A Little Break

From the smoke and hot temperatures that it. It rained Wednesday night after I posted the blog, only two tenths but it lowered the temps and the wind blew away some of the smoke. It’s still hazy but we can at least see the mountains. We are under no illusions this will last. Our hearts go out to all the people in the path of these fires–The Cowboy read an article this week that said there are (and my numbers may be off a bit) 25 major fires in the western United States and 16 of those fires are in Montana!

I wrote the above paragraph Sunday morning, by Sunday evening the smoke came back–not as bad but it’s back.

Friday I had a massage appointment in town and the Cowboy went along to run some errands. He must be feeling energetic, he purchased barbed wire for fencing! It’s county 4H fair time and we drove down to the fairgrounds to see what was happening. My friend Jeane’s quilt won best of show and deservedly so–it’s a stunning piece of art! Her stitching is so perfect!

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There were lots of gorgeous quilts and other items on display and we always enjoy looking at the auction items made by the 4H kids.

On Saturday, the Cowboy used some of that wire he purchased, replacing a brace post that had rotted. Thank goodness once again for machinery–an auger on the skidsteer made short work of digging the new hole!

The grass still needs mowing–it’s under a sprinkler system so is still one of the green areas on our little ranch. The aspen grove which surrounds our house is still green because much of it is irrigated by our neighboring rancher’s center pivot. Get away from the house and it’s mighty brown. Milton, our Arizona caretaker sent this photo as he was mowing the grass/weeds in our yard–rain makes the brown come to life again.

We are absolutely loving our air conditioning! It’s so pleasant to be outside working in the heat and then step back into the cool house.

I am off to Billings on Monday morning, a friend is flying in and we’ve rented an AirBnB for a few nights. We’ve not seen each other in a while due to covid and life circumstances so we are both beyond excited!

And speaking of being creative, my Mom knitted this blanket–I taught her to knit in November/December of 2020 while she was visiting us in Arizona. She has made some simple things and while she was visiting in Montana back in June, we saw this blanket pattern and I helped her with the stitch pattern using some practice yarn. We ordered the yarn and by the time she returned to Arkansas the yarn was at her house and she started to work. It’s just beautiful!!! I am so proud of her that at 84 years of age she has picked up this new skill and so enjoys doing it! Mom has always been creative, sewing everything we wore, making wedding, bridesmaid and prom dresses for other people, doing machine embroidery for herself, as gifts and for pay for other people. She isn’t as physically active any longer and knitting is something she can do sitting in her chair. ❤️❤️Good job Mom!!

The Cowboy built fence again today and it was hot out there! At least the wind was blowing but wind doesn’t help our dryness or the fire crews!