Wishful Thinking

There are trees in my laundry room.

The weather has been so warm lately, we can't help but think that spring has sprung. Yet, I hesitate to say it out loud in fear that I may jinx it. We came home from a Costco run with 2 dwarf fruit trees and Stoneridge Guy was anxious to get them planted. After letting them acclimate for a couple of days outside he started digging. Unfortunately, the ground is still too frozen to dig deep enough for planting. Even though our highs are in the upper 40's, this morning it was only 16*.

StoneRidge Guy has finished getting our condo in the Fairway Meadows ready to rent. With that chore completed, he has started the trim upstairs. When that's done it will be time to carpet.

Now that I have taken over the temporary duties of the StoneRidge Newsletter, I thought that I would post a corresponding story on same day. That way those of you that have high speed internet can see pictures. So here goes...

The course is open!

Troy is back as assistant pro and will be joined by Josh Gold who starts on March 15th. Josh is from Montana and also worked at the Villa de Paz Golf Course in Phoenix. The pro shop is hoping they can play a larger role in the Men and Ladies leagues, helping any way they can. Troy sent out the preliminary tournament schedule and if you didn't get the email you can see it on the StoneRidge website. Click on the blue "StoneRidge" and it will direct you there. Make sure to check out the "Member" area and specifically the directory to be sure that all of the information is up to date.

The course is open to the public even though it's walking only, but only until March 1st. The carts will come out and so will more golfers. StoneRidge Guy, Mac and Bam play almost daily. I join them about twice a week. That will increase as the weather warms up. As it is, by 3pm you have to start stripping off jackets because it feels so warm in the sun.

The Grill

We have a new Grill manager. Ray Dilcox was introduced to everyone last Thursday. He was the owner of the Priest River Inn. Many of you will remember the Italian restaurant on Main St. in Priest River. He explained his decision to close the Inn and how fortunate he feels that this opportunity was available. He is scheduled to be working full time as of March 1st with the Grill scheduled to open with a limited menu and hours on April 1st. His first act was to tear up the old menu. He plans to add more variety and quality along with some of his "best sellers" from past restaurants and weekly specials.

He gave me a sneak peak at the new menu lunch and dinner menu. All I have to say is that I'm ready to try all of them. From my short conversation with him I feel he understands our needs and is working hard to make The Grill a place where we want to frequent.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

The view from our deck

Lake San Souci has been serenading all of us that live on her shores. Her moans, groans and burps are so loud they can be heard inside the house. I tried to take a movie so you could hear it for yourself. Of course, she was quiet when as I went down to take it. I'll keep trying

The ice is still thick enough to walk on once you get past the 12-60" of thin ice along the edge of the lake. I threw a branch out and Maggie went out and brought it back. What can I say, she's obsessed.

The 16th Fairway

The Motor Coach's dog park got some trees.

Someone's going to get a big storage shed.

From the sounds of it, all of you that headed south for the winter got all of our weather. Rain in the desert and plenty of snow in the mid west and the east coast. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of those ground hogs that didn't see their shadows on Feb. 2nd were right and we won't have 6 more weeks of winter.

'Til next time...