The Rabbitbrush is Blooming --

And I'm sneezing! Just about the time that all the other wildflowers are gone, we begin to see its golden yellow blooms. We've a lot of it in the coulee -- mixed in with the sagebrush. Contrary to its name, the wildflower books say that rabbits don't eat it and speculate that it might have gotten its name because it's a good hiding place for the bunnies.

We made another trip to Spokane today. I think it's time to start thinking about moving Auntie Violet in that direction. It would make for a lot shorter trips!

We went over to Cafe Marron for dinner outside on their patio this evening. Forry had a HUGE angus burger while I had tonight's special: pan seared duck breast with sauteed summer pattypan squash and argula, goat cheese and fresh plum salad. UMM good!

Garden Fresh Corn, Cucumbers, Peppers, Potatoes and TOMATOES!

Does that sound like a feast or not? Add in some homemade jalapeno poppers, some barbecued pork chops and peach/blueberry crunch and ice cream and you've got an afternoon at my Brother Pat's and his wife Cindy's! We headed for their place outside of Moses Lake after church (and a nap) this afternoon. My niece Becky and her husband David and their not-yet-two little son were there too, along with my other niece Ashley (and her boyfriend Brad) and nephew Nick.

My great-nephew Carter is quite a delight! He's Pat and Cindy's first grandchild -- and he is definitely doted on by the entire household. He's all boy with his trucks and cars -- and his love of DIRT! There was some nice loose dirt where his grandpa (Pop-Pop) had dug new potatoes for dinner and I am sure Carter thought it Pop-Pop had dug it up just for him.

Pat has again grown several varieties of heirloom tomatoes in his garden -- each one has a bit of a different wonderful flavor and each variety you taste you think is the best of all. The very best part is that a nice sack full (along with some ears of sweet corn) came back to Auntie Violet with us!

Laundry, laundry, laundry!

Ugh, I am done with all the laundry! Forry better not get ANYTHING dirty for at least a couple of days!

It was funny weather today. It was chilly this morning -- the thermometer said it had gotten down to 36 degrees during the night. But by this afternoon, it was back up into the low nineties with the wind blowing most of the day.

We met Sarah and Curt and Anna in at Consuelo's in Ritzville for dinner this evening. Boy, did I get in trouble for not realizing that the Lind fire crew was the first one there at yesterday's fire! Curt said they pretty well had it out by the time the Ritzville and Odessa crews arrived...

This Afternoon's Fire

We were resting in Auntie Violet after our return from Spokane when Forry noticed smoke on the horizon up the coulee. It looked like it was quite a ways away.

A bit later Barb came to the door and said the fire was on the edge of the field that the Hutterites were harvesting and had spread into our CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) field next to them. It sounds like they were going around the harvested edge of the field with a chopper that had a hot bearing and started the fire.

Forry watched the activity for a while with binoculars then we drove around and up to take a look. Fire trucks were there from Lind, Ritzville and Odessa. The fire had burned from the edge of the field up the coulee to the next road where it was finally stopped. Fortunately it did not get into the field of unharvested grain. It burned about 10 acres of the CRP ground.

FIRE!

The Hutterites had a hot bearing on a chopper that started in their stubble field and spread into our CRP ground!
Odessa and Ritzville fire crews have it out. It's a pretty gusty day, so we are thankful it didn't burn more.

I Really Like My Kindle DX!

I've decided I really like my Kindle DX. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the transition from a book I could hold in my hand to the elctronic version. When I look at the list of books I've read (which are archived at Amazon so I could read them again), I realize how much space they would have taken up in my already crowded closet in Auntie Violet. I think I've saved quite a bit of money as well -- even paperbacks are a dollar or two cheaper and the hard backs are a whole lot less.

I still wish it was a bit lighter. With the cover it sometimes seems quite heavy. It's more like reading a hard back book in bed. I've never handled one of the regular Kindles (the first ones which are smaller), so I don't know if they weigh any less.

I've had some interesting conversations with friends and with people at airports who are very curious about the Kindles. People seem to be very interested in how it works and if I like it. The one thing that would be nice is back lighting so that I could read at night. My Sis has gotten a book light to use with hers. I think I have an "itty bitty book light" stashed some place in a drawer -- I'll have to look for it.

A New Antenna Connection!

We stopped at the AT&T store in Spokane yesterday. They gave us a new aircard to replace the one that was just a few weeks old on which the antenna connection had broken. That was really good news as they are $99 a pop!

I have been doing my blogs for the last few days from my iPhone. I'm pleased that I've figured out how to do it, but it takes a whole lot longer with that itty-bitty touch screen.

Almost all of the grain harvest in the area is over (the crops were a bit better then had been anticipated this spring with all of the necessary re-seeding) so last night's rain was much appreciated. Our tenant has his drills up on the summerfallow at the corner and hopes to start seeding wheat this weekend.

I cannot believe the quantity of dirty laundry I am looking at again. I know there were just a few items in the laundry basket when I left for Chicago! I think the soiled items sing a siren song during the night to entice all kinds of other clothing to join them...

Cloudy Day, But Good Flights

It was overcast in Chicago and lightly raining in Seattle, but other then the Moses Lake plane which was a few minutes late, it was good flying.
I was so tired when we finally finished interviews and discussion at 7:00, I was in bed by 8 o' clock. I left the hotel this morning a little after 6 to make my 8 AM flight. The Chicago airport is so busy I barely got through security in time.
I think we are getting close in our search for an Executive Director. This meeting was our 17th meeting, mostly conference calls, but several in person as well .

A Lovely Day to Fly
Even though I had a pretty early flight this morning west to Seattle from Moses Lake and then east to Chicago, it was a good day of flying. It was overcast and chilly in Seattle, but 90 degrees when we landed in Chicago about 2 pm. I got to the hotel early enough to able to take a shower before the meeting started at 4:30.

We had one interview that started at 5:30 and lasted until 7:30. If the three we have scheduled for tomorrow are as good as the candidate we talked with today, we're going to have a terrible time making a decision!

Eight of us had dinner at the hotel restaurant this evening. It had been a long time since the granola & yogurt I had at SeaTac this morning, but the portions were so big I couldn't even finish half! I had ordered potato gnocchi that was really good, but enough for 2 or 3 people.

We will start at 7:15 tomorrow in order to get all of the interviews done, so I'd best be getting to bed...

It has been a long, but gratifying day. The Memorial Service for Phyllis was lovely. The church was full with many Flying Farmer friends as well as church family and neighbors. There were many stories told, tears as well as laughter.
We went over to Randy and Barb's following the reception for dinner with the family. MM
and Dawn went with us while the sons-in-law brought the grand kids back to the ranch for hot dogs and swimming. They're all camped out in tents outside tonight.
I told them all good-bye tonight as Forry is taking me to the Moses Lake airport at 4:30 for my flight to Chicago in the morning.