Minnesota and back in four days

 I'd like to say I'm making a long story short, but I had to suffer through it, so I thought I'd share the whole shitten mess with you guys. The people we went to go help move were great friends who lived next door to us. We helped them move two years ago, and took over the property next door. Life there hasn't been nice to them, and we went to help bring them home to Idaho. They drove the first trip here with the first load of stuff and made it here early last week. We were waiting for another friend to come up from Nevada, so Scott and I took off Thursday morning with the Uhaul trailer and Andrea (the friend being rescued) and Honey (from Nevada) were heading out the next morning.

We were taking turns driving and were going to jest drive straight through for the 24 hours to get there. Everything was going fine and I was sleeping.

Chokecherry jellies and blackberry jams

Just look at the size of these berries. I couldn't ask for better, especially since they were free. I just had to do the picking. I do however recommend, not wearing flip flops when trying to wedge your way into a very old blackberry bramble that has been left to grow unchecked for who knows how long, and is full of thorns.

Finally not a chicken failure

At least not a, letting a hen hatch out some eggs failure. It's only taken four years, but it finally worked.

And this is why they're called cottonwoods

We have a large stand of old cottonwood trees on the property in front of the house. It's like having our own little forest out there. I't beautiful in the late spring and all through the summer. I love going out there and just sitting under the trees and watching the chickens hunt and scratch around, or just listen to the birds. 

Where have we been?

August 5th of last year. That's the last time I wrote anything on the blog. I think I got a little burnt out on documenting everything, and things got a little lazy-ish around here. The horses were doing the same horse stuff.

We never did get the fence finished around the back of the yard so the chickens came in and ate most everything in the garden. Connie and I gave up weeding it and it looked like a jungle. They ate the corn seeds out of the ground and what didn't get ate, got flooded. The squash took over the world. The chicks we hatched either got ate by the skunks or hawks. I had three survivors to speak of when it was all said and done, and they weren't even ones we hatched, they were ones we bought.

Three survivors in front

We got a few loads of firewood.

Jess joined the Army but came back home
 

 Heather made me get out of the house and go play in the snow a few times.

We lost Fudge

And added two new puppies to the EverStuff. Rudy is a Dachshund and Tanzy is a Cane Corso.  

Amye came out to visit for a few days.

Norman is still growing, pooping and getting ready for the freezer.

I've gotten in a little fishing

 

And that's where we are up to today. I got a bit of chicken wire fence up around the garden to keep out the girls. It's cloudy and rainy-ish and I was going to go put out some been and lavender seeds in the garden, but I just might stay in and wait for Scott to get back from Boise.

Barn today, Gone tomorrow

 Over at the other property my sister is renting from us was this old barn. Honestly, I have no idea how it was still standing. It's been there as long as I've been here, and Andrea said it was there when she had bought the house years ago. It looked like a stiff whisper blown in it's general direction would cause it to come crashing down. Nope.

Dream came true



When I was thirteen we got our first horse. She was an old appy mare and us kids rode her all over the desert and back. I always wanted to be able to camp out with my horse. I made plan after plan with my friends in high school to ride towards New River, have them meet me half way and camp out in the desert overnight.

We'd sit under the Ramada at lunch and make plans and lists. Who had horses, who could bring what, who needed extra gear, and who could bring extra gear. We had great plans, but we never did go.

We're setting again

This year was supposed to be the year I raised chicks for the freezer from eggs we hatched instead of buying chicks. The last batch I got a decent hatch. 32 eggs set, 19 hatched. I think I lost two right at the start. One had it's insides on it's outsides when it hatched. One just up and died. I had one chick with spraddle leg that didn't thrive and died. 16 chicks made it over to Heather's once they were feathered enough to leave the brooder.

Very Cherry

A friend of ours showed up at the house the other day. "Hey, do you want some cherries?" Oh hell yes. I've been scoping out some trees as I drive through town, and here comes Chris telling me he has a sour cherry tree in his yard, and do I want some. He brought me over a grocery sack half full the next day.

Blog-a-Day Fail

I failed the June Blog-a-Day challenge. I had a good reason for it though. Right in the danged middle of it we moved my sister from Arizona, to up here in Idaho. Between the move, the unpacking, and summer shave down season kicking into high gear at work, I just didn't blog. The trip to move Heather couldn't ever be called anything other that memorable. Scotty and I drove down to Nevada and met our friend Honey and her friend Lisa, in Ely. We drove both trucks down to Phoenix. Her with her horse trailer, and us with the flat bed trailer, stopping in Vegas to pick up Jesse. 

Leaving Gooding Idaho

In the front yard at Moms in Phoenix,Az

Loading the arena to bring it back with us

Jesse escaping the heat

Loading horses

Getting ready to leave Phoenix

Heather, Scott, Mark and Me

Hot damn, we made it

The old barn that needs to come down

Me looking all hillbilly and crap, standing in the rain in my Star Wars jammie pants, and dairy muck boots

Tired ponies in the round pen after a long drive

Heather's horses out on her pasture

We took Mom, Karl, Heather, Jess, and Mark down to Shoshone Falls.

Mark, Me, Mom, Heather

Me and Heather

Jess and Mark

Me and Mark