2011 - Life in the Slow Lane

January in Quartzsite

Link to the new blog...

It's Time - for a new blog host...

9 Jan 2012

My Financial Advisor tells me I can no longer afford the luxury of a separate blog for each year... Typepad is terrific! But in order to keep separate year blogs, I've had to pay for the high priced spread. And so I'm moving to WordPress - the free version. We'll see if I like it. I've moved all my old posts over to one big one there. We'll see if it works... there might be glitches with the old images. My understanding of the process is that only the thumbnails will move, not the full-sized ones. But I still have all the originals, so it should be okay, right? It's okay!

So here's the new address: http://chrisbethnbubbatoo.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/its-a-new-year-and-a-new-blog/

Let's try it out.

But I also have to do some finish work and editing on here. And yes, I tried it out. When I delete the original post from typepad which was just copied over to wordpress, the thumbnail photos disappear and leave just the 'descriptive words' for each as a jumble on the page - somewhat disconcerting... but the originals are still there if you click on the jumble. Hmmmm. Might have to do some housekeeping.

Feliz Navidad!

14 Dec 2011

Well, it's been a long dry spell in my blog. Bad Beth!

When last I wrote, we were on our way South. To the Sun. We made it!!! Well, except for this week when it's been rainy. (In Yuma???)

- We found our little rental house full of sand - there was not much rain this year, but lots of blowing dust and sand.

- We found our wonderful friends and neighbors - all of whom beat us here except Don & Nancy, who arrived the same day we did.

- We found the Big New Wonderful Fry's Grocery store - it's sad when you get excited about a new grocery store in the neighborhood.

- We found that everything we wanted was in the coach when we were in the house. And in the house when we were in the coach.

- We found it is much warmer and sunnier in Yuma than in Caldwell!!!

We were only here a week or so before turning around and heading back up to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with Gene & Brenda. That was terrific - we cooked and ate and visited and enjoyed being around Lance, who was also home for the holiday. And we went out to the new county shooting range and plinked to our hearts' content. The Rangemaster is/was a retired Sgt-Major - we kept all our ducks in little rows! He was actually of great help - correcting our stance and handholds and such.

We always sit at an elegant table at Gene & Brenda's!!!

We unearthed the gourding shed and started the weekly meet and share sessions again. Paula was waiting impatiently! She is good for me - gets me up and moving.

Paula's maple leaf

I have a backlog of leaf bowls to carve. It's a beginning...

Chris ordered his Christmas present and then disappeared into his study - only to emerge for occasional food. He is putting together a fancy-dancy gaming computer with tons of memory and drives and flashy lights. Allegedly it is almost done and running - other than the defective memory chip which is being replaced. All I know is that it flips thru photo collections almost faster than I can look at them. Perhaps he'll build me one also?

- I've been continuing on the Martin family history transcriptions - old newspaper stories that give mostly true info. And Nancy and I signed up for a family history day in January.

- I bought a new scanner/toy that is really cool. (I figure over the years I've spent more on scanners than most people spend on food... or was that gourds?... or something?...) This one is cool because it is small and portable and you can lay it over a photo to copy (which is its main purpose) and see what you are actually doing!!! You can see thru the whole scanner. Now I need to scan more old photos... yet again, in some instances.

End of the year Grandkid updates are many and varied:

Our "other" granddaughter, Mandy, is on the left. She's been living with T&L for two years now, but is from Hong Kong area originally. As exchange students go, she is a winner!!!!

- Taft made it home from his two years in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November, sporting a strong Spanish accent. He's working and saving money so he can leave the first of January for BYU-Idaho.

- Trey left just the next week for his mission in southern Brazil. All his years of studying Spanish in high school are helping him - some - in learning Portuguese. He spent some time in Provo before arriving in the Brazilian MTC for another month, and then he'll hit the field running. He's asking for photos of lacrosse playing so he can impress the Brazilians - methinks he'll return a football (soccer) fan.
- Eliza has been having medical issues which have restricted her piano playing. We're hoping they'll find a reason and solution soon for this!!!!
- Abigail got contact lenses and is growing up into a gorgeous girl - Trevor has a new worry in his life! (He's in charge of making sure his sisters don't date until they are married...)
- Trevor was home for T-day and will return for Christmas. He's also been playing with the doctors - he got his nose and sinuses re-done and is hoping he outgrows his concussions....
- Thaddeus is now 8, is in an advanced program in school and loving it.
- Caitlin is living in North Carolina and working a night shift for Wal-Mart. [This is funny because her dad Eric hates Wal-Mart so badly!] She and fiance Alex, who returned safe and sound from Afghanistan in September, are planning their wedding in March. Chris just figured out it is on March Madness weekend. Ooops. How to tell your new grandson-in-law isn't a basketball fan!
- Coulson is attending Univ of Alaska at Fairbanks - one of the coldest universities in the country, I've been told.
- Addison turns 4 just before Chrismas and we are so looking forward to spending some more time with her this coming summer. Our bonding hasn't yet taken place because we've seen her so seldom.

- We've eaten. A lot.

We had dinner with friends - at our place and theirs and churches and restaurants...

Fun and games at the "mystery" dinner. Laughs were the main course!!!

Nancy treated me to a fancy "tea party" at her church - along with Mikey on the left.

We invited the neighbors over for a scrumptious pork roast dinner!

You have to have shrimp tacos at the place in the alley when you go to Algodones!!!

- We've visited Old Mexico and its dentists... yuk! My abcessed tooth that needed a root canal per the Boise area dentists turned into an extraction because of a broken root. And in celebration, and while waiting for all to heal for the implant (insert more yuk) I had several old crummy molars crowned and a few cavities filled. All done in fine fashion and at much reduced rates from USA prices! Crowns are now $160 each in Algodones... Chris found a new and different clinic and also had a root canal and some new crowns. We are both more beautiful now!!!

We have a move to look forward to in the Spring. One of these days I must go into high gear and start sorting, discarding, packing and planning. Tomorrow....

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Las Vegas wasn't hot...

10 Nov 2011

    Today is the last leg of our journey to the sun and sand and snowbirds. Yuma tonight! I even remembered to call ahead and get the water and electrics turned on... some years we forgot that and had to dry camp a day or two.

    We had a great time here - dinner with Gene and Brenda was scrumptious as well as a nice catch-up time. Brenda just returned from two weeks of grandson sitting in Austin and was pleased to be unemployed again. She said the boys are really growing up fast and the photos proved it. Gene sported his new Sean Connery look - I'll post this photo, but hope they send me a "real" one I can substitute later. (My Droid suddenly decided it will not longer allow the flash to work.... grrrrrrr....)

Obviously we were mesmerized by the whole look!

One more try on Gene - with his phone... (do you recall when we used to have cameras?) I didn't get one with his glasses on his nose nor his head - which definitely adds to the resemblance...

I spent one whole morning shopping - wow, just like in a big city!!! It was fun, even if it was just the Outlet Mall. I came away with a few goodies, including some new "Lite" Corelle casseroles - they are really nice! And some new shoes... and a new top or two... and maybe one or two other treats...

We did our usual tour of the Big Bass Pro Shop - wandered aimlessly for an hour and didn't buy anything - not a longbow, nor any fishing lure, nor any cammo clothing, nor a bass boat... and my photo of Chris by the artificial snow on a bass boat didn't turn out, darn it.

We did our usual tour of the Fry's Electronics store - wandered aimlessly for an hour or so and only purchased one little wiring connector. Perhaps Chris will build himself a computer this winter for fun... hmmmm...

Chris made his obligatory visit to his doctor - after three years, he will no longer renew prescriptions without an in-person visit. Picky, picky, picky.

We enjoyed the "warmer" temperatures - it never reached 70, however. But after the first cold, windy day, it was nice enough to pretend we were in the tropics. I had to remind Chris that MOST of the time we were in Caldwell it was nice enough for evening meals on the patio and shirt sleeves during the day. Those memories were kind of wiped out by the last week of nasty stuff.

Last evening we found a small hole-in-the-wall sushi place for dinner - well, except that it turns out to be a small chain of them from Newport Beach, CA. The chef was friendly, our seats were at the sushi bar so we could watch him work, the waitresses were terrific, the food was good. Miso, edamame, a Brown Dragon roll (with eel), tuna, sake... it was just right.

Chris made small comments about the weather on the way south...

 

None of them were good....

 

We've Done All We Can Do...

4 Nov 2011

   Today's Friday. Tomorrow is Exit Day. Yea!!!! We'll be on our way to southern, warmer temps, we hope. Guess we'll try starting Pug's engine today to see if he still remembers how to run... :-)

   We finished the gate - it's just put together with the same old ugly boards - what were they thinking of???? - but it will last till spring. Shawn came over and blew out all the water pipes, so we have no freezing concerns for the winter. And the very same Shawn - one of the Shippy family, of course - moved the sheds back into their permanent location at the end of the driveway. Yay for Shawn! (Love the Shippy family! Grandpa had at least 12 kids; one of those (Sam) had at least 17 kids. Seriously! Larry and Shawn married two of the 17. Jay, the dump truck owner, is one of the 12. Douglas, the Custom Haystacker and part time bobcat driver, is one of Larry's sons. You want any kind of work done? Call for a Shippy!)

Push, push, push - and it worked!!!

Now the ugly little red barn is hidden from the HOA president's view - he's soooo much happier!

   And Zahid finished up the floors the day before! Yay for Zahid and Senad, the Bosnian-American boys!!!

  Tonight we'll have a Farewell Dinner at Orphan Annie's with Sheila and Eric and Patti and Scott and say farewell to all.

   The forecast for rain and snow today was not well looked upon. Perhaps the weatherman will be wrong??? Or is that 80%-ing outside that I see. Hope the roads are clear tomorrow. This kinda says we'll be going south thru SLC, not Ely nor Hawthorne.

   When we looked for a house, we insisted it not be a "fixer-upper" 'cause we're not into manual labor anymore (at our advanced ages.) However, it appears we may have acquired one anyway. I'm now saving my pennies to pay for the new paint and trim inside. There needs to be a large slate patio and some fruit trees - an apple? and a peach? and ? The garden is not yet to a proper size. The gazebo needs sanding and painting. The patio step needs some concrete.... on and on... Gee, we must own a house!

Yes we do!!! Come on over! (Next spring...)

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Random Quotes for the day:

"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." - John Howard Payne

It's not what we have in our life, but who we have in our life that counts. - J. M. Laurence

“Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" - Jim Bouton

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." - Thomas Jefferson

Spending time and money...

29 Oct 2011. Caldwell, Idaho

   Well, here we still are. But things are progressing and we are still having fun (?)  Looks like another week before our noses point south.

   And what have we accomplished since last I sat down at the blogging page? Hmmmm. Let me see.

 - Howard and Lynda deserted us. They headed for Oregon and points south. Eventual destination: the Panama Canal on a tall ship. Envy. Covet.

- The yard construction continued... and continued... and continued... The big rain of the entire Fall happened the day before the driveway construction was to begin... The land is mostly clay. It was wet, it was moist, it was yucky. It was not possible to drive heavy equipment. So they graded it around, took out all the sod, turned over some of the muck, and left. Every few days someone - Larry, or one of his cute sons, would turn up and try it again. The days the Bobcat sunk to its hubcaps, we knew nothing was going to happen.

  

   Side note: it turns out Larry's son Douglas (see photo) is a prize-winning team roper at both local events and at the Snake River Stampede!! Yea, Douglas!!! But then he spent all his winnings on a new horse.

- We picked out a flooring company - boo to Home Depot, btw - and really like Out 'n About Floors in Meridian (thanks Darren and Paul!) We quickly acquired a pile of oak in the living room.

- We (okay, I) admired the changes in color in the trees in the area. I should have taken a series of the RV park trees as they changed from green, to yellow, to rust, to red, to bare... oops. Chris is not amused.

- We found a new favorite restaurant in Caldwell (and it for sure is not the Chinese Buffet down near the rodeo grounds!) - it's called Orphan Annie's and is owned by the people who formerly had a great Chinese restaurant in Ontario. Great atmosphere. Great help. Great food. We'll be back!!!

- We supervised as the Bosnian boys - sorry, I didn't get the spelling on all the names, but they included Zahib, Senad and the other guy - put down the floors. Good workers!!! "Z" will be back on Monday to sand and stain, and on Tuesday to finish. Yea! Hurrah! Lookin' good.

- We ran over to the Boise Airport to welcome granddaughter Caitlin and her fiancee Alex. We had to vet Alex, after all. He's okay!!! We approve. His mom and step-dad were there also and it was nice to meet more family. Alex is just back from many months in Afghanistan with the Marine Corp. They've set a wedding date for March, so I guess we'll be back to Caldwell by then.

   You'll notice the Boise airport brags of the Boise State connection.

The "Wrong Way" sign has nothing to do with them!

Mom Melissa and Dad Eric surround the kids...

- We visited the Nature Center at the Idaho Fish & Game Department - courtesy of the old Morrison-Knudson company. It was nice. Would have been better at a different time of year, but we enjoyed it. The turkey pelt was one of the most impressive displays!

The ducks were enjoying the pond...

- My friend Sheila gave me an impressively bad time about onions. You have to understand this has been the onion harvesting season in Canyon County (as well as the beginnings of the sugar beet harvesting season... but that's another story.) The trucks hauling the onions to the packing plants drop tens and hundreds along the roads and freeway. It breaks my heart to see those gorgeous globes just sitting out there... so one day we picked up a few. When I mentioned it to Sheila, she was not amused. Apparently she has other friends that do the same thing. There was something said about being able to pay for the onions, for heaven's sake!!! But they are good! Oh, well. I guess she won't stop for me to get more...

This isn't a great photo of them - I waited too long and others obviously gleaned them already...

- We discovered Cliff's Market - thanks to Lynda and Howard. This is a small little grocery store in Caldwell that features low sugar, gluten free products, but also a little of everything else - fresh veggies, super homemade pies, mexican foods of every kind, rolled oats for my birds... wonderful place!

The onions look a little different in the bins at Cliffs...

Cliff's also makes individual pies... Lynda covets them. I buy and eat them... Yum, yum, yum...

- We waited and waited for the concrete curb guys to show up and get the outlines done for the driveway. Finally!!!!

- We enjoyed the left-over tomatoes from Erica's garden - fresh red and the greens ones! Perhaps next year we'll have a garden...

Life is good...

Rainy Days and Wednesdays

7 Oct 2011, Caldwell, Idaho

The Carpenters' song ~
Talkin' to myself and feeling old.
Sometimes I'd like to quit;
Nothing ever seems to fit;
Hangin' around, nothing to do but frown;
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

   Not that I wish to date myself or anything, but I've been to a Carpenters concert when they were big time. This tune will now sit in my head all day.

   Wednesday was our Rainy Day. We wallowed in not having anything to do nor any place to go. It rained and rained - kinda nice for a change, frankly. And we played with computers. And we read - I started (and completed) an 860 page book!!! (Actually, it was three books - the first ones in the Bill Slider series by Cythnia Harrod-Eagles - and not bad at all. Now I have a new author to pick stuff from.)  And Chris made us wonderful Chicken Soup. What a nice day. (Insert sunny days now, please...)

   Thursday we met Mike and Dawn and Derrel for lunch in Star, Idaho. Yes, that huge metropolitan area east of Caldwell and west of Boise that just happens to have a decent Mexican restaurant (El Mariachi Loco) which serves Avocado Omelets at lunch time. I'm an addict! As a side note, you can't disparage Star - its population per square mile computes as 2,092.5! Compare this to the Great State of Idaho, which is only 18.9! So, I count it as Urban to the Max.

   But it is still thinking of more rain... So last evening we had bean soup with pork hocks. Very nice. Funny how weather affects our menu.

   It was really fun to see family again - and so soon. We usually go months or years between visits. What a concept - to see them often! Cool. Derrel left VeAnne at her sister's place in Burley and just came up to spend some quality computer time with Mike. Which leaves me dancing a little happy jig. Both of them are finally getting hooked on genealogy!!! Yay! Hurrah! I've had so much fun with it over the years and never been able to interest anyone else. I hope that engineering mind of Derrel's will finally (perhaps) overcome some of the brick walls and roadblocks and "find" the Wright family roots. Wouldn't that be a kick? Or not...

Chris, Beth, Mike, Dawn, Derrel - feeling fat and sassy after lunch at El Mariachi Loco.

   After lunch Chris came back and returned his brain to repairing his computer, which died in its sleep the night before. It just refused to boot up yesterday morning. He dismembered it on the kitchen table, tested all parts, cleaned out at least a pound of dust and grime, and tried it again. Ha! No such luck. So we visited Best Buy, found a new power supply that almost is the same and brought it home to try. Sure enough, it works! Well.... all except the DVD module, which won't plug in. That will be the next step. And Chris is soooooo much happier when his computer works. I must admit that little laptop he bought on his trip to Houston sometime back has been a sanity-saver. He no longer gets hysterical when the desktop doesn't work because he has a back-up.

   I have a new book of Celtic patterns for my gourds. It's inspiring me! I've actually done some planning, plotting and burning!!! Getting the gorgeous new gourds from Carl and Twila helped also.

   I was going to close with some pithy inspirational sayings, but I like this one better - thanks to Erica, who is selling me her house, but not leaving her great placques and quotes.

It's October!

4 Oct 2011

   It's October already and we're still in Caldwell.. and will be for a while more.

   We closed on the house. We are Happy Home Owners yet again. Sigh. (This was a Good Sigh!) But the last owners are still in it, which cramps my style a bit. They are every bit as anxious to get out as I am for them to do so, but everyone is on hold waiting for a government agency moving authorization.  Sometime this month. We hope.

   However, already the house has undergone changes. Cito and Sal arrived early Monday morning and played Paul Bunyan. SIX trees are now sawdust, firewood and pine boughs. Bye-bye! They did a yeoman's job - trimmed, cut and hauled out in two days. The back yard is now much larger.

In the beginning, there was this ugly deck, some large evergreen trees and a red barn shed.

Well, there went one more tree... you'll note the deck is gone.

I guess it has to get ugly before it gets more beautiful...

   Howard and Lynda are deserting us tomorrow. They've been here for a whole month! We've enjoyed having neighbors to share food and drink - and they are great chefs as well as eager eaters. We've had fun sightseeing and exploring with them. They will run over to Eugene to pick up a new awning and then head south toward the Bay Area. Their next big splash (what can compare to Caldwell???) will be a tall ship cruise through the Panama Canal. Oh, darn. It's a tough life.

  
Howard's birthday was celebrated by his cooking us this delicious rack of lamb (just on its way to the oven.) It was fantastic.

    Howard had the audacity to give Chris a house warming present, the night after we closed on the house. I laughed. This was given to Chris, who loves snow and cold, of course. Nancy suggested he wire it to the front of the motor home and drive south until someone asks him what it is...

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Quotes for the day:

To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring.  ~W.J. Vogel

Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat.  ~Author Unknown

Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists? ~Kelvin Throop III

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~Carl Reiner

 

We Bought a House!!! OR... Our Summer Cottage...

22 Sep 2011

   I know, long-time, full-time RVers shudder at the thought. But it was time! In some people's minds... And we haven't really been full-timing the past few years... And this summer was long and difficult... And I have the nesting instinct running full steam ahead...

   So, we finally did it! I'm having to mute my pleasure somewhat because it might bring negative reactions from some other people in the family, but insert here several Cartwheels, Handstands and Hurrays. :)

   It's a small home on the north fringes of Caldwell, Idaho. Not exactly the center of the universe, but at least you can't see the end of the world from here. Boise is less than 25 miles away, which professes to be a "real" city. Yeah, well...  We won't get possession till the end of October or first of November - just in time to head south for the winter. After all, we are Snowbirds!

   We have lots of yard construction to get done before we leave - Poor Pitiful Pugsley, the motorhome will not fit in yet. We will have to take out 5 or 6 large evergreens, construct a culvert, driveway and landing pad, move two large backyard sheds, and re-lay the auto sprinklers. No problema, si?

   We have had the pleasure of the Stilley family as neighbors for the past several weeks. This is astounding, if you know them. They never stay anywhere - well, except in the middle of the Anza Borrego Desert - this long. Don't know what we did to rate the benefits, but the meals we've shared have been excellent, and we've done some fun things together. [Insert Lynda's Blog, which is much more fun than mine.] We still have the go-karting on our to-do list.

This must be one of the worst photos ever of Howard, but it is the only one of our delicious pork loin dinner - after Lynda changed her clothes - after Chris and she spilled red wine all over  
everything...

 

The struggle to save the clothes and food. Please notice the wonderful brussel sprouts dish and Lisa's great watermelon and cucumber salad on the side table as you guffaw at the panic in Lynda's face.

   Yesterday Chris and I drove up to New Plymouth, near the Oregon border, to visit Twila and Carl. They have a couple of acres on a hilltop surrounded by green grass, fruit and shade trees, grape vines, and a garden beyond compare. They are even growing a couple of cotton plants, along with the okra, squash, potatoes, strawberries, asparagus, cantalope, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans... and GOURDS!!!

   They are also Snowbirds; we met when I purchased gourds from them in Yuma and we've become friends. Twila now does beads with Mikey, and we've been out to watch Carl run his magic machine looking for gold. They have been in the agricultural business and farming in Idaho for decades and are our go-to for questions on any phase of crops, plants, animals or general information.

Chris and Twila admire the cotton plants.

I never would have thought you could grow cotton in Idaho... but they do. I've never seen a plant up close - except when it is ready to pick. They have a beautiful blossom.

The okra is fascinating also.

Cantelopes!!!

This year's crop of gourds is fantastic!!! I have dibs on a bunch of the big ones!!!

Amusements in Caldwell have been varied.

* We've been to the movies - Cowboys and Aliens was terrific!
* We've hosted Eric and Addison for swimming and food.
* We've visited all of Canyon County in our search for the perfect home! I'm not sure I covered this much of the county even when I worked for the Sheriff's office. We're talking days and days and days of driving and searching. (Chris is happy we picked one - he doesn't have to go look anymore. This is called a silver lining...)
* We drove out in the Owyhee county wilderness with Howard and Lynda and found Silver City, an old mining town with few inhabitants and no electricity, but delicious pies at the old hotel.

The Idaho Hotel in Silver City is still open for business! Reserve your room now! And... they have food and booze - the menu looks good, and the homemade pies are delicious (we can testify to that...)

The sign says we have to pay for the search and rescue if we go beyond this point... we went anyway!!! Silver City or Bust!

The Catholic Church in Silver City is impressive.

* We went to the Caldwell Festival and watched the duct tape and cardboard kayak races and rooted for our rubber duckies to win the race on Indian Creek.

Kayaks made of cardboard and duct tape! Many didn't make it to the finish line...

Addison is so good about posing for photos! (And sooo cute....)

The Rubber Duckie Race - that's our duck clear at the end - each one had a number on it and the winner took home $$$... that was not ours, btw.

The guys at the finish line had to "fish" for the ducks. Wait, isn't netting illegal???

* We visited the Crookham Seed open house (as mentioned in a prior post... - I'm trying to fill space...)
* We were entertained at the College of Idaho Faculty Music concert.
* We helped commemmorate 9/11's 10th anniversary.
* I got the 75 cent tour of the Boise State University campus and Student Union as escorted by Eric.
* We had a wonderful steak dinner at my brother Mike's home, where brother Gene and wife were present. (And were sent home with tons of fresh fruit and veggies!

Mike, Beth and Gene - only Derrel is missing... Methinks we are all getting more mature. Or is that older?

Hmmmm. Doesn't seem like much for a month when I write it down. I may have failed to include regular afternoon naps, lots of sitting on the patio in the perfect weather we've had, and great but short visits with Sheila.

Welcome to Caldwell...

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Quotes for this happy day:

"There are some days when I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction." - Salvador Dali

"The contented man can be happy with what appears to be useless." - Hung Ko

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness.  Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.  ~H. Jackson Browne

Caldwell

11 Sep 2011

   Okay, so I haven't been very good at posting lately. New intentions are in order...

   We've been back in the Boise area since the end of last month. The beautiful Seattle weather continued on and we've been basking in it here. Lovely!!! We're staying in Caldwell at a little nicer park than our usual Meridian one (Ambassador RV Resort). We even have grass and a large concrete patio! We are parked clear to the 'other' end of the park with few neighbors, and afternoon patio shade - this took planning. We've been sitting on said patio a lot - eating and reading and visiting with people as they pass by. Nice.

   Eric and Addi came over one day to go swimming, but that's been about it on family.

   Lynda and Howard arrived - also for a month - and are just down a couple of spots. How fun! We delivered the finished sailing ship gourd - I'm pleased it was done before they take their wonderful sailing ship cruise through the Panama Canal.

The new Stilley gourd...

   We've eaten with them. They've eaten with us. We've partaken of their scrumptious home-made chicken soup. We all went to the Crookham Seed Company 100th anniversary celebration and plant operations tour.

Crookham's put on a great buffet dinner - Sheila, on the left, knew everyone and kept us updated. She and I worked together years and years ago.  

This is how the onion seed looks as it enters processing. Crookham is a major employer in the area - a multi-generational family-owned business.

Right now it's Onion Season, but Corn starts next week!

They ran some sweet corn thru the machinery just so we could see how it works - and they fed us all we could eat at the buffet. YUM!!! Some of the best eating corn in the country!

Idaho is agricultural country - only one of the exhibits for all kinds of crops.

   Last night we saturated ourselves in culture - the College of Idaho in Caldwell is known for its excellent department(s) of music. The annual Faculty Showcase was happening; we were attending - it was awesome. The program writers were nice enough to include short bios of all the players - the singers, and cello players, and pianists, and guitar players and banjo-ists and viola players, and brass quintet members and mezzo sopranos... It was varied. It was professional. It was enjoyed by all - performers and audience!

   Tonight we continued our involvement in the community and attended the 9/11 Memorial. The mayor and the former governor both spoke. The Star Spangled Banner was sung by Patti, our very own realtor. Her husband, Lt. Col. Scott Syme, helped read the names of Idaho's war dead. He is in the Army Reserve. The Idaho National Guard's 116th Cav, has served a couple of tours in Iraq - the latest deployment is just heading home this week after a year overseas.

   And yes, as a matter of fact, after looking at 400,000+ houses and homes in the greater southwestern Idaho area, we did sign up to purchase a home. It's a small 13-yr-old house in a tiny subdivision north of Caldwell. The lot is much smaller than we were looking for, but the house was one I really liked. We'll have to remodel the side yard to fit in Pugsley! In fact, we are planning the removal of 6 large trees... we hope the neighbors don't get too upset. Chris is not yet totally excited about the whole deal. Those who might have heard his comments on purchasing will understand my (under)statement. The current owner is one of those deployed troops mentioned above. He'll return this week and start the paperwork to get out, get the papers to be moved and then we'll get to move in... just in time to leave for Yuma for the winter.

   Happy Birthday to Thaddeus tomorrow! Eight years old.

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Quotes for the day:

Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed by them.  ~Henry David Thoreau

“No man who owns his own house and lot can be a communist; he has too much to do.” - William Levitt

"A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882),