My Honey

I often mention that Dan is out of town working. For a "retired" person, he's on the move quite often. So here's the deal. Following his official retirement, he started receiving calls asking for his expertise and it was just what he needed. After a few months, he decided to create his own consulting business and he was off and running. (I got to contribute by designing his letterhead and business cards. Things of beauty, I must say!)

So what does he do? Well, he's the contract Forest Pathologist for the Idaho Department of Lands, which means he presents workshops on tree diseases in different locations throughout the year, conducts field days where participants see said diseases in their actual environs, and is available for consultation when IDL foresters have questions about specific problems. He is also occasionally called upon by private companies for similar work. It's been fun for him; he says they're asking him to do the things he enjoyed the most when he worked full time.

Another aspect of his sharing has been a tie-in with the Idaho Forest Products Commission. This began when he was working full time, and has continued. They conduct two big tours a year: one for teachers in June, and one they call Miracle at Work Forest Tour for business and political leaders in September.

This year, pictures and comments by Dan have made it into print; a forestry extension field day was featured in the Coeur d'Alene paper, and the Miracle tour in The Capital Press, a west coast agricultural publication.

We were able to capture this picture from the Capital Press's website:

He says he's now waiting for a call from Letterman.

UPDATE: For those interested, click here for a link to the article in the Coeur d'Alene paper: Cd'A article

Happy Fall, Y'all

I'm a sucker for seasonal treats. And I justify them by calling it "decorating."

Cookbooks...

... are one of my favorite reading pleasures. Over the years, I've added quite a few to the several I had when we got married. There are some I've made many meals from, and others I've only read but never "used" in the sense of actually cooking a recipe from them. They're inspirations, I guess you could say. I often take a cookbook to bed to read before falling asleep. Anyone else do that?

Suffice it to say, over the years my collection has grown. When we were first married, I used part of a shelf over the daybed that was our sofa in our 8x35' trailer. In our next homes, they sat in a corner on the counter. Fast forward a few years and I had them on a small bookcase Dan made, which worked perfectly for a short time. All of a sudden, I had too many to fit, and I was forced to decide which stayed in the kitchen and which were shuffled to bookcases in the basement. Not a really good solution.

Last year, in the fall, I told Dan that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a new bookcase for my cookbooks. He agreed to make one and we measured and plotted. I had very specific instructions. He got a small start before Christmas, but then other things intervened. He was able to get back to it this summer, and today was its grand entrance!!

Note the red bow on the top!!

Here's how it looks inside:

Room to spare!! The little drawer at the top left? It's for bills! Now when they come in, we can just pop them in there, and find them. All in one place, mixed in with nothing else! Yay!

This blurry picture is what I used to have (I didn't realize it was blurry and of course it's empty now, and gone, so...):

I keep going in the kitchen and looking at my wonderful new bookcase. I love it so much! The door inserts are beadboard, the knobs and hinges are pewter, and the whole thing is painted the same color as the beadboard in the breakfast nook. The shelf heights are made to fit my books.

Here's the final look:

I'm pretty certain there are more cookbooks lurking in the basement and when I find them, they'll get to come up to join the others in their new home!

September

Fall is in the air and today could not have been a more perfect day. The high was only in the low seventies and it's been invigorating! We went to Costco this morning with Ann and Daniel and even the valley was comfortable.

Dan is off to a meeting tonight and I was excited to change out our Americana decorations for fall ones. Labor Day is still to come, but...it's September! It just feel right.

I'm working at the shop tomorrow, so it should be a fun day. I've done a little more sewing and have almost finished redoing the guest room downstairs. I like how it's looking. My 830 has been in the shop for three weeks and I've been missing it, but I do have other machines and so I finally got them out and did some pillows earlier this week. I'm so blessed--these other machines (I used two) are such great machines, too.

I'll be back soon with some pictures...of something! Maybe the guest room or just some pictures of fall decorations.

Happy Labor Day!

A Little Trip to Bruder Bear's

Did you miss me??  It was time for a little get-a-way. Dan had to be in McCall to give a talk last Tuesday morning, so we took advantage of that to plan a visit to Bruder Bear's.  We drove to McCall Monday, and following Dan's talk, we headed out for southern Idaho.

John and Karen were both working Wednesday and Thursday, so we had a chance to sit around and enjoy the incredible views from their deck.  Their house is right on the Snake River and the water is wide there due to slackwater from a downstream dam.

Some kind of gorgeous, huh?

John took Friday off and he and Dan began to work on a new dock. Their house is on the bluff side of the river, so they have stairs which zigzag down, somewhat like the stairs on a lookout; so instead of a beach, they use a dock as a sort of deck between the hill and the actual boat dock. The guys purchased the lumber and brought it around in John's boat. The poles for the supports were already in place and working from the boat, they began to attach the 2x8's to form the framework.

Here you'll see John in the boat and Dan in the lower center as they move in the planks:

They were forced to discontinue the plan to use the boat as there were so many other boats on the water that the waves kept John's boat in continual motion, which didn't work too well. Plan B: work in the water.

By eight o'clock Sunday evening, they were done. The frame is ready for its Trex decking. Here's Dan rolling up the tubing from the compressor to the nail gun. You can see the framework behind (the other half is behind the Russian olive tree on the right). I know it looks like it's sticking up in the air, but it's actually me who was up in the air--on the stairs--getting everything in view. The guys were well pleased with their work.

So, you ask, what were Karen and I up to as the guys slaved away? Well, so glad you asked. On Thursday evening, as Karen was fixing dinner, I brought up the subject of the wallpaper on her soffits. Both of her daughters had been "encouraging" her to get rid of it but so far, she hadn't. I sort of lifted an edge and said that it looked like it would be easy to take off. Karen came over, gave it a bigger yank, and we were off. Turned out there was another border underneath, but with a little work and a few hours of time, we got it all off. There was white paint underneath, and with a little touch-up, they'll be good as new.

Saturday, in addition to the dock work, a party was on the schedule. A local reception for the daughter of some friends was on the agenda so Karen spent the morning baking three delectable desserts, and John spent the afternoon deep frying eight, yup, eight, turkeys. We all had a good time at the party, which was held outdoors at the home of the bride's parents, in spite of a couple of rain showers and a beautiful lightning show. Oh, and the father of the bride did a bad slice job on two of his fingers as he carved a turkey. He refused to go for stitches until the next day and wore a lovely gauze mitten the rest of the evening.

As usual, we had a fantastic time at the Bruder Resort and loved every moment. The visit, the fun, the work, and food were all perfect. Thanks, Bruder Bear! XXOO

A Long Time Ago...

on a very hot day, I was born sixty-two years ago today! How the years have flown!!  The hospital in our little town in the canyon had no air conditioning and my poor mom endured not only labor, but 100+ heat getting me into this world.

I've had a lovely day, lazing about and enjoying my air conditioned house and chatting with family on the phone. Dan was going to take me out to dinner, but tacos sounded good and so I made us some.  They were just right.

Here's a picture of me not long after this day all those years ago:

I really was little once!  :-)

My Two Daniels

Papa Dan and his little namesake, a pretty special duo:

Note that, with no planning, they are dressed alike:  blue t-shirts and denim, although Daniel's are overalls. 

UPDATE:  My two Daniels also share another trait:  We all know Papa Dan is a forester who loves his woods, but did you know little Daniel loves the outdoors, too?  When he is fussy, if he's taken outdoors, he quiets right down and stares at the trees.  It's amazing!