Tin Tee Pee Is Gone and Snowballs

The snow hanging over our roof line has produced the most beautiful/graceful icicles. 

Remember our accident with the Tin Tee Pee when the tire and rim came completely off as we were delivering it to a buyer.  The same buyer has been in contact with us throughout the whole repair process and came today to view the totally repaired little Avion trailer.  A deal was made with us delivering the Tin Tee Pee to their home over near Livingston.  The roads were mostly clear but the wind was a bugger—we didn’t get very good mileage going over to say the least.  The little trailer has a new, happy home!

Because we were in Livingston and had not eaten lunch we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Rib and Chop House—3pm is a good time to eat there, much quieter than in the evening!  I had salmon and Michael had his usual—fried shrimp.

We made it back to Big Timber in time to license our new cargo trailer and get some keys made.  We stopped at the home of the people who were first on the scene of our little accident the other night, providing us with a warm vehicle while we waited for the sheriff—I had baked them cookies and also gave them one of those delicious fruitcakes.  We then dodged the deer and elk arriving home without incident—lately that’s a good thing for us especially with it being Friday the 13th!!

Here’s a video I took of Ms. Emmi chasing snowballs today while on our walk.

Trip To Livingston and A Machine For Sale

Michael and Nat enjoyed lunch in town at Iron Star Pizza then journeyed over to Livingston so Nat could go to the dentist.  I elected to stay home and get some things done.  Remember those wool jackets I bought at the thrift shop a while back—well, I cut up the coats today making piles of beautiful wool.  Paulette had instructed me to wash the wool in hot, hot water then dry it—so I followed instructions well and now have a lovely pile of felted wool.  I want to dye some of the wool and use it for needlework projects. 

When we purchased all the sewing things from the woman in Billings, it was our intent to re-sell much of it including the machine I used to embroider Emmi’s stocking.  So, today, I re-attached the embroidery unit and created some additional pieces, took photos and listed the entire sewing machine and embroidery unit on Craigslist. 

The holly leaves and berries are done with the embroidery unit, the snails and ducks were done using the machine’s decorative stitches—it’s quite the smart machine!

Emmi and I took two walks today—she has a new fixation—chasing snowballs!  It is so funny to watch, she finds a snowball, stands and stares at it until one of us picks it up and tosses it.  Then she gives chase, grabs it in her mouth and the snowball falls apart—Emmi is then ready for another one.  Silly dog!

For the first time in a couple weeks I fired up the longarm and got started on a quilt for Jeane—this quilt was all ready attached to the zippers so that made the process easier.  The tension gave me fits but right before I came upstairs to make supper, I finally had pretty stitches.  There are just some days!!

These photos were taken a few days ago when it was so dang cold, some of this snow is gone. 

Snow Plowing, Packages and Embroidery

How’s that for a mish mash of a day??  Michael did the snowplowing in anticipation of getting the big motorhome out of its parking spot and down the hill.  He also put the loveseat (he put new foam in the cushions) back in the rig.  Our temperatures were warmer today, we even got above freezing for the first time in over a week!!  The forecast calls for wind, wind and more wind along with milder temps—we can live with that especially if it melts some of this snow.

The Cadillac SRX we purchased while working in Texas is rear wheel drive and doesn’t like to go in the snow—thus the car has been parked for quite a while now, buried in snow.  This morning I started it—kind of surprising it started as cold as it’s been and we moved it out of the path of the motorhome.  Next spring when we get home I think we are going to try selling the car. 

Out here in the wilds of Montana we get mail delivery three days per week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, period.  This time of year with packages and Christmas cards arriving, our mailbox can get a little full.  Plus UPS and FedEx pay us a visit almost daily.  Today the UPS man called and asked if he could leave our package at the lower shed by the road—of course we said yes and thanks for calling us—otherwise they have to put tire chains on to get up our driveway.  We used to have a UPS lady who we told to leave the packages at the shed but to call us—nope, she rarely called and we would go down days later and find wet/soggy packages.  We really like our UPS man, Bill, but I guess town deliveries are so busy they have a substitute up the Boulder delivering and Bill is helping with the town stuff.  Nothing wrong with the economy in our neck of the woods!

Remember in October last year Michael and I bought a lot of sewing supplies, books, fabrics and a Pfaff sewing machine from a very ill woman in Billings?  The sewing machine had an embroidery unit which she said had never been used.  Well, today I attached that embroidery unit and embroidered Emmi’s name on her stocking.  No cursing, no broken needles—I did have to enlist Michael’s help—Pfaff is notorious for producing poor instruction manuals for their machines and I couldn’t find instructions for making the embroidery unit sew without my constantly holding the foot pedal down.  Michael to the rescue and we got it done—I’m thrilled!

I’m starting to think about stuff to put in the motorhome—things that won’t freeze as we don’t want to start heating the rig this early.  Time to leave will be here before we know it.

Good Grief

A week ago yesterday we had this awful storm blow in which left a foot of snow on the ground and frigid temperatures.  Two days ago, the wind began to blow and our temps rose—in this country that’s the way the ball bounces—if you want warmer temps, the wind must blow.  Today, the wind was howling and guess what, it’s snowing again.  I think Brenda left Canada again today and forgot to close the door!! 

Michael had two necessary appointments in Billings today and I had a haircut appointment, also necessary. We left early this morning and decided to go as far as Big Timber and see how the freeway looked.  Our driveway was starting to drift with the wind as was the Boulder Road.  When we got to Big Timber—nothing—the wind wasn’t blowing as hard and the freeway had one lane mostly clear so off we went.  Billings’ streets were a mite treacherous—the main roads were plowed but any side street—you were on your own.  We managed all our appointments, Costco, Wal Mart, and Harbor Freight still making it back to Big Timber before dark. 

When we left Billings headed for home it was snowing and the wind was blowing, by the time we visited with Nat and started up the Boulder it was snowing hard—we managed to avoid the several elk who were determined to join us in the truck and trucked on up our drifted driveway.  The truck is unloaded and hopefully that is our last trip to Billings for the year!!

Nat’s neighbor, Amber and her husband put on quite the Christmas display--

Cooking And Puttering

I spent the day in the kitchen again making goodies for my Arkansas package.  I ran out of eggs and had to run down to Shirley’s—we do that in this little neighborhood—if one person doesn’t have what you need the other one will.  Gertrude and I did a little house cleaning too while all the cooking was going on.

We are really experiencing a heat wave—it was 20 degrees this afternoon—of course we had some wind with that temperature rise.  Michael spent the day getting the Ford one ton dually ready for travel.

Our walks were much more pleasant with the warmer temperatures, Emmi even went without socks this afternoon. 

Where has the month of December gone—Christmas is two weeks from Wednesday!!!  I just ordered my Christmas cards from Costco—at the pace the mail is traveling due to volume and weather, our friends and family may get those cards for New Years!!  At least most of my Christmas shopping is done, I only need a couple more things. 

Life is good. 

Sort Of Normal and A Heat Wave

Today is a new day—we remembered a couple funny things about the whole incident.  The Montana state trooper, Brenda,  has made a name for herself in the surrounding areas as one who is a stickler for details.  When the accident was called in to her, she was in Columbus, about 45 miles from where we were.  Instead of letting the sheriff’s deputy sign off on a non-injury, one vehicle accident she wanted to come and investigate. 

On those horrible, icy roads, it took her a while to get there—all the while I am sitting in the back (read—prisoner section) of the sheriff’s patrol vehicle.  The young sheriff’s deputy has the heater cranked, I am so cramped in this totally plexiglass enclosed seat area, I can’t hear a thing the deputy or Michael who is sitting in the front seat are saying, plus between menopause and that heater I am about to explode!!  If I had ever thought of committing a crime—that backseat would have been a strong deterrent!!!

When Brenda arrived Michael got out to get in her car taking Emmi with him—well, it seems the state trooper is a softy after all—Tim, the deputy said, “it’s good he took the dog, Brenda loves dogs.”  She loves dogs so much that when she asked Michael where he had been going, “into town for dinner,” her reply was, “and just what did you do with your dog while you were having dinner.”  Michael got the distinct impression that if he had said,  “we left her in the jeep,”  with the temps 18 degrees below zero Brenda might have given us a ride in her backseat! Michael told her we got takeout and had dinner at Nat’s house—all was well!

Michael and Lonn went into town to retrieve the jeep—he took the tow bar we use when pulling it behind the motorhome but didn’t need to tow the jeep home.  After talking with the wrecker guy and checking the fluid levels Mike decided to start the jeep—it started and ran like top all the way home and into the garage.  THANKS Lonn for your help!!   The damage in the daylight is no more than it was in the dark—jeeps are tough I guess—no windows broken, just a couple minor things on the outside. 

We have Good Sam Platinum Towing Service which covers not only our motorhome but all our other vehicles.  The wrecker service (the only one in town) showed up with all the other emergency service people so I didn’t call Good Sam.  But after Michael paid the bill for a tow of less than 10 miles—I called Good Sam—I have to send the receipt and a letter then Good Sam will probably reimburse us.   I plan on calling the wrecker service also to discuss what we think is an unreasonable charge.

While Michael was out running around I was baking—11 dozen cookies and a recipe of CJ’s Fruitcakes.  My first batch of CJ’s Fruitcakes were OK but not quite right.  I purchased some mini-loaf pans, adjusted the recipe for our higher altitude and today—success!!  The cakes are beautiful!

Emmi and I took a couple walks today—we had a heat wave, our high temp was 11 degrees and let me tell you, after 20 below, it felt balmy out there! 

Thank you all so much for your kind words about our little accident, we truly appreciate it!

And Another One

This is a short blog tonight, we are both more than just a little rattled.  We drove into town this evening to meet Lonn and LoraLee at Nat’s for dinner.  On the way back home about seven miles out of Big Timber, not going very fast due to the awful roads, a deer ran across in front of us—Mike tapped the brakes, he didn’t even really tap the brakes and we began to slide, the next thing we know we are careening all over that slick highway with Michael trying desperately to control the jeep.  We ended up laying the jeep onto its side in the ditch with the driver side down leaving me hanging in my seat belt.  I held onto Emmi throughout the whole short process. 

We are all totally OK—no scrapes, no bruises.  It was minus 18 degrees while all this was happening, my purse spilled all over the car and for a while after Michael released me from my seatbelt, I couldn’t find the phone—when I did find it, no service!!  So here we are in the ditch, pitch black, cold, cold.  Michael walked over to the closest house but no one was home.  Thank God these wonderful people with a warm, warm truck came along, had cell service, called all the powers that be and sat with us while we waited for all the flashing lights.

We turned over in such slow motion, the jeep appears to be mostly OK, a broken tail light and a broken fender flare-- very little damage but the wrecker hauled it to town—Michael will want to bring it home and check it over before starting it. 

So, it just wasn’t the little yellow jeep’s week!

My photos are not good, very dark and lots of flashing lights—everyone in these small communities comes out—we had a fire truck, an ambulance, a police car and then the state trooper as it is a state highway.