http-equiv='refresh'/> Tin TeePee/Log Cabin: September 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

OK, I Think I Can Quilt

About 6pm tonight, I took my first real quilt off the machine and if I do say so myself, it doesn't look half bad!! At least it is square and doesn't have puckers or wrinkles! I was so excited I had to call my Aunt Margaret and tell her I finished her first quilt. She and my Uncle Si live in northern Arkansas and she stays busy quilting and quilting.

Michael worked all day long installing a garage door in our former house that Joe and Tammy own. He was one pooped guy when he came through the door.

It was another of those beautiful fall days here in McLeod, MT--about 78 degrees and not a cloud in the clear blue sky! And we didn't lose money in the market today!!

Some fall photos from our morning walk


Monday, September 29, 2008

Exercise, UGH

My father was a long tall drink of water as they say in the south meaning he was tall and skinny. He could eat like a horse and never gain a pound. I was just like him until I turned forty! Now, if I am going to wear my clothes in the size that I have vowed never to go above, I have to exercise, UGH! We walk every morning at least 2 miles, sometimes farther but that just doesn't seem to cut it so out come the weights and the mat and I still don't like it!

I worked on my quilting again today and did some laundry. Michael tried to clean up out in the new garage today and installed a phone line out there.

About 3pm we decided to take a ride on the motorcycle, our days have been so beautiful and the fall colors are starting to appear. We visited with Michael's Dad and discussed how much money we are all loosing in the stock market and the failure of the House to pass the bailout bill. None of us can understand why we have to bail out these banks who made extremely poor business decisions over the last few years. Why do we have to rescue people who knew they couldn't afford the home they purchased? Why can't people take responsibility for their own actions?

On the way home, we stopped for ice cream (yes, that is why I exercise) and to pick up a few groceries. It got a little chilly before we got home, glad we had on leather jackets and gloves!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Me vs the Quilt Machine

We got up this morning both feeling a lot better. Our walk was good and Jazzy behaved (she was on the leash part of the walk).

When we got back from our walk, I started trying to load one of my Aunt Margaret's quilts onto the new quilting machine. I am sure that all the problems I encountered were of my own doing because Aunt Margaret is a meticulous quilter. I finally got some actual quilting done about 1pm this afternoon. Sure am glad she said she didn't care what I did to these quilts--I have a few square circles on this first one!

Lonnie and LoraLee came for dinner tonight. LoraLee is recovering from rotator cuff surgery and Lonnie has an appointment with a surgeon tomorrow morning to discuss back surgery. Much of our conversation tonight centered on weight loss and how hard it is. Lonnie would like to lose weight and perhaps avoid back surgery but has a hard time doing so. Laci, our granddaughter in the Air Force stationed in San Antonio was at a restaurant last night and left her wallet on the table and of course someone helped themselves and proceeded to have a really good time last night with her debit card. I thought I had educated that child about being in the big city but I guess it didn't sink in!

It was an absolutely beautiful fall day in Montana.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

I'm Sad

Mom, my cousin and his wife left this morning headed for Yellowstone Park. They will then make their way toward Bend, Oregon to visit friends. Then it is on to California to visit family and back to Arkansas.

Thursday Mom and I went to Billings to pick Buddy and Linda up at the airport and managed to get in a little shopping and eating. People around here think I speak Southern--they hadn't heard anything until Buddy and Linda got here. Buddy is Michael's age and is just a good old Southern boy!

On Friday Michael headed up the Boulder to start the process of installing a septic system and the rest of us decided to drive up and see where he was working with a stop at Natural Bridge. Lunch at the Grand in Big Timber followed by naps for everyone but Mom and me finished up our afternoon. While Buddy and Linda were napping (they blamed their tiredness on the altitude), I worked with the quilting machine again.

In the evening Buddy and I drove over to Lonn and LoraLee's and Lonn was gracious enough to take us over on the back side of the ranch to see if we could spot any elk. Oh my!!! There were over a hundred head and Lonn counted 17 bulls in the herd. The bulls were constantly bugling--it was a spectacular show!

Jazzy dog has been reduced to walking on a portion of the ranch attached to a leash. When I took her for a walk Friday morning, she chased a herd of deer again. I called and walked and couldn't find her--I heard a truck coming up our driveway--it was our neighbor, Carolyn and she had found Jazz way over on their place at their calving barn! Carolyn also told me that they had spotted 6 wolves near their house that morning. So, rather than be wolf bait, Jazz gets to walk on a leash until she learns what the word "no" means when it comes to chasing deer.

While Michael and I love our solitude, I miss my family and I have been so sad all day because Mom has gone. She will be 72 in November and her health has not been good the last few years. We will be going to Arkansas for Christmas this year so I will get to see everybody.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Disappearing Dog and House Cleaning

That Jazzy dog, she decided that more exercise was on her agenda today and took off after a trio of deer--we searched and called and called and searched. She was only gone for about 10 minutes but of course I was imagining all sorts of dire happenings such as a bear eating her! She came strolling up the driveway on her own sweet time!

Mom and I cleaned house this morning and I even cleaned the carpets in the RV using LoraLee's Hoover carpet cleaner--I think they look a lot better.

After lunch Mom and I spent some time playing with the new quilting machine. Before we knew it, 2 hours had gone by. I get better and better each time I practice--I think I am brave enough to load one of Aunt Margaret's quilts.

We invited Nat up for supper and feasted on steaks and my special potatoes. After Nat headed home in time to beat nightfall, I started looking on the internet for some of the items the quilter teacher in South Dakota told me about such as books and DVD's.

It was a beautiful clear blue sky Montana day today.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Billings Again

Perhaps we should have a house in Billings as much time as we are spending there lately! I had a doctor's appointment again today so off we went early this morning. Michael took the truck and long gooseneck trailer in and picked up our just arrived garage doors. I followed a little later and we took the better gas mileage Explorer to Billings.

Mom stayed behind to get her hair cut and to try and stuff some more of her things into boxes so we can mail it back to Arkansas. On Thursday a cousin and his wife are flying into Billings to drive back to Arkansas with Mom with just a small side trip to Oregon and California to visit friends and relatives. With two extra people in the car Mom needed to make room for more suitcases so we are shipping some of her stuff.

We didn't tarry long in Billings. When we got home, I had time to mow the grass and clean the RV. Michael got ready to head off to work tomorrow.

It was a "hold onto your hat" kind of day in Montana today, windy was an understatement.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Bears, Bears Everywhere

When we got home yesterday, there was bear sign everywhere--bear poop in the driveway and out by the garage. But the scariest sign was the paw prints on my living room windows--you can see the definite outline of two bear paw prints in the dust on the windows!!! We have large chokecherry trees lining the side of our lower driveway leading into the basement and the bears broke the top out of one of those trees while we were gone to South Dakota.

This morning while reading the paper on the internet I looked up and there was a bear at the end of our deck bridge, eating chokecherries. I jumped up and went out on the deck but I was not quick enough to get any good photos, Jazz began to bark at him from inside the house and he took off. Then, Jazz and I went for a walk and when we were almost home a bear ran out of the bushes and up the hill away from us--a beautiful cinnamon colored bear.

Michael went off to work today and Mom and I did load after load of laundry, I don't think she washed clothes all summer! I did get another practice quilt loaded onto my machine with much difficulty!

We finished off the last of the corn on the cob tonight that the friends from Oregon brought and we are down to just a few of the peaches they left with us, YUM!

Home Sweet Home

Saturday we decided to hook up and start toward Montana. Over the years as we have been RVing, I have been trying to slow Michael down, encourage him to stop getting in the truck and not stopping until we are 10 hours down the road. I have been partially successful! Our plans were to stop in Story, WY for the night--there was a quilt store listed in my Quilters' Travel Companion book and a RV park, what more could you ask for?? Well, Michael changed the plans as we were going along and we decided to keep on going and ended up in Billings for the night. Big mistake!!! Our intentions were good--we would make a Costco and grocery store run and try to hook up with Michael's daughter whose birthday was Friday.

BUT--the RV parks in Billings are ridiculous and we knew that, we had just forgotten I guess! $40-45 a night for a spot crammed in beside someone else, the pool and spa were drained, we couldn't pick up the wi-fi signal from our original site and the poor girl in the office had no clue what customer service was! So, our advice to any RVer is to bypass Billings if at all possible!

We did have a wonderful dinner at Jake's on Friday night, Jake's is a Billings institution. Then on Sunday morning, we were able to meet up with Shannen, Kristen and Mark for breakfast. Costco and Wal-Mart and we headed to McLeod. Mom has finished her job at the dude ranch in Wyoming and she arrived at our house not too far behind us. She will stay with us a few days and start home for Arkansas in a round about way on Saturday.

The photos are from our motorcycle trip on Friday through Custer State Park.

This little burro looks like he is in jail--he is standing in the creek bed in the shade.

More burros
One of the many tunnels we rode through on Friday.
Sylvan Lake


Friday, September 19, 2008

The Black Hills

A beautiful morning and we took it easy. Michael walked the Jazzy girl while I got ready to go. A motorcycle ride was in our plans today and this is beautiful country for bike riding. We rode the entire "wildlife loop" in Custer State Park and to Sylvan Lake. We had lunch at the Very Berry Winery in Hill City. We came home and Michael checked the status of the stock market--we did recoup some of our losses today! To celebrate, we drove back into Custer and I visited the quilt store and then we had Dairy Queen ice cream. No supper for us tonight!

A view of Mount Rushmore from up on the mountain above the park. A much better way to view the presidents rather than fighting the crowds in the park. Both of us had been to Mount Rushmore in the past, too.

A herd of buffalo in Custer State Park. We saw these buffalo, wild burros, turkeys, antelope and deer.
More buffalo. When the herd is right by the road, you feel a little vulnerable on a motorcycle!
The buffalo corrals. The park rounds up the buffalo in October, brands the calves, vaccinate and then release all but about 500 buffalo. These 500 buffalo remain in the corrals until November when the public auction is held and the buffalo are sold to buyers across the country.


Thursday, September 18, 2008

New Friend and Longarm Quilting Class

It was a beautiful day in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We slept well and woke rested for a change. I walked the Jazzy dog early then got ready to take off for my first longarm quilting class. JoAnn, the teacher and representative for APQS Longarm Quilting Machines lives just outside Hill City. We were both amazed at the similarities in our lives. We are both 53, both city girls that married cowboys and are both incredibly happy with our lives. She loves cats and I love dogs. I learned so much today and at some points, the light bulb went off!! We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and glass of wine at the local winery and finished up our class about 3pm. JoAnn is an extremely talented quilter and it was a pleasure to see all her many works of art!

Michael rode the motorcycle all day and came back saying, "This is great bike riding country!" Jazzy dog was ready for a walk when we got home so we went up one of the horse trails--she finds many things to sniff!

We had leftover ribs and fresh corn on the cob for dinner--life is good! Our friends Ellie and Jim stayed in this campground a couple months ago--you can't beat the rate, $14 a night for full hookups and wi-fi!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Custer, South Dakota

I got up early this morning, I couldn't sleep--travel day! We left McLeod about 8:30am and got to Custer, SD at 5:30 with stops along the way. The new axles and tires worked wonderfully--my husband is so handy!!

It was a very warm day, at times the temperature reading on the truck computer said 85 degrees. We started out doing very well (for us) with fuel consumption--11.5 miles to the gallon. Then we got into the Black Hills and I took us up a "dotted" road on the map--it was very scenic but also crooked and steep--our average dropped to 9.5!!! At least here in Wyoming fuel is cheaper--we paid around $4.00 a gallon.

The campground we found, Broken Arrow, is also a horse camping spot with trails into the National Forest leading right out from the campground. Great dog walking spot! After walking Jazz and having a quick dinner of leftover meatloaf, we walked up to the office where they have ice cream for sale every evening. Larry and Jerri, the owners, are very nice and welcoming and the park wi-fi actually works!

Tomorrow I am off to learn about my quilting machine and I suspect Michael is going to spend some time on the motorcycle.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Goodbye to Friends

Ainslie and Beryl headed out today about lunch time. We certainly enjoyed their visit very much.

Michael made a quick run into town early to drop off tires and rims at the tire shop. The shop couldn't get to our tires right away, so he came home to do some more work on the axles and to change the oil in the truck.

Nat came up to work on his sawmill again and I fixed a great meatloaf for lunch. Michael headed back into town after lunch to pick up the tires. He finally came inside a little after 6:30--he is one tired dude. The axles are on the RV and it is hooked up to head out in the morning.

I spent the day loading the RV with clothes and groceries.

We are off to Rapid City, SD tomorrow. The purchase of my longarm quilting machine included a free beginning longarm class and one of the certified instructors for APQS lives in Hill City, SD. We thought we would combine the class with a little sightseeing--I thought it might be more fun to go to Rapid City than to Des Moines, Iowa where the factory is located. So, depending on where we settle for the rest of the week, we may or may not have internet service--so there may or may not be a blog the next few days. We will be back on Sunday and my Mom will also be here after completing her job on the dude ranch down in Wyoming.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Axle Fixing Day

It was a "why we live in Montana" kind of day, warm, about 80 degrees and sunny. We took a nice walk this morning and took note of all the new bear poop along our trail--makes you kind of look around nervously, wondering if Mr. Black Bear is sleeping behind the bushes along your trail!!

Michael and Ainslie started on the big job of replacing our RV axles. One of the axles had bent and Michael decided that if he was going to replace it, he would replace both axles with heavier ones. He ordered the axles from Florida and they were delivered last week. By late afternoon, the guys had both new axles on the trailer. Michael says that heavier axles do not mean I can pack more stuff into the RV--imagine that!!

Nat came up today to saw some logs on his sawmill and to have lunch with us. After lunch, Beryl and I drove into Big Timber and dropped off the tires and replacement rims at the tire shop and also picked up two new tires for their travel trailer. We looked around Big Timber and stopped by Cinnabar Creek for a coffee drink and for Beryl to see the store.

I cooked baby back ribs today and that's what we had for supper. After supper as it was nearing twilight, we walked over to the gulch to see if we could see Mr. Black Bear and we got lucky. It was almost too dark to see when the bear came meandering down the hillside. He was a very big black bear, too. Now, when we walk in the morning, I will definitely wonder if he is sleeping under the bushes alongside our trail!

These are some more Yellowstone National Park photos. A herd of buffalo alongside the Yellowstone River.
Old Faithful Inn
A buffalo traffic jam, he just sauntered along the road paying absolutely no attention to the cars.


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Yellowstone National Park

On Friday we loaded up the RV and headed to Yellowstone National Park. We intended to camp just outside Gardiner, MT in a BLM free camping site along the Yellowstone River. We stopped in Livingston for fuel at $4.14 a gallon and snacks. By 2pm, we were parked and set up in an absolutely beautiful, quiet spot with a view of the Yellowstone River out our back window. We fixed a quick lunch and then took a drive into the Park. We walked along the boardwalks at Mammoth Terraces and then drove out toward Lamar Valley where the wolves have been hanging out. Didn't see any wolves but saw lots of buffalo, antelope and a coyote. In Mammoth, the big, huge bull elk were laying around on the green lawns as if they owned the place, which of course they do.

Yellowstone National Park is a wonderful place, one of my favorite places. There is so much to see, you could probably spend two weeks there and not see it all. We started out on Saturday morning about 10am and got back to the RV's and the Jazzy dog about 6pm. We made the big loop down toward Old Faithful and back up by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone which our friend Beryl and Ainslee declared the highlight of the trip.

We have been having some wonderful meals while our friends are visiting. They arrived from Oregon with fresh peaches, squash, tomatoes, corn and great steaks. Michael and I will have to get back on the diet program when they leave.

It got very cold last night, Jazz fell out of her bed sometime in the night and needless to say, we spent a very restless night after that!! Beryl and Ainslie were ready to head down the road this morning, so that is what we did. We arrived home near lunch time, had lunch and then took them to see our local tourist attraction, Natural Bridge.

What a great place we live--2 hours from one of the most spectacular spots on earth!!


Our Oregon friends, (Beryl is English) in front of the lower falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!
The lower falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Emerald Pool at Norris Geyser Basin


Thursday, September 11, 2008

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Our friends Ainslie and Beryl arrived about 11am yesterday morning at the beginning of our rainstorm. Beryl is English and has a delightful way of speaking--we met this couple in Mexico last year. We got their RV all situated in the driveway and spent the afternoon visiting. They brought us garden goodies--a huge box of beautiful peaches, some corn and squash.

It rained all afternoon and most of the night. This morning our rain gauge held 2.5 inches of rain, very unusual for us! It is also cool, we kept a fire in the fireplace all day yesterday.

Today Ainslie joined us on our morning walk which was a little soggy from all the rain. I had planned to go to Billings to have some blood work drawn that the new doctor I saw on Monday decided I needed. Everyone decided to join me for the trip. We headed out about noon, got to Billings, had the blood drawn and then had a very nice lunch at CJ's. A quick stop at Costco and the grocery store completed our Billings errands and we headed home.

Nat loves frozen pancakes that he can pop in the toaster (yuk) and I try to keep him supplied. He prefers one brand, Albertson's, so that was one of the items we purchased and then stopped at his house on the way through Big Timber to drop off the pancakes.

We didn't get home until almost 7pm and Ainslie kept complaining that he was parched because it was way past happy hour time but we remedied that shortly.

Tomorrow we are heading over to Yellowstone Park with both RV's for a few days so no more blog posts until probably after the weekend but think of all the wonderful photos I will have.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Chores

It was nice to be able to stay home this morning and not have to take off for Billings. My Explorer has been to Billings so often lately, I think it could find its own way!

We took a nice long walk this morning after breakfast and even Jazzy was glad to be out and about.

The rest of the morning was spent with chores, cleaning house, laundry and all those other wonderful things. After lunch we headed into Big Timber to pick up an unexpected purchase. Over a week ago, Michael ordered some new axles for our RV. Someone from the company was to contact him with paperwork issues before shipping. No one ever called and he was getting ready to call them when we received a phone call telling us the axles had been delivered to our local lumber store. I picked up a couple of things at the quilt store and some groceries while we were in town.

I have started to establish wholesale accounts for my quilting business and spent some time when we got home on the computer.

Our expected guests called and won't arrive until tomorrow. Ainslee and Beryl live in Coos Bay, Oregon and we met them at a RV park in Mexico last year. We are looking forward to doing some Yellowstone Park sightseeing with them.

This guy was totally unconcerned about me taking his photo this morning, he was more worried about that little black dog that was chasing his buddy.



Monday, September 8, 2008

Billings and Doctors

Last evening, we drove over to Livingston, about an hour from here and had my birthday dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Rib and Chop House. At the last minute, we called our friends Gwen and Arch who live in Livingston and asked them to join us--we had a wonderful time, sure glad they are last minute folks like us! Gwen is also our realtor.

Today we spent the entire day in Billings, most of it in two doctor's offices. I am a little encouraged that these two may figure out what is wrong with my hands and why these lesions won't heal.

We did a little shopping for quilting supplies and made a quick Costco stop. Then it was home to pick up the Jazzy dog at Nat's. As always, she was ecstatic to see us, you would think we had been gone for weeks instead of just hours.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Birthday and a Bear

Our dinner last night at the home of friends Terry and Bo was outstanding. Robyn and Claire carpooled over with us and we spent a very enjoyable evening!

Today is my birthday and we won't discuss which one--it has been a great day. My brother called bright and early this morning followed by my father-in-law. My friend Kelly had sent a package that arrived earlier in the week and as usual, she picked things I loved--a new Coldwater Creek shirt and a gorgeous set of bangle bracelets. My mother called to wish me a happy birthday as did my sister and my niece. My niece's two little girls, 6 and 3 wished me the sweetest, "Happy Birthday, Aunt Janna." We are going out to dinner tonight to complete the birthday celebrations.

I was downstairs in my sewing studio when Kelly called and sat down to chat with her for a while. Our basement is a walkout with glass in the door and glass panels alongside the door. As we were talking, a black bear ran by just across the creek from the house--exciting!!! I exclaimed to Kelly that a bear had just gone by and jumped up and opened the door in time to see him disappear into the woods.

It has been a great day!!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Quiet Bear/Lousy Watchdog

Another cool and cloudy day with rain predicted. As I was making the bed this morning, I glanced out the window and got a surprise. The deck ends at the edge of our backyard, just beyond our bedroom windows. At the end of the deck was a large bear poop, filled with chokecherry seeds. That meant the bear was really close to our bedroom windows and Jazz never barked, either it was a very quiet bear or we have a lousy watchdog!!

When we bought our RV, it had one of those combination washer/dryers installed. We removed it because we wanted the closet more than we wanted the washer/dryer. We have stumbled over that thing, moved it from one room to another for 4 plus years. I listed it for sale on Craig’s List the other day and a nice young couple came and got it this afternoon!!! Yippee!!

I made tomato soup and cookies this afternoon and we are off to have dinner at the home of our friends Terry and Bo tonight.
See the dark spot in the grass just off the edge of the deck??? That's the bear poop. The window you can see in the right side of the photo is our bedroom window!! Such a good watchdog!!


Friday, September 5, 2008

Firewood Cutting and DSL

We got up to a cool, cloudy morning, took a walk seeing lots of bear sign and bear paw prints. Michael has been groaning and moaning about how cold it is (it was 34 degrees this morning with a high of 56 this afternoon) so we decided to go up the East Boulder road about 12 miles past where we live and cut a load of firewood. We have a fireplace in our living room with glass doors and a wood burning stove downstairs in the basement, using both to supplement our electric heat. Firewood cutting up the East Boulder used to be an every winter event until the platinum mine started operations several years ago. It just stopped being as much fun when you had to dodge semi-trucks and buses. Now that the mine is in operation, the traffic is not as bad so off we went.

The scenery is spectacular and it smells so piney up there. We reached the end of the road on top about 10am and got home around 2pm with a nice load of firewood.

When we got home our new DSL modem/router was in the mailbox along with Aunt Margaret’s quilt tops for me to practice on.

I think I said in an earlier post that we were having extensive problems with our Hughes satellite internet service. We put Hughes on vacation until we are ready to travel south for the winter and hooked up DSL with our local telephone company. WOW--I am amazed at how much faster it is--when I loaded the photos for this blog post, it was so much faster than with Hughes. Yippee! And maybe no more getting kicked off every 30 minutes.

Jazz went with us to cut firewood and is one tired puppy--so many things to sniff, so many squirrels to chase.
One of the bear paw prints we saw in the mud this morning.

Another bear paw print.

Our morning's work!

Someone had a sense of humor. This pink flamingo was perched atop one of the snow stakes along the side of the road. Snow stakes mark the edge of the road for the snowplows--if they miss the edge of the road up there, it is a LONG way to the bottom!!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Tired of Going

OK, we are finally home and hopefully here for a few days at least. We had to be in Billings at 9:30 this morning so that meant an early start. Nat got a good report when he got the patch removed and hopefully we are finished with running him back and forth to Billings--he hopes so, too! He is not a traveler--he flew on B29's in WWII and when the war was over he was offered a choice of being sent home in a plane or on a boat--he chose the boat and has never been back on a plane again. His wife, Joy, loved to travel and did so many times with friends but Nat preferred to stay at home in Montana.

It was another cool, cloudy day and it is starting to look like rain. My family members in Arkansas are starting to waddle and quack like ducks. There has been so much rain that some schools were canceled yesterday due to flooding.

The men in my life, Michael and Nat, allowed me to visit the quilt store today. I got some beautiful fabric for the borders of our Lone Star bed quilt and some great advice. Maybe I will get to play with my new machine some more tomorrow. But, my house also needs a little attention, too. And there is always laundry!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

No More Cataracts

Nat and I got back to Big Timber about 4pm, everything went well and we go back to Billings in the morning to get the patch removed--the truck is starting to travel down the road to Billings all by itself!

Michael practiced frugality today--he has an old welder that belonged to his Dad. Nat says every time he sees the old thing he thinks of Mike when he was a kid attempting to weld an engine to his bicycle. The welder had stopped working so being the frugal guy he is, he took the thing apart, cut apart an old fiberglass sink to use for parts, and built himself a new circuit board. It works!!!

Yesterday we picked up some more "Park City corn" and that's what we had for dinner. Michael had hamburger, too, but I just had corn and cantaloupe. Summer is almost over, we had better take advantage of what fresh veggies we can find!

Off to Billings with Nat

I am off to Billings today with Nat to have his second cataract surgery done. His first eye done a couple of weeks ago was a success. It will be a long day, I am sure for him--he is an avid breakfast eater and is not allowed to eat this morning but his surgery is not scheduled until after 12pm! Poor guy!

We have been experiencing many, multiple problems with our Hughes satellite internet provider. We gave up our in home DSL several years ago in order to be able to have the flexibility of taking the satellite with us when we traveled in the RV. Michael belongs to a Yahoo group of satellite users, mostly RV'ers and everyone seems to be having issues with Hughes. Michael's son Lonn has Hughes systems on the ranch he manages and has been having the same issues. But when you call Hughes, you get the proverbial runaround. So with that said, we are switching back to DSL in our home and putting our Hughes on vacation until we are ready to travel again.

Yesterday we spent the day in Billings shuffling me around to physicians. I am still dealing with the hand and mouth ulcer thing and it is getting old--I am weary. On Monday next week I will see an infectious disease specialist. My internist gave me a prescription for medication to "try" and when I took the prescription to Costco yesterday afternoon, I was told a 30 day supply of this "to try" medication was $839! They almost had to treat me for another condition--a heart attack! I declined to fill the prescription and we started home very discouraged. I checked www.canadadrugs.com for the cost of this medication and found that a 30 day supply from Canada would cost me $97!!!!!!! So, I am now thinking Costco made a mistake--there is always a price difference between the US and Canada but not THAT much. I will go by Costco again today while in Billings with Nat.

I better get started!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Fire in the Fireplace

BRRR! Only 40 degrees all day today and we have a fire in the fireplace this afternoon. It started raining yesterday afternoon late and I think it rained most of the night, we needed the rain! Maybe it will drown some of those pesky grasshoppers we have accumulated during this hot, dry season.

I finally got all the stuff we moved put away and my sewing room all straightened. Cleaned out the gutter on the deck, it was overflowing at the downspout and making a very annoying drip, drip all night.

Michael worked on an old welder he is trying to re-make and I practiced my quilting. It is hard to not have square corners on my circles! I talked to my Aunt Margaret in Arkansas this morning, she is an exquisite quilter, and she is sending me some patchwork type quilts for practice. I have to develop a lot more skill before I will attempt to quilt her nicer quilts!

The Jazzy dog has been a bum all day as she is allergic to rain!