Saturday, July 31, 2010

Saturday Slight


~~This just in:  Annie and Mr. Legos at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia~~

Last day of July for another year.  This month has sped by so quickly.  Seems every day has been action-packed, which is typical for us in the summer time.  Today's agenda includes some possible rain and a trip to the Bonner County Fair Horse Show.

Laurie is planning to show her new horse in a couple of classes, and I'll be taking Mother to watch.  Tomorrow I'll be announcing again cuz Marcy Bloom, the fair horse show chair, caught me at a weak moment.  With the temperatures dipping a bit, though, it should be kinda fun.  Barbara will be showing her Dusty in several classes tomorrow.  Plus, both sisters are showing horses in halter classes.

I went to Roxane's yesterday to watch Miss Heather do her workout.  After the setback of a stubborn and huge hematoma (about the size of a small watermelon and hanging off her rear quarter; it had to be lanced last Friday), Heather's doing well.

I'm really impressed with Roxane's methods----meticulous, quiet, kind, firm and consistent.  Heather visited with me at a spot in the round pen after Roxane had saddled her, bitted her and put side reins on her.  When Roxane stood in the middle of the pen and quietly told her to get to work, Heather trotted off and did everything Roxane asked without a lunge line.

Roxane has gotten to the point of mounting her and putting full weight on her both sides.  She's taking it slowly and figures she'll be sitting on her today or tomorrow.  The daily ground training will lead to pretty smooth sailing once Heather learns how to balance the extra weight on top.  

I might add that Heather is a cutie under saddle, and she seems very willing to learn.  I'll be excited to see her progress over the next week.

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I noticed that someone had commented on one of last week's blog postings about having taught with Miss Jones in Stark.  Bill tells me that's Louisiana; I'm just curious who you are.  It's always fun to know the principals in the small-world stories.  

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Thank you to all who gave me the word on my mysterious flower---a yucca plant.  My friend Judy was most specific by identifying it as a "white Adam's needle yucca."  I still have questions as to why it never bloomed until this year.  I did cut it back in the spring one year, but it should have bloomed the first summer we were here and the next year.

So now I'm wondering if it's a plant that takes a while to bloom or if conditions need to be just right.  The latter makes no sense since it's a plant from the Southwest that likes dry weather.  With our cold, wet spring, I'm stymied as to why it looks so beautiful.  

It certainly has done much better than some of our North Idaho standbys like strawberries and cherries. 

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Annie had a fun-filled day yesterday.  She visited the International Spy Museum and then hooked up with Bryant Jones who took her on a tour of the White House West Wing.  Then, the two headed out for some serious D.C. geocaching.  Haven't heard the results, but she did post a photo of herself in the White House on Facebook.

Today she's starting the grind of trying to beat Virginia's summer heat while occupying a tent with other Groundspeak, Inc. colleagues who will be showing hundreds of Boy Scouts the fine points of geocaching. 

Bill and I kinda figure Annie's involvement at the Jamboree is a "full-circle" story since we first met at the National Boy Scout Jamboree here at Farragut in 1973. 

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Bill, Willie, Debbie and I had a fun dinner last night.  Just as we were walking out the door to go to town, the phone rang.  It was Betty from the Idaho Forest Products Commission.  She and her hubby Dave were in town and wanted to get together.  So, we all met at Ivanos for dinner.  

Betty just turned 50, and she'd pinched pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters for years in preparation for the big celebration.  She and David went to Africa, visiting Kenya and Zanzibar.  They also spent time visiting schools in poverty-stricken areas.  

David was amazed at how advanced the students' education is with just a chalk board and a teacher.  His comments reaffirmed my belief that you can have all the gizmos in the world, but the teacher is still the central essential in learning. 

It's always fun to visit with Betty and David and hear about their world travels and their world-class garden in Boise.  Betty is the undisputed tomato queen of Boise.  I believe she told me that she grows more than 100 varieties of 'maters.  

On that news, I was quick to tell her I would not be inviting her out to the Lovestead to see my crop.  

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Bill's off to Costco this morning.  He buys huge boxes of Tide each year and dates each box, just to see how many months it will last.  He also buys his Double A batteries in bulk, and I swear he must purchase 50 rolls of paper towels at a time.  

He reported a first yesterday----soap, batteries and towels, all down to the last drop at the same time.  Bill's desperate and won't feel right until the supply is replenished. 

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I guess that's all for this morning.  Since the clouds aren't dropping any rain yet, I'll head off to the hoses and then to go watch the horses.  

Have a great Saturday. Enjoy those final hours of July.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am wondering if Bill eats his way through the food section of Costco like I do? haha And have you ever tried their fruit/nut scones? They are devine! BTW, how long does that big box of Tide last? LOL Puz