4th of July Homecoming!

Adam got home at 1:30am on the 4th.  We had friends and family over and had such a great time.

 

Is this the cutest mother/grandmother you've ever seen?

Thank you all for spending the day with us!



Home Again...

Kate came to town for Adam's party and mom's birthday, which is next week.  We decided to take mom for a drive up to Idaho City, over through Placerville and Alder Creek Summit then down to Garden Valley.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.

I thought I'd share a few pictures I took of Ann Cannady's old house.  I remember when she lived there, it was so cute, now abandoned.  I love old buildings and although it's vacant, I still found the property to be so beautiful!

 

I LOVE my new camera (have I mentioned that?)!  It was such a great day.  We stopped at our old house on Alder Creek and no one was home so we kind of wandered the yard, recalling some wonderful memories of living there.  We stopped and had ice cream in Crouch and then headed home.  Thanks mom, Kate, and Linda for a great day.

Name Change and Deer Everywhere...

It was suggested that I change the name of my blog to Jacob Springs instead of Hidden Springs, so, I did!

We've had lots of does coming down to give birth.  I went out Saturday evening after seeing 4 does up the draw.  I snuck around past the barn, tip-toeing, being ever so quiet and stood near our back property line trying to get a picture (with my new camera!).

I stood and took several and noticed the does were all moving my way.  As I stood there they all walked with about 30 feet of me, not a care in the world.  I talked softly to them, telling them out pretty they were and they moved up the hill and over.  How lucky for me!

                                            The picture below show this does big belly.

  

I stepped out on the front porch last night as dusk and watched a doe eating in the front pasture about 50 feet from the front porch.  I sat in the chair and watched until it got too dark to see her.  Oh how I love (my new camera!) and Jacob Springs...

Well Water, Fawns, and Fires...

For over a month now, we've been having a terrible time with our well.  We have days where our water looks like chocolate milk and others where it's just full of very fine silt.  We haven't drank out of the faucet since it started and go through about 3 filters on our system every week.  We replaced the filter on the refrigerator about 2 weeks ago and after a week, needed a replacement.  It's costing us over $100 a week for filters.

The water jug is purchased water, the middle is ours on a "good" day, and the right is what it looks like on a bad day.  YUCK!

Our well driller came up and looked and said he'd never seen anything like it.  Leave it to the Turner's!  He said to let the outside faucets run for days if needed and that should clear it up, so, that's what we're doing.

On a happier note, when we bought this property, Robert, who stops in the Merc every morning for coffee, told us that the draw behind our house is where the does have their fawns every spring.  Robert and his family grew up in this valley.  He's full of interesting history, he went to the little school that used to be up here, and knows every inch of this place.

A couple of weeks ago we noticed a couple of does hanging around out back.  They both looked pregnant but I thought is was too late for babies.  The day before my birthday, we had 4 does and 5 babies!  What a great birthday present!

If I had a better camera I could have gotten the cutest pictures!  The fawns were adorable!

In other news, I was watching tv about 6 this morning and heard a siren.  We never hear sirens up here, it's one thing I love about this place.  I muted the tv and realized it really was a siren!  A fire truck screamed by and I looked down the valley and saw smoke.  I jumped in the truck to see where it was so I would know if I needed to turn on the fire sprinklers.  It was about 1/2 mile from the house on the opposite side of the road and there were already 4 engines there and I saw at least 4 more on the way.  Luckily it started where the cows had grazed through and there was no tall grass.  One of the ladder trucks broke down at our driveway.

It's a beautiful day today, supposed to be near 90 and tomorrow, windy, thunderstorms and 67!  Since they say windy, I may as well just run out and tip over all the chairs on the porch, throw some out into the yard, and scatter some paper in the pastures.  We live in "tornado alley" and when it's windy, it just howls through the valley up the draw past our house.  

I hope "y'all" are having a great day.  ;)

Some Pictures From Our Trip to Georgia...

These are the pictures off my camera from Adam's graduation.  It made for some wonderful memories!

We had live music at one place where we ate dinner.  The kids weren't too impressed but I loved it!

How Do You Prepare for Something Like This?

I've spent the last few days since I got home from Adam's graduation thinking.  As with Jake, I'm proud that my son wanted to join the military.

I think Adam has realized what it really means to have taken such a dangerous job with the Army.  I knew all along that it wasn't what I wanted for him, but I had to allow him to make his own decision.  With Jake, I know he's as safe as he can be in a war zone.  On a base, in a building working intelligence.  

With Adam, I don't know how I'm going to cope.  I feel like I'm a strong woman but I can't imagine when he is deployed how I'm going to survive every day.  I know I will, thousands of other mothers do. I just can't imagine trying to go through every day knowing that my son is on the front lines, being the first to break down doors looking for the enemy.  How do you get through something like that?

I suppose I'll have to try and find a support group, I don't think I can do it alone.  I know I can't curl up in the fetal position and wait until he comes home - although that's what my mind tells me I want to do. Hopefully he won't be deployed soon.  I need time to get my mind in the right place if that's possible.

Meanwhile, I've spent a lot of time this weekend remembering our soldiers and being thankful that there are so many who are willing to volunteer for such dangerous duty.  I'm terrified and proud at the same time.

If you have any words of wisdom, I'd love to hear from you.

Interesting Observation...

We were waiting for our flight from Atlanta and there was no place to sit.  The flight before us left so Lorry grabbed a seat and put her bag in the one next to it for me (I was a few feet behind her).  A nice looking, athletic, young, black man jumped over and started to take the seat.  " I'm saving this for her," she said, and pointed to me - standing a foot behind him.  

"What?  You can't save seats!  What the hell?"  

"She's right there!" Lorry said.

"Awwww, COME ON!"  He was very unhappy.

Loud enough for everyone to hear, I looked at him and said.  " you go ahead and take that seat.  I'm a lady and I'll let you have it."

I turned around and walked to an available stool and sat down.  He walked away.

What?  We would never have done that to an old lady!  Then, on the flight to Boise, a couple my age were some of the last ones on the plane.  A nice, peaceful, Rastafarian-type, young, white, hippy dude was taking a seat when the lady asked him if he would let she and her husband sit together and he could take the single seat.

Again, in that whiny-ass voice, he too did the "what!?" thing.  He did not take the single seat.

Rotten-ass, spoiled young people who have no respect for us elders.  KARMA you little turds.  It's going to get you.

Girls With Guns, and one Gnarly Dude...

Today Brenda provided us with a concealed weapons class.  It was awesome!  Brenda, you were a great instructor and we all had a wonderful time.  Now to go gun shopping!

Look out, the girls from Hidden Springs are packin'!