Weekend Highlights

Good food, new friends, lovely settings, a little adventure, Mother's Day spaghetti prepared by Willie and cobbler prepared by Debbie and some trips down Memory Lane.

I'll start with the last.  Bill brought home three photo albums from his recent Louisiana trip. They had been compiled over the years by his parents.  About half the photos came from Idaho from the time Willie and Annie were infants until their adolescent years. 

After our Mother's Day dinner, we stood around the kitchen island thumbing through the pages.  Lots of "oh, they were so adorable" by Debbie and Mom to "what team was I rooting for then?" from Willie. 

I told Bill later it's always interesting what's important in old photos.  Willie was most impressed by a photo that proved he's been a Seattle fan for a long, long time.  Of course, Houston and Miami showed up on some of his childhood apparel. 

While visiting with Annie over the phone, I assured her that the Thursday Throwback supply is looking pretty plentiful.  Again, the photo albums illustrated how nice it to have shared so many special photos BEFORE our fire.  

The weekend also included a visit to a new hay and grain store here in the neighborhood---another Wood family enterprise, this one owned by Ben and Dana Wood at what was once Cap Davis' dairy off HWY 95 north of Sandpoint. 

I didn't see the Wood's, but I met their very capable store manager Jessica.  All the feed is grown and milled on Wood land holdings.  The store opened the weekend before last, and, according to Jessica, all is going very smoothly.  

On Saturday morning, I saw a steady line of customers heading in and out of the store, so it's looking like they've gotten off to an excellent start. Best of luck to Ben and Dana with their new business.

Foster and I also took a drive to Bonners Ferry Saturday afternoon while Bill headed up Grouse Creek for some fishing.  I'd never been to the Bonners Ferry cemetery, so a trip up the narrow, winding road to "Grand View" was an adventure in itself. 

And, yes, the cemetery does offer a grand view of the Kootenai River and the mountains to the east.  

Afterward, I stopped at a nursery and picked up a couple of blackberry starts.  It's time to give them a try and if that works out, we'll have three varieties of berries---raspberries, blueberries and black berries.  I finally gave up on grass-infested strawberries. 

When in the past could I ever boast of having a garden-themed dinner in early May!  With asparagus already on and some lovely lettuce, I decided it was possible.  

So, our Saturday night feast featured everything produced on the Lovestead 'cept the chicken and the salad dressing.  Last year's potatoes and Walla Walla sweets added to the homegrown delights. Twas so delicious, every bite. 

My big but short-lived adventure on Mother's Day involved a "group ride" just up the road at Gary Finney's farm.  The key to why the ride was short-lived is the word "group."  

Miss Lily is NOT a groupie.  Still, she kept her cool for the first few minutes as we rode into Gary's barn area where I met new friends who were going along on the ride.  

All went well for a while as we plodded through Gary's woods and out into an open field. The group allowed Lily to be out front, but eventually when the other horses all passed her by in the huge open field, Lily's perennial anxiety took over.  

It soon became obvious that this was NOT going to be a pleasure ride, so I eventually said good bye to the other riders, and Lily and I went home via Forest Siding Road.

It was tough on Lily with no shoes, but once she was alone, as she usually is on our outings, she settled down and we made our way home without incident.

Still, the experience was fun as the other riders were all very nice and, of course, Selle Valley scenery was at its best. 

I certainly don't mind weekends like the one we just had.  Now, a new week has begun and it's back to the usual routine of chores, yard work and other "to do's." 

Happy Monday.