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Holiday Break Blizzard

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A beautiful day, post blizzard! The mountains are breathtaking; the streets make your palms sweat (even though it's -7 degrees Fahrenheit). They have had snow removal crews running day and night shifts for the last 48 hours to try and keep the streets clear. I had to run to the store today because we were out of very important stay at home supplies, like milk and coffee. But I can pretty much guarantee I won't be leaving my warm, cozy house again until Tuesday morning when I have to drag it out to go to work. My adventurous big little son has been skiing every day for the last 3 days, in negative 7 degree weather. It has snowed literally feet of powder at Bridger Bowl. That makes for a very happy fella!, and a fingernail chewing mom because of the winter roads required to travel to Bridger Bowl. And Mr. Bruce is chomping at the bit because the big annual “New Year's Eve Party Hearty Cabin Community Festival” is tomorrow night! That is, if any of the hosts can make it the 150 to 200 miles they have to travel to get to their cabins! I tell you, the roads are terrifying right now! Several families in the cabin community (and specifically 2 couples that had offered to open their cabins as hosts this year) live as far away as Billings and Red Lodge. Personally, I will be at home, in front of a roaring Tulikivi fire, sipping hot chocolate, and partaking of a good book. Since the cabin is still in it's “shed-like” condition, I will forgo the festivities, and tend the home fires. Bruce can party til the cows come home. Or the moose, as it may be, at the cabin 😀

Happy New Year!

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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A Dab of Christmas Cheer

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Our Winter days are mighty short, but oh-so-beautiful. I don't seem to remember having so many splendiferous sunsets so many days in a row as we've had here this winter. I've taken so many photos of the mountains surrounding our town, I'm surprised my little camera isn't plumb worn out. It seems every day they are spectacular in just a little different way than they were in previous days, and I'm compelled to try and capture that just a bit of a difference. I unfortunately don't have the knowledge it takes to be able make my camera capture the true and extreme beauty my eyes are lucky enough to experience.

This particular evening the sun was going down fast, and for just a few minutes the Crazies were set ablaze with a pink glow. I pulled over and jumped out of my car to try and get a quick pic, but between the wind practically blowing me off my feet, and the low light conditions, I couldn't catch but a fraction of how stunning it truly was. Too bad, because it was a sight to behold.

The wind was gusting so hard, I couldn't steady myself enough to get a non-blurry shot.

There have been several interesting storms blow through over the last several weeks. Even some fog, and frost freezes, which are pretty rare for this area.

 

Some pretty cloud formations –

 

Wonderful slanting afternoon light. It shone beautifully on the Yellowstone and it's visiting Canadian honkers this particular afternoon. But again, unfortunately, the photos are nowhere near how beautiful the scene is when actually standing there in person.

 

 

A handsome young buck, and shy doe, that have been keeping me company at work.

 

The cedar wax wings paid a visit to our house the other day. Their preference was cedar berries, rather than the dried crab apples that they usually gobble up.

And the Christmas lights are popping out all over town the last week or so. I really enjoy seeing these on Park St. in our town. They go to great efforts to wrap all these trees in lights.

 

 

 

I decorated a corner at work with cute thrift store finds. The scale house is so small I don't know where I'll store them after the holidays. Guess I'll find somewhere to tuck them.

Again this year I just have a dab of Christmas decorations out at my house because the multitude of containers from the cabin (that are here to keep from the mice from invading them) are usurping my entire holiday storage room. It makes me so cranky I can't get my decorations out, but it's not worth having a meltdown over. I'll just try to look at the bright side and think about how easy it will be to put the few things I have out away after Christmas.

Tomorrow starts the baking extravaganza, so soaking up some calm and relaxation tonight.

Merry Christmas m^..^m))

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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Poochies

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Oh Piper. She's a busy girl, there's no doubt about it.

I'm always so curious about both my sweet little dogs lineage. We have not much of a clue beyond their looks, and their mannerisms, what they are a sum total of, because they are “Rez” (Indian Reservation) rescue puppies. Unfortunately at these reservations, there are dozens upon dozens of dogs of every size and shape running amok and making puppies on a daily basis. Guessing breed specificity is certainly a crapshoot. My guess is that, by far, both my girls heritage is Jack Russell terrier. But you can never be 100% sure that there isn't a skosh of something else exciting tossed in there for good measure.

Given that Declan is a bit longish, and is very blondish, maybe that's an indicator for a smidge of Corgi DNA introduced along the way. Or maybe a Chihuahua great grandmother, as she is fairly small. But that blond color seems pretty common in Corgis and Chihuahuas. Whatever combination she is, it's a good one. She is extremely smart, well mannered, quiet (when the Buffalo Gal isn't exerting her delinquency tendencies onto her), and is always anxious to mind and please you; the perfect definition of a little lady. She can be taught a trick in less than 10 minutes, and she never forgets it. She's very trustworthy, and I never have to worry about her not being on a leash from the gate to the car, or when we go outside at the cabin. But, I guess you have to factor in that we got her when she was just 8 weeks old, so she hadn't been forced to deal with too many hardships. Coming into a loving forever home as a little baby I'm sure has to be an advantage.

Miss Piper, on the other hand,………… She has a heart as big as the moon! And loves you with every ounce of that big heart. She's fearless, energetic, smart as a whip, and more than a little bullheaded. Lordy, she's entertaining! But you really have to keep a handle on her. Being the free spirit that she is, she wants to run. If she's taken outside the yard without a leash and sees a bunny, she's a kickin up dirt in your eye – gone like a streak. Ditto with deer (and cows, and horses, and moose, and the list goes on and on). We drove to the cabin once last Spring, passed a doe and her fawn, continued on the 1/2 mile to the cabin, and when we parked and opened the truck door, she hadn't forgotten that deer. She was out like a bullet, tearing down the road to find that doe. We called and whistled for 10 minutes. Bruce was just getting the 4-wheeler out to go look, when here she came, sopping wet and covered with mud, her tongue hanging out to her knees. (That's why any photo you see of her at the cabin now, she is on a long lead, tethered to the cabin.) But, she came to us at around 1 year old, after having run loose and uncared for on the “Rez”. And I'm sure there would be horrific tales, if only she could tell us. Most likely it was a situation of survival of the fittest, and most Rez dogs run pack-like, looking for food, and fending for themselves to the best of their abilities. I'm fairly certain she had been abused, also, as she was terrified of boots, hats, and anything stick-like (brooms, yardsticks, sticks in general) for many months after we adopted her. She still has spells where she is afraid of Bruce and my son, especially after dark. But for the most part, it's all good, because after 2 years she knows deep down she can trust us. What a hoot she is! Maybe she has a dab of bird dog in her. Any time something catches her eye, the first thing she does is assume a “pointing” stance. The magpies tease her mercilessly in our yard, so she spends a lot of time zipping around the yard, or on the deck rail, or highest point of the wood pile, trying to catch them.

Come on you darn magpie, just a little closer...

 

There was a major, very concentrated, staring out the window session at work not too long ago.

Because of this –

Then a few hours later, this –

Note the tarpaper decoration dangling from his antlers. Don't know what that was all about. He moseyed right past our window at work, and wasn't deterred in the least by her barking.

Piper is very interested in her surroundings and pays rapt attention to all the goings on. I watched her sitting on the woodpile for the longest time last weekend.

I used the zoom on my camera to see what she was watching so intently.

 

 

She was really taking it all in. I think I see a sledding party in our future! I bet she'd really like it! I already know she and Declan both love riding on the snowmachine and 4-wheeler. And I'm sure up for some sledding!

I feel so lucky and blessed to have these 2 fuzzy little gifts in my life. It seems like there is never a dull moment with them around. So darn lucky 🙂

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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Steady By Jerks: More Chronicling Of A Very Drawn Out Cabin Rehab

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I guess this would be a “triannual” cabin update, since the last one was in July, and the next one probably will be around March or so. There is already over 30 inches of snow at the cabin, so no more driving in; snow machine or snow shoes must be utilized to gain access now. And that is really going to put a kink in any forward momentum for all that needs to be finished up there.

Mr. Bruce really earned his keep this Summer. He would put in a 40+ hour week at his job, come home Friday, change clothes, throw what he needed for a few days into his pack, grab a bite for dinner, then head to the cabin until Sunday night. Come home, go to bed, and start the same process over again the next morning. Week after week, all Spring, Summer, and Fall long. I think he only missed 3 weekends, and that was due to day job work obligations for the most part. I mentioned before that the carpenter he'd made a deal with never came thru, which didn't really surprise me. The man was too over-booked, and our cabin job was too insignificant in the scheme of things, and too far out in the boonies. But I wish he'd come clean clear back in February when Bruce called to get on the guy's work schedule. It would have given us the opportunity to try and find someone else since we were starting good and early, before the Spring rush started. Bruce had faith in the guy, but to no avail. Anyway, this is what Bruce has gotten accomplished since Spring, and primarily by himself.

He did hire an electrician for the beginning part of the big electrical process, and our big little son went up a couple of weekends to help his Dad get some of the worst windows replaced. There are only going to be 8 windows total in the cabin when all the changes are completed. One window is newer and in good shape, so it will be left as is. The remaining 7 are to be replaced. Bruce and sonny boy tackled the 3 in the worst condition, and were able to pull the old, then get the new ones set, over a couple weekends. There was a lot of log cutting and patching required, so it was very labor intensive, and time consuming. A smaller window on the porch, next to the door, Bruce was able to install by himself. So, what remains on the list for replacement is – one in the bedroom, one on the porch, and one in the loft. Bedroom and porch should be pretty straightforward. But, the one in the loft will be difficult, and it's all my fault. I felt, for safety sake, it should be big enough to crawl out of if need be. So, the window will double in size, necessitating more log cutting. It will be tricky since it is in the tight pitch of the roof line. Then we'll have to get a rope ladder, or attach some type of wood ladder to the outside. Here are the before and afters of the windows –

The old bay window in living room, barely hanging onto cabin.

 

 

Terrible rot and broken glass. It usually had a blue tarp attached to keep the weather out.

 

 

Brand new fresh! No more extending beyond the roof line inviting leaking.

 

Tight, secure, and weather proof. Double paned and with low E.

So much better.

 

Tiny before bathroom window, lower middle.

 

New bigger bathroom window moved left, with tankless hot water heater venting to the right, propane furnace venting to the left.

A slider window for good bthrm moisture ventilation. Hot water htr has the potential to be the elephant in the room unless we can come up with a creative cover solution.

 

The before kitchen window to the left of the door, and the porch window that will be eliminated.

 

New kitchen window, moved up, to accommodate taller kitchen cabinetry.

 

It will sure be nice when we're able to have the logs stripped and stained. They look pretty ghastly right now.

 

A lovely view to see out the wonderful new window.

 

 

We got a good solid wood door from Craigslist, and the window in the following picture is now installed in the opening to the right of the doorway. I didn't get a photo of them installed.

 

So much of what has been done isn't really photographable – tons of electrical work, mass amounts of plumbing, hours worth of trenching (with machinery and by hand digging) to accommodate cables and pipes of all kinds. A company we hired came up and blew in a foam insulation to the entire underside of the cabin. It is supposedly the best you can get. It better be. It is so expensive it would bring a tear to a glass eye. After much research, a tankless water heating system was decided upon. A larger one to service the bathroom, a smaller one for the kitchen. Installation was a bear, but he got it done. Now we have to figure out how to camouflage the monstrosity in that itty-bitty bathroom. We'll git 'er. It's just going to take some imagination.

We've roughed out a plan for the electrical layout inside the cabin. This is something you really don't want to mess up. It's not easy going back later to add or subtract plug-ins and fixtures. Way different than wiring a house where the wiring is hidden. Because of the logs, all the cabin wiring has to be run thru conduit, which is a kind of hollow metal tube, and the conduit then attached to the logs on the interior and run to each plug in and light fixture. Looks a bit funky, but not much in the way of alternatives.

This is a photo I borrowed off the Internet to show an example of how the electrical wiring will be run thru conduit. Hopefully we'll be able to make ours look a little less obtrusive than that shown in this photo.

I'm most certainly not a delicate flower that expects “the man of the house” to do all the rough/tough aspects of remodeling while I sit at home and sip tea and knit. I'll get in there and rip and tear with the best of them. Gosh, I even have my very own hammer, saws, screw drivers, and tile saw! (I know you're impressed! ;-D ) I'll try my hand at most anything finish wise, with a bit of mentoring. But this electrical and plumbing is beyond me, and Bruce doesn't have the time to fiddle around and try to teach me the stuff. So the poor guy is pretty much on his own with this mountain of malarkey to get done.

Anyhoo, with the new insulation blown in, and a majority of the new, awesome, weathertight windows installed, it should be considerably easier to heat this winter. I'm sure he'll snow machine in and work on whatever he can as often as possible this winter, and should be downright cozy during his working weekends! I'll stay back and tend the home fires until I can be of use “up the mountain”. And I'll be happy to work toward the finish line on this long drawn out process! Whatever the heck it takes to get this bugger put back together!

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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Having Fun at the Little Bear Fair!

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My day off happened to be THIS beautiful fall day! So I got up nice and early, drank some coffee in my PJ's, got dressed and caught up a few things around the house, then hit the trail all by my lonesome. The Little Bear Antique Fair started today, and I don't need much persuading to get my tail over there to check out all the wonderful treasures. It's a great place to start your Christmas shopping if you have friends and family that like antiques and oddities. That's why it's good to go by yourself.

This is the earliest I've ever gotten to one, and there were quite a lot of folks right at the starting gate. I'm sure they were all hoping for first dibs on the best stuff! I've gotten lots of things over the years at this twice annual sale in Bozeman, and always anxiously look forward to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authentic Christmas stockings, and kids red wool snow pants from many years ago.

 

 

 

 

I found a just right “something” for my good Mom, but it's a secret til Christmas! Saw lots of good stuff, but contained myself and kept a latch on my pocketbook. Quite a few things I spotted I already have at home, but mine were mostly rummage sale finds which I was lucky enough to find over the years, and for a whole lot less “moola” than they were asking at this sale!

I have been searching endlessly for an antique panorama of Cowboys. They seem to be pretty darn rare. I found a pretty beat up one at an antique store a couple months ago, and nearly fainted when I saw the $500 price tag! Today I saw 3 awesome panoramas that I was salivating over…….$1,500, $2,400, and lastly $4,000!!!!!!!! Gosh, who'da thunk it! I believe I'll hang tight. I live by the mottos “All good things come to those that wait”, “Haste makes waste”, and “Patience is a virtue”. I've found there isn't a much worse feeling than having buyer's remorse; and being the penny pincher that I am, would never dream of spending that kind of money on what is essentially a do-dad. But, boy, am I ever a sucker for a good do-dad…..at the right price.

Here's a pic I borrowed from Pinterest to show you all what I mean by a cowboy panorama. This is taken of one of Ralph Lauren's homes, and I'm pretty sure he can swing the price tag these panoramas are commanding 😉

Anything “Ralph Lauren” just turns my crank! I could give a hoot about clothes/fashion, but his home lines are to die for in my opinion.

I really didn't feel too bad about not getting anything this trip thru the antique fair. With all my Mom's sorting and purging, she's given me some awesome stuff over the last few months.

This “Library of Health” book was my Great Grandmother's. I put it out with some of my Halloween stuff because it's got a bit of a “Frankenstein” vibe to it!

 

 

 

There are all kinds of charts of body parts inside that flip thru one flap at a time to show all the layers of said body parts. Cool.

This is my Great-Great Grandmother's platter, and must be around 140 years old, give or take, as close as we can figure. That's a long time for something this fragile to still be in one piece, and with no chips or cracks. I will be it's steward for as long as I can, and hope the younger generation in our family shapes up and starts to appreciate these family heirlooms.

I also took a lot of the leftovers from her garage sale. She didn't have a great turnout because the weather was so cruddy that weekend. She was pretty much forced to donate all that was left because there is so little room in her new house. I just couldn't stand seeing my Great-Grandmother's cuckoo clock from Germany go, some antique pictures, and other smaller things that were gifts to my Mom, or things that meant a lot to her but she still had to part with them. So if I could squeeze them in my house, I took 'em. Maybe when all their remodeling is done, she'll have the room to take some of it back.

Hope you all have a “Spooktacular” Halloween!

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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A Months Worth Of Blabbering

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It's been awhile since I've popped in. Just a bunch of this and that going on. I'm never sure lately, when I first peel an eye open in the morning, what day, month, or year it is. If the radio alarm turns on I know it's a work day, then I try to sort it out from there. It went from that really bad snow storm in May, to 90+ degree temps just days later. The hot, dry summer persisted to the beginning of September, then temps dropped to 30's – 40's and we had to fire up the woodstove, after absolutely melting the week before. That lack of transition makes my poor brain darn confused.

Since I don't have any specific subject matter, I'll just toss a few photos out about what's been going on, and a few leaf peeper views.

My flower gardens are pretty much caput after a few hard freezes. But the grass is greener now that it's cool; much more so than when it was so hot this summer and it was cooked and yellowed.

I climbed over, and rearranged the cabin boxes in the storage room, enough to reach a bit of Halloween decorations. Our house is the only one in a 10 block radius that has any decorations out. Not many seem to be too enthused about the holiday yet, but it makes me happy to see the lights twinkling on my little porch!

My folks are 2 months in at their new place. Oh my gosh – what a Herculean effort it has taken to get them just to where they are at this minute. And they are probably only 1/2 way to where they need to be.

A blank canvas, pre-fenced.

The first thing they lined out before even moving, was to hire a fencer to enclose the entire 7 acres so they'd have a safe, secure place for the little horses. That whole process didn't come without it's bumps and bruises. The first guy only did about 1 square acre, then my folks were lucky enough to find a different guy that was a bit more enthused and motivated to get the job done. It was horrendously expensive, but had to be done. Fencers, especially good ones, are few and far between around here.

Then came the barn builders. Wow, they were some kind of organized! I can't say enough good things about this fledgling business. They were phenomenal, and very affordable comparatively. My folks had to hire a separate business to come out an prepare a pad/foundation before the builders came. That took a couple days to haul all the fill dirt/gravel to the site, then level and compact everything with the big construction equipment. The barn builders started the next day. The framing crew came first, and this is what they accomplished in just 1 day. Amazing!

Take a look at that mighty pretty fence in the foreground, too!

 

 

 

On day 2, a 2nd new crew came to enclose everything with metal sheeting. Not an easy task with the wonderful wind we have around here. They, also, were no nonsense, and this is what it looked like at the end of the day. Really, dirt to this in 2 days!

Front view, and to the right of the house.

 

The back side.

 

The opening on the left end will be framed in to make it not quite so vast, and then regular barn doors will be built and hung in the smaller opening. Individual stalls will be put in at some point. For now, it is good enough shelter from the wind, rain, and snow as it stands. The middle section will hold all the hay, and be a place to park much of the equipment out of the weather. The right end, with the door, is my Dad's shop. A third crew came back about a week later and poured a cement floor in the shop section, and finished everything off. All in all, it is a handsome, well built structure that will surely add value to the place.

Then there's the house……my Mom calls it a Barbie Doll house. It is significantly smaller than the house they moved from. She sold a ton of stuff to an antiques dealer before even moving, gave gobs of stuff away, and handed down important heirlooms to us kids and other family members. There still was nowhere to put things, so she pared down even more and had a big rummage sale to boot. Even though they absolutely did not want to take on major remodeling, she decided to go ahead and turn the garage into a living room, as they really had no space for the things that make a house their home. So everything has been turned upside down inside. Farm activities and dogs + pale blue carpet = not a good mix. Out it goes, to be replaced with hardwood floors. Crazy kitchen layout + old appliances + dark wood cabinets and blue flowered bedroomy wallpaper = bye bye. To be replaced with practical new appliances with no added frills or do-dads; new granite countertops in place of 4 inch tile and grout counters; and cabinets to be painted a nice light color, because that's what she likes. New paint, new light fixtures, new window coverings. All this before even starting from scratch in the garage. A couple that did work on my little house, my present house, and my folks farmhouse, have come out of retirement to work with my folks on this new place. That was a lucky break because it is near impossible to find anyone worth a hoot presently with this crazy housing “surge” our town is experiencing. The carpenter that was all lined out to help Bruce at the cabin has never bothered to even show up. While waiting on the many things that have been ordered, they've taken on a half dozen smaller projects, and also got the garage door pulled out and the new window put in.

Having the garage turned into living space should make a significant difference in how they will be able to function in the house. This garage is 600 square feet, with an added area that will be utilized for storage.

To put this in perspective, the whole main floor of our cabin is 576 square feet, and we have to squeeze in a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and hallway!

The walk thru door will be removed, and a new door placed on the opposing wall for access to the patio.

 

 

A wood stove will be put between these 2windows.

It's like I said before, it has been their lot in life to turns coal into diamond at every home they've owned. Although this house was more than adequate when the bought it, it just didn't function the way they needed it to. It wil be a most excellent little farm when they get it all put together.

Luckily, the weather has been fairly decent these last several weeks, which has helped them move things along. I have been very much enjoying the beautiful fall colors, and wish it could stick around.

 

 

 

 

 

So beautiful.

We had a lovely sunset tonight, with some really unusual clouds.

They look like big feathers!

 

My silly Piper had to come help me take pictures. Always one to get the best vantage point!

And I'm sure you've always wondered what a big, hungry, vegetarian gal eats for dinner – so I'll show what was on the menu tonight.

Fried green tomatoes with buffalo berry catsup (my great grandma's secret recipe), garlic Texas toast, and peach iced tea. It was pretty darn yummy!

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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Parade of Homes

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First and foremost, THANK YOU LORD FOR THE RAIN AND SNOW!!!!! Usually I fuss about winter coming, but this year I welcome it with open arms if it helps in getting these horrible forest fires put out. It says in the Great Falls Tribune that an estimated 1,103,252 acres have burned in Montana this summer. What a tragedy. You'll see a bit of snow in some of the pictures in this post, and I'm lovin' it!

On with the story. Every fall there is an event called “Parade of Homes” in Bozeman (and neighboring counties if the homes submitted are snazzy enough to meet the Parade's high standards). It is one of my favorite events to attend, and I really look forward to it each year. I wasn't sure I'd be able to go this year because we all have so much going on, and weekends are mighty short. But, thankfully, we were able to get things straightened around enough to be able to take in the very last day they had the homes open. There were 15 homes this year, 13 in Gallatin County, 2 in the County where I live. There are so many people milling around in the homes it is nearly impossible to get any good photos, and I'm not sure they really want you to anyway since they charge admission, and probably don't want folks showing the home photos around and maybe putting a dent in the ticket sales. I took exterior photos of my 2 favorites, just to give an idea of the awesome views they have surrounding these beautiful homes.

Look at that lovely snow!

 

 

I did snap one quick one of the living room in this home.

 

 

 

 

This home was up Paradise Valley. This particular builder always does a great job every time he's had a home in the parade. I think this is the 4th house he's built that I've been fortunate enough to see.

After touring this home, we drove back to town, then headed over the hill to Bozeman. We went thru the catalog provided with the ticket purchase and decided to pare it down a bit. We chose just the ones we thought looked most interesting, and picked 6 to tour out of the remaining 13. I was not terribly impressed this year. Most were extremely modernized versions of “farm houses”, or “traditional houses”. The outside would look fairly true to form, then you'd step inside, and eek! Holy smoke, ultra modern. Not my cup of tea by a long shot. One we went to was fairly normal, a roomy 3200 square feet, vaulted ceilings, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a modest media/theater room (some of them are vast in these parade homes), attached garage, and a tiny yard that was barely a strip on each of the 4 sides of the house. It was the most liveable for a family with children I thought (except for the tiny yard which didn't give kids much room to play), and I supposed the price would be somewhat affordable for a typical young family budget…….I was shocked when I saw it was $749,000! It is beyond me how a young family can take on those kinds of payments. And what is even more shocking is the fact that they sell rapidly! That is why the real estate market in our little town is going haywire – we are getting the overflow of folks from Bozeman that can't afford those outrageous prices. But they can pay more than most people employed in our little town, so it is driving the prices up here by leaps and bounds.

It makes me worry for my big little son. He has a good job for this area, and yet he would have to make five times his wage to afford something half as much as this “normal” home on the parade. And that is the case for most all the young adults that I know around here.

Anyhoo, the last house we saw was my very favorite. It was just a few miles down the road from Bridger Bowl Ski Resort, and the area is spectacular in every direction for views.

It was hard to get a decent photo because it was built high up on the hillside, and had a treacherously steep driveway to get up to it. The whole road, from where you left the pavement, clear to the house, was basically a glorified cow track. It made the road to our cabin look perfectly tended and groomed!

They made you park far below, then walk up the road to the driveway, then hike the whole driveway to the house. Whew! But as you can see, almost all the front of the house was windows – and get a load of the view out of said windows….

 

 

 

 

 

This is looking directly at some of Bridger Bowl's ski runs. Just a sprinkle of snow on them now; much, much more to come later!

 

Even tho we probably should have stayed home and worked on the to-do list, it was nice to take a break, see some lovely (and some interesting) homes, and get off the beaten path for a change.

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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WILDLIFE

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There's plenty of wildlife in our neck of the woods. Some become adventurous and decide to visit the city side of things. I've had a couple of interesting visitors over the last few weeks, both at work and at home.

This big, beautiful golden eagle showed up for about 3 days in a row at work.

It was quite content to just hang about, and didn't seem to be bothered much at all by the traffic thru the scale house.

You can see how extremely large it was in comparison to the magpie a rail below and to the left in the pic. The magpies were ganging up and trying to bully the eagle into leaving. It didn't work. A bit of a joke since, size wise, they look like they are canary sized versus the 3 feet plus size of the eagle.

It was working really hard pulling the tarp back with it's big toes, trying to find something yummy to snitch out of that garbage laden trailer. Yucky!

Probably does smell pretty tempting judging by the number of crows, magpies, and other garbage eating birds that hang about on a daily basis. The department of transportation brings in all the road kill deer and other animals for disposal, which to carrion eaters, must smell delectable!

And speaking of delectable, cat food is a gourmet treat to be had if your nose is good enough to catch a whiff of it in your nightly meanderings.

Apparently this little critter has a really good sniffer, since he/she invited itself to a snack on our front porch this last week. I thought it seemed like my kitty was eating a lot more than was possible for her, and blamed it on the big cat that lives down the street.

It's finally been cooling down really well in the evenings, so I leave the doors open until I go to bed. I lock the screen door to the front porch and leave twinkle lights (wrapped on branches in a small barrel) on for a soft night light. I was reading the other night and could hear crunching. I assumed it was Angel and peeked out the door to check on her and caught this little busybody instead. The pictures aren't good because the light was so low, but it was a sight to see. It had made itself comfortable on Angel's blankets, laying flat on it's belly with it's little feet sticking out behind it, and would pull one piece of food out of the dish at a time with it's little paw and eat it. Then take a nice long drink of water followed by some more food. This went on for a long time, and when it decided it had had enough, got up, stretched, and waddled off into the flower bed and under the porch. It must sleep under the front porch all day and come out at night to eat and mosey about.

 

It was so darn cute to watch, but now we have to be very careful to turn lots of lights on outside in the back yard (we're staying away from the front yard at night for awhile) and whistle and talk before we take the dogs out to potty before bed. It is not a fun task washing a skunk squirted dog, let me tell you.

The deer are still thick in town. I saw a doe with tiny little twin fawns standing on the side of the street when I came up the hill to my house a few days ago. And the berries have been abundant this season, so there have been a wide variety of birds in my yard lately, also.

Pretty cheap entertainment!

TTFN,

Teresa

 

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Fostered

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As much as I wanted things to to work out, as a course of events sometimes goes, it didn't work. This little gal ended up being a foster baby for us. I have never in my life given a pet away, but things need to work properly to have a happy home. We did our best to work out the kinks, but in the long run it was to no avail. She was/is a sweet little thing with people and other dogs, and her transition to our home was 90% smooth, but we could not get over the hurdle with the rub between she and my old kitty. I wracked my brain trying to work out a way for them both to be able to be in the same house once the weather turns cold enough that Angel chooses to come indoors again – Even if I had to partition off the family room to keep Angel in a safe space away from the Tasmanian devil. We even went as far as ordering a training collar (which, due to her bullheadedness, had absolutely no effect). I had Ginger for 4 weeks, and we worked diligently to overcome her natural tendencies. Every evening we'd all take a nice long walk to take the edge off, and when we got home I'd hold Angel, and Bruce would hold Ginger, and we'd sit on the double rocker on the front porch together. We'd rock, relax, and let them check each other out safely, in close proximity to each other. While my kitty purred and made biscuits, Ginger would look for every opportunity to try and take a chunk out of that little cat.

Three nights ago I came home from work, and while getting the dogs dinner ready, heard the gate clanging and rattling, and instantly thought OMG my cat. I ran out the door, and a cottontail rabbit was frantically trying to escape thru the gate. I think all 3 of the dogs had taken chase, but as it tried to flee under the gate, that little 8 pound dachshund grabbed it, pulled it back thru the gate, and absolutely annihilated that fairly good sized rabbit. I could not run fast enough to save it, and it took probably a sum total of 30 seconds, start to finish, for the dog to decimate that little creature.

That did it. I knew it was not, and never would be, a safe environment for my cat to live in. I knew there would never be a time, no matter how hard we worked at it, that we could ever totally trust her in the same proximity with the cat, even if we were at home. It was, without a doubt, not worth the risk after seeing the damage she could inflict in a matter of seconds.

Apparently the stars were in perfect alignment for such a situation, and after making several calls, a couple that Bobby and his family knew, came that very evening and picked up Ginger and all her toys, beds, and other belongings. I cried like big baby for the rest of the evening, because I had become very attached to her, and she to me. But some dogs are just not meant to live with cats, and she was certainly one of them.

Her new Mom called after 3 days and let me know that Ginger is doing very well. It is a good setting for her as they are an older couple, just the 2 of them, and no other animals whatsoever. They had a dachshund they lost a few years ago at the ripe old age of 18. I feel so very thankful they were able to take her and give her a good loving home.

Something I've learned from this whole ordeal is that I have a tremendous respect for folks with hearts large enough to foster any and all living things, from critters to children. What a tough job to love, bond, and care for someone, knowing full well you will eventually have to let them go. I guess I'm too selfish – it's sure not my cup of tea, it breaks your heart.

TTFN,

Teresa

 

 

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In A Good Path For The Eclipse

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Our little town is not too far away from the path where folks had the ultimate view of the eclipse. We were able to view about 95% coverage of the sun. Boy, people were sure wound-up about it! The eclipse viewing glasses were a major hot ticket item everywhere you looked. Just before the big day, some enterprising soul was trying to sell the silly little paper and plastic things for $25 a pair on Craigslist! One of the gals I work with came out early to relieve me for lunch (and so we could both have a nice clear view to gawk at the eclipse together 🙂 ), and she read on the Internet to stack old film negatives about 8 deep and clip them together, on each end, with a clothes pin. You could hold them up like steampunk opera glasses of sorts, and take quick peeks at the eclipse in progress.

I took a few pictures while at work during the height of it, which was about 11:35 a.m. mountain time. I had read it makes the birds confused and they think it's time to bed down, but it has been so smokey here from all the forest fires in progress, the birds I saw didn't seem to notice the eclipse at all!

This was at 11:30 a.m.

This first pic was around 5 to 8 minutes from the most obscuring we would witness. The shadows were odd, and it got darkish in the scale house like before a good rain storm, but it really wasn't that dark out.

This was the height of the whole shebang, about 11:38 a.m.

I took this pic of my hand's shadow on the side of the scale house to show just how much light there still was.

 

This was the tail end of it, about 11:43 a.m. It was still odd light, but rapidly getting brighter.

Anyhoo, there is my slide show/book report on the whole get up! I'm so lucky to have a window to hang out of and take pictures where I work!

TTFN

Teresa

 

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