March Melange

Time waits for no woman - hence the diary page twitches to March 9 without my having paid homage to the thrills and frills of February!  It just will not do. So I bring you my melange, my medley, my potpourri of happiness and happenings.  I care not if I hop like a bunny from March to February and back again - if it will bring you even a smidgen of joy, my job here will be done!

Speaking of bunnies, this little one posed motionless outside my bathroom window, less than three feet away, for at least 15 minutes.  Do you suppose it thought it was invisible?

Snow - an amazing miracle.  Have you ever really thought about it?  All those teensy individual flakes, piled up, one upon another.  Strong enough to support a bunny, a cross-country skier, a snowmobile.  (It is still at least a foot-and-a-half deep on our property.)  And the sculptures it can create.  The scenes befitting of a Currier and Ives plate.  I never tire of its beauty and I hope you don't grow weary of my snow photos!

The next photo is closer to home - our "side yard"!  I love how the (rare) sun is casting long shadows of the trees.  The sun is still low at this time of year, but at least the days are lengthening!

I celebrated another revolution around the sun last month, and of course snow sports were part of the festivities.  Here I am posing with the "snow ghosts" at Big Mountain on my birthday.  This phenomenon is the result of layers of rime ice accumulating on the trees throughout the winter.  For more information, check out this link for a quick read.  

(Note: the name of the mountain is Big Mountain - the ski area is called Whitefish Mountain Resort.)

I am grateful for all the warm greetings, cards and gifts I received.  Spousal Unit took me out for dinner, followed by a winter film festival.  It is thrilling to watch other people ski/ride off cliffs into deep powder!  

In late February, we took a trip to Portland, Oregon for a Bruce Springsteen concert.  A few days before we arrived, Portland had over 6 inches of snow and then temperatures plunged into the teens.  It left roadways, parking lots and sidewalks quite treacherous.  We had to forego some of our planned sightseeing (parks and other outdoor venues) because we feared falling and suffering serious injuries.  But we could not resist visiting several of the waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge, made all the more spectacular for the ice around them.

Check out these videos.

 

You could spend days exploring the street art scene in Portland.  As I already mentioned, the icy sidewalks rendered lengthy walks out of the question, so I only captured three murals that I saw during one brief stroll.  If I went back again, I would make it my mission to scour the Central Eastside Mural District and the Alberta Arts District.

(The Blanchet House mural was especially poignant in light of the homelessness crisis in Portland.  Everywhere we went, tent cities dominated the landscape.  Blanchet House was founded in 1952 by a group of University of Portland alumni as a house for hospitality in the model of those established by the Catholic Worker Movement.  With an original focus on feeding the unemployed, Blanchet House has grown to provide clothing, hygiene items, community, and transitional recovery programs to thousands of people every year.)  The subject of homelessness cropped up in most of our conversations that weekend; we did not identify many new solutions, but we sure agree that our country can do better than this! 

If you search for "things to do in Portland", you can be sure that Powell's City of Books will be near the top of the list.  Covering an entire city block, Powell's has grown into a Portland landmark and the world's largest new and used bookstore.  The place was teeming with people and so many books that I might have been forever discouraged from my on-and-off again thoughts of writing a book.  I did make note of several books that I would like to read!!!

Would you be surprised that donut shops would also make the list of must-dos?  I can't tell you how many boxes of "Voodoo Donuts" that we observed as we gingerly picked our way along the sidewalks of the Pearl District.  It made me wonder about the blogger that recommended Blue Star as the donut of choice.  I can tell you that I sure savored my Lemon and Lime Curd Donut!

As we maneuvered our car to a new parking spot (time limits on parking,ok?) we spotted a World Market.  Oh my.  I don't know (and I am not sure I want to know) how much more the population needs to grow in our area to merit a World Market, so we go and salivate at every installation that we come across.  Just look at these tulips!  (but no, I did not buy them.  We did find some Tete de Moine cheese.  Ooh la la!)  We had an early dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish Restaurant - yum!

And what can I say about Bruce?  The man is 73 years old.  He has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature the E Street Band.  And I swear that he did not break a sweat during the 2 hours and 45 minutes that they played!  Young folks, take note!  

 

Back at home, I launched into March with a shamrock frenzy.

 

Meanwhile, the critters confront the daily challenges of winter.  Twenty Elk waiting to cross on Big Mountain Road.

 

 

                         

Bald Eagles fishing at Hodge Lake.

And my favorite - the Ermine bounding along the front edge of the house.

Maybe they should take a page from these pink beauties and be a greeter at Hobby Lobby.  (LeeAnna - this is for you!)

 

This week, LeeAnna's prompt is "What would you like to have in a dream studio space?  Have you ever seen a studio space you wish you had?"  In this post from two years ago, I wrote about my new standing desk in our loft.  It satisfied much of my dream studio wish list - a terrific view, lots of light, a standing desk, large working surface.  The one thing it lacks is adequate storage for oddly shaped craft items such as rolls of cross-stitch fabric.  My sister-in-law in Utah has a large room she uses for quilting - the previous owner was into card-making and had specially designed cabinets for card stock - turns out they are perfect for fat quarters.  I would love to have her storage options!

Hop on over to I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color to hear more!

Linking to Monday Murals

Joining Eileen for Saturday's Critters 

Linking to Mosaic Monday

A January Jumble

Jumble (noun) = an untidy collection or pile of things

Jumble (verb) = mix up in a confused or untidy way

BRITISH = articles collected for a jumble sale

Well, "untidy" and "confused" are negative words to me, but this post is certainly a "collection" and a mixture.  So, "jumble" it is!

 

As most of you know, our last cat, Maggie, crossed the rainbow bridge on September 21, 2020.  I don't miss the dust and the litter boxes, but I do miss the affection that accompanies a loud purr and rubbing on my legs.  So, it has been a joy to interact with several cats this month, including cat-sitting for neighbors vacationing in sunny Florida!

 

Speaking of critters, it has been a bumper month for trail cam photos - the Bald Eagles have returned to fish for Northern Pike at the lake below our house.  I wrote about this in February 2021, when Golden Eagles joined in the feast as well.

 

 

Here is the patch of open water - the "fishing hole".  Last summer, the beaver built a secondary dam below the main dam, which has created this little catchment.  Apparently, the fish are swimming through gaps in the main dam and wind up in shallow water that makes for easy pickings for the raptors.  Bad decision!  The camera is positioned on the other side of the water, so the views you are about to see are looking toward where I am standing to take this picture.  (click on the pictures to make them bigger)

 

 

 

All of this happened in the space of a few minutes.  Later that night, another raptor came to the "restaurant" - an owl!  This is the first time I have ever captured one with my trail cam!

I have been doing a little cooking once a week, to give Head Chef a break.  I didn't take pictures of week 1 - Normandy Pork Casserole - a recipe from Low Carb Diabetic - and I would recommend the dish!  Week 2 was Slow Roasted Salmon, and I am not giving you the link since the spices overwhelmed the salmon.  But I documented my work ...

 

Speaking of food, Head Chef gave us a New Year's resolution - Eat More Jam!  How many jam/jelly/related jars do you have?

I am joining LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.  The prompt for this week: What are your favorite colors?  Do you wear them or decorate with them?  As I look around the house, I see many shades of brown, augmented with blues and reds.  As we bought furniture over the years, we went for subtle shades and used pillows and blankets to add the color.  If I consider my closet, the base palette is brown and black, but with a rainbow of blouses, scarves and sweaters.  Is there a specific color your family would say is your favorite?  Purple.  My bridesmaids wore purple, and I have a purple suede outfit from the 1980's that Spousal Unit wishes I would wear more often!  Has it changed over the last few years?  Today, my style choices are functional - designed for our active and outdoor lifestyle.  In other words, not much purple and no suede!!!

 

 

This week, I am also linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.  Her theme this week is scarves.  I wrote an entire post about scarves on February 10, 2019.  This was one of my favorite collages from that post.

Finally, I leave you with this whimsical fairy house that my neighbors created from a tree stump, lovingly harvested from the property of my Dear Neighbor Friend.  I am so thankful to live here, and to have so many "jumbles" to share with you.

This week, I am also linking to:

Brian's Home for Thankful Thursday.

Eileen for Saturday's Critters.

Mosaic Monday

 

Mosaic Monday #45: Morning Glory

Do you ever wake up and wonder what the day will bring?  You might run through your 'tasks' for the day and form a general expectation for the next 24 hours.  And then there are days that take you by surprise, from the very beginning.  Today* was one of those days.  The morning started easily enough - I had a kayak date with Dear Neighbor Friend.  In my mind, I soon labeled it Morning Glory.

Mist skimmed the fields as we navigated 5 farm gates between us and access to the lake.  An unfamiliar person could easily become disoriented and lose her way in this fog.  Normal objects suddenly loomed and took on mystical proportions.  

At one point, Dear Neighbor Friend leaned over and peered at something near the ground.  "What is it?" I queried, thinking of the young skunk we had seen not far from this spot on a previous outing.  "A spider web," she said.  Night-time dew bestowed pearls of water along every angle of the web.  I am sure spiders have spun webs in these same locations before, but without the bedazzle, they are readily overlooked.

The mist had begun to lift as we launched our kayaks, but there was still enough about to lend a mysterious aspect to the lake.

At a time like this, you can imagine yourself in Loch Ness, Scotland, with the mist swirling, and a lone piper high on the moors.  And the Loch Ness monster rising from the deep - but wait, it is only a merganser - yikes - our imaginations are getting the better of us!  (Dear Neighbor Friend told me about kayaking with a friend in similar conditions, and encountering the merganser in the mist.  I may have embellished the story a little …)

Can you see the wee duck in the top center of the photo?

We greeted the solitary bald eagle roosting at the far end of the lake, and speculated aloud what might have happened to the other half of the pair and the fledgling.  We reversed course, and quite soon the sun had burned off the remaining wispy clouds.  Dew lingered on the webs, and with the sun piercing the watery prisms, a thousand mini-rainbows colored the landscape.

That's what I call Morning Glory.

*This post was written on Thursday, September 12.

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Spirit is A-Movin'

My Christmas spirit has arrived.  Unpredictable, it is rarely one event that brings it on.  Rather, an accumulation of positive emotions rolls in like a wave and I am caught up, rising on it like a surfer.  My goodwill is overflowing - and I think I know why.

ONE: Bread pudding.  I am not conscious of my rationale, yet bread pudding seems to go hand-in-mitten with autumn.  Maybe since it's warm, filling and deeply satisfying?  Especially when it's served with huckleberry sauce and vanilla ice cream!

TWO: Feathers and fur.  Deer are certainly not unique in our neighborhood.  After all, as you read in a recent post, they ate our Halloween pumpkins!  But glimpsing one at a gallop in the snow is priceless.

These two bald eagles kept close watch over some carrion less than a mile from our log home, making sure the ravens below didn't consume too much.  In 1978, the year bald eagles were listed as a federally endangered species, only 12 known nesting pairs remained in Montana.  In 2014, the last year data was collected, biologists counted 700 nesting pairs.  Incredible - I'm so glad we're going to be neighbors!

Our furbaby Josie has been vomiting (sorry if this is gross), a growing cause for concern that prompted a trip to the vet.  Turns out, she has lost almost a pound in the last 9 months and Doc suggested blood work and an ultrasound.  I won't keep you in suspense - she has a gall bladder issue that can be treated with medication - whew.  (Equally important, it is medication we can mix with her wet food - it is almost impossible to give her meds directly unless you want Wolverine-like scratches!)  Above you can see how tired (and relieved) she was after the day at the vet!

THREE: Walks "over the river and through the woods".  Water, snow, sky, trees - the Artist's palette stretches out toward the horizon - an immeasurable gift for the casual observer, and for the blogger intent on capturing images that come close to replicating the real thing.

Whitefish River

Pedestrian bridge

Nature's ornaments

Coming night ...

After a snow, the woods are at once a clean sheet and an open book; the white brings a purity that I am reluctant to mar with my boot prints.  And yet it is prime time to see animal tracks, and how snow manages to pile onto even the most delicate plants.  So peaceful.

FOUR: The refreshing passion of youth.  As a capstone project in their senior year, the students of the culinary art program at Flathead Valley Community College manage a pop-up restaurant in the kitchen at the school.  The chefs-in-training do it all, from naming the establishment to defining the menu to executing on the 3 weekends the restaurant will exist. 

The name Six One reflects the gender composition of the class - six females and one male. The team selected a menu of international small plates to delight our taste buds.

Given Spousal Unit's penchant for cooking, it was a match made in heaven.

He could watch the preparation while we savored our selections.

And savor we did, the food and the top-notch service.  The culinary program can count on our reservation every year!

FIVE: Pride in Montana.  Did you know that every year, a different National Forest is selected to provide a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the Christmas season?  And did you know that this year, that National Forest is nowhere other than Montana?

This year's tree, a 79-foot Engelmann Spruce, was chosen from the Kootenai National Forest in the northwest corner of the state.  It was harvested near Yaak on 11/8 and will travel 3,000 miles via truck.

And did you know that we saw the tree in Whitefish as part of its whistle-stop tour? YES, we did!

Rig with escort - Big Mountain of Whitefish in the background

Text on Rig: BIG SKY. BIG TREE. BIG JOURNEY.

Spousal Unit signing our names to the banner

Top of the tree, visible through clear plastic at the end of the rig

Check to see if the tree is coming to a town near you!!!

Larry "The Trusty Trucker" Spiekermeier, will deliver the tree to the Capitol on 11/27.  (A native of Plains, Montana, he told us he was chosen for the honor based on his safety record - 1.6 million accident-free miles.)  The Capitol grounds team will secure the tree and decorate it with thousands of hand-crafted ornaments from communities across Montana.  The tree will be lit by the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, on 12/6 during a ceremony on the West Lawn beginning at 5 p.m.  Assuming it is televised, this is one proud Montana family that will be watching!

Linking to

Mosaic Monday

Nature Notes

Saturday's Critters

Skywatch Friday

Willy Nilly Friday