where we've been

we had a weekend of stuff around the first house (friend in town, christmas tree burning party, the usual) and then the next (long) weekend a trip to yellowstone.


one sad bit of news- our sandhill cranes that were nesting by the highway didn't fare so well. we stopped to check on the way out of town and saw no cranes & an empty nest. looking further, we saw at least one crane carcass. we think maybe the golden eagle we saw across the road got to them, but will never know. major drag.

more of the same lesson in yellowstone, but lots of new life too.
the buffalo calves are so cute, and silly- they'll just take off like little lunatics running in circles, butting heads, jumping sagebrush- and then collapse into a dead sleep with mom watching out for them.

then, the griz.... saw lots this trip. they seem most interested in food (which is usually of the carcass variety). big powerful animals. magnificent. and clearly something you don't want to get too close to (i have a fairly long lens).

black bear- looks really different- i wasn't sure i could tell, until i saw a griz, then no question.

four buffalo were curious about what was going on here and wanted to walk by. the bear finally bluff charged and the buffs moved off. they didn't seem too concerned, tho. bull buffalo seem to do pretty much whatever they want.....

we also saw 2 wolves, and plenty of ungulates, will post more as i sift thru the photos. and, of course, update on house progress.

may 2 & 3 danger! lots of photos!

here's how it looked when we got to fairfield on saturday- much like what we left in boise. good weather to be working inside.
after the obligatory dog romp with rocky, of course.

and a walk around to see what's growing .

wildflowers starting to pop up. i think a desert parsley.

and something else- maybe larkspur?- getting ready to bloom.

i think we'll have lupine and wild geranium and maybe camas too.

the willow are starting to really show color as they put on new growth.

here's how it looks up close.

and now inside.

my mission for the weekend was to get the master bath painted so we can tile, install sink & commode & get the final occupancy.

here i am putting on the primer. picked another dark color for the last bath. this is a dark, steely blue- similar to the stormy skies we saw all weekend.

steve's mission was to get the stairway painted & hook up the sink in the upstairs guest bath. the stairway was fun- the ceiling is really high.

looks great now! a few touch ups on the ceiling & it's done. glad we got the paint 'em to match sconces- they blend in nicely.

and- voila! a sink upstairs! woo hoo! we both took showers this weekend too. it is so nice to be able to do laundry & shower up here. we're getting there. even left some clothes in the new dressers.

a little r&r after a tough day. not much though b/c we had to dash off to the iron mountain inn to watch the derby. and eat some finger steaks for a healthy afternoon snack. and have an adult beverage. well, we deserved a small reward!

we missed the actual race (actually, so did everyone in the bar b/c the satellite went out at a most inopportune time), but we caught the amazing replay & the excited jockey & big fun in the winner's circle. then headed off to camas prairie centennial marsh.

by now it had cleared off some and the sky was beautiful.

there is a lot of water out here in the spring after the snow melt. it's pretty strange to see so much water in the midst of the sagebrush. from what i could tell this should be popping with wildflowers in a month or so.

there are all sorts of shore birds about- this is an avocet with a beak that curves upward.

i wish i'd taken the video camera & left the sound running- the bird calls & singing are just great to listen to.

we got quite lucky with sandhill cranes this visit. i like the way you can see the farm buildings behind this one.

got lucky and caught these two taking off.

and in flight.

lots of yellow headed blackbirds too.

saw this female pronghorn trotting down the road. did you know that the only place there are antelope is in africa? so even though we call these antelope they're not really.

on the way home, we pulled over to get some shots of these guys.

we've seen them in this spot our past few trips. on the way up yesterday, i caught the female sitting on what looked like a nest, but we weren't sure since it's in the middle of this bog.

but look what we saw today! eggs! it is going to be really fun to check in on the sandhill crane family as we go back & forth. we're going to miss the next 2-3 weekends, so there should be chicks by the time we are headed back up.

steve noticed this guy sitting on the rocks across from the cranes. huge bird.

we're pretty sure a golden eagle- due to size & coloring.

whew! great weekend! probably sparse posting for the next few weeks, but we'll be back. hopefully with crane chick photos. and blooming wildflower photos. and, oh yeah- more progress on the house:)

4.26.09

we found a few deals for the fairfield house in various places this week. a microwave, two medicine cabinets & a small side table at the second hand building supply store that benefits a local rehab program.

a king size mattress, pine table & chairs, some pots & pans & cheap dressers in an online auction of items from the close by bankrupt tamarack resort. so we drove up with our goodies today. tho it will take more than me to get that mattress upstairs!

the snowmobiles came down. doesn't look much different from monday. we did see some elk & cranes on the drive, and it was sunny & a beautiful day.

here are some photos of the furnishings and a video walk through of the house so far-

thank goodness for the snowmobile trailers!

been a while

looks a bit different from the last post.... no snow in town.

dogs back to racing around behind the house. what we thought would be marshy isn't. it's dry.
echo guarding the house from the driveway-

porch gets put to use- it's great, and i'm sure we'll be out there a lot. the house is a great wind break :)

john made this bed frame. it will hold a king size mattress- room for me, steve & both dogs. not quite finished out, but it will look great when done.

the scenery from the house-

a field trip to soldier mountain. still a bit of snow on the ski hill, but not much.

lots of water running in the creek-

the ski lodge burned down a few weeks ago. don't know what they're going to do- rebuild or use temporary structures next season. it looks like it was really hot.

and a field trip to camas centennial marsh in search of sand hill cranes. there is a lot of water.

saw 4 cranes at a distance. running at each other, flying a bit. i love the way all cranes fly with their feet sticking out.

and a yellow headed blackbird.

i need to go back & get out the tripod & just sit for a while to see what birds come back & hang out.

found the second hand building store in hailey- lots of tile there. the one in boise had a microwave for $15 (score!) and some medicine cabinets for $15 and $20. slowly but surely we're getting there!