Home for the holidays

We have got a crowd for Thanksgiving. BJ and family are here. Also Shelly, Bret, and Heidi. Bret is now over at his girlfriend's grandparents place in Payette. We had tin foil dinners and S'mores tonight using our wood stove.

Winter is coming

I just finished raking up the leaves in back. Vurvian came home so things are better on the home front. Ice formed on the pond but soon melted. BJ and family are coming from Texas for Thanksgiving. Also the unmarried kids. I bought some bamboo seeds to plant in the spring.

Mom is not home

Vurvian is enjoying Grandmotherhood in Providence, Utah. Teresa had her 6th and our 12th grandchild, Tyler Jack. As usual when Vurvian leaves, an unexpected friend drops by. This time it was Jackie Penner from Brownsville. I should just make an extra bed when Vurvian leaves or better still have her get the "guest" bedroom ready. The kids hope Vurvian will return Monday. We'll see.

No more water in the pipes

Vurvian and I went to Nampa to blow out the water from the outside irrigation pipes. After a few false starts, turning off some valves and turning on the right ones, I believe that we successfully cleared the water from the pipes. It makes you feel much better to put in some hours and finish than to put in 5 hours and not be any closer that when you started. We were also able to repair the downgutter. A tree limb had grown between the gutter and the house pushing the gutter away from the house. Houses always need some repair.

Blowing water out of pipes

I didn't get to Nampa today to blow out the pipes but will try Monday with Vurvian's help. I have a valve stuck in Ontario so I can blow out the water only in one line by using the basement pipe. I had to dig up individual sprinklers in each line and hook up the air compressor to the sprinkler and do it backwards. I hope it is worth the effort.

Fish

Today I had to refill the pond about 6 inches. It may have warmed up the water because the fish became very active swimming all over. I even fed them some food but they weren't too hungry. Tomorrow I will try to blow out the irrigation pipes in Nampa.

Farewell Bend

Yesterday Vurvian and I went to Farewell Bend, where the Oregon Trail Pioneers said "Farewell" to the Snake River and went overland to the Columbia. The leaves on the trees were all shades of yellow and red. The river was very peaceful. The day was crisp and quiet.