Just Hanging Around

That’s what we’ve been doing—just hanging around.  Our daughter-in-law comes from a large family and many of them have come to visit—we decided to let them visit without us the last two days. 

When we had the entire ranch and our construction company we bought diesel fuel in bulk from the local gas station in Big Timber, 500 gallons at a time.  We don’t have as much need for diesel now and the station which formerly delivered to us does not offer that service any longer.  The only highway vehicle we now have which uses diesel is Michael’s 1995 truck—Saturday after we returned from Lonn’s Michael noticed we were getting mighty low on fuel.

So, Sunday I made a pot of beef stew and we traveled to town having lunch with Nat and getting diesel fuel. 

I’ve complained many times on this blog about our local grocery store, an IGA.  Not only is the store poorly stocked but their prices are ridiculous.  I really don’t mind paying a little extra for the convenience of the grocery store being close (22 miles ) but I don’t appreciate being gouged! 

I bought butter yesterday, $4.89 per pound at the IGA.  Today, we decided to make a grocery buying run to Billings.  Butter was $7.99 for FOUR pounds at Costco!!!  That alone almost paid for our gas!!  A six ounce bag of pecans at the IGA was $8.00 and they tasted awful.  I got 2 pounds of pecans for $11 at Costco today.  I tried to buy enough groceries to last us two weeks—I bought enough hamburger meat and chicken to last even longer—we will see how long it lasts and how much I have to discard. 

Back home Michael popped some popcorn and we each won a game of cribbage.  Just hanging around!

At Home

That’s a big stick for such a little dog—you should hear Emmi—it sounds as if she is killing that stick!

We’ve had some gloriously beautiful days, very little wind and lots of sunshine.As you can see our driveway hasn’t melted much in spite of the sunshine.

Our daughter-in-law came home from the hospital last night and the hospice team is doing what they do best.  Michael and I have been over there for the last couple days and I’ve been doing what I do best—feeding our family.  We so much appreciate the prayers and thoughts expressed in your blog comments and emails.

It’s Hard

Yes, it’s hard when a family member is so ill and has been given a short life expectancy.  Yes, it is hard to watch her children and husband suffer right along with her.  Yes, it is hard to see all the other patients and families suffering on the oncology floor at Billings Clinic.  It’s just hard, in fact it’s beyond hard. 

My career was as a nurse—I never worked on a patient care floor during much of that career—I was an operating room nurse.  As a result I didn’t see much patient/family suffering—the patients came to us sedated and left us very sedated—I usually never saw them again.  The nurses on this oncology floor are simply put—awesome.  In the face of all the suffering and death they see, they are confident, upbeat, caring, knowledgeable and supportive.  I admire and thank them so much. 

Wind And More Wind

We spent the day in Billings yesterday and decided to stay home today.  There is very little snow on the ground but the wind is absolutely howling—Al was complaining about the wind in Congress—we got wind here. Monday went on record as being the windiest day ever recorded in Billings, MT on that date—67mph wind gusts!  That’s the day we drove our granddaughter’s car home from Billings—it didn’t get very good gas mileage coming home into that wind!  One plus of the wind and warmer temps—we have very little snow.

Our walk was nice this morning before the wind took hold again—there is hardly any snow in our pastures so walking is easy.  Emmi loves being off leash again!  The rest of the day was spent puttering at this and that.  There are things I really miss when in the motorhome—my large capacity washing machine and the dishwasher—both got a work out today!

This afternoon we went into town to take Nat back up to the assisted living facility—he wanted to ask some more questions and see the apartment again.  Nat is understandably having a very hard time making up his mind about entering the assisted living facility.  He has made a deposit on this apartment and may move in by the first of February to see how he likes it, keeping his house for the time being. 

And that was our day here in Montana. 

Taken in September, 2012, looks better than our bleak winter scene right now.

And We Are Home

We left Billings this morning in Laci’s (our granddaughter) car—we needed to get a vehicle of our own plus open up our house—turn on the heaters, build a fire in the woodstove, turn the water back on, etc.  We will go back down to Billings on Tuesday morning. 

Our decision to go south was kind of sudden for me—remember, I had one day to pack the motorhome—well, my Christmas tree was still up at the time.  By the time we got the motorhome loaded that day I was way too tired to take down the tree—so when we walked in today, that was the first thing I saw and the first thing I did—got that tree down and all the Christmas stuff put away. 

This afternoon late we headed back into Big Timber to surprise Nat—Emmi ran in the door ahead of us so she was the first thing he saw—his smile would have lit a room!!  He was so glad to see her.  She will stay with Nat tomorrow when we go back down to the hospital. 

Michael is over there opening our big box of mail as I type this blog—he just made an excited noise—remember when we had the little roll over accident with the jeep when the roads were so slick?  We had to pay the $350 charge out of pocket for the towing in spite of the fact we have Good Sam roadside assistance.  The wrecker came out to the scene of our accident with the sheriff, the fire truck and the ambulance—it’s a small town, what can I say! –so we never had a chance to call Good Sam.  I called Good Sam, they requested a letter and today we received a check for the full amount!!!

As to why we took the rig to John and Brenda’s—Mike and Pat have a lovely lot in North Ranch outside of Congress—they are so gracious allowing all their friends full use of that lot.  Mike and Pat encouraged us to leave the rig in Congress but we knew this trip home might be a long term thing as in a couple months.  We didn’t want our rig on the lot if some of their other friends wanted to use it.  We knew other friends who had used the lot before were planning on being in Arizona.  Plus rumor has it that Rollie fella just might be bringing a rig out to Arizona. 

Thank you all so very much for the kind words, thoughts and prayers for our family—they are very much appreciated. 

Good Morning

Sunday morning we took the rig to the home of our friends John and Brenda in Maricopa and flew to Billings arriving last night.  We have a very ill family member and will stay here in Montana for a while.  I may not be posting as often but I am sure you will all understand.

Another Good Day In The Desert

We were lazy this morning taking our walk a little later than we should—it was rather warm out there in the desert so we didn’t go as far. 

After lunch we drove over to Al and Kelly’s to see their place—it’s amazing what they have done to that little house and the grounds.  Al has also done a tremendous amount of work on the neighbor’s place.  After our tour we sat out in the sun and talked letting Pheebs and Emmi just hang out. 

We stopped by Caryl and Jerry’s but no one was home except for Burrito—the donkey—who voiced his displeasure that we weren’t bringing treats.  Back at the RV park Caryl and Jerry stopped by for just a few minutes for Caryl to show me a quilt she had done.  Caryl does an amazing job quilting her quilts on a sewing machine—she has done a beautiful wholecloth which she is entering in the local quilt show. 

Off to Mike and Pat’s for happy hour—we were just the social butterflies today, weren’t we!

Emmi is saying, “I know that ball is in here somewhere Dad, I just know it!See how big Mike and Pat’s lot is, lots of room!