Neighborhood Dinner

A glimpse into our busy night. It was our neighborhood winter "progressive dinner." Appetizers, salads, main dish and desserts were all at different houses. Everyone pitched in even if part of the meal was not at their house. There were 16 adults and three children on the tour. We stayed up FAR TOO LATE, but had a lot of fun because our neighbors are so interesting and fun.

Looking Up

Homes along the ridge lines of the Boise Foothills. I ventured out to take a photo that documented the rising snowline with our recent winter warm wave, and this is what came out of my camera, instead. These folks have a nice view of the city, and the mountains, I bet.

Bye Bye Snow

One day, we're out shoveling snow, and the next day, over a foot of it melts with a high of 50 degrees. The weather gurus explain it like this: the jet stream jumped, and now Boise is on the south side of it, which means unusually warm weather. It's a puddle-y world out there when snow melts this fast.

Um...More Snow???

And...more snow. We didn't leave the house yesterday, except to shovel. I'm pretty sure the rest of Boise looks just like this!

No One Breaking the Rules

I was pretty sure I'd catch some ducks or geese breaking the rules by venturing out on the ice at this public park pond, but no rule-breakers were in sight. In fact, no people, or waterfowl anywhere in the park. It had warmed to 18 degrees when this photo was taken.

Frozen Ducks

They've got a little thawed spot in this pond for paddling around. This is a year-round fountain feature at the entrance to a subdivision. I've featured it before in warmer weather, overflowing with bubbles after pranksters put a Mr. Bubble-type product in it.

Wishing You All Plump Stockings

Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care....wishing you all plump stockings today!

Snow Cycling

This is a tough way to get around town this time of year. I don't know much about mountain bikes, I suppose there are snow tires for bicycles to make this kind of ride easier.

Cows in the Snow

I'm sure these cows are waiting for the feed truck, since grazing opportunities look slim right now. I'm adding these critters for my "bovines of Boise" list - with links you can visit if you scroll down on the right hand side.

Icicle Lights

It rained and then snowed last night to decorate our outdoor Christmas lights with tiny icicles. The rain means the snow today is very wet and mushy, which will be a challenge to shovel.

Snow Chair

Blowing snow has drifted under the normally-protected area at my front door. Maybe 7 more inches of snow tonight. We're doing a jigsaw puzzle and drinkings lots of coffee and hot chocolate. By the way....some good news posted from a commenter regarding Delsa's on Ustick Road. For details, click here.

Snow Globe Snow

This is the snow that fell Friday, very light and granular. It looked like rock salt, and was easier to sweep than shovel. I'm sure there's a technical name for this kind of snow - we're calling it "snow globe snow."

Frozen Fountain

The fountain I have said I wanted in my backyard....is silent. Lots of fountains keep running in the winter around here. Maybe this one was shut off because of our recent deep freeze of below-zero temperatures. Here's what it looked like a couple of months ago.

The Cat Doctor

This charming farm cottage is home to the "Cat Doctor." It's where I take my kitties. It's the cutest place, and the doctors are all gentle, crazy cat people, but my cats aren't charmed at all. They also have a cat hotel, which we've used for our kitties many times when we've been out of town.

Pink Snow

My husband took this snap of the mountains while driving home from work. These mountains are Northeast of town. The snow is reflecting the colors of the sunset to the West. In higher mountain ranges, I believe when this happens at sunrise or sunset, they call it alpenglow.

Ribbon of Clouds

Look closely and you can see the ribbon of clouds in front of the mountains. We've had probably 2-3 inches of snow in the valley, with another 2-3 expected this week. The mountains have enough to open the ski resort right above town. High temperatures around 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Like a Lot of the Country - We Got Some Snow

A couple of inches of snow over the past two days. Just enough for making snow angels.

Backstage at the Nutcracker

Little baby mice running backstage at the Nutcracker. It was an all-new production this year, and I think there were more children involved than ever before. I talked to parents backstage, and interestingly, although I thought the production was marvelous, the handful I talked to said they would not let their child participate again. Their complaint was that the new ballet director was not sensitive to children's schedules, and held them at rehearsals until 11:30 at night on school nights. The parents didn't feel that was necessary because most of the children are featured during the first act, and they should have been dismissed when they were done with their part of the show.

Snowy River

Light snow falling Saturday. This picture of the Boise River was taken from the third floor of the Morrison Center on the Boise State University campus. We were there for the Nutcracker.

Utility Box "Art"

An image on a utility box in downtown Boise.

Christmas Tree Sale Promo

Christmas trees are for sale in this lot. Most lots use giant inflatable snowmen or candy canes to get attention. This is the first time I've seen a pallet lifter machine-thing used, and it certainly worked because it got my attention. Um....they also sell tractors at this Christmas tree lot (see the background).

Official Tree for the City of Trees

This is the Boise City Christmas Tree in The Grove. It seems to have a string of lights that aren't working. And interesting that there's no one around. It was dark when I took this picture, but it still early in the evening, around 6 pm.

December Mountain View

My favorite spot to pull over and take a look at the mountains above Boise. Notice that the sage brush has turned brown, but there is still some green grass here and there because our temperatures haven't been super cold yet. A little bit of snow in the mountains. There should be more this time of year.

Blurry...so Maybe You Won't See

My husband took this picture of something we see every so often in Boise when in traffic. Do you see it/them? Maybe the picture is too blurry...then you're not really missing anything. A clue? They're usually not red. It's awkward when you have a child in the car who asks what it is. I told my daughter it was a punching bag. Maybe this is all just a "Boise thing."

Inside the Egyptian Theatre

We were at the Egyptian Theatre in downtown Boise twice yesterday. First, for rehearsal, then for the Opera Idaho Sings Christmas production. It's a theater that shows movies and stages music and small-scale plays and musical productions. Over the years, it's fallen into disrepair and been rescued a few times. The Egyptian opened its doors for the first time in 1927, complete with a pipe organ that is still there, and was used last night for the "sing along" ending of the show. More pictures of the interior at the "extras" page here.

Electric Christmas

This house is not too far from our place. Several houses on this street go all-out for Christmas lights. A couple more pictures on the extras site here. Although I'm a fan of simple white twinkle lights, my 7-year old daughter thinks this display is the BEST!

Twinkle Lights

We have seen some very elaborate Christmas light displays. We're going to do a night of photos soon. I'm always impressed, but my favorite holiday lighting is just regular, old twinkle lights.

Fog Hugging the Boise River

That bank of fog is hugging and hiding the Boise River. The water in the foreground fills an old gravel pit. Gravel has long been dug up near rivers in Idaho. This view is from the "first bench." The plateaus stepping up from the river are called "benches" in our town.

A Break in the Rain and Fog

A sunshine break after fog and rain. The United States flag today because my daughter is learning that "Betsy Ross" song that just about everyone learns in grade school.

Steamy Construction

Steam rising from concrete at a construction site yesterday morning. I believe this is going to be an assisted living facility. We've seen three of these go up in our area of town in the past year. It must be a big business...or it's going to be a big business as Baby Boomers age.

Foggy Morning in the City of Trees

Foggy mornings have greeted us a couple of times over the past week. The Boise Airport used to be known for more flight interruptions due to fog than any other airport, yes, even San Francisco. Boise now have equipment that has lowered the number of interruptions, and we haven't been socked in with serious long-term fog for at least three years. Maybe we'll get it this year! City Daily Photo "theme day" today is circles/spheres, I point to the hazy sun and its halo in this picture. More theme day photos here.