Tuesday Mutterings

 

  ----A little AI enhancement in this photo

It was a first. 

I'd never seen a drone fertilize a field until yesterday. 

I was on my way to Wood's Meats, traveling down Center Valley Road when I saw a man walking in front of a big truck, carrying some stuff in his hand, maybe even a laptop. 

As I got closer, I could also see two young boys on the trailer behind the truck. One was sitting up high on a frame, while the other was walking along the bed. 

The trailer also held a large tank. 

I stopped and rolled down the window to talk with the boys, but there was noise, and it was much too loud for anyone to hear anything but the noise. 

So, I moved on, and, next, I saw a man with two dogs on leash a little ways up the road. 

My mind has not been programmed quite yet to expect to see Willie out with the grandpuppies enjoying a summer day's walk. 

Well, now it is, because that's who the man was, and the dogs were Bailey and Joe. 

Once again I stopped and rolled down the window.  We could hear each other but something drew our attention back to the truck. 

Then, Willie said, "Looks like they're fertilizing with a drone.  

Sure enough, the drone was going over the field dropping a fluid mix. 

That was definitely an "aha" moment, thinking of how much more efficiently, especially timewise, the technology could do the job normally done with a tractor and spray container, which has to go round and round and round.  The drone moved quickly.  I'd love to know the comparison in time between drones and tractors.

We were guessing that the man walking down the road with tools in his hands probably had a contract and more than likely many many more.  

It was neat to see, and it demonstrated clearly that technology can do some amazing things to make our days easier. 

There's an investment involved (Amazon offers these drones for a little over $14,000), but, with numbers of contracts to do this job, it's probably worth it. 

This is also an AI enhanced photo.  

The rose was looking a little rough from too much watering, so I asked AI to clean up the photo for me.  It's not exactly natural but it's fun. 

Animals and farms:  one never can predict what can and will happen, and we're never surprised when it does. 

This morning, it was an escape, something horses love to do whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

These horses live on Selle Road at a place bordering our woods. 

This morning they decided to check out the neighborhood. 

I was first aware of their presence when Bridie barked at something out on the road. 

I could hear people talking and through the cedar trees could see horse hooves moving forward. 

My first thought was, "Who's riding by this early in the morning?" 

So, I waited to see.  

Turns out there were no saddles and no people, just horses going down South Center Valley Road. 

I immediately recognized them and upon arriving at the road, I could see that Jason, one of  their owners, had caught one of the three, while the others pranced around. 

I invited him to bring them to our barnyard, which was empty because I had just led our horses to pasture. 

Except for a little socializing with Lily, Lefty and CB over the electric fence, the threesome didn't waste too much time finding their way to the barnyard. 

Soon, more halters came as Jason's wife Leslie came through the woods and the hay field. 

In a short time, the halters were on horses and they were led through the hay field and the woods and back home.

Happens often in our rural settings, and, as I told Leslie, it's always a good way to meet the neighbors. 

Today I'll go to the Ponderay Medical complex and get fitted for orthotics, designed to help the tendonitis in my left ankle heal. 

I'm told there's a wait of two-weeks to a month, so Voltaren and Tylenol, etc. will continue to be my friends for a while longer.  

It's nice to have some pain relievers, especially when so much walking is required around this place. 

It's also a lawn-mowing day.  Seems those breezes (sometimes gusts) which are so common anymore are really good at scattering debris around the lawn.  

So, it will be nice to clean it up.  I understand we have a major weather change coming in the next few days, from blistering heat to sweater weather.  

Nice to have the variety, and we do need some rain.  Mother Nature has allowed farmers to harvest and store big amounts of hay, so that's a good thing. 

Off to get stuff done.  

Happy Tuesday. 

💛💜💚💙💜💛💚💙

Weekend Wrap

 

We've started the down count for 2026.

Yesterday was shorter than Saturday and today will be even shorter.  

Happily, I don' think we're going to notice too much extra darkness for a while.  

I read that yesterday was not the longest day.  Officially, here in North Idaho,  we hit the summer solstice on Saturday in the evening on Saturday.

All that aside, yesterday was a damn fine day, and we made the most of it, including a late afternoon Father's Day outing. 

Ed Robinson and his group were playing Irish music at the Pour Authority. 

Since we've both known Ed and Karen on several levels over the years (including Border Collie passions), we do our best to attend their once-monthly jam sessions at the downtown watering place. 

It's always fun to escape into our Irish dreams, thanks to the group's amazing and fun musical talents. 

Plus, Bill and I seem to fit into their general demographic fairly well: retired but still active at our individual efforts at some shaking and doing in the community. 

With these music sessions happening once a month on Sundays from 3-6 p.m. at the Authority, it's neat to know that all cash that goes into the donation jar is passed on to the Bonner Community Food Bank. 

So, it's a great opportunity to listen to some Irish music and to also help out those in need. 

   

Bill and Ed worked together for the Idaho Department of Lands.  Ed was Bill's boss.  

Besides his musical talents, Ed is also an accomplished artist who can be found in faraway places with his brushes and easel and, of course, his Border Collie Lady Bug. 

Ed's wife Karen has also worked with Bill, through the Idaho Department of Lands, on the annual State Forestry Contest.  

Karen also paints and completes in herding activities with Lady Bug. 

I love the art on the windows of this store front on Cedar. 

Downtown is pretty festive-looking these days---- of course, it's "turist" season. 

Bill and I continued to play "turist" last night.  

After listening to music at Pour Authority, we walked about a block or so to Mick Duff's Restaurant where the excuse for eating out was Father's Day. 

Overall, it was a really fun weekend.  

With another busy week ahead, it was nice to have some low-key and memorable enjoyment. 

Honey bees have come full force on the poppies in the north lawn. 

There seems to be some competition for a spot at the table too. 

Twas looking fairly ominous looking up at Schweitzer this morning, but happily, the dark cloud mass has moved on. 

Now, it's blue sky and white clouds. 

This is Bridie's usual spot when I take the horses to pasture. 

Some mornings I forget to attach the rope to her collar, a measure intended for her to not try to herd the horses.

No problem.  

She just remains there anyway and watches intently as each horse leaves the barnyard and walks by on its way to pasture. 

My garden roses are blooming, and the lettuce is coming on strong. 

I noticed blossoms on several cucumbers this morning.  The cuke plants are pretty pathetic looking since they moved outside, but they're hanging in there and doing their work.   

Two Scoops, One Roof Goat

 

It was a Father's Day celebration a day early. 

Since Bill attends church on Sundays and the drive to and from would take some time, Willie and Debbie asked if we'd like to join them and the grandpuppies on a Saturday road trip to Canada. 

That sounded great to us, and the dogs were thrilled too. 

In fact, blind and slightly deaf Foster was so excited he kept pacing back and forth between the house and the car, finally maintaining his spot right next to the car door where he would be picked up and placed on the seat. 

The anticipation for all of us was matched by memorable highlights all along the way. 

There was the stop-off at Sturgeon Station north of Bonners Ferry where gas is at least 50 cents cheaper per gallon than at the pumps in Sandpoint.

There was the Border Patrol check where both sets of Love's were asked to park around back after already answering several questions at the Canadian entry window. 

Once there, Bill and I simply had to answer a few more questions while Willie and Debbie took their dogs out of the car so the agents could search it. 

Finding nothing of concern, they sent us on our way. 

The walk around Elizabeth Lake wetlands park south of Cranbrook offered a welcome break for the sleeping dogs to get out and to go sniffing. 

Bill tried to sniff out a geocache there but came up short. 

Then, we moved on to St. Mary Angler Fly Shop where Willie arranged for a dad-son guided fishing excursion for later this summer. 

It was warm in Cranbrook so we opted to order out and eat our lunch in the shade of a city park. 

The Firehall Kitchen and Tap, situated right across from a beautiful park, provided the perfect place to pick up some food, all prepared fresh and by hand. 

At the park, we met Sprocket, a huge, 1-year-old mostly Bernese Mountain dog.  He was a friendly pup but Bridie snarled a couple of times to deter him from being too friendly. 

We enjoyed some quality time relaxing, visiting and nibbling away in the shade.  

We had planned to travel and explore some more, but with time zipping by much too fast, so we headed back south with Two Scoop Steve in Yahk as our next destination.

 https://twoscoopsteve.com/

I've heard about and have seen this place, but we've always passed by in the fall or winter when it's closed. 

After our late-afternoon visit yesterday, I'd say it could easily be considered a destination place. 

After all, just before arriving at Two Scoop Steve's on the side road, you think your eyes are deceiving you when you spot a goat surrounded by a bed of grass, lying down on an overhanging roof. 

Your eyes are telling the truth, and, upon further observation, you see that someone even built some goat stairs leading directly to the roof and the aerial goat pasture. 

Unfortunately, when I went back to take a picture, the goat had descended the steps and was grazing on the ground. 

We loved every minute spent at Two Scoop Steve's.  The ice cream scoops (I used my pills and was able to enjoy one scoop of maple nut Gluten Free) and the cones are huge.  One scoop is more than enough, by the way. 

 

We sat in a beautifully landscaped shaded area on cushy chairs to enjoy our cones. 

A look at the link above will reveal that, besides ice cream, there are some delectable dishes and treats offered at the restaurant in the back. 

After Two Scoops, it was off to the border where we stopped and in no more than 30 seconds were back inside the United States. 

As I type, it's now the real Father's Day, and Annie's gift of peanut patties has arrived for her dad. 

We'll just enjoy the day and the memories of a wonderful early celebration in beautiful Canada.

Thanks to the kids, and hats off to Bill for being a much admired and good dad. 

Happy Father's Day to all who have served as meaningful male mentors to their kids and to others. 

Enjoy the photos.