Job update etc.

Job is going great! Great enough that my training didn't go near as long as planned and she's been on a need to call basis for a few weeks now. I think I got my first informal review. I say I think because it was kind of the spur of the moment thing on the phone. But it was an awesome review so I'm happy that they are happy! :)  I'm learning a bit different of an area this week. Vehicle out of state overweight permit/in state overweight permits are coming due and I've never dealt with that so a new area to learn! I'm still just amazed how everything fell together so neatly. Love it when my Father leads the way. Now if only I could always allow that! Amazing how 'I can handle that' likes to pop up. Things rarely go the way you plan when that happens!

I've gotten to see a Kill Deer do it's nest protect act and seen my first ever horse fly. Those flies are HUGE! It was a Western Horse Fly. (picture below). Other then that the birds I most often see are Doves, Magpies, Red Wing Blackbirds and Robins.

Last week I went to Parma convention. It'll now be my home convention. I've only been there a handful of times the last 25 years but I went with my Grandma Layman in my teen years. Probably six or so years. It was so nice to have some time with a dear friend I made from all those years ago. Her and I can talk and talk and talk. 😂 We're hoping that I can visit this next month before they move far away again! Only 3 hours apart at the moment but it'll be back to quite a few hours apart the end of next month.  :(  It's our Father's leading for them as well but sad that it'll be such a distance again.

The garden is doing AWESOME! The tomatoes are a decent size. I've got a couple of peppers setting now. Cucumbers are coming up, squash is starting to grow. A co-worker gave me a crook-neck, zucchini and an acorn squash so they've been establishing themselves the last couple of weeks. There's some new growth on the acorn squash so it's finally established itself. I think the other two will by this weekend. It's certainly warm enough! Low 90's today. It's a bit tricker here because there's a fair amount of sand in my area. So it drains quicker then I'm used to! So it'll be a learning experience! The poppies love it here! I've always wanted poppies so got a couple at the store and they are just loaded with buds. The Black-eyed Susan that I brought from Gresham is loving it as well. I see several flower buds on it. I had that poor thing in its original pot for several years so was able to haul it along with me (Short of not watering a plant, it's kind of hard for me to kill a plant. They refuse to die!). But it's planted now and sooo happy! The pots are doing awesome as well. I'm curious how the snapdragons will do over the summer. I've never actually had those as the main flower in a pot before. I'll have to experiment with other flowers. There's been no progress on the weeds along the road though. :( Weather didn't cooperate and then convention and now it's hot! Excuses, excuse!! 😉 But it does need to get done sooner rather than later!

I get to go to Manhattan convention this weekend! I'm pretty excited! I've never been there but do know the couple that owns it since they lived in Gresham before moving there. It'll be my first time to be in Montana as well. All kinds of new adventures this last year!

And would you believe the last time I had air conditioning was when I was growing up in Southern California. And we moved from there when I was 11! I have a feeling I'll be glad that I have it, especially for meeting!!

If you click on this you may be able to see the Kill Deer bird. This is it's broken wing act to protect the nest. I have yet to figure out the loading of a video.

The horse fly! (please excuse the very dirty car!)

The front of the house. Bushes have grown a lot this month!

This photo doesn't do it credit. This bush really stands out. It's so bright!

Snapdragons and lobelia 

One of the tomato plants

A butterfly on my thyme

Meeting!

Storm clouds!

Convention!

Coming back from a walk

On the walk

The donkey we saw on the walk

Such a pretty little flower but very nasty thorny seed pod! It can sit in the soil for years before germinating.

Fields and sky

Onions!

Relatives!

A jumping spider!

A baby Dove! 

Sunset at Parma

Sunset at Parma

Parma

Field where I work

A Box!!! Took her less than a minute to claim it! :)

Christina's creation. I think it lasted all convention!

Snapdragons, dianthes, and a trailing geranium. 

This is the flower of the geranium. It believe actually seeded from last year. 

Wonderful Sunday!

Sunday's are always wonderful but today I also had some of my neighbors over dinner. It was pretty awesome! The spaghetti was a hit! :) There was a wonderful little bookcase at the thrift store Saturday. It worked wonderfully for the kids items that I have and it seemed to go over really well with the kids that were over tonight. I'll have to invite neighbors over now and again!

Dave has been very heavy on my mind today. I'm not sure why. But there has really been a feeling of comfort and that all will turn out well. What that means I have not a clue but it is comforting!! :) It's been real to me lately that we just don't know what is going on in other people's minds, what they might be fighting or trying deal with or trying to figure out. It's also been real to me that when we try to do it under our own power that it can seem totally impossible. Our Father leads and guides and can use many situations that seem nigh impossible to do a wonderful work. He knows the end, we only know what we're going through, dealing with.

The thunderstorms the last couple of weeks have been amazing. I thought one of the clouds was an anvil but someone let me know that it was actually a shelf cloud. It was very intriguing to look at it and watch the rotation and the clouds kind of boil around. Was amazing to see one first hand, especially since nothing came down! I can continue to live without seeing a tornado first hand! The hail that came down last week was at least nickle size while I was at work. It did a bit of leaf damage to the peppers and tomatoes. I came home to some leaves scattered around. There's definitely more intense thunderstorms here then I'm used to and I'm loving it! :) Have said that before and will probably say it again.  :)

I'm still trying to get along the road weeded and cleared out. I'm at least halfway through the long stretch. With lots of sunshine this week I'm hoping to get close to done by the end of the week on the one side of the driveway! It's supposed to be in the mid 80's all week with full on sunshine every day. We'll see if thunderstorms start creeping into the forecast as the week goes. Got my shelves for upstairs ordered so once those get installed more cleaning out will commence as books are unpacked and put on shelves. I'm looking forward to getting the loft settled. It's just my desk in the corner and a bunch of boxes at the moment.

The 'kids' area!

Pippy and Mia are loving the sunshine!

I found this picture, while unpacking, of Erika and Christina. Christina would have been about 2 1/2 here and Erika 7.

Thunderstorm rolling through at work.

I've been told this is a shelf cloud. It was truly amazing. Passed right over my house.

Right after the shelf cloud went over there was this.

The hails large enough that you can see it falling.

A bit more progress has been made since this picture. Goal is to put gravel down to have an area for people to park.

Wednesday nights-exciting news!

After Parma the Wednesday Rupert meeting will be here. I'm beyond amazed and excited. I've never dreamed of that possibility but my Father works in wondrous ways!! One thing that I really want to get done is the front weeded out and some gravel put in. Right now the weeds are pretty bad along the road and it's just compacted sand. I got started today but this is going to take a bit. Ideally it'll be done before meetings start. The rains from yesterday's thunderstorms helped make it easy for today but I know the weeds will get tougher to pull later on. Speaking of thunderstorms, I've already seen more here then I see in a year in Portland! And I'm loving it! :) I've always loved thunderstorms. They fascinate me. Apparently July/August ones can be amazing.  Having night ones tonight!

And then there's the riding lawn mower. The first use went okay, but there was a small issue of trying to fit a mow in around the rain. There's a strip of lawn in the middle that grows quite well. I'm guessing that this is where the drain field is! And the lawn HAD to be mowed since that area was getting almost too high and rain was called for the next 5 days after that day! I made it but had to stop in the middle because of a thunderstorm and high winds. It didn't rain that time but started raining right at the end of finishing so the last few minutes were done in the rain. Got a nice picture of a rainbow! (see below) Second mow Saturday went very nicely. I just got to figure out a way to mow it that makes sense. I've mowed it two different ways so far. Probably a third way next week.  :) I think I'm going to plant some bean seeds and a squash hill and a cucumber hill this week. It's been about 2 weeks since we had a freeze and I was told Mother's Day tends to be a good cut off time for freezes. Very few happen after that. And this weekend is supposed to be nice and warm.

And a funny thing happened Saturday. The neighbor from across the street came over and introduced herself. She does awesome weldings and is starting her own business. She mentioned that the only thing she needs is a bookkeeper. Soooo..... I officially have a new client in Rupert! 😁 And here I thought my business was pretty much closed down. It's a small one though so I don't anticipate to much time being needed! It'll help cover that gravel and the water softener system that I need to get. The water is here is quite hard and leaves deposits if stuff isn't dried off right away. And I want my washer to last!!

A rainbow that showed up just as I was finishing mowing.

Middle needed finished here. You can see the drain field I'm talking about!

And nicely mowed! :) (From this last mow)

Left side of the house

Right side of the house.  There's a lot of lawn!!

Area to weed. From the edge of the grass to the road all the way down.

Got from the driveway to beyond the mailbox done tonight!

Picture from yesterday's thunderstorm that went straight overhead! Thunder rumbled for over an hour without a pause.

One amazing sunset from Sunday

Another amazing sunset from tonight.

What it looked like in the back compared to the picture above from the front. Gorgeous skies!

The garden. Hard to tell but it's holding its own. The poppies are happy! Lots of new blooms. The rest are waiting for consistent warm days. :)

Awesome past week!

The first week of work went very well. It ended on a sad note though. A farm hand crossing the railroad tracks in a truck got hit by a train and died. The vehicle he was driving was completely totaled. It made for a pretty somber day in the office! But it's a good reminder that just a moment of inattention can cause consequences that we'd never dream of! True both naturally and spiritually!

Yesterday was very awesome! I got to spend the whole day outside! It has been at least 6, if not 7 years since I was able to do that. The area on the right side of the patio got turned over and compost added and now I have the left side of the patio to do. I'm not looking forward to that one because it is way worse than the other side was. But some tomatoes, peppers and herbs are planted. I was going to plant a few seeds but I can't seem to figure out what box they're in! So I've ordered some. Now, just watch! They'll show up the week after the seeds come in! :)  Got nicely sun burnt! Was barely sore this morning though. A friend mentioned a few years ago that vitamin C is your friend when you've over exerted, so I decided to put it to the test last night and it really did work!! I should be A LOT sorer than I am today!

Today, after meeting, I went to Shoshone Falls. I had a little bit of time to waste and it was only a couple of miles from meeting. It was AMAZING! There is a lot of run off this year and the falls are full! Then headed to Blackfoot for a G. Meeting. And then back home. A lot of miles put on the car today! :) I've tried posting a video of the falls but it doesn't want to work. It's on my facebook or instagram though. :)

The view from my office! Love it!!

The compost is all turned in! (By hand using the little tool to the left!)

What little I have is planted!

I'm anxious to see how this pot does! Snapdragons and lobila 

Snapdragons and dianthus 

Mint and lemon thyme

Shoshone Falls

Shoshone Falls

My lunch view. (Packed a lunch and sat under a tree!)

A tree in full bloom in Blackfoot. It was buzzing with bees!!

Neat clouds on the way home from Blackfoot. :)

Home & Internet service!!!

I got internet service this morning! Been very thankful for my phone!! Only a few more days to the start of my new job. I'm excited to start and get settled into a routine. Although there's enough to unpack that it might be a little bit before a true routine gets started.

There are some absolutely wonderful neighbors here! Saturday morning a couple of families showed up and, with Erika and Nick's help, had a packed to the gills U-Haul unloaded in 2 1/2 hours! We were thinking it might take a couple of days to unpack the thing but we had it returned in the early afternoon on Saturday. And then today a neighbor mowed my lawn after he'd done his. I've order my lawn mower but it won't be delivered until the 7th! My first riding lawn mower ever! All other yards have been too small but I think a half acre warrants one! :) There are two fruit trees. A Crab Apple and a Plum. They're still pretty small so it'll be a while before I get anything off them. Went to Lowe's today and got flowers, herbs and a couple of peppers and tomatoes. I know it'll be awhile before I have time to do that again so got them while I could!! Now to get them into the ground.

Goodbye old house!

Hello new house!!

The backyard looking toward the house

A neighbor came to say hello! :)

1st nights sunset

2nd nights sunset

Found a spot for my kitty rug!

Kitchen is DONE!!

Just found this interesting! Lots of little peppers growing inside this pepper!

1 day!!!

My current house is officially sold and I'm on my last day of living in Portland. The house in Rupert is set to record tomorrow (today)! I'm just in awe with how it's all come together and am excited to start a new chapter in my life! I think all is packed and ready for the movers to load tomorrow. One glitch is that the hot water hose connecting the downstairs sink decided to start spraying. :( Hoping I can get someone out tomorrow. Fingers crossed one of my clients can help!!

Aunt Nancy visited Thursday/Friday and Christina is visiting for a day. It's been/will be nice having goodbye visits!! :)  We also had a sing Friday night so I got to say goodbye to a lot of the friends in the field. Then a lunch Sunday for our meeting and finger food after Wednesday night meeting. A couple of visits tomorrow  (today, its late!!!) with some dear friends. Today is packed with various appointments so it'll be interesting to see how this last day goes!

A very dear friend isn't doing well at all. Shirley S. took a severe tumble and found out that she is in kidney failure. I was very thankful that I got to see her before I left! She's such a sweet lady and a wonderful example. Her numbers were better today but she said that only gave her a few more additional days. I'm to the point in life that there's more happiness then sadness when a faithful soul passes into eternity. Life is hard and they have went to their reward and don't have to worry about anything else ever again. That's a wonderful place to be!!

Next blog will be from my new house! But it'll be about a week. No internet until next week after today! But I'll post some pictures the end of next week.