First Fridays

Do not forget First Fridays starting tomorrow 9/5/08 with some good buys. Click on this logo on the right hand side of this blog to take you where you need to start. Thanks, chickees!! And thanks to Rhea for thinking this one up and going forward with it! She's our little sweetheart!!! ;-) ----------------------------->

Camping......Part 2!!

And you all thought there were no funny moments or catastrophes?!?! Hah, think again, my little sweet chicks....... Au contraire, mes amis! Here's the 2nd installment of the story! And please read to the very end of the photos also. ;-) Enjoy the tour!

Friday and saturday were very warm - about mid 80s up there. Saturday evening the ranger came around to inform us of a storm on the way in and to check on trees near our camper. She was a real sweetheart and told us that it looked like we had parked away from any trees that could fall on us. Trees that could FALL on us?!?!?! Yesssssss!!! Okay, so sunday it did rain. Love Bunny said that at least it would keep the dust down since every step we took swirled up into a cloud of dust. Yep, that's just ducky poo I told him; now we'll have M U D(!) instead of the powder dirt! I'm just so excited I could chew nails - the kind you hammer into walls!

I think it was at this juncture that I murmured that I was going to frou frou up the "tree sink" - an empty bottle of that terrible sugar/water juice they serve at church functions and we usually eschew in favor of lukewarm water from the tap. It hangs from a tree and we use it to wash our hands so it's the tree sink - bathroom sink in my ever NOT so humble opinion. He just looks at me and knows it's gonna happen sooner or later so he gives in. I still have to come up with a plan for decorating it though. Okay........

Then he cooks the steak, potatoes and corn on the cob. He wrapped the potatoes in foil and proceeded to "burn" them posthaste. (I'm just along for the ride, remember.) He does NOT take my "most excellent instructions" into consideration to roast them slowly away from the coals; hence, I spend the night with "charcoaled" teeth on this $3,500.00 smile! Yep, every single potato was "death by charcoal." I prefer "death by chocolate"!!!!!

Oh, I forgot to mention him putting up the canopy just outside the camper door. Well, I'm here to tell ya it wasn't pretty! Not at all. I was busy doing something else and turned to see the canopy canvas twisted and yell for him and finally find him in the car putting on band aids. I ask what's wrong and he shows me his hand. It got caught between 2 poles he was trying to put together and got cut in a kind of half moon fashion. Blood all over him (I'm sitting here typing this and laughing my head off because this is a man who has been a scout leader for over 40 YEARS and knows more about camping and dutch oven cooking than anyone other person on the planet and he slices his hand!!!!!!!! Sorry for the diversion here.) So he yells, "Can't you see I'm bleeding?" Yesssssss, so what do you want me to do???? He just put the butterfly bandage on his hand and ignored me. Suuuuuuuu, we look at the canvas canopy and it was torn. So now Mr. Happppppy has to take it into a tent maker for repair. (Still laughing till I'm crying here.)

We had s'mores that night - my very first ones. I'm not all that impressed with them and they certainly won't take the place of See's truffles in my book. He puts the marshmallow in the fire till it was in flames, sticks it (in flames!) on the graham cracker I have in my hand with a piece of Hershey's chocolate on it and says, "Here, stick it in your mouth now." It's on FIRRRREEE and he expects me to stick it in my mouth?!?!?! Nuuuuuu, my mama didn't raise stupid kids......well, maybe she did, I'm just not ONE of them. ;-)

Ooooh, yes, I made a note about a fly swatter (I took notes while up there so I wouldn't forget to tell ya a thing, chickees!) and just remembered what it was...forgot for a moment.

Now, we alllllll know (women, of course) how men cannot find something and call us to help them find whatever it is. This was a pink fly swatter - for the horseflies as big as my fist and the wasps - that stung Mr. Happppppy while we were up there. Lest you think I jest, exaggerate or outright lie, I've included the pix of aforementioned wasp bite to substantiate my claims. This was taken a day after the bite. Love Bunny's arm:
But I digress about the fly swatter. He looks for it and can't find it. All over the camp grounds and inside the trailer. I go in the camper, open up ONE storage spot and voilà there's the fly swatter in plain view. I hand it to him in a superior way and walk away with a bit of smugness. He then proceeds to kill the beasties for his queen - ME! (This is a regular occurrence around our home.)

Okay, now on with the views of Idaho. Mr. Happpppy looking over a visitor's sign just a few miles up the road from our camp ground. The next 6 pictures are taken from that overlook and shows the valley we camped in.

Up the road several miles are the the sawtooth mountains. Aren't they gorgeous? We usually can see a sheepherder in this meadow but being late in the season I didn't see any this time. Just pictures I took as we drove along towards Stanley. I have not edited any photo here. The sky is always this blue up there.

These mountains can be a bit rocky in places.

Oh, and on the way home he did tell me I was his Queen!! He actually said it. And I truly AM. He's my love and my hero; I honor him and I trust him with my life.

Camping Can Be Hazardous to Your Health!

The only thing more boring to me than watching paint dry is looking at photos of other people. Yep, get ready for torture!!

Most people think of Idaho as lush, green, woodsy and mountain men roaming free. Well, while we do have that , the southern portion of Idaho is desert. Boise is known as the City of Trees because it has planted so many trees. When the settlers headed here they irrigated this desert and it is fruitful but it is still mostly desert in the southern part - all across the state mostly. It is lush and green in the northern part with beautiful lakes but it is becoming more populated. I think most Idahoans like to think of themselves as mostly independent and free to just live their lives as they would like without too much government interference. And they do. Idaho men and a lot of women are hunters. But if you ever come here and drift across the Snake River into Oregon you'll be very surprised. Oregon is desert also in the eastern part of it. What you see below is just exactly how it is 40 miles to the west of us here in Boise. Desert until you get across to the western part of Oregon. Surprises the heck out of a lot of people.

My hubs' sister and brother-in-law came for a visit several years ago from Pennsylvania and they could simply not believe the vastness of the west. Consider that while the eastern part of our United States has many states, there are not nearly as many here as back east. Our west coast has only 3 states: Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Land goes on as far as the eye can see. My brother-in-law asked hubs who all the land belonged to as he was astounded at how much land there was. Hubs said it belongs to you. It's BLM - Bureau of Land Management. That having been said, I invite you to get a little look of Idaho the next couple of posts.......along with the camp-out. ;-) And other things, of course..........don't wanna bore ya to tears, chicks!! ;-)

This is starting north of Boise heading up to Grandjean and Stanley. Stanley, Idaho has a population of about 69 people but it has some high profile movie types with gorgeous "little cabins" up there, as well as Sun Valley which isn't too far to the east of Stanley.

Nowwwww, we get to the fun part! Hubs putting camper up. Let me say here that you had better make sure you have plenty of band aids, neosporin and bug bite lotion. My only request to hubs was to pleeeeeease not make us the lead story on the six o'clock news that day or the next. We drove for about 3 hours to arrive at our destination with one stop at the Albertsons store to pick up a cold drink, some popcorn and wet wipes for hands (I'm certainly glad we did get the wet wipes too!)

Our own "Private Idaho" just below our campsite on the South Fork of the Payette River.

Looking down the river where it is low this time of year but lots of river rafters on this river.

The next 4 pictures I'm standing in one spot the whole time just rotating the camera around our campsite. Note the trees for positioning of camera when snapping pix. The site is about 1.5 miles down a dirt road from the highway and is free. It comes with a ring of stones for a fire pit. That's it. We brought our own toilet, shower and water. We could go 4 or so more miles down the dirt road to a National Forest campground and get water and we do. But we like being alone on the river. There is also a hot springs on the river down near the paying campground. Why would anyone pay when you can get it free?!?!?!


This is a Ponderosa Pine, which is indigenous to the western part of the U.S. They are really pretty and kind of remind me of the redwoods but they are not related, just have that kind of reddish bark.

We use these 2 trees for a clothesline.

If you enlarge this pix, you can see our watermelon in the little dam we provided for cooling it. That water is COLD!

Sleeping part of the trailer.

The ugliest fabric ever made! The ol' travel trailer stuff that was manufactured by the miles to go in trailers. I'm already negotiating for new roses fabric for the cushions and curtains, chicks! Have no fear. It'll be done by the spring when Love Bunny gets that "urge" to camp again! I am sooooo NOT into camping as I age. *Sigh*..............

I think I should give the camper a name. Any ideas?!?!

The picture of a contented man! He's so happy that he didn't amputate his fingers.....oooohhhhhhh, that's for tomorrow's post!! It wasn't pretty, let me tell ya, ladies! Hahhhhh...... :-)

I started blogging before many of you started reading me so I'm going back in the oldest posts and kind of posting them again. There are several that I believe are worthy of note so today I'll include a few of them and in other posts from here on I just may include one of them at the end of each "regular/daily" posts. I hope you enjoy them because this is absolutely how I live my life!
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Being Nice

It's always in good taste to be nice. Seriously, there isn't any reason to not be kind and nice. I try to live like this, but don't always succeed. However, I am never, ever nasty or unkind to the woman who cuts my hair: the best hairdresser in this state!! Remember that because she is the woman who holds the scissors and can ruin your day - or even weeks ahead!!
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Beautiful Patio Door Blinds

I detest vertical blinds; however, when we had this house built we had to have them. I scoured the stores and catalogs until I come find one I could live with. My main problem with them is that the "swing" when opening or closing them, thus sometimes causing them to break. I may not have found the "prefect" solution, but they are definitely much, much better the way I bought them: with a sheer curtain over them. Actually the "panels" are inserted into each of the sheer curtain panels. They hardly swing at all and even provide a light filtering privacy that I adore. So you have the ethereal looking privacy; they add to the decor ; and they don't have that "swingy" effect. Very nice indeed. I've tried to capture them in the pictures below.
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Reflections from a Mother's Heart

I am not a journal writer; in fact, I find it very hard to put my thoughts on paper. I am trying to write a history for my children and grandchildren, but that is a great undertaking. I may not ever complete it but there are some thoughts I've put to paper. I really do it on the computer though since I'm usually on the computer and love computers! But we really need to write some things down for our posterity that will be handed down to those who come after us. Soooo I bought these little books in a book store several years ago. I bought one for my son and my daughter. I filled the book and then gave it to them as a gift. It's a very handy little tome because it offers questions and suggestions for you. It truly brings memories to mind! Then you just write them down. They don't have to be long rememberances and you may not use every single one but it really is helpful to have the questions and suggestions for you. I think it is a wonderful gift to give your children. They may be purchased at any book store or specialty items type of store. Just my thoughts....................
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Puttering!



For me there is nothing better for me to do than "putter" around the house. I love just rearranging knick knacks, bibelots or cleaning out and organizing sock drawers that I haven't gotten to for a long time! I know, I know........most of us hate that kind of thing. But look for the gloriousness of it. You have a "clean" palette to start fresh. Old socks or nylons are thrown out. You see your treasures in a new and different light. And nobody can do it like you can. Just have a glass of ice water or lemonade near for drinking or a cup of your favorite beverage and start in on your task. Putter - one of my favorite words, too. That time is for you because you need to schedule time in your busy schedule for just "YOU"!! You could even rearrange or clean out some of your beautiful boxes. If you don't have any, I suggest you make some or go looking for them. That way your clutter will be in "plain sight" and no one would know it. I've included some more beautiful boxes and magazine holders for you to see. Now you know how beautiful they can look!
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Look with a "Different Eye"


This idea came from a friend, Stephanie, who put bunnies in her glasses for the Easter holiday! I thought it was delightful since I have so many stemware glasses. We don't drink any alcohol, but I just love the beauty and gracefulness of stemware and sometimes just use them for water or juices at meals. These are crystal and cost a little more than some can cost, but cheaper ones can be found in department stores when sales are going on or at yard or estate sales. You could think of many different things to do with them, but they always add sparkle to a room. I remember when we were in Ireland at the Waterford Glass works. That showroom simply sparkled so much with all the fabulous glassware and china that it was very difficult to get a picture! It was like living in a castle. Just lovely. So my advice to you today is again: "look at something with a different eye" and see how you can make it into something beautiful for your home.
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My Most Expensive Peaches EverrRRRrrr!!!

Ya see this jar of peaches? That is the most expensive jar you'll ever find. Let me tell you why.

A couple of months ago our Stake President, our local church leader, put forth an edit. He told his High Council to tell each family in our stake (about 2,000 people on average) that each family should can a quart of peaches. Now, this might sound easy to some of you but it was a challenge for this chick. I didn't need any peaches and I have food storage as directed by our church leaders so I was in a quandary. For me it was about obedience to our stake president. I try my best to be obedient, especially on the "easier" things. ;-) I mean it's not hard to be good on the "harder" things, just a bit more of a challenge with daily living. Sooooo, what do I do? Hmmmm.......

My canning supplies are up in an attic that Love Bunny made over our 3rd car garage. It's pretty hot here in this western desert so I couldn't subject him to go up there in 100+ degree heat rummaging around for the canners or he'd likely die and I'm pretty fond of the fellow by now. Soooooo, I thought well, I could buy another can of peaches but since peaches aren't thought of fondly in this household and I have my fruit supply I decided against that. What to do, ohhhh, what to do??!!

I decided that I'd volunteer to help someone can peaches in their home and ask for a quart of peaches for helping them. I'd return their jar to them of course. But just in the nick of time the woman in charge of our women's group in the ward decided to get together with a group of women and can peaches that were given to us, the ward, by our orchards. (Our church maintains orchards for the purpose of supplying the needy.) Wellllll, let me tell you that was an answer to prayer. It was scheduled for wednesday, August 27th, and I signed up to be there.

The best laid plans...........right???? Yep, our mantel was to be delivered by FedEx on Tuesday, August 26th. I waited until 8pm that night and decided to check it on line and it had a sort of "caveat" or "change of plans" according to the FedEx tracker. They rescheduled to Wednesday, the 27th. So I had to be home to receive this huge package.

I decided to do this: I'd call the woman and say I could NOT make it but I'd donate some lids and rings if I could have just 1 jar of peaches. She said that it wasn't a problem. (This is a very sweet, nice lady but I think I throw her into shock a bit when I call her and refer to her as "Sweetpea" or "Chickee"!) So early wednesday morning before most people were up I ran to the market (this was "avant" I showered or fluffed my hair and would be quite scary to anyone trudging through the market at such an early hour!) and bought a package of 12 lids and rings and then arranged for someone stop by to take them to the "canning" event. I was on a roll, I tell ya!! ;-) It lasted about an hour and a half and they canned 70 jars using a couple of outdoor camp stoves and and the kitchen stove also. Twenty or so minutes after the FedEx arrived a woman from the ward arrived with my one jar of peaches still boiling hot from the canner! I was thrilled because I was able to be "obedient" to my church leader and get my "one quart of peaches"! Cost of lids and rings - $5.24!! The costliest quart jar of peaches I've ever "bought/canned/or eaten"! But I was OBEDIENT!!

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Just a thought.

I had a little candy dish that I loved, but during our move in 2005 it got "crunched" - a word I like better than broken - and I waited and waited for my sweet hubby to fix it, but he is so busy that I just gave up. The lid survived and was intact though. I didn't want to throw it away as it has roses on it. And if you know me or have been reading this page or my blog you KNOW how I feel about roses! So instead of throwing it in the trash I hung it on the wall in my office behind my desk. It has a little "lip" that make it just perfect for hanging. If you love something enough just find a new use for it if part of it gets "crunched" and is beyond repair. Look at it and say, "hmmmm, can I hang this?" Give it a new use.
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