OK, I'll BLAH-G!

As usual, it's just been normal life lately. Nothing earth-shattering, just, simply, blah. Hence, this is my Blah(g).

The feud that was going on down the street has quieted. The weapons have all been laid down but no peace treaty has been signed as yet. Still, a move in the right direction.  The evening after a significant event to end the feud Kev and Shirl had a BBQ.  It was last minute, it was cold, but it was fun. We had a bonfire and the DeBellings made some additions to the feast. It was a Monday, a work night and a school night but we enjoyed it til 8ish.

We went on another drive toward the north and east to get some pics of the fall color and, although we left early and had great weather, we still ended up disappointed. We started to see some really cool stuff, just as the sun was getting too low. We hit Winthrop around 4:30 and planned to stop to eat, but that meant that when we left the restaurant the light would nearly be gone. We still had a 4 hour drive home and saw all kinds of stuff that would have been interesting in the morning. But an out-of-town relative was due in Sunday afternoon for a quick visit so we opted to just make the long drive home. Our choice of route turned out to be the wrong one as well, we just crested Blewett Pass when the traffic stopped and people started turning around. I say someone had a bad accident involving a deer or elk, but whatever it was, it closed the road. So we had to back track a few miles (20?) to get to the other route. That added about another hour to the drive and we got home about 11:30. We'll have to do it differently next year, make it an overnight trip.

I finally started filling the bird feeders again and almost immediately had a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers at the suet. They are so cool to see, they're like 14 inches long and each has a big red cap. We've been enjoying seeing all the Snow White type activity in the back yard again. And with the fall color... (smile and sigh)

Rach and Tony are in their house and have it nearly all painted inside and decorated. Kev is working on and off. Shirley is keeping busy with the boys and the new long-haired Chihuahua they recently adopted. Denny and Heather are remodeling and enjoying having the house to themselves. We miss spending time with them though. Gage seems to miss everyone the most. The DeB's are having ups and downs but are sticking it out, they'll get it all straightened out eventually.  The kids are finding friends at school and not so bored any more.

Last weekend Rick and I took the old pickup for a drive to the peninsula to buy a toy for Rick for the snow, a Honda 3-wheeler. It's old but in pretty good shape and was a bargain. It was raining like mad but just going for a drive was kinda fun.

We're plodding through our 365's. That's our picture-a-day projects that we started last spring. It gets real hard sometimes. I get uninspired and then I take lousy pictures. I started and so will end mine mid-March. Rick started his about 20 days later, on April 1.

Joe started kindergarten this year and got chosen to play in the first school musical brought to the school by the Missoula Children's Theater International.  They provide everything except the kids and then have an adult that leads the show so the kids don't have so much to learn.  Good thing since they had only 4 days to learn it all!  But they did real good.  Joe was a rooster and did a pretty good job of keeping up with his part.

And we took advantage of a sale that we missed out on last year. It's a 4 night vacation in Iceland in March! The trip includes airfare, hotel, breakfast buffet and the "Golden Circle" tour to see some of Iceland's most famous sights. We're gonna sign up for a Northern Lights tour and also rent a car to see some sights on our own. We may drive as far as the volcano that shut down air traffic for a week last year. We've been researching lots of stuff since its so unique and we'll be visiting in the last month of winter. Its not as cold as everyone thinks, 30's during the day and 20's at night. The streets and sidewalks in the main city, the capital, Reykjavik, where we're staying, are heated by geothermal heat so there's no ice on them! They serve some strange food that I think I'll have to pass on, things like reindeer, rotten shark, sheep's head, whale and puffin. It's very expensive so I'm planning to take stuff to make sandwiches for lunch (breakfast is included but I'm taking instant oatmeal just in case). Rick can buy his lunch if he wants but if I don't spend money on that I figure I can spend it on other stuff, goodies! Souvenirs are very pricey I hear so I think everyone can plan on receiving something small. One site I was looking at said the dinner buffet at our hotel was $90 for 2! Seriously expensive!

I guess blah is OK, it's better than always exciting.  Although I think Iceland will be pretty fantastic!