This is the view I have of the north end of our valley on my way home from work. It takes about 30 minutes to make the commute, which is easy to take because of the beauty and (no) traffic. The only time I wish I lived closer to town is when I'm sleepy! The town on the left is Inkom, ID, which probably has a population of around 500. Big town, huh? The freeway dips down here to the Portneuf River, then climbs back up onto a lava rock mesa, about 500 feet above the river. It is this stretch that sees the worst snow and drifting in the winter. It is only a stretch of about ten miles, and it is really not a big deal.
Yep, that's me posing like the farmer that I am. We have finished preparing the garden plot for this summer. We are planting corn, swiss chard, butterbeans, green beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers and onions. We have raspberries that have wintered over from the previous year, along with our latest discovery: rhubarb! That's right, we have five large rhubarb plants that were discovered by Ken Light, our church friend. Ken came to our place and brought his outstanding (old) Troy-Built tiller to help us prep the soil for the garden and he stumbled into the rhubarb while walking about the property! Of course this just sent Karren over the edge. She is already planning to freeze it, make pies, etc. We will have rhubarb for the entire Marsh Valley!
Ken is a wonderful friend to do us such a great favor by tilling the soil for us. Sure does take the work out of getting the plot ready! He wouldn't even let me pay him for gas. He and his wife Wanda are fabulous. That's the western face of the barn, by the way.
This is a-tilla the hun at work : ) Those old Troy Built's are pretty stout machines. His just chewed its way through the grass and rocks to yield a perfect texture of soil ready for planting. Look at how dark this dirt is! All the soil in these parts is from broken down lava flows and it is almost black. If you keep it wet anything will grow here. That's why potatoes do so well in southeast Idaho. We are not planting any potatoes, but there were a few left from the previous owners that will probably pop up.
Finally, a shot of the tulips that are by the garage. Flowers are appearing literally everywhere on the property. We have just begun to find them. Kind of like a scavenger hunt!
We did buy a new riding mower. It was painful and it set us back a good ways, but we had to have something to keep this growth under control. I had no idea Idaho had such a wet spring. The grass is growing well and the color is deep green. The yard is beginning to look like someone actually cares about this house we live in. If it were only as easy to fix up the inside as well.
Tomorrow I am going to work with a new company after I leave Home Depot at 9am. I received a call from the owner on Tuesday and he was interested in meeting me and talking about the possibility of working part-time with his company, 21st Century Renovations. They do only custom renovations, not clean up of fire damage or that kind of stuff. I met them for lunch on Wed. and we hit it off pretty good. They are interested in someone that is well rounded and flexible, i.e. knows a lot about all phases of construction. They were particularly interested in my sheetrock skills. What I also found out is that they are interested in having me full-time as well! Wish me luck as I try out out my first day tomorrow!
I will of course continue at Home Depot until I decide to throw in with this new outfit. I will of course give Home Depot the customary two weeks notice if it comes to that. I don't like to burn bridges.
Be sure to check in soon for more updates. Things are growing out of control here!
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