SUDDENLY MAY!

Time is marching right along. It always does. But this morning I felt panic rising. We have family coming for Memorial Day, and I have things I wanted to accomplish before the date. Well, I had to give myself a good talking to. Most of those things don’t matter anyway, and I don’t need to pressure myself. Gramma Kathy does not like pressure!

On Saturday, May 25, we will hold a brief graveside service in Milo’s honor at the Gilbert Cemetery. This is Memorial Day weekend, which makes it possible for our children and their families to be with us on this solemn occasion.

Meanwhile, housework and yardwork beckon, but it’s still too cold to think of planting the garden, especially at the farm. It came close to freezing here in town the other day. But – gardeners are definitely thinking about planting, and I’ve heard Grandma’s advice to wait until after Mother’s Day more than once this year. I have started vegetable seedlings in my kitchen window, and they aren’t doing much. I suspect they’re cold. I don’t know if they will last until time to plant – perhaps another three weeks. I should probably repot them.

I’ve made a nice start on the pansy afghan. Making the effort to work more tightly is hard on my hands, but I am determined to add at least one full row every day until it’s finished. If I put it away (and I’ll be tempted to do so when it’s hot) I will lose momentum, but you know how it is. Making blankets is a cold-weather activity. Still, it has taken me weeks to get the gauge and learn the pattern. Picking it up again after a recess would be difficult.

Mike tells me we’re going to the transfer station this afternoon. We have a lot of yard waste generated by his weeding, and he has used motor oil to dispose of. He has also been cleaning his shop, working on bicycles, and weeding. KW

THE POSTER CHILD FOR PRISON MURDER

Poster Photo -- Milo Warnock

“Who would kill Milo?” asked one of his classmates, an Albertsons employee whom I see frequently.

Who, indeed? Although Milo had a troubled life, Mike and I never envisioned becoming the parents of the poster child for prison murder and thus embarking on a late-life quest for reform.

Yes, we are grieved – but we are also ANGRY. You see, regardless of who Milo was and what he did, he was treated unjustly not only by the justice system but in prison. It was just one horrible downward spiral which Milo was powerless to impact, and we didn’t know what to do.

“I regret that I didn’t try to do more for Milo,” I said to Mike over the supper table one recent evening. “Tell me about it,” he rejoined. Hindsight is 20/20.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” several have said to us. “You probably couldn’t have done anything.”

Well, we could have been more visible, which would have helped Milo. As it was, we were in touch daily.

On the day prior to sentencing, Milo bought an old suit at a thrift store and learned to tie a tie. Before court, he took a selfie in the mirror of a courthouse restroom, which he sent to me. He messaged: “One should look well for his funeral.” Such communications wash over me every day. I feel tears that just refuse to fall.

I have subscribed at the Idaho Justice Project. Who will support such organizations if I (we) don’t? KW

DITHERING OVER THE AFGHAN

Promotional photo
Hopefully, mine will look this good.

 I recently mentioned that I started an afghan from a kit that I purchased 25 years ago. It’s crocheted in the afghan (Tunisian) stitch and then embroidered with pansy designs. The pattern calls for the entire afghan to be worked in one piece of 151 stitches. Somewhat like knitting, Tunisian crochet pulls loops onto the hook and then works them off. I ordered a long hook, but it just wasn’t long enough, and as the afghan grew, it was only going to get worse. 

Long hook -- not long enough

So, after having completed 30 rows, I researched Tunisian crochet and determined that I needed a short hook with an attached cable to hold the stitches. I found one on Amazon and excitedly waited the two days for delivery. But when I began to use the new hook, I saw that switching hooks at this point would be obvious in the work. I would have to start over. (Sigh)

Shorter hook with cable

But – the hook issue wasn’t my only worry. I feared that I would not have enough yarn. By this point, I knew exactly how many rows I was getting per skein, so I decided to be scientific and actually do the math. I discovered that I would indeed be short of yarn if I continued in this way, meaning that my work was too loose. This is a chronic problem with me and sometimes I just don’t care, but it matters with this project. The stitches must be tighter to enable the cross-stitch embroidery, and the yarn in this kit (Caron’s Dazzle Aire) was discontinued long ago. I repeat – long ago! It’s not available anywhere. Some kits provide extra yarn, but this was not the case here.

This is a labor-intensive project, probably the reason I put it off for 25 years. Working tightly, as I must, hurts my wrists. But I hate to just say that I can’t and give it up. I can, and I also want to, so I made another start, and I’ll see how it goes. (I’ll tear out my other work when Mike isn’t looking.)

My mother and my mother-in-law both worked afghans of this type in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and Hallie did one for Mike in the ‘90s, but I suspect that Tunisian crochet is not as popular as it was. I think that today, people like projects that work up more quickly and easily. This doesn’t apply to everyone, of course, but I believe bulkier yarns are the trend now. KW

FIRST FARM OVERNIGHTER OF THE SEASON

 

Mike is going on a 4-wheeler excursion with friends, so we had to make a trip to the farm to get the 4-wheeler. Can’t go 4-wheeling without a 4-wheeler. So, we went Friday (April 19) for another work session and our first overnighter of the season. And it was COLD! The low Saturday morning was 38. 

 

We got a lot done.

·      Wifi turned on

·      TV checked out

·      Transplanted two volunteer trees from town – a common hawthorn and an imitation cherry

·      Cleaned pine straw and debris from the snow breaks on the roof

·      Sprayed herbicide on lane

·      Installed clothesline

·      Two loads of laundry in new washing machine

·      Baked banana bread and cookies in new oven

·      Made bed with fresh sheets

·      Assembled and planted a solar wind spinner

·      Toured perimeter of farm on 4-wheeler

It always seems like the hardest work falls to Mike, and he works hard. I always say that we have to come back to town to rest up – and Mike works hard here, too.

As for wildlife, the Canada goose is no longer on the pond – kinda disappointing. We haven’t seen many deer, but just as we were leaving Saturday afternoon, I spied six deer running across the field to the southwest. They soon disappeared over the rise toward the canyon. KW

COLD AGAIN!

Fortunately, I know better than to remove the electric blanket before June. It’s back to my winter uniform, probably for the rest of the week, if not longer.

Monday (April 15) was a stressful day. We had a phone conference with the prosecuting attorney regarding their investigation of Milo’s homicide. They say that they want to be sure of a thorough investigation and that it’s going to take time. Well, I don't see the prosecuting attorney as a friend, so for me, it just renewed the grief, remorse, and regret.

Also on Monday, the appliance store called to say they could deliver our new stove and washer to the farmhouse the next day (Tuesday the 16^th). Well, we hadn’t planned to go, but we certainly wanted the delivery, so we agreed. The change in plans seemed to add to the stress of the day.

So, Tuesday morning, just as we were ready to leave for the farm, I noticed a headline in my email announcing that Hwy 12 was closed because of a wreck. We took Hwy 95 instead, and this proved difficult as well because of another closure. We had to backtrack several miles. Oh well. We weren't lost, and we made it to the farm.

“It’s cold up here,” said Mike. It’s always cooler at elevation, but for us, the change was profound. It was 80+ in town over the weekend, and now it was 44 at the farm.

Mike fixed the faucet at the kitchen sink before beginning the outdoor work. We traveled in the old truck carrying a load of horse manure, and Mike offloaded it near the raised beds. Then he mowed the lawn. Surprisingly, the grass had grown significantly since our visit two weeks ago.

Old Kenmore range

I prepped the old stove for removal. Then I poisoned gopher holes, watered the rhubarb plants, etc.

Largent’s arrived at 2:40 with the new appliances. Out with the old, in with the new. It didn’t take long. Mike connected the gas line to the new stove and installed the burner grates.

New Frigidaire range

Suddenly it was time to leave. The wind was blowing and white stuff swirled around as we rushed to finish last minute chores. The delivery guys reported that Hwy 12 was open to one-lane traffic, so we decided to return by that route. Unfortunately, we (the westbound traffic) had to wait 20 minutes, and Mike counted 105 eastbound vehicles waiting their chance to go.

Whirlpool washer

[An article in the Lewiston Tribune (April 17) reports that an eastbound Dodge Ram crossed the center line and collided with a semitruck just after 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. Both drivers were taken to hospitals. The accident was a mile west of Myrtle. The semitruck was still in the ditch as we returned to town.] KW

WHAT TO WEAR, WHAT TO WEAR

It’s suddenly turned quite warm. It was 55 at 6:00 this morning, about the same as at bedtime last night.

So, it’s time to drop the winter uniform – my comfortable warm-ups and sweatshirts – and find something else to wear that’s not only suitable for the season but also age-appropriate. No easy feat! It’s a dilemma every year.

It will likely reach 80 today and tomorrow, but next week will be cooler again with very little chance of precipitation.

Mike and Hallie have an upcoming conference call relating to Milo’s homicide, and we are relieved for this sign of progress. Certain documents are restricted due to the criminal investigation, and we hope those will soon be released. KW

FAILURES

I've mentioned here previously – several times – that my cooking / baking efforts aren’t going well. “Honey, if you don’t cook, you get so you can’t cook,” said my mother-in-law. I have diligently continued to cook, but I’m still getting so I can’t cook. I hope I will eventually get better, but then, I’ve been hoping that my whole life. And while it was ingrained in me in my youth that “practice makes perfect,” I have always believed that other factors are involved, like talent and ability.

This last failure was an angel food cake from scratch. I bought liquid egg whites (Lucerne brand from Albertsons), and I thought they looked strange – kinda milky. In fact, I checked to be sure it really was egg whites. Well, I beat the heck outta those egg whites and they never did stiffen up. I was afraid I was going to burn out my stand mixer! I researched online for advice without finding help for the immediate situation, so in the end, I just stirred in the flour and powdered sugar, poured the mixture into the tube pan, and plopped it in the oven. The mixture was so thin that it seeped through the bottom of the pan and onto the freshly cleaned oven floor. (I had to clean it after the previous fail, a chocolate coconut impossible pie.)

Well, I did read that it’s best to use real egg whites, and so I’m anxious to try again. However, the news regarding the loss of eggs due to the avian flu does not bode well. Eggs will be expensive again, they say. Well – so what.

Oh – how did the angel food cake turn out, you ask. We ate it. It tasted like angel food cake. It was just dense, like the ones you see at a store bakery. Maybe they use their store-brand egg whites.

Promotional photo, Herrschner's, Inc.

And I’m not fairing much better with other creative activities. I started an afghan using the Tunisian (afghan) stitch, and I swear, I’ve had to restart six times. It’s frustrating since I learned this stitch in childhood. I even understand the pattern, and still I struggle. I now count the stitches upon completion of every row. It's time-consuming but less so than discovering the error with completion of the next row. This is an old project – a kit purchased at least 25 years ago in my "pansy" period. I ask myself if it’s worth my time. It’s going to take a while, especially if I have to re-do each row. I just don’t want to give in. KW