WINDOW WITH A VIEW

One of the things I have loved about my home now is that my office has two large windows in front of my computer screen, and I look out on nothing but Douglas Firs, Alders, ivy, and flowers...

...and I thought, "How can it get better than this?" ...but it has. This is the view from my new office in our new home (currently under serious remodeling...) and no matter which window I look out...I see nothing but beauty as far as I can see.

Even more amazing is that as far as I can see...is our own land. From one mountain ridge to the other...we have the right to roam and call it home. When I lived in the City, I noted my property lines, and knew each tree or rock or plant on it. Now, I have no idea of how many trees we own, nor even where the boundaries are of our property. We'll have to follow the 'fence line' one of these days to find out...but in forests as lush as these...we'll have to take the Quads, and beat back some berry bushes or fallen limbs along the way.

Allen has been further than I have up one of the trails as he walked it with our son-in-law Will...and he says some magnificent "Old Growth Timber" starts about 500 yards up the Northern Trail. We can hear a brook 'gurgle' at night, but the brush is so overgrown in our back yard...(if you want to call it that)...we can't see it yet. We were told there was a little island in the middle of this brook, so I want to hire people to clear all the brush out so we can see it and make it accessible.

Tonight I was at the ranch to 'fetch Allen' who is putting in longer and longer days...and was suddenly compelled to 'look up'...the stars seemed so bright and the night so clear it was like living in the middle of a place no one has been before. I could even see clouds in the sky which I've never seen in my life at midnight!

Each night when we've traveled the road home, we've noted a doe and three 'Bambi's' near the entrance to our property. They are on the road eating the red and black berries that line a lot of the road now and are ripe for the picking...as we slowly encroach on them...they begin walking and then pick up the pace a little...looking for a good place to get off the road. Tonight one of the fawns started running and then hopping on all fours and it was so cute!

Many owners of pets come home and their dogs or cats are happy to see them...when I drive up to our place...our two minature goats start 'baahing' for me to notice them and maybe give them a treat. They are getting really tame now, and will follow along pretty much wherever we want them to go...hoping for a special treat...which we found out was sugar coated shredded wheat.

The progress on the kitchen is really starting to take shape now, and every day seems more exciting than the one before as the vision begins to become reality. In the next several days, I will post some pictures of the kitchen...which Allen is working on now.

While I don't like the 1.50 mile drive on a gravel road that takes about 5 minutes from the main road as I go slow as to not kick up too much dust...once I get there I know I am home. Maybe it's because natural wood is so 'warm feeling'...and now I know why the 'Log Home' Industry is going such 'great guns' these days...it's like going into the past to a simpler, kinder place...but with all the modern conveniences as well.

Little by little, day by day...things are changing in every way, and we're truly pouring our hearts and souls into this home like we have never done before. When all the kids (and grandkids)come home for Christmas to share this wonderful place with us...there will be a completion of a dream we never in a million years believed would ever come true.

Life is soooooo good to us today...and I just wanted to thank the Good Lord for it today!