Not much going on in our neck of the woods it seems. We are just trying to stay inside as much as possible out of the smoke. It really affects the Cowboy, making him mighty miserable. He finished a metal working project for our friends/neighbors up the road–he is not only handy, he’s talented! Here are my two favorites from the panels he just created–
I quilted! Can you believe it!! A while ago Mom used some of her Christmas fabrics to create a simple block Christmas quilt. She mailed the quilt to me and I’ve loaded it on the longarm. It was fun to drive that big ole sewing machine again–I didn’t forget how!
And as we are staying inside, I’ve been knitting and knitting. This shawl I started sometime around Christmas, 2020 is never ending. I have 59 more rows to go and every row is so long it takes me about 30 minutes to knit each row. And I’m probably going to need yet more yarn!
The sourdough experiment is going well so far–my starter now has bubbles on top and that’s a good thing. I’ve joined a sourdough Facebook group thanks to my friend Judy and have been gathering recipes and a wealth of other information. One of our readers, Jeanne, also shared her recipe and it’s in the comment section of the last blog post. Can’t wait to make the first loaf!!
The day lilies finally bloomed and Emmi girl did a good job of dispatching any deer who might have been thinking about snacking on the flower buds.
The smoke is horrific today–no mountains are visible and the air is thick with the smell of smoke. A new fire started east of Billings, Montana yesterday and grew to 75,000 acres overnight, burning in brush and pine trees. It just never ends this summer. 😟😟
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Love the metal art work! Where’s the one for you? Janna? Not much smoke here, but the heat is horrible, it’s suppose to drop tomorrow. Glad your Mom is quilting!
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Careful, you might have visitors if there is no smoke!
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I also joined several sourdough groups on Facebook. Some people mentioned baking the bread in a cold Dutch Oven, starting in a cold oven set to 450 or 500 F. I tried it and it works great. Much easier on my body 😉
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I’ve made non sourdough bread that way and it turned out great. There is a King Arthur flour recipe–No Knead Harvest Bread that is delicious!
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Arizona is looking pretty good to me right now! I am looking at blue skies with monsoon clouds building up out of my picture window right now…
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If the truth be known, Arizona is looking mighty good to us right now too!
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Me too. Arizona looking good. I am so tired of the smoke and heat. Jim definitely shouldn’t be breathing this stuff so I don’t want him out fishing. Not sure how August is going to turn out.
Love the metal art. Very talented man you married. And Emmi – great job little girl.
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Montana used to be a great place to be in summer–no longer! Michael has read some articles that predict this fire season won’t be over until mid October–let’s hope they are wrong!!!
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Oh, Janna, I’m so sorry to hear about the unrelenting smoke. We understand how challenging it is to live with smoke and fires, and also how difficult the decision would be to leave Montana. As you know, the smoke/wildfires/drought have brought us to the painful decision to sell our home in Southern Oregon. Take good care of yourselves. I love the metal art that Michael made! How creative!
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And with this housing market if you were to sell–where would you go? We will most likely stay put in Montana and take some smoke free trips! Michael is so creative–I told him it was now my turn for some art work!😁
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LOVE the metal art…especially the bird! And I love how the are attached to the deck. Michael is very talented. And who ever had to idea to use them mounted to the deck is also very creative. Sourdough is one of two breads we can actually eat since it has I sugar. My mom made it many years ago…the best crispy toast and sandwiches ever! Kudos to Emmi! Can’t wait to see the shawl you are knitting! Gay
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The home owner wanted them mounted on the deck railing–they have another deck that overlooks the river and some of Mike’s creations are on that deck railing too. Tell me more about why you can eat bread with sugar.
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That should have read no sugar. Joe and I try really hard to follow a “sugar busters” diet which means no sugar, enriched flour, rice and pasta. Sourdough is fermented so it doesn’t have sugar…or at least that is what I have read.
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That makes more sense! Some of the sourdough recipes I’ve seen, especially for the artisan loaves have no sugar.
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Those panels are wonderful. Kudos once again to the Cowboy. Congrats on your knitting. I seem to do better with that in winter, and am currently trying to finish up a birthday quilt for daughter number 3 while I begin binding the king sized white on white lo volume quilt I just got back from the longarm person. Wish it could have been you! But I do get it. She did a seriously fancy thing and at first I wasn’t sure I liked it, but I am getting used to it. Stay cool and keep breathing inside! No smoke here, but high clouds, weird rain a few minutes ago with sunshine and thunderstorms predicted for later today. UhOh. not fun when it is going to be 108 degrees.
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It does make one a bit warm when the temps are so ugly and geez, I sure don’t envy you your 108 degrees! I will look forward to seeing photos of the fancy quilting on the white/white quilt.
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We’ve only been in smoke that heavy once, when we were in Bend. We woke one morning to an RV park filled full. It was awful and that smell!! Sorry you are having so much smoke this summer. Glad you have lots to keep you busy inside. Michael’s metal work is amazing. Such a talented man.
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We are fortunate that we can stay inside unlike many of our friends who still work. The smoke was better last night, we will see what today brings.
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Smoke from the western fires made it to NE Nebraska yesterday (Thurs.) It’s been hanging close to the ground all day and turning the skies gray, but hasn’t been too smelly. Before that we had the heat and humidity. Hope that was the worst of it for the summer.
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A friend of ours flew from California to Boston–he said the skies were smokey all the way. At least we don’t have the humidity!
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