Saturday Slight

I meant to post this photo of Shreffler's sheep and goats earlier this week but forgot.  So, they make a nice bucolic scene for this Saturday morning----especially so because the outside scene is just as quiet and gray as this one.

The sheep on the green grass are pretty, though, and they remind me of my wonderful adventures to New Zealand and Ireland.  So, any such reminders on a gray Saturday lighten my spirit. 

We've got an auction going on in the neighborhood sometime today.  JoJo's Auction put up his signs yesterday.  

When I came back from visiting my mother in the late afternoon, I followed the signs, but they didn't lead to any specific spot.

Later, Bill and I were talking about the auction.  I said I thought it was the O'Halloran place---since sold to the Texans---but nothing had validated my assumption except the big moving truck parked by one of the sheds.

Bill then speculated that they don't put signs to a specific location to keep away the earlybirds.  

Well, this earlybird walked down the road this morning---and upon eyeing a honeybucket sitting over next to a big dumpster filled with stuff---deduced that the earlier guess was, indeed, correct.  

I don't know what time the auction is, but we'll know soon enough, once the usual weekend traffic to the dump increases by manyfold. I wonder where the auction goers are all gonna park.  

Maybe I should bake some cookies and thaw out those loaves of last Christmas' pumpkin bread from the freezer and have a bake sale out at the end of the driveway. 

Maybe I should also take a few of my books out there and try to sell them.  This could be called the "Satellite Sale" at the Lovestead, and, heck, I could have an author signing right here in my own yard. 

I'm wondering how the dump traffic is gonna take having to compete with the auction goers, some of whom may park alongside the road. 

Could be some road rage in Selle.  But then again, some of those dump-bound drivers might be be taking stuff to drop off at the Colburn Mall.  

Maybe they could just save a trip all the way to Colburn,  park alongside the road and sell their wares to the auction goers or to other shoppers who might be headed to the Mall.  

Commerce at its best.  We'll see. 

Speaking of commerce, new folks have replaced the Bear at the Old Ice House Pizza. And, some of----well, maybe a LOT of the funky stuff isn't hanging from the ceiling, walls, and roofs anymore. 

The place has more room and obviously more light than most Icehouse fans are accustomed to seeing.   Though the motif has changed a bit, I'll tell you the pizza is every bit as good as before. 

Last night, I had a great time getting to know Naomi, the manager, especially after she came upstairs and told me her husband who was helping her downstairs was one of my English students.  

"When did he graduate?" I asked. 

"I don't know," she said.

"Well, how old is he?" 

"About 50," she said.

"Must be about 1981," I said.  

Turns out it was '82, and, yes, I remembered Jeff Hoagland, once I walked downstairs and started visiting with him. 

Also, turns out it's Jeff's daughter Teresa, SHS Class of 2005, along with her husband Mike Stevens, who are leasing the place.  

Naomi and Jeff have worked at Diedrich Manufacturers, Inc., where coffee roasters are made. Out of that experience, Jeff has developed his own cottage company called Paradise Valley Coffee.  

I'm drinking his Burundi in my latte this morning, and it's mighty good.  While at the Old Icehouse, I noticed that Jeff is also promoting another classmate, Fred Colby, with a variety of Laughing Dog Brew on draft. 

Bill, Willie and I enjoyed our pizza and the drive to and from Hope, especially the spottings of elk, deer and moose in the Pack River flats on the north side of the highway.

Debbie did not join us last night because she's been in North Central Washington for a Girl Scout Day camp, which will be topped off today in Omak with Annie Love (of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Seattle) introducing the campers to geocaching.

I saw on Facebook that Annie was putting out caches in the Omak area last night for today's event. 

So, lots going on, but still currently pretty quiet here at the Lovestead.  

I'm sure that won't last long, once the auction goers, dump depositors and Colburn Mall shoppers start rolling down South Center Valley Road. 

Maybe that bake and book sale idea isn't so bad!

Happy Saturday.