It’s Monday

Michael woke this morning saying he had slept better than he had in several weeks and felt better.  YEA!!!  We took a nice long walk and even went up and fixed some broken fence which got us in trouble with Gina!!!  How dare we try to fix fence without them???  What were we thinking???  But, they had great news about their morning and I will leave the photos and their blog in the morning to tell the story!

We had a lunch of leftovers from the refrigerator and then I’m not sure where the rest of the day went!!  Gina and I did pull all the tomatoes out of the garden and hang them in the dark in the basement-- Michael says the tomatoes will ripen in a cool dark place—so here is my new garden.

Gina and Rollie spent some time in their own home this afternoon and we had visitors—Sarge, a high school buddy of Michael’s and his friend Sarah. 

After Sarge and Sarah left Gina and Rollie came back up and Rollie and Mike removed the ice maker from the refrigerator in the motorhome—the thing took up so much space in the freezer and we rarely use ice—it we do, I can use an ice cube tray!

We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting then the Louisiana folks started cooking.  We had a traditional shrimp/corn on the cob/potato boil!!!  The food was so good and HOT!!! as in spicy hot, YUM!  We are sitting here like two fat pigs in the sunshine, happy as can be!  See, my southern roots are coming out spending so much time with these Louisiana folks!

The recently made quilt which I have talked about has been presented!!  My sweet niece and her husband Eric have been out to see us many times and have brought another couple with them, Kerri and Bradley.  The two couples have daughters, Harley and Elizabeth which are close in age.  Kerri and Bradley are expecting their second daughter in early October and Niki wanted me to make them a quilt—the baby quilt that my Grandmother and Niki’s Great Grandmother made countless times.  I inherited the pattern and this is my third one.  Niki gave it to Kerri tonight in Arkansas and Kerri loved it-- The photos don’t do justice to the colors—it turned out so nicely!

Plans for tomorrow are up in the air—Gina and Rollie are making noises about leaving us—we knew it had to happen soon but are sad to see them go!

Glorious Sunday

Michael decided this morning that he needed a day of rest not being on his feet so we decided to see if Gina and Rollie would like to take a drive.  And too, today was to be our only day of sunshine for a few days if you believe the weatherman. 

Gina and Rollie were totally game and off we went with the 3 furkids in tow.  Our destination was the Beartooth Highway out of Red Lodge, MT.  First stop was the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe.  We had a delicious lunch and indulged ourselves with two Grizzly Delights—the vanilla ice cream rolled in tiny chocolate chips and drizzled with raspberry and chocolate sauce—OH, YUM!!

It was a beautiful sunny, cool day and the views at the top of the Beartooth Highway could not have been better. 

Notice the waves on the surface of the lake, the wind was blowing so hard up there it was difficult to stand up!

The sharp pointed spire is the actual “bear tooth.”

The Beartooth Highway is a steep, crooked road connecting the towns of Red Lodge, and Cooke City with another road—the Chief Joseph Highway going to Cody, WY.  It is only open from about Memorial Day weekend until the first snowfall in the fall closes it.  It is another one of those places we never tire of showing to friends and family.

After taking in the views we turned around and headed back down the mountain making a quick stop in Red Lodge at the candy store and one other place in which I always like to stop.  We then stopped at the local gas station to purchase drinks for the trip home—don’t know why poor Rollie got the job walking all three furkids--

We arrived home happy and tired having seen some incredible scenery with great friends today!

Motorhome Improvement

You should have gone for a walk with us Gina and Rollie!!!  We walked over to the gulch after Gina and Rollie left for the evening and stepped up to the spot where we normally stand looking down into the gulch and Michael whispered, “there he is!”  About 60-70 feet from us this guy was hiding behind the bushes.  He soon turned and left and it was too dark to get any better photos.

Michael and Rollie were successful today in getting our flat screen TV installed in the motorhome-- looks mighty professional, doesn’t it??

Gina and I spent the day in the quilt studio—Gina has become a pro at cutting quilt pieces and squares and I finished a little baby quilt for LoraLee which turned out nicely!

Rollie went back to their rig this afternoon and returned with Zoey and Angel.  Zoey loves to hoard toys and Emmi is not impressed—nor is she impressed when someone else is in a lap she is used to sitting in! See how her head is thrown back—she was just howling because Angel was sitting next to Mr. Rollie!

We had another marvelous dinner—pork tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.  Gina and I had sauteed squash, too but couldn’t get the guys to try any.

It was another wonderful day spent with the best of friends. 

What Happened to Fall

BRRR—we were sitting in the clouds this morning and it was a cool 45 degrees with a cold mist.  In spite of that we took a walk down the driveway.  Lots of bear sign—poop with chokecherry seeds and downed limbs.

Michael was a little under the weather this morning and spent his time sitting in his recliner then advanced to the bed.  We are both so tired of this illness whatever it is.  While he is tremendously better as compared to a week ago, he still has a long way to go.

Gina and Rollie rolled in around 11:30 just in time for lunch—those Thurstons again!!  Seriously, yesterday and this morning were so hard for Gina and Rollie and we understood perfectly not even giving them a hard time for being so late.  They both made up for it tonight!!

Gina and I made a quick trip into town this afternoon—one to pick up a product called Retayne at the quilt shop—you wash quilting fabric with this product and it stops darker/brighter fabrics from bleeding or running onto the lighter ones.  I needed to wash Ellie’s fabric or so I thought until I got home and started to put everything in the washer—the fabric was folded wrong, and then I realized that Ellie had all ready washed and ironed it!!!  Oh, well, we at least picked up a full propane cylinder for Rollie and scored some fresh veggies from one of the members of the Hutterite colonies. 

The guys ran into problems installing the blue flame heater—it was brand new and it has a cracked fitting!!!  GRRR—but—Northern Tool was very accommodating when I called them—they will ship us a new one on Monday and send UPS to pick up the old one.

I am teaching Gina how to cut out quilting fabric—started her on the project my sweet sister Ann and my niece Niki sent me for my birthday.

Gina and Rollie brought up some absolutely melt in your mouth steaks—Rollie grilled those, we baked potatoes and had steamed green beans and sautéed asparagus—can you say “stuffed??”  It was a delicious dinner!

After dinner they treated us to photographs of their garden and yard in Louisiana—Gina has created a beautiful memorial garden to their son Rollie Joseph. 

They have headed back down the hill to their home and as I write this it is about 45 degrees outside and there is thunder/lightening/pouring rain—strange weather we are having!!!

Lots Done

Michael and I got a late start this morning, it was even warm when we took our walk.  Gina and Rollie came up later in the morning and he and Michael got started on some motorhome projects—installing our new blue flame heater and the flat screen TV. 

Gina helped me complete a project I started—using those chokecherries Michael and I picked.  I got 11 half pints of chokecherry jam and 4 pints of chokecherry syrup, YUM—think we are having pancakes for breakfast in the morning.

Late afternoon we all headed into town—I mailed a quilt and the guys picked up supplies they needed to complete projects.  Then we all headed over to Lonn and LoraLee’s.  Lonn had agreed to take Gina and Rollie up to see and hear the elk—Michael, Lonn, Gina and Rollie piled into our truck and off they went—I think Gina and Rollie were impressed by Lonn’s elk herd!  LoraLee and I stayed behind and grilled some burgers. 

For dessert we had a fresh peach tart that I had a little difficulty making—the directions were written in some foreign language—“use 6 3/4 ounces of flour”—now who ever heard of measuring flour in ounces?? (I missed the part in parentheses where it said “or 1 1/2 cups of flour!”)  Couldn’t figure out why the mixture wouldn’t mix until I re-read the recipe—in the garbage all that went and I started over with just 1 1/2 cups of flour instead of 6 3/4 cups of flour—it might have helped if I hadn’t been talking to Gina, too! 

As I write this the door to the deck is open and I can hear the elk bugle in our neighbor’s hayfield above us,  the elk bugle and Emmi growls and snorts. 

We know today was a difficult day for Rollie and Gina and our hearts hurt for them—our hope is that we made the day just a little bit easier if that is possible. 

They Are Back

Each day, little by little Michael is getting better.  He has very little chronic pain and only has pain if he requires too much of his wrist or arms.  We are so incredibly thankful that he is better and healing. 

I spent the day cleaning and sewing.  We picked a few more chokecherries and I used my new Nurta-Steamer to extract the juice—made the house smell so good.

Those Thurstons—they were supposed to be here by noon—the phone rang at 11:37am and I answered, “so, you haven’t left Great Falls?”  They were camped on base at Malmstrom Air Force Base and sure enough hadn’t left in spite of the fact they told us they would be here in McLeod by noon and enough though Rollie might drive that big rig fast they weren’t getting 200 miles in 23 minutes!  Rollie was enjoying talking to all the other retired military folks and it was just OK that they weren’t in a hurry!

But, we sure were glad to see them when they rolled up our road about 4:30pm.  We parked them in the driveway of our former house just down our driveway.  After setting up they rode the four wheeler up here and Gina broke the rules, even though it was a travel day for them she brought dinner—Louisiana gumbo and the makings for cornbread. 

Michael and I are so incredibly glad Gina and Rollie stopped back in to see us—they are the most enjoyable people to be around and Rollie is an excellent “hand/helper” to have around, too.  We have a bridge over the creek that just goes to the other side of the creek, I call it the “bridge to nowhere.”  I glanced outside today and this doe seemed to be saying, “let me in.” 

We have several of these bushes with vivid red berries—anybody know what they are??

More Firewood Fairies

When we were returning from our walk this morning we heard the sound of a vehicle coming up our driveway—we both were thinking it was the UPS man bringing our blue flame heater for the motorhome, but no, it was more firewood fairies—Lonn and LoraLee.  They brought us a truck load of split firewood and LoraLee did most of the splitting on crutches!!  Lonn and I unloaded the wood and then we all enjoyed coffee/cokes and homemade cookies.

I finished my little quilt today, now for the handwork.

This afternoon I went into town to pick up some stove pipe for the garage, the one Mike had rusted out and fell off making the stove not draw very well.  Finally got the license plates for the motorhome, too.  Jill and I met at Cinnabar Creek and had a peach shake made with fat free yogurt—boy was it good!

All the way to town and back I noticed leaves turning everywhere—fall is definitely in the air. 

The UPS man did come late this afternoon and brought us our blue flame heater—we installed one in the older motorhome we sold and just loved it.  It was nice to purchase one from the internet at a much cheaper than Quartzsite price and we didn’t have to pay Arizona sales tax. 

Gina and Rollie left Canada today, are spending the night in Great Falls and will be here tomorrow—we can’t wait!