Quilting and Welding

When I went outside this morning to get firewood I came back inside and asked Michael, "are we in Arizona and I just don't know it?" It was so balmy feeling but that's about to change--the wind is howling as I write this bringing a cold front and maybe a little snow.

I spent the day quilting and quilting. Finished this quilt for a friend and got another quilt loaded onto the frame. I'm making progress toward getting all those quilts finished before Christmas.

I finished our holiday letter and got it printed and made Michael lunch--just leftovers. Emmi had the best job of all today, she slept! Michael worked on Steve's "truck" and completed a set of fireplace grates for friends Robyn and Claire. That's about it for a Monday.

Windy Day

A cold, windy day, made me not even want to go for a walk but I did. I am always ready to go south before Michael is but last night he started packing and this morning when I asked him if he was about ready to go south, he said yes, YEA!

He spent the day gathering firewood and cutting sawmill slabs into fire starter type wood. I guess he doesn't believe the weatherman knows what he is talking about--should be about 50 degrees the next couple of days.

Nat came for lunch and I made a meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes. Then after lunch I tortured him--I took all his stitches and staples out and re-dressed his incisions. Saves us a trip to Billings to get all that done.

Emmi loves to play with Nat, he throws toys for her and plays tug of war.

The view of the West Boulder mountains on our walk this morning.
Terry & Jill and Nancy & Geoff are coming for dinner--grilled pork tenderloins.

Glass Etching

It was almost 7am when we both woke up this morning--unusual for us and Emmi. By the time we had our coffee and internet fix it was getting over in the morning. We took a walk and I then started on cleaning our basement storage room. The Christmas decoration boxes and other stuff had kind of taken over and you needed shin protectors to travel through to get to the groceries!

Michael got a quick lunch, I fixed easy quesadillas and then I headed up the Boulder on the road from hell (the road is really a mess right now, potholes that you could lose a car in!) to Peg's house for our glass etching class.

Who knew that glass etching was so easy?? You cut out a silhouette using a Cricut cutter and place that silhouette on the glass object then paint it with etching paste, wait ten minutes and wahla--you have etched glass. It is an acid but you can touch it--when you are washing it off the glass you use your bare hands. I etched six wine glasses with log cabins and they turned out great!

Peg (left, our hostess) and Marilyn--two of the nicest ladies you will ever, ever meet.
Mary (left) and Gaye, our teachers.

Gemma and Edith

The glass etching gang hard at work. Can you see the view out Peg's windows--it is just beautiful.

The finished product.

A fun afternoon, Emmi kept Dad company and they worked out in the garage all afternoon. It was a chilly sunny afternoon.

The Day After

Mary arrived about 9am to finish quilting her beautiful quilt. It only took her about an hour. When she left I went outside to see if I could fix the lights I put on one of the trees Wednesday. Wouldn't you know it--when I plugged the lights in while still in the basement they all worked. Got them on the tree which was no easy feat as the tree is 8-9 feet tall and plugged the lights in--half of the lights didn't work--GRRRR. I gathered a bunch of spare bulbs and started changing and about the sixth one I changed made all the bulbs work again, YEA.

It was time to feed Michael and then I headed into Big Timber. I wanted to check out the stores and see what was for sale as well as visit with all the other people I knew would be in BT. Plus, I got to drive the little sports car! Town was packed as were all the stores. I purchased a couple of Christmas presents--one for Elizabeth and Leah--my great nieces. Had a breve at Cinnabar Creek before coming home.

When I got home Michael was scurrying around gathering tools. Seems Lonn and LoraLee were having septic problems--the new house has what is called a pumping septic system. There is an alarm that sounds when the system malfunctions. OK--they have been in this house two weeks and the system is alarming???? So we headed off with a new pump for the septic system and my presence was requested by LoraLee and her sister Barb--they had a sewing problem. Seems the contractor who installed the septic system wasn't exactly on the up and up and the pump was not the correct type. Mike installed the new pump and now Katie can shower.

LoraLee's problem was easier to solve--she and Barb just needed a zipper placed into a pillow thing that new mothers use to support babies when breast feeding. That was easy. LoraLee fed us supper as if after yesterday we needed anything else to eat! Emmi spent the evening chasing and being chased and is now sacked out on the floor, dead to the world.

Sunset yesterday on the West Boulder
Mr. Pheasant by the roadside.

Two Mr. Pheasants by the roadside. We saw four males yesterday on the way over to Boo and Terry's.

Christmas decorations in our house.

Happy Thanksgiving Again

We had a most wonderful day with friends Boo & Terry, George & Shirley and Jeane & Steve. This is the first time in 15 years that I have not had a huge crowd at my house for Thanksgiving. Boo & Terry volunteered (they are always on our Thanksgiving guest list) to host this year and I thought, "what a wonderful idea!"

We had the traditional turkey plus a beef tenderloin and all the fixings--oyster dressing (Terry grew up on the Chesapeake Bay), corn pudding, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad and green beans, YUM--can you say waddle??? For dessert we had pumpkin bars, derby pie and pecan cranberry pie--can you now say stuffed?? But oh my, it was so very good as was the great company. A wonderful day to be thankful!

The Thanksgiving table.

The view from Terry and Boo's house--these are the mountains you see from our house just a different perspective.

Boo & Terry's beautiful home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. May this day remind us all of the things for which we should be thankful.

I am so thankful I have such a close and loving family, I am so thankful for Michael. We have such a great group of close friends and we are thankful for those. Our health, the beautiful place we live, the list just goes on and on.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.

Did We Lose Our Minds

The high temperature this afternoon was around 50 degrees and Michael decided we needed to go for a Spyder ride. He told me he would go get the car while I got ready. When he pulled up to the back door, he had the top down!!! We just went a little ways up the Boulder and it was not unpleasant. Notice the new cap he is wearing, his high school buddy Sarge sent it to him as Spyder attire as Mike can't wear a cowboy hat in the car, might lose it in the wind and when the top is up there isn't enough room.

Michael gave me several new gray hairs and made my heart stop today. He had the motor home up on one of its rear jacks and had the wheels blocked with wooden blocks. He crawled under the motor home to adjust the brakes and just as I walked out of the house the motor home moved and it appeared that Michael was pinned beneath it. I was never more relieved in my life to see him wiggle out from underneath. He doesn't know why it moved, the wheel chocks slipped and the motor home did come to rest on his chest but not so tightly that he couldn't get out.

When he was a teenager, he and a friend were working on a car with Michael underneath and the jack slipped out pinning Michael's head under the car. It scared his friend so bad that he was able to lift the car enough for Mike to crawl out--he has a scar on his cheek from that episode. The guy has used up some of his lives hasn't he??

I spent the entire day decorating for the holidays--yes, I have my tree up before Thanksgiving. I decided that if I wasn't having a houseful of people for Thanksgiving lunch I would enjoy the Christmas decorations a little longer this year. The house looks beautiful--I tried out some new decorating ideas this year and it worked. Now we will see if the tree can withstand Emmi!

Nat and I got phone calls this afternoon telling us that the little spot the doctor biopsied during all the more involved surgery a few days ago was another squamous cell carcinoma and Nat will have to have another MOHS procedure on December 23.

I've also stirred the pot with my blog post on November 19 when I was very critical of the care we received in Billings during Nat's original surgery. Seems that Billings Clinic has a service that scans the web for references to Billings Clinic and it picked up my blog post from that day. A public relations person has attempted to reach me but we haven't made contact yet and today the dermatologist that did Nat's surgery called me. As I worked in the health care system for so many years (28+) I understand way too much about how it works and still stand by the statements I made.

As I was finishing up this blog post I missed Emmi--couldn't find her--look where she decided to nap!

My sweet potatoes are in the oven baking so I can make the casserole tomorrow and we are just relaxing.

Secret Revealed

Now we can talk about the quilt I was working on that I couldn't talk about or show photos of on the blog. The quilt was a gift from our family in Montana and Arkansas to Maaike and Leon from Holland who are expecting their first child just after the first of December. Many years ago my Mom decided to get an exchange student when my niece was a senior in high school. I thought Mom was crazy to want another teenager in her home after all hers were grown and gone but she persisted and Maaike from Holland arrived. Maaike became a member of our family, not just an exchange student that disappeared when her year was up. She and her entire family including her new husband and his mother visit Arkansas frequently. Christmas of 2008 there were eight members of the Holland family celebrating with us.

My maternal grandmother was a quilter and made many, many of these baby quilts for family and friends. A few years ago I wanted to make one of the quilts for my niece who was expecting her second child and began searching for the pattern finding that my mother had inherited the pattern when Grandma died. When we found out that Maaike was expecting we decided she needed one of the baby quilts as she also knew and loved Grandma. I made the quilt and Mom and Ann, my sister, shipped it off to Holland about a week ago and Maaike called Mom today. Maaike--your Montana family wishes you, Leon and your new baby the best.


Today was a busy day. We brought all the Christmas decorations up from the basement and got the tree up and lighted. I made lunch then headed for Big Timber to run multiple errands--got the tires rotated on the Explorer, stopped at the library, mailed off some finished quilts to Marti in Arkansas, picked up a quilt to be quilted, got a massage and then went to our local quilt gathering. We learned to make pillowcases tonight--I made some to match the quilt I made for the motor home. One of the member brought great munchies for tonight and we enjoyed sewing and visiting. I am now home and pooped!

This guy and his girlfriend came strolling by about lunch time today.

Emmi was very glad to see me when I got home, she is the most excited little dog when someone she loves comes home.

The Car Fits

Michael decided this morning that he wanted to try and load the little sports car into the trailer we purchased. He drove and I provided directions--it fit, barely!! We didn't even have to yell at each other! We need to paint some direction lines on the floor of that trailer--it is a very snug fit!

Nat needed some help with a dressing change on his nose and Mike needed some transmission fluid for the motor home so Nat drove up and had lunch with us bringing his nose and the transmission fluid. He is having a fair amount of pain from his biopsies and is just weary from it.

After lunch I finished a quilt for my Aunt Margaret called a Mumbo Gumbo (I think). Recognize your quilt Aunt Marg?? While I was removing it from the zippers Emmi decided it looked like a good place to take a nap!
Here's another shot of the same quilt.

I also spent a lot of time this afternoon trying to get someone to call me from EE Schenck, a wholesale fabric/other sewing stuff distributor. Judy from Patchwork Times wrote a blog about poor customer service the other day. There seems to be such a lack of caring and customer service anywhere anymore. I have been trying to deal with another quilt batting company too and the customer service I expected just isn't there. I did finally get my order placed with EE Schenck and the customer service rep that I spoke with was very personable and seemed glad to have my order. So, batting is on the way.

Emmi has a bad hair day every day!

Poor Michael spent most of his day out in the cold working on that old motor home--I think it is getting on his last nerve!

Quilting and Quilting

The day started out sunny but cold and deteriorated to gray and cold with a nasty little cold wind.

Mary came about 10am to rent the longarm machine. I helped her get the quilt started and then I worked on cutting out the pieces for an adorable Christmas wallhanging. This was Mary's first quilt and she did really well--it was a huge quilt and she got it finished--she was amazed! It is a Christmas gift for a dear niece of hers.

The West Boulder mountains in the distance.
Boone Mountain--to the left of the pointed peak is another little snow covered mound--we have been there on a horse pack trip many years ago--it is beautiful up there, meadows, little creeks. We took the pack trip with our good friends Jill and Terry and their son Fritz who was only about 10 or 11 at the time. We had the bigger tent so Fritz slept in our tent. During the night the wind came up and sucked the tent wall out and when the wall came back in it hit me on the head. I came straight out of my sleeping bag Michael said from prone to standing straight up--I was sure a bear had come along and whacked me on the head. The next morning Fritz says, "what was all that commotion last night?" We still laugh about that night.

Michael worked on the shorter table for my longarm machine today. I made a delicious beef stew for lunch and we are having leftovers for supper.

Cold, Cold

We scurried around this morning, when we got up it was cold and blowing snow and we needed firewood. Our big firewood pile is up in the field above the house--I took the skidsteer loader and got three loads. Michael was getting ready to leave to go to Helena to see about an enclosed trailer--which he bought. It is 16 feet long and only 7 feet wide so we may have to grease the little car to get it in the trailer. We got the trailer for a great price--now we are all set to head south. Michael has been working on the motor home again, changing oil, cleaning the throttle and creating a spot to put alcohol into the air line to the throttle that gave us so much trouble in October.


Tamara came to rent the quilt machine today and while she was working I made a Christmas wall hanging that turned out well. After Tamara left I loaded one of Aunt Margaret's quilts called a Mumbo/Gumbo and got probably a third of it quilted before Michael came home.

I made stuffed pork chops and a salad for supper. Costco had the best lettuce this past week when we shopped.

It was a miserably cold, windy, snowy day but we are tucked in by the fire for the night.

Saying for the day: "This isn't as important as you are making it; don't allow it to rent space in your head."

A Mis-Mash Day

We decided not to attempt getting the car up the driveway and instead backed it down the driveway and parked it in the barn that we lease from Joe and Tammy. As you can see in the photo the driveway is still very icy!
I made a list this morning of 4 things I wanted to accomplish today and got 3 of them finished. I did 4 or 5 loads of laundry, I lost count and finished a quilt for Marti, a friend of my Aunt Margaret's in Arkansas who by the way informed me she wasn't 78 as I recently stated in the blog but only 76!I made a phone call and then tried to accomplish the last thing on the list which was to order some fabric from and establish a wholesale account with a company in Oregon. The computer or rather our internet service was not cooperating so that task didn't get a finished check mark--I'll try again on Monday.

Michael worked on the motor home all day and changed the oil. Tomorrow he is taking a drive to Helena to look at an enclosed trailer to pull behind the motor home.

Sweet Emmi asleep with her big ole bear.

Nat has always been a horseshoe pitcher. At one time he was the champ in his age group for the state of Montana. The wind blows incessantly in Big Timber so pitching horseshoes outside any time of the year is an iffy proposition. Nat did travel to various small communities to pitch in indoor arenas but as he has aged driving that far isn't something he enjoys doing any more (and I am so glad). So--he decided to build an indoor court attached to his home. He finished it up last winter and tomorrow is holding his second tournament. He gets such enjoyment from this sport and so do his cronies.

This is a photo of the outside entrance to his court.

Tonight we drove into Big Timber, picked up pizzas at the grocery store and went to check on Nat. He says he feels as if someone has been beating on his head which they did yesterday. He looks good though but doesn't feel so great--hope he can survive his tournament tomorrow--he really didn't want to cancel.

As I write this it is 50+ degrees and the wind is howling--Montana weather!

To The Doctor

Like our friends The Bayfield Bunch, I am too tired to do much of a blog tonight, no photos just a rant!

I don't know what the answer is but the health care we received in Billings today was atrocious! Nat has had a lesion on his forehead for over a year now, his nurse daughter-in-law (me) kept saying he needed to see a doctor, he kept seeing our abysmal so called medical care providers in Big Timber until about a month ago I put my foot down and made an appointment with our dermatologist. Once biopsied it was decided he needed a MOHS procedure--a small layer of tissue is shaved in tiny increments until when viewed under the microscope, no more cancer cells are visible. This is a procedure that should take at most 2 hours. We arrived in Billings at 10:45 am for an 11:00 appointment and left the Billings Clinic at 5:30pm this afternoon. The physicians at Billings Clinic are employed by the Clinic and either Dr. Wentzel is way overbooked or he can't manage his time! The paperwork alone which the nurse and doctor had to complete certainly caused at least one if not two trees to lose their lives. Nat and I were both exhausted when we left Billings, Nat with two big biopsy owies, and I do mean big! and me with just a major case of irritation.

Friends Geoff and Nancy had invited us to their home for pizza tonight. Mike went without me and I arrived at almost 8pm to a party in full swing. I declined pizza as Nat and I had sandwiches in Billings on our way out of town but I did have a glass of wine and wonderful apple crisp with ice cream.

One little Emmi dog was very glad to see me! I took the Spyder to town today and tonight we couldn't get it up the icy driveway--definitely time to go south!

Demolition Crew

We didn't get as early a start as we wanted this morning, we both couldn't sleep around 3am and spent a couple hours tossing and turning--then went back to sleep and slept too long--oh well, we still got it all done.

The house that Lonn and LoraLee lived in is being torn down--the windows in the whole house are newer and we had permission to take them. Michael went over on Monday and started the process and today we finished it. We took 15+ nice windows from the house plus some doors--more than enough to use in a planned guest house! Loaded the windows and doors in the horse trailer and headed for home. The roads are a muddy mess from melting snow and our truck and trailer are now a muddy mess, too.

This is a photo of Lonn and LoraLee's new house--of course there is no landscaping yet and it is a snowy/muddy mess around there, too.
A view from one of the upper windows of the old house.

We are off to Denny and Ellen's for dinner tonight, Emmi is home alone again!

A Trip to Billings

Emmi warned us that the buck was coming again before he got to the window about 5am this morning--she let out a loud bark and scared both of us to death but at least Michael shot at the buck before he ever got to the window. He is a persistent devil I must say!

She is such a great watchdog with bad hair!
We were off to Billings today for a round of grocery shopping and hair doing. We took Michael's boots to have them re-soled and while there Santa found me a present. We came home with an Explorer full of groceries, etc.

While I was getting my hair done, Michael went to the Toyota dealership. The little sports car we bought only came with one key. We wanted to check into getting another key--you just can't go have a key made at the hardware store for these newer vehicles--oh, no--you have to go to the dealership and then they rip you off to the tune of $105 for another key!

My friend Jill had us pick up one of those filet mignon roast for her at Costco. They live about 3 miles outside of Big Timber and we drove out to deliver the meat--Jill had opened a bottle of wine--really good wine which we enjoyed before heading home and getting about the process of unloading all the stuff from the Explorer.

A great day!

He's BAACK

That stupid buck deer woke us at 1am banging his horns on the bathroom window again. That window is a 4 foot by 5 foot piece of glass, he could do some serious damage if he breaks it. Michael fired a shot at the deer and scared him away--let's hope that deters him!

Michael went back over to Lonn and LoraLee's today to start removing windows from the old farm house. The windows are new and Lonn said we could take them out before the house is destroyed--we plan on building a guest house someday and the windows would work well.

I spent the morning giving a long arm quilting lesson. When I teach, I provide lunch and it was quiche, salad, homemade bread and cream cheese pound cake, YUM, especially the cake--can you tell I have a sweet tooth??

After my quilting student left, Emmi and I walked/slogged in mud/skated down to the mailbox by the county road. It was a beautiful day, sunny and about 45 degrees with no wind. The snow is melting fast creating mud pies!

Mike arrived home after 6pm and we had leftover quiche, etc. for dinner. We are off to Billings tomorrow to get rid of the gray hair, mine, not Michael's.

Another West Boulder scene.

Another Moving Day

Lonn, LoraLee and a company of friends moved stuff until late last night still not getting it all into the new house. So, we traveled back over this morning and helped them get everything out of the old house into the new. Our granddaughter Katie and her boyfriend Mike were also there. New furniture is being delivered sometime this week and now all that remains is for Lonn and LoraLee to find everything and put it all away.

Emmi spent another day chasing and being chased. Joe the Yorkie and Sadie the Bichon do a lot of chasing each other, growling and acting as if they are fighting. When the two of them would start up, Emmi would come running to me to be picked up--all that activity scared her!

The drive over to Lonn and LoraLee's is beautiful any time of the year but especially so now. This is a scene as you cross the West Boulder River.
The looming West Boulder Mountains in the background

More mountains and snow. Tom Brokaw has a ranch just off to the right of this photo.

Al from the Bayfield Bunch commented on the photo I took yesterday and I do appreciate critique--so, here is another version for you Al. But, you have to understand that many of my everyday photos are taken while we are moving on down the road, my husband doesn't stop too often for me just to take photos unless I get really grumpy!

We are sacked out in our chairs and Emmi is in her bed, out for the count.

Moving Day

Today was moving day for Lonn and LoraLee and we headed over this morning to help. The owners of the ranch built L & L a new house and it is gorgeous--their previous home was a little old farmhouse that had been added on to (not very skillfully at times) and just needed replacing. The new house is just up the driveway from the old and we moved stuff with Polaris Rangers and trailers. LoraLee and I spent most of the day unpacking the kitchen--it is mind boggling there are so many cabinets in that kitchen, granite countertops, huge gas range, a wonderful house.

Emmi spent the day chasing and being chased by the Joe, the Yorkie who is just a little older than she and by the Bichon who is just a little younger. She is sacked out in her bed as I write this, one pooped puppy.

This is the view from LoraLee's kitchen windows--who wouldn't want to spend time in that kitchen!
We left about 1:30 to go to Livingston to try and fix a woman's longarm quilting machine, not the brand I have but the competitor. We think we were successful, she seemed happy when we left.

We came home via Big Timber and stopped at Nat's to pick up the quilts he had fetched from the Frosty Freeze for me. The Quilts of Valor coordinator was coming through Big Timber from Bozeman today and I had volunteered to quilt some of the quilts that are being sent to Germany to our wounded service men and women--she dropped a couple off at her breakfast stop--the joys of living in a small town!

Our view from the back of our house.

Almost forgot--at 3am this morning we both sat straight up in bed and said, "what is that!!!" Emmi was growling--this awful noise was coming from our master bathroom. Michael got up to investigate and a buck deer was knocking his horns against the large glass window over our bathtub!!! What if the deer had broken the glass???? Mike turned on the bathroom light and the deer left--hope he doesn't return!

Cold Day

We woke to 10 degrees this morning and about 8 inches of snow. Emmi and I slept in while Michael was up at his usual 5am! Once he is awake in the morning, he is awake and just gets up, me--I can go back to sleep sometimes.

Our walk was a little brisk today to say the least. We didn't go far cause the snow is deep and when it is so cold the snow balls up inside Emmi's paws and she stands there with one paw in the air and this pitiful look on her face. This is Emmi all suited up to go outside Thursday morning when it was just raining.


That motor home is saying, "take me to Arizona, I am sure it is!"The rest of the photos are snow pictures taken either last night or this morning. It was absolutely beautiful.

Emmi is saying "hurry up Mom, it's cold out here!"

Michael spent the day building shelves for the garage and I spent the day quilting and playing with Emmi. A good day to be inside.

Snow and A Finished Quilt

We got up early this morning and I started cooking--I had a quilting class student coming at 9am and the fee I charge for the classes includes lunch. It was snowing hard with only about an inch on the ground. About 8am my student called to cancel, she doesn't like bad roads and who can blame her, we rescheduled for Monday. So--my quiche went in the freezer for Monday and the Pumpkin Squares are going into my tummy too quickly! Michael doesn't like pumpkin--that means he is abnormal doesn't it?? I may take some down the driveway to George and Shirley, she gave me the recipe and they are delicious.

PUMPKIN SQUARES
9X13 BAKING DISH 350 DEGREES
Crust:
1 cup flour
¾ cup quick cook oats
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup butter
Cut ingredients together and press in bottom of baking dish, bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool.
Filling:
1 can pumpkin (15oz)
1 can evaporated milk (12oz)
1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cloves, ¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
Mix well, pour over baked, cooled crust and bake for 20 minutes
Topping
½ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup quick cook oats
3 TBS butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar
After the filling has baked 20 minutes, sprinkle on the topping and bake another 10-15 minutes or more until the pumpkin mixture is set. Don’t over bake. Serve with whipped cream.

I finished that stitch in the ditch quilt, YEA!!! Customers requesting stitch in the ditch from now on are going to get sticker shock! It is just too difficult and time consuming to do and it makes my back hurt! This quilt belongs to a friend of my Aunt Margaret's and it is beautiful once completed. I had a reader ask for more quilt photos, I couldn't post a photo of the last quilt I completed because the recipient hasn't received the quilt yet and she reads the blog! Once she gets the gift, I will post a photo, I think it turned out beautifully!
Al and Kelly, aren't you jealous of our snow as you sit down there in sunny Arizona??

Michael worked out in the shop all day and Emmi kept me company. We started the day out with only about an inch of snow and ended up with close to 10 inches.