The weather finally turned. We got a little more than 2 inches of rain (yeah! no watering all the new trees for another week!) and the weather cooled. One of the daily chores is collecting eggs. Here’s Claire with the daily haul.
Month: July 2005
July 25, 2005 – Garlic Bread!
Today was the last hot day for a while – so it was a good day for a dentist visit and to clean the house to get ready for an appraisal for a refinance. It’s nice to have a clean house. In the evening we cut some of the black-bearded wheat we planted for ornamental value. Martin, however, is convinced we are going to make wheat flour with the wheat, so here’s a picture of “garlic bread” for Martin.
July 24, 2005 – Back at the Ranch
Today, we find out what the place looks like after 10 days away. It looked like nobody had lived here for a while, pretty shaggy looking. I guess the upside is that it shows us how much we actually do while it seems nothing is getting done. Other than that, it was a day of laundry, putting stuff away, sorting mail and getting things back in order. We dropped Emma off in Minneapolis for a half-week in Minneapolis with her cousins and another half week with Nana in Rochester.
July 23, 2005 – Last Day at the Cabin
Saturday marks the last day at the cabin.
Here, the kids concentrate on a game of bocce ball.
The girls pose with their “search and rescue” shirts and sweaters to commemorate Emma’s return to civilization!
Finally, the last picture of the crew before the 520 mile trip home.
July 22, 2005 – Solitude (well, almost)
Although the time at the cabin is filled with activity – there are a few moments of solitude. Just past sunset, I dragged Claire off for a walk. Her reluctance soon waned as we walked down a trail and took a turn off through the brush. We encountered an animal trail and ended up in a spongey bog at the headwaters of a small lake, with a stream meandering through it. Our expressed purpose was to look for moose, but we did not see any. Claire appreciated the sparseness, strangeness, and solitude, even with the bugs. She commented that she doubted there were too many people ever in that bog, let alone wearing pajamas.
Another time of solitude was when I had a chance to fish in the middle of a riffle, with water pouring out on both sides, the fish in the boiling water less than 10 feet from my feet.
One night, just after sunsset we were out on the dock when a pack of timber wolves started howling. Martin’s eyes got very large and he burrowed into his mother.