Marvelous marvelous Idaho...

Dear Friends,
I am alive!

It's just that Marvel Hill has more to keep me busy and even busy having fun than three lifetimes worth of activity anywhere else.
Thanks Gals, for your kind words and encouragement.
We arrived on Thursday  April 15th, and this is the first opportunity I've had to crack my computer.  The children got sick before we left, and still have juicy coughs.  We braved Pink Eye, and Croup in the last week (thank us for not stopping to see you Sarah!), and let me tell you, it was hard work keeping the girls indoors!  Olivia even slipped past me on day and stole out to see Dad "on her way to the outhouse".  Ahem.
They have wanted to be out playing SO BADLY and I can't say I blame them.  In fact, when I make a morning trek to the john, I am often tempted to to "steal away", sit in the sunshine and not return to the morning's chores!

I think most my readers have followed us in the journey of purchasing this 20 acre piece of land in the panhandle of Idaho; if not, you can read about it and see pictures under the label "Idaho".  There will certainly be pictures to come if we get faster Internet (coming soon...), but you will have to put up with words tonight because I have more interesting things to do than wait  ten years for pictures to upload!

Brief status on things up here:
No snow, Spring is beginning to spring!  One day there is sunshine and up over 70 degree weather, and another day will be a cool day with rain - cold enough to heat the house.

While we were gone all the gas was plumbed up which means that our stove and fridge are operational (who gets to "fire up" their refrigerator? - we actually light a pilot underneath!), and that the four new wall mounted gas lights are giving us light in the evenings. Whoopeeeee!

Additionally all the water has been plumbed in to the house.  This is spectacular news, but perhaps not exactly what you'd imagine.  So far we only have one sink (so WHO CARES!  I don't do dishes in the dark or snow anymore!!), and that sink only has cold water (again I say SO WHAT?  I have a six burner Wolf range across from it to heat pots of water which I didn't have to hike outside to retrieve.)
So... yes, we still shower on the porch using  a 2 gallon Coleman shower.
Yes we will have a washing machine before long,
and the tub/shower will be usable.
Also another sink and vanity in the "Pantry" for washing hands and brushing teeth.
All this and HOT WATER to boot!

Everything looks good in the house although I spotted a MOUSE on my counter not two days after I had washed EVE*RY*THING on it!  Thankfully for me, I married a smart and able man who bagged that mouse for me by the very next morning.
All's well in that department.

Outdoors, we had a pad cleared for a pole barn or shop.  We also hired a contractor to do some earth work and put in t a nice gravel driveway.  Progress was made up to a point, but we called a halt when the rock kept sinking into the muck and only nine truckloads of gravel had been delivered.
We'll see our gumption is still in tact when the ground drys out.  We hate to spend money on ROCK.

I told you that the water is plumbed to the house, but that includes a lot of trenching and pipe-laying that was accomplished.  When our dirt-guy couldn't make it up again for a couple weeks, he offered to let AJ use his Back Hoe (if you can imagine a little boy getting a BB gun for Christmas...), so AJ has been moving some boulders to various parts of the yard.  Our campfire pit now has some awesomely big rocks around it!

Our New Neighbors arrived this evening.  That's our biggest news of the day!  They looked tired out but glad to be done driving :-)  Can't wait to see what they do next.  Their living arrangements leave a little to be desired as well, but Char and Hannah are seasoned users of  the under appreciated virtue: INGENUITY.
Not many people leave their childhood home with most their worldly possessions in tow - including (but not limited to) 2 dogs, a couple goats, and chickens.  Their venture will entertain me immensely!  

In the area of wildlife I have been thrilled to see many Robbins already!  I haven't seen any up here the last two years we've been here.
Our trash was hauled out of a covered bin and carried into the woods where it was picked apart and sorted.  I assume that was a small bear.
There were some tracks under the deck - a fox maybe?  And the boys found some cat prints in the mud behind the house.  They were a bit larger than a house cat, and deeply imprinted.  We think possibly a bobcat.
Best one so far, was Olivia standing on a kitchen chair looking past me and Dad out the window.  She said "Hey LOOK!  A HORSE!!"
Just outside was a hungry MOOSE munching the new growth on a forest shrub.

YEEE-HAW!  We're in IDAHO now!!!
 
So anyway... who wants to visit?  I've had some big talkers, but I'm serious folks!  We'd LOVE to see you.
We're working on guest arrangements, but certainly we'll have some sweet accommodations on our fabulous upstairs porch - VERY SAFE from the wildlife with a great view of it all!  I bait the hook...

Looking forward to posting some pictures for you (in my spare time HA!), and looking forward to hearing from any of you thrill-seekers looking for Summer adventure!

Marvel Hill,

You did not disappoint.

~Momma Bug.
  Over and out.