Pete n Holly's World

Well, after 5 weeks we finally had a day where the temp was over 30 degrees. Mainly the temps have been 0 - 10 above with a few days below zero. It is amazing how warm 24 feels after 4 days at 5 degrees. But the cold weather does make for beautiful scenery and interesting living. Holly's bookmobile is finally completed. It took 2 extra weeks, but she got it back and on the first day out with it, it broke down out in the country, near dark, on a 5 degree day. She ended up waiting 2 hours for a tow truck and didn't get back to Williston until 9pm. She now packs water and warm clothes with her each day. The snow keeps falling, but is crystalized , and doesn't accumulate like wet snow and it just brushes off the vehicles. But the cold temps do freeze the doors shut, and we need to prewarm our vehicles before driving them. The locals tell us that the snow will be here until spring. We now know that each year we will have a WHITE: Halloween, Veterns Day, Thanksgiving, Christm...

Hello all, well it's been a long time between post but we're making an effort now. We have been living an interesting life the past two months. October was birthday month for us and we thank all of you for remembering us. And it also meant the beginning of upland hunting. We have been out a few times and have tasted the Pheasants and Sharptail Grouse which are plentiful in this area. The weather has turned colder and we got the first snow fall of the year in a blizzard the last week of October. We got about 4" of snow but with the strong winds it drifted to 3' in many areas. We were still able to spend the weekends at our property as the temps dipped down into the low 30's. Then a co-worker of Holly's came to us and offered us her family farm house to house sit through November. This home sits on 8 acres in the city limits. It's like living in a house in the middle of a football field. Her co-worker has the home up for sale so it is only a temp. spot for us...

Happy September! Fall is the best time of year. Pete has been busy building, and Holly has been busy driving books here and there. Today in Williston we woke to frost everywhere. Tonight the low will be about 25 degrees, we are well on our way to -40 below. Yeehaw. Pete's building project is progressing nicely. It has been hampered by many rain delays, but last week it didn't rain once, or did it? The first picture is of the basement and the next three are of the main floor were taken this morning in the frost. The most exciting thing that has happened this month is the fields across the way caught fire in about 8 spots, and we all grabbed shovels and pounded it out. Leon on his four wheeler was the most effective running over the edges of the fire, using his air pressure water tank. It was all very "Little house on the Praire catches fire." This is a sunset taken from our lot in life. We are preparing for winter by insulating the water pipes and the trailer. ...

Here in ND, fireworks are legal. So the celebration of our nations independance goes off with a big bang. We were invited to a small lake with homes / cabins built around it to BBQ and shoot off fireworks. Here are some photos / videos to share: Blaine & Jodi were our host... We keep getting rain about every 4-5 days. We're told this is not normal, but anyway, on thursday evening 2" of rain fell in 20 minutes. This has caused delays with everyones building projects including ours. We have admitted to ourselves that our home will not be completed this year. :( :( But we are both employed and enjoy the scenery that ND offers....

Hello Blogger Friends. Summer is flying by. Some exciting things that have happened so far are, Pete is getting a tan. Holly has started yet another career. This time she has taken on the role of mild mannered librarian, bookmobile librarian to be exact. Holly got her first speeding ticket and Pete paid for his wife's first speeding ticket. Pete is excited about the rain letting up and the beginning of construction. He has been able to get utilities brought in. We found a church and are beginning to get to know new friends. We found that the chocolate eclairs at Economart are delicious. Below is a picture of our lot in life. Pretty nice huh? Summer time is fair time in North Dakota. We stopped by the local fair and were forced indoors by a rain storm. Holly disguised herself as a small child so that she could color while waiting for it to stop raining. Holly is being told by a 5 year old where she can and can not use her red pen. The following are a few friends that ...

As most of you know we have moved to Williston, North Dakota. We departed CA on May 27th, after a few mishaps with the towing arrangement. This was our covered wagon train. We spent the first evening in the desert, just north of Las Vegas. We enjoy desert camping and this would be our last chance to experience the desert until ??? Three more days of cross country travel brought us into ND on May 30th. We are currently staying with the Sime family; Leon & Laurali, Jenna, Kaelyn & Lacy. Pete is going to be building them a new home on their existing 28 acre, rural property. We unloaded our "stuffed" moving truck, (we still left a lot of items behind in CA), and the next day headed to Grand Forks, ND, (nearest dropoff location, 5.5 hrs to the east), and spent the night at the "C'mon Inn", (see above photo). A really classy, comfortable place with locations in the upper west plains areas. The next day we returned to Williston and spotted this old, abandonde...

The past two weeks went quickly as we enjoyed a weekend visit from AZ nieces and their mom and we have also been doing needed work at Holly's "Blue Haven" cabin, preparing it for sale. The work has taken longer than expected as the flu has hit our area and Holly had been its recent victim. The weather has warmed a bit and blue skies have made for picture perfect days. Our Current home...blue skies included For the past 18 months Pete has been volunteering each week to remodel the local Community Center. On 3-20 there was a "St. Paddy's" Fund Raising Dinner to celebrate its grand opening. Holly volunteered to help at the entry door writing out name tags. Too bad she had a mental block and couldn't remember many of our neighbors names, many of whom she has known for 12 years.... maybe it was the cold tablets? We had a good time!! and over $5500 was raised. Holly helping out @ Community Fund Raiser The new "Community Center" Just a short post to...

Howdie Ya'll, It has been a busy few weeks with wet, foggy, sleeting weather to boot. We are both excited because we have decided to relocate to North Dakota, (yes, we know how cold it can get). Pete has 5 months work already scheduled and there is a carpenter / Contractor shortage in that area due to the recent oil boom and resulting housing shortage. CA home building hit the wall about two years ago with no resurgence in sight so we figure we will make a go of it there and see what God has planned for us. We put our house on the "For Sale" block and have been moving at lightning speed to have it ready for showing. So far 2 buyers have been through. We also have been working on the Bailey Meadows Cabin to prepare it for sale. We have FINALLY completed sanding the floors and sealing them, (Pix will be on next post), and painting, replacing doors, completing siding, etc, etc, etc... Now we are deciding what to sell, give away, or take with us as we plan to load up the...

This past week was interesting. We began the week by celebrating our 1st "Valentines Day" together. Holly started the day fighting the recent cold going around but started to feel better as the day progressed. We, (being a team), prepared a delicious meal of Fillet Mignon , large onion rings, and a huge salad. Yum, Yum, Oink, Oink. Everyday we face what you are facing, a declining economy with no jobs available. Pete works in construction and normally is working on 10+ projects at the same time. Each project is in different stages so he keeps busy. Right now he has one project with limited funds and two more on the horizon, but won't start for a few months. On Tuesday, Pete received a call from Leon, a friend in North Dakota, who has been wanting to add-on to his home. North Dakota is experiencing a shortage of skilled carpenters as the local oil business is doing VERY well and hiring anyone with a pulse. So Leon has asked Pete to come to ND in June to work for a few ...

Holly is gearing up for a spring art show where she will get some "professional?" critque's of her work. Pete remains biased and encourages her to "KEEP DRAWING" so that he can retire early.