Monday, September 17, 2007

Welcome To My Neighborhood


Kathleen at The Open Window had this great idea to share your neighborhood. This sounded like a fun way to see where all my bloggy friends live. Everyone has done such a great job on their posts. A lot of nice folks have gone on full-scale visual trips around the whole half of the state they live. It's been really fun to see where you all live. Today I am going to show you where I have lived for the past 19-plus years.



We live in southern Idaho in an area known as the Treasure Valley. We are a desert area with only about 7" of rain a year. Yep, a year. I think that qualifies us as desert - don't you? We have 4 distinct seasons every year. Winters are not too cold and we really don't get snow in the valley. Just a dusting once in a while. We are comprised of mainly two industries - farming and ranching. Most people do both because you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes the farming is good and sometimes the ranching is good - but rarely are they both good during the same year. People here work very hard to make a living. Very hard. And they are the most kind and generous people I have ever known in my life. It doesn't matter how much they have, it matters to them how much they give.
Here is a picture of our home:

I know, the lawn needs mowed, and don't start on me about my flower beds - I just haven't had time people!
This is our new patio we just added this year. We have already spent many hours enjoying our neighborhood from here:


Here is the barn and pasture behind our home:

It is still under construction. The right side of the barn has stalls for the horses and a tack room. The left side is eventually going to become an enclosed area for my husband to have a shop where he can do woodworking and make me really neat furniture and stuff for my house. Well, that's my plan anyway. He is also going to make a cupalo for the top of the barn with a weather vane. I can't wait for that part. I love weather vanes.
If you look to one side of our house you will see this empty field.

It is not ours, but we would love for it to be. The people who own it don't do anything with it. We would love to have it, if for nothing else just to prevent a subdivision from going in there someday. This area is rapidly growing and it would be terrible to have a subdivision right next door. But for now it is just an empty field.
If you look to the other side of our house you will find our church:

I love living next door to our church. It is so convenient to run over there when I need something. I love walking to church. I love not having to be ready at the same time as the rest of the family to leave for church. Our building is only about 3 1/2 years old. When we came to this church there were about 45 people and now we run about 300. We have a daycare and a pre-school. Our building program went smoothly and we are already running out of space. There is "talk" of a new building program that would either add on to what we have or add another building - a family life center. Those crosses you see laying on the ground are going to become part of a garden with a waterfall in the future. One thing at a time.

A broader picture of where I live would include pictures like these:

Even though we live in the desert, just a few miles up the road brings you to the mountains where there is lots and lots of snow and some of the best skiing you will find anywhere. Idaho is home to several major ski resorts. When our kids were younger and I had Mondays off my husband and I would drop the kids off at school and spend the day skiing and be home in time to pick up the kids. Often I would do yard work in the evening.

These are the hills surrounding our area. They are rugged and beautiful. I mean the hills - not us!

And we have lots of cowboys and where there are lots of cowboys there are lots of rodeos. I love how patriotic rodeos and cowboys are.

As I said farming is tough around here. Because there isn't much rainfall all the crops must be irrigated, by hand, one row at a time. If you look closely at this picture you can see the cement ditch the water runs through. A siphon tube is set in each row of the field. Did I mention this is done by hand? Each row. Amazing.


We also have lots of orchards around us. Apples, peaches, grapes, and cherries abound. This is a snapshot I took this last spring - we were surprised by snow that day.


And here is where I go to work each day. I work at a universtiy not far from our town. I drive about 35 minutes each way to work. It's a slow and easy drive - no traffic to speak of.


Idaho is a secret that has slowly been revealed. People are moving here by the hundreds. There are 5 new subdivisions within a 5 mile radius of us. Property values are rising. And the housing market isn't nearly as bad here as it is in other parts of the nation.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour!

23 comments:

gail@more than a song said...

Oh I've loved seeing these posts! Might should have done this one but just didn't get to it. I love your house and it is convenient to be right next to the church. I can't believe they hand irrigate the crops...my hubby sells irrigation, around here a lot of center pivots are used for farming.
Your university looks like a nice place to work.
You did a great job of describing everything and making it sound like a good place to live! No wonder people are moving there with all that y'all have!

Just Me said...

Beautiful!! I wouldn't mind moving there myself! And what a great idea, showing where you live! Now if I can only find a camera, I just might do the same thing. In the mean time...loved seeing where you are and do church!

Unknown said...

Wow! Did I know you lived in Idaho? I don't think I knew that. What a wonderful place to live. Four seasons and no snow! Now THAT I could get my head around. Find me a house!!

You have a lovely neighborhood, and you know I envy you that back porch. And next door to church. That is so convenient.

I'm glad you went through the trouble to do this for us. It was really fun to see where you live, Robin. Didn't Kathleen have a great idea?

Karen said...

I thoroughly enjoyed your little tour! You live in a beautiful, peaceful place. You have a wonderful view from your house -- how nice to have the space around you. And the horses -- so cool! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Robin.

kris said...

Robin - this was great! Thanks! You live in a beautiful place. I'd love to have a farm - and ski resorts close by!! I've actually met several people in the last couple years who moved to Idaho and love, love, love it - they are always saying we should retire there when the time comes. Something to think about!

Katie said...

What a great tour! You live in a beautiful spot :-)

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

Hey Robin thanks for stopping by my blog!! I have always wanted to visit Idaho and now I know someone that lives there!! It looks beautiful but I would simply hate not having more rain. I would miss rain storms i think. We live in Savannah Ga now and are transplants from Illinois!! Thanks again for your nice tour. I really loved this idea of Kathleen's...Sandy

Dawn said...

Thanks for coming by - I loved your tour, and am pretty sure I know where you work. I have lots of relatives in Idaho, and would be glad to talk about it by e-mail, if you want to write me. Go to my link. IT is a small world.

Unknown said...

Hi Robin! My fabric pile is for Christmas obviously. I have a new pattern for a Christmas skirt that I want to try. I thought that would make wonderful wedding gifts, even in the middle of summer.

I can also do some more ornaments, and maybe another table runner as a gift. I really don't care what I use it for, as long as I am having fun.

Got any ideas?

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you posted your tour. I know of a couple of people who have moved to Idaho recently. You have a nice spread and it seems very quiet. I'm amazed at how little rain you get...

La Dolce Vita with LeAnn said...

Thanks for stopping by, and yes our patios look so much alike. We have had ours for 15 years now and I never tire of sitting there in the early morning, afternoon, or evening. I loved the picture of you and your hubby on the horses. Beautiful tour, looks like a great place to live. My DH comes to the area often because his younger brother lives there. I'll stop by and visit again.

Anonymous said...

beautiful place you have, i love hourses. if i didnt live in the city i would have a horse

Linds said...

Hi Robin, and how lovely to meet you and see where you live! I really enjoyed seeing your part of Idaho. It looks beautiful to me. And you all have so much space! I will be back.

Terri Steffes said...

It is beautiful! I am glad you found my site! I think you were a treasure waiting to be discovered!

Susan said...

Robin, I am glad to meet you. I am glad you came by my tour and left me a comment so I could come on yours. I enjoyed it very much. We have traveled a lot and seen a lot of the country but we have only been thru Idaho.

I read your 100 things post. I love those. You can get an overview of a person so quickly.

What church does your husband pastor? You can e-mail me that answer if you don't wish to put it on your blog.

Yes, we here in Oklahoma are very free and vocal about our faith. We still have a lot of religious freedom in our schools. I am so thankful for that.

I'm putting you on bloglines. I'll be back :o)
Susan

Anonymous said...

I have always wanted to visit Idaho. Your area is lovely. Thanks for the tour!

Overwhelmed! said...

Your area in southern Idaho looks so beautiful and peaceful! I enjoyed looking at your pictures!

Tammy said...

Hello, neighbor to our right! :)
I've passed through Idaho on our trip back across the country as a newlywed, and we stopped at the Snake River...loved it!
I'm so glad you stopped by so I would in turn, stop over and see your wonderful town! I so love the more rural areas...have always wanted to live on a farm, but have never gotten the chance yet!
Blessings!

Renee said...

What a great tour and thanks for opening your home to us; beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

In answer to your question, I used this combo without the baking soda on vinyl for years. I am not sure why I didn't use baking soda back then. None of this will hurt your floors. All non toxic and no abrasive and CLEAN!

FarmHouse Style said...

Thanks Robin for sharing your neighborhood with me. Your place looks lovely and I am very envious about the lack of traffic.
Glad you came by to visit me. I hope you will come back some time.
Rhonda

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

That was really fun! It looks like a lovely place to live. It would be quite nice to live that close to church! Very cool.

I can't believe you're worrying about your lawn & flower beds - that's such a typical thing, though, don't you think? Your house looks lovely and you really cannot see the flower beds well enough to know they need work.

Thanks for sharing, Robin! :)

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

That was really fun! It looks like a lovely place to live. It would be quite nice to live that close to church! Very cool.

I can't believe you're worrying about your lawn & flower beds - that's such a typical thing, though, don't you think? Your house looks lovely and you really cannot see the flower beds well enough to know they need work.

Thanks for sharing, Robin! :)