A friend, Karen, known since 1975 died Monday. A son-in-law called mid-morning to let me know she died during the night. Husband Bob died a couple of years ago. After arriving in Idaho in summer of 1974, Nancy and I were early members of a Brittany Club forming in the region. We met Karen and Bob in the spring of 1975. They were established Brittany folks and regular supporters of our club. We met their kids at field trials. Our active participation lasted about 15 years. The kids got married and had kids. And now one of those, with two cute girls, lives just 5 miles south of me on the way to EBRG.
I decided not to go over. There are various reasons I don’t like funerals. The major one is that as an altar boy for many years I served at frequent funeral masses, somewhere between 60 and hundred. I don’t think this is a good experience for a young teen. Nevertheless, I’ve been thinking of Karen all week. It is odd, but the passing of the Moon in front of the Sun on Saturday caused a distinct painful emotion. Another void in our lives that cannot be filled. Peace.
I did not try to photograph the solar eclipse. Here is a photo taken from Puget Sound at 9:10 am on Saturday. About 80% of the Sun is covered. In EBRG it was a bit less.
This has been a slow week.
M/T/W saw regular dirt & rock action. I finished painting both sides and all edges of 4 sheets of plywood. I now can paste a mural on them and – the hard part – get them attached to the side of the shed. While I had the paint open and a small brush, I painted the entry-sign letters with the white paint. Unfortunately, when made, the letters were cut from a plywood not meant to be outside. These were coming apart and the blue and original wood made an unpleasant mess. For the time being they are white and look okay. I’ll replace them later.
I went to a routine dental appointment at 11:00 on Thursday. Cameron wanted to bottle wine but two of us could not go, so that was postponed until Friday. Nothing got done at home on either day.
There was a small tank of wine and bottling took just two hours. With nice weather we lunched outside. Cameron, Garret, and I played two games of Pétanque on the gravel drive – Cameron had the duty in the tasting room and had to stay nearby.
Saturday, after a trip to town (grocery & pharmacy), I cleaned up a few yard things, including the continuing “rain” of Black Walnuts.
Today (Sun), I raked leaves and dug 20 feet of shallow trench in the garden. Not quite finished with that, but I use the trench for composting food waste (think apple cores) and it is desirable to get the work done before nasty weather ramps up, or the surface freezes.
Sunday I mostly did kitchen chores. I made a large batch of lasagna-like mixture that included green pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, sausage, pasta sauce, and caramelized onions. I now have 10 packages, each a single meal, and more nutritious than grocery store lasagna.
This coming Wednesday we have another – larger – tank of wine to bottle.
Otherwise, no specific plans.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John