Ready To Spring Into Action

By last year's standards its been a mild winter. There wasn't much snow at all this year.

Typically though, just when I thought I might have the chance of returning to work the weather would take a turn for the worse. One snow storm would come and go, to be followed by another.

I'm done being housebound. I am so over walking the dog for a couple of hours during the day just to pass the time.

I am ready for life to kickstart once again. I want an end to winter.

I'm not going to lie and say I'm ready for 95 degree weather once more. Far too Scottish for that, but I do want 60 hour work weeks. I do want BBQ's in the back yard. Home made burgers with fresh garden tomatoes.Corn & Hot Sauce.

Fireman's Hike

I call this one the fireman's hike because we have this fancy fire station that serves the canyon, just across the road from where we stay, only there isn't that many fires for the firemen to fight. In the 18 months that we have been living here I've only seen the fire truck out on 3 occasions, each time with no siren going, I half suspect that it was taken out for a ride just to make sure the engine still worked. The one time that there did seem to be something for them to do in the canyon the firemen were standing outside the fire house looking perplexed as a fire truck from the nearby Sugar House area went hurrying past them.

I imagine working at the Emigration Canyon fire house would be a really lonely boring job. I suspect the temptation to go off for a hike in the trail a few feet behind the fire station that seemingly goes on endlessly deep into the mountains to fill part of the work day must be high, but frowned upon by the chief.

This Is The Place

Its hard to believe that its been almost 3 years now since I moved from the land that begat me to Salt Lake City.

That first year was hard. Its never easy moving to a place that frankly doesn't want you there but moving at a time when the world is going through its biggest financial upheaval in decades was pretty poor timing on my part. In my next life I'm going to put some more planning into my emigration. Hell any sort of planning would be nice.

This last year though we really got it together. We settled into the home that we moved into the previous year. Paid off our bills, bought a new car to replace the gas guzzling, bank draining, vehicle that we had before and even bought a dog. It took me a while, my 34th year, but I finally figured out the money thing. All those years of being single I could never understand it but a couple of years of marriage and I grow up somewhat. Now if only I met the wife earlier I might have been that man of responsibility sooner.

Whereas that first year together was long and financially difficult the 2 years since have allowed us to dream. Dreams are where we at right now, but that in itself is progress. The first year we had together things were so tight that it was hard to dream at times. It was a time of simple pleasures, enjoying each others company, sharing things like street tacos and nights at the dollar theater but looking beyond that the day we were living was hard to do when we only had the one wage coming in.

Salt lake City then was a lonely place to be. But through time, hard work and a good dose of luck and teamwork we got it together. We were blessed to move on to better things when so many others were also struggling and unable to do the same.

Now we find ourselves living in a beautiful area, ironically, for two immigrants, called Emigration Canyon, dreaming of a better future. A future just years ago would have hurt to dream about. Right now we feel lucky to be renting in this quiet refuge from the city. It represents for us cosy, quiet winters, and cool, busy, summers filled with family and friends enjoying our little place almost as much as we do.

Many tomorrows away though we have bigger plans. Ultimately we want to buy our own piece of land here, build our own home and if we are allowed, build a little restaurant on top called Immigrant Kitchen, right here in Emigration Canyon, because for us, unlike the Mormon Pioneers many years before who just passed through this area to get to their destiny, This Is The Place.

Old Habits Are Hard To Break, And Harder To Start Up Again

Before, I used to write. I used to also pick up a camera once in a while. Then I got settled into married life, became all responsible and crap, got a dog, and time just seemed to run away from me and so somehow I seemed to have less time for such things. Even when I did have the time somehow I could overthink like before but I'd lost the touch in how to blog.

So today I used the dog walk as an excuse to get the camera back in hand and hopefully with that I might slowly get back into this blogging thing.
 
I probably could have chosen a better subject than a Jack Russell terrier for my first blog in a long while. Camera focus and hyperactive dogs don't mix well. Cute dog blog this won't be.

Full flow

I'm the King, wait Queen, of the mud pile

What are you waiting for, get over here?

 Wait what is that?

Back From Moab, Almost Ready To Return

We took a few days off at the weekend to enjoy our two year anniversary. As great as it was to return to an area that means so much to us sentimentally I have to say I needed to get away just to recharge the batteries. The long hours at work and no time off was beginning to take its toll.

We have been back less than a week and I feel the need to run off somewhere again. It's partly the fickle Utah weather this year and partly my only daft fault. In my eagerness to give the wife a garden she could be proud off I made plans to turn one weed infested side area into a vegetable garden and turn a vole damaged lawn into a fruit tree, tomato plant, hydrangea, sun and shade perennial, B-B-Q hosting heaven, only our freaky Spring weather has got in the way of those plans. Its starting to feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew. Working 6 days a week on other peoples gardens doesn't leave a lot of time for our own.When I get home each night I pretty much have 2 hours to work before it gets dark which means there just isn't enough hours in do everything., especially if those rain clouds don't stay away. Thanks to all that rain and snow we have been getting lately the vegetable garden that should be just about planted up is actually only one fifth weeded and sown. I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed so much to do so little time. A few more weeks of this and I will be saying to the wife its time to run off to Moab again.

 Same site slightly different angle

So many arches in one place I forgot the name of this one. It will likely come to me after I finish publishing.

 Old style, Native American graffiti

 Presumedly, New American, commissioned graffiti mural

 A whole lot of red sandstone in the Arches National Park, plenty to remake the Glasgow tenements here in Utah but not a huge amount of water so its always nice to see when you are gasping on a hot hike.

 Delicate Arch

The growing masses waiting for Sunset at Delicate Arch. 

We gave up. The same wind that was to give us a restless night in our tent later on, made it not worth the wait, especially as their was no sign of that orange hue appearing that we had hoped for.

Stupid Weather

It's been a nice few weeks. Work has been busy. The weather has been getting noticeably warmer for a while now. The leaves have even come out in the trees in the Spring shy canyon in which we live. So with some time on my hands I was finally getting around to planning the vegetable garden. 

Thoughts turned to putting corn on the grill, cabbage in my tacos, watermelon dribbling from my chin on a hot summers day and fresh garden tomatoes in my father-in-law's spaghetti to name but a few home grown delights.

When I look out the window to see huge big chunks of snow falling from the sky. Seriously? It's the 17th of May! It was 26C on Saturday.