The Shop

It has had many names, but I like 'The Shop' best. It has been called 'The Barn', 'The Shed', 'The Taj Mahal', 'The Man House' and 'Vern's Folly'.

When we planned our new home I included a detached building to park my truck and a few toys in, as well as some room for storage and a work shop. I will readily admit that I got carried away, but at the time it seemed quite feasible. We made good money on our previous home and it was within our budget. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to build, things had changed and we couldn't even afford the house we had designed.

So instead of having it built, I decided to build it myself. I hired the cement work done in the fall of 2006, about the time we moved in. Nothing else was done until May 0f 2007 when I started framing. With the help of my skid loader I was able to get the walls up and sheeted myself.
Brent and a neighbor, Gary Pfaffenberger, helped me set the trusses. From there it was me and the loader putting the roof on. Joel did help me put a few sheets on the roof on one of his stops. I finally got the thing shingled around the end of October last year.I took a rest from this job for most of the summer. I was busy planting lawns and trees and generally fighting weeds and pesky animals. Toward fall I found a couple of locals who agreed to stucco the exterior for me for a predetermined amount. It was agreed that I would purchase materials and pay them for their labor in three installments. I think it turned out to be a bigger job than they had anticipated, and perhaps they under-bid. They got the felt and wire wrapping on, all be it I had to do the high places for them. The cement coat went really slowly until it finally stopped all together. About a month ago one of the guys had some health problems and I haven't seen them since.
I finally decided I was going to have to finish the job so last week I started in again. I finished the cement coat in all the high places, then started the texture coat.

It certainly doesn't look as good as our home, but after all it is only a shop hidden in the trees. I hope to finish the texture coat this week, and perhaps get some overhead doors installed before winter really sets in. Wish me luck.

Fall Colors

It seems that the fall colors are exceptionally brilliant this year. Perhaps it is my imagination, maybe not. The maples which are normally the showiest, had a very short run. They had just turned when we had our early cold snap and they all dropped. The same with the quakies up high. The others seemed to have sensed the loss and tried to make up for it. We are certainly enjoying the fall colors. It seems like anywhere we look from our house we are treated to a kaleidoscope pf color and beauty.

I usually ignore the brown, attracted more to the reds and golds, but seems to me that even the brown colors are exceptionally beautiful this year.We purchased some Chrysanthemums for Memorial Day, and after they spent a week at the cemetery we cut the blooms back and planted them in our little flower bed. They spent all summer recovering and have now bloomed again after all the other flowers have frozen. Brent says they normally bloom in the fall, triggered by the shorter days.

I hope you are enjoying the fall colors as much as we are. If you live in an area where they are not so viewable, it would be worth the trip to drive into one of the canyons before they are all gone.

The Photo Shoot

Well, I have given up my amature status and turned pro. Never again will I have to hand someone my camera and beg them to take a photo of me. Never again will I be the only one not in the photo. People will be lining New Harmony's Main Street to watch for me when I go get the mail, with their point-and-shoot hidden behind their aprons and overalls. I may never see the stars in the sky at night again, blinded by the flash of camers strobes popping like fireworks at Disneyworld.


Yes, I am a real model. A group of about 10 photographers showed up in my front yard last Friday afternoon with tripods, reflectors and very expensive cameras. They took all sorts of photos of the old barns, the cows, horses, fences and even some pretty girls they brought with them dresses up in western garb that I am sure had never been near a horse before. But they were particularly interested in me. I'm standing there holding my horse Cletus, trying to keep him from going nuts and kicking the daylights out of this injured football player turned model, and I realize that I am going to be in the background of some of their photos. I watched closely, and I saw them purposely changing the angle of the shot so I would be included. One of them even said I had character. Or maybe she said I was a character, I'm not sure.


Anyhow, if you see a shot of this buff looking jock dressed like a hayseed holding a good looking sorrel gelding, look closely at the background and you might see me there. I wouldn't be surprised if we make the cover of "Western Horseman", or "Equine Unlimited", or maybe even "Old Barns Of Distinction".


I know this all sounds pretty incredible, and if you don't believe me see my brother Brent's blog at http://brentprince.blogspot.com/2008/10/prince-brothers-debut-as-cowboy-models.html

Potato Harvest

In Idaho, at least parts of Idaho, there is a school holiday called Potato Harvest. It is a hold-over from the days when the farmers needed the kids to help get the potatoes in the shed. I doubt if many kids help these days, but we are grateful for the holiday because we get to see our grand kids.

Clay and his family arrived Sunday night and will be with us for the week. We have lots of fun activities planned and we really hope the weather holds out so we can enjoy them all.

Monday it was cold and windy so we stayed inside most of the day playing games and eating. Later in the day we visited grandpa Darce in New Harmony, then went to Cedar and visited Donna in the rehab center and Grandpa James at his place. By then the kids were getting restless and hungry so we came home and had some supper and watched a movie.

Tuesday the weather was better, and we rode the horses, the four-wheelers and went fishing. We tended the kids in the evening so Clay and Lori could go to Les Miserables at Tuacahn.

Wednesday was another beautiful day. It was still cold in the morning so we played computer games for a while before going outside. After lunch Chelsea and Jeff, some friends of Clay and Lori, came with their kids. We rode the horses and four-wheelers and just enjoyed visiting. After supper we had a karaoke party of sorts, then the kids went to bed and we watched a major chic-flic, "Shall We Dance".

Thursday we played around the house in the morning while Ellie went to Cedar for a conference with the folks at Kolob regarding Donna's care. In the afternoon the guys went fishing at Lundgren's Pond while Lori took the girls shopping for school clothes in Saint George and Ellie tended the baby. We caught quite a few of the small mouth bass and a couple of bluegill. We brought them home and filleted them for eating at lunch tomorrow. We had a hot dog roast for supper, then watched BYU get slaughtered by TCU. That was really ugly.

Clay, Nathan and I went out at first light and tried to call in a coyote but they didn't cooperate. They would rather just hang around in the middle of the night and yap their heads off.

After breakfast the farrier came to put new shoes on the horses so we watched and helped. After lunch the guys went fishing again at Garth's pond. We appreciate him letting us practice our fly fishing skills in a place where the fish actually cooperate.

Around 3:30 we had a bunch of photographers come to take photos of the "real west". We accommodated them by saddling the horses and acting as models, along with some professionals they brought along. (I think that will make another interesting blog.) We went to a fun ward party in the evening. Besides some great

food, we learned some great Halloween songs.

Les Miserables

We went to Lay Miz (I don't know why the French make spelling so hard) at the Tuacahn Theater Thursday night with our friends visiting from Kamas. This was the second time this year, and you might think we would get tired of it but not so. I think I enjoyed it every bit as much as when we went in June.


The weather was cooler this time, and we weren't sitting quite as close, but I became completly immersed in the production. I sang along with the cast, sometimes not too quietly, and I suffered, celebrated and wept with them. I picked out things I hadn't noticed before and I recited lines in my mind that I have now become so familiar with.

I have grown to really love the music of this production. I find myself singing it for days after, and even weeks and months later it pops into my mind. I must repeat (see pervious blog, Broadway In The Desert), however, the main reason I like Les Miserables, is because of the message. Victor Hugh did a marvelous job of writing a story, some of which is taken from real experiences, that combines so many thematic elements to express his belief that a small act of kindness can change a person forever, that man can overcome evil with good, and that man is not necessarily a product of his environment, but that he can change, and that God can be a very real force in our lives no matter what our situation. And I agree with him! I think I want to read the book.

"Wicked" Part 2

We made a whirlwind trip to LA this week with our good friends from Kamas, Kevin & Cindy. We drove down Tuesday and returned Wednesday. On arrival in Pasadena we checked into our motel, rested for a while, then had a wonderful meal at McCormick & Schmicks.

It was only 20 miles to the theater in Hollywood, but we needed most all of an hour because of traffic. The Pantages Theater is gorgeous. Probably the most ornate I have ever experienced. We had a few minutes to spare so we took some photos as we browsed the "Walk if the Stars" which passes the front of the theater, and watched the diverse cornucopia of theater-goers.

The production of "Wicked" was amazing. the story, though a little hard to follow, is creative and funny. You definitely want to brush up on The Wizard of Oz as well as reading a little about the "Wicked" story before attending this one. The special effects and costumes were totally amazing! The music was good, though I didn't find myself singing any of the songs on the way back to the motel, possibly because they were all new to me. I need to get the CD and listen to them some more.

On our way home we stopped in Las Vegas and had lunch at the Golden Nugget Buffet, which was also good, but they need more seafood. We arrived back home in New Harmony before dark, glad to have made a safe and enjoyable trip.

Wicked

We are off to see the ... oops, I don't know if the Wizzard is in it or not, but we are off to LA to see the new musical "Wicked". Wicked is the untold story of the witches of OZ, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the land of OZ. One born with emerald green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely freinds end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.

We are driving down on Tuesday, 10/7 to see the show that night and returning the next day. I will report my asseesment of the trip when I return.

Information on the show and photos are from the "Wicked" website.