Saturday Slight

 

It's horse-show weekend in Sandpoint.  

This weekend's Spots of Fun Open Horse Show brings both horses and mules from around the area to the Bonner County Fairgrounds for two days of English and Western competitions. 

My sister Barbara will be showing her young horse Vinnie in classes tomorrow.  Yesterday, I provided support, if needed, while she loaded him, drove him to the fairgrounds and unloaded him.  

She really didn't need any help because Vinnie loaded in a completely different trailer than he's used to and unloaded just fine.  When I left, he was in his stall nibbling away at his hay bag. 

Meanwhile, my sister Laurie is driving home from an Arabian sport horse show in Monroe, Wash., where she has been for the past few days. As usual, she's bringing home some loot for her winnings. 

Tina Tomonelli, horse show secretary extraordinaire, helps out an exhibitor. 

Bill wanted me to take a picture of this fly which had somehow connected itself to the side of a car.  

He says it's a popular bait for fly fishing. 

Of course, the fisherman would tune in to that. 

Beautiful early-morning sky today. 

I hear we're in for a hot weekend. 

Later today I'll be picking both blueberries and raspberries and possibly biting into that first sungold tomato. 

Yum!

Below:  some photos taken by Annie (on left) in Germany. She attended a geocaching block party in Grun yesterday afternoon and evening.  

Overall, it's simply a beautiful day in the neighborhood with lots of possibilities. 

Happy Saturday. 

What's your favorite figure of speech?

I've used them all with great frequency but have probably been never aware that I was using a "litotes."

LIE-TOE-TEASE. 

I guess, up until today, that my knowledge of figures of speech has been a little less than the best. 

Howz does that litotes suit you? Or does it?

It's Friday!

It's a regular routine during these July evenings. 

Several turkeys---moms and babes---make their way through the fields and (gasp!) across our lawn.  I gasp because they leave signs behind:  feathers and droppings. 

They sleep in trees in the woods southeast of the house, so there's a ritual they follow, and some of it involves sitting on the fence and then having the nerve to fly off the fence. 

The little ones remind me of a swimming times when the water is a bit cold and it takes nerve to finally make the plunge. 

Last night two little ones needed a lot of encouraging chirping from the adults before descending from the fence. 

https://www.krfy.org/

Tune in via computer at 8 a.m. PDT to hear the livestream of Sandpoint local news.  

Our son Willie aka Coach Love will be joining Zach Hagadone from the Sandpoint Reader as guest announcers this morning.

Click on "browser streaming" if you are using your computer. 

Meanwhile, our daughter Annie is driving in the mountains around Munich, Germany on a two-week visit to Europe which will take her to Germany, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary.

Part is for fun, while part is for an official geocaching event in Hungary.  

Annie left Seattle yesterday afternoon and had a short layover in Iceland. 

Happily, she takes lots of photos, so I'll feature a few on the blog during her trip.

The buildings in the last three photos are a part of Landshut, Germany.  It's a city of about 75,000,  located in lower Bavaria.   

Today marks another family date of significance.  

My sister Jeanne Marie Brown was born on this day in 1950.  Sadly, she died from crib death about six weeks after her birth.  

I often have wondered what it would have been like to grow up with her and what she would have done with her life. 

There's a wistfulness to such thoughts, especially every year I visit her grave at Pinecrest Cemetery.

Jeanne Marie would have been 75 today. Sending her a Heavenly hug.  

I spent time with three wonderful young people yesterday after. I met Juari (Sp?) for the first time while this was my second visit with Meghan (a vet tech) and Eli aka Dr. Paros (a veterinarian).

Both Meghan and Eli are associated with Sandpoint Area Veterinary and Emergency (SAVE).   

It was great fun for this old teacher to watch a young veterinarian share his knowledge with a vet student. 

Juari is enrolled in the Washington State University veterinary program which requires her to take two years of vet school in Utah before finishing up her final two years at WSU. 

So, she has been in Sandpoint for the past week shadowing Dr. Paros. 

The trio came because I had one horse with a troublesome eye and another with a cough. 

After an examination, Dr. Paros said he found nothing too concerning with CB's eye which has been droopy for the past several days.  He thinks the dry weather, dust, potential allergies may be the culprits.  

Same is true with Lily who has had an occasional cough.  

In both cases, no red flags were found, which was a big relief to me.  This time of the year, by the way, brings on the eye problems, thanks to flies and the respiratory problems, thanks to dry conditions and dust. 

Always good to know for peace of mind. Plus, the visit provided me a great opportunity to visit with three amazing and fun young people who know what they want in life, and, of course, who love animals. 

Hay is moving in Bonner County, and the big farming rigs have been going back and forth past our house as farmers all do their best to make hay while the sun shines.  

Unfortunately, some did not leave the field before getting washed with a couple of rain storms. 

Back to the sunshine today. 

Happy Friday. 

Wouldn't this be nice?  

Step Back in Time; TBT

 

                                                                                                             ---Bill Love Photo

No aches. No pains. Ample energy.  Smiles.  Giggles and a lot of yakkedy yak.  

Multi-tasking with one's tongue and ears while responding to numerous conversations can be challenging no matter what.  

Oh a few occasional awkward movements, but when you're climbing to the back end of a convertible, even the most agile of humans might lack grace.

Above are just a few snippets from yesterday's photo shoot with some 70 somethings in SHS spirit gear who pushed aside bodily misery and welcomed some steps into their collective past. 

The setting:  Sandpoint Middle School, which was once Sandpoint High School when members of the SHS Class of 1965 reunion committee gathered for a few photos celebrating a notable class achievement. 

Those evergreen trees along Division Street and the deciduous variety along the drive into the school parking lot were planted in 1965.  

The Class of 1965 raised the funds to plant the trees and to put a big Bulldog on the side of the building over the doors to the school gymnasium. 

The Bulldog eventually was painted over and replaced by a smaller Bulldog cuz younger kids had begun to attend the facility which became a middle school.

The trees, however, are thriving magnificently as 60-somethings. 

                                                                                ---Bill Love Photo

And, so we met around Mike Rosenberger's 1965 Dodge convertible, which he has been restoring for the past few years. 

Restoration in this beautiful classic has included sound, and so the sounds of the 1960s were adding to the youthful spirit throughout the photo shoot. 

I asked Bill to come along and push the button on the camera.  He did so several times in three different locations.  

All the while, iPhone cameras were out doing their work with selfies and candid photos while the group, minus two members (we missed you Mike and Judy) marveled at the car, enjoyed each other and often reverted to some silly 16-year-olds. 

For a few hours, we all forgot about the age-related problems and snatched back a welcome slice of our youth. 

To say the least, a good time was had by all, and we're all looking forward to continuing the fun with upcoming planning meetings and the big reunion in late September. 

We enjoyed a lot of fun moments yesterday and felt great pride in seeing a project that has lasted 60 years and is still looking good for the future. 

😍😎😍😎😍😎😍😎 

Thursday Throwbacks . . . . from my photo library.  Enjoy.