Hatchling

A just-hatched quail at the Western Idaho Fair. In the Small Animal Barn, they always have viewing boxes to watch quail entering the world. I love it that the boxes are at kid-level.

Summer is Over

It's the last day of "summer" for regular school-year public school students in Boise today. Year-rounders already went back, and some private schools and other public schools around the valley returned class last week.

Quadricycle?

I've seen these in touristy towns for rent by the hour, but this was the first time I'd seen one on a Boise road. These folks were out for a cruise in West Boise last night.

Fair View

The Western Idaho Fair is underway, and with school starting Monday and temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, we haven't made a visit yet. This is an agricultural event, as well as a carnival, a foodie event, home arts competition, and musical entertainment venue. I hope to post some close-up pictures this weekend, along with new foods to share on the "Eat Boise" blog - see the link on the right hand side of this page.

Heat Wave

Whew! It's been hot here in Boise. These folks are keeping cool at the Ann Morrison Park fountain. This area was a simple reflecting pool for years before being revamped into this tall fountain. I think it was a great idea! This is the park celebrating 50 years this year. At the dedication feature for the real "Ann Morrison," the first line says she knew all the "shrines." I've always wondered what that meant.. Look on the right side of the spray and see a faint rainbow.

Leftover "Fat"

We arrived at Ann Morrison Park last weekend just as "Tour de Fat" was loading up and going home. It's a bicycle-beer-environmental party sponsored by the beer company that makes Fat Tire. I don't know if the bicycle in the picture was really for riding, or a piece of art.

Fire Lookout

There's a fire outlook station on Trinity Mountain in the Boise National Forest north of Boise City. And we've been lucky so far not to experience big forest fires this year. Trinity Mountain is also a popular hiking destination, but I didn't hike there to take a picture of this sign. This sign is part of someone's yard collection.

Golden Oldie: Rudy's Lunch Box

My husband was digging through some old photos and found this gem. Do you remember this place? Rudy's Lunch Box used to be located on Chinden Boulevard. Look at the deal on a latte: 99 cents!

Ann Morrison Park is 50 Years Old

Ann Morrison Park is celebrating 50 years in Boise. This is one of the original installations. It's a sundial with a piece missing. It says, "Grow Old With Me The Best Is Yet To Be." A matching sundial across the green way is missing this plate. I wonder if it said the same thing? The park is the largest developed on in Boise - close to 150 acres of green space, fountain, ponds, playground, softball fields, soccer fields and disc golf courses with the Boise River running along it all.

Late Season Lamb

My friend's in-the-city-limits-farm welcomed a surprise late season lamb three weeks ago. I finally got to meet the cutie last night. The mother kept this baby a surprise until the day it was born.

Idaho is Dog Country

At first glance, it may not obvious why this drinking fountain has a faucet at ground level. It's for dogs! This style of drinking fountain can be found at several locations in the Boise area.

Snake River Sunset

Last night's sunset along the Snake River.

Whose Property?

This faded 'No Trespassing" sign is at a...Post Office.

Sugar Beet Factory

Although this sugar beet factory is in Nampa, the odors it emits often find their way to Boise. Plug your nose! The process to make sugar doesn't smell sweet at all.

Firefighting Helicopter

This is what we saw on our recent road trip. Helicopters were dipping buckets into the Columbia River to dump water on a hillside blaze.

Harvest Time

Harvest is underway for many crops in our valley. We've had some incredibly sweet local corn recently. And the smell of onions is in the air. It's also common to see ears of corn and onions along the roadside because they fall off the trucks piled high with the harvest. When I was younger, we would pull over and pick up the onions.

Train Delays

We were in a hurry to get on the road for a trip....and we encountered a train delay...on one of the busiest roads in Idaho. It turned out to be a common theme during our travels. Our hotel room the first night had packs of earplugs on the vanity. We found out why when we were awakened about an hour into our sleep. The hotel was right along some busy train tracks.

Car Wash

Soaping, scrubbing, rinsing...and drying. This is the view under the super dryers at the car wash. Metro Wash is the longest car wash in the Northwest. Not longest in terms of time - in terms of length.

Marching Band Practice

Attention! This is the Centennial High School marching band. The kids are practicing every day, all day, for two weeks before school starts. I've always thought it strange they have to practice in the parking lot on that hot asphalt when there is a nice, green football field just a few feet away. But I guess they aren't allowed on the field except during halftime.

Mining Legacy

This old mining hand cart is tucked into the landscaping at this home. This is the third cart I've "discovered" during my photo-travels through Boise. While California is famous for its "gold rush," much of Idaho's early history focused on mining. The capital of the state used to be Idaho City, north of Boise, and a mining hot spot for gold in the 1860s. Idaho City was even the largest city in the Northwest for a while...until the gold ran out.

Hummingbird in Hand

This is my daughter holding a black-chinned hummingbird. It was a cold morning, thus, the gloves. Those who attend the banding get to hold the birds after they are weighed, measured and banded. The birds at first don't realize they are free to go, but they quickly figure it out and zip away. Rufous hummingbirds were also banded that morning. It's so special to get to see them up close and still. When we spy them in the backyard, they're moving so fast! Fred Hound, the licensed bander at the event, had this tip to share for those who put up hummingbird feeders: don't use the red-colored stuff sold in stores. Just use regular table sugar. One part sugar, 4 parts warm water from the tap. And change the feeders every couple of days. More pictures from the banding here, for those who are interested.

Boise Foothills Trip

It was a misty morning when we headed up into the hills northwest of Boise over the weekend. We attended the 10th annual hummingbird banding. It was our second time attending the event. The foothills are a shrub-steppe habitat, with trees and vegetation like this along seasonal streams. Pictures of a hummingbird in hand tomorrow.

Name Your Own Street

Cute, huh? This is the sign for an extra-long driveway.

Meet the Artist at Woodriver Cellars

Meet Dennis Helppie. He was grooving to live jazz at Woodriver Cellars last night. His work is being shown at the winery this month, stop by and see it!

Summer Storms

Big storms have been rolling through Boise. Folks in SE Boise reported hail the size of cherries. This picture was taken at 2 p.m. on Goddard Road. These clouds appeared to be hanging unusually low.

Rescued Iraqi Kittens Looking for Homes

These two cutie kittens are siblings in a litter of six, and are natives of Kirkuk, Iraq. They've had an interesting journey here to Boise in their short lives. A soldier serving at a base in Kirkuk found a sweet kitty who soon delivered six kittens. It was a dilemma because the base has a policy that all animals that wander onto the grounds are supposed to be killed. The soldier worked with Baghdad Cat Rescue to get the mother cat and babies flown to the U.S. with other rescued animals, and arranged for The Cat Doctor to vaccinate, spay and neuter, and board the kitties in the Cat Hotel. One kitten has already been adopted and five more are available. The mother cat is with a caretaker until the soldier returns in January. The soldier wants the very best for these kitties after witnessing so much abuse and cruelty to animals, and people, in Iraq. They are to be indoors-only kitties and she requests the opportunity to visit them when she is home next year. Interested? Call The Cat Doctor at 208-327-7706.

Scorched Earth

Burnt foothills. One of our recent blazes as our fire season gets underway. The days are hot with low humidity, and evening thunderstorms spark many of the fires. This one came very close to some homes.

First Bank of Ustick - Historic

One of the historic buildings on Ustick (YOU-stick) Road, and one of the original buildings from the Ustick town site. The area was developed by a dentist, Dr. Ustick, and was a Boise suburb in the early 1900s. The Boise trolley service connected Ustick to Boise. When I first moved to northwest Boise, a cute store called the Smile Source was in this building. Now, it's a hair salon. The bank vault is still in the building. As far as the building's life as a bank, it was short: according to the sign, just three years.

Potato Chip Show

The Chippery is a potato chip making machine you can watch in action at Albertsons. Potatoes are put in the chute on the right - they're sliced and fried and they come out as chips on the left, where they're twirled in a bowl with flavoring. The best part is that when the Chippery is making the goods, there are lots of samples. Salt and vinegar, BBQ, sea salt, and sweet potato salted chips were the offerings yesterday. I'm always tempted because they're good, but they're pricey: $3.99 for 6 ounces. This kind of live action frying reminds me of the french fry vending machine that used to be at the Boise Airport. I wish I had a picture of it because it's been gone for a long time. The fries were just awful with grease that was not so fresh - but it was quite the novelty.

Summer Snow Treats

These little stands pop up in parking lots around town for the summer. I haven't personally checked this one out, but if it's true "shaved ice," that's the best kind in my book. I'm not a fan of the "snow cone," which is made of tiny ice crystals.

CDP August Theme Day: Night

The Theme Day for August in City Daily Photo Blogger-land is "night." This is last night in the rose garden. See night shots from around the world, including some impressive cityscapes, at www.citydailyphoto.com. (When I went to CDP to check out the theme day, I read that we lost our Salem Daily Photo Blogger Jill in July. Her husband passed in June. Leave thoughts for her family in the comments and peruse her talented photography at salemdailyphoto.blogspot.com.)