Ten Mile Road Trip #4: Barnaby Creek Loop

Sunday we took a ten mile road trip. It had been awhile since we had taken time to take a drive. We headed south on the Inchelium Highway and began our loop at Barnaby Island. I have taken other pictures of this island, but the one above shows how it looks in the summer when Lake Roosevelt is full. This island is popular for houseboats and cabin cruisers to park and swim or spend the night. We headed up Barnaby Creek Road toward a favorite spot of ours on the creek. There are farms and ranches along this road. After traveling west uphill we came to a dirt road we call our " secret spot". It is a clearing we discovered a few years ago. We have camped, hiked, and swam here. The dogs remembered the creek and headed down the hill. I love the way the creek mixes moss, broken branches, and clear water to provide a cool place to rest. There is a trail that heads up the mountain and the dogs usually find some form of wildlife that catches their interest. Today it was a quiet day for squirrels and grouse. We loaded up the rig and traveled north past Lake Ellen then heading east we climbed back up the hill that overlooks Barnaby Island further up the lake. This spot is one of my favorite views of the lake south of my house. The island stands alone covered with evergreen trees. Descending the hill we joined the highway again, making a full circle on our ten mile trip. ( I call it that but JEJ tells me it is probably further).This ten mile road trip reminds me of the scenic out-of -the way places we have close to our house. We are blessed to be able to go and spend an afternoon with the dogs, a snack, quiet beauty, and the camera.

Sunday Scribblings: Picking Green Beans-Be Practical and Remember "Slippery When Wet"

The Sunday Scribblings word this week is slippery. You can find other posts here.

The sun room always felt cool in the early morning. The north windows framed Grandma West’s garden. With precision the straight rows yielded rosy Early Girl tomatoes, pale green sugar peas vining on string supports, and curly Red Sails leaf lettuce ready to harvest. The deep green color of the zucchini plants contrasted with the smaller beet plants just getting a start. Closer to the back fence was a mixture of colors in the flower garden. My eye caught the deep pink cosmos contrasting with the pale yellow gladiolas as they glistened with welcomed dew.

Grandma said morning was the best time of day to pick green beans. From that sun room window I observed her daily ritual. As she gently pulled the ripe beans off the sturdy vines I was drawn to her hands. “When you garden you must be practical,” she explained to me the day before. Practical meant short trimmed nails, clear polish if any, rings left in the dish on the dresser, and no gardening gloves. “No gardening gloves because you must feel the beans with your bare hands to decide if they are ready to pick”, she added in our earlier conversation.
The second daily ritual was wearing sensible gardening shoes. Grandma always explained how the garden soil is slippery when wet. “You need to have shoes with treads that keep you standing,” she would chuckle, “ I would hate to fall on my tomato plants.”

I left that sun room to greet my grandma. Knowing I am the one always known to slip whether the ground is wet or not I walked with care. A question brought her back to the present. “How can you tell when the beans are ready to pick?” I inquired. She was stroking another bean pod as she snapped it from the vine, dropping it with a ping into the rusty galvanized bucket.
“Well now”, she said slowly,” it certainly won’t make you sick. Green beans are good for you. It will put hair on your chest! Come help me pick a mess for dinner, but be careful. The garden soil is slippery when wet.”

As I walked gingerly to her garden post I began pulling the beans off the vine. I turned back to this practical gardener and asked, “Why would I want hair on my chest? I am a girl Grandma!”

Grandma’s Fresh Picked Green Beans
Pick a mess of green beans (judge amount by people served).
Snap the beans in smaller pieces and remove strings if necessary.
Place beans in a pot. Cover the beans with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for forty-five minutes. Drain liquid.
Add crisp fried bacon pieces and toss in a small amount of the bacon grease. Serve warm as a side dish.

A Saturday Garden Tour

Despite the temperatures of over 100 degrees, when we arrived home Thursday we had flowers in full bloom. JEJ has spent hours watering since our return. Here is a photo tour of the garden today. The photos speak for themselves.

Friday's Post: Sibling Assignment # 27: " Up the River"

Our sibling assignment this week was to write a memory about going " Up the River" . Up the river is the north fork of the Coeur d' Alene River. You can find my brother's here and my sister's here . There were place names that were always a part of the lore of the river. When a name was mentioned it would conjure up a story or memory of that place. I arranged images and names of the river into this poem:

Floating the North Fork
Of the Coeur d’Alene River

Leave one rig at Enaville, Bumblebee, or Steamboat Creek and
take the other to Shoshone Creek, Bobtail Road, or Lost Creek.
Pack up the sunflower seeds, cooler, cut-offs and thongs
and remember Sea and Ski, shades, and a roll of TP.
Float past the Prichard Bridge, Beaver Creek, and Bill English’s house
and always look for Cedar Island, Graham Creek, and Dad’s "place”.

Find black marks from the inner tube,
scrape bottom in the shallow parts,
look for bushes when nature calls,
and holler and splash friends as you slowly pass by.

Floating at a lazy pace as the sun sinks behind the mountain,
cooler empty, seeds gone, shoulders red with burn.
Dive in at The Rocks, the Black Bridge, or the famous Silver Bridge
wistfully remembering those names that never came back up.
Head back past the Snake Pit to Senator Creek,
Travel home over Dobson Pass- the scenic route,
Turn at the Husky station, cruise by Camp Ferguson and Dago Peak,
and hit Sweet’s Cafe in Wallace for gravy and fries.

No Phone, No Internet, No Cell Phone, No Blog: This Was for Thursday!

When I arrived back to Lake Roosevelt Thursday I planned to post this blog about the 4th of July. Alas, the phone went out, the Internet went down, we couldn't get service with the cell phone, so I read a book and tried to stay cool! Yesterday the phone came on, but in talking to a "tech" and my neighbors it seems the repairmen fixed the cut phone line, but didn't get the DSL line repaired. The word was they might get to it on Monday. Ah....the joys of living in rural Ferry County. On day three of no blogging I loaded up breakfast and a thermos and came to school to get caught up. Here is Thursday's blog!

Sparklers

Twirling our frantic looks and circles,
we cried out look! To the grownups
watching from their lawn chairs,
afraid they’d somehow miss the
giddy slash of every turn and leap
until the last glow died and we went back,
warned each time about burnt hands
and bare feet flying in slippery grass.
Again! we shouted, and ran as far
beyond the porch light as we dared,
for this was Independence Day
and we were too busy to listen,
writing our names in thin air.

-Mark Vinz

We spent the 4th of July evening celebrating Silver Valley Girl and JEJs' birthdays with a dinner and cake and candles. We then moved to Mom's front lawn which had a great view of the community fireworks. We also had our own display in the street. This poem was fitting for the evening shared with family.

A Patriotic Fourth of July Tour in My Little Town

"In my little town

I grew up believ--ing

God keeps his eye on us all

And he used to lean upon me

As I pledged allegiance to the wall

Lord I recall

My little town."

-Paul Simon

a photo tour of Kellogg today as the town prepares for the Fourth of July celebration