Plants and Yards...

Well, its really getting to be springtime in DaHo. Wednesday, I mowed the lawn again with the mulcher-mod'ded lawn tractor. It works great and makes mowing the lawn fun - sorta... Then, there is the edging with the 'weed whacker'. We have a cordless electric one that is heavy to use, but the alternatives of gas or electric cord powered ones are too much. By the time I get done, my forearms are tingling and sore, but it is getting better each time. Yesterday, I sprayed weed killer on the in-lawn weeds and today I am going to 'feed' the lawn. Hopefully, it will fill in the little problem areas. Except for the rock that the builder is suppose to jackhammer, or otherwise remove.

You might have read about Pam transplanting the my Basil seedlings into outside pots last week and having lost most all of them by the wind. Well, I went out and got some larger ones from Home Depot - about 4' high. Anyway, Pam potted these and we put them by the driveway side of the house, so they would get sun but not be in the direct path of the wind. Well, a couple of days ago, it hailed like hell and did them almost all in again. I'm starting to think this is not a good place for Basil here in DaHo...

Devil in the Details...

Well, I have good news and I have bad news on the change from the satellite DirecTV service to the HD cable service...

The old saying that to assume makes an ASS out of U and ME really fits here. I assumed that after reading the specs on the HD DVR, which were really good, that it would have the features I have become accustom to with TIVO. Well, its amazing how stupid you can make good hardware with bad programming. The local cable company uses TV Guide services for its guide and DVR programming. It basically reduces the capabilities of the Motorola HD DVR to a VCR with a hard disk instead of a tape drive. It doesn't know that tomorrow exists as far as scheduling is concerned and sales ads take up almost half of the guide screen so you only see one hour in the guide. So, the bad news is that the HD DVR sucks and is out of here...

But, there is good news too all this. I have merged the new digital cable box with the media center MEGA-PC and it works great - and finally fixed the channel 6 problem with the PC tuner since it always stays on channel 3 now. All of the local and extended and movie channels are now on the PC and the PC's DVR software and guide are very good.

So, in a very unexpected way, all the problems ended up getting resolved and money is being saved - all is good in DaHo.

Back to Earth again...

As I have said before, the biggest 'issue' with living in DaHo was not having local TV channels on the DirecTV satellite system. The Dish Network just put in local channels but DirecTV 'has no plans' to add them. I guess DaHo isn't on their hot list this decade.

It doesn't sound like a 'big' deal, but it has developed into one since we cannot seem to get the Media Center PC, that we have used for local channels, to get channel 6 - the FOX network...

Late last week, I finally went down to the local Cable TV office and 'discussed' the problem with them and they sent out the Cable Guy to fix it. This guy is great. He replaced all the coax cable connectors I put on with much better ones. After that didn't work, he replaced all the splitters and added a new signal amplifier. Everything works great now, except for channel 6 on the Media Center PC...

I have replaced the tuner card in the PC and it just seems to be a problem that won't go away. I was bummed.

The Cable Guy liked the setup here, we was 'very' helpful and as he was leaving he showed me a new HD DVR that they now use on the local cable system. It has dual tuners and a 120mb disk and LOCAL CHANNELS and.....

Anyway, Monday, we are dumping the DirecTV satellite system and coming back to earth with a whole new HD cable system. It will also double our internet speed and will save us $$ over having the cable system for internet and local channels, AND DirecTV for 'extended' TV viewing.

This should make entertainment a lot easier and more enjoyable, for all, here in DaHo...

Ho Snow...

When we got up this morning, there was standing water all over the 'estate' from the night's rain. Then, it started snowing and has continued for a couple of hours now. While I was eating breakfast and reading the paper, I noticed that the sprinklers had come on and were not stopping - in the snow... They are suppose to run for 10 minutes each line and one line had been on for over 30 minutes. I was in my jammys, but got irritated and went out to turn off the sprinklers in the snow. As I got to the control unit on the back of the house, I got directly sprayed at the knees. I then had to step into the mud to get to the control unit. I saw that the lawn people who had been here yesterday, had changed all the line times to 45 minutes...Gerrrr.

Anyway, I turned it all off until standing water clears up and the snow stops. As I write this, it is snowing harder and harder. I hope it doesn't freeze much. I guess I should have had the sprinkler lines turned on long ago to stop the drought...

Starting of Outdoor Yard Fun...

This weekend was mostly outdoor chores. Once the sprinklers were working, its amazing how fast the grass grows and needs to get mowed. So, I had to service and fire up the lawn tractor and mow it while we could still see out of the windows. In the middle of the 'mow' one of the tubeless front tires 'popped a bead' on a hard turn and I had to take it off and get it refilled with air. Its nice to have good tools and compressors to 'get'er done'. Pam repotted a bunch of seedling basil and cilantro herb plants into outdoor contrainers. They were put out of the normal wind flow by the side of the garage and today it got real windy and thrashed them pretty hard.

I got the fountain all setup and cleaned and filled. Its really nice to have it going again. Its right in front of the main living room windows and is great to watch. Almost immediately, a herd of Robins found it and dove in - literally. They have been bathing in it. They 'stand in line' to get in to the middle pool, the one with the right depth and size, I guess. Calicat has been freaking out watching them. She sits on the window sill and watches them without moving a muscle. She makes these little squeaking sounds and twitches her tail below the window. She really wants to be out there eating some Robin tail... After a bout of watching and wanting, she needs to be exercised with the feather toy to get out all that aggression.

Today, I got out there in the wind and edged the whole place. We have this electric battery 'weed eater' one and its pretty heavy to hold at the awkward angle/height to use. Both of my forearms are done in by it. They still hurt after 3 hours of rest. Ouch...

Life is getting green in DaHo...

Outdoor Sprinkler Ho...

We had the landscape sprinkler lines activated this Wednesday. Here in DaHo, they blow all the water out of them in the fall and keep them dry so they won't freeze and break in the ground during winter.

Anyway, Wednesday night after the activation, it snowed and when we woke up we had little ice cubes all over the lawn from the automatic sprinklers going on at 3am. Luckily, none of the lines broke and all is well.

So, now its time to start up the fountain and dig out the lawn mower and get all the weeding done, and, and...

Houses are jumping up all around us. Its amazing how fast they can put the basic outside framework up. A couple of lots over, there was nothing over a foot high three days ago and now the outside framework and plywood covering is up for the whole lower floor... Birds and various insects are flying around by the fountain outside the front windows, waiting for me to fill it. It was one of their favorite water places last summer. Calicat loves to watch them.

Its outdoor time in Daho...

All Gone...

Tuesday night we had Jade's Indian chicken and it was great. We ate it all... It was marinated in a yogurt mixture overnight - tasty stuff.

Then, last night, Pam's mom came over and we cooked bacon wrapped filets on the grill. Again, a great meal here in DaHo... We watched American Idol and transferred pictures so everybody had a full set.

Today, we took Jade and Tom back to the airport after showing them Balanced Rock and Thousand Springs. Having Tom, from England, here was a treat. He is technically very sharp, witty and we learned a lot about the UK and UK'ers. I would hate to try to keep up with him though... He and Jade enjoy each other and are a pleasure to be around.

After we dropped them off at the airport in Boise, we stopped by the outlet mall and went to store called VF Outlet Store. We got some amazing deals in clothes. Jeans for $5 and $10 and lots of other goodies. These stores are at a number of outlet malls and worth checking out. They are the outlet for a number of national brands like Lee, Maidenform, Nautica, etc., etc. Good stuff.

So, we are back to normal mode. All the guests are gone. We had a great time and really enjoyed having everybody here, and now are looking forward to getting back into the relaxed pace of DaHo...

Big Visiting Fun...

Saturday night we had a big "Easter" ham dinner with all of Pam's family - from far and near. After dinner, we played pool, watched movies, shot off some fireworks and they did Karoake. Big fun was had by all. The California Klan left early Sunday morning.

We took Jade and Tom, from the UK, out trout fishing at our favorite trout fishing lake and waterfalls. We fished for about 3 hours on our own dock. After we got there, there were a lot of people showed up - the most I have ever seen there. Anyway, this was Tom's first fishing experience since being very young, and it went very well. You can always tell when its been a good day fishing, when everybody wants to quit because they are tired of catching too many fish... We ended up taking 16 home and released a bunch more. Tom took some awesome panoramic pictures of the waterfalls and the vast Snake River Canyon. He is really good with putting them all together as one large view.

For dinner we had Trout and chips. Jade made these great 'chips' that looked and tasted very much like 'frys'... Pam cooked three of the largest trout for dinner, but at my request, left them whole and sorta gagged out Jade, so Tom and I ate most of the trout, picking through the bones - it was really tasty with Jade's custom lemon butter.

We had lunch on Monday at the local Mexican restaurant where they have a luncheon buffet. Pam joined us there during her lunch hour. After lunch, Jade and Tom went to the adjacient Mall to shop and I went all over town, Fedexing John's shoes back to California and foraging for all sorts of stuff. For dinner, we had Veal scallopine that took Pam a couple of hours to make from scratch using Grandma Flora's canned tomatoes as the sauce base. Really great stuff.

After some TV, we all watched Jade marinade some Indian chicken for dinner tonight. I cannot wait. It looked soo good....

It Just Gets Better and Better...

The 'plan' was that Pam's two daughters, Jaz and Jade, and their partners would visit DaHo. But, Jaz and Brad, who come from the San Francisco Bay Area, also brought Pam's son Johnny with them as a surprise - and it was a surprise for all, but especially for Pam... She came home for lunch and he walked in said "Hey Mom" and the rest is history... Lanny missed it all as he was out getting the Cat Scanned...

Pam had to go back to work for a meeting, so when Lanny got home, he took all of the Klan for a siteseeing tour of DaHo. We went to some commercial places like Costco, Best Buys and Sportsman's Warehouse. Except for Best Buys, DaHo stores are pretty different than those elsewhere. And, we also went to see the Snake River at Centennial Park and the Perrine Bridge where they base jump from, various waterfalls, the famous Shoshone Falls and Dierks Lake. By that point, a few of the Klan had lost consciousness with all the excitement, so we went back home to wait for Pam to get off of work.

We had a great dinner of Rack of Lamb and Lime marinated Turkey and pasta and salad and watched The Incredibles movie. Big Fun...

VisitHoers...

Jade and Tom from England arrived Wednesday night late. Their suitcase didn't arrive with them though. So, yesterday, we went to the local discount store and they got some things to tide them over until their stuff arrived. We also went to a local Dollar Store - something Tom hadn't seen before. Big fun... He was also introduced to Taco Hell, er Bell, for lunch. Jade thought it was a necessary part of his trip. I'm sure he will remember it.

Tom fixed our laptop touchpad problem. It has driven me crazy for months and now it finally works right. Hurray!! He and I also got the Japanese slot machine's sound turned off - finally. Its amazing how annoying it can be. Its designed to make enough noise to attract people and it is definitely an overacheiver...

Last night we had rib eye steaks and pasta. Pam's mother and Jade's grandmother, Flora, came over to say "HI" and also brought me a new cookie jar and some more Cowboy cookies. The cookie jar is a chicken with cowboy boots on, carrying a cookie - great for Cowboy Cookies... Life is good...

So, very late last night, Pam answered the phone and it was the airlines people wanting directions on how to bring the missing suitcase here from Boise. Pam was totally asleep, but they must have figured it out since the suitcase was outside the door this morning. Good work United Airlines...

Jaz and Brad arrive in Boise this morning and are renting a car. They should be here by noon or so. It should be a big reunion weekend with a slightly late Easter celebration.

Idaho No Udaho...

The title of this post was on a tee shirt Ryan gave us in SoCal. So far, Lanny can't get to wear it... We have recovered from the trip and everything is put away or installed, as it were.

Life has been good in DaHo. Well, except for our meeting with the CPA - to summarize, OUCH!! Also, we haven't seen the Ground Hog since our return...

We had a great prime rib Sunday dinner with Pam's mom and lots of leftover stuff for her "damned dogs". Jade and Tom are going to be here from England tomorrow night and Jaz and Brad from the Bay Area will be here this weekend. All of Pam's local family will also be here for a big Easter celebration on Saturday. I should be finding leftover eggs in the yard for months...

Calicat has been driving us crazy by waking us up at all hours since we returned from our trip. So, after I couldn't take it any more, I started putting her out in the garage after she woke us up. Now, I think she is liking it and I have doubts about who is winning this act... :-()

Pam got her MCP certificate and framed it for her office. Very nice...