We get one or two snows every winter up here, but most we miss, either by accident or on purpose. This morning we awoke to a couple of inches of real snow and more coming down. By afternoon it had turned to rain, and by evening the skies had cleared. This is my kind of snow: here in the morning, gone by evening. And since we had nowhere to go and nothing to do, it was just perfect.
For long before our time on this property, when the pines were logged, this land has been infested with manzanita.
Mind you, it's a native, part of the natural process. It's the first large shrub to grow on bare land, and it eventually shades the little pines which in turn will shade, and kill, the manzanita. Eventually is a long time in Nature's calendar. In the meantime, manzanita creates an impenetrable forest, and basically, is a pain as well as a major fire danger.
We've been wanting to get rid of ours for a long time, but no eradication solution satisfied us. Tearing it out by the roots only disturbs the soil, what little there is of it, and encourages a thousand little manzanitas to grow where one big one is pulled up. Burning is not an option, nor, for us, were poisons.
Along came Phil King (Sierra Land Improvement, 530-272-2390) and his Masticator. I did not get a chance to see it in action, but basically it's a sort of tractor on steroids that cuts down the manzanita at ground level, from which it will not re-grow, leaving no ugly stumps, and then shreds the stuff to a rough mulch.
He did his magic while we were gone, and this is what we came back to. Amazing.
Spent the weekend setting up my new MacMini. Everything worked perfectly. I still can't believe how easy it is to set up a Mac. Only the scanner gave me problems, but that's because Epson Mac drivers suck. I fixed the problem by downloading VueScan, a sweet little utility (only $39.95) that seems to make any old scanner work.
Speaking of things that work, we now have a big old TV antenna on the roof, and together with a digital converter box bought with our government discount, we get great reception, for the first time since we built the house in 1989.
And we finally plunked down for satellite Internet from WildBlue. It's not as fast as DSL, but when you've been using half-speed dial-up (thanks for nothing, AT&T), it feels like a Ferrari. And our phone line doesn't get tied up.
The 49ers are going to give me heart failure. The first half they were breathtakingly awful, and then they win in overtime.
We shut down the pool. Even though it looks beautiful, a clear blue, the temperature of the water did not get above 58 degrees. That's too cold, even for B.
B. picked his grapes. Very sad. Between the frost and the birds, all he was left with was seven pounds. He did buy a couple of hundred pounds from a neighbor, so he'll be able to make a few cases. I'm so glad we're not in this for a business.
Here's a pic of our pool with the new vacuum cleaner from iRobot, the Verro. I love this thing!
This afternoon we found Historic Roseberry, a town dating from the 1880's which became a ghost town and was brought back to life by a dedicated band of volunteers who form the Long Valley Preservation Society (Google it). The little town is just gorgeous, and a wonderful lady took us around, even though it was after 5 and everything was supposed to be locked up. Here are some pics:
The General Store, full of old stuff and gifts.
The reconstructed bandshell (the original burned down).
Finnish cabin. Most of the original settlers left after the first winter. The Finns didn't think there was a problem.
We left Sun Valley yesterday afternoon. Last night we stayed in the Holiday Motel in Emmett. Has its charms, and very clean. Dinner at Kit's Riverside Restaurant, Horseshoe Bend. Super food. Repeated the experience for breakfast this morning. You have to try the omelets.
Drove up 55, mostly along the Payette River. The scenery is spectacular, somewhat barren but really beautiful. Here are some of the pics we took.
Note the haze on the picture to the left. They say it's from the fires in California. It's a shame, because otherwise you would be able to see forever.
So far the iPhone has been a real pleasure. I took the pics above with my Pentax Optio digital point-and-shoot, and obviously the quality' much better. But the geotagging feature of the iPhone makes it a perfect reference shot camera.
Here's a shot taken with the iPhone for comparison.
We arrived in Sun Valley yesterday afternoon. We're staying at the Sun Valley Inn, which is not as well known as the Sun Valley Lodge. They're all part of the same compound, though. At first we thought we'd be away from the action, but it's only a five-minute walk to the Lodge, and the rooms at the Inn, at least the one we got, are very large and comfortable.
I posted this pic, obviously shot through the windshield, using the iPhone and the TypePad blogging tool. We're on our way from Ketchum Idaho to Sun Valley.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
