Mosaic Monday #83: Emerging (Part 2)

Heartleaf Arnica grows naturally on our

property - a shot of sunshine!

This post continues the re-cap of May that I started last week - so much went on I couldn't possibly cover it all, and you probably wouldn't have read it, either.  So here we are again.













Surprises can come from many places, and this month was no exception.  A stinkbug on the arm of the porch rocker.  Flowers from Spousal Unit.  

On May 17, it was a wildlife extravaganza just outside our windows.  That morning, I was sipping my coffee and looking out the dining room window, my custom in case the ground squirrels are there and need chasing.  This day, I noticed that the area around a drainage pipe had been thrown into major disarray.  What?  I immediately went outside to check it out.  In the past, a ground squirrel had used this hole as a hiding place, and I had piled many rocks on it, large rocks, to prevent its entry.  All of those rocks had been tossed 3 to 5 feet down the hill, and what was a small hole was now two large holes.  As I told Spousal Unit, only a bear or a badger could have done it, and based on the print sizes in the ground, I was betting on the badger.

Red arrows - where rocks WERE

Blue arrows - where the rocks ended up

That same day, I sat near the great room window, putting together my to-do list, and I spied something unusual sitting in the Ponderosa Pine below the birdfeeders.  I shouted for Spousal Unit, and we both watched it for at least 15 minutes.  I commented that it would fly away as soon as I got the spotting scope out, but Spousal Unit encouraged me to do it.  Here are my two favorite photos of the Sharp-shinned Hawk that we took that day using the scope.  Since then, it has returned at least once in the times that we have been watching, and I am sure that I have also seen it flying low through the trees in search of prey.

These pictures don't compare to the professional shots

that many of you take, but I like the "personality" in 

these photos

As more hummers arrived, I

added another feeder to the line-up

As long as I am writing about birds, allow me to mention others that put in an appearance in the month of May.  (Note that the pictures below are from the Internet.)    In our three years in Montana, I have never seen a Blue Jay here; from May 6 - 23, up to three males were regular visitors at our birdfeeders.  According to my Audubon app, Montana is not a common part of its range.

But perhaps the most exciting thing is that I saw the badger the afternoon of May 17.  Yes, this was the same day I described above, when I noticed the fresh digging.  About 4 pm that afternoon, I was looking out the same window, and I am sure that I gasped out loud – for there, just below the window, was the badger, going in and out of the holes and seemingly marking its territory.  Here are two videos that I took right then.

Since that day, I have seen the badger one other time.  The afternoon of May 22, it came out of the hole and sauntered off into the woods.  The trail cam has been trained on the holes for almost two weeks, and has not captured a single photo.  At first, I was tempted to speculate that it is a female and she dug this den specifically to give birth (it is referred to as a natal den), which might explain the rare sightings.  But I would have expected to see her emerge at least once since May 22.  I am now convinced that the badger dug the hole to catch a ground squirrel, but I am not quite ready to close up the hole, just in case!   

On May 20, I was in Whitefish for my normally scheduled hair appointment.  Arranged before the lockdown began, it was timed perfectly for the re-opening of salons.  My stylist and I both wore masks throughout the appointment.  It was hot; I am sympathetic to her spending a whole day in a mask!  We took advantage of being in Whitefish to frequent another local restaurant that we trusted – the Craggy Range.  What a delight it was to imbibe one of their Smoky Old-Fashioned drinks.

Spring always puts me in the mood for rhubarb.  In my childhood, we had several large rhubarb plants, and we ate it raw with sugar.  My mother had several methods to cope with the bounty, from sauce to pie to crumble.  So, I had been pestering Head Chef for a bit to buy some rhubarb.  It is not stocked in his normal grocery store, so he made a special trip to Rosauer’s to get some.  Yum, that crumble with ice cream was an absolute delight.  Do you have a favorite spring food?

While I am singing the praises of Head Chef, check out two of his other creations from this month.  Good thing I am getting more exercise in the garden and elsewhere to burn off all these calories!

Walking our back forty is one of the ways I work off those meals, and each day in the month of May seemed to bring new life to the meadows and glades.  My forays often take place after dinner, and the soft evening light transforms everything.  I am never sure that my pictures do it justice.

The re-opening of Montana, together with the improved weather, has allowed for precious time with my Dear Neighbor Friend.  Chatting around our fire pit.  A bike ride with her standing group of hiking ladies.  Kayaking.  As I wrote in my May 24 post, we made quite a team transplanting 29 lupines into my garden.  She brought another 7 to my house on May 26, and we jabbered on while I planted them.  (By the way, as of this writing, 6 out of 36 are fair, two are perky and the rest have returned to the earth from which they came).

Upper right: a perky lupine

Bottom: view of Swan Mountains during bike ride

I have published kayaking pictures before, but I think these are some of the best that I have ever taken, thanks to the gorgeous sky and the mirror of the lake.  (And thanks to DNF for having me!)

When we kayak in the evening, we almost always see the beaver swimming and eating.  On the day I filmed the video below, we saw four different beaver.  This video shows two; the second one comes very close to my kayak - watch until the end!

I look back at these scenes, and I am already missing May.  But move on we must … and who knows what wonders June will bring, all by her little self?

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

Mosaic Monday #43: Becoming Noble

Sky behind our house

"Spend your days thinking about things that are good and true and beautiful and noble, and you will become good and true and beautiful and noble."  Matthew Kelly

Sounds easy, doesn't it?  But anyone that has been in a conflict with someone, or is grappling with a significant personal problem, knows that your mind obsesses over it.  You replay conversations, wondering anew what the other person was thinking when they said such and such.  You might get angry or sad or frustrated all over again.  When I am in the grip of one of these spirals, it takes an almost physical force of will to re-direct my thinking.

First black-eyed susan to bloom

So it is that I find myself today writing this post.  It is my attempt to get my train of thought on a different track.  By looking back through photos from August, I hope to ponder subjects that are good and true and beautiful and noble.  Maybe just a little of it will rub off on me.

In my August 18 post, I wrote about the neighbor girls who won several events at the fair with their goats.   The mama goat was still producing milk in the days leading up to the fair, and we were the lucky beneficiaries of several gallons of it.  And not only that, we had the chance to try our hand at milking – much harder than it looks!  So Head Chef set out to make goat cheese.  This is just one of the batches that he made – so tasty on a cracker or with crudité.

While at the fair, Dear Neighbor Friend and I took a spin around all the display buildings.  I didn’t take many pictures – too busy chatting!

Knock on wood, the fire season in northwest Montana has been mild, but we had a few smoky days earlier in the month.  It coincided with very hot weather, so Spousal Unit and I headed to the lake.  Which lake, you may ask.  That was the fun part – we headed west on Highway 2 with no particular lake in mind.  Something big enough to make fishing worthwhile, but small enough that we wouldn’t be inundated with power boats and jet skis.  Enter Little McGregor Lake, only 20 minutes down the road. 

Kayaking, fishing, sunbathing, a picnic - summer at its best

A pair of eagles and a fledgling were very active at the lake, as were the loons.  It is hard to see in this video, but a couple of the eagles are flying low over the lake, and you can hear the loons calling.  I wondered if the eagles were trying to snatch one of the loon babies.

Each year, Whitefish hosts Huckleberry Days, a shameless excuse to enjoy all things huckleberry while also wandering the booths in Depot Park.  Paintings, ceramics, jewelry, metal art, photography, clothing – something for everyone.  We came home with just a couple of items – it required disciplined restraint!

Sweet Onion Mustard with Horseradish

Ceramic Salt and Pepper Shakers - we needed a set for

my end of our long dining room table!

This month has featured weeds on my dining room table.  Yes, you read that correctly – weeds.  Knapweed and yellow toadflax are considered invasive plants in this part of Montana – this means they are harmful to native flora and fauna.  So, cutting the flowers and using them in arrangements is part of my efforts to reduce these plants on our property.  (Eliminating knapweed is actually required by law.)

The longer I live here, the more I learn about the plants of the Rocky Mountains.  When this “daisy” started to bloom in our “prairie”, I was pleased.  Since then, I discovered that daisies which are members of the aster family are the only native daisies in Montana.  Unfortunately, my volunteers do not qualify, so I am pulling these up as I find them.  On the other hand, I was monitoring a dozen of the plants below – once they bloomed, I was able to identify it as a Rocky Mountain Bee Plant – a good guy – they can stay!

Dear Neighbor Friend gave me some fresh zucchini, and I was inspired to make some muffins.  My mistake?  I didn’t take them out of the pan soon enough.  Then, because of the super-sized muffin tops, it was impossible to get down into the cup for a clean separation from the pan, at least impossible without destroying the muffin top!  Oh well, they weren’t pretty but they still tasted wonderful, especially with a cup of coffee in the morning.

Maggie has been making the most of the sun spot in the kitchen.  A few times I have had to check that she is still breathing – she often looks like she has melted into a puddle, she is so relaxed.

Not even the dragonfly that inhabited the kitchen for several days could get her attention.  In the end, the dragonfly died, and was well-preserved in the heat on the sill of one of the upper kitchen windows.  Spousal Unit was able to brush it down without damaging it.  Isn’t it amazing?  One of my sisters-in-law recently posted this on FaceBook: “Legend has it that dragonflies were given an extra set of wings so that angels could ride on their backs.  When you see this winged beauty, it’s an exquisite reminder that an angel from heaven is visiting you.”

Outside, there are all manner of winged creatures.  

Upper row: Female Common Yellowthroat (left and middle); right: Male Common Yellowthroat

Middle left: A flycatcher?  Center: Wood Nymph

Lower row: Need help with identification

With the exception of the butterflies, the pictures in the above collage were taken with my trail cam.  I chose this location in an attempt to capture the beaver, who clearly had been working over this shrub.  Below are the best pictures from the month.

The upper pictures were taken with my phone and were the reason for placing the camera here - the beaver has a trail

through the grass for his tree branches.  Lower pictures are from the trail cam - 1.30 am and 11 pm a week apart.

Sometimes, the trail cam gives you a surprise that just makes you say "Awww."  Come on, say it with me - "Awww."

I have since moved the trail camera, and this is the first capture on the disk.

What is he running from?  I suppose it could be Wily E. Coyote.  Except this was four days later.  Oh well.

Our weather has been getting a little cooler, especially in the evening, prompting us to spend a few heavenly hours by the firepit.  We saw a bat flitting about, and tried our hand at calling a barred owl using a recorded call on our phone (no luck).  In the dim light of early evening, I look back at the house, and I can almost call the grass and wildflowers our prairie.

As we retreated to the house, I took one last photo.  I know my moon shots are terrible – I have seen many from my fellow bloggers and I am always amazed.  But it was an appropriate metaphor for this post – life is not perfect, but if even 95% of it is going right, that is enough.    

P.S.  In case I have worried you, my marriage is as strong as ever, and I am not sick.  Details of the problem that gave rise to this post are not worth the keypad pecks it would take to explain them.

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