Jewels of July

Seven years in Montana, and hundreds of hiking miles, and one can be forgiven for thinking you have seen it all.  And then you round a curve on a trail and your jaw drops.  Mountain Lady's Slipper stands regally.  The upper sepal shields the slipper like the hood of a cape; the lower sepals twist downward like strands of curly hair.  Why haven't I seen this demure orchid before?  Maybe it's because this trail is not often used, and the Slipper has managed to survive here.  A quick scan of Internet sources suggests that Cypripedium montanum is "apparently secure", a technical term that means a plant is uncommon but not rare, with some cause for concern due to declines or other factors.  Time of year is also significant - if I was walking this same trail a month later, the blooms would be gone.  All the more reason to be delighted to be in the right place at the right time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early July took us to Glacier National Park, executing our responsibilities as citizen scientists to document Mountain Goat and Bighorn Sheep populations.  I could stop there - the simple elegance of the Park's beauty is enough.  And yet we are blessed to have many other delights layered into the experience.  The sunrise at the house, with lake mist lingering in the valley.  A black bear grazing along the roadside.  Dashing through the rain at the new Kyiyo Mercantile for a Huckleberry Bear Claw.

Forecasters called for a full day of rain, and we were pleasantly surprised that it eased up early in the morning and didn't return.  The hike along Cut Bank Creek is known to us, and yet we commented that we had forgotten how lovely it is.

In the afternoon, we covered new terrain via the Dry Fork Trail.  The Two Medicine area is known for bears, and given the low usage of this trail, it wasn't a big surprise to encounter a grizzly sharing the area with us - fortunately, it took off in the other direction as soon as it saw us.
 

Have you noticed the lack of photos of goats and sheep?  Yep, two hikes in and no observations.  Sigh.  The next morning, we popped in our favorite East Glacier breakfast spot, the Two Medicine Grill.  Fortified for the day ahead, we hiked Scenic Point and we were rewarded with numerous sheep, including the nanny group in the photo below.  Our second hike that day, along Rose Creek, yielded plenty of mosquitoes but no mammals! 

 

 

In early July, Lupine and Penstemon are plentiful along alpine trails, and I am hoping the video below gives you a small taste of purple splendor as we walked back to St. Mary Lake.

Back at the house, the flowers were doing their best to represent for Kila, Montana.  July is certainly the peak for native plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the early years of the garden, I had Prairie Coneflower (pure yellow) and Mexican Hat (a deep burgundy coneflower).  Now, cross-pollination (thanks, bees, moths and butterflies!) has delivered numerous flower shades.

I am constantly bragging about Head Chef and his cooking - the summer salads he creates are always a massive hit with me - I love the variety of colors, textures and flavors.  A neighbor has a flock of chickens, and we are regularly purchasing a dozen eggs from her.  As everyone knows, the taste and color of free-range eggs cannot be "beat"!

Another neighbor grows vegetables, and her arrival at the July ladies' gathering was like our own personal farmer's market!  So many talents in our neck of the woods - check out the baby quilt one of my friends recently finished.  I love our neighborhood get-togethers!

Summer in Montana also means guests, and the end of July started our string of visitors - my oldest brother and his wife came from Utah for a few days.  For a year, we had been talking with them about huckleberry picking and a picnic at a location that we had spotted the summer before, while on a back-country camping trip.  The site delivered, the weather delivered and Head Chef delivered with charcuterie and beverages that had been chilled in Mineral Creek while we picked hucks.  

And it is our tradition to wrap up visits to Glacier with a cold bevvie on the back porch of Lake McDonald Lodge - this is livin'!!!

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Linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.  She has a super group of bloggers that always have something positive and interesting to share!  The prompt for September 26 is "What is your favorite fall scent?  Would you rather have a pumpkin spice drink or apple cider?"  I love the aroma of slightly damp leaves, especially when you walk through them and you get the bonus of the rustling sound.  But I don't miss raking said leaves!!! At our house here in Montana, the aspen trees are vastly outnumbered by pine trees, and we wouldn't rake the leaves anyway since they provide natural fertilizer for the trees and other plants.  This is a huge change from the mounds of leaves we used to rake in Cleveland, Ohio.

I am obsessed with Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSL), so that gets my vote over apple cider.  I go to coffee shops a lot, so I have to limit my PSL intake due to the high calorie count and so that I don't get bored with them!

Linking to Thankful Thursday

Linking to Mosaic Monday

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!

 

 

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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

The Seeds You Plant - Scenes from Northeast England

I set out to make this a post of only the highlights from our European trip in May - hopeless!  I attempted to down-select some favorite snaps, and repeatedly found myself thinking - "I can't leave that one out!"  Please enjoy these photos from Northeast England, home to my in-laws and very dear to my heart.

I believe we all know of popular sites near to our homes that we have never visited - in our case, the four of us made a first-time stop at the Durham University Botanic Garden.  While Montana weather was cold and rainy, we were mesmerized by the tulip displays.  I couldn't stop taking pictures!

The garden is set in 25 acres of mature woodland on the southern outskirts of the city.  This stand of Himalayan Birches is an excellent example of the mature woodland.  These magnificent trees are a landscaper's dream with the beautiful smooth white bark - they can grow up to 60 feet.

The garden was past its prime for daffodils, but a few of the azaleas and rhodendrons were putting on a show.

Yoko at Stardust Talk posts stunning photos of Sakura blossoms in season, so I was thrilled to see some planted within the Botanic Garden.  A close-up might have shown the blooms off to better advantage, but none of us "seasoned" folks want that!

I loved this mushroom sculpture.

Of course, no trip home is complete without a meat pie, washed down by a pint of beer.  We also hope that my husband's cousin will be performing during our visit.  Check, check, check.  These pictures were not all taken on the same day, but they represent some of our favorite traditions!

I have written several times about Hardwick Park, located 15 minutes from my in-laws and a frequent destination when our kids were young.  No visit would be complete without one walk through the Park.

Faithful readers, you know how much I adore gardens, especially flowering ones.  So, when hubby suggested a day out to Helmsley, including the Walled Garden, I had my shoes on and was waiting to be let into the car!  Built in 1759, the garden sits beneath the imposing ruins of Helmsley Castle.  

In 1900, 20 gardeners worked here, producing flowers, fruit and vegetables for the "big house" at Duncombe Park.  After the Great War, the garden was abandoned and by 1984, it was totally derelict.  Alison Ticehurst, a local nurse, first visited the garden in July 1994, looking for a place in which she could run a therapeutic horticulture program.  Alison died before her vision could be fully realized, but the dedicated staff and volunteers carried it out and continue to do so today.

As you can tell from the photos, it was a gloriously sunny day, and we took advantage of it to relish dining on the patio of The Vine House Cafe at the garden.  You can imagine that they employ fresh herbs and other ingredients from the garden, and you would be right.  The food is even better than it looks, if that is possible!

When I retrieved glasses of water for all of us, I read this quote (unattributed) on a chalk board near the ordering station.  As someone who fights (unsuccessfully) the urge to be uber-productive every day, I felt that it was written for me!

"Don't judge every day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." 

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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 June 20 is "Did you ever go to camp as a youth - space camp, acting/music/dance camp where you went each day but slept at home?"  I did not.  As one of 7 children, I am guessing that we didn't have the funds for camps.  My "camp" was helping Dad in the garden during the summer, and being outside all the time, either by myself or with neighborhood kids.  A highlight of the summer was the massive German family reunion held at a lake in northwestern Ohio.  Tables loaded with food, paddle boats, very competitive softball, Orange and Red Crush soda pop, which we never got at home.  Good times!

Linking to Thankful Thursday

Linking to Mosaic Monday

As April closes ...

We are heading to Europe!  An epic journey, originally planned for 2020 until the pandemic shut down the world.  (Of course, we have been to the UK since then to visit my in-laws, and we will start and end our visit with them!)  A sneak peek:  several days with one of our former au pairs in France, then a driving tour through Switzerland, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.  In Poland, we will visit another one of our former au pairs.  The list of sights and activities is too long to mention here!  And it also worked out that we will experience Bruce Springsteen in concert in Prague!

So, I just wanted to post a few highlights from April, and wish you much joy in the month of May!

Below - back side of Snowbird Resort, which is east of Salt Lake City, Utah.  I was in the area for a climate conference, and several fellow volunteers gave me a fabulous skiing tour of the mountain.

While in Utah, I stayed with my brother and my sister-in-law, so of course it was the perfect excuse to go skiing at Snowbasin again!
 

 

And Idaho Falls is a perfect stopping spot on the way home - such a blessing to get to see #1 Son, and wish him an early birthday!  He took me to Reed's Dairy, which began its family-owned milk delivery business in 1955 in Idaho Falls.  Larry Reed, in the collage below, started and operated the dairy while his two brothers managed the farming side of their business.  And yes, I managed to eat these two massive scoops of ice cream!

And wouldn't you know that Spousal Unit had flowers for me when I got home?  I should go away for six days more often!

April is highway clean-up time in Montana - the snow is gone and all the ugliness of winter trash is revealed ... and you have to get in there before the grass gets too high!  Don't my neighbors and friends look so happy?  This is before they picked up 130 bags of garbage along a 6-mile stretch!  I got reports later of swollen knees and aching backs ... we need some younger recruits!  (Please note that not everyone is in the picture ... a shout-out to all the pickers!)  And do you see the little Grouse to the left of the crew - oddest thing - that grouse followed me around for at least an hour in that area!

Most of you know that April 22 was Earth Day.  I volunteer with Citizens' Climate Lobby, and our local chapter hosted an ambitious Earth Day event at the local community college on April 20.  As part of our pre-event publicity, I was on the radio with my friend Denny, Flathead Audubon Conservation Educator.  I am so grateful to all the people who made this event possible - over 100 community members contributed to financial sponsorship, panel discussions, workshops, tabling and our Electric Vehicle Showcase.  And our volunteers - so many hours of work to put this together, not to mention support from 8 - 5 on the day itself.  I am ready for a vacation, and I am retired!!!

I mentioned that I was in Utah for a climate conference.  One of the presenters shared this quote:

"When any environmental issue is pursued to its origins, it reveals an inescapable truth - that the root cause of the crisis is not to be found in how men interact with nature, but in how they interact with each other - that, to solve the environmental crisis we must solve the problems of poverty, racial injustice and war."  Barry Commoner, 1973

The more things change, the more they stay the same!  If you can and if you dare, be part of the change.

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Joining LeeAnna's I Like Thursday - Prompt for May 2 - What does your name mean? Are you named for someone?  Do you like your name?  Have you ever changed your name?  Would you like a different name?  A Google of Angela yields "messenger, messenger of God."  I am not aware of anyone else in my family with my name, and my Dad always said they named me Angela because I was his "angel".  He certainly did not appreciate it when I adopted Angie - I can still hear him calling me Angela!  I am very happy with my name (Angie) and cannot imagine being called anything else.

Linking to Thankful Thursday

Linking to Mosaic Monday