Friday, March 20, 2015

The Move To Strange Lands: Part 2

While still residing in the Foothill House in May, Idaho, three things happened that were not mentioned in my previous post(s). One, we traveled to Missouri in the latter half of October of 2009 to visit family and attend (I say 'attend'...it was more like 'crash') my cousin's wedding. Two, we gained a family member from Wyoming. Three, my grandma came to live with us in Idaho.   :-)
Now, number One is pretty much it. What I just typed explains the story background. However, I'm gonna add a little more detail input for the non-background.   ;-)   It all started on a beautiful, sunny day.
My mom, my siblings and I were driven to and dropped off at my grandma's house in Missouri by my dad in late October. I will skip the visiting parts and head straight to where the going gets good.   ;-)  My dad had to continue work, so he drove back to Idaho by himself. We were in Missouri for a full three weeks without him. We were all busy with the upcoming wedding. Entrar numero Dos. Passing through Wyoming on the way back to MO to get us, Dad picked up Nellie, a sweet little Australian Shepherd/Border Collie pup. Her owners were friends of Mom's and couldn't keep her, you see, and so they contacted my mom and we took her.   :-)  When Dad finally arrived at my grandma's house, Nellie was flooded with attention. Everything was so exciting! I remember she jumped around in the truck bed so much that she hit the cab overhead.   :-D
Unfortunately, my little brother was sick, so he barely met Nellie until we were on the road and he could see her in the back. My dad had to stay with him at my grandma's house while the rest of us went to the wedding. We went home to Idaho soon after that.
Nellie has been with us for almost six years now. That means she is turning six or seven herself, so she has a good deal of experience with our family.  :-)

Well, now number Three.

My dad's mom is a survivor. She's definitely not unworthy of a little shoutout right now. Hi, GP!   :-)
After the 2009 holidays, in the summer of 2010, my grandma decided to move out of Missouri. And so, my dad drove up there yet again, and helped her pack up. She moved over to Idaho with us, living on our Pahsimeroi property in our old camper trailer. Might I just add, GP loves animals. Give her a dog or a cat and some food and drop her in the desert, and she'd probably feed the animal before herself if they couldn't fend for themself. She is just very generous.   :-)
My grandma lived with us for about a year, hanging out in her trailer and coming out to play every so often. Eventually, however, this coming bit was enevitable...

...Because now we get into the part of the story where we get tired of living an hour's drive away from town. Challis, Idaho was twenty minutes away from our little ranch house, but it was considerably smaller than Salmon. And so, we found a house for rent at the mid-way point between the ranch and Salmon, and we moved in early 2011. That house, I was a little less fond of compared to previous ones. Sure, it was huge, with an extra apartment on the second floor and rooms for everyone, but something about it didn't seem as welcoming. I can't explain it.
But we did have fun during the period that we lived there. Deer often visited our apricot trees in the backyard, and we got to chase them off to save our fruits.

You can't make apricot jam without the main ingredient!   ;-)

Retreating up the foothills
Another fun thing that the house was inclined to hosting was a little something we call "Mouse Hunting". Our mouse infestation in that house was nearly inconceivable. There were mice everywhere. And the longer they lived with us, the bolder they got.
Eventually, we found that their main hole was a missing stone in the fireplace, and it became a game of 'Who's Watching Who'.

My dad used to stand by the fireplace until a mouse peeped out, and then he'd hit it with the fire poker. It was hilarious.   :-D   But then, maybe you needed to be there to think that was funny. My family is easily amused. It's still up for debate as to whether that's a good thing or not.   ;-)

And that's where I'll leave you 'til next time.

2 comments:

  1. Nice post! I personally enjoy the chasing the deer away from the deer part.

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    1. Thank you, Sean! I liked chasing the deer away. Especially when you scare them. LOL!

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