Halloween Partay

Jann and Konda did their usual Halloween party again. What would we do without them on the macabre night? Or at least on a Friday before said night.

Bart and Joanne read the little Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum nursery rhyme for us.  

The Esplins were styley, as ever.

Fred and Wilma left Pebbles home for the evening.

Mike's costume was perhaps somewhat non-commital, don't you think?

Tammy and her mother-in-law.

Tom and Wilson.

Vonda and her primary care-giver.

We found both of them. (Waldo and Waldine?)

The witch and Stitches.

First course. Pocahontas was powdering her nose?

Grandma's Fake Birthday

Many of us gathered Saturday for a day-late celebration of Grandma's birthday. And to install the new sprinkler system in the Small house. I didn't get any photos of the installation, but others did.

Jack played his last soccer game of the year. Here's his team, and his most excellent coach.

Jack, Jarom, and Matthew bouncing Thad.

MadWren needed missed supper, because she got too tired. After her bath, she went to bed.

Scott cooked a most delicious Foreign-oven dinner. Or parts of a dinner. Many others contributed as well.

Scott checking to see if it's done. See how red he looks?

The evening sky while supper was brewing.

Jeff, trying something new.

What a good-looking crew.

Or well, sort of anyway.

Jarom was ordained a teacher by his dad. Grandma cried just a little. It was a fine evening. And we almost finished the sprinkler job.

The Harvest of the Potato

Spud harvest ended this week. Sam got to drive. Not Adam. No one got injured. Except Miguel, who chopped his fingers off. But that was before spud harvest really started.

The conveyor back to the piler. Stopped now, because there's no truck unloading..

Dirt boy between trucks.

Sam and his truck.

Unloading onto the stinger.

Pulling weeds.

Sam gave us a ride out into the field to load up on spuds.

Unloading, and all the way into the shed.

Flamulated Owl

Matthew spotted a little owl, sitting in his strawberry patch. It turned out to be a flammulated owl. It's about 6 inches long, and is North America's only migrating owl, nesting in norther Idaho and southwestern Canada, and flying south for the winter. The flamulations are flame-like orange markings around its eyes and along its wings. It's fairly common, but small, shy and difficult to spot. This one was having problems, and couldn't fly. I suspect the cats. Jann took some pictures. Matthew also helped us correctly identify it by pointing out that flammulated owls are the only owls with deep dark eyes. Apparently, they have cool voices, but we didn't hear it call. It snapped at people and clicked its beak.

A Long, Eventful Saturday

A few pictures of a day in the life. Couple of Saturdays ago..

Jack mixing it up with his team, the flaming pumpkins. They lost. But it was because their coach wasn't there.

Afterward, we went to visit the grandparents. Here's Jack spazzing out just a bit. I spazzed out too. I fell down the stairs in the g-parents' garage, kicking my shin on something hard on the way down. Cranked my knee, and landed on my hip on my pocket knife too. I'm mostly better now.

Jann is taking an ornithology class, and needs to take photos of 30 kinds of birds. I said we often have hawks, eagles and falcons out at the flying hill, so she went with me to brave the wind. Here is my little design, the Spork.

I tried to be fancy with the heavy goosie JW, and ended up stalling it. Had to hike down to get it. Matthew and Adam showed up on the four wheeler to watch for a bit too.

We saw two rattlesnakes. Only ones I've seen out there in these many years.

In the evening, Sam and his friends went to the homecoming dance. Sam's date was close to six feet tall.

The fine-looking group.