It was a lovely but warm day in 2006 as compared to this morning's cool temp and overcast sky.
Next door---over off from Great Northern Road---Quest Aircraft Co. was having an open house, and their new plane known as the Kodiak was doing take-off and landings.
Quest, now Daher, had purchased the 10-acre farm where we Love's lived for 30 years and where the kids, Willie and Annie, had grown up.
The motor home and horse trailer were filled with boxes. Rambo and Casey, the horses, had already made the 9-mile move to Selle.
Our dogs, Annie and Kiwi, would be going with us as would Festus, Fuzzy Wuzzy and Licker, the cats.
We were told by the former owners that we could begin moving into the new place early afternoon.
The Stewarts were still taking care of final items, including loading goats and a donkey into a stock trailer, which they would pull to their new home in South Dakota.
So, we worked on whatever projects we could during the morning hours. We also took in some of the activities over at Quest.
The day's plan, at least in my mind, took an abrupt change when Willie suddenly walked in the door.
Our niece Laura had secretly driven to Spokane Airport to pick up our son who had flown up from Boise to help us move.
In addition, Laura and her family had come up from Plummer to stay with us for a few days and help us move to a lovely 20-acre farm in the beautiful rural community of Selle, northeast of Sandpoint.
The time finally came, we made the move and the new place we had purchased soon took on the name Lovestead.
We also established a Lodgepole Society inspired by the unique huge two-trunked Lodgepole pine in the far west pasture.
Visitors would come, walk to the pasture, admire the beautiful Lodgepole and sign the Lodgepole log which made them official members of our society.
"Home" for us had changed from 2800 Great Northern Road to 214 South Center Valley Road, in the heart of the Selle Valley.
The bliss and peace associated with that move to a new neighborhood in farm country with the Selkirk Mountains on one side, the Cabinets on the other has held strong for 20 years.
On this Lovestead 20th anniversary day, I still say that we pinch ourselves every time we think about "getting to live out here."
Sadly, all the animals we brought with us have passed on, and several years ago the giant Lodgepole crashed to the ground.
Happily, however, the Colorado blue spruce marking Willie and Debbie's wedding 25 years ago, the rosebush given to me by my sisters and many many iris----all of which made the move----have survived and either multiplied or grown.
Plus, the antique manure spreader in the north lawn still serves as a flower home, even though the bottom is starting to cave.
Some of our neighbors have changed, and we are no longer the newbies in the neighborhood.
Stan and Geneva Meserve from next door have passed on, but their daughter Becky and her hubby Shawn are happily living the farm life at the Meserve Preserve with their orange Kubota tractor and other equipment. Stan and Geneva would be proud of what they've done to improve the farm.
The Fourth of July action next door, which has included some clay-pigeon shooting, impressive fireworks and big extended family picnics, has continued.
We have done a lot in the past 20 years to put our personal touch on what was already a beautiful farm. There's always work to do, but we have no problem with that.
We are blessed that we "get to live" in our little piece of Heaven.
So, it's Onward Lovestead for as long as we can still breathe.
Willie's observation of 20 years ago when we sold our farm to Quest and bought the Lovestead still resonates.
"Mom, you won the lottery with this, he said.
We sure did!
💙💜💛💚
In other news, it's July 1, 2026.
The times, they are a-changin'.
Paid parking begins in the downtown Sandpoint area today.
"I
wonder what the original members of the Lions Club would say if I told
them after living 84 years in Sandpoint I couldn’t drive to the beach
and walk around it without paying."
--Mike Winslow, longtime Sandpoint barber
***********
From Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm
Sandpoint's downtown, City Beach, parks and waterfront are among the
community's greatest assets. They are enjoyed not only by our residents,
but by thousands of visitors from throughout the region each year. We
welcome those visitors. They support our local businesses and contribute
to our community.
At the same time, visitors’ use of these public
facilities often means locals’ ability to enjoy the amenities they
serve is diminished. Anyone who has tried to park at City Beach on a
weekend in July knows that oftentimes well over half the vehicles
occupying that lot are from out of state.
Additionally, these facilities
require ongoing investment. Parking lots, sidewalks, lighting,
landscaping, snow removal, pavement maintenance, enforcement and
technology all carry significant annual costs.
Historically, those costs
have been borne almost entirely by city taxpayers, even though many of
the people using these facilities live outside the city limits.
This
program creates a fairer balance by asking those who regularly use
these public amenities to contribute modestly toward their upkeep, while
keeping annual permits for city residents at just $20 per year (enough
to administer the local-vehicle registration system required to know who
pays to park and who parks for free).
It helps ensure that the
responsibility for maintaining these valued community assets is shared
more equitably rather than falling almost exclusively on Sandpoint
property taxpayers, while improving availability and access to parking
where people need it, when they needed, with locals given priority over
visitors.
----Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm
Also, a big change for the ZAGS!
A reunion at the food bank.
Our daughter-in-law Debbie heard the exclamation first from me and then almost the exact wording from Adrian.
"It's been about 30 years!"
Yep, Adrian, a former English honors student of mine, graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1990.
I saw him for the first time since his graduation yesterday at the food bank where his mom Vicki is a regular volunteer.
We tried to cram 30 years' worth of mutual life happenings into a ten-minute visit. Twasn't possible, but those few minutes sure were fun.
Today I can say report that Lily has lived the longest of any of our beloveds here at the Lovestead.
She came in late 2006 from Oklahoma. I bought her from a man named Royce Crosby, whom I'd interviewed for an Appaloosa Journal feature.
Now, at 21, I think she has weathered very well during all her years here.
Lily probably would agree.
This song offers a few variations from the life I've loved living here in Selle, but its message still comes close to my sentiments.
Our neighbors and friends and my former students, Doug and Cari Stockdale teamed up and created a beautiful new addition to the Lovestead lawn and garden-bed art.
Doug brought the metal art bouquet over yesterday and installed it in a flower bed directly across from our deck.
I had seen and bid on another of their works at the recent Oden Grange fundraiser. Knowing my bid fell short of purchasing, I asked Cari and Doug if they had any more at home.
"We'll make you one," they told me. So, I took over some used horse shoes of Lily's, and Cari told me she would figure out a way to include a heart in the sculpture.
Cari does the designing, while Doug, a 50-year member of the Iron Workers' Union, does the assembling.
Doug told me four of Lily's shoes make up part of the sculpture while other come from their mules and some ponies (leaves).
And, by golly, TWO hearts. I have to admit it took a while for my eye to adjust and zero in on the hearts because Doug was telling me about the origin of the shoes.
Once I saw those hearts, I was thrilled.
In addition to the sculpture, Doug, Bill and I swapped a lot of stories about old-time Sandpointers like the Gooby's, TT McGhee, Delbert Wood, the Spar's, etc.
SHS teachers like Ragner and Patti Benson, Ray Gapp and "Miss Brown, not Marianne" had some air time too.
This gift was a wonderful gesture of two longtime and beloved friends.
And, I'm sure, with its meaning and solid workmanship, the sculpture will grace our yard for a long long time.
💓💓💓💓💓
Coach and Coach!
That would be Will Love, Sandpoint High School men's basketball coach and Hossam Hassan, Egypt's World Cup soccer coach.
Coach Love has several members of his squad at Gonzaga University's annual basketball camp at the same time Egypt's team is using the Gonzaga facilities to practice and stay tuned up for their World Cup matches.
Egypt will meet Australia this Friday in World Cup action.
Odds are that the Sandpoint boys and their coach will turn their attention from basketball toward soccer and watch the match and their new friends on TV.
Sandpoint High School Bulldog basketball player Colton Dickinson had the thrill of meeting Egypt's greatest soccer player Mohamed Salah at Gonzaga University this week.
Colton and other teammates are attending a basketball camp at Gonzaga.
GO, Egypt! Go, ZAGS! Go, SHS Bulldogs!
🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀
In other news, the United States Military Academy at West Point, where my brother Mike graduated in 1966, has been drawing my attention this week.
First, I've enjoyed the photos posted by Todd Brannigan, a Sandpoint High graduate, son of retired educator Harvey Brannigan and brother of Pour Authority co-owner Erin Brannigan.
Todd lives in Utah where his son Alex, an all-around athlete and scholar, recently graduated from high school in Park City and earned a nomination and appointment to West Point.
He began his career as a cadet in Company G as part of the Class of 2030 this week. Todd accompanied him to the academy where they said their temporary good bye's as father and son.
Meanwhile, a couple of Sandpoint High students recently spent a week at West Point in a leadership program. Both appear to be interested in seeking their own nominations to the academy.
I have learned that creeping and crawling plants grow faster and bigger each year.
My neighbor and friend Gail Redinger gave me a start for this Virginia creeper a few years ago.
No worries about inadvertently killing a Virginia creeper.
Each year, this one becomes denser and extends for as far as I'll allow it. Right now, a portion of the creeper is finding its way across the walls in the barn. It also goes around the bend and extends itself along the side of the barn.
I have to get the nippers out a couple of times each summer to save myself from a nightmare of removing each year's growth in the fall.
I'm noticing the same about my 2-year-old clemantis in the garden. It has taken off big time this year.
e
I was on a daisy binge with my camera last night.
We have far more than what we need in our pastures, but they are so pretty.
Also (below) there's a mound around the west corner of the barn where I have planted flowers, lettuce, beans, radishes and pototatoes AND have spread wildflower seed.
If I can keep ahead of the weeds, it's becoming increasingly pretty with all those different species growing side by side.
The mound should make for a great summer of checking to see what's new and colorful.
Off to the dentist soon and then more cleaning and organizing for the weekend ahead.
This guy was rather noticeable yesterday as I drove down Selle Road.
He seemed to be quite happy to survey the neighborhood from his perch.
Beautiful bird.
I loved the steady rain last night.
That means the lawn won't be all dried out and pasty looking for the Fourth of July gathering.
All lawn work and other projects for the past several weeks have been geared toward this weekend's fun.
It's not only the company coming, but it's also the fact that the lawn area will take a hit after the Fourth.
Sometime in mid-July Oliver Tree Service will spend two or three days here removing the two quadrants of poplars just south of the house.
It will sting to see those trees go and to figure out how to beautify the area after they are gone.
To have a nice drenching overnight takes away some of that pain, knowing that the weather will get better and that, as we celebrate 20 years of living here at this beautiful Lovestead, the place can be as pretty as possible for the holiday weekend.
The rain also adds a nice artistic touch to all the flowers and shrubs around the place with layers of raindrops glistening with various colors for backdrops.
My brother stopped by with his coffee cup this morning. So, we did some visiting.
Hence, mutterings on this morning's post are abbreviated.
Wouldn't it be neat if peeps followed this important horse principle: I'll scratch your back. You scratch mine.
All the obstacles and conflicts and the "who's bosses" would fall by the wayside and they just spend a few minutes liking each other. We could use a little of that.
I move that "We, the People," should institute National Back Scratching Day.
Any seconds?
The maps came out yesterday morning, and plotting of the next segment of our guests' road trip began with some suggestions from Bill.
I have no idea where Tom and Colleen are as I type today's post.
It could be fairly close or maybe even more than 100 miles away.
They were bound for downtown and the Farmer's Market when we all said our good bye's yesterday morning.
Their trip is one where, at times, the next overnight stop depends on deciding whether to take a left turn or a right turn as they leave. After all, they're retired. They've been on the road since June 1, and they do have a deadline of sorts----meeting their daughter somewhere over in Western Washington wherever they can find a camping stop.
A few days remain before that meet-up, so they're doing exactly what they want to do, when they want to do it, and where. Great way to take a road trip.
We enjoyed their company, and agreed that Cousin Rich did well by suggesting they stop and meet us.
Once Tom and Colleen left, we did our best to get back to our normal, which, happily, is fairly open-ended for the next few days.
Bill put together a cordless vacuum cleaner which he gave me for my birthday. I hate vacuum cleaner cords and hoses for pretty much the same reason.
Whatever they can find to attach themselves to, they do so, and when that happens and I'm trying to get something done, I tend to blow a gasket or two.
So, now I have a cordless battery-operated vacuum and will be happy while cleaning my house. As for outside work, I don't think such alternatives exist for hoses, 'cept maybe rain.
Bill also informed me that he had bought me another weed eater, noting that it's just as important to have backups for weed eaters as it is for lawnmowers.
So, I now have a fleet of vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers AND weed eaters.
It's bound to be a better life, for sure.
After Bill's assembling project, he took his fishing gear and headed for Pack River, while I did a few projects around here, including paying bills and trying out the new cordless vacuum.
We'll probably stay fairly laid-back today and then gear up for next weekend's Fourth of July festivities.
We host the Fourth barbecue and whatever lawn activities unfold.
Then after that, we'll go into "picking and grinning" season with blueberries, a few raspberries and hopefully an abundance of green beans.
Lots of activities and lots of "to do's" on the schedule for the next several days AND most of it ('cept maybe the trip to the dentist) fun.
Happy Sunday.
🌺🌼🌻🌹
And, a reminder about another art show this week!!!
The
Bridge at Sandpoint is excited to host a community Art Show on July 3rd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 1123 North Division Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho.
This special event will feature artwork created by our residents and
their families, including paintings, drawings, photography, poetry,
stories, quilt work, needlework, and floral arrangements.
Our goal is to
invite the community in to connect with our seniors and celebrate the
creativity, passion, and talents they continue to pursue every day.
We want people to see that seniors are still active, inspired, and doing
what they love.
This will be a wonderful opportunity for community
members to meet our residents, enjoy meaningful conversations, and
experience the incredible artistic gifts within our community.
Everyone is welcome, and we would love for the community to join us and
connect with The Bridge at Sandpoint.
