Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Our Home Away From Home Here In The Bear River Valley Of Utah

Mom's House In Farm Country
Click on any photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom
Peggy, Dallas, and my shadow coming home from our first 5 mile morning walk in Utah.
We'll be spending at least the next 6 months here helping my 85 year old mother out around the place.

Peggy and mom, still in their jammies, in mom's kitchen this morning.


Peg & Dallas on a morning walk along a crossroad near our new digs. We are headed back to the road mom lives on, which runs perpendicular to this one, about 1/4 mile east (the direction Dallas is facing) where we'll turn right for another 1/2 mile to get home.


Another view of mom's big house which she fell in love with about 5 years ago on a trip from California to visit her sister. She put a deposit on it, sold her house in the San Fernando Valley, and moved out here, lock, stock, & barrel, at 80 years of age.


Looking northwest through part of mom's orchard with our chickens still in their traveling cage. They have since been moved into a large makeshift coop.



A horse named Horse, whom belongs to one my mother's friends, resides on a back corner of the property. The view is to the west.

Looking north across the back 1/2 acre of moms property I can envision a huge vegetable garden at this end with chickens and goats inhabiting the far end.
We've already made the small shelter in the distance into a makeshift coop for our chickens, which we brought with us. This area lies just behind the orchard and large raspberry patch.


Looking northwest from the middle of the orchard which has varieties of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and apricots. Below are a few pictures of the fruit we are now harvesting.

This pear tree is just loaded!






This apple didn't bear heavily this year but the fruit is sweet, crisp, and delicious.


This apple tree is heavily laden and we're planning on baking some apple pies here in the next few days.

More apples.



Horse with our makeshift chicken coop in the background.


Looking northeast across a view of the Bear River just a few hundred yards south of my mom's place. This is one of the places we go on our morning walks now.

A view to the northeast from the orchard fence. My mom's property ends where the cornfield starts and the raspberry patch is just behind where I was standing when I took the picture.

A view to the southeast with part of mom's raspberry patch in the foreground.
The raspberries were in dire need of water as were parts of the orchard, all the trees need pruning and there's much weeding and outdoor cleanup to be done.
That's why we're here and hopefully we can get much of that done before it snows and the ground freezes., we've already made quite a bit of progress.
~POSTSCRIPT~
To our friends who are trying to e-mail us. I have to contact Charter.net and set things up differently before I can reply or send e-mail, and, at this point, we are no longer receiving e-mail either.

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19 Comments:

Blogger SomethingBlue said...

Wow what a beautiful place...enjoy :)

1:04 PM  
Anonymous Tonya said...

I've been reading your blog for quite awhile now but have never commented. The beauty and tranquility in these photos seemed like an opportune time to say "hello". Also, as someone who just moved her own Mother in with her this past Friday, I understand the difficulty of caring for our aging parents. The property looks just lovely and I look forward to seeing all you accomplish....and pix of the snow! I love snow! LOL

Keep writing when time permits.

8:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What an amazing piece of property. It looks so beautiful and tranquil. Lots of work, too! A wonderful thing that you and Peg could make this move and take care of so much right now.

6:40 AM  
Blogger Brad Henderson said...

Jim and Peg,

Glad to see that the flock of chickens survived the journey through the desert! Looks like a lovely place to spend a few months and get immersed in some good farm work.

Brad

6:45 AM  
Blogger roger said...

very nice place. your mom is quite the adventurer. i can see why she preferred this to the modern san fernando valley.

7:29 AM  
Blogger susan said...

What a surprise to drop by for one of my occasional visits to see you've made a major move too. You mom's farm is very beautiful and somehow I can't imagine the two of you being there for just six months. How could you face leaving in spring or ever, for that matter?

Jer and I left the US for Canada at the end of August for many of the reasons you've discussed in the posts I've read this morning. It's not that we harbor many illusions about this country being morally better (most of the really good people I know are American) but that there are still systems and institutions in place here that assume mutually beneficial relations between government and the governed. We've been watching that ideal get shot to hell in America and decided that even if it cost us, and it has, that we couldn't work and live in such a toxic environment anymore.

Canada has problems too - the government of Stephen Harper and the massive influence of the tar sands projects come first to mind - but at least there really is a working third party aspect and coalitions that people can turn to without having to resort to extra-legal measures. Every kind of protest in the US has been made virtually illegal by the ramifications of the Patriot Act and we both have always been very suspicious of every aspect of what brought that nasty bit of legislation about.

When we watched the video done by the LA Times about that lovely Rasta man and his magnificent home in California, we were both very touched. Reading what happened to him afterwards immediately made us think that the video itself caused an evil and hateful attention to be brought to bear on him. The powers that be and their cohorts despise the idea of anyone managing to drop off the grid and live happily. It's the biggest insult to their blinkered belief system imaginable.

I'm glad to see you're both well and hope your charming mother gets to keep you close as long as possible. I wish you the very best.

7:31 AM  
Blogger Tabor said...

It seems that you just move from one paradise to another. YOu both must have lived very honest and good lives to be so rewarded.

1:43 PM  
Blogger Jim said...

Something Blue-

We are truly enjoying the open spaces of this lovely place, and, as you can see from the photos, something 'magnificently' blue provides a stunning backdrop for the ever changing sky that graces the Bear River Valley.

7:03 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Tonya-

Thank you for being interested enough to follow our blog somewhat and I'm so glad you've finally said hi! Mom brought me into the world, raised me healthy and in one piece, and stood by me in my rough teenage years. Now she needs some helpful companionship and I'll do what I can, as I know you are too.

When the snow falls the pictures will come...

We've been enjoying thunderstorms for the past few days, with a great display of lightning performing outside the bay windows during dinner last night, and this morning we awoke to heavy rain dancing madly upon the roof.

7:17 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Robin-

It is peaceful here under this huge sky surrounded by miles of pastoral landscape, and strangely relaxing even with all the work we are doing morning 'til night.
We are certainly sleeping well!
Our love to you and Roger!

7:26 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Brad-

It was so nice visiting with you, Amy, and the girls on our way here.
Your place is absolutely gorgeous, your goats, chickens, and gardens an inspiration. I'll be posting some pictures of that when time allows.

And thanks again for the loan of the cage, the chickens wouldn't have made it here without it.

7:31 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Roger-

Ironically this place very much reminds me of the San Fernando Valley of my early childhood, except this place has winters comparable to Big Bear.

I hope you are doing well brother Roger, it's been a busy summer for us preparing for this move and now with so much to do here. I haven't had much time for checking in on friends.

Last time I checked you had just been to one of your favorite swimming holes again and that made me smile.

peace & love man

7:37 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Dear Susan-

Wow! You guys have made the big move haven't you?

I certainly understand your motives and hope the Canadian system is less toxic than what America has become. The tar sands mess in Alberta is heartbreaking but maybe Canadians will now find the resolve to stop that kind of destruction in the future.

America is quickly descending into a hoplessly fascist corporate state and lets hope the hateful poison that is destroying this country doesn't infect Canada to the same extreme.

Susan, your thoughtful and super creative phantsythat blog is one of my favorite places in all of cyberspace and I'm so pleased to know that you sometimes wander around here at EHG.

More about this lovely valley in Utah when I get some time.

Our best to you both in your new lives...

7:58 AM  
Blogger Jim said...

Tabor-

It's kind of you to think we are such good folks that maybe karma has played a role in guiding us toward the beautiful natural settings we find ourselves living amidst, but I think it's possible too that I simply have a phobia against being surrounded by ugliness. If my mother still lived in the smoggy slum of the San Fernando Valley I probably would've had to move her instead of us.

8:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good for your mother! She truly is getting older and not old. JoAnn

8:50 AM  
Anonymous healthy meal plans said...

I like your place, it is large and beautiful with blue sky and clean air that are good for the body, good luck!

2:21 AM  
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