Rainy Day Stuff; Pilgrim Arrival

I turned the electric heat up twice during the night and still felt cold. 

A note from the 4-H horse leader sent overnight indicated that the horse meeting scheduled for this Thursday night could be cancelled if it's too hot. 

We have experienced menopausal type weather for the past several weeks.  Four layers on one minute, shedding down to one layer the next. 

This cycle of hot and cold flashes has happened several times. 

This week is no exception as there were reports and pictures of snow on Schweitzer yesterday morning. 

We'll be up to 90 on Thursday. 

Still not complaining too much because we have not experienced the seemingly never-ending weather extremes  so far this spring and summer. 

I'm hoping to finish mowing the lawn today after being driven inside with the wildest, wooliest and wettest lightning and thunder storm yesterday afternoon. 

In fact, I walked into the upstairs bathroom last night to find a lake covering most of the floor and a very wet toilet seat.  A window had been left open and a good portion of outdoor weather found its way inside. 

With the time inside, I had a chance to try a new kitchen tool for my homegrown lettuce.  I'm sure most every other homemaker has had a salad separator, but it's new to me.

And, I love it. Time saving and very effective in removing water from just-washed garden lettuce.  I'm figuring that at least half an hour of the tedium necessary to prepare each new picking will now be a thing of the past AND I'll prepare fresh garden salads more often. 

Yesterday I sampled my first two raspberries and discovered that a tomato on the plant my friend Shiraz gave me is almost ripe. Can't wait to plop it in my mouth and enjoy its fresh juicy flavor. 

Even though they have shelters to avoid the rain, the horses chose to stand out in the middle of the pasture yesterday as those big drops beat down on them. 

Later, when I brought them up to the barnyard, CB was having a good time being a nuisance to both Lefty and Lily. That meant some fun time with the camera. 

He has finally reached a stage where his ribs don't show.  He has been fed very well, but it has taken months for real meat to start showing on the growing boy's bones.  

Finally, today is a great and triumphal day for the pilgrims off in Spain.  They reached their destination of Santiago and the shrine of St. James, the Apostle, a few hours ago. 

The remains of St. James, the patron saint of Spain, are believed to be within the church.  

Annie, Justine and their pilgrim family were planning to attend Mass at the shrine today, as pilgrims from all over the world have done since the 9th Century. 

I received a WhatsApp message from Annie overnight, noting that she was "up before the roosters hoping to get her pilgrims off to Mass."  

Sue Bristol, I know you're reading this and feel confident that you'll be proud to know that your influence so many years ago teaching those Catechism classes, when precocious Annie Love and her sidekick Nicholas Rust "cavorted" a bit too much-----it's paid off. 

I'm sure today's events will soon appear on the Camino blog today and some overviews tomorrow as the Camino family members (pictured above in their dinner last night celebrating Nina, the German pilgrim's birthday).

www.adventuregirlannie.com

Congratulations to all the pilgrims!  We are proud of you!

Happy Tuesday.

  

Rachel from Seattle, Justine from Plummer, Idaho; Maurice from Philadelphia, Nina from Germany, Annie aka Mia from Seattle/Sandpoint and Irish John from Ireland finished their Camino today.

Congratulations!

For those who follow Annie's flip-flop hiking tendencies, she posted that she walked about 30 miles of the pilgrimage wearing her favorite footgear.