Wolverine Idahoans Glenn and Linda: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friday, January 2, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year! Our New Year's Eve celebration was low-key and quiet, but included a visit by the Jurgen family for dinner.

Glenn selected the entree this time, so the meal featured roast prime rib of beef. I made herbed scones, wilted spinach salad, twice-baked potatoes and a vegetable. We topped it off with peppermint ice cream and a platter of remaining Christmas cookies. Of course, no winter holiday celebration would be complete without a bowl of our traditional champagne punch.

The week since Christmas has seen extraordinary changes in the weather here. The many, many inches of snow on the ground then have nearly disappeared. A warming trend coupled with pretty substantial winds has melted away most of what we hand on the ground in our yard. This morning as I write (it's 5:30 a.m.) the winds have been howling again for about 18 hours. I believe it's called a Chinook wind here. Josh and Meg reported temperatures of nearly 40 degrees when dropping off the Blue Bear about half an hour ago!! On the upside, we haven't paid anyone to plow our driveway in a week now!

The week since Christmas in other aspects played out uneventfully. Glenn and I did spend a few hours in our attic area adding some plastic sheeting to the insulators', primarily putting additional covering over the seam areas. It was a bit drafty up there since the attic has no drywall/sheetrock. Now, I can finally begin the task of organizing that huge storage area to my liking.

Today we have Blue Bear again. Josh's employer required him to work today, so Meg went to her job as well -- rather than use one of her 2009 vacation day allotments so early in the year, also, Josh is working a 'short' day, so they'll be back about 2 -2.5 hours earlier than normal. But on Monday they will begin their normal routine once again.

For Glenn and me, 2008 was certainly a banner year in the category of "what changed?" Only time can reveal further developments in our lives for 2009. The last 12 months have truly been a whirlwind for us. Whew!

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CAMPING COMPANIONS

(07/25/09) Miles-Guy experienced his first campout this last weekend. Glenn and I secured a campsite at the Joe T. Fallini Campground on the Mackay Reservoir. Due to her plant's recognition of "Pioneer Day", Meghan didn't work Friday. However, Joshua spent the entire weekend at Agrium during their turnaround period. Meg and Miles joined us Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. In the end Miles declared (in his own way) "Camping is fun!" Here, he and grandpa relax in front of the morning campfire; a bit of the reservoir and surrounding mountains can be seen in the background.

Wishing Well or Well Wishing?

Well, (pun intended), our well is drilled! Mountain West drilling spent four days on our lot (some time due to equipment breakdown) drilling for water. We "wished for a well" at 300 feet or shallower, as this depth was what our builder predicted. They found water at 340 feet, which is not that bad. Two of our neighbors are at 400' and 450' respectively. Nonetheless, at $31 per foot, those extra 40 feet sort of added up quickly! The pump and septic go in this week. According to the well driller, they were pumping right around 30 gallons per minute, which is more than the average house can handle at one time anyway. Oh, well, what's another $1200?

Casting Creepiness

Casting, as in fly fishing, took on a creepy bent for me during our recent trip to Yellowstone. I cast my fly into an off-the-beaten-path section of the Lamar River. At first, I thought I'd tangled it on some brush sticking out of the water. Closer inspection revealed that the "branch" was actually the horn of a bison who'd drowned in the river. We speculated that in crossing, it got a hoof caught in rocks and couldn't get out. As I stood on a nearby rock, the water's ebb and flow brought its face to near-surface. Ick.

Bonus Room Bonanza.

Due to the construction of the trusses, we will end up with a fairly large bonus room. An open staircase from the foyer was giving us reason to pause; how to finish off the top of the stairs so the unfinished bonus area was not visible from the foyer? Glenn came up with a relatively inexpensive solution. This photo is taken from the framed doorway looking north (he's standing in the darkened corner). We are finishing off about 1/3 of the bonus room with sheetrock and carpeting. It will be the perfect retreat for Glenn and his many antlers and turkey fans (which I decreed would NOT be hung in the great room!).