July has been a series of days slipping by, with one hot breath after another, and so we have sought out the rivers and cool waters as a way to enjoy the heat, and not just suffer with it miserably.  The entire northwest has been under a tremendous heatwave, and wildfire dangers since the beginning of the summer months.  We have had several wildfires close to us, but thankfully all have been put out within hours of starting.  We are so very grateful for the host of hardworking firefighters who are here working on the wildfires.  

A dear friend took us out on their boat, and we enjoyed the gorgeous views and company.

Lake views are the best!

We've watched the temperature rise to places unheard of, with records being broken in the last week of June for 100+ temperatures.

We like to ride down to the river on our quad and cool off after a long hot day!

The lavender has been doing amazing with the heat, and the honey bees are so grateful for  the lavender, they swarm it from morning til evening.

My zinnias are full of blooms, such rich and vibrant colors!

The garden is doing well for the most part.  The heat has taken its toll.  The lettuce is still going strong, but the heat has caused it to bolt, so I am feeding it to my chickens.

The peas have done really well this year! They love nitrogen and rich soil, so I planted them around my compost pile, and they are so happy!

Sunflower blooms just make my heart sing!

My Mom traveled to see her mother in New Brunswick. She had to quarantine for 2 weeks in a dear friend's home before she could see her mother.  Oh what a precious reunion it was!

My Gram is blind, and many of you remember the horrible fire last September that destroyed the homestead she and my Grampie had married and lived in.  Thankfully a new home has been put on the site, and it is truly a remarkable blessing!

July 13 was her 91st birthday. I'm so thankful my Mom was able to celebrate with her!

Far too soon, Mom had to leave and it was hard for them to say goodbye. This picture just makes me cry!

Dan and I also celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary in July, and decided to invest in an RV so that we could take little weekend trips and have our own house on wheels!

We drove up into the mountains, and found a lush, green wooded campsite to spend the night at, with a little creek that tumbled happily along, its music our night's entertainment!

We like to "primitive camp" without any amenities... and just enjoy the quiet beauty of all that nature offers!

Campfires were still allowed in this area, so we were so happy to enjoy a campfire!

The little mountain stream that sang to us the sweetest melody!

And of course... watermelon!

The next day we traveled and stopped at different little towns, and enjoyed the beautiful views. We found our next campsite 13 miles back up an old logging road, with a beautiful creek alongside it. We decided to camp here for the second night. No fires here though, as there was a nearby wildfire in progress, although mostly contained.

We enjoyed the beauty of the mountain stream as it sang happily downstream.  In the distance, behind us, you can see the smoke from the nearby wildfire. Smoke has become a constant companion for us it seems, with these terrible drought conditions.

Early in the morning, the sun spread its warming rays over the distant hills, what a beautiful sight it was!

To celebrate our anniversary, Danielle and Zak came up after we got home, and we enjoyed a meal together, and then... yes watermelon for dessert.  It's always a treat in this hot weather we are having!

Danielle painted this picture for us for our anniversary. Our sweet Mister Simba!  I was so touched by this! It will always be a treasured painting of our precious Mister. How we miss him so!

You may have read in the news that the northwest is experiencing extreme heat and drought conditions, and that we are dealing with an extreme risk of fires in our area.  We are very blessed that the Idaho Forest Service has been very proactive in fighting fires, and that is a great comfort. We continue to stay diligent and prepared in case of fire danger.  So many are dealing with too much rain, and we are suffering under a lack of rain. We pray for the rain we need, and for others to receive the sunshine they need.  We did get a bit of rain this morning, and what a delight it was! We need more, much more, but even this small amount has been wonderful! 

My dad flew recently to visit with us.  It was hard to know how things would be for him flying with all the covid-19 regulations, but thankfully, he flew without any difficulties at all.  

One day we visited Schweitzer Resort. It was a spectacular day with lots of incredible scenery.

May has been such a busy month around here, we have had lots of doing, and not much time for the computer and sharing/blogging.  It is a good thing to have mostly sunshine, mixed with clouds, rain and wind at times, but overall, we are thankful to have seen more of the sun recently, and this has given us more of a chance to get outside and enjoy springtime.

I want to forewarn you though... this post is about several different events, four of them I've turned into a collage to shorten the post, and hopefully make it a bit easier to see why this May has been full of activity for us :)  Really, each of the collages could have served as a post of their own, but my time challenges won't permit me this luxury, so I will share them with you like this.


There was an approximate area it was buried, and so a backhoe began to slowly dig out the area. Lots of bottles, nails, and even an old stovetop was found, but no bottle!  My husband was down by the backhoe helping to look for anything that could be the time capsule.  Suddenly, he spotted something, reached down, and there it was!  My husband was the first one to touch this time capsule since 1929, quite an exciting thing for him!  He handed it immediately to Mrs. L and then the excitement arose on how best to open it.  It was filled with liquid, most likely water, because the cork had gone bad.  Soon enough, the bottle was opened and gentle hands pulled the paper from the bottle.  It was a recording by the teacher of all the student names there in beautiful handwriting.  Here is a closeup of it.


Some of the names were familiar to many of the community and neighbors who had gathered there, and some were not.  It was just an amazing experience to see that this piece of paper written back in 1929, put in a bottle whose cork had dried out, that was still able to be legible and readable! The paper will be preserved as part of the grange's history in this area.  It was a really neat experience for all of us. Some of the lilac bushes were dug up in the search for the bottle, and I took a couple of the bushes home to plant in my yard... a little piece of the history of that day will always  be with us :)



A storm had rolled in, and was in the clearing stages when my husband and I took a little drive down river.  Oh, it was magnificent!  The colors in the sky, try as I might, really didn't show up well on my camera.  Yet, you get to see just a bit of the beauty of that night as we enjoyed the glorious skies after the storm.




My family treated me in special ways for Mother's Day with flowers, chocolate, very sweet cards and gift cards, and a gorgeous blue birdbath for the front yard. We ate out at our favorite Mexican restaurant and enjoyed the day together, ending it out by the pit with a fire later that evening.  So blessed and thankful for my precious family!



A city nearby has a big celebration every year, "Lost in the 50s".  One of the big thrills of the weekend is the parade that kicks the event off.  I don't think I've EVER been in a parade that long!  It just kept coming and coming and coming!  The classic cars came 2 by 2, and even still, the parade took close to an hour!  Oh it was great to see all the old beauties all shined up, but I think my favorite picture out of the whole night was this one ...


The expressions on their faces just made my heart smile too :)




As we traveled down the road towards our camping spot, we spotted movement in the hills, and before long, this lone moose made her way across the road, and back down the hill.  She was not too concerned about our presence, and seemed quite content once she reached the other side of the embankment.  It was very exciting seeing the moose just a mile or so from where we were camping.  We kept our eyes and ears out while we camped, but saw no other large wildlife while we were there.


As we reached our destination, I couldn't help but just stand and look at the views around me.  You can't tell from this picture, but the river at this junction flows east and west, with snow-capped mountains backdropping both the east and west.  It was an impressive sight to see... wherever you saw the river, the mountains were in the background, still covered in snow.


From the east side of the river, in this picture you can't see the mountains, but they were there! The shadows hid them from this vantage point.


Setting up camp is always lots of fun, deciding where to situate things and getting the fire going.


As we worked to set up camp, the wind began to blow, and I looked up and saw this incredible rainbow forming overhead!  It was magnificent!


A light drizzle of rain began but it was more like a mist than rain.  The rainbow continued to form, growing brighter and brighter as the storm hovered around us.


And then two of them formed!  Can you see the second one?


Absolutely incredible to see both these rainbows hovering over the mountain in perfect formation.


I caught this splash of brilliant color as its glorious colors filled the sky.


 Meanwhile, Riley had found something quite interesting to chew on, so she stayed with me while I snapped pictures of the rainbow, completely unaware of it all, enjoying her own joys of camping...


Soon there was a roaring fire built and it was time to get supper.  Whenever we camp, I like to bring a meal already cooked that can just be heated, as setting up camp sometimes can take longer than you realize.  Today, I made a Cowboy Soup and brought homemade cornbread with it.  It was the PERFECT meal after the busyness of setting up camp, and watching the rainbow!


Isn't that the cutest beggar you've ever seen? Yes, she has the science of begging down to a fine art!


After dinner was cleaned up, we walked downstream and in this picture you can see our campsite off in the distance.


We found quite a few Morel mushrooms as we walked, and that was very exciting!


As the sun began to set, we made our way back to camp, enjoying the gorgeous sunset colors in the sky.


The weather was perfect for sleeping, in the low 50s.  Soon a beautiful morning dawned upon us.


In the still morning light, the river was calm while the sleepy sunlight lazily bounced around us.


A picture that speaks of the serenity and beauty of this little camping spot.  After we ate breakfast, we read through several chapters of Proverbs, and shared what many of the Proverbs we read meant to us, and lessons we could learn from them, and then we had prayer together. It was a very special time with us and the Lord, outside in the most beautiful, peaceful setting.


After all the excitement of morning coffee and breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried potatoes, the cutest little beggar needed a nap...


My husband and I took our lawn chairs down by the riverbanks and stretched out to enjoy the sun and the view.  I think we both napped too... :) The soothing rush and constant roar of the river was music to our souls, the kind we like best.


I know I took far too many pictures of this little piece of heaven we were camping in... as quite soon the snow will be gone off the mountain peaks, but for today, we enjoyed the luxury of feeling warm in the cool breeze off the snow-covered peaks.


Many trails beckoned us onward to explore...


While walking on one of the trails, my husband spotted this snake, that I was just about to step on! My husband, being the native Texan that he is, is a pro at spotting such things.  I was just happily walking along enjoying the moment, oblivious to the slithering going on by my feet!


Luckily this was just a harmless little snake that soon was scooped up and taken back to the banks of the river where his home no doubt is.  North Idaho has no poisonous snakes, and of course my husband assured me that he had no triangular shape to his head, so we were fine.  Whew!


After our little excursion, and snake adventure, we all needed a nap, Riley included.  She managed to find the softest bed around!  The rest of us napped in lawn chairs, while our friend got out her cot and napped on it, with Riley all snuggled close.  She likes her creature comforts!


We woke up to hear the shrill call of the hawk overhead, circling for his dinner.  He moved quickly, and I was lucky to get this picture of him.  He kept his distance from us.


One last view of the mountains before it was time to pack up and head home.  Our hearts were full of contentment and simple serenity and joy of being able to camp and enjoy the beauty of the Lord's creation with our good friends.  Plans are already being made for another such camping trip. We won't be going camping this weekend, as more work needs to continue - trees, garden, house maintenance, and the like... but as soon as time and weather permits, we hope to get out and camp along the river again.

So you can see that the month of May has been a busy one ~ from the time capsule ~ to evening rides ~ to Mother's Day celebrations ~ and taking in a Lost in the 50s parade, along with working on clearing out our dead trees (always an ongoing job), that we are busting at the seams with joy for the delights of springtime in all its glory here.

As we remember the heroes of our country this weekend, who have put their lives on the line for our freedoms and while we enjoy good food, friends and fellowship, may we all remain very thankful for the freedoms that we are afforded in this country and a heartfelt gratefulness and thankfulness for the bountiful blessings of the Lord that we enjoy each and every day.  Let us never take it for granted! Happy Memorial Day to all :)