Today’s photo is of our brand-new driveway fence; this is a really big deal for us because the old one was broken and had a big puka in it. That was a huge big deal because right below the old fence is a very steep drop-off into the pasture. To turn around when we leave, we have to do a three-point turn, and I’ve had visions of backing up too far and plummeting backwards down that slope, wrecking my car, and ending up in pretty bad shape myself.
But now, thanks to Orvill Garren of GW Construction, we have a new fence, and unlike the old one, it perfectly matches the deck alongside the house and garage. And I feel a whale of a lot safer!
It was a cold, rainy, day today; the skies were gray, gray, gray. But I was extremely surprised with a glorious sunset tonight! I took several photos, and think this is the best. You can see the gray clouds, the blue sky, and the sunset.
A few minutes later I took another photo of the threatening rain clouds; if you look carefully you can see the fog hovering over the valley.
It was really foggy this morning; earlier we couldn’t even see the barn at the bottom of our pasture. It was about 9:00 a.m. when I took this one, and it was still 32 degrees outside. I had ice on my windshield when I left the house at 11 a.m. Later on the fog burned off, but it stayed fairly cold throughout the day.
Today’s photo is of a Townsend’s Warbler who was an unexpected visitor to the suet feeder in my garden. I was excited to see him, because they usually don’t show up until Spring. It was really hard to get a good photo of him because he kept flitting around.
I am also working on the next installment of the Montana 2010 Road Trip.
I’m posting my photos here, but please don’t download them for your own use. I work really hard at getting them and want to keep them mine. In other words, no kakaroach my photos! Mahalo!
At 1 a.m., when I was sound asleep, I heard a strange noise outside. Not really loud, but loud enough to wake me up. It was a kind of scratching sound, and I wasn’t sure what it was, so I got up to look. I really should’ve had my camera ready before I turned on the outside light, because although what I saw was still there, I wasn’t holding my camera, and when I grabbed it to take a photo, the flash accidentally went off. Dang. Because what was out there were two big fat raccoons raiding my suet feeder!! As soon as the flash went off, they took off running, and I missed getting them. However, I thought I should post the photo anyway. Hahahahaha…
This next photo made me laugh and cry all at the same time. When my beloved ʻUkulele kitty was still alive, she used to present me with gifts of balls of yarn that she’d found. Sometimes in my knitting bags, sometimes from somewhere else. She’d pick them up with her mouth, bring them to the hallway near my office door, and then make a very particular meow that she only used for her triumphant acts. I’d praise her and tell her what a good kitty she was.
About three months ago, I could have sworn I heard ʻUkie’s meow out in the hallway. It was eerie. I got up and went out into the hallway, and there was Kalakoa, bringing me a ball of yarn, sitting there in triumph at the awesome thing she’d done. She sounded exactly the same as ʻUkie used to sound, and I knew right then and there that ‘Ukie had sent this kitty to me. I cried every time, missing ʻUkie, yet “seeing” her at the same time. I mean, really, what are the odds?
Well, today there were no tears. I just started laughing. Because when I heard the “Look Mom!!” today and went out, this is what Kalakoa had brought me. It’s a large felted fish that I knit… almost as big as she is, and how she dragged it out of the basket and into the hallway I will never know. All I know is that ʻUkulele had a part in the whole thing.
I started a new creative endeavor this months, thanks to some Ravelry peeps, who encouraged me to start. The idea is to take a photo for every single day of the year. It doesn’t have to be anything artistic or fancy or anything, though it can be. The big trick for me seems to be remembering to do it, but so far I haven’t missed a single day (though I cut it close a couple of times!). I started on January 3rd, and I think what I’d like to do here is to post a photo for each day. However, since I only now thought of the idea, I gotta play catchup. So here goes; this should be an interesting chronicle of my year.
Whew! Iʻm back! Letʻs continue our adventure on our way to Montana, okay? Months ago, at least here on the blog, we had just left the small town of Kendrick, Idaho. We turned East onto County Road P1, which is also known as Southwick Road and also known as Wauncher Gulch Road. Confusing, yeah?
I forgot to add a video I took from Chief Temuut’su Bridge last time, so here it is. This is really such a beautiful and peaceful place, so just relax for a bit.
Shortly after seeing the sailboat in the last post, guess what? We were in Idaho!
It was now about 7:40 p.m. Good thing we were going north so it stayed lighter later!
These cliffs along the Wawawai River were just beginning to green up.
We then entered the Nez Perce Reservation. Thereʻs a great map of where it is here, which also gives information about the treaty that was signed giving the Nez Perce this land.
Before the White man came to settle the northwest the Nimi’ipuu lived in peaceful groups traveling seasonally with the deep canyons cut by the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers.
This is a wonderful Nez Perce legend:
Beautiful Nez Perce country.
And because Kikue and I love horses, here is some very interesting information about the Nez Perce People and Appaloosa horses. I particularly liked reading the quote at the bottom of the article, even though it made me really sad.
It was now about 7:30 p.m., and here we saw the first sign for Orofino, just a few miles further on…as well as for Missoula, which we knew was quite a ways beyond that.
We were still traveling along the Wawawai River and the Nez Perce trail.
We could have stayed on the main highway, which would follow along the river all the way to Orofino. But does Mokihana go the usual way? Or does the wanderlust get to her, making her want to take all the back roads? I guess by now you know the answer to that one!
Instead of crossing the Arrow Bridge over to Highway 12, we continued North up Highway 3 towards the town of Juliaetta.
Just past the junction, we saw this house up on the hill. What a view it must have! And check out the tire tracks behind it; gotta be 4WD, right? And imagine what itʻd look like in the snow!
Pīpī for AFK!
We’re now driving along the Potlatch River. It’s about 7:40 p.m.
The sun was starting to go down; you can just see it on top of the hills. We’re now in Mountain Time, which means it’s really 8:40 p.m. But I forgot to change the camera time!
This is the Potlatch River, just south of the small town of Juliaetta. I kept wanting to say Julietta, but nope. Itʻs Juliaetta.
When this barn was built, I wondered if the road had been a highway or just a narrow country road.
The hills above Little Potlatch Creek. The sun was going down really fast now. Well, really. It wasn’t moving any faster than it had been, but it sure seemed like it.
Okay, try figure this one out. Try look da little cabin or whatever up on the rocks. Why would someone put it there?
About 8:45 p.m., we entered Latah, Idaho. There’s some interesting information about this county here. The town is located in Nez Perce country, and the history of it is fascinating. Go read. I’ll wait till you come back.
K’den. A couple of minutes later, we were leaving the town.
Blurry photo, but you can kinda see what the town looks like.
If we were going to be around on the 29th, I bet this would’ve been a fun festival to go to!
This is the Kendrick Mansion, up on the hill in Kendrick, Idaho. I wasn’t able to find out any information about it, but it sure looks like a great place to explore, yeah?
Now we’re leaving the town of Kendrick.
We cross over the Potlatch River as the sun begins to go down over the hills.
We head up the hill and wonder what adventures await us around the corner.
This looked like the ruins of an old building of some sort, but I don’t know what it was.
So this is as far as we went this time; from the Arrow Bridge to Kendrick. The shaded part of the photo is part of the Nez Perce Reservation.
Next time, we see an awesome sunset! Hope you’ll join us.
I stay back! Had a great time at da kahakai with my friends, and now it’s time to get back to our Montana road trip. I have a few more photos from Alpowa Summit to start with. Continue reading →
A Mānoa Girl's Bloggie 