Saturday Slight

 

I need help again in the flower-identification department.  

This delicate and lovely flower is blooming near the deck, and I'm guessing that it may have come from some wildflower seed. 

If you know what to call it, let me know. 

Thanks. 

I needed a glass of lemonade, and these friendly folks helped me out. 

They operated their stand yesterday on Division Street, and I heard that they were enjoying a good day  selling either pink or yellowish lemonade along with some of their crafted flower pot accessories. 

I happen to know their grandmother Julie (in the middle) very well, so after seeing on Facebook that they were open for business, I added some extra time on the way to my hair appointment to stop by their stand. 

Nice young ladies with an equally nice older brother who calls himself their manager. 

Their mom on the right teaches at Kootenai School. 

The lemonade, by the way, hit the spot. 

Rose Marie Thompson

My "outlaw" friend who passed away this week.

RIP, Rose Marie. We'll miss you. 

💚💛💙💜

More about Rose Marie from the "Slight Detour" annals

Bratfest 2009

 from the Aug. 28, 2009, post. 

Yesterday was brat day at the county fair. It's a tradition which Rose Marie and I started about five years ago. Rose Marie moved up to Sandpoint from San Rafael, California. She and her husband Jim Thompson have "retired?" to a farm at Wrencoe.

Rose Marie and I are outlaws. That's cuz we're connected to people who are related. Rose Marie's husband's sister Mary is married to my brother Mike.

Mike and Mary, by the way, are in Breckenridge, Colorado, attending his West Point Company F4's reunion. He called yesterday and said they were having a great time reconnecting with his company classmates from 1966.

I told Mike to tell Mary that Rose Marie and I were going to the fair for our annual bratfest. 

Before I get off the subject of outlaws and back to brats, I must congratulate some more outlaws associated with the Brown-Thompson connection.

I saw in the paper this morning that Chris (Mary's younger brother and my SHS classmate and Rose Marie's brother-in-law) and his wife Judy are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary today. Pretty cool, and congratulations.

Now back to the brats. 

I used to tell Rose Marie about the brats (smothered in sauerkraut and mustard) when she would visit up this way before her permanent move. 

We lived close to the fairgrounds at the time, and Bill would give me a few bucks and send me to the fair to purchase his brats. He loved 'em. I loved 'em, and they became as much a highlight at the fair for us as elephant ears are for other fairgoers.

We were talking about elephant ears yesterday at the my hair zapping session---how when they first came out, they cost about a dollar. Now, they're $4 or $5. 

That inflation has caused a certain amount of complaining, but I know the other story to go along with the elephant ears.

The Beta Sigma Phi features them every year, and then in the spring, they give away some hefty scholarships for high school seniors. So, whenever you see people at the fair nibbling on an elephant ear, you know they're contributing to someone else's education.

Now the brat folks and their booth are a private concern, but we don't care. We just use the brats as an excuse to go sit down together on a bale of straw, catch up on a few outlaw updates, watch people go by, talk to people who go by, and bat the damn bees out of the way so we can take the next bite or grab a sip from the soda can before one of those annoying critters dive bombs inside the hole and drowns.

Yesterday we talked to Jack Filipowski who was wondering at the time where his wife Colleen and daughter Jennifer were. We told him we'd seen them in the main exhibit building. 

Then, I asked Jack if he showed his Herefords at the fair. He did, and he wasted no time telling me he had shown the grand champion overall cow. That meant she beat out the other breeds.

Jack lives down the road from us, so we're pleased to know that we have champions on South Center Valley Road. 

Speaking of champions, I must take another slight detour and congratulate the grandparents, parents and the owner of the grand champion steer at the Bonner County Fair.

Jean Luc Albertson of Huguenin and Albertson clans will be selling his champion steer at the fair. And, his cousin Tanner Roos will be selling the reserve champ. Good going to all family members and their respective outlaws.

And, one more thing about that family network----if my green bush beans at the fair had to get a second place ribbon, I'm thrilled that first place went to my dear friend Denise Huguenin.

Denise and I have enjoyed many phases of life since we met on the bleachers at our sons' Little League games. From baseball to sending the peace sign across the altar during Mass at St. Joseph's to playing in the garden dirt---not a bad chronology for a friendship.

Well, back to the brats. Rose Marie and I enjoyed our annual get-together and then headed back through the main exhibit building where she was bound for the antique tractor display and I, for my car. 

Along the way, we met up with lots of people including Idaho State Rep. George Eskridge who was promoting a Republican guy from McCall who's running for Congress against U.S. Congressman Walt Minnick.

I said they probably wouldn't want to talk to me, with my Obama sticker still on my rear bumper. Then, someone asked me if I voted for George. To which I said proudly, "Yes."

Then, I announced to the crowd that I voted for all our Republican state legislators and still voted for President Obama. Then, I jokingly asked, "So, what does that make me?"

My outlaw friend, Jim Thompson, brother of Mary, brother-in-law to my brother Mike and husband of my outlaw friend Rose Marie immediately quipped a response appreciated by most in the crowd.

"Mixed-up," he said.

On that note, I figured I'd better head to my car and go home to fix dinner for the two men at my house.

So, as usual, it was a fun day with the brats. My outlaw friend Rose Marie and I will, no doubt, do it again next year.

Annie's Travel Photos . . . Had a great time exploring Esztergom [Northwest Hungary] via geocaching today. Walked across the Danube to Slovakia for the evening welcome event. 

A beautiful area to explore!