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Today I found a nice paisley to put in for the background of my Blog, and use for the color scheme.  After some editing in the backend of the blog, and getting the background to show up as if it were a single piece of paisley fabric, I found something that I am happy with for now! 

I also showed Kiry her Blog, the other day, really.  Anyhow, today I showed her a little about how to edit it.  Rather than dictating to me, she insisted on writing her entry herself, though I was able to put up a translation after each line.  It is the first time she has actually helped me with her Blog, which is designed to be her Childhood Journal!

It has been snowing quite lightly here today.  That’s good stuff as I am really eager to get some measurable snow on the ground!  I have really missed the seasons over the past decade!  This is only the second attempt at weather this season, and here it is already the 10th of December.  It just has not been feelin’ a lot like Christmas!

Our little Umber seems to be adapting well to the almost cold weather.  Here she is in the bottom of our field, where I would like to put a duck and goose pond for the coming summer. 

Jordan’s horse, Precious, is also doing well with her field full of ice cream.  Both horses are holding their weight on just fine. 

I actually caught Jordan at some manual labor!  This is a sight!  There just isn’t much snow on the ground to shovel!  Still, grandma thanked him for his efforts! 

Just off the front step was the only sign of Dylan doing anything outside for the day.  He is not much up for working outside at all, and when he does go outside, it is usually to accomplish some task that requires a sort of diminished mental capacity. 

We are lucky here that we are almost completely surrounded by mountains in every direction.  Can you spot the two goats in this picture?

The house has a roof that quickly clears the snow off of it. 

Kelsey J Bacon

Well, I have finally ordered the hard drive! 750 GB of space spinning at 7,200 RPM, hopefully giving the speed I need to watch a video on my netbook without the continuous skipping! Also, I am getting rid of Ubuntu and switching up to Windows 8. a few week or so after we moved to America, the Windows 7 license declared itself invalid, and stopped booting. Thank you Toshiba! But with Windows 8 System Builder available from Amazon for $85, all I can say is Thank You Microsoft!

The switch back to Windows is an important one for me, as a blogger, because of the needed support for Windows Live Writer. WLW allows local writing and layout design that cannot be done on the web based blog editor that’s built into the blog’s back end.

I obviously will benefit from the greater storage for my photography too! But with Windows on the netbook, I will also be able to load Photoshop, and do some editing there as well!

I also found my software for my color calibration device. This means I will be able to get these monitors back in line, as soon as I find the device itself!

Two years post move, and I am finally getting my computing situation back to where it was just before we left England!

By this time next week, if all goes well, I will be blogging from any location again via my netbook, and shooting and loading photos as I go!

Kelsey J Bacon

Data migration and organization, deleting duplicates and making space on hard drives while planning out a new workflow is time consuming and dull.  But I have got to get all this done if I am going to get back on top of my intended hobby!  Over the last few days I have moved a 1TB drive off a RAID enabled NAS, which is to say in lay terms that I took out a duplicate drive from a Netgear Stora, and put it into my PC tower, formatted it, and started moving files from the Stora to the drive in the PC.  File migration had to e done this way because a drive from a Stora is not readable on a PC.  Once the files were moved, it was time to move the second hard drive into the computer and format it.  Then I started moving all my files around so that they are more or less organized, though there is still a lot to do.  As Network Attached Servers go, I would not use a Stora again just for the fact that I am required to “log-in” and Netgear set the maximum number of users to 3 unless I pay for a yearly upgrade.  They wanted me to pay to access my own data on my own machines.  Forget that!  What’s more, the log-in software seldom worked correctly in making a local connection, and required a “Remote Connection.”  Who knows just what that means, and how much logging is being done by Netgear during such a connection!

So, Netgear’s Stora is falling away from our network, and I am waiting for some items to upgrade my Netbook computer to Windows 8, on a 750 GB Hard Drive.  Snazzy! 

Okay, that’s all boring stuff, but I needed to document it in my little journal here!  What all of this means is that my blogging and photographic workflow will be improved by Christmas! 

Where once sat a table in my bedroom. there is now a child’s play cot.  Where once there was free passage around the dining room table, there is now a stroller.  Where there was a place of quiet, there now is the cooing and crying of a tiny voice.  Where once there was happiness, now there is joy!  Where once there were arms filled full of hobbies and passions, there now are hands filled with love, and service to a fragile life.  Where once there was the freedom to come and go, now there are routines to adhere to both day and night.  Where once slept three children. there now sleep four, and for this I am filled with Thanks. 

Khallarnie is now two weeks and one day old.  So far she has been doing really well.  We were prepared for the dairy allergy with Soy formula.  There is a bit of acid reflux that, if we were in England, we would treat with Gaviscon Infant.  We are not in England, so we must find out the best acid reducer that we can in our local grocery store and fix it in baby’s bottle at an appropriate dose.  So far, we could be doing better as she hiccups when she gets hungry, and she spits little bubbles when she is full.  It is a minor issue in the grand scheme, and so despite the inconvenience, I am thankful for the health she has had these past two weeks. 

Dirty nappies are tossed into a bin in our bedroom, however, when we are not in our bedroom, there are a set of small and helpful hands ready to carry off an old nappy to the bin and dispose of it.  Those hands belong to a very special little girl who came along one day and stole my heart completely.  I am thankful for Kirynie.

My wife discovered the other evening that if she stood in the bedroom door and held the baby in her arms while the boys passed back and forth doing various jobs to help her out, the work would always come second, after a delay of a moment or two in which the boys would pass, pause, and leave a kiss on the baby’s head or cheek.  Never would one pass without a stop, and never did either stop to coordinate this kissing effort.  I am thankful for the love they have for their sisters, and to know that if for some reason I cannot finish raising these girls, they will always have two fine men to look to for help, for love, and for whatever they need to carry on.  I am thankful for Jordan and Dylan.

Feeding times come at two, six, and ten in the mornings and afternoons.  At two in the morning, there comes unfailingly a little hiccup, followed by another, and then another, increasing till they are quite large.  At some point, a whimper get included, and then a little whine, followed by a cry.  Off the bed I will bound, into a shirt and down the stairs to the kitchen, where I will prepare a bottle.  Four ounces of sterilized water warmed for thirty-eight seconds in the microwave, two scoops of Infamil Soy, a little Karo Syrup, and a quarter of a tablet of acid reducer, crushed into powder.  Shake vigorously at first, then slowly as I return to the bedroom.  Total time out of bed, about two minutes, unless I have to stop at the loo along the way.  Then I crawl back into bed, and pass the bottle over to Katrina, who checks the temperature, and then tell me to go back to sleep.  I cannot tell you  for just how many reasons, and how much I am thankful for Katrina! 

I am thankful for the old friends who once passed through my life, and also for the old friends who still linger.  I am thankful for the new people I meet each day.  I am thankful for the sound and the smell of the furnace as it kicks on, and the massive engine in the truck that starts each time I turn the key.  In short, I am thankful for everything that is a part of my life.  I am thankful for everything that gets added to it, and for everything that has been taken away. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Kelsey J Bacon

Khallarnie was born one week ago today, and time has been at a virtual stand still since.  The days are of course busy with child caring, and bottle cleaning and sterilizing, feedings, and nappy changes.  My focus is on getting all of her routines straight.  And because of it, time does not seem to be moving forward, while all along I know that these moments will be gone in a flash!

Khallarnie does have a bit of a meaning that  checked with Katrina this morning.  It comes from the name of a village in Ireland called Killarney, and meaning church of sloes.  A sloe is a fruit from a “blackthorn,” or a prunus spinosa.  So, “church of the fruit of the balckthorn” sounds just about an apt meaning.

Today we have to go see the doctor again. We are seriously awaiting our last visit with him, as we are eager to get this baby born and into our lives! The Holiday season is upon us, and this will be the first in our family born during the silly season. Today’s Bonfire Night, and it would have been a great day for a birthday, but so far, little one is not budging. Maybe when we are at the doctor’s office?

A lot of progress has been made towards the ‘settling in’ aspect of our lives. We are familiar with the local territory, and know our way around from city to city and all. We have our Sam’s Club memberships and have got a basic life plan in place, even if it is a de facto plan to start off with.

The baby was first scanned up here a few weeks ago.  I have got to say that 4D is more than a little amazing!

I was contacted over the weekend by someone interested in having me shoot photos of her wedding.  She is a fiance of a friend from about ten years ago.  Of course I said I would do it, and I will!  I am amazed though that someone was interested in my work and willing to hire me for their important day.  Amazed may be too much the wrong word, where flattered would fit in better.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the chores list today, I think this week will prove to be interesting.  The trick to getting to that interesting bit is to get started with those mundane chores so I can stop watching the pot boil!

KB

So, here it is 7:00 PM on a Friday night, and the country life where I am at is settled into still darkness, for the most part.  I can hear the movie the kids are watching in their room, and Missus is lay on the bed recuperating from another week at work.  There are still quite a few things on my to-do list that need finishing before winter is finally upon us, but the weather forecast is so mild for the next seven days that it’s hard to believe it is even autumn.  Some things can wait, such as moving the lawn furniture in, and finishing off that goat pen I have been working on behind the barn. 

We went to visit the doctor on yesterday, and the little baby is due to pop out at any time now.  the doctor seems doubtful that we will be visiting in office again before she does.  The minutes tick by so slowly.  I was a bit disappointed that we did not get a Halloween baby.  What is there for November?  Bon-Fire Night!  She could associate herself with Guy Fawkes, the failed bomber who tried to blow up…  Oh, wait.  That’s probably not the best hero for her. 

Well, maybe yesterday was the last visit with the doctor.  It would really be nice, and a relief to both of us, to get this baby born and out of my wife’s pained body! 

The minutes just tick by…  7:09 PM. 

Today we went down to see the doctor at Logan, and really had a pretty good time of it.  We would have liked to of done a home birth with a midwife, but cannot because of gestational diabetes, so we have to have baby in hospital and do so in a hospital that wil work with us on paying the bills as we are uninsured.  Logan Medical Center seems very willing and able to do this, and the care that we can look forward to appears top notch, so we are as happy as can be about that. 

Dr. Tandy Olsen seems a nice and pleasant doctor, with a very calm demeanor, He and his staff are very attentive, and friendly, and we can rest assured that he will be the one to carry Kit through to delivery, establishing the continuity of care that we did not have in the UK.  Although we have to pay for the care ourselves, we may qualify for a discount that will put the total cost within range even on our current income. 

The hospital itself seems state of the art, but we will see for sure what we think of it when we take the tour of the Labor and Delivery department on our next visit or so.  We are welcome at any time to see the facilities, and I look forward to it! 

Most exciting is that we have assurance now that there is care available for Katrina and the baby as gestation occurs, and that someone with a professional background will be looking after them both.  Where the facility lacks, they have no problem life flighting a patient to the University of Utah hospital where comprehensive care can be given.  These facilities are all a part of Intermountain Health, which President Obama specifically mentioned in his speech when introducing his plan for Universal Healthcare as a role model the nation should follow.  Everyone is friendly, they understand that we don’t have insurance, and yet they carry on as if we never even mentioned it. 

I’ll be able to let you know as time goes on how we progress with them.  For now, I hope we never have to make use of their more extreme measures, and that November will bring us a healthy, happy baby girl who is destined for a long and happy life! 

Kelsey J Bacon

We have been up here about a month now, and we are still settling in.  Of course, BUDGET TRUCK RENTAL may have had something to do with this as we had to make a second trip down to get a U-Haul to bring all the stuff up from the house.  My mom and grandmother came along so granny could decide on some things to get rid of, which reduced it enough that we only just fit everything into the truck! 

Said Moving Truck

We also had a trailer and a minivan full of stuff to bring along that were full of all the last minute items that grandma just couldn’t part with!  The trailer was not loaded well, so about half way through the trip, when my grandmother nearly lost control in a fishtail, I traded the trailer onto the truck, a move we should have done to begin with. 

The Van and Trailer

It took two crews of volunteers to load and then unload the things we packed for the move.  Now that the dust has settled, the truck is returned, and we are nearly done clearing out a room in the upstairs of the house to use as our living room, it is all up to us to sort everything out and make sense of it all.  Grandma’s stuff is more that we can expect her to do in any hurry, so she will need a lot of help with it all.  None of the outbuildings is usable at this time due to the things that have had to be put into them! 

My Mom

Since we have been up here we have been able to shirk off enough of our responsibilities to go out a few miles in almost every direction and see some of the local villages and towns, as well as a couple of small cities nearby, such as Lewiston, Logan, Richmond, Smithfield, and Cornish, all it Utah, and of course Preston, Weston, and Franklin, all in Idaho.  We have been up to Deer Cliff for supper, and to Willow Flats.

Deer Cliff is an unassuming little place local to Preston, Idaho, which serves some of the best fish and steak meals to be had. 

Of course the prices have changed since this sign was made many years ago.  I would not charge less than $0.25 for a raw egg now.  The decorating may be a little dated, and you may even find it has a little to be desired, but don’t let that put you off going for the food.  It is worth even the drive into the mountains. 

Simplicity is everywhere, actually even in the food.  But when you order a steak, as I did, then you get a steak.  Try the iced tea, they will serve it to you in a glass like the one pictured at center.

Further up the canyon is Willow Flats.  It is a lovely place to camp, with both the flats as pictured above, and the mountains which surround it, as pictured below.

With so much to do to clear all of the outbuildings, it is no wonder that we have skived off a few times! 

Since being up here I have spotted a few deer, and not just the ones along the road with their legs sticking up in the air.

Yes, that’s right!  Shot from a moving car!  With my camera, that is! 

The boys are not due back from England till the 19th, and when they come back it’s right off to school and to work on the house!  I am not sure they are looking forward to it! 

Kelsey J Bacon

Fairview, Idaho

So far the life in Idaho has been busy trying to settle in on no budget at all.  The cost of coming up here followed by  the cost of the time spent packing rather than working has been a swift kick in the butt, precisely where the wallet resides.  It’s all work, work, work…  I have a few jobs to do to keep my grandmother happy, and some jobs to keep my immediate family happy, and so far I have not been able to settle into a routine that allows me to post on the Prospering Peasant, or on here, or to get some photography started.  There is just too much to do.  I have not brought my camera out with on many of the drives we have taken locally, but in the weeks to come, I certainly will. 

What I have not been shooting photos of has been the many routes around here that lead up and down the valley, and eventually into or through the mountains that surround us on all sides.  Really, we live in the mountains, but in a large valley on a flat floor of fertile land waiting for the seed, and for the irrigation pipe.  Irrigation was installed here by early pioneers in the area, and for that I am thankful. 

Our set up here consists of one acre divided into half for lawn and house and out buildings, and half for grazing, but with no irrigation on either side, except where the neighbor allows us to run a hose under the fence from his lines, so when he waters his field, we can water our lawn. 

On the other side of the street there is six and a half acres of grazing field, half of it irrigated, and all of it growing nicely.  A local guy puts cows on this field and usually arranges something like a cow for us, however, this year he is paying property taxes and for the water shares instead, as the cows he has cost so much that he only has a dozen for the season. 

All of this is on fairly flat land, apart from the back three acres over the road, which slants slightly downward to a drainage ditch that is always full of standing water in the guise of a long, narrow pond.  The irrigation canal runs right through the center of the property across the road, so there is a bridge over that. 

The barn as I call it is not really a barn in the normal sense.  Instead it is a very large shed made of wood, and it is pretty old.  It has a main room, which could easily serve as a barn, with a dirt floor, and another room which will serve for now as a chicken coop.  It would one day make a lovely canning kitchen though as the vegetable patch is just outside the door to that room. 

There is a separate one car garage that is oversized, and could serve as a two car if the door were big enough. 

The Granary is a building built of 2×4’s laid flat and put together kind of in the fashion of a log cabin.  All of the buildings need some freshening up and cleaning out, but they are all in good enough condition to serve well to their purpose. 

The house is a two story, and is typical in its design, so much so that I have seen a few similar enough to convince me they are built to the same plans. 

More will follow, of course, and especially in the form of photos, once I get all caught up on the settling in part.  There is more to do around here than I care to talk about.  Till then…

Kelsey J Bacon / The Prospering Peasant