Camping at Clausen Springs

What a restful weekend we had at Clausen Springs.  The weather was perfect.

The view is always so pretty.  It was nice to sit at the top of the hill and just look for awhile.

There are several trails, one goes to Valley City, another to Kathryn.  We just walked a little ways down to the old rail road tracks.  A few years back they removed the tracks and ties, filled it in with rock, and now use that as a trail.

The old playground is the same as when I was a kid though the merry-go-round doesn't work well anymore.  They are taking donations for a new playground.

I have been happy to see the improvements they have made in the last two years one of which is a new bathroom with showers.

My two girls, actually four, by the stream right behind our camper...

My boy forgot his net and bucket to use for catching crawdads.

The stream was pretty shallow this year though there were a few places that were deep enough for Jade to swim.

Both dogs were very well behaved.  Many of the campers there had at least one dog.  Ours never barked or got aggressive.

We met some nice people.  The children made new friends.  And we got to camp with some old friends and relatives we didn't even know would be there.

Whitney and I are always interested in people's dogs.  We noticed a boxer puppy at the other end of the camp and quickly introduced ourselves to the woman who owned her.  Sassy was the cutest thing about 8 weeks old, a fawn brindle, a color I had never seen before.  The lady said her mother raises them.  I want one!

The lady was interested in seeing Elly since Elly is half boxer.  Elly and the puppy got along just fine.  Both wanted to box the other though I didn't let Elly do it as she was so much bigger.  It was funny to watch.

While it is fun to get away it is always nice to get back home.

On Any Given Morning...

...this is my view from my patio door.  The birds are almost always eating, drinking, or bathing, with the chickens cleaning up any spills.

Since the remodel I have been searching for wall art.  Most I have found have not been my style.  Finally I thought about using some existing frames I had that I no longer used as I didn't like the pictures in them.  I went through some of my pictures I had taken and found many that I liked.  The above picture was taken along the Little Missouri River by Medora.

This is one I took along the Oregon Coast last year.  Both these prints are 16x20 that I ordered from Walmart.com.

This is another picture I took at the same place with Tim and the children looking into a tide pool.

Here is the mirror we got for our new bathroom.

  In reality this picture isn't that dark.  I have this in my kitchen, it's another 16x20 picture, taken on the path to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, CA.

This 16x20 print that I hung in my basement stairway was taken by the Grand Canyon.

I like looking at the pictures everyday and being reminded of the great times we had at these various places.

If you are looking for some new artwork for your walls, don't want to pay much, and can use some existing frames you have I highly recommend Walmart.com.  It is easy to make albums and order your prints.  I now order all my prints that way as it is so convenient and inexpensive and the quality is good.

Our Week

We have had a nice summer week.  The normalcy of it all was good.

On Monday we spent the afternoon at the public pool in town.  While the children love swimming in our pool it is nice to be with friends too.

On Tuesday we stayed home.  It was too cool to swim so we did other things like tilling part of the garden and hoeing the rest.

Wednesday was our "Fargo Day".  Daniel had an evaluation exam with Dr. Agnes.  Daniel has general binocular dysfunction and intermittent right esotropia though both are better since doing vision therapy, we still have to keep an eye on it to make sure he doesn't digress.  His evaluation showed nothing slipping.  We will go back in three months for another check.  Dr. also found he needed a slight change in his lens' prescription so we have those on order.

Daniel has 20/20 vision but that doesn't mean that he can see well.  "Vision is more than 20/20."  But he certainly sees much better than he did before vision therapy.  I am so happy to see him picking up a book to read for fun all on his own.  His glasses help keep those eyes in line so he can do things like read and school work and seeing.

Thursday was so hot!  When I would go outside I knew it was hotter than the upper 80's we had been having but I didn't think it was as hot as it was.  While watching the news that night I heard that it had been 103!  It didn't feel that hot to me probably in part because it was not humid but a dry heat.  I think the children swam all afternoon in our pool only coming out to eat and take short breaks.  They remembered they had snorkels and were using them.

Friday we were supposed to go camping to Aberdeen's Wylie Park.  But the day before we discovered our fridge in the camper not working.  In fact there was a gas odor inside it.  We could have gone and used a cooler but we didn't want to endanger our health with toxic fumes escaping.  After talking with a camper repairman who said the fridge is "shot", which we pretty much knew, we are not sure what we will do about it.

The camper is old, a 70's model, and we don't want to stick a bunch of money into it.  A new RV fridge would cost us over $1000.  We have thought about getting a dorm fridge and putting it into the spot though that wouldn't be as convenient as an RV fridge.  RV fridges have settings for gas, electric, or battery.  While you are driving you have no worries about your fresh food getting warm.

The children were disappointed but enjoyed the pool again on Friday.  The nights have been so beautiful we stayed outside after dark enjoying it. 

On Sabbath we went to church.  I had put a whole pastured raised chicken that I bought from local farmers into the crock-pot on high with some of my new potatoes, onions, and celery and an herb butter I made.  When we got home it was cooked to perfection.  My that was good and easy!  I think I should get more chickens!

The last time Brandon was out he had wanted to go tubing on the lake.  He has a friend that has a boat he can borrow.  It was too late to do it that day so we made plans this week to use the boat which we did yesterday.  It was so fun and relaxing.  I was proud of Daniel and Leah.  Both were brave to jump into the water off the side of the boat and tube for the first time.  I don't think I can adequately describe how it felt to be on the water other than to say it felt so good.

Tim never could get Brandon to fall off the tube though Brandon wanted him to try.  In fact Brandon looked a little bored most of the time.  He even turned around and laid on it backwards.  Tim did try.  Of coarse when Brandon drove the boat he was able to get Whitney and Daniel to fly off but they had not been tubing before. 

It was fun to watch the children on the tube but more than that I liked looking at all the lake homes along the reservoir.  I imagined what it would be like to live there and thought I would like it, in the summer at least, I'm not sure about the winter.  I liked boating up to Smokey's Landing where we used to camp 30 years ago.  And I liked the sense of community and camaraderie of the boaters on the lake.  "They" even have house boats you can rent.  Tim and I thought that it would be fun to stay on the water for a couple days.  And I liked going into the Marina that Tim's folks ran for several years after they "retired."  I shared memories with the younger two children about Grandpa making us dinner there and Grandma taking care of the campground. 

By the time we got home last evening I was tired.  It seems that resting allows me to relax and to recharge for the week.  I slept so well last night.  Since I wake early and normally no one else does I can enjoy some nice quiet time in the morning. 

My windows are still open to the morning air and sounds.  I have been sitting outside and inside and watching the many birds eating at the feeders and drinking from the bird bath.  The chickens have been up before me eating the morning bugs.  I watched one of the cats tormenting a poor mouse to death while the other two cats and Elly watched close by. 

Daniel and I usually have to do mouse cleanup duty every day as there are dead mice laying by the house most mornings.  The other day we found a dead baby weasel left for us.

I hope to spend this day working on summer projects so as to be ready for the busy time of another school year.  But I will take time out of this day just to enjoy the summer.

Summer Days

We have been enjoying our lovely summer.  Friday evenings Tim is home with us.  We try to have a special supper not only because he is home but also because it ushers in the weekly Shabbat which we look forward to all week long.

This Friday evening Tim and I had steaks and the children had burgers made on the grill.  It has been amazing to sit outside as there are nearly no flies or mosquitoes to bother us.

Daniel and Leah still have care of Whitney's old hens.  This is a picture of my favorite, Spotty.  She is a talker. 

The hens seem to have fallen in love with being around our house.  I think it is because I water the new lawn frequently, it is the only green grass on the farm, and it has more bugs and worms for them to eat.  Mostly I don't mind but I think they have eaten the new sprouts of grass that I reseeded and they leave droppings.

Leah is becoming a real "Daddy's Girl". 

Last week we celebrated Whitney's birthday.  All the children were here for it including Ryan.  After lunch some of them went swimming in our new pool.

There wasn't a dull or quiet moment with Brandon in there.  They all seemed to have a blast.

Yesterday we had a quieter Shabbat which we seemed to need this week.  Towards evening we drove over to a dam that is close by so the dogs could cool off, Whitney and Daniel could kayak, and Tim could wet a line.  Jade is a great swimmer.  She followed Whitney around.  We finally had to put a leash on her to keep her with us so Whitney could go further around the lake.  Jade is very attached.

Elly only goes in up to her stomach as she can't swim well.  She loves the water so it is kind of sad.

Today looks to be very hot with a breeze blowing from the south east.  It could be another perfect summer day.

I love summer!