Doumecq Road, with the Salmon River down below ..

Last Friday afternoon we went for a drive up into the mountains, all the way to our last year's stomping grounds at Joseph Plains.

The wildflowers were out in full, and the views were just as stunning as we remembered ..

Despite the height, the cacti were blooming here as well ..

After dropping off a new water-tank to the Brust lodge, and a short conversation with Marian (we would have loved to see the inside of the house to see what they have done with the place but, as usual, we were not invited .. they're weirdly secretive that way), we headed out for what was the main reason we were up there .. collecting rocks!

A neighbor of Sam/Marian up there in the mountains, has a large area of the type of rock on his property that Pat and Sam like for the base of the outside of the new house.

He agreed on letting them have as much as they want, so the guys had already been up there that morning to collect a truck (and trailer) full, and now we were there for a second run. 

                    

We loaded as much as we could (weight-wise) but we probably need to go back several more times.
Unfortunately, the road up to this 'quarry' is little more than a donkey-trail, steep and narrow and in very bad shape so we're really not looking forward to do so!



Derrick, the mason, thinks he knows a more accessible area for the same size and color of this particular type of rock, so we'll probably check that out next week or so.
Anything better than driving that trail again!

                                   

We tried for golf on Saturday although the weather-forecast didn't look very promising, and sure enough when we arrived in Grangeville it was raining, so we blew it off.

We went for a nice coffee at Crema instead, after which James did a material run, while I stayed behind for some relaxed reading and people watching ..                                               

James has a new phone, he cracked the other one, and this pics are made with that one. I couldn't figure out how it worked (what else is new), so James looks a little weird ..

                                                

As far as this weeks birds sightings go, here's a shot of a Western Tanager:




And a very cute, puffed up little Titmouse on the left here:

    

                               ... and a young Say's Phoebe there on the right.


No news on flying to Europe from here yet, but inside Europe they're slowly relaxing the flying restrictions, and will open up al traffic by the 15th of June:

                               (Telegraaf 6/4)

There's talk that international flights will follow, bit by bit, from the 1st of July on .. we'll see!

I just now discovered I have a Panorama function on my camera. Yeah, duhh ..
Makes for nice shots here in these hills, especially if you drive the quad all the way to the top, as I did, where you have a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains.
This is the Salmon River down below, looking downstream .. 

                                       
You can just see 'our' driveway there, going off to the right from the highway ..
I'm trying to get my walks in early since the weather has been crazy warm lately. I took a (very blurry) pic of the thermometer, you might just see that it was a whopping 85F there!

                  

We're having coffee outside most of the time, in the shade of the plum tree. I made a mixed berry crumble which, like most berry concoctions, came out a little wet, but still .. not bad!

                                                      

One side-effect of his unusual warm and humid weather is the cause of thunderstorms developing, and one such storm created some bad erosion on the driveway up to the new house ..


 

... as well as the main driveway up to the old house and us ..

                    

 Oh well, as if the guys didn't have enough to do already!

Speaking about that, they're still working on the plumbing and electric, since both inspections left us with some revisions to do, but we have a guy (Derick) who started prepping for masonry around the fireplace ..

There's going to be rocks around the wood-burner and a section of wood above it, somewhat like this:

In the meantime, James has finished what was left to do on the new water-heater and it's functioning beautifully. 
The water is a lot hotter than that from the old one, so it was probably on it's last legs regardless of the leak.

I took some shots while he was contorting himself to get everything connected. Like everything in an RV it is all crammed in a very tight space!

For our necessary R&R, we did go golfing early on Saturday, to 'beat the heat' ... never thought I would say that in May in Idaho!

These pictures are from earlier this month, but they were on James' computer and I kept forgetting to transfer them to mine.
They're the street-tacos we had that time, which weren't bad, but when we ate there the second time we really weren't impressed with the food (and the price). We've decided to lunch somewhere in town for the future.

Lets see, what else? How about some birds? No? How about just one?
It's a beauty, really, a Cedar Waxwing, although a little far away. I got him just after he puffed up for a moment after preening himself .. 

And since there really shouldn't be a post without flowers, here's some Indian Paintbrush (on the left), which is very happy here in these mountains, and those yellow ones are Moth Mullein.

    

Even the cacti are starting to flower (mainly on the south sides of the hills). As I mentioned before, we're considered to be part of the 'high desert', so yes, we do have cacti here!
(I know firsthand since I literary sat in some, while taking pictures of wild-flowers)

Also, the first of 'my' Zucchini flowers have emerged:

  

Despite being attacked and half eaten by Earwigs! So far they've managed to completely devour several small leaves and have eaten holes in many of the larger ones!
I never knew those pesky little things would do that ..

                                                             
                                                                See that one brave little zucchini there?

Fortunately it's not about the leaves but all about the flowers, and they seem to leave them, mostly, alone.
As of now I've only got one female flower, which will (when fertilized) develop fruit, and the rest have all been 'boys'.
Apparently this is quite normal, most of the 'girls' will show up later, when the plant matures. 

If it ever gets the chance ..

It's the end of May, which meant the arrival of Memorial Day, the un-official start of the summer vacation-season!
It was a beautiful weekend and we decided to make a start with our Idaho 'bucket-list', aka things we want to see while we're in this neck of the woods. 

Since we also wanted to play some golf, we went for a destination close to Grangeville, and choose to drive down into the corridor of the South Fork of the Clearwater River.

Down below there is the river and that's Highway 14 right next to it ..

After driving down the windy and steep road we parked next to the river and had a tailgate coffee-break (complete with some leftover apple-pie).
The river was swollen with snow melt-off and roared down the canyon .. we could barely hear each other!

That's me there on that rock.  It reminded my mom of the Lorelei at the Rhine River in Germany. I wasn't singing though (probably a good thing)!

                                           

The road twists it's way along the river through rocky hills and outcroppings, all the way to Elk City ..

          

We didn't go that far though, since, although beautiful, the scenery really didn't change much along the way, so when we arrived at the (ghost) town of Golden (don't blink) we decided to turn around and head back.
There are quite a number of (National Forest) campgrounds along this road, but only about half of them were open due to the Corona virus.
I guess they don't want too many people flooding the area just yet.

We made a short stop at one of them and walked up to the water's edge, where we spooked a couple of Canadian Geese and their babies into the water ..

All in all a pleasant drive, although nothing too spectacular. I guess we are spoiled!

Unfortunately we didn't end up golfing that day since there was a tournament going on. Oh well .. James practiced a little on the driving range and since he joined the men's golf league for the season, he golfs every other Wednesday so me thinks he gets enough golf in .. but that's just me ..
We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant in town. Yes. Inside. No restrictions. No masks. No nothing.

                                   Virus? What virus? 

The Canola fields around Grangeville are flowering at the moment, that yellow really packs a punch!
It's also time for the Camas Lilies (where the Camas Prarie here gets his name from) to bloom ..

Beautiful!

Closer to home we finally might have some grass coming up where they hydro-seeded 8(!) weeks ago:

Do you see what I see?

We'd already half given up hope that anything would come up, but there you have it .. not much yet but it's a start!

Due to the nice weather, we were able once again to have our 'traditional' Memorial Day BBQ outside:

We'd kept it simple with some hamburgers, potato salad and corn ..



Merlin couldn't wait to get his share, I think he sat on that table for over half an hour before it was even ready!
He's not getting any corn anymore though, last time he got some (at Cinco de Mayo), his blood-sugars went sky-high!

                                           

As long as he gets something, he's a happy camper!

In the meantime work on the house is at a stage where the drywall could be going in, but we need a metal (water-proof) roof first. 

And although we finally have a decision on color and material, and the order has been made, it appears the machine that cuts the sheets is down and won't be repaired for another 2 weeks!

Bummer, always something!

Oh well, James is creating 'other' work for the guys now, and they are going to make a start with the mantel and fireplace.

Fortunately, we're down to 2 workers right now, since Austin is working for Miriam at the moment, one of Sam's 'partners'.

Sam had been looking for a caretaker for the property for some time now and James recommended he'll give the job to Austin. They've all agreed and he'll be moving into the 'old' house this coming weekend.

He's getting a sweet deal as a barter; a house with utilities paid, use of the truck (gas included) and the ATV, and a salary for the maintenance work he'll do on the property/houses, barns, tools and vehicles! When needed he'll also work for the 'girls', helping with the cows, spraying the fields, etc.

Needless to say he's excited! (I would be too) 

And look! The new water-heater has arrived! All new and shiny!

                

It's half installed right now since James busted an (old, plastic) valve while working on it .. hopefully he'll get it done this weekend.

It will be nice to have warm water again!

  

OK, another blog done. Another week behind us.
Life goes on .. despite broken valves .. missing roofs .. broken down machines .. and, oh yeah, Covid 19 .. 

I guess we'll see in 2 weeks from now, if this busy memorial weekend has had some effect on spreading the virus or not!