.  

We may even get some new glass in the garden window which will mean a much enhanced view of Schweitzer from our kitchen.  

Sorta like getting cataracts removed. 

My 'maters won't be living in this place much longer.  

Some will go to the garden, while others go to family and friends and a bunch will go to the food bank garden. 

It's been a great starting season for tomatoes. 

This May "daze" has been something else, all great for the mental outlook and for our diet of eye candy. 

Happy Friday.