Inspired



Ketchikan



Glacier Bay



Marjerie Glacier



Inspired by my sister's resumption of her blog, I decided to post some photos of our wonderful adventure in Alaska last month. The company was exceptional, the food terrific, the scenery awesome and Alaska as interesting as I remembered from our first trip there. This time it was a cruise that took us on the exploration. The sites we saw can't really be experienced any other way.





Teton Canyon family time

Had a great time in Teton Canyon this week with family. Lee and I enjoyed a short hike and huckleberries along the way. The next day Sally, Em and Cord and I hiked about three hours on the South Teton Trail. We also had a nice evening around the campfire with Aaron, Sally, McKinzie, Em, Cord, Lee and I, with special surprise guests, Mother and Dad. It was beautiful summer weather, few bugs and great company.

We went to Nova Scotia earlier this month and put some major miles on a rented little Corolla, saw some interesting, mostly rural countryside, and we enjoyed many seafood treats. It was a maaavelous trip, and one we are not likely to ever forget. Among the most memorable sights were the low tides in the Bay of Fundy near Wolfville and on Minas Bay, cute red and white lighthouses on many heads and shores, innumerable white-steepled churches with bone yards nearby and historic old mansions. In fact, we missed many sites and one day might have to go back.

Birthday girl

At home vacation

Sometimes the most relaxing vacation is spent at home, we know. The past week has been that vacation. We did spend a night in Gardiner, Mont., in the middle of a two-day excursion into Yellowstone Park for the first time this season. And we have spend a couple of days in Driggs with family. (Happy Birthday, Emory)A highlight of the week was attending a dance show at Idaho State with McKinzie performing some excellent dancing. Suzanna, Sally, McKinzie and I got a few minutes during dinner afterward to share some laughs. A great vacation.

Spring in St. Anthony

From snow to wind to sleet to sunshine, the Easter weekend entertained us with typical spring weather and the random flocks and assortments of birds, too. The blizzard closed Highway 33 temporarily, changing family plans a bit for Easter. But EVERYTHING worked out well.

Eating again

A happy holiday

The camera didn't come out until the kids had disappeared and Grandma was in the other room, but here's a skeleton crew of diners at our Thanksgiving dinner at Sally's.

We got to sample a pit-cooked turkey for the first time. Grandpa Kelly said it was the best turkey he had ever tasted, which is quite a tribute to the cook.

This year's special guests were Barbara and her three well-mannered girls. She stirred up some yummy gravy and brought tasty pumpkin cookies, too. Momma's rolls were perfect as usual. Another great and grateful Thanksgiving.

Pretty scary

Oh for funny grandkids. After Cord got his Halloween treat from grandma, he quickly found something scary to do with the two foil-wrapped chocolate eyeballs.

That's his mother's fingers, holding his ears back???

What would we do without Halloween and the silliness it breeds?

Cats at rest

What we have here are three cats taking some nap time, all in their own cat ways. There's Gray Cat, sleeping on her mat on a shelf above my computer. She's nearly 20, so napping is what she mainly does besides eating, and the shelf is her main downstairs bed.

Then we have Cletus, who is asleep on the couch with his tongue hanging out. That's how Cletus sleeps when he's serious about his nap. Often he's also on his back. Just not today.

And of course Baby Cat likes the empty warm dryer as she is the arthritic, heat-seeking cat. Anywhere she can find some extra therms is where she will lay her weary hurting bones. And you better not disturb her for photos, as you can see by the nonlook here. We love our cats at rest.

Lee's grizzly

I don't know how often we have driven along the Ashton to Flagg Ranch Road and watched for wildlife, particularly for grizzly bears. They live in the area, and it's fairly remote, so the chances of eventually seeing one along this road have to be better than in most places in the forest.

Lee's lucky day came last week when he was on his way to cut firewood. He saw this grizzly about 9:30 a.m. rambling along near the trees in a meadow.

Seeing a grizzly is rare even in Yellowstone. But seeing one outside the park in the forest is often one of those once in a lifetime deals. Lee thought fast enough to get this photo of the bear with his little camera. The first shot indicated how excited he was as seeing the critter. It was a bit out of focus. Needless to say, I was disappointed that I was working that day, sitting in a meeting while he was witness to this.

The visit

All week these two little girls have been staying at our house with their parents, Erin and Kris. Mayanna, the 4-month-old is so sweet, quietly draining big bottles of milk, burping and smiling. Isabella. 20 months, is full of 2-year-old independence. She's learning how to put sentences together and doing a good job of it. They are busy and keeping Erin and Kris very busy, too. It's going to be very quiet when they leave and we'll miss them all a lot.

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.

spring in the desert window

Every spring, if we are lucky, for about two days at least one of the cacti in our kitchen window gives us a beautiful, delicate blossom.

It's like a visit to the desert after a rain.

If we aren't watchful the plants aim their blossoms to the sun so slyly we miss the bloom altogether.

We also have to be watchful if the cacti plants are too close to the window. The stems of the flowers grow quickly, like 3 inches in a day. If there isn't room, the blossoms smash themselves against the window, a pale pink smoosh.

Luckily, we found this blossom in bud, moved the plant out from the window and caught in with the camera before it faded and wilted away.

Isn't it pretty?