Slowing Down

For my part, today was a much slower day, thank goodness, don't think I could have survived another day like yesterday. I weeded all the flower beds after our walk, gave myself a pedicure and made lunch.

Michael continues to work on his haying equipment trying to get it ready for cutting soon after July 4. At least it was cooler today while he worked and this afternoon we got our daily thunderstorm which made it even cooler.

This afternoon I headed to the quilting studio and began work on a quilt I want to have ready in time to enter into the Sweet Grass County Fair in late July. It is an applique quilt I started over two years ago while staying with Nat as he recuperated from his heart surgery. I finished applying the borders and now it is ready to load on the machine and quilt. But the rest of this week is spoken for so I won't get much quilting done until after the 4th.

We are off to Billings bright and early in the morning, we both have appointments with the dermatologist. We also have a shopping list a mile long.

I Need A Vacation

Many more days like this and both of us are going to need a vacation. I mowed the grass down the edges of the driveway and then mowed and weed whacked around the worm fence at the county road. The people who bought our ranch and other house are coming Thursday so I also mowed their grass.

After lunch I went back down to the other house and cleaned a little. Joe and Tammy live in Denver and have two teenagers. They never seem to get away from Denver very early and I just hate to have them walk in late at night to a house that isn't exactly clean as it has been empty for months.

OK, got that chore accomplished, now I see that my Explorer needs a bath. By the time I finished washing the car, I was pooped. I fixed a quick pasta dinner and now I am wondering how I am going to get out of this chair.

While we were having dinner, a quick thunderstorm moved through and I took this photo of the double rainbow.

The rest of the photos are of some of the wildflowers we see every morning on our walks. The first one is cow parsnip, the plant has huge, king size leaves and then this pretty white flowering stalk.
Lupine, notice the lady bug at the top of the flower. I didn't see the lady bug when I was taking the photo, only when I downloaded it.

Michael thinks this is a wild geranium.

Poor Michael is trying to get his old tractor to run without much success today, maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Sweet Grass Fest

This is rodeo weekend in Big Timber, Montana and yesterday was Sweet Grass Fest complete with a car show, vendors, a run/walk, and a parade. Mike was kind of hesitant to go but I talked him into it and off we went early yesterday morning.

First stop was a couple of garage sales where I purchased a bunch of wine glasses. Then it was off to Women of the Wild West store. This store is owned by a very talented woman who designs and makes high end women's western clothing such as split riding skirts made from butter soft leather. The store was having its first ever sale and was even selling some of the fabrics used in making the clothing. I purchased 12 yards of beautiful fabric for an unbelievable price.

I joined up with Michael who was cruising the rows of antique restored cars. A high school friend of Mike's who lives near Denver happened to be in town for the weekend and we joined Sarge and another friend, John for lunch. After lunch we walked through the antique cars again and then found a parade watching spot.

It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people in town for the parade. I hope my photos convey how beautiful and small townish our little piece of Montana really is.

Smokey the Bear on top of one of the many firetrucks.

This little guy stole the show, notice his faithful little dog companion riding along.

These horses led the parade--they belong to a local ranch.

Big Timber, MT and the parade route.

Several of the graduating classes from Sweet Grass High School were having class reunions. The people riding in these vintage Yellowstone Park tour buses graduated in 1952.

The Color Guard presenting the Flags, to the right of the US flag is a woman in a dark skirt, she is singing the national anthem with no music--it was beautiful--by day her regular job is as a massage therapist (mine).

I think this was Michael's favorite car.

We all enjoyed the parade immensely and then headed out to the home of friends Jill and Terry for a cookout. Mom and her friend Chuck were also here for the weekend and came with us for the cookout. It was another fun gathering with great food and great friends.

Then it was home where one little black Schnauzer was glad to see us. We collapsed for the evening.

Today Nat joined us for a wonderful lunch out on the deck. Pork tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, salad with lettuce from my garden and angel food cake with strawberries.

Mom and Chuck left after lunch and this evening Michael has gone back into town to visit with his friend Sarge and I practiced quilting.

Verizon and Giving the Motorhome a Bath

Michael was awake a while before me, long enough to read our e-mails and see that Verizon had really wreaked havoc with our bill. His comment to me when I walked into the living room (mind you, I have not even had the first sip of coffee so he was living dangerously) was, "boy you have your work cut out for you today with Verizon." I got on the phone and quickly got it all straightened out, they refunded close to $100 of mis-charged stuff. One problem solved, on to the next.

The next problem we found when we went for our walk was way too much irrigating water going to the wrong places. Dirt has shifted and collapsed and water was everywhere. Michael used the little excavator to do a temporary fix and came to the house to build another head gate. He got it built and installed about lunch time.

I spent the morning spraying weeds up and down the driveway and making lunch. Mom and Chuck are coming on Saturday so I made an angel food cake to have with fresh strawberries, too.

Way too much water!

Fireweed, isn't it beautiful!Wild Rose, all the old timers around here say when the wild roses bloom, high water is over.

After lunch Michael brought the motorhome out to the garage to do some maintenance work and I quilted. When he got ready to wash the motorhome he came and got me to help, now I wonder why??? That is one monstrous thing to have to wash! But, we got it done, it still needs a little more work on the front where all the bugs collect but it started to rain, the temperature dropped and the wind was blowing.

A cloudy June day in Montana.

Piano Tuning

Last night after I posted the blog we decided to take the bug and go into Big Timber for ice cream. Michael wanted to see if it would run this time, NOT, never did get that ice cream. The poor VW probably has something such as rust particles in its gas tank so no more driving the VW until Michael figures out if he want to replace the gas tank.

We were both up very early this morning so our walk was early and a good thing, it was almost 90 degrees today.

Nat arrived early, too, to tune my piano. He worked hard all morning, I fed he and Mike hamburgers for lunch and made the piano tuner cookies for his payment.

The quilt with all the stitch in the ditch is finished, hallelujah!! I took it off the machine late this afternoon and it doesn't look bad if I do say so myself (that is if you don't look too close!). Jazzy girl got a bath and haircut today, she was not liking the warmer weather.

Michael installed the head gate in the irrigation ditch and then worked on our old hay cutting swather the rest of the day. He is going to not only cut our hay but the hay of one of our neighbors so he decided the swather needed some maintenance.

Boone Mountain (see, Ellie, almost all the snow is gone off the mountain) with our neighbor's pivot doing a fine job of irrigating this morning.

I think these pretty yellow flowers are probably some kind of noxious weed but it sure makes for a beautiful meadow.
My piano tuner, aka Michael's Dad Nat.

Aunt Margaret's Star Quilt all done!

Another beautiful day in Montana.

Beautiful Time of Year

Fall is my favorite time of year but summer runs a close second. The yard and flower beds look wonderful, the fields are still green and everything just looks so rich. I spent the entire day outside starting with weed spraying and ended up planting wildflower seeds.

Irrigating water in this country is very important and nobody complains when there is too much water. When we started out on our walk this morning, Michael commented that there sure was a lot of water in our pond and it was very muddy. So, our walk took us up along the irrigation ditch to where the irrigating water comes down our ditch or is diverted to our creek. Oh, my, was there ever a lot of water. Michael managed to divert most of it down the irrigation ditch so it wouldn't run into the pond any more. The water went over the top of our lower dam crossing sometime during the night, it's a wonder it didn't wash the entire dam away!

So, Michael spent the afternoon building a head gate so we can better control the water. He had to make a quick trip over to his son's this morning, septic tank problems in a house with 2 adults and 3-4 young adults. (Can't call our granddaughter Katie a teenager anymore, she will be 21 in September). Guess that is called a plumbing emergency!

I sprayed weeds along the irrigating ditch bank today all the way around to our water's origination point. The bank is narrow and very steep on one side so believe me, I payed attention to my driving.

A beautiful day in Montana.

My Poor VW

Ever had your life flash before your eyes?? Well, I did today--I had an appointment in Big Timber at 2:30 this afternoon and left home just after noon so I could run errands before the appointment. I decided to take the Volkswagen. Once on the highway, the VW just died. So, I thought I would just let it roll backwards, get back on the gravel road, park it and start walking home, someone would pick me up, our county road is well traveled. When I got onto the gravel road I picked up way too much speed going downhill backwards--put on the brake, slowed a little but not enough, put on the brake harder and went into a sharp, backward spin on the gravel road. Now, mind you, the side where I was headed is a steep drop off into a neighbor's hayfield. The few seconds I was out of control, many things went through my head, "I'm going to roll, I'm going to go end over end, and most important of all--I HAVE NO SEAT BELTS!!!" The rear end of the car bounced up over the raised edge of the side of the road and that edge caught the front wheels and I came to a jarring stop. Next thought, "if I take my foot off the brake I will go over." I eased my foot up a little and I went nowhere, I finally had the wherewithal to put it in first gear and get out. I was shaking but started walking. I hadn't gone three steps when I heard a honk and it was our friend Frank, the septic tank guy. He attached a chain and pulled me and the wounded VW home. Mike thinks we probably have a plugged fuel line and is working on it. To say the least, I am NOT driving the VW until it is in perfect running condition!

It must be the week for car accidents, my friend Kelly in Kansas City was hit by a teenaged driver Sunday night totaling her Prius. She is OK, has burns from the air bag and feels like she has been run over which she has.

OK, deep breath and I got in the Explorer and hurried to town for my massage appointment which I needed even more after my little experience. The massage was heavenly and afterwards I completed all my errands which included purchasing paint to paint the quilt studio (are you reading this Jeane).

Michael worked on his dirt moving project today and it is completed except for a little clean up work.

The Columbine in our garden are beautiful.

It was one of those why we live in Montana kind of days.

Yard Work

In my next life I am going to live in a condo with no grass to mow and no weeds to spray! (Probably not). I started the day out weed whacking, cut the finicky little dog a path to her favorite rock (she hates tall grass), cut the grass and weeds along the edges of the driveway and edged the lawn here around the house. By then, it was time for lunch, thank goodness for leftovers!

After lunch I got on the riding mower and mowed our paths through the hay fields and cut the lawns.

The afternoon chores included weeding the garden and planting some more lettuce, making Jazz some food and getting the invitations ready for our July 4 party.

A view of our mountains coming up the East Boulder Road

This is a photo of Mike's rocks with which he is facing the front of the garage.

This is a photo of what Michael did today. He built a rock retaining wall around one side of the garage and even added steps! Isn't he talented??

I may have to sleep in this chair tonight, not sure I can get out of it! We had sunshine today, windy, but sunshine.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads. Mike's Dad Nat came up for lunch and I fixed those marinated steaks again, twice baked potatoes, salad and the ice cream/chocolate chip/raspberry sauce dessert. It was a great meal and Nat stayed around and talked with Mike about family history until almost 4pm.

I miss my Dad, he died in December, 2002. He was a slow talking southern gentleman and loved his grandchildren and home.

The Sandhill Crane egg has hatched, this morning on our walk we caught a glimpse of the little guy, he looked like a long legged duck. This afternoon I took the camera but his mom and dad had him well hidden and let their displeasure be known!

When we got back to the car after trying to photo the baby Sandhill, Jazz was sitting in the back seat as if to say, "OK, where have you guys been?"

Gosh it rained last evening and night but today we had a little sun. I quilted and quilted this afternoon.

Home From Park City

Whew, it is nice to be home. We spent lots of time shopping, Costco, Harbour Freight, Wal Mart, Dillards and the list goes on! We enjoyed a wonderful meal at CJ's and got lots of weeds sprayed and firewood cut. As we were loading the last of the firewood yesterday, I noticed that one of the tires on the trailer was almost flat. Michael then informed me that he had not brought a spare--from me, "WHAT??" He had a fix it kit with him and repaired the one hole he found. While at Costco, he had air put in the tire but it would not hold. When we got back out to the motorhome, he attempted to put the truck tire on the trailer, nope, that wouldn't work either. So, this morning before we started home, he went into Laurel and purchased a used tire for the trailer!

In one of the blogs this past week, I mentioned that I was so thankful to have Michael who can fix anything. Well, he proved himself again. The motorhome has the older TV's and the previous owners had purchased a convertor box but Michael hadn't been able to get it to work. But he did get it working this weekend, took him a while but he was successful. He wasn't so successful with the makeshift antenna he tried to create for me to use with the internet aircard--a piece of copper wire and some alligator clips--that didn't work so well.

These are photos of our place at Park City

Those are the Beartooth Mountains in the distance. The property is really gorgeous, open meadows, rolling hills, pine tree filled draws--surely someone new wants to call it home??

Didn't take us long to unpack the motorhome. Carol, from "over the hill" in Bozeman, we really like our new to us motorhome. While it has no slides and less room than our previous fifth wheel, we just feel at home in it. We are getting it set up as we like and getting all the kinks worked out which included a new water pump this weekend. Just when I think I have stuff put away where it needs to be, I decide to change it. We looked at some wood flooring for the motorhome while at Costco this weekend and I think that is the route we are going to go when we get ready to discard the pink carpet.

It is raining and the forecast is for heavy rain this afternoon and tonight.

Park City, MT

When we sold the ranch almost 4 years ago, we took some of the proceeds and purchased a parcel of land in Park City near Billings. We've been trying to sell it for over a year but as everyone knows, nothing is selling! It is a beautiful property, lots of pine trees, rolling hills, meadows and gorgeous views. We decided to give the new motorhome its first test and drove down to the property this morning.

I brought the truck and trailer with the Kawasaki mule on board so we could also spray some weeds while camping out. I had an appointment to get my hair cut early in Billings so I met Michael out on the property. He and Jazz had been for a long walk and had cut down one dead tree and made firewood.

We have a huge list of things that need to be obtained here in Billings so hopefully we will get everything accomplished.

My internet aircard won't work at the property so I won't be posting any blogs until we get home on Saturday or Sunday. I was sure it would work but, no, we are hidden behind too many hills.

And oh, by the way, it is raining here in Billings, too.

Loading the Motorhome

Yesterday we spent the day loading and fixing the motorhome. I am so thankful I have Michael for a husband--the outside light doesn't work, he can fix it, the water pump is not working correctly, he can fix it. A physician I worked with at one point in my career said his wife called 911 if he picked up a screw driver--it's nice to have Michael.

In the evening I went into town to a StampinUp party. My friend Barb is a representative for a company that sells card making supplies and I have been making my own cards for a couple of years. Jeane had been to these parties and encouraged me to go. I had a ball and learned so much. We made two cards last night and had some delicious ice cream with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Today we are off on an adventure--we are taking the motorhome to our property near Billings and camping out for a few days. We are going to cut some firewood and spray some weeds. Our Billings list, Costco, Harbour Freight, etc. is two pages long, it may take us several days just to get it all accomplished.

It rained most of the night, may be a rainy weekend.

A Mostly Sunny Day

It rained during the night again but today was a mostly sunny day--it felt so good and made everything around us a vivid green. I forgot to mention yesterday's exercise program--Michael had me picking up rocks from the hillside for the front of the garage--big time manual labor!

Today was our friend Larry's birthday and he is working as a carpenter on a remodel job for our friends Nancy and Geoff who live one mile up the road from us. After our walk this morning, I baked cookies and Michael and I took them up to Larry and the rest of the crew.

When we got back, Michael attempted to do some stock market research and I mixed up a batch of Cheese Bread from the Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day. The breads from this cookbook are mixed, allowed to rise for a couple of hours then refrigerated. When you are ready to bake bread, you pull off a piece of the refrigerated dough, let it rise for less than an hour and pop it in the oven. No kneading. The dough will last in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. As I type this the smell of it is driving us crazy, can't wait for it to cool a little so we can try it out.

After lunch I quilted after practicing a lot of different filler ideas for the rest of my Aunt's quilt. Michael (poor thing) laid some more rocks on the front of the garage, I will try to remember to take some photos tomorrow so everyone can see his progress.

Fresh snow on Boone Mountain

It's Raining Again

I know in August we are going to be wishing for rain but I sure wish we could have some sunshine and warmer temperatures now.

Yesterday Michael put up some more rocks on the front of the garage and I spent the day getting ready for our Bar-b-Que and piddling. Mother Nature did not cooperate and our planned outdoor on the deck party turned into an inside party and with 9 people, my house can get crowded! Jill, Terry and their daughter Keri, Nancy and Geoff, and Robyn and Claire joined us for hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. Jill made a dessert to die for--over near Red Lodge is a restaurant called the Grizzly Bar and they make a dessert of vanilla ice cream rolled in miniature chocolate chips drizzled with raspberry sauce--Jill copied it--I could have eaten more than one for sure!!

Today Michael installed a new hot water tank, the one that controls our radiant floor heat was kaput--there sure were a lot of loud words coming from that area of the basement!

I spent the afternoon finishing up that blasted stitch in the ditch on my Aunt's quilt--now I get to do the fun stuff.

As I type this, a storm is moving across and it is raining again!

On our walk yesterday morning, this storm was coming toward us, we did manage to get back to the house before we got wet!

I labeled this photo, "That damn dog." I'm sure that is what this spruce grouse was saying cause Jazz chased her up in this tree.
We will have lots of bears this fall--look at all those blossoms on the chokecherry bushes.

Fence Building

My little garden is growing in spite of the fact it rained/snowed for a solid week and I was worried about the deer and rabbit eating it. Michael and I built a fence around the garden yesterday so the critters can't get in.

In the evening we went to Geoff and Nancy's for a martini party--let me tell you, martinis are not my drink of choice! I used to like them, a friend's stepdad introduced me to martinis while I was living in Wyoming but I guess I am either too old or loosing my tolerance!

Today was mostly a lazy day--Michael laid some more rocks on the face of the garage, I cleaned a little and in the afternoon he went over to Twelve Springs to pick up the last piece of equipment he had over there. In the evening we went into town and Nat took us to dinner. Jazzy was very glad to see Nat and he was very glad to see her feeling so much better.

Tomorrow evening we are having a gathering of friends here for burgers and hotdogs on the grill.

War on Weeds

The sun is shining, the sun is shining and it is still shining at 8pm as I type this! A beautiful day.

I waged war on the weeds again--we have a hillside that seems to love to grow leafy spurge, an extremely noxious weed that if left unchecked, will take over everything. Nothing eats it except sheep that are really hungry! So, I took the dreaded back pack sprayer and climbed up and down that hill--I told Michael that if I didn't come back in an hour to come look for me, I might be upside down in the creek like a turtle with that back pack sprayer on my back.

Michael decided to bring the motorhome up close to the house, dump the tanks and start loading it with stuff. After lunch I joined in the fun and started trying to find a place to put all our things. I had more cabinet and closet space in the 5th wheel but we are going to make this work. In our 5th wheel we had a huge coat closet up front and the washer/dryer closet that we used for storage. I'm trying to limit the amount of clothing and shoes I take, this could be difficult!

The motorhome has a funky air horn that you can chose to have play music, all kinds of different tunes. When Michael came into the yard with the rig, Jazzy was outside and he blew the horn, making her howl along with the music!

Baby Robins and Carpet Cleaning

This is the strangest weather. Every morning it is cloudy, cold and damp, you would think we were in Seattle--every evening, the sun comes out, the clouds go away and you think maybe there is a chance we will have sunshine in the morning, NOT! Still fireplace weather.

We have two large spruce trees in front of our house just outside the dining room windows and a mother robin has built a nest there. She raises a couple of broods every spring and summer. She allowed me to get really close this morning to take this photo--I guess she is keeping the little guys warm, you can see one of the beaks sticking out from underneath her.

Got this photo while Mom was off the nest, there are three babies.

I quilted all day, I have one more row of stitch in the ditch to do before I can start the fun stuff.

Michael came home early (4pm instead of his usual 6pm). He finished the project at 12 Springs and brought one piece of equipment home. He was ambitious or rather wanted me to be ambitious and suggested I clean the carpet in the motorhome as we had borrowed LoraLee's carpet cleaner. The bathroom window in the motorhome had been leaking so he took that apart and ended up taking the window completely out while I cleaned carpet. The carpet looks so much better and now I won't be afraid to walk on it with bare feet. You guys just wouldn't believe how dirty that RV was!!

Now we are sitting with our feet up having a glass of wine, life is good but I sure am pooped!

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Every time I was awake last night, it was raining and it was pouring when we got up this morning. But about 8am, it quit and the sun even came out for a while, in fact the sun is shining as I type this.

I spent the day in the quilt studio doing stitch in the ditch. I felt I needed to learn some new skills and stitch in the ditch was one. Let me tell you, if someone is paying me to quilt and they want stitch in the ditch, it is really going to cost them!! The quilt I am doing is my Aunt Marg's, I hope she likes it!

Michael went back to Lonnie's today and had a good day, he thinks he can finish tomorrow.

This little guy flew into the window today but he survived, just knocked the breath out of him for a while. I have a CD siliconed to each window, I borrowed the idea from a lodge we saw in a popular bird watching canyon in Arizona. It helps but still doesn't keep the little guys from trying to commit suicide!

A Western Tanager

Jazzy is doing well, eating bunches, she is still on a low dose of prednisone and I am going to try weaning her off the steroid to see how she does. She played with toys today and chased rabbits (sorry Stepmom Angie, I didn't catch any, I promise).

Life is good.

Another Fire in the Fireplace

Our friends Jim and Ellie posted a comment on yesterday's blog stating they hoped the snow would all be gone by the time they arrived in July--making no promises, guys! Today was a little better, cool but a few hours with no rain or snow. We still have had a fire in the fireplace all day!

Michael was off to work at the Twelve Springs Ranch, managed by his son and his wife. They are re-doing the water system. Mike got home about 6pm and was a muddy mess!

I took the Volkswagen to town for the first time today and attracted a lot of attention. I had two guys stop me and ask me where I got that nice looking old bug. My friend Jill and I had lunch and I picked up some more low fat kind of dog food for the Jazzy girl. We are back on steroids but weaning off and I hope the low fat dog food does the trick. She seems to like it, scarfs it down!

When I got home, I headed straight to the quilting studio. I've got to get more time in on that machine or I will never get my Aunt's quilts quilted! The weather has been perfect for quilting, for sure.

Michael was a guinea pig for supper--I made crabcakes and he was not impressed. I thought they were very good--he ate lots of bread and coleslaw!

Happy Anniversary

Oops I forgot something when I posted the blog last night. Yesterday was my sister Ann and brother-in-law Danny's 34th wedding anniversary and it was also their daughter Niki and her husband Eric's 12th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary dear family, we love you.

June Snow

Jim and Ellie don't read this! The snow started yesterday afternoon late and it was still snowing this morning. None accumulated as the ground is too warm, but still--34 degrees and snow in June. All my potted flowers are inside and the poor birds are cleaning out the feeders in less than a day. Jazz has no interest in being outside.

Friday evening Jeane, Steve, Denny, Ellen and Gemma came for dinner. We had a marvelous time and great food if I do say so myself (everybody else said so, too!). We had grilled flank steaks marinated in olive oil, rosemary and garlic, day before mashed potatoes, tomato and mozzarella cheese salad, green beans with butter, lemon juice and almonds and finished off with rhubarb crisp and vanilla ice cream. We all waddled off to bed that night! Denny and Ellen are getting ready to leave the valley, Ellen to Seattle to work for the summer (she is a nurse) and Denny to the Philippines to work with the mission they support for deaf children.

Saturday I tidied up the house a little and quilted until Mom and her new friend Chuck arrived. As you know Mom is working over in Yellowstone Park this summer and so is Chuck. He is a fulltime RVer and on his way from TN to Yellowstone, stopped in Arkansas and spent a couple of weeks there getting to know the family. It was good to meet him, an easy person to be around.

Today Mom and Chuck left before lunch, Mom was worried about the mountain passes inside Yellowstone Park that might be closed due to snow. She works at Canyon which is in the interior of the Park. Well, sure enough, the passes were closed so she was stranded at Chuck's in Gardiner for a while.

Michael spent the day recuperating from whatever bug he acquired while in Billings at the car auction on Saturday with Steve and I spent the day quilting.

At present, the snow has stopped.

Mom, Chuck and I drove up to Natural Bridge yesterday afternoon, the river is running high.

Pretty yellow flowers in a snowstorm at Natural Bridge, boy was it cold and windy while we were there.

I took this photo at sunset last night, the snow had stopped and the sun was peaking out for a very short while. The sun was hitting the snow covered, burned mountains behind our house and the colors were glorious.

A hungry Hummer.

Whew, I'm Pooped

It sure was hard to roll out of bed this morning--I feel like Al from The Bayfield Bunch. Yard work is making an old woman out of me! Yesterday I finished weed whacking the grass down by the county road along the worm fence, mowed the grass here at the house and baked bread (the easy part).

In the evening I went to the Peace by Piece Quilt Quild meeting in Livingston for the first time. It was an enjoyable group of ladies, they had brought quilting things they did not want and there was a silent auction-fun.

Michael had a rough day yesterday at his son's. He started the project to re-do the water supply going to their house, broke the lines as he was digging them up, caused all sorts of water problems in the house--not a good day! He has to go back today and finish fixing his disaster and it is supposed to rain.

A few days ago someone sent me one of those e-mails where if you send it to several friends something wonderful will happen at an exact time. I usually delete these e-mails but this one, I liked the message so I forwarded it to several friends including my good friend in Kansas City, Kelly. Kelly is a true type A personality, extreme energy, loves to work, probably will never retire. We both started working for Kimberly-Clark on the same day and she had decided that the hand writing was on the wall--it was time to leave. BUT--she needed to find something to do--her house sparkles as does her yard and she just has to have something to do. She has been searching and was in the interview process with a firm in Michigan--Kelly is a RN with a MBA and very talented. Within minutes of the "exact time" the e-mail said something good would happen to her, she got a confirmation that the job was hers. It will be a wonderful position--lots of travel, excellent pay and benefits--I am so happy for her. I told her my angel hadn't shown up yet cause I asked for a yard work angel!

Today I must clean the house, I have put it off but we are having company tonight for dinner, it is friend Ellen's birthday!

Motorhome Cleaning

The morning was spent working on the VW, Michael has it running like a top now and I spent the morning cooking and cleaning a little in the house.

It rained most of the night and our aspen tree grove has us feeling as if we live in a jungle. The beautiful little birds, lazuli buntings, rosy red finches and gold finches are eating me out of house and home, I fill the feeders sometimes twice a day. We have many hummingbirds, too.

We both spent the afternoon out in the motorhome, me cleaning, Michael working on the water system again--seems as if we have a bad pump!! Jazzy spent the day snoozing as usual--lazy dog!

A Rainy Cleaning Day

A short walk in the rain was the extent of our exercise today--it is very cool and rainy, our friends say welcome to Junerary in Montana.

The motorhome began calling me today saying clean me so that's what I started out to do until I discovered the major water leak around the hot water tank and had to go call the plumber, aka Michael. He quickly discovered that it wasn't the hot water tank but a water filter under the kitchen sink and the water had seeped into the other compartment. Older motorhomes are definitely not built like the newer ones for sure! I did get the bedroom windows and mini-blinds cleaned. It is going to take me a while to get it all cleaned. Michael spent some more time figuring out the electrical system and buttons after he fixed the water leak.

About 4pm, we headed to Livingston to have dinner with our friends Gwen and Arch. Gwen is also our realtor and she wanted to discuss plans for selling our property we own near Billings. We had a great meal at the Rib and Chop House and discussed all the options for trying to move that piece of land this summer.

A quick grocery store stop (there is an Albertson's in Livingston) then we drove home in a steady rain. One little black dog was very glad to see us.

What Happened To Spring?

We woke this morning to grey skies and 44 degrees. A light misting rain has fallen most of the day. The last four days have been awesome, sunny and close to 80 degrees each day--so what happened to our spring, winter came back--I have a fire in the fireplace as I write this!

Sunday I found muscles I didn't know existed! I had Michael teach me how to run a chainsaw--YIKES! And I started in on the brush pile that was such an ugly mess off the end of our deck in the creek. I burned the trimmings and carried armload after armload of limbs to the burn pile. Sunday evening I could hardly move! But, our busy social calendar called and we were off to Nancy and Geoff's just up the road--good company, wine and food--what more could you ask for??

The storm moving in this morning.

Took this photo yesterday when we had sun, my lettuce, radishes and peas are sprouted.

Balsam Root

Yesterday Michael worked out in the motorhome all day fixing some little things and trying to make sense of all the buttons and gadgets.

I hurried and mowed the edges of our driveway and around the worm fence down by the road before the rain started. But I didn't get the weed whacking done before the rain came. I spent the rest of the day in the quilt studio--I purchased zippers at the quilting convention I attended and today I installed those zippers on the canvas leaders of the longarm machine. The zippers make it easy to take one quilt off and put another on.

Michael worked out in the garage all day, he is trying to make the Volkswagen run better.

Jazzy continues to improve, she is almost back to her normal self!