we'll be back.

really. in a few weeks.

july 18 & 19

i did some work this week- of the furnishing on the cheap variety. pretty successful too- found dishes for 6 for $20 at big lots ( and they're not really ugly!).

and 3 table lamps & a floor lamp for $31 at the youth ranch. woo hoo!

steve put shelves up on the back porch for chargers & whatever else we need to store (sure we will fill them up, not to worry!)

steve got to have some fun instead of working all weekend. did a bit of fishing with his bro in law & nephew saturday (it was well over 100 in boise, good day to be on the river!)

the pups & i got up a bit after 5. wandered around, took some pics, went to imi (iron mt inn) for dinner. hoping to find air conditioning. nice cold gin & tonic is the next best thing, right?

then the store, then back home. the house is well insulated, which really helps keep it cool inside as long as it's open at night & closed up again once it starts warming up. once the breeze started it was pleasant enough to sit on the back porch.

sunday morning, a bit of tidying up, then a bike ride for steve & a walk for the dogs & me. it was already getting pretty warm, so we (dogs & me) didn't get too far.

the wildflowers are just cranking. and there are butterflies everywhere. these photos can't do justice to how beautiful it was.....

i found this sign funny- doesn't look like the gate has been opened for some time.....

so nice to have a cooler place to escape to. having it cool off at night makes such a huge difference, even without air conditioning. and it's nice to be able to sit & relax without having huge jobs staring us in the face everywhere. there's still plenty to do, but not as immediate. hope to get the girls up to help me paint in a few weeks, be nice to have that done.

all for now!

july 11 & 12- possible photo overload!

this is where we were on august 2 last year. we've come a long way, steve has done a tremendous amount of work- and we have our occupancy final.
the one thing that had to be changed was the banisters had to be moved up. they seem quite high to steve & me, but it's where they need to be. now we're all legal!

front porch looks great after steve got the finish on it earlier this week.

this weekend's project was vinyl for the back porch.

under the stairs

and the laundry room

steve did a great job! things are starting to feel more finished. we picked up an extra vanity on sale to use for storage on the back porch.

and the couch fits perfectly along with the little side table from the second hand store. nice place to unwind & watch the sunset. we don't have huge windows to look out due to needing to be 100 mi hr wind proof, but it's still a light pretty spot.

the trees & shrubs we planted last fall are doing well. need to read up on what stuff i can bring up from home- i have lots of plants needing dividing, if they'll survive.

speaking of finished- the master bath looks great

the front room is shaping up, now that we're down to one couch

echo is working hard in his position as guard of the homestead

but we all got some play in as well........ rocky came to visit

the camera got a work out

wild flowers still blooming- wild rose

potentilla

steve fixed the back of the jeep up so the dogs could ride safely. put a box over the bolts on the floor & the net around to keep them from getting any bright ideas about hopping out.

we headed out on the forest service road toward couch summit

and came to this beautiful spot

more wildflowers

scenic vistas

when we were heading back to town, we saw a mama skunk & her babies in the road. they scattered quickly before i could get a photo. but then we saw these fox kits playing off to the side. they were hilarious- like puppies. we turned around & i managed to get a few shots. with echo whining and trying to get out to "play" with them.

and got home for a beautiful sunset.

pleased to report that steve got a mountain bike ride in today and is looking forward to getting some fishing and biking done in the coming weeks now that the pressure is off.

Approval

Well happy days are here again and maybe a little pressure off as well. Tuesday we received our final plumbing inspection and passed no problem. So that set us up for our grand final today, which we also passed. So now we have no more inspections. I had hoped to have this done by the 1st of July. 8 days later than I had hoped is good enough considering my rookie status as a do as much of the work myself home builder. Hard to believe that we paid and picked up the building permit just under one year ago. July 17 2008 is the date that the permit was issued.

We still have a lot of work to do, but at least the worst of it is over. I think.? What to do next? Well I'm hoping to pick some linoleum that I can stand the look of and not pay tons for it. But everything I like price range is boderline butt ugly. The stuff I like is 3 and 4 bucks a sq. foot. Maybe I'll just close my eyes and pick one that is 88 cents per sq. foot. If I can, I'll get the back porch flooring down and maybe the laundry room done as well. I finished up laying the subfloors on Monday afternoon, so the linoleum should fly on. But then again maybe I'll just go fishing one day and on a nice long mtn. bike ride the other. :) We'll just have to wait and see. I haven't been on the bike much and only had the cam out on it a couple of times. Might be fun to record some vid in a different setting. Thought I'd include some footage recorded last spring from one of my rides that started from the house here in Boise. Nice thing about living here is the close poximity of the foothill trails to ride and hike. Well maybe not. I'll try to add some video later.

july 3, 4 & 5

the weekend started thursday night. steve was busy caulking and cleaning and getting ready for the plumbing final next week.

we also got the back porch painted to get ready to move furniture and set up some storage.

temp kitchen counter painted, made a bit more water resistant & a lot less possible sliver giving.

and the deck power washed in preparation for staining. of course, rocky foiled this plan several times...... and halle did too, on the last cleaning, hopping up on the porch with her dirty feet.

got the prayer flags flying too.

it wasn't ALL work, tho. here's steve kicking back on the removed jeep seat.....

we drove out to the national forest for a hike friday morning while it was still cool.

a beautiful day.

the dogs always seem to be having a blast. halle decided that this small stick would be a good thing to pack along (and play keep away with) for a while.
we saw this deer far enough up the trail to get the dogs in a heel & walk calmly by without any drama. the doe walked up the hill, but was not terribly alarmed.

weenie girl waded the stream rather than try the reverse log walk. not sure why i thought that halle would be good to steady myself on. yes, the water was cold, and the rocks slippery, but i made it- slowly- across just fine.

the wildflowers were blooming everywhere. the red are firecracker penstemon- perfect for the fourth!

butterflies everywhere. these flowers are wild geranium.

a columbine

not sure what these are, just that they're merrily growing in the middle of the trail (an old road).

pussy toes (love them!)

buckwheat (one of my favorites- i think maybe because the flowers stay on for a long time- they dry on the stem & change colors and are just very cool)

meanwhile, back at the ranch.... (um, i mean house).....another beautiful evening

these are in the field behind the house. i haven't looked them up yet, but they're sure pretty!

then we rode our bikes to city park for fourth of july festivities. the arts council brought in a band. they hope to build a band shell in the park and have a concert series. these guys were very enjoyable- some great fiddle, classics like rocky top & orange blossom special as well as original music. arts council also sold wine as a fundraiser. good thing we were on our bikes!

looked like a good turn out from the town

and then the fireworks....

this morning, cutting & baling hay in the field behind the house.

ran out to the marsh to see how things looked this morning, it was beautiful.

that's it for now. steve has the plumbing final tomorrow, then hopefully the occupancy. we're at a point where there are things to do, but it's possible to relax & enjoy the area too. we're enjoying exploring & looking forward to doing more of that.