Monday vacay

Got out of town for a Monday concert. Beautiful drive over to Missoula -tons of whitewater and logs, the river was rushing. We remembered what hot springs we want to visit.

I've been having the urge to be a seasonal itinerant worker. Not possible while we have dogs, though. So we'll focus on improvement projects like solar hot water and indoor "plumbing", shelves, a clothesline ... This is our 5th summer in Idaho.

Springin'

Friday afternoon

Starting swimming season early

Still stuck on square b/w photos...this Ilford app just does it for me. But colors are popping everywhere.
Crocuses under the apple tree are a color that might phone camera can't compute and survived a night ir two of frost. Birds are singing. Squirrels are running from branch to branch. Lazlo follows them quite closely under the hazelnut tree but his technique never improves. The pear tree and lilacs are budding.
It's almost camping weather. We're counting the days/weeks until Keith's temp job comes to an end.  What better time of year to be "unemployed" than spring? 3-day weekends will seem like a vacation after working full-time. We talk about what we're working toward and how to get there...jobs are part of that plan but we have flexibility for seasonal work for Keith. Which is great because there are a lot if tiny house projects to tackle.
The river is dropping a little and only one in the family is brave enough to swim so far this year. Head under and everything. Swimming season started early. Also rolling in dead steelhead season...dogs are disgusting creatures! Febreeze is fighting the smell in my car. On warmer days it loses. Gag!!

Almost spring

The sun has reached the point in the sky where the crystals hanging outside the bathroom window catch it. It's been dark for a few months; now my disco is back.

Hi-brow lo-brow

Rinsing your french press mug at the rain barrel

March forth

Slow Sunday

Working more = appreciating weekends.
Smartphone for work = easier posting.

Moved the explosives box to the bathroom.
Hung up an agate mobile to compliment the tp dish.
Moved the chalk board out of storage for project planning/diagramming.

Adjusting as we go...

When we moved here it was with the intention scaling back, living simply and getting by on part-time work. On paper, that sounds fine. But after four years of living at/below the poverty line we're putting a plan into play that will allow us to save some money for future (long-term) travelling  etc. This means increasing the number of hours we each work and there are some growing pains associated with that - but we're trying. Sometimes it feels like struggling, but it's good to get out of your comfort zone periodically, right? Right???

The snow is all gone (again) and it's making us wish spring would get here even faster. Though, on the weekend, when all I want to do is rest, I am glad for the cloud cover that justifies me staying indoors.

I planned on writing a post about things we do differently due to space restrictions and one of them is yoga. I only have a small amount of floor space that will accommodate my mat and sending the pups outdoors is the only way I can do downward dog without getting licked. I just never took the time to flesh out the list of what else we've modified for our space, but I will work on that - because it's a fairly lengthy list!

Cold storage

This is the first year our bird feeder has seen any serious traffic and I am very entertained by them. We've seen a lot of evening grosbeaks and some smaller birds - sometimes up to 5 on the feeder at once.

We've been trying to keep it filled with black sunflower seeds, but they are eating it as quickly as we can refill.

Keith enjoyed his first installment of his xmas gift from my sister, 3 months of IPA-of-the-month.

It's December and they're still digging in the field - no snow has lasted. On our past couple of trips to the river Lazlo's gone in wading. Climate change doesn't seem so bad at this point?

 

Keith dug out this old explosives box to keep our "refrigerated" items in a contained space instead of precariously lined up on the skinny table. It's super cute and works great - not that it has any insulating properties, but it's winter - nature's doing the work.

A six pack carrier makes a good condiment carrier.

After a failed relationship with a hand pump on our water bottles, we decided to go with a gravity-fed dispenser and couldn't be happier with the new "technology." Sub-freezing temps usually cause it to ice up so we schlep the water into the bathroom (where a small ceramic heater runs most of the day right now) or into the house to de-ice.

It's a new year so we're, again, attempting to say hello to good habits and goodbye to the not-so-good. Part of my good habit routine is trying to eat more oatmeal. I used to be an oatmeal hater - until I figured out I just needed to use less water. That was an epiphany I am embarrassed to admit. So I am gingerly wading into instant oatmeal which is not as good as the real thing, but a step in the right direction. I also flirted with the idea of joining the local gym, but at $40+/mo. I can't justify it since I would primarily just be using the treadmill. So instead I ordered a couple of long fleece active wear shirts during an Old Navy sale and will hit the road/trail. Just trying to make good choices every day - here's to health and wellness in 2013!