Smoke Alarm

There are pros and cons to every choice we make in life, especially when it comes to deciding on a place to live.  California has earthquakes, the east coast is bashed by hurricanes, Texas has Texas-sized bugs, and the midwest is hammered with tornadoes and blizzards.  And here in the wild west?  We have wild fires - BIG ones.  As of tonight, there are 6 major fires burning in Washington State alone.  These monsters have decimated 118,379 acres thus far - that's just shy of 185 square miles!  Here in Colville, we have been fortunate enough to remain relatively unscathed by these fires.  While we have had a few minor blazes spring up nearby, all have been squelched fairly quickly.   We have, however, had to deal with poor air quality from all of that smoke.  Here's a shot of our view taken earlier this year:

 

and one from yesterday:

That haze is from a large complex of fires that are burning over 200 miles away!  If you think of it, keep our fire fighters, first responders and anyone living/working in the fire's path in your prayers.

Daddy's Boy

Thane has also grown up quite a bit over the past summer.  The biggest breakthrough was that he finally decided that moving into a big boy bed (and staying in it!!) was infinitely better than getting punished for escaping out of it over and over and over and over and over and, well, you get the picture!  The entire family is breathing one big, collective sigh of relief now that bedtime is a lot less dramatic.  

So, with that under our belts, we decided it was time to let Thane enjoy some big boy activities, like watching the fireworks.  We're not quite sure which was more entertaining - the pyrotechnic display or Thane's roars of delight. 

Like Annabel, Thane also took swimming lessons this past summer - only he got to be in the "Pollywog" class, which meant that I, too, got the privilege of being a (decidedly LARGE) pollywog.   Thane adored swimming, but his patience at having to stay close to his Mom and not dive off the deep end of the pool wore off somewhere around the second half of the first lesson.  You should have seen the look of relief on our swimming instructor's face when Thane passed and she discovered she would not be teaching him next summer!

Now that fall is here, Thane is starting another first:  hunting and fishing with Daddy.  While too young to do the actual hunting, Thane is THRILLED to be heading up the mountain or down to the lake with the other men.  He faithfully practices "bow hunting" (hey, his technic may be found wanting, but his enthusiasm knows no bounds),

and he actually helped spot one of the grouse Jordan shot on his second hunting trip of the season.

 

I used the grouse to make a nice, warm chili for dinner the following evening. For once, I didn't have to coax either one of the kids to finish their dinner.  That's what I'd call success all around!

County Fair

One of the highlights of summer around these parts is the Northeast Washington Fair held in Colville at the end of each August.  This quaint fair focuses primarily on nurturing future farmers and ranchers, as is evident by the sight of countless small children leading their favorite animals around a show ring.  There are numerous barns at the fairgrounds (cow, sheep, pig, horse, and the ever popular dog and cat barn), as well as a robust youth hall containing exhibits of crafts, food and other projects made by children under 14.  There's the inevitably unhealthy (but sinfully delicious) fair food, and lots of local entertainment sporting varying degrees of talent.  We were especially delighted to cheer on several of our friend's children this year, and we are thinking that it might be time for Annabel to show some of our sheep next summer.  

 Lastly, there is a small building devoted to adults who want to showcase their country abilities as well.  After some nudging from Jordan's mom and a few others, I entered some of my canned goods into the fair.  I'm not a particularly fastidious canner, so I was fairly certain that I would have points deducted for errors in headspace, color, cleanliness, etc.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered a blue ribbon next to each of my entries:  strawberry vanilla jam, apricot sauce and cherry marmalade.

OK, OK.  Before you get too excited, I have to confess that almost every entry in the food preservation category boasted a blue ribbon, but we'll just keep that our little secret, shall we?