Saturday, March 11, 2017

Spring Clean Up

FINALLY the days are turning warm and there are flowers popping up everywhere in our yard.   Today my sweet husband and I spent much of the morning in Spring Cleanup.   I tackled the emerging dandelions and dug out grass that had invaded the flowerbeds.  We raked up huge heaps of leaves and pine needles and cut back some of the ground cover that had become too invasive, spilling out of bounds.  Larry began scraping paint and tidying up the trim around the garage door and the chimney.   By mid day our arms and backs were aching, but it felt good to be setting our yard to rights again.  I'm giddy with anticipation to see what color the next few weeks will bring.




Saturday, February 18, 2017

Escape from Winter's Gloom

This winter we have had more snow and cold here in Boise than ever before in recorded history.  February has been ROUGH.   Everyone I know has been getting antsy with cabin fever.   We found a pretty good way to dispel the gloom of being cooped in.   We took a day to walk through the rows of flowers at Edward's Green House.   Being around living plants and color gave my spirit a much needed lift!

Best of all, my sweet son bought me a bowl of tulip bulbs that were well up and full of promise.  It wasn't long before I had gorgeous blooms on my window sill.   It was just the boost I needed to kick my winter blues to the curb and begin looking forward to spring.









Saturday, January 21, 2017

JANUARY 2017

After an amazing two year adventure in the South Pacific, we are now back in Boise, getting resettled.  In many ways it's good to be home, but a part of my heart and spirit remains in our beloved New Zealand.  I miss the many friends we made there and I miss the beautiful green countryside.

The biggest challenge to our transition back home has been the ferocious winter we are experiencing.  We are breaking all the record books with more snow than they have seen in these parts in over 30  years. It's lovely to look at, but the streets are a mess and I'm getting cabin fever from being cooped inside so much.   So I'm dreaming of gardening and looking forward to spring.






Monday, November 24, 2014

Off To New Zealand!

Hey fans....

While I mainly wrote in this blog for my own amusement, it occurs to me that there were a few other people who would check in from time to time who might be wondering what happened to me.  No, I did not fall off the edge of the earth.

My dear husband and I are no longer in Boise.  We left on October 19, 2014.  We will be gone for the next two years, serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We have been assigned to serve as Area Family History Support in the Auckland, New Zealand Mission.   We will be living in Takapuna, a suburb on the north of Auckland.  We will be living about two blocks from the beach shown above.

In addition to the work we will do supporting and training those who serve in family history libraries across the top part of the North Island, we will also have responsibilities in some of the outer areas such as the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and a few other places.

I will miss my gardens, my beloved basset hound, my family and my friends.  But I am excited about this new adventure.   If you care to see posts about the mission, you can check out my other blog over HERE








Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Road Trip to Stanley, ID





We have had two of Larry's sons from AZ visiting with us so Sunday afternoon we took a road trip to Stanley, ID where we had a lovely supper  at the Sawtooth Hotel (yum!) and then drove over to one of my all time favorite places - Red Fish Lake.  It was very different seeing it this time of year as compared to later summer which is when I had visited in the past.  No lush green vegetation growing everywhere, but also no mosquitoes and no crowds.  We had the entire shoreline to ourselves.   It was really quite lovely.  

Uh Oh

There is a reason I have not been posting anything lately:


Three weeks ago, while on a trip to Seattle for work meetings, I fell and broke a bone in my right hand.  I've had it in a cast and am having to learn to get by with only using my very NON-dominant left hand.  It has been a struggle.

Yesterday I had my original plaster cast removed and now am wearing a special sort of hard plastic cast that laces up tight.  I  can remove it for an hour or so each evening and do a few exercises to get movement back into my hand.

I will do this for about another three weeks and then we'll re-evaluate how the healing process is progressing.  Hopefully with some physical therapy I will get back full strength and range of motion.

For now, I'm learning lessons about patience, accepting my limitations and asking for help--none of which come easy for me.

So it goes.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Book Review - Wild Tales: A Rock 'n' Roll Life

I recently listed to the audio book version of Wild Tales: A Rock 'N' Roll Life by Graham Nash.  I was interested in this story because music of the band Crosby, Stills and Nash (both with and without Young) was pretty much the soundtrack of my youth.  Several of my key life experiences between 15-25 come rushing back to me with uncanny clarity whenever I hear specific songs.  I played those albums endlessly and their music was often on the radio during those years.   I still listen to a lot of their work on Pandora.  So I was intrigued to learn a bit of the back story from Nash's point of view.

Frankly, it left me a bit disappointed.   I didn't care for the cavalier treatment of bad behavior.  I give Nash points for candid disclosure, but honestly, I could not help thinking over and over it is ungentlemanly to kiss and tell.   The thing about the '70s is that it was a pocket of time right after the Pill became widely accepted and before we were faced with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.   In that period of time when the baby boomers were at their hormonal peak, there was a whole lot of casual sex going on.  Then compound that with lots of drugs and you pretty much get the story that Nash unfolds.  Yes, he talks about the music and the various people he had opportunities to meet and make music with.  But over and over throughout the book it seemed more about the drugs and the sex, leaving me with an image of an old guy beating his chest with a leering grin to brag about the warrior days of his youth.  Not what I really wanted to hear.

The nice thing about listening to this book rather than reading it on print pages is that it is read by the author who sings little snatches of songs as he talks about the writing of them and what was going on at the time.  That's a nice touch.  Many times when choosing my audio books I deliberately avoid "read by author" volumes, preferring those who have invested in skilled dramatic readers....such as Will Patton reading James Lee Burke.    Just because a person writes well does not always mean they are great readers and more than once I've been distracted from the power of a story by a voice that was not pleasing to the ear.

With Nash, it was perfect to have him read his own words, both because it captured his English accent, keeping the listener firmly aware that his life experience was very much that of a guy from North of England who came to America and had this wild adventure of a life, and because of how he shares the songs that I grew up listening to.   Even  hearing just a snippet of Guinevere,  Lady of the Island, Teach Your Children, or other songs from the very source of those songs was a delight.  Learning the back story of Marrakesh Express and others was fun.

I would not recommend this book to teens, because I think it really does over glorify and attempt to justify all the indiscriminate sex with little regard to marital vows and it clearly portrays drug use in a positive light, despite the horrors of David Crosby's addictions that nearly cost him his life.   My current value system firmly rejects both of those as unacceptably destructive, so having him paint those behaviors as glamorous was not comfortable for me. Still, having lived through those years and remembering those times, I acknowledge that it is an accurate picture of how things were.   So what else would I expect?   I concede that for someone who lived the life that Nash describes, it would be nearly impossible to tell it any other way.

I find it tragic that all that excess cost a generation the lives and creativity of so many amazingly talented people who were casualties of the scene.   

The thing that comes through that I like about Nash's story is his consistent bond to the music - more than getting rich, more than being famous - it was about the music itself.   There is no question in my mind that the band Crosby, Stills and Nash created something very special and their body of work remains a treasure for us all.

The truly amazing thing is they are still touring, still making music, all these years later.  Graham Nash and David Crosby are now 72 years old.  Neil Young is 68 and Steven Stills is 69.



There is some great footage of Graham Nash's life on the show Biography which can be seen HERE.

Monday, May 5, 2014

A new favorite place

I have found a new favorite place.

I can't believe I have lived in Boise for three years and am just now discovering the beauty of this spot  One of the fabulous things about a city with a river running through it and a fairly progressive commitment to conservation is that we get places like this right in town - I pass by it all the time.  I finally decided to check it out this weekend to take my grandkids geocaching.  It seemed like a logical choice because it is just a short drive from my house and there were four different hides in the same general area so we decided to pay it a visit.

It was love at first sight.  Or was it the sounds?  The whole place is a cacophony of bird song.  We saw many different species of birds, along with bluegill, bass and, turtles.

Larry and I went back again today, this time with Morgan the Wonder Dog in tow for a nice hike.  This will definitely be a favorite spot to watch the seasons change.

From http://bee.cityofboise.org/watershed/learn/hyatt-hidden-lakes-reserve/

Known by a variety of names, the Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve or Hyatt Wetlands, is a 44-acre haven for birds, animals, and people located on the edge of Boise's West Bench (5301 N. Maple Grove Road). It is also the site of an innovative stormwater treatment project featuring sand filters, stormwater piping, a porous pavement parking lot, Hyatt Logorestroom, an access bridge, pathways, public art, and educational kiosks. In addition, the park features environmental education opportunities with lessons taught by Boise WaterShed staff.



Monday, April 28, 2014

I stand corrected...

Many thanks to  John Fako who commented on my earlier post about Dead Nettle.   (which is the name someone TOLD me that THIS is:







John said:   "looks like yellow archangel to .me"  so I looked it up and found THIS
 Not only does this seem to be the correct identification, I now know more about this plant.

THIS is one of the primary reasons I love garden blogging.  It expands my knowledge as I reach out to a wider community of folks who appreciate plants.   It has also helped me make some dear friends right here in my own community who I would have met no other way,  like Kim and Victoria over at Our Life in Idaho.




So I own John appreciation on two counts - both for helping me correctly identify this particular patch in my gardens and for bringing me back to this blog.

Spring is exploding with color in my gardens right now. The tulips have been glorious.  I have spent more time appreciating them than writing about them.   I've got photos taken over the past two weeks, just haven't gotten any of it put online yet.    John's comment reminds me why I value this silly little blog.  I promise to be back soon!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Boise Spring Color Explosion

It is full on spring in Boise now.  Yards that get more sun than mine have tulips blooming all over town.  I'm not jealous.  Mine are a couple weeks behind nearly everyone else's, but they will be worth waiting for.  Besides, once April hits we get plenty of color to keep us happy.   The old adage says "April Showers Bring May Flowers".   For us it is almost always March rains that bring the blooms in April, so we are a full month ahead of the rhyme.

This spring will be particularly special for me, as it is the last one I will have here for a while.  Come fall my husband and I plan to leave home for about two years to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   We have a lot to do to get ready.  One of the big things on that list, however, is to savor every day we can here and build memories of our sweet home in Boise.  I know we will miss it.  But I am just as sure that I am ready and excited to serve.