Savoring September

It's a brisk 47 degrees, and only the incandescent orange and yellow of the aspens brightens the steely, dull sky.  It's the sort of day to light an extra candle, pull the blanket a bit tighter around my legs, and slurp deeply from my hazelnut coffee.  And to wax lyrical with my end-of-September summary.  Here goes:

ONE: Getting crafty

Cooler temps and shorter days launch me into crafty mode.  With great enthusiasm, I have leapt into a new project, 30 cross-stitch ornaments for this year's Christmas tree.  I am really enjoying this kit because the designs are simple and it only requires a few hours to complete each one.  For me, this means a rapid sense of gratification, compared to many complex pieces that mean months or even years of work.  And the designs are SO cute!

Autumn's arrival also means football, and I often marry game time with crafts; I just feel better being productive while supporting the Cleveland Browns (and yes, they finally snapped the 19-game losing streak.  Go Browns and Baker Mayfield!)  It is a special joy to watch the games in our new screening room; so comfy, and the sound/projection system can't be beat!

(I created the arrangements below before my family's visit in September, but the topic just didn't seem to fit any of my previous posts, so I am wedging it here with my other creative endeavors.)

TWO: Getting lost 

As most of you know, Spousal Unit and I are avid hikers.  Responsible hikers inform family members of upcoming trips, and we are in that camp.  We have a 'system' with our kids that involves sending an email with details on starting and ending points, trail names, etc., along with the appropriate emergency number to call if a designated time passes and we have not been in touch.  WELL.  This month, I misjudged the duration of a hike, and we had no cell service to contact the kids until 30 minutes after the deadline had passed.  So, #1 Daughter had started calling out the cavalry, as she should.  To say the least, they were relieved but not entirely happy when we finally got service and checked in.  So, we are now the proud owners of a personal locator beacon - a Garmin Inreach, which is very slick.  It utilizes satellites, so at any point in time, the kids can log on to a website and determine our location.  The Garmin also sends simple texts ("Safe at car") even when we don't have cell service.  And it has many other features as well.  I think we all feel a bit safer with this (not cheap) valuable tool.

THREE: Getting fed

Delicious meals in our house are never an issue with Spousal Unit at the helm.  In the last couple of weeks, we've had a couple of stand-out dishes worth special mention.  As you may recall from my Horses, Homes and Huckleberries post, my Mother harvested the first of our Goodland apples earlier this month, and we have since plucked the remainder from the tree to protect them from bears (good thing we did but more on that later).  Utilizing the apples, Spousal Unit concocted an apple/blackberry pie, which we shared with former neighbors visiting from Cleveland.  Just scrumptious!

I'm still endeavoring to achieve my 'cook once a week' 2018 goal, and one of the best dishes we've discovered lately is this Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna.  Mouthwatering flavors, a pleasant change from a tomato-based lasagna, and pretty healthy to boot with chicken broth and low-fat milk as the base.  Perfect for these cuddle-up cool fall evenings!

This time of year, I occasionally treat myself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, with a scone.  Heaven, just heaven.

FOUR: Getting visitors

Consider this Chapter Three of our summer visitor series.  (See links for Chapter One and Two.)  We (re) welcomed two former neighbors from Cleveland, who had been to the house last September, when it had no door or flooring and barely had shingles!  To say the least, it was a joy to tour them 'round the finished dream, inside and out!  After a scrummy dinner that featured "brisket beyond compare" (per one of our guests), we gathered around the fire pit and caught up on each other's lives.  Nothing could have capped the evening with more flair than the pie I already mentioned above.  Food coma, anyone?

The next day, we cruised over to Glacier National Park and absorbed the adjectives that rapidly tumbled from our visitors.  Until the car became silent, with only strains from Billy Joel's Greatest Hits in the background … I suppose you can run out of ways to describe the soaring, rich grandeur of mountains in autumn.

An overnight light snowfall above 6,000 feet added another dimension to the vistas throughout our drive on Going to the Sun road.  At Logan Pass (6,646 feet), the snow and rime coating every flower, blade of grass and tree brought these natural structures into sharp relief against the dark mountains.  The 1.5 mile hike (one-way) to Hidden Lake Overlook reminded one of our visitors of scenes from Skyfall.  We all marveled in our own ways at the wonderland created by a little H2O.

On our way out of the Park, we stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge, which provided a close-up view of the outcome of the Howe Ridge Fire (see this link for my report on this fire back in August).  From ridge to shoreline, the mountain is scorched, with little black matchsticks that used to be towering pines.  Without the billowing smoke and leaping flames, it now seems somewhat benign.  But we know it consumed 14,522 acres and 13 residences, some of which had been used by the same families for over 70 years.  Sobering, and lingering smoke lets us know the fire still smolders, waiting for snow as the final extinguisher.  We moved on to Whitefish for a bit of touristy shopping and then wrapped the day with a delightful dinner at Tupelo Grill.  (Get the chicken and dumplings - to die for!)

If you look closely, you can see a ribbon of smoke at the base of the mountain

Today, we had a casual breakfast (for Spousal Unit, that's blueberry pancakes, bacon and fruit) before our friends left for the airport.  We're pretty sure we can count on a return visit next September!!

Candle gift from our guests; their note in our guest book

FIVE: Getting outdoors

Lest you think everything is perfect in paradise here, I have to report a run-in with elk this week.  We've seen them near the lake, and our neighbors have sighted herds of up to 30 in the neighborhood.  So, on Monday, when I went on the deck to photograph the moon (nothing worth sharing, by the way), I was thrilled to hear an elk bugling.  It sounded close, and I could also hear munching.  "Must be a lot of them, and nearby," I mused.  I went inside without a second thought.  The next morning, this was the view outside the kitchen window - those elk had 'groomed' this maple tree like it was a poodle's tail, leaving only a little pom-pom of leaves at the top.  Grrr … I was not happy.  As I explored more later that day, I found that they had 'pruned' my Mom's Goodland apple tree (good thing we had harvested the apples, or they would have been elk food!), and had a nibble at Dad's Honeycrisp as well as the other maple.  This called for action, so Spousal Unit and I have now added chicken wire above the normal caging for all 4 of these trees.  So far, so good this week, and I hope it stays that way!

Wildlife seems to be hiding out - my trail cam photos are mostly deer and elk.  The other day, while cleaning the patio, I met this little fellow …  I am not entirely sure, but I think it's a garter snake.

In the meantime, I was amazed to find this small violet growing near the house, and a harebell plant that sprung up in the middle of a stretch of compacted dirt - nothing else is growing for yards around it.  Asters are holding out against the cold mornings and the frost we've had; they almost seem to thrive in it.  

And of course, the aspens are gussied up like young ladies heading to prom.  I don't know why some are orange or red while the majority are yellow … but then, I don't need to know; it's enough to simply bask in the radiant beauty.




















Linking to:
All Seasons

I Like Thursday

Mosaic Monday

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Saturday's Critters
Sharon's Souvenir Photos
Wednesday Around the World
Willy Nilly Friday

Adventurous August

Oslo Gardens

Three countries.  Five major cities and three towns.  Highs (mostly) and (one) low.  All in 31 days of August.  It seems impossible.  But as Winnie the Pooh says, "People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."

ONE: Over the pond

We began August in Norway, covered extensively in a previous post.  I offer you a few 'leftover' pictures from that trip - I love leftovers, don't you?

Upper left: Lillehammer Commemorative Piggy Bank

Upper right: Horse and Cart at Folkemuseum

Lower left: Oslo bench

Lower right: Crochet projects at Folkemuseum

Oslo zinnia

Do you ever wonder how airlines price their tickets? We have traveled extensively, and yet we still had a bit of an education when planning our Montana/UK/Norway/Montana trip.  Booking on the web (as you do) was turning up truly exorbitant flight prices.  To cut to the chase, after spending several hours on the web, we made a phone call (imagine that!) and found out that the airlines were considering each leg of our trip as one-ways.  By adding a stop in Newcastle on the way back from Norway, it would qualify as a round-trip, much less than a one-night hotel stay near the Newcastle airport.  Done!  What does this mean for you?  Pictures of our 'last supper' in Newcastle before returning to the US.

Port and a cheese board - hard to resist

TWO: Back home again  

Red Columbine  in our garden

As much as we enjoyed our three weeks of vacation out of the country, it was sublime to return home.  Having left our new landscaping and our two cats in the care of our neighbors, I was anxious to return and relieve them of these tasks.  Maggie and Josie had adapted well to the female teenage caregiver, and the landscaping was thriving.  It was a pleasure to watch our friends open their gifts from our travels abroad.

During our vacation, I finished the last of my tea towels, and I was able to join "Sunday" with the others for a picture of the full set.

Summer isn't summer without a picnic; a neighborhood couple invited us to their ranch for supper and kayaking.  Although the picnic had to be moved indoors due to the vicious yellowjackets, the winged ones didn't keep us from paddling around Lone Lake.  Much to his delight, Spousal Unit hooked a large Northern Pike.

Smoke, not clouds!

Summer in the Northwest increasingly means forest fires, and this season has been no exception - hence the low point in this post.  We joined friends for a hike to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook (subject of a future post), and as we drove along the Going to the Sun Road at 7 am on August 12, we could see a small plume of smoke on a northern ridge above Lake McDonald.  A lightning strike the night before had ignited the forest.   Twelve hours later, as we re-traced our way west, the plume had expanded into a raging fire that scorched everything in its path, right down to the water's edge.  For us, it was almost inconceivable how rapidly the fire had grown in such a short period of time.  Standing on a south-side Lake McDonald beach, we watched tree after tree suddenly flare like bright torches.  We could hear the 'boom' of propane tanks exploding as seven private residences on the north side of the lake were destroyed (many were historic buildings more than 80 years old.  One of them had recently been renovated by our general contractor …)  We could feel the heat of the fire, from 600 yards away.  Below is a video of our view of the fire.

The small crowd gathered on the beach was mostly silent.  What could you say when your heart is breaking with grief over the destruction?  (As of last evening, the fire has consumed 12,432 acres and is 12% contained.  Cooler temperatures and some precipitation have considerably slowed its growth.)

THREE: Colorado

Evening sun dapples the hills of Glenwood Springs; view from the 

home of my brother and his wife

After 7 days at home, we jetted off to Aspen to visit #1 Daughter (see previous post).  My youngest brother and his wife live in Glenwood Springs, an hour from Aspen, and they generously opened their house to us during our stay.  After a day of rafting on the Colorado River, expertly guided by my brother, we soaked in the pools of Iron Mountain Hot Springs.

Later in the week, we savored the tasty offerings at the Riviera Supper Club in downtown Glenwood, and walked a bit of the town at night.

All of our wildlife sightings occurred on our last day in Aspen/on our way to Denver.  On our hike to Maroon Bells (see previous post), we saw a pika by the trail but I was not quick enough to get a picture.  I had more success with a video of a family of pine martens - check out this short clip.

View eastward from Independence Pass

And then, on the east side of Independence Pass, we came across a bull moose grazing less than 25 yards from the 2-lane highway.  Amazing!

FOUR: Back home again (reprise)

This time, I could put away the suitcases - our next trip in December is a long way off!  We caught our breath, and started planning for family who arrive on September 7.  Two big projects loomed:  the screening room and the outdoor fire circle.  Our new couches arrived on August 9, and in the last couple of weeks, Spousal Unit has installed the screen, projector and speakers.  For many of you, it won't be a surprise that a Bruce Springsteen concert will be the first show to be viewed on the 135" screen!

The fire circle is coming along well, especially now that Spousal Unit found a company willing to deliver 7 cubic yards of yellow gravel without charging us an arm and a leg!  And today, Stage 2 fire restrictions have been lifted - we won't have to use our imaginations while sitting around the fire pit, or make s'mores in the microwave and bring them outside!

FIVE: In the rhythm

Top: Josie and the box

Bottom: Maggie and the sun

Despite the projects, life has begun to fall back into its normal rhythms.  Morning coffee.  Lovin' on the cats. 















Running the back hills - fall is on its way.

Gardening.  Cleaning.  Checking the trail cam - the badger is STILL AROUND!

Volunteering.  Blogging.  Evening walks with Spousal Unit.

P.S.  If you haven't seen the Christopher Robin movie, I highly recommend it.  The bear with little brain has some remarkably profound things to say.

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."  

August 27 - a stroll by our lake with Spousal Unit - priceless!

Linking to:

All Seasons

I Like Thursdays

Mosaic Monday


Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday


Saturday's Critters

Sharon's Photo Souvenirs

Skywatch Friday

Wednesday Around the World

Willy Nilly Friday