september 25-27

we got out of dodge friday night, with plans to get up and hike- 5 or 6 miles- to the top of smoky dome. we got to enjoy a lovely sunset......

and the next morning hopped in the jeep and headed for the hills.

the aspen are starting to turn in pockets. these were a really pretty copper color.

this is where we planned to end up, but we got a bit off track and it was too rocky to get around from where we were. plus we had achy glutes & hamstrings & sore feet (not mine for once!), it was hot and we were making a big dent in the water so we decided to call it a good conditioning hike & try again later.

here's echo, mountain bouvier. he carried his & halle's water. we ended up taking off the dog's packs on the way down because it was pretty warm.

waiting in the shade for she who brings up the end.....

there were still flowers blooming in places. there is a beautiful stream and i bet that the flowers are just incredible in early summer.

i couldn't get photos to do justice to how pretty this stream is, but that doesn't mean i didn't try!

and the water was much appreciated by the dogs. unfortunately we left the stream for a fair part of the hike so we had to carry dog water along with people water.

it was a smoky, hazy day, not as clear as our last trip up.

another pretty water shot

lupine still blooming

the traverse was pretty steep in places. you can see echo thinking he has found a better route. And look Steve is in his Ed pants! Steve likes these for warm weather hikes, light, protective and the legs zip off!

here's the view from as high as we made it. About 9650 feet in altitude, so at least we got a good 2 grand in elevation gain. If only there was a stable snow pack to slide back down to the bottom on. Later there will be :) . My 2 cents worth, sp.

and back down and home, off to the iron mountain inn for dinner & the boise state game (and a few toddies). at least the hike was long enough to make me feel ok about eating that burger & tots! and it was good!

and home for another sunset.

and now for the house photos. steve saw this skier that my friend zella made & thought it would be perfect for fairfield. and so he is..... ready for snow....

this is the shed we got from steve's son. it will be very handy for stowing lawnmower, bikes, etc. bad thing is it has to be 10 ft from the property line, so it's pretty close to the house & no more great view from the back of the front porch. the windows by the table are also partially blocked. but we still have the great views from the back of the house. i'll plant something climbing & it will be dandy.

picked up some shrubs. halle is supervising placement.

we also got a few more hooks, and steve got them up, so we are increasing stowage opportunities.

in preparation for snow season, a grate to be installed for scraping ice & snow (and gravel). probably on the top step once it's been cut down.

and lastly, the snow shrine. sage, a dreamcatcher & crystals- Going to have to have a special little ceremony later this fall for grins to increase snowfall in the area. I'm still formulating the grand plan, might be we have more than one. (more of Steve's 2 cents)

Good darn thing Marianne packs 2 cameras, if it was up to me we'd never have a decent photo.

Small changes

Hmmm, not much motivation for working today, so I didn't do a whole lot. Hung the shower curtain and liner in the master bath. Found this at Big Lots and thought that with the blue walls, penguins, snow and ice are fitting. You know blue and white seem to be the color scheme in this room anyway.



Before I could hang art I did have to touch up the paint on the ceilings, so that I did, as well as finish the edges of the ceiling in the stairway. Tried Mariannes new little edger tool and all it did was agravate me because it kept putting paint streaks on the wall. I can run a bead with a brush better than that miserable little tool. And if that fails there is always tape.

So now that we have the Boise river print up and one of my favorite Charlie Russel prints up it feels even more comfortable. I think there is one more Russel print we need to put up in the future. Question is which one? Feel free to make suggestions. :) Next thing I want to hang is the pair of old wood skis. They'll go on one of the walls in the stairway. I have this idea of hanging various photos of past adventures under, near and around them. Ski shots of course, but also some other shots of places that we've been and had fun adventures in. Mountain adventures of course. What would really be cool is if I can come up with a photo of my grandfather on skis when he lived in Silver City in the early 1900's. May have to make that one with photo shop. Could be hard to do if I can't find one when he isn't horseback.

I did work on the outside touch up that needs to be finished, but that can wait until next week or the next week. Very hot outside in the afternoon, felt like high 80's on the south side of the house. I'm not fond of heat so maybe that was the reason for my lack of motivation to stand out in the sun and paint or trying to fight off the crud that Marianne has.

So the big project for next week is getting John's 8 x 14 storage shed hauled up from Boise and set in place, sided, roofed and painted. That may take a couple of weekends or three to finish.

We've changed our minds about where to set the storage shed at least 5 times. So wherever it lands next week is where it'll be for quite awhile. Stay tuned.

sp

a whole month?

hard to believe that it's been a month since the dogs & i have been to fairfield. dogs were happy to get back & do some running & romping!

we headed up saturday morning & went out to do some exploring in the jeep.

we headed to the hills to check out a trail to smoky dome.....

here's the view back to the valley. it was pretty hazy, but we could make out town.

steve in his favorite place, in the mountains headed up. (usually so he can head back down fast- on a bike or skis.)

we hiked down to the stream so the dogs could get a drink- it was pretty warm- and were rewarded with some lovely views.

scoping out the trail for an assault on the summit of smoky dome in the future. it doesn't look too bad, just a bit of a hike.

saw this HUGE bird on the way out. we're thinking golden eagle, which is what we always think when we see HUGE birds that don't have a) white heads & tails (bald eagles- not usually seen in this habitat) or b) red heads (vultures).

we got home, fed the dogs & headed out to the imi for dinner (good french dip for me, good prime rib for steve) and a little college football, then to beautiful downtown fairfield for an after dinner cocktail. the bar was open, the brew pub closed.

and back home for the sunset.

best seat in the house for sunset watching.

or maybe this is.....

here's saturday evening's light show

then steve tried to get the portable dvd player hooked up to the tv to watch some different ski flicks....... the vhs selection is wearing thin..... still not working, though.
and on to sunday's hike.

the skies are just beautiful, as is the light.

we took it easy sunday (well, i did, steve was busy figuring out where to put the storage shed)

sunday's sunset

this morning out walking with the dogs before leaving i heard noise & looked up to see 6 sandhill cranes flying over- very cool!

it is so nice to have the rooms all painted, tho there is still some touch up to do. with that done, we tidied up a bit so that the guest room actually looks sort of like a place you might want to stay.

and the master is coming along as well.

i was glad to have a relaxed weekend and not feel like i had to be working all weekend. it was good to get out & explore.