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I know, two posts in one day...but I had to share this. I was catching up on a few blogs and thought that several of my readers may benefit from this post from my bloggy friend Kristy. Enjoy! |
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It is a beautiful morning here in SW Montana. The sun is rising over the Continental Divide, not a cloud in the sky. I am sipping my tea, watching the elk out my kitchen window. I just finished paying a few bills and thought that I better come and post now before my week gets too busy and my blog was left stagnant. Spring is finally here. I say that with some hesitancy because I know that it can snow here every month of the year; but at some point it just must be spring. We have had pleasant temperatures for the last several days. Highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. Evenings in the 20s and 30s. I think that we have acclimated to this weather because 58 degrees does feel warm. So, for me this weather is just as lovely as the 60s and 70s I would be seeing in Central Oregon. We are starting to see buds on the willows and aspens. The ground is thawing and except for the tree lines that face to the north, we are completely out of snow. We have seen bees, butterflies, and even a few mosquitoes. Over the weekend we found ourselves in Yellowstone again. The weather was so gorgeous. I love being able to spent my weekends in the Park. It wasn't too long ago that I was only able to be there just in the late spring and early fall. Now I get to see the Park in every season. It is a dream. This past weekend I was treated with getting to watch two grizzly bears wrestle in the snow. They weren't fighting, just playing. My guess is that it was a couple of 2-3 year old siblings, recently excused from mama's side. It may have been a courting pair, but it is just a tad too early for that kind of behavior...but you never know. Grizzly bear cubs stay with their mothers for two or three years until the sow has new cubs. Sissy blew out her knee while hubby was taking some pictures on the Madison River. She was jumping from rock to rock when she tripped and knocked her knee cap right on the point of a rock. She spent most of yesterday with her knee iced and elevated. Poor girl could hardly walk. If I hadn't had my own knee mishap two summers ago I think I would have taken her straight to the ER, but with lessons learned I am using essential oils to help with pain and and letting her body heal itself. With only eight days until our Virginia trip we are really starting to change gears. School books have been put away and we are digging into our to do lists. I am so thankful for the nicer weather today as I will be able to get out and clean the chicken coop and get it weather proofed. I am also baking more bread and trying to get through heap of laundry that accumulated over the weekend. We will be taking a packing/camping trip into the Tetons this weekend. I haven't feasted my eyes on those mountains since last summer and with Grand Tetons National Park finally opening I just had to see those mountains before I left. So, on Thursday we will leave for YNP and GTNP and be there until Sunday or Monday. Monday we will come home briefly to unpack camping gear and pack for our trips. We drive to Spokane where we will part ways with hubby. He will head for Seattle and the kids and I will go to Virginia. We have so much fun waiting for us in Virginia. My grandmother (the other have of my recently lost Grandpa) will be there. I haven't seen her in over 20 years and she has never met my children. My brother and SIL have a new home. Family dinners, historic battlefields, and the beach-some of the things we love the most are just waiting for us. I hope to visit Amish country and maybe even DC...we will see. Well, if you have read this far you must be getting tired of my rambling. Just wanted to catch up my faithful readers and let you know what is going on here in beautiful Montana. I will catch you all up again after we are settled in Virginia. Please keep us in your prayers for travel mercies. |
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From Wikipedia: Wanderlust (Middle High German: wandern, to wander, and Lust, desire) is a German loanword. It is commonly defined as a strong desire to travel, or, of having a strong desire to explore the world.[1] Some consider it to be a simple linguistic compound of wander and lust. From the time hubby and I were married we have both had a serious case of wanderlust. Before children, almost every weekend was spent on the road. After children, things haven't been much different. As hubby's job required longer hours and more commitment our wandering weekends slowly disappeared. In moving to Montana we escaped the rat race job and have found ourselves being stirred again to explore the world around us. Saturday morning was gorgeous and we found ourselves unable to resist the call of the inner wanderer. So, after breakfast we loaded up our camping gear and headed north to Glacier National Park. We had never been and were anxious to explore this (for us) uncharted territory.
We purchased this backpacking tent over the winter and needed to give it a try, along with some other gear before we take it into the back country this summer. Everything worked well and our view was beautiful.
Kids playing on Lake McDonald.
Lake McDonald
Family in front of Lake McDonald.
Whitetail deer. It was fun seeing the Whitetail again. This is usually what we wold have seen in Oregon. By our home here, Mule deer are the norm.
The view of lake McDonald from our tent. Okay, so you are asking yourself is Lake McDonald the only thing in GNP?!? No, but the road was only open to the lake because the roads haven't been plowed yet. We will visit again later this summer when we can go and see the glaciers. The weekend was very pleasant. We saw temperatures in the upper 60s. It was just another tease though, winter returns today. |
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Yesterday was a soap opera here in the life and times of our little chickens. Somehow Jasper chewed through the chicken fence and got to our birds. DS discovered the tragedy when he opened the front door to see one of Jasper's little gifts laying on my welcome mat. Usually here "gifts" consist of sticks, animal bones, chewed garden decorations, etc. This time it was a headless chicken. Gross. Immediately anarchy ensued. DD darts outside to check on the rest of the chickens, DS follows her vowing to help. Me? Oh dear. Well, my first reaction was to BEAT the dog with the shovel.....but I didn't. I dug a hole, under the new baby pine tree for DD to lay her beloved pet to rest (never mind that the ground is still frozen solid). While I was digging the hole, the children were trying to round up the rest of the chickens that had escaped though Jasper's hole. We were missing a chicken. Crud. It didn't take long to find out the fate of the lost chicken, I knew immediately as I heard the gasp. Another headless and very mangled chicken. So, I dug the hole a little deeper. DD ever so gently placed her beloved pets into the hole and sobbed while I covered it up. We packed the dirt down, and covered it with rocks. It now looks like a baby pioneer grave behind my house. But, what was I to do? DD loves these chickens. She has taken all chicken chores because she loves it. It was sad for her. After the drama had passed I went about cleaning up the mess that Jasper had made; feathers, etc. She had been hiding from me because she knew she was in trouble. From out of the woods she came graveling back to me. Posturing for forgiveness, I found it hard to give. She was covered in blood and had a wildness in her eyes. She looked like a wolf. I have spent enough time observing wolves to recognize the behavior. Jasper had done what was in her nature to do-she had killed, conquered, and eaten another creature in her food chain. She has tasted blood and I am sure this won't be her last kill. For the time I am taking extreme measures to protect the chickens. I am not sure what life will look like for my animals this summer. I know I will not have my fantasy of chickens free ranging while the trusty dog herds and protects them. Poor Jasper is on a tie down when the chickens are out in their fenced yard. Long before the series of tragic events I had arranged to add a rooster to our little chicken clan. So, last night we picked him up. He is a Brown Leghorn and is the same age as the girlies. At first he didn't seem to get along with the other chickens, but after several minutes everyone settled in just fine. I hope that the kindness between Willie-Butch (our new rooster) and the girlies continued into the night. I really don't want another chicken massacre to deal with today. Hubby comes home tonight. Thank goodness. Doesn't he know that dads are supposed to did holes for dead animals and hug crying little girls? Geesh. |
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I have resigned myself to the fact that spring doesn't exist in Montana. Today I woke up to several inches of new snow with the promise of more on the way. I have to give it to the meteorologists here, seldom are they wrong. On the other hand, predicting snow 10 months of the year can't be too hard. It is a bit of a relief to give into the notion of several more weeks of cold, wet weather. No more anticipating what tomorrow will be like, when will the sun come out, will it get above freezing today, when will I see bare ground?!? It is just winter, end of story. I know I sound dull. I don't feel dull. Just reporting the facts. Winter is still going on in Montana. It is just the way it is.
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