June Joys

Yes, I know it's August, but life runs in the slow lane when you're retired!  I am so busy thriving that it does not leave much time to compose a worthy post.  You do understand, right?

In Montana, summer is short and every hour is to be treasured and maximized.  We squeeze activity into every glorious moment of sunlight, since it comes streaming unbidden into our bedroom at 5.30 in the morning!

Frequent readers know I relish outdoor dining, and it is even better when it features summer salads.  Head Chef might as well be Michelin with the creativity he brings to his mealtime miracles.

 

While we are talking about the Man of the House, let's re-cap Father's Day!  #1 Daughter took a page from my book and crafted a hand-made card.

 #1 Son took a commercial, albeit no less creative route.  Where DOES he find these things??? (in case you can't tell, these are sandals!)

As long as we are on the subject of parenting, I will show you the card #1 Daughter crafted for Mother's Day!

You all know my Dear Neighbor Friend, who lives on the farm across the street.  Spring and summer bring new animals to the farm.  First up, lambs.

DNF discovered a sweet kitten in the barn, and a momma was nowhere to be found.  Little Baloo took up residence in the house (just 'til she grows up a little) - but between you and me, these two have gotten pretty attached and I don't know if Baloo will make it back to the barn!!!

 

And one day DNF called me about a turtle she had saved from getting run over on the county road.  She brought it over in a box so I could release it down by the lake.

A post of mine would not be complete without a few flowers!!!  I planted Lupine seed 6 years ago, and this is the first year that the plants have bloomed!  Patience is a must-have for a gardener!

 

Caterpillars are welcome on my native plants - they are part of the ecosystem!  Looking at this Paintbrush almost two months later, it does not seem to have been affected by the munching.

Naturally occurring roses.
 

This Arnica volunteered to be in the garden!

I regularly host a ladies' gathering, and in June, one of the ladies casually asked me, upon arrival, "Do you have an aloe plant?"  When I replied no, she turned on her heel and went back to her car.  Momentarily, she appeared with this beautiful, octopus-looking creature, unlike any aloe plant I have ever seen!  What a surprise!

 

 

No Montana summer is complete without some time on the water, and even better if it is combined with a worthy cause such as weed pulling.   For the second year, we were hosted in the boat belonging to Kenny and Mary during the Weed Rodeo.  Yeehaw!

 

 

***********

Linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.  If you're searching for some positivity in a world that can focus too much on the negative, check it out!  The prompt for August 8 is "Would you like being part of the group of Olympic competitors?  Staying in the Olympic Village?  Have you ever gone to view the Olympics?" I think I would enjoy being in the Village and meeting people, but the stress of the competition would be too much for me.  I have family near Salt Lake City, and there might be an option to volunteer for the Winter Olympics 2034!  I have not attended the Olympics, even though we had tickets for Atlanta 1996.  I was offered a new position right at that time, and we gave up our tickets so we could make the move.  Dumb younger me!!!!

Linking to Thankful Thursday

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday #137: A Taste of Home

One day, I asked Spousal Unit if he had any special wishes for Father's Day.  Well, I got more than I bargained for ... "Pork pies, sausage rolls, Branston Pickle, scotch eggs, pasties."  In other words, he was hankering for a taste of home.  He had already looked on line and rejected the option - shipping was prohibitively expensive.   I was determined to see what I could do!

I took my turn investigating the Web, and rapidly confirmed that shipping meat products, even within the US, is costly.  The Branston Pickle, on the other hand, was in stock and reasonably priced.  I ordered three (one for another Brit who lives nearby) and was pleased to see that it would arrive in plenty of time for the special day. **Branston Pickle is a jarred pickled chutney.

As most of you know, I am not the chef in this house, but I can cook when I have a recipe!  So I turned to my good friend Pinterest.  A sausage roll recipe was easy to locate.  Check.  I studied several Scotch egg renditions, and had to dismiss the idea since the most authentic versions require a deep fryer.  For good reason, we don't have one.  Next I researched pork pies, and chose a recipe that seemed easy enough and appealed to me based on appearance.  

Pork pies are traditionally served cold, so I made them the afternoon before Father's Day.  (Since Spousal Unit also does all the shopping, I am sure he had a fair idea of what I was preparing. But he has told me time and again of the deep satisfaction he experiences when he eats a meal he has not had to plan or to cook!!!)  The best I could do to preserve some of the surprise?  Cook the pork pies while he was working out downstairs.  They were just coming out of the oven when he emerged, and so I abandoned all pretense and showed him the results.  He was so excited that I couldn't resist letting him try one right then.  He loved it!  He noted that it tasted more like a meat pie than a pork pie, but given that a pastie is a meat pie, I was not disappointed with that.

The next morning, I gave him a gift bag, together with his Father's Day cards, and he was ecstatic to see not one but two jars of Branston Pickle.  "This will go perfectly with the pork pies!" he exclaimed.

Later that afternoon, I baked the sausage rolls.  To round out the meal, Spousal Unit opted for Boddington's beer.  As he tucked into his plate, I knew I had a home run, based on the celebratory smacking of lips and the low mmmmmm that emanated from somewhere in his chest.  And apparently, now that the pork pies were cold, they tasted much like a traditional one.   "Best Father's Day ever," he declared.  "Can I have the recipes?" he asked.  That's when I knew I had it in the bag.

**Please note that my comments will be slightly delayed this week due to an overnight camping trip.

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. Tuesday (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

Mosaic Monday #87: Time

On Wednesday, I was volunteering at the historical museum.  On the paper desk calendar, I made hash marks, one for each of the 28 visitors that day.  Suddenly, I noticed “183/183” printed in the upper-right hand corner of the square for July 1.  Really?  We are at the halfway point of the year?  (I paused for a moment to consider 183+183 = 366.  What?  Oh yeah, it’s a leap year.)  I suppose this is one of the signs of being retired – the days and months tend to blur!  All in all, it got me thinking about time.

Time is an intriguing/complicated/contradictory concept.  The more it slips through our fingers, the more we try to hold onto it.  (Except maybe when we begin a 6-mile run, and we want the next 60 minutes to fly past.)  I would guess that all of us would like to have more time, and yet we find a myriad of means to spend it, perhaps in ways that are frivolous.  We might regret that half of 2020 is over, and yet many of us want the next 6 – 9 months to get behind us so that we have an effective vaccine for COVID-19.

I suspect that the pandemic has made most of us confront this thing called time, even if only subconsciously.  Questions come to mind, sometimes in the middle of the night, and sometimes while I am zipping along the 70-MPH highways of Montana.  They usually start with “What if?”  This type of thinking can be slippery, leading to a real downer of a day.   When I was in the midst of one of these spirals, I heard a song that stopped me in my tracks.  “Keep Me in the Moment,” by Jeremy Camp. Check out this video.

Ever since, when I find myself getting caught up in “doomsday” scenarios, I remind myself to engage all my senses.  When was the last time you thought about the wonder and sheer joy of a hot shower?  Do you inhale your meals, or do you savor thoughtfully, noticing the flavors and appreciating the effort of the person who made it (even if it’s you)?  Is there a pause when you leave the house, to breathe in the air?  To feel the caress of coolness, a slight breeze shaking the leaves of the trees nearby?  How often do you find yourself at a destination, only to realize that you noticed nothing about your 20-minute drive?  You can start today.  To be aware.  To be in the moment.  As you peruse my re-cap of pictures from June, it is my sincere prayer that it inspires you to consider the joy, flavors, inspiration, aromas, beauty, textures, and symphonies that you may have been overlooking.  

A walk on the ridge with Dear Neighbor Friend

Kevin adds a Travertine backsplash to the space behind the cooktop 

Celebrating "Padre" on Father's Day - a hand-made card from me, a card from #1 Daughter, calls from both kids

and breakfast in bed

A morning kayak with Dear Neighbor Friend

Top: Sent my Mom's squares to Violet Protest

Middle and bottom: Hand-drawn card for one of my brothers

Naturally occurring flowers and critters in our "back forty"

So, does this a picture of a sunset represent an ending, or just the beginning of a night full of possibilities? I am choosing to consider the possibilities.

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

Jumpin' June

Is there anyone else out there that feels like 2018 is rapidly fading into the rearview mirror?  Not entirely sure how this trip has already carried us to July 5, but here we are. (Inside voice: come on, you know June has been a hectic month - show them, and then it'll be clear how you got here!) OK, OK!

Reflection at our lake

ONE: Interior decorating

New dresser for loft bedroom

I am always mildly concerned that my posts become repetitive, so I reviewed my May re-cap, and noticed an overlap with three of my subjects planned for this post - interior decorating, landscaping and stitching.  I suppose that should not be a surprise, as we have been working full tilt toward June 26 (arrival of my in-laws from the UK) and June 30 (a party for all those who contributed to our dream house).  Of course, it was essential for the house to be in tip-top shape!  

So, if you like antique/second hand shopping, this would have been the month for you.  We must have made the rounds of our local antique shops at least three times - new things come in, and you see some items differently as the house continues to evolve.  Take a look at our finds!

Left and top left: metal table and detail

Right and top right; chair with detail (floral motif embedded in ceramic)

Bottom left and right: bedside tables for loft bedroom

Echo Lake Café was established in 1960 by Dickie

Conley and his sister Betty.  After being purchased

in 1996 by Bob and Christi Young, it was re-opened

in 1999.

All this bargain hunting makes you hungry; Echo Lake Café came to our rescue with a feast for our stomachs (the food) and our eyes (the lush garden).








At the end of the day, sometimes on-line shopping is the best source for a specific item, such as these red ottomans for the great room - as you can see, Josie approves!

Our talents also came into play - Spousal Unit made this key rack from reclaimed barn wood, and Pinterest provided inspiration and how-tos for a corner gallery wall on the lower level.

In the 2 pictures on top, paper represents each picture/item, 

and allows you to re-arrange as needed before putting 

holes in the wall!

And then there are the gifts that just fit perfectly into our theme, such as the jasmine plant in the metal bucket (a terrific complement to our rustic industrial theme) and this red anthurium (ideal match for the red accents in our great room).

TWO: Landscaping

Unloading plants from truck

This month, the talented crew from Forestoration completed our 'exterior decorating' with plants, shrubs and trees.  I am very pleased with the results; it is amazing how much the greenery adds to the 'finished' look of the house!  On a special note, back in May, Spousal Unit queried about my desires for Mother's Day, and I requested an apple tree as part of the landscaping, to honor my Dad.  When I was young, we had several Winesap and Golden Delicious trees in our yard, and the memories of those apples are etched deeply.  As it turned out, the varieties available at this time require another tree for pollination, so we now have a Honeycrisp in honor of my Dad and a Goodland in honor of my Mom.

Planting in progress; apple trees are on the left

Planting complete in front (top) and back (bottom)

Planting complete in side gardens

THREE: Stitching

All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl; I have made time for my ongoing tea towel project.  "Friday" is now complete and "Saturday" is progressing well.

FOUR: Cooking

(Internet)

I am woefully deficient in meeting my 2018 goal to cook once a week, but I tried to make up for it a little this month.  First, I hosted a gathering of our prayer shawl ladies, and we indulged in a Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake with our coffee.  Second, it was a Father's Day breakfast in bed for Spousal Unit, featuring a Spinach, Feta and Artichoke Breakfast Bake.

Served breakfast on this galvanized steel bar tray, also a Father's Day gift!

FIVE: Time outdoors

As the ultimate stress reliever, nature is my go-to place.  June has delivered, in spades.

Scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, grilled tomato and mushroom sauce

I don't normally focus on mushrooms when I'm wandering, but early in the month, our dear neighbor treated us to morel mushrooms she had personally collected.  Spousal Unit concocted a mouth-watering sauce to accompany our breakfast, and we are hooked.  My curiosity piqued, I studied the mushroom on the web, and realized that I had unwittingly captured a morel mushroom in my May 23 post.  Here are a few other mushrooms from the neighborhood, courtesy of the abundant rainfall (at least relative to last summer, when it didn't rain for 90 days).

I just love the one in the upper left - I imagine small woodland fairies making their home under it!

The precipitation has also spurred the plants, and it seems every 24 hours I spy a new flower while I am out and about.

Upper left: Starry Wild Lily of the Valley; Upper right: Pine with water droplets

Lower left: Wood's Rose; Lower right: Groundsel

Left: Yarrow; Upper middle: Pink Wintergreen; Upper right: Blue-eyed Grass

Lower middle: Self-heal; Lower right: Bog Orchid

Upper left: Mariposa Lily; Upper middle: Hairy Arnica; Upper right: Bunchberry

Bottom: Aspen with water droplets

Of course, I rarely publish a post without some mention of four-legged wildlife, and today is no exception.  On one of my trips to check my trail cam, I looked up from the path to see a BADGER.  I couldn't believe it.  Right in our back yard.  As you can see in the video below, it was quite intent on excavating this hole, long enough for me to retrieve Spousal Unit and my phone from the house so that together we watched the process of this efficient digger hunting Columbia ground squirrel.  The very next day I almost ran head-on into another badger (may have been the same one) as I was returning to the house.  It was just coming past a stand of trees, and it hissed when it saw me.  So, of course I gave it plenty of berth by retreating, and while I stood there watching, it 'floated' across the opening WITH THREE YOUNG ONES.  According to the Montana Field Guide, "because of their shaggy coat and short stature, badgers appear to flow along the ground".  My wildlife meter is full for quite some time with this unbelievable sighting!

BONUS: Ever since I started reading Not Afraid of Color (LeeAnna's blog), I seem to spot Phoenicopterus everywhere (that's 'flamingo' for the rest of us).  This one's for LeeAnna.

Linking to:

All Seasons


Floral Friday Foto

I Like Thursday

Mosaic Monday

Nature Notes

Saturday's Critters

Willy Nilly Friday