The Meridian grandkids

Suzanna's two boys have been in the area for the past 10 days, kicking around with their Aunt and Uncle Mylers and with their Granpa Jim and Sandee and with us. There's probably few things those kids missed doing in their time in eastern Idaho. With us, they went to Yellowstone and Jackson, went camping and fishing (between them they caught 13 fish in two days) with Grandpa E, walking the greenway, running through the sprinklers, making jam. They also are known to have watched parades, plays and rodeos and God knows what else.

We did have fun. We read books and played games and drew pictures. We talked and they made up songs and dances. We had them run relays around the house and pick raspberries. They did everything on there list except see Mesa Falls again. Next time.

Cletus

It appears Cletus has decided to keep up, despite our subjecting him to being neutered, having numerous innoculations and various examinations and such.
He's still a tom cat at heart, though, spending some night prowling around, doing we don't know what. But so far, he has shown up for breakfast, or lunch.
He has the disposition of a prince, and the handsomeness, too. Though his paws are huge, he is agile and quick, and quick to chase both of the other cats and even stage ambushes for me and Lee.
We like him and hope he stays with us.

Yard tour

When I took an ice cream cake to dad for Father's Day he had one request before I left. He wanted me to take a photo of the beautiful lilies and the fluorescent dark pink geraniums. He also wanted to get the peonies documented, but they are on the other side of the porch and not in this photo.

This has been such a rainy, cool spring it's nice to see the bright-colored flowers. The weather has certainly been good for them.

Dad moved some of the day lilies from one side of the porch to this side last year. They are thriving. Way to go, Dad.

The yard looks great. Even the irises are blooming in the back.

Bearly visible

This was about the best I could do with the bears I had to work with on our recent trip to the park. But some of the other people at this Tower Falls bear jam probably had closeups. Those people who insist on getting into a bear's face are CRAZY.
This was a Memorial Day weekend trip, our first this year. We've been busy inside with multiple home improvements so we haven't been out driving around and viewing wildlife too much.
But now that the latest project is done - cross our fingers - we'll get out more.

Lucky again

Seems like our timing is pretty good. We decided to visit Suzanna on the weekend of Kaden's last soccer game of the season. He's 5, and is trying hard to learn his skills. It was pretty fun to see him run around.

We used to have great timing with McKinzie that way when she was playing soccer in Boise. And we've seen Jacob's games, too. It's just an added little fun.

It was great to get out of town and visit Suzanna and family. It had been months since we'd driven over there. The drive itself was interesting. We traveled the desert road through Fairfield, and the hills were tinted green. We saw antelope, a coyote and lots of hawks.

I guess we'll have to try it again some time.

Cat on a cool oak floor

The floor is finished. Gray cat approves. It turned out well. Alan and Lee did an excellent job. And it only took about three days. It's lots different than the old oak floor. It has micro grooves that make micro shadows that give the floor a bit of texture. The grays in the wood highlight the grays in the woodwork. The reds highlight the pink in the wallpaper.

Next big project is painting the ceiling. Yes, we know we should have done it first. But this way we get to use those clever drop cloths.

Everyone should come to visit now and see the new floor.

Construction zone

Our house has been a construction zone for the past few days. First we had new carpet laid on the stairway to the second floor and in a bedroom. That meant all the furniture from the bedroom had to be moved into the other tiny rooms upstairs. It was inconvenient, but the results look great.
We liked that so much we decided to lay a new hardwood floor in the living/dining/office areas.
This photo shows Alan standing on the boards he and Lee laid in an evening before the start of the first full day of serious nailing and gluing.
It took a week to slowly remove all the plants and furniture from the room, jamming them into every available extra inch of space on three floors. My desk is in the kitchen in two parts, computer wires half connected, printers in separate rooms.
The work should be done tomorrow. Before the furniture goes back I'll document the beautiful, pristine oak floor.
Anybody want some extra plants? Finding everything and putting it all back is expected to continue indefinitely.