A Big Move - 

Circumstances change and Life happens!  Living in New England was a beautiful experience.  I treasure the remarkable friendships I made and the many memories that I have.  There is definitely something to be said for the places one considers "home".  The people, the beauty of the landscape, the weather, the way the air feels and smells in the morning as the sun is coming up.  These are characteristics and sensations that imprint upon me.

Perhaps it was the long cold winter.  Having spent winters in Grand Coulee Washington and Southwest Idaho, I thought I "knew" Winter.  However, if comparing winter hardships... coldest temperatures, depth of freeze, deepest snow, quantity of snow, continual snow, length of snowfall, latest snow, etc.... by March of this year I conceded that New England had won the match!  As I gazed out on the snowbanks that marked the edges of my driveway, I knew that my time in New England was over and the West was calling.

I booked a flight to Idaho to look for a house.  I suppose if I hadn't found one I liked, I might still be in New England!  Nevertheless, I found a house I liked and when my offer was accepted, I began to plan a move in earnest. I packed, I hired movers, I hired a realtor and I said goodbye to my little house in Vermont.  I will miss the beautiful sunsets on Lake Champlain, which I enjoyed every evening.  I will miss the beautiful Spring and Summer days, many of which I spent in my yard and garden.  I will miss the gorgeous autumn leaves, the crisp autumn air and the sightings of moose that I was treated to in the Northeast Kingdom.  I will miss my walks along the lake, listening to the lapping of the waves.  I will miss my neighbors and friends and I will even miss the incredible snowfalls. 

I loaded up my houseplants, my gecko and tarantula, and drove my sixteen-year-old Nissan Pathfinder 2,700 miles across the country to my new home in Idaho.  What a trip it was!  I left Vermont white-knuckled, driving in a torrential rain storm, managed the rush hour traffic on the south side of Chicago (all the while thinking about Leroy Brown!), and dodged tornados in Iowa!  I saw some incredible scenery: The Allegheny Mountains, the Monongahela River, The Mississippi River, the fields and prairies of Iowa and Nebraska, the open range of Wyoming, and the gorgeous mountains of Utah and Idaho.  However, the real highlights of my trip included stopping along the way to visit Cousin Bob and Mary Ellen, Kim and Jodi, and friends Linette, Roger and April. 

Once I got to my new home, I began to think about my yard and garden.  The house is in suburbia.  The yard is fairly plain.  Both the front and back yard have automatic sprinklers.  The front yard has the obligatory grass and shrub landscaping.  The back yard is all grass with a small well-built garden shed that sits in the shade on the north side of a lone maple tree.  Between the maple tree and the shed is an area that looks like it might have been a garden at one time.  However, the maple tree has grown very large and now shades that area most of the day.  A small lilac bush is growing on the other side of the maple tree next to the back fence.  The side yard areas are not watered and consist of clay and packed gravel. It is hot and dry there.  One of the side yards is large enough for parking a vehicle or an RV.  The other side yard is much smaller.  A few weeds have managed to sprout up in those areas, but nothing else.   So this is what I have to work with.  The following pictures were taken about June 20.

In this picture:  Fence and grass.  The side yard, where only a few weeds sprout up is visible to the left in this picture.  

In the picture below:  More fence and grass.  You can see the neighbors trees.  A Casuarina and a large weeping curly willow.  

In the picture below: More fence and grass, and the neighbor's weeping curly willow.

In the picture below: More grass and fence and the small lilac bush against the fence.

In the picture below:  More fence and grass.  There is the large maple tree.  The only tree in the yard.  you can see a corner of the well-built shed.  Between the shed and the maple tree is an area that looks like it might have been a garden spot at one time.  Now that the maple tree is so large, that area is in the shade most of the day.

A good picture of the garden shed!

In the picture below you can see more fence and grass, a tiny bit of the garden shed at the left, and a bit of the side of the house on the right.  The concrete in the foreground is a patio area. There is my brand new garden hose that I bought.

Stay tuned.  This is going to be fun!