Sewing

Storms in the night and storms this morning—and it looks as if it may storm again soon—it is that time of year I guess.

Many years ago I learned to sew—my Mom is an excellent seamstress having made wedding dresses, prom dresses and many bridesmaid dresses in her lifetime—so I got my talent honestly.  I made dresses, lined and tailored jackets, and pants.  When I began earning enough money as a nurse to afford to buy clothes, I stopped sewing except for the occasional project.  Last year about this same time I bought 12 yards of fabric on sale for $2/yard—very nice fabric that the previous owner used to make high dollar clothing for the rich and famous around our area.  One of my plans to use the fabric was to make a skirt., well, a year later, I have a skirt—a very simple, comfortable, easy skirt. 

Got the binding sewn on my little wall hanging quilt and then spent the rest of the day loading my Aunt Marg’s Japanese Yen quilt. 

I made some fabulous bread today—a loaf bread for sandwiches—thought I was going to have to hide it before Michael ate the whole thing in one sitting!  It was good!!

Michael has finished our garage!  I will post a photograph when he finishes moving all the cement mixing paraphernalia from in front of the garage—he is finishing the rock work down at our old house which he started last fall and should finish tomorrow. 

The photographs are just some scenes from our morning walk.

Where Did The Day Go

Several years ago much to our dismay a company proceeded to establish a platinum and palladium mine about 9 miles from us using our little two lane gravel country road for access.  We went from knowing who the few cars per day were to 100+ cars/semi-trucks/busses per day.  The company busses the workers cutting down on some of the traffic and we all say that in spite of our misgivings, we have gotten used to the mine presence.  With that said, several times a year as part of their good neighbor agreement, the mine puts a dust suppressant chemical on the road—this chemical is magnesium chloride—salt and is wet and sticky when first applied.  The mine notifies the residents of the area when the chemical is going on and we try to avoid leaving home for a few days to protect our vehicles but yesterday wasn’t one of those times. 

Mikaela came up from town and as she is only 16, her Mom asked if I would meet her at the county road and highway junction and lead her to our house—so I took the oldest car we had, the VW and went to get Mikaela—the slimy dust suppressant stuff was dripping off both our cars by the time we got back!  Then I had errands to run and a wedding shower to attend in the evening so out I went late afternoon with the big truck—the slimy stuff was dry then but when I came home last night it had rained—so the VW and the truck need a bath this morning.

Mikaela’s visit was to learn how to apply binding to a quilt—she was a quick learner and left here with her quilt finished, ready to do the hand sewing of the binding and get the quilt ready to enter into the fair in late July.

Seems as if I visited every place of business in Big Timber yesterday—both banks, the lumber yard for bags of cement and redwood boards, the auto parts store for baling twine, the feed store for sunflower seeds, the courthouse and Cinnabar Creek then went to Livingston and bought the groceries.

Licensed the motorhome yesterday—in Montana if a vehicle is over 10 years in age, the vehicle can be licensed permanently.  I think a 1988 motorhome qualifies!  Cost us $247 to license the motorhome for good!

The wedding shower I attended was for Bonnie the daughter of our good friend Larry and Kelly.  She is a beautiful young woman with absolutely gorgeous dark red hair—Bonnie has the sweetest personality, too.  The below photos are just a couple I took last night.  Her wedding is Saturday night—the setting for the shower and the wedding is the home of her Grandma Jean.  The original log home is very old and Jean has added on to the structure very tastefully creating a much in demand venue for weddings and parties.  Mine and Michael’s 50/60 birthday party was held there. 

The first photo Bonnie is holding up the nightgown her Grandma Jean gave her, it came complete with Grandma type undies, too—we all laughed and laughed at Grandma Jean’s thoughtfulness!  The other photo is of poor red headed Bonnie blushing before she even got the not so “grandmaish” undies out of the box.  It was a great time!

So, where did my day go??

I Think It’s Summer

We skipped spring and went straight to summer—our current temp here at almost 7pm is 87 degrees!  Poor Michael laid rocks onto the face of the garage this afternoon after cutting our neighbor’s hay this morning.  He said it was very hot out there.  Now me, I was quilting in the nice cool basement and Emmi was keeping me company!  But, I talked to my quilting friend Caryl who happened to be in Phoenix today—112 degrees!!  We can be thankful for our little old 87 degrees, can’t we??

And no, Marti, sorry, I am not working on your quilts right now—I have one for Aunt Marg and one for my neighbor in line before I can start on yours—but soon!  I am back in the swing of quilting again—I finished the quilting on the wholecloth I was doing and just need to get the binding on. 

I’ve had lots of Facebook and other comments on our Beverly Hillbilly look yesterday.  Judy thinks Michael should change his name to Jethro and my sweet friend Kerri back in Arkansas thinks I have come home to my red neck roots! 

When we came home from the rodeo parade, these little guys were in our neighbor’s driveway—aren’t they cute?

Nature’s bouquet.

The Beverly Hillbillies

Michael spotted an Explorer on Craigslist this morning, I called the guy and off we went to Billings to see this vehicle.  Emmi got to stay with Nat.  Another goal was to see just how much Costco stuff we could get in the little convertible—it gets 35-36 mpg and the truck gets 15-17mpg!

It was a gorgeous day for riding around with the top down—the Explorer had a front main seal engine oil leak so we decided against it—sure is handy to have a mechanic type husband who can diagnosis those sorts of things before we write a check!

Lunch at Famous Dave’s—I am addicted to their salmon cesar salad.  Then it was off to Costco where we shopped cautiously for our annual July 4 party-- We stuffed food items everywhere in that little car—this is the spare tire hole under the front hood.

Everything else went in these two coolers on the rack Michael built and behind the seats up front.  We even had room to stop at Wal Mart for a couple of items!!

OK—as if that wasn’t bad enough to have those coolers tied on behind, while I was in Wal Mart Michael made a phone call.  He had noticed some RV ovens for sale in Craigslist.  Ya’ll remember when I blogged about the Beaver motor home lacking an oven and how much I missed it this past winter—well Michael found me one today for the whopping sum of $75—they cost close to $400 at RV parts stores.  It was in Columbus which is on the way home between Billings and Big Timber.  Now tell me, do we look like the Beverly Hillbillies or what???? 

We stopped in Big Timber, visited with Nat, picked up Emmi and are unloaded and relaxing—a productive Sunday, even if we didn’t get a new car!

Rodeo Parade

This is rodeo weekend in Big Timber and the weather was perfect for an afternoon parade.  These wonderful guys started off the parade just right.

These guys with their big flags just made us all so glad we live in America!

No parade is complete without horses—this team belongs to the Hobble Diamond Ranch north of Big Timber. This little fella’s hat was as big as he was! The theme of the parade was “she thinks my tractor’s sexy.”  This is our friend and neighbor Leslie on her old John Deere that has been restored to pristine condition.

This little girl hoola-hooped all the way along the parade route and she is only four years old!!!

Before the parade Mom, Chuck, Michael and I along with Emmi went out to Nat’s for a picnic.  Emmi got to go to the parade and howl with all the sirens going off!  We sat with friends Jill, Terry and their daughter Kerri—when the parade was over we headed to Cinnabar Creek for milkshakes. 

A perfect Montana summer day!

Yard Work and Garage Work

Michael is determined to get the facing work on the garage finished—he was out there early this morning putting up boards.  Got all the boards up and then he decided to chink the boards—he cut the edges of the boards to make them appear like logs—then caulked between each log with the concrete like substance called chink.  Now it looks like we have a log/rock garage—I have the most talented husband! 

I cleaned our house—it really needed it—and did a little cooking in preparation for Mom and Chuck’s arrival around noon.  We had taco soup and homemade bread for lunch.  Tonight we are having salmon and steaks, baked potatoes and salad.  Rhubarb crisp for dessert—YUM! 

Mom and I did a little yard work this afternoon trimming some of the shrubs damaged in the deep freeze last October—the flower beds look a lot better now.  All of a sudden my flowers have started to blossom, the grass and trees are so green—we have been getting a rain shower every day.

Last night we had dinner at Geoff and Nancy’s with Robyn, Claire, Boo and Terry.  A wonderful evening with good friends.

Purple columbine. Wild roses blooming.

Emmi’s duck had an injury so Grandma was repairing the duck—Emmi stood right there the entire time Mom was sewing—she wanted her duck!  NOW!

High Water Is Over

Yesterday we spotted our first wild rose blossom—all the old timers around here say, “when the wild roses bloom, high water is over.”  and they are generally right!

We finished planting garden stuff and fixing the fence for the apple trees today.  I planted some beans and a few more cantaloupe and pumpkin.  We will see if we get any produce before the first snow flies!

After lunch I quilted, working on my first ever wholecloth—lots and lots of tiny, tiny little stitches.  Michael has been working on the face of the garage all afternoon.  Emmi has been sleeping all afternoon.

Today is a sad day, my Uncle Si died this morning—he was married to my Aunt Margaret (the quilter) who is my Dad’s oldest sister.  Uncle Si has fought Parkinson’s disease for 18 years and the last 7 years he has been confined to a wheelchair.  May he rest in peace finally.

We have lots and lots of chokecheery blossoms this year, hope we get lots and lots of chokecherries. The nice mown paths we walk on every morning—here comes little Emmi back up the one path that winds through an aspen grove.

It Works!!

Rick has been giving all us computer challenged folks lessons in using Live Writer via his blog.  And his helpful hints work!!!  Since I started this blog I have edited my photos usually on a daily basis and saved them in the correct size to a special blog folder.  Well, low and behold, I  don’t really have to do that—Live Writer does it for you if configured correctly!  It’s the small things that make me happy!  Yesterday I left a comment since Rick had asked for more questions for blog writing material—I asked about the feature in Picasa that removes object such as power poles from your photographs.  Rick kindly sent me a link and by george, it also works!!!  I am thrilled—I have always used Microsoft Picture It to edit photos—it is a simple program, very easy to use and I have taught many people to use it but to my knowledge, it does not have a feature that allows you to remove objects from a photograph.  For Christmas I received Photoshop Elements, installed the program and tried to use it a couple of times with no success—I need a class I think! This photo used to have one of Michael’s treasures pictured in the photo—not anymore—thanks Rick!

I started a new wallhanging quilt today and made great progress.  About mid-afternoon, I decided to take a break from quilting and mow the lawns.  Then I really got ambitious and decided to do some weedwhacking.  Everything looks very nice now and I inspired Michael I guess cause he jumped on the riding mower and mowed all our walking paths around the hayfields. 

It was another beautiful day in Montana.

Tree Planting

Oh, my, I have muscles tonight I didn’t even know existed—every muscle and bone in my body aches and Michael says his do too!  We took down fence and built fence today creating a spot for our new apple trees.  It took us all day long and we just came in the house about an hour ago!  The deer are such pests here, they will eat anything—the dang things have been munching on my day lilies and columbine.  We don’t want the deer to be able to get to the apple trees, thus the fence. 

We are finally having some summer like days—sunshine and warm temps.  My garden is starting to look as if it might live and the flower pots on the deck are looking healthier.

We have mushrooms everywhere due to all the moisture we have received—why can’t we find the good kind—morels???

Two sandhill cranes in our neighbor’s hayfield this morning.

I was to have gone to the monthly quilting meeting in Big Timber tonight but we just didn’t get the trees planted in time and as much as trees cost, it was necessary to get them in the ground.

This may be an early night for me!

More Travel

A beautiful sunny day.  We had a funeral to attend this morning at 11am—we dropped Emmi at Nat’s and picked him up.  The gentleman who died was our neighbor, Lloyd and he was 96 years old.  He had moved to the nursing home in town shortly after his beloved wife Irene passed away a couple of years ago.  They were both the most amazing people—always cheerful, welcoming and smiling in spite of the fact that Irene had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was in her forties and bedridden/wheelchair ridden for much of that time.  Lloyd cared for Irene in their home by himself right up until the very end.  Truly people who were an example to the rest of us! 

After the funeral we had lunch with Nat and then headed to Bozeman, yes, more traveling!  Some acquaintances Michael had done a favor for bought us an apple tree at a tree farm in Bozeman as a way of saying “thank you".”  The young man was so appreciative of Michael’s work and willingness to help—his comments were, “you just don’t see that behavior in this day and age.”  So we were off to get the tree.  After meeting the owner, John and letting him teach us about apple trees, we left with a Sweet 16, a Honey Crisp, and another one I can’t remember the name of!  We had been saying we needed to get an orchard started and so we have.

It was a great day and now we are home, relaxing and will plant those trees tomorrow. 

Aunt Margaret, we are thinking of you and Uncle Si—love you.

Happy Father’s Day

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant
I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21,
I was astonished at how much
the old man had learned in seven years.

                                                          ~ Mark Twain

Both Michael’s kids called him early this morning to wish him Happy Father’s Day.  I called Nat to invite him for lunch and I found him via his cellphone pitching horseshoes in Laurel!  So, Michael and I decided to take a drive—it was a so-so sunny day and off we went.

We just drove a loop from Big Timber to Harlowton to Martinsdale and back to Livingston.  Just outside Livingston a huge black cloud was developing and we decided it might be smart to put the top up.  It never really rained much and now the sun is shining and it is beautiful.

Once home I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate ice cream and it is chilling in the refrigerator before I put it in the ice cream maker.

My dear father died in 2002 and I still miss him greatly especially on Father’s Day and Christmas Eve which was his birthday.

Katie’s Wedding Shower

Yesterday’s trip to Butte for the APQS Road Show was uneventful—there were six attendees and I don’t think APQS sold any machines.  I learned a lot from the Road Show guys and it was fun to try out the new drive system but I really don’t think I will be upgrading any time soon—way too much money!

I flew home from Butte in the little sports car just in time to have dinner at Jeane and Steve’s.  Jill, Terry, Mark and Deb joined us and it was a wonderful evening as usual when we go to Steve and Jeane’s. 

Today was Katie’s wedding shower being hosted by her Mom.  I took over some food dishes to help out, Katie prepared some things (great cookies says Grandpa, Katie) and Helen, Katie’s mother-in-law to be brought stuff.  I baked the Boulder River Ranch three layer chocolate cake—it looked so beautiful—when I got there and Katie got the cake out of the truck—it was scrambled!!!!  And, I had packed it so carefully but that road between their house and ours is one big pothole/washed out spot/rock collection and it just shook the cake apart.  I got a spatula and put it all back together but of course it didn’t look as pretty but I was assured it tasted wonderful! 

Katie received some absolutely beautiful gifts one of which was this great hat made by her MIL, Helen-- It says, “the Bride” across the front and had the veil attached.  It was a very fun afternoon!

On the way home I spotted these two longhorns belonging to the ranch—they both looked so content. Another horse accident in the valley today—our friend and neighbor Ken was thrown from his horse and flown by helicopter to Billings—his wife called a few minutes ago and he has six broken ribs—OUCH!

Emmi and Mike spent the day just being busy.  Michael sprayed weeds and Emmi played. 

Is It June or October??

The wind has howled all day today and I would swear it is coming off a snow bank somewhere!  We have the heat on and I am sitting here wearing a sweatshirt!  I think summer must have just passed us by.

I quilted and cooked today.  This quilt I have on the frame is just giving me fits—I quilt a design, don’t like it, rip it out—then repeat!  I thought I was going to finish it today but guess not!

Katie’s wedding shower is Saturday and I am baking one of the Boulder River Ranch chocolate cakes.  I got the layers baked today and will fill and frost Saturday morning. 

Decided to try out the treadmill this morning and chose one of the pre-programmed cardio workouts—oh, my!!!  Maybe I should have started with something a little less strenuous! 

Tomorrow I am off to Butte, MT—the company which makes my longarm—APQS is hosting a Road Show there.  The company brings in machines, sets them up and sends out invitations for folks to come and try out a longarm.  All I have to do is show up—nice! 

Michael installed three more of the light fixtures in the garage today—he should certainly be able to see better in the garage now! 

Storms

We woke to stormy skies and thunder this morning.  It has rained off and on all day.In spite of the weather we got out and took a walk.

When we came home Saturday from the garage sale, we just parked the trailer and left everything in it including the treadmill.  When Michael’s Dad had heart surgery almost 3 years ago, the doctor told him he needed to walk some each day.  Nat is very, very cold natured and hates to be out in the wind—well, in Big Timber it is usually either cold or windy so he had us buy him a treadmill.  He didn’t use it much at the beginning and certainly hasn’t used it in a long time so he donated it to us.  The treadmill is big and heavy and was a chore to get the thing into the house but we persevered.  Now, if we will just use it!

Boo and Terry came over this morning to look at our garages—they are thinking of building one.  I had just taken a loaf of homemade bread out of the oven so we sat and visited while enjoying hot chocolate and the bread.

For a late lunch I made some of Gina’s taco soup, YUM!  Then I made a batch of Veragirl’s Heavenly Jam made with rhubarb and pineapple.  Vera—that stuff is addictive! 

Michael unloaded all his light fixtures and even installed two of them in his shop.  I tried to quilt a little this afternoon but I guess my mind just wasn’t into moving that machine around, I spent more time ripping than I did quilting so I have called it a day!  My SewBatik samples came today—wide quilt backs—luscious colors!  And another box came from E. E. Schenck filled with bolts of beautiful quilt backs.  Quilt backs are 108 inches wide and are less expensive for backing fabric than buying regular 44 inch wide quilting fabric.  It felt like Christmas around here.

That’s it for today.

A Day For Heads

Off to Billings this morning.  While I was getting the gray covered and a haircut, Michael took one cowboy hat to our hat maker—LawDog Hats—to have it cleaned and repaired a bit.  He also visited his favorite store, Harbor Freight.

Next on the agenda was lunch which was nothing to write home about.  Fabric stores, Costco and back to LawDog Hats to pick up one hat and drop off the other one to have it cleaned and reshaped.

By then it was time to go retrieve the treasures Michael found on Craigslist this morning.  He has been keeping an eye out for used fluorescent light fixtures and today hit the jackpot.  Four bulb fixtures for $10 each complete with bulbs.  We came home with 20 fixtures and enough bulbs to start a lighting store!  Mike intends to install the fixtures in his shop and my quilting room.

LoraLee came home from the hospital today.  She is on crutches, non-weight bearing for about six weeks then will have to have some more surgery.  I think she is mighty glad to be home.

Emmi and Nat had a good day together.  It was a heavenly 80 degrees in Billings today!

Back To Work

It is hard to break the habit of thinking Monday’s are for getting the work week started so today instead of being a bum, we worked.  Michael worked much harder than me laying rocks and boards on the front of the garage in the sunshine.  Yes, we had glorious sunshine today, not a cloud in the sky!

I had been working on a quilt for the last few days and yesterday decided I didn’t like the stitching I had placed in one of the narrow inner borders—why can’t I decide I don’t like the stitching after I have stitched only an inch or two?  Oh, no, I have to stitch 6 feet of it before I decide I don’t like it!  Took me a couple hours to rip it all out, now I am ready to quilt again.

A customer came and dropped off a quilt after lunch—a 23 year old young lady who just decided to make a wedding quilt for her best friend.  She has never quilted before but had advice from her Mom—she did a fabulous job—corners match and the quilt is very even measurement wise.

Emmi spent the entire day outside and is now sacked out on the couch—one tired puppy.

LoraLee called this morning and has had a CT scan to assess whether or not more surgery will be required on her heel.  She hadn’t heard the results of that scan as of lunch time. 

This guy accompanied us on our walk this morning.  I think he is a spotted towhee.

All the bushes and trees are in full bloom now as are the weeds!

Our good friends Jeane and Steve made the difficult decision to relieve the suffering of their dog, Red today.  Our hearts hurt for them.

One Thing And Another

Michael was feeling a little under the weather today and stayed close to his recliner.  Nat came up for lunch and he and Michael had steak, I had salmon.  The watermelon and cantaloupe we bought at Costco were sure good!

I spent the day quilting and was working on finishing a quilt when Lonn called.  He and LoraLee were out riding trying to separate some bulls when LoraLee’s horse slipped on some mud and all four of its feet went out from under him.  The horse landed on LoraLee leaving her with a severe compound fracture of her lower leg and a severely broken heel bone.  She had surgery this afternoon—we drove over to Livingston to see her—she is still pretty groggy but the doctors have her pain under control and she was talking. 

It is almost 10pm, little Emmi spent the evening with Nat and now we are all ready for bed!

Garage Sale

The scene of the crime this morning!  We left home at the awful hour of 6:30 so we could unload the trailer at Nat’s in town and get the stuff all arranged before the early buyers arrived—sure enough, we had a woman coming through about 7:30!  She owns the local junk store!  We had a steady stream of buyers most of the morning and considered our garage sale a success.  We finished about noon and loaded all the unsold stuff back in the trailer along with a treadmill Nat is donating us (remember that treadmill Angie and Ralph??)  and headed for home.

At home we picked up another trailer and headed back to town and to Bozeman, stopping quickly at Costco after our errand.  Now remember Bozeman is about 100 miles from our house—we are pooped as you can imagine! 

Emmi has traveled along all day and was the star attraction of the garage sale.  No one tried to buy her thank goodness!  I did sell two of my quilting kits and a quilting pattern—yea!

A very long but satisfying day!

Another Inch

OK, I think we better build that ark!  We got another inch of rain last night!  It was raining when we left George and Shirley’s last night and I think it rained most of the night!  But, I should not complain—have you read the news—there is a wonderful campground near Hot Springs, AR that my sister and Mom have used a lot in the past.  My friend Jill and I have gone on hikes with my family from the campground.  Last night the area received 7 inches of rain in less than an hour and there was a flash flood, 17 people lost their lives and many more are still missing.  Our hearts go out to those families. 

Mom and Chuck arrived this morning while I was cleaning out the inside of the truck and little car.  They brought their laundry which I encouraged them to do so they don’t have to pay laundromat charges.  Mom also wanted to use the sewing machine to alter some pants for both of them.  Yellowstone National Park is a wonderful place to work but you certainly don’t make any money—they pay you barely minimum wage and then also take out of your wages room and board!  But the fringe benefits are spectacular-- The grizzly sow has been spotted with FOUR cubs—there are various reasons she might have four cubs with her according to park rangers.  Chuck took this photo one afternoon—he said every time he snapped a photo the fourth cub disappeared from view!  You can see three of the cubs in this photo if you look closely—awesome!!!

Mike and I needed to run some errands this afternoon and Mom and Chuck went along for the ride.  We visited with Jill and all of us had frozen yogurt at Cinnabar Creek.  Mom, Chuck and I managed to find some things at Gust’s we couldn’t live without and we bought a few groceries.  Why are we walking home you might ask On the way home the Explorer’s transmission died—we managed to make it almost home but had to walk the last little uphill bit.  Now we really have to make a decision about what kind of vehicle to get! 

Now we are home, Michael got the old VW running so we have a run around car and Mom is altering some pants for both of them.  We had a big lunch—wonderful grilled hamburgers—so no dinner or a light one later.

A good day!

Another Day Of Sunshine

It was a beautiful morning and on our walk we saw this little guy who was trying so hard to hide himself.

Michael came and went all day to a new neighbor’s property trying to dig holes for septic licensing.  The coming and going was because someone wasn’t doing their jobs.  Are you familiar with the signs that say “Call Before You Dig?”  Well we always call and we always get the run around.  The company contracted to mark the electric lines has 48 hours from your phone call to get it done.  We called on Tuesday and today the guy called and said he didn’t want to come way over here today (Thursday) from Bozeman.  Mike told him, “I am digging this afternoon whether you mark or not.”  The guy came over and the phone company finally showed up too. 

It was such a beautiful morning and no wind so I decided to hop on my little Kawasaki mule and spray a tank full of weed spray. Here I am all loaded up—this little mule doesn’t look like much but he gets the job done.  One of our rich and famous neighbors had this mule, his son had rolled it down a hill (no injury) and we bought it for a song.  Michael straightened the frame and we have used the tires off the thing for about 12 years! 

The rain came back this afternoon and as I write this, it is pouring!  I finished a customer quilt this afternoon and have it ready to return to her. 

We are off to George and Shirley’s tonight for me to give them a little computer lesson and to have some of George’s good wine!

My Mom is coming tomorrow, yippee—I was needing a Mom fix!

Getting Ready

Today we decided to start gathering stuff for the garage sale, and here at almost 4pm we are finished gathering.  Where do we get all this stuff???  Why do we get all this stuff???  We piled it all into our enclosed trailer and will take it to town bright and early Saturday morning.  We live too far out in the country to have a decent sale—Nat’s subdivision of about 25 homes is having their annual garage sale on Saturday so we will set up our wares there.

Just a while ago Michael asked me how I would feel about taking him down to the big garage by the road on the Kawasaki mule to get his dirt bike—I would then pull him and the bike back uphill with the mule???  OK—I can see a disaster in the making—I made him go put boots on instead of sneakers—the last time he had anything to do with this dirt bike he broke his ankle while wearing sneakers.  Well, we were successful, just out of the shed pulling the bike was enough to get it started, whew!!!

On our drive to Livingston last night for the quilt guild meeting I took these photos of the mighty Yellowstone River at flood stage. This little guy was in Wendy’s driveway and still there when we brought her home. The sunset last night turned our mountains to the east a beautiful red color.  See the burned trees on top of that mountain—that forest fire got just a little too close for comfort a few years ago!

We are off to Livingston tonight to have dinner with friends Arch and Gwen—we just got a wild hair and off we go—most people don’t drive over 60 miles to have dinner do they??  This is Montana!

Attitude Improvement

Well, my attitude certainly went up a few notches toward the good this morning when I got up and saw clear blue sky.  A friend posted on their Facebook account this morning, “what’s that gold globe in the sky?”  I took this photo this morning on our walk just cause I was so excited to see the sun.

Michael is once again laying rocks on the face of the garage.  I quilted a little embroidered quilt for a customer this morning—she chose what I call a “long hair” minke for the backing and it caused issues with tension but I finally prevailed!  I also participated in the monthly APQS sales force conference phone call—got lots of binding hand stitched while I listened!

This afternoon I am off to Big Timber to deliver customer quilts, pick up quilts and then on to Livingston with Marjean to attend a committee meeting for the October quilt show.  Tomorrow I must get started gathering and pricing our garage sale items—Saturday we are going in to Nat’s—the entire subdivision is having a garage sale.  Hope to get rid of some “stuff.”