A Cool Morning

July 9, 2009 and it was 36 degrees at 6:30am! And, Ellie and the rest of the gang, that is fresh snow way up on that mountain which can be seen from our house. This is a very strange summer, every afternoon a thunderstorm moves through and we get just a tiny bit of rain. It is wreaking havoc on all the ranchers trying to put up hay!

Michael worked on his tractor and baler all day. Nat came for lunch, I grilled steaks and made garlic mashed potatoes.

I cleaned the house, made a batch of bread dough and mowed the grass here at the house.

Late this afternoon Michael decided to take the swather up the road to the Woolsey place and cut the hay. He only got to the bottom of our driveway before he blew a hydraulic hose. He will have to go into town tomorrow morning and get a new one.

Our jungle this year.

Jury Duty and Billings

It was very cool and cloudy this morning, I wore a sweatshirt while spraying weeds--I had a date with the backpack sprayer this morning, UGH!

Michael headed out bright and early for possible jury duty. It was a one day trial and he wasn't picked. When he got home at lunchtime we decided that a run to Billings might be fun. We had no appointments or "have to do's" which is unusual for us. For a long time Michael has wanted to locate the grave site of his uncle Jack, his Dad's older brother who died shortly before his 20th birthday in 1937. From the letters we have it sounds as if he probably died of a kidney disease. Michael's grandmother was devastated by the death of her oldest and insisted that he be buried in a mausoleum. So, we headed to the largest cemetery in Billings on Central Ave. because Nat seemed to remember something about Central Ave. and we found Uncle Jack's spot in their mausoleum.

We had a very enjoyable late lunch/early dinner at CJ's then headed to Lowe's and Costco to pick up a few things. We are looking for new faucets for the motorhome and think we found what will fit.

A very unseasonably cool day in Montana.

An Awesome Hike

Last night's dinner with the Whitney's was great and we got caught up on a lot of their news. It was late when we got back to our house and I had two phone calls--one from Jeane saying it was pouring rain out at her house and she was wondering about the advisability of hiking in the Crazies on Tuesday. The other call was from my friend Nancy--somehow we had gotten our wires crossed and Nancy was down by the road waiting on the rest of us at 6:30 thinking the hike was Monday. I am so sorry for the confusion Nancy, I feel so bad. We wish you could have joined us today.

Jeane called early this morning and we decided not to hike in the Crazies. Tammy really wanted to take a hike so we headed up Elk Creek which is a little ways up the road from us. It was a great decision. Easy to moderate hike, beautiful weather, awesome scenery and wildflowers--we had a great hike.

Wild Columbine which I have never seen before and which Michael says is usually blue in color.

Elk Creek just roaring along, this is where we stopped hiking, to go any farther we would have had to take our shoes off and wade in that frigid cold water.

The fields were so green and the wildflowers abundant and vivid.

The West Boulder Mountains in the distance.

The Crazy Mountains

Tammy came up this afternoon and played on the longarm quilting machine. I think she could also get addicted.

Joe and Tammy are leaving early in the morning. They came up this evening and had a beer (Joe is the marketing director for Sierra Nevada Brewing Company--Pale Ale) so we drink beer when he is here instead of wine. We made plans to do some little odd jobs for them such as installing gutters and doing some chinking between the logs of their house.

Michael got his tractor parts today and got the old (John Deere 42 years old) tractor running. He was thrilled!

A perfect Montana summer day.

Dinosaur Eggs

It was another fun gathering at George and Shirley's last night and their new mud room, bathroom and guest bedroom are beautiful. They were very brave souls, they have been gone for a month to New York and Florida and left the contractor all on his own. The remodel turned out beautiful.

Claire and Robyn who were at the party last night have a Spaniel, a beautiful dog named Molly. She was bitten three times by a rattlesnake yesterday but is fine today, a little swollen but doing well.

It was back to spraying weeds for me today and Michael laid some more rocks on the face of the garage. I cooked up a batch of Jazzy dog food and practiced some quilting.

While I was out spraying weeds, I came across this thing--rock??, dinosaur egg??--no, it is a mushroom. It was at least 16 inches across and a foot tall, ugly thing!


A grumpy little Rufus hummingbird.

Another one of those days with thunderstorms moving through every hour. We are going to Tammy and Joe's for dinner tonight (social butterflies again) and tomorrow Tammy, Jeane and I are going to take a hike up in the Crazy Mountains outside of Big Timber.

Social Butterflies

In a few minutes we are heading down the hill for a little social hour at George and Shirley's. They have been gone for over a month and got back home in time for our party yesterday. They have been having some remodeling done in their home and we get to see the finished product.

Our party yesterday was wonderful. We had 31 guests, tons of food and just a whole lot of fun and visiting. The homemade ice cream that Jeane brought was to die for. Michael did a fabulous job of cooking the burgers and hot dogs. The weather cooperated and it didn't rain but was cloudy, overcast and cool. Just a perfect July 4!

This is a photo of sunrise (yes, sunrise) a few mornings ago. There was a thunderstorm brewing and it gave the sky the strangest color.

Some of the guests at the party yesterday.

Two of these young men Jeff and Patrick, the two on the ends belong to Joe and Tammy, the owners of our former ranch. The young man in the middle, Logan belongs to Joe and Tammy's friends and neighbors in Colorado, Nikki and Jonathan who also joined us along with their daughter Kristen.

More guests, not sure what Jeane is describing and don't Jill and Kelly look great, they have both been faithful Weight Watcher attendees!

Hazel came to the party with her son Russ who grew up with Michael. She is a delight, over 90 but still loves to visit. Nancy and Nikki are enjoying listening to Hazel's reminiscing.

It was a fabulous party and a great July 4. Hope you all enjoyed your 4th.

HAPPY JULY 4

It is a beautiful day in Montana with only scattered thunderstorms predicted--sure hope one of the "scattered" does not rain on our parade this afternoon. We are having 32 guests for a July 4 cookout--friends and neighbors.

With our granddaughter Laci soon headed to Iraq or Afghanistan the reason behind July 4 is even more on our minds this year. Someone sent me the following in an e-mail and I would like to share it with you--HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY.


I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, of which we should be eternally grateful. God bless our Military who are protecting our country for our freedom. Thanks to them and their sacrifices we can celebrate the 4th of July.

I watched the flag Pass by one day, It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease..
I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, With hair cut square and eyes alert He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free
I heard the sound of Taps one night, When everything was still, I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times That Taps had meant 'Amen,' When a flag had draped a coffin. Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington . No, freedom isn't free.
Enjoy Your Freedom God Bless Our Troops.

Strange Weather

Several times today it rained for very short periods of time--little squall thunderstorms would blow through and sometimes it rained while the sun was shining. It was really warm just after lunch but cooled off later in the afternoon.

Nat came up today and had lunch with us. He lunches at the local Senior Center in Big Timber daily but the center does not serve on Thursdays or on the weekends. I like to cook lunch for him on at least one of those days. He and Michael had steaks on the grill and I had salmon. We got some cantaloupe and watermelon at Costco yesterday and they were so good.

Michael got the Volkswagen running again--hurray!!! He took the gas tank off, cleaned it and put it back on. He fixed the emergency brake that I broke in my panic the other day and ordered wheel and brake cylinders today. He is finding that working on a Volkswagen is so easy. Not much to go wrong on a 1959 car--no electronics or computers!!!

I cleaned house and started getting ready for our July 4 party today.

When we got home last night, I could not find my Costco receipt. As I purchased groceries for other people, I really needed that receipt. Costco provided wonderful customer service once again. I called today and one of the membership employees faxed a copy of my receipt to me! Impressive!

A good day.