Ground Hogs Day

I think they should relocate Punxsutawney Phil to Forks, WA. He'd have less chance of seeing his shadow and we would have less winter. I am so, so ready for spring! I really can't complain much--we've had a very mild winter. Except for early December when we got slammed with frigid cold, it's not been bad. Of course, we still have February and March to get through and, as I write this, it is raining and will probably be solid ice by morning. Sigh...

But, I've always said that I don't mind winter as much if I can get out and play in it. So, last weekend a friend and I went cross country skiing. There was no snow in town but 25 miles toward the foothills, we found about 2 feet of snow.

We skied up the cut to a corral and shack. The snow was deep enough that the fence was a perfect height for sitting on for a break.

It was a good day.
But I'm still ready for spring!

Happy New Year!!

As we close the old year and reflect on the past,
On things that may (or not?) last,
Give thanks for the good
and learn from the bad,
Give thanks for our loved ones
and good times we’ve had.

For the new year does bring us
a brand new fresh start,
For peace and goodwill,
let’s all do our part.
Let’s be kind to our global
sisters and brothers,
Let’s care for our earth
and for one another.

So, Old Year, Adieu,
I’m glad that it’s done,
I’m thankful we get to
start a new one.
I wish you the best of good health
and great cheer
As we enter a grand
and joyous New Year!

Happy, Happy New Year!

Love,

Bonnie

Merry Christmas!

I didn't do a very good job of sending Christmas cards this year so I hope you can consider this my card to you. I spent pre-Christmas in Seattle with Andy, Brandon, and Alix. I had a fabulous time and hope that they did as well.

Of course, as soon as I got to Brandon and Alix's place the first thing I did was go out onto the deck and take pictures.
The weather was almost balmy and has even fooled some of the trees and bushes into thinking it is spring.

But, inside it was looking a lot like Christmas.


And we are looking pretty jolly!

I was there on Winter Solstice and wanted to do something special involving lights of some sort. So we decided to go to the Belview Botanical Gardens to see their display. Having been to the light display at the zoo in Billings, I had a pretty good idea what to expect. At least I thought I did. What I didn't expect was a spectacular display of lights. Here we are in front of "forsythia" and a "butterfly"
We then moved on to an incredible display of hyacinths, water lillies, cattails, ducks and a fountain.
My three shining lights
Sunflowers and grapes. What a great way to spend the Solstice.
The next night Andy fixed a most incredible Indian meal for our "Christmas dinner."
He says he enjoys cooking for us even though he cooks every day at his job. We really enjoy him cooking for us!

I had to leave the next day, but we had time to stop at Pikes Market for a bit (had to get my Pike's fix).

Then, sadly, it was back to MtnHm and my quiet and very empty house. I have to confess that I broke down this year and bought a fake tree. After looking at trees at a lot in town, I decided that $50 for a blue-tinged and manicured tree wasn't worth it so I bought a fake one at Wally World for $35. It's too perfect looking but it holds the ornaments (and I didn't have to string lights on it) so I guess that's the main thing.

It was fun getting out the decorations although it took twice as long as usual to decorate because I didn't know where they "belonged." But I figured it out

and it looks a bit like Christmas


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Miscellaney

I had planned to post something for Thanksgiving but it somehow slipped away from me--like time always seems to do. But even though Thanksgiving is gone and we are in the slippery slide to Christmas, I am still feeling overwhelmingly thankful for my family and friends. You're the BEST!! Thanks for being there.

So, I've mentioned to some of you that the family room is now painted and is 100% better than the ugly paneling, but the color is a bit bold. What was supposed to be wheat field gold, is definitely pumpkin...

I wasn't exaggerating, was I???

So then it was on to more chaos as I moved everything into the living room in order to have the carpets cleaned. Finally. It feels really good to get rid of the last of the construction dust.


Somewhere along the line, I managed to get in a hike at Bruneau Dunes. The view from the top of the big dune

That's all folks.

A Bit of Fun

I've managed to get out for a bit of fun the last couple weekends. Last week my retired librarian friend, Mary, and I went to Hagerman (east of here) for hiking and hotsprings. We stayed at a cute little place on Billingsley Creek--a lovely setting.

We hiked around Thousand Springs. This water was just gushing out of the side of the ridge--pretty impressive.

This was taken from the bridge across Malad Gorge. This is typical of southern Idaho. I hiked down into a similar gorge three weekends ago. (unfortunately forgot my camera on that one.)

We also hiked at Little City of Rocks. I thought the rock formations and "hoo doos" would be a fantasy writer's paradise! Do you see the eye of the iguana? Or maybe it's a cobra ready to strike a man with a helmet. Or maybe it's a dinosaur...
Last weekend was the plains, this weekend was the mountains. I went to Bogus Basin outside of Boise for a women's survival class. It felt so good to be in the mountains again.We had the first part of the class in the ski lodge.


Then we practiced our whittling skills
Our fire making skillsAnd here I am happily sitting in our little shelter
I almost feel like I should go out and get lost so I can use my new-found skills!

The Madness Continues

If I ever talk about buying a fixer-upper again, please shoot me! The last room that needed work was the family room. I really didn't like the dark paneling.

I had Davis paint the paneling on the fireplace wall but that took three coats of paint and looked really lousy. But by that time, I was at the point of no return. I either had to paint the rest of the paneling and live with it, or take the paneling off and texture and paint. Silly, me--I chose to take off the paneling. Two inches of dust and total chaos later...

I'm thinking the paneling wasn't all that bad. Will I ever learn??!!?

AHHH Vacation!

Oh, to be independently wealthy and on permanent vacation... I would probably do what I've done the past few weeks but just more of. I took a long weekend and flew to Seattle for a fabulous time with my kids. This time I stayed with Brandon and Alix and although I arrived in the dark, I could tell I was entering a sanctuary. Pretend you're going down the steps through the tunnel of bushes and trees

and it just keeps getting better. Through the house (which is really cute) and out to the deck and this is what you see looking north

Looking south, here's Alix and her buddy J.L. Seagull which she isn't feeding. Really. Well, just one round cracker that went down his throat and looked like he'd swallowed a frisbee. And maybe just one more because the first one kinda got stuck...

Then there's Andy, Brandon and I after a hard evening of fishing right below the deck

I really could get used to this lifestyle! Thanks, kids, for a great time!

Less than a week later, I was off for Montana. My first stop was at Greek Creek Campground on the Gallatin River. This was a trip down the memory river as my family used to camp here when I was a kid. I just sat by the river and drank in the clear, pine crisp air. It feels good to be home.

I got to spend time with good friends and get some much needed (for both body and soul) hiking. First on the Boulder,

And then to Lost Lake south of Red Lodge.

Funny how these three places feel more like home than the house in Billings that I've had for 18 years or the house in Mtn Home that I currently live in.

Vacation was way too short and then it was back to ID. I thought I'd get in one more hike after I got home before going back to work so I drove to a reservoir north of Mtn Home where the map showed a trail. Well, apparently it's all private land and has been so since the '50s. Let's not rush things here--I guess 4o years isn't enough time to update a map. So, after hiking to a pretty alpine lake in Montana,

I end my vacation at a lake where people drive down to the shore and bait fish.

And what's wrong with this picture??

Isn't a forest supposed to have ... well... trees?? Welcome to southern Idaho.