Got the Radiator

Home finally at almost 8pm! It was a busy, busy day today. Our first stop early this morning was the veterinarians for Emmi's second round of shots and a rabies injection. The vet clinic was very busy, an emergency with 4 horses that had gotten into cattle feed that contained some ingredient that was very poisonous to horses. So, we left and Michael dropped me off for my massage and went back to the clinic. He said Emmi was not impressed again with the thermometer business nor the injections.

Then it was off to Billings. Remember the $5000 vs $150 radiator story a few days ago--well when we got to the wrecking yard, Michael found a radiator he thought would work better and the price of it was $75!!! So we hauled home a used radiator.

The steel yard was our next stop where Michael purchased a 1000lbs of steel for such projects as a set of fireplace doors for our neighbors and a shorter table for my longarm machine.

A very quick stop at Costco and we were headed home. Emmi was a good girl most of the day, she got a little restless before we got home--we were all glad to get here!

Here's Emmi in the basket again, I finally put it away--the damage is done, Jazz started it but Emmi was making great headway on finishing up the destruction.
Michael's daughter Shannen called this morning and over the weekend our youngest granddaughter Kristen won a rodeo in Sheridan, WY. The prize was a saddle and a $2000 scholarship--she is only 10 years old so the money will be place in a CD--I always said Shannen was born sitting on the back of a horse and it looks like this child was too!

The news from Laci is that it is hot in Iraq, 105 degrees at 11pm!!

Social Butterflies

Last night we had a wonderful time at the home of friends Terry and Boo. Terry grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and they still have a home back east. Terry had fresh crab flown in and he made the most awesome crab cakes, they were outstanding. The rest of the meal came from their garden, yum!

Emmi got to go along and she was so good, keeping everyone entertained out on the deck and then sleeping like an angel while we had dinner. The meal was great and the conversation stimulating to say the least, some folks had quiet the political discussions!

Our neighbor's center pivot irritating system which is located in a field above our house. The pivot is programmed to stop when it gets to our house and start again once it clears our house. We must have had a power surge the other day, my flowers on the deck got an extra watering and believe me, that pivot has one heck of a spray of water!

Three sandhill cranes in flight.

Michael worked on the motor home again today and I did this and that. Nat came up for lunch and we had steaks on the grill and fresh corn on the cob. For dessert I tried out a new recipe for strawberry shortcake that has flour and cornmeal--they were delicious!

About 3pm, friends Jim and Kathy showed up for their computer lesson. Neither of them has ever operated a computer, all of a sudden decided to join the rest of us and had me order a Dell laptop and a Canon camera like mine. I've never taught someone from scratch how to use a computer so it was a learning experience for me too. I didn't have to whap their knuckles with a ruler, they are quick learners!

A busy Sunday but enjoyable!

Working on the Motorhome

Michael spent the entire day Friday removing the radiator from the motor home. The used one he looked at in Billings will fit, YEA--$175 instead of $5000. One day early next week we will go back to Billings and get the used radiator.

We so seldom go out to eat for several reasons:
1. Michael says my cooking is better than anything he can get in a restaurant.
2. It is so far to drive to go out to eat.
3. The restaurants in Big Timber (22 miles away) leave a lot to be desired.

Last night Jill and Terry invited us to come into town and try out the new restaurant, Chives. They are only open on Friday nights for now and have a very limited menu--but the food was delicious. Everyone but Michael had carrot soup, marinated flank steak and mashed new potatoes. Michael had a burger which he said was one of the best he had ever had. Our meal was great, especially the chocolate torte that Jill and I shared. We let Michael and Terry have a couple of bites, too. I so hope this little place does well, it will be a welcome addition to Big Timber dining!

Michael has worked on my Explorer all day changing the transmission fluid and filter. Now he is back outside working on the motor home again. He and his clothes are starting to look like he mechanics for a living!

We are being social this weekend, tonight we are going to Terry and Boo's for dinner, and Emmi is going too!

Covering Up The Gray

We packed up Emmi and her crate this morning early and headed to Nat's where Emmi got to spend the day. She and Granddad had one tiny potty accident, the rest of the day she was a good girl.

Michael and I continued on to Billings where I spent almost 3 hours getting my hair cut and colored. I am not a patient person to start with and by the time I am finished with this process, I am rearing to go. The price of vanity! I have tried to just let the gray show but unlike my sister Ann, I am just too vain for that!

We had lunch at CJ's, delicious, Michael had his usual burger and I had my usual brisket sandwich. After lunch it was on to Costco and Wal Mart for groceries.

Emmi can really wiggle when she is happy, she wiggled and wiggled when she saw me this afternoon. I think she was glad to see me.

Not quiet as warm today but sunny. Michael thinks he may have found a radiator--a used one at a semi truck wrecking yard. The company that makes our motor home chassis quoted us a price of over $5000 for a new one, that's not installed!!! This used one that Michael is almost sure he can make work--$175!!! Have I said lately I am so glad I am married to Michael who can fix anything!!

This and That

Another hot one in Montana! We unloaded a few things from the motor home and did the laundry. A non potty trained puppy generates multiple loads of laundry such as rugs. Emmi was doing so well at home before we left on the trip to Cheyenne and I think the motor home confuses her. Maybe we will get straightened out again now that we are home for a couple of weeks.

But, how could you be mad at something so sweet as this?? She and Dad were taking a lunchtime nap. (Sorry Ross)
After lunch I went downstairs and started ripping out the stitching in my "bear" quilt. UGH--not an easy thing to do for sure, and now I have a lower back ache from bending over the quilt trying to see. I just wasn't happy with the way it looked and knew that if I left the stitching the way it was, I would never be happy with the quilt.

We have a huge infestation of grasshoppers now that it is so hot and dry and the grasshoppers drive Emmi crazy. She spends a lot of time chasing and not catching--in this photo you can see the grasshopper flying up and out right in front of her.

Laci called her Mom and Dad this morning about 7am from Germany--she has gotten that far.

Laci Is Off To Iraq

Laci ended up in the emergency room last night, she did indeed have strep throat--they loaded her full of antibiotics, steroids and pain pills and she was taken back to her room to sleep. Her roommate Tasha was wonderful in deciding that Laci did indeed need to see a doctor and notifying the Air Force powers in charge.

So, we changed our plans and decided to meet up with her for breakfast which we did about 8:30. Then we said our sad goodbyes--my heart hurts to send her off to that god forsaken country to help fight a war we should never have entered into in the first place. Michael and I totally support our military. This war was a mistake and the lives of many of our military men and women are being lost for an effort that will not have success--where will it end.

Tonight we pray that Laci and other persons in the military will be returned safe to us and their families.

A Day In Cheyenne

The plan was for Laci to do her Air Force stuff this morning and then call me. I would pick Laci and a friend up at the Holiday Inn and we would go have lunch and go shopping. When I arrived at the HI about 11am, only Laci got in the car and her first question to me was, "Grandma, what does strep throat feel like?" She had white patches on the back of her throat and could hardly swallow, was achy all over and probably had a temperature. Back to the RV for antibiotics, to lunch for some soup and then I took her back to the Holiday Inn to rest. She has a meeting at 5:30pm and then we will go and say our goodbyes. Poor kid, she is miserable and will be flying for 30 hours around the world starting tomorrow afternoon.

I came back out to Larry and Joyce's to find Michael eating ice cream. He and Larry had had no luck in finding an air conditioner cover to replace the one we lost on the way down yesterday. So, we spent the afternoon being bums and it was wonderful. I was asleep on the couch and the rain blowing in the window woke me up--rain was blowing in everywhere.

I was going to make Laci a going away dinner of steaks, potatoes and her favorite salad of mine--lettuce, almonds, mandarin oranges and homemade poppy seed dressing but those plans went by the wayside and now Larry, Joyce, Mike and I will enjoy the above.

Larry and Joyce's Scooter--when we were all down in San Antonio, TX Scooter and Jazz were not fond of each other.
Pete the cat made himself right at home on our steps.

Larry and Joyce have a beautiful home in the country outside Cheyenne.

Emmi and Scooter liked each other.

When we were leaving last night with Laci, Mike noticed a pack rat leaping down out of our engine compartment, the rat must have ridden all the way from Montana with us. We watched with dismay as he jumped up and back into our engine compartment. Well, this morning, Larry came out of the garage carrying a live trap containing a very unhappy pack rat. Larry keeps the trap baited with cat food all the time to catch the feral cats that come around and harass their cat Pete. So Mr. Pack Rat will not get a free ride back to Montana.

It is cool and misting rain as we sit here snug as bugs in our motor home.

We Are In Cheyenne, WY

"The main quilt show is no longer held at the Quilting in the Country site. It is now on the lawn of the Emerson Art Center and is titled "Quilting on the Lawn". There were over 450 quilts outside, 50+ antique quilts inside and about 30 vendors. Classes were held yesterday at the Emerson as well as the QITC site. The Quilting in the Country story has a small display only on the quilt day. I am so sorry you were not here - it was magnificent. Please plan to come again next year - would love to meet you."

The comment above was left on our blog and I am so embarrassed--I obviously didn't read the flyer I saw at the quilt shop in Big Timber very well. And very disappointed that I didn't get to see all the quilts, very disappointed. Carol, who left the comment--I would love to know who you are and thank you so much for educating me for next year. I am always amazed at the number of people who read my blog and the places they are from.

We left home about 6:30am headed for Cheyenne and 12 hours later pulled into the driveway of our friends Joyce and Larry whom we met while camped at Lake Medina in Texas. We had stopped at the Holiday Inn and picked up Laci on the way to our friends. Needless to say it shouldn't have taken us 12 hours to travel from Big Timber to Cheyenne but we are still working the kinks out of this motor home.

We visited with Larry and Joyce watching their dog Scooter terrorize Emmi then Laci and the two of us went and had a late supper. After supper we dropped Laci back at the HI and we came home to Emmi and our bed--very tired.

It was so incredibly hot today and the dash air conditioning is not working--sure am glad I am married to a guy who can fix things!

Quilt Show

This was to have been our hottest day of the year and I think it might have been but this afternoon the thunder and lightening arrived and it is significantly cooler.

I decided to take in a quilt show today, a highly advertised one at Quilting in the Country in Bozeman, MT. The quilt shop is located in a gorgeous setting among old buildings and barns on a former dairy farm. There are flower and vegetable gardens everywhere, large old cottonwood trees and green lawns. The fabric and other quilting items are located in two different buildings. But--the quilt show was a disappointment--it was advertised as having 500+ quilts on display, classes and vendors. There might have been 20 quilts on display outside of the samples the store had made up and there were maybe 2-3 vendors and 1-2 classes going on.

A stop at Petsmart and Costco and I was headed home. We finished loading the RV, gave Emmi a bath and had a quick supper.

This plaque was hanging on one of the porches at the quilt show.

Emmi and her duck in the background. She wouldn't be still enough for me to get a photo of her with the duck in her mouth, the duck is almost as big as she is although Emmi is growing by leaps and bounds.

Summer Came Back

Whew, this is probably our hottest day so far this summer, over 90 but no humidity. I've got the ceiling fans going and the awning out to shade the front of the house--it is comfortable in here.

We spent a large portion of the morning moving equipment down to the barn on our former place. Joe and Tammy are allowing us to rent the building in exchange for our help such as turning the water on and off into their house, spraying weeds and cleaning the house right before they are due to arrive. We are storing the dually truck, tractors, motorcycles, etc. It will be nice to have all that stuff inside during the winter.

After lunch I spent some time getting meals ready for our trip we are starting on Sunday. Our granddaughter Laci seen here over a year ago when she graduated from high school---
is deploying to Iraq on Tuesday of next week out of Cheyenne, WY and we are going down to send her off. It makes me sick to think of her going over there but she is in the military, we can only hope and pray that she and her fellow soldiers stay safe.

More recycled photos, sure hope Canon hurries up with my camera!

Burros in Custer State Park in September last year.

Buffalo in Custer State Park.

And, a little snow to cool us off on this hot day.

No Camera

I may have to go back and recycle photos for a week or so. Our ATV trip to Blue Lake a week ago was hard on my not even a year old Canon Powershot camera. I began to notice that I could not see images or the menu through the viewfinder. But, wow, what great customer service--I called Canon today and got an English speaking person who e-mailed me instructions for sending my camera in for repair. When Mom and Chuck left today, they took the camera to Big Timber and sent it off via UPS.

Emmi was a hit with Mom and Chuck of course and she has been so good the last three days we have decided we may keep her.

Michael did some wiring out in the garage today and created for me a paper towel holder for the motor home.

I got two more rows quilted today and have only one more row to go on the log cabin quilt. Wouldn't you know it, a box arrived from my Aunt today containing four more quilt tops. Guess a quilter's work is never done, either.

Mom and Chuck stayed for lunch today and I tried my hand at making homemade pizza with some of the bread dough from that great cookbook, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It was OK, I need to refine the recipe, for sure.

The temperature warmed up today, in fact it got downright warm this afternoon!

So, here are some recycled photos. This is from the spring when I had so many birds I was filling the feeders twice a day. I think all my birds must have migrated north to Al and Kelly's.

Thought a snow photo might be nice here in August.

Town and Visitors

I managed to get some quilting done this morning while Emmi napped, I'm almost finished with this queen size log cabin quilt.

Michael spent the morning fixing fence, our neighbors have cows in their pasture that borders ours and the cows had been pushing the fence--our grass must be greener--so Michael decided he better reinforce it before the cows helped themselves to our grass.

After lunch we headed into town to run errands and once again Emmi was the star attraction, I think the ladies in the bank are going to kidnap her. Michael hit it lucky today at the courthouse, he needed to renew his driver's license and today was the one of the two days the driver's license person for the state comes to Big Timber per month. I did have time to grab a coffee with my friend Jill.

These two youngsters posed so prettily yesterday morning.
Our friend Dortha sent us this photo she took of Emmi last weekend while we were in Hungry Horse.

Emmi taking a nap with Dad.

The West Boulder Mountains in the distance.

Mom and Chuck arrived this afternoon to spend tonight with us. We had meatloaf and mashed potatoes with rhubarb crisp for dessert.

Warmer today but not as warm as the weather man predicted.

There May Be Hope

As I type this at about 6pm, we have been Emmi accident free today and she is even acting as if she "gets it." Jeane and I were enjoying a glass of wine out on the deck and Emmi got this look on her face and took off for the end of the deck that leads into the yard, her potty spot. I was so proud of her for not doing it on my deck.

Michael worked on the motor home again today and thinks he has the majority of the problems kind of fixed. He did get the steps fixed!

I made some business phone calls today and tried to quilt for a while but Emmi had other ideas and needed attention.

After lunch my friend Jeane came up bearing her new Dell laptop ready for a computer lesson. Jeane is computer savvy but would like to learn more about moving photos around and inserting them into various internet applications so we spent about 3 hours playing. After computer school we had a glass of wine and gossiped. Jeane was one of the first friends of Michael's that I met after moving here and I treasure her friendship.

Today's Emmi photo.


How's this for a nice buck?? He was up on the hill above our house probably waiting for me to go inside so he can come down and snack on my flowers again!
Another beautiful almost fall Montana day.

Patience Wearing Thin

I think I am too old for a puppy! After e-mailing friends with dog raising experience, Emmi is having a rude awakening today. She is in her crate, my lap or outside, no more freedom and we have had an accident free afternoon. Jazz was so easy to potty train--this puppy is flunking!

Michael started working on the motor home this morning, trying to gain access to the radiator. When he got bored with that, he started working on our Kawasaki mule--last week when he was driving the mule, the seat bracket cracked away from the base making it extremely dangerous to sit. A long time ago we bought two seats and Michael always intended to make the mule a two seater, well today was the day and the mule does not look the same.


The problem child.
I spent the day doing laundry and quilting, getting a log cabin quilt belonging to my aunt on the frame. Emmi also took up a lot of my time. And hopefully for the last time this season, I weed whacked the area around the house. The grass got a much needed mowing, too.

Our mountains. The house we used to own overlooked these mountains and we miss our view but like where our current house sits by the creek in the trees.

36 degrees this morning but it warmed up and turned into a glorious day.

Home from Hungry Horse

Saturday morning it was still raining and had rained most of the night--plus it was only 48 degrees. It is next to impossible to potty train a puppy in the rain especially one that seems to be flunking potty training!

While eating my Polebridge cinnamon roll with berry filling for breakfast I tried to talk Michael into going back to Polebridge but nope, he was ready to head home as was I. We took our time getting ready and left about 10am.

Drove through showers and wind most of the day and about 80 miles from Hungry Horse near Seeley Lake saw this scene on the mountains---yes, that is fresh snow. The aspen leaves are also starting to change in this area.

Mike's Mom and Dad lived in Seeley Lake before her death and it is a beautiful area.

The motorhome performed great yesterday and I even drove for a while--I think I can do that!

We didn't get home until about 8pm and were pooped, unloading only the necessities. Today we have unloaded some more and Michael is working on some motorhome "issues". The steps have all of a sudden decided to not extend completely making them very narrow and dangerous! When this motorhome was built in 1988, the curtains used to cover the front windshield were installed as electric. At first I thought, "how cool" but now I think, "what a pain." We like to boondock without hookups, electric curtains are just one more thing for which you must use power. So, Michael made them non-electric this morning, YEA!

Nat came for lunch and I made a great meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes. It was 36 degrees this morning, it is cloudy and there is a very cold wind blowing--what happened to summer???

More Updates From Hungry Horse

On Thursday after leaving our friends we stopped at the Visitor's Center at Hungry Horse Dam. Legend has it that two draft horses wandered away from logging camp one winter and when found in the spring were skinny and starved but recovered--these two "hungry horses" gave a creek and the dam the name Hungry Horse.

There were two nests in tall burned trees along the water's edge, a forest fire swept thru this area in 2003, both nests contained young osprey.
Still raining on Friday. We headed out to Polebridge having read many articles about the remoteness and beauty. We didn't see much beauty as it was pouring rain and the road was incredibly teeth jarring--probably worse than some of our Sweet Grass County roads. Fourteen miles of this road and we arrived at Polebridge with what seemed like the rest of the world, the place was packed. The little general store has a bakery and some of the best rolls and pastries we have ever tasted--amazing, out in the middle of nowhere!

Headed back over that awful road and stopped at the Apgar Visitor Center in Glacier National Park for a few minutes. The weather is terrible, we are running the furnace in the RV to stay warm and I feel sorry for the people a few campsites from us camped in tents!

We had grilled brats and hamburgers for dinner along with some corn on the cob and tomatoes we picked up at a local farmer's market.

Our campsite.

One of the photos Jim took of Emmi on Thursday, she fought with that branch for several minutes getting soaked.

Wednesday in Hungry Horse, Montana

We made it!! Left home about 7am Wednesday morning with cooler weather temperatures and cooler engine temps. We did unhook the Explorer in Cardwell to go up over the Butte pass not taking any chances until Mike has a chance to clean the radiator.

I like this motorhome traveling--I got up and made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as we traveled along--it is an extremely comfortable way to travel.

When we stopped at the Clearwater Junction rest stop for ice cream floats from our own refrigerator, Emmi met a beautiful schnauzer named Fritz. He was his owner's fifth schnauzer.

We arrived at Hungry Horse Reservoir Lost Johnny Campground just a little after 4pm and found the perfect site right on the lake. By this time our clear morning skies had given way to rain.

With the motorhome parked and set up, we jumped back in the Explorer and headed into Coram where our friends Jim, Ellie, Mark and Dortha were camped. Of course Emmi went along, Jim and Ellie have two schnauzers. Emmi was the star attraction getting so many photos taken she felt like a movie star. Our friends also presented her with a rhinestone studded collar and a stuffed duck so Emmi really felt like a star. We enjoyed a delicious fajita dinner with these friends--a wonderful evening. Mr. BoJangles and Jasmine were not impressed with the little rug rat that invaded their motorhome.

Emmie and her new duck.

Emmi meets Mr. BoJangles

It rained during the night and was still raining when we got up on Thursday morning. Michael worked on a few little things that were problems and the rest of the morning we enjoyed our coffee and reading.

Close to lunch time, our friends arrived to check out the lake and our campground and to take more photos of Emmi who put on quiet the show. After visiting for a while

we were all hungry and headed into Hungry Horse for lunch at the Packers Roost Bar and Grill for delicious hamburgers--Dortha and Ellie were good and had soup and salad. After lunch we said our goodbyes, these friends are headed to Cour d' Alene, ID and the Pacific northwest tomorrow. We will see them down the road somewhere we are sure.

Hungry Horse Lake

The view of Hungry Horse Lake from our campsite.

Hungry Horse Dam in the distance.

We Are Back Home

We left here about 8:30am this morning, motorhome with Explorer in tow. Stopped at Nat's and ran a couple of errands, leaving Big Timber at about 9:45. We were almost at the top of the Bozeman pass when the engine started to overheat. Michael made the decision to come back home where he has many more tools for working on things. So---short trip, 80 miles!

Poor Michael spent the afternoon working on the motorhome and late this evening, 8pm, decided to pressure wash the radiator--not--a turbo cooler covers the entire radiator and he will have to remove that turbo cooler before he can do anything with the radiator, a full day's job.

The cooling fans that were not working, he has working now so we are going to try it again tomorrow. I may be writing the blog from home again tomorrow night, but lets hope not.

I spent the afternoon puppy sitting and cleaning my house.

These are some more photos from our trip to Blue Lake.

The two pointed sharp peaks in the far distance are Pilot Peak and Index Peak, located just outside Yellowstone Park near Cooke City.

East Fork of the main Boulder River--doesn't that valley look gorgeous?
I sure hope we make it tomorrow, if not, there will be another time.

Blue Lake Trip

We were to have left for Glacier National Park this morning but last Thursday when Lonn and LoraLee came for dinner, Lonn made us an offer we couldn't refuse--a trip to Blue Lake on ATV's.

We have the good fortune to live in one of the most beautiful parts of our country and today's trip was no exception. We have been to Blue Lake but only on snow machines and the entire landscape was extremely white. Today it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Our home is 22 miles from Big Timber, we drove an additional 14 miles up the Boulder Canyon on a not so great road and unloaded the ATV's. There were six of the ATV's and LoraLee rode with Charlie, a young man who is both a friend and an employee; the rest of us rode individual ATV's. 24 miles of teeth rattling road later, through gorgeous scenery, along the Boulder River and we arrived at Blue Lake. Michael estimates that we were at 9500 feet--it was cool, we needed jackets and the mosquitoes were hummingbird sized and hungry.

We enjoyed a picnic on the shore, drank in the view and marveled at our good fortune. We took Emmi and she played with the other two dogs along on the trip, Zip and Gus. Emmi rode in a milk crate on the front of Michael's ATV--at times she rode inside his coat.

Our granddaughter Katie and her boyfriend (a very nice young man) Mike.
Leaving after one of our rest stops. Notice Emmi's little head poking out of Michael's jacket.

Blue Lake

Blue Lake--Nancy, no global warming going on up there--those snow banks will still be there when the snow flies again.

Another view of Blue Lake.

Although we are exhausted couch potatoes tonight, we are both so glad Lonn invited us on this trip, we had a ball.

Tomorrow we head out in the motorhome on its inaugural trip to Glacier National Park. There may not be any blog posts for a few days, we will see.

Getting the Motorhome Ready

We are leaving on Tuesday for Glacier National Park and Hungry Horse Reservoir, meeting up with friends Jim and Ellie and Mark and Dortha who were here visiting us in early July. The motorhome is sitting in the driveway tonight with the Explorer in tow. I spent Friday morning and a lot of Saturday cleaning the motorhome--I think I finally have it clean enough to suit me.

When Lonn and LoraLee came for dinner on Thursday night, Lonn told his Dad that he saw a used metal lathe in a shop in Belgrade. Michael has been closely watching CraigsList and other places for a lathe. On Friday afternoon we drove over to Belgrade--about 2 hours from here-- and Michael bought himself a metal lathe. He was amazed at the size of it and the reasonable price. Saturday he got it running and is even more pleased!

Saturday morning I made 3 batches of tomatillo salsa--yum!


We spent today loading the motorhome and getting the car ready to tow. Nat came up for lunch and we had a nice visit with him.

Emmi is nine weeks old and we aren't progressing very rapidly with the potty training. I can't ever catch her going in the house (maybe that means I should be watching closer??).


These two brats were in our front yard Friday morning eating my shrubs. Emmi and I went out and barked at them. Jazz was really good at keeping the deer out of the yard, Emmi needs to work on those skills!

Our weather has been unseasonably cool and rainy for August. Since Thursday, we have had another inch of rain and everything is beautifully green for August.