Girlfriend Time

Last Monday morning I was out the door bright and early heading for Billings. I wanted to buy groceries and run a couple more errands before retrieving Kelly from the airport. She landed right on time and oh, my, was it ever good to see that girl!

Kelly and I had worked together as nurses for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation for years. After retirement we along with two of the other nurses would gather every year somewhere across the country and spend a few days together. Life circumstances changed and our last gathering was in Florida in October, 2018. Kelly and I did manage to meet up in Tucson in March, 2019 but that’s the last time we’ve seen each other. We intend to change this–we are all ready planning our next gathering with the four of us!

The last 18 months have been tough for Kelly and would have been tough even without covid. In times past I would have been on a plane to wrap my arms around her but the stupid pandemic made that near impossible. We spent these few days in Billings reminiscing about Kelly’s husband, laughing, crying and just generally catching up.

I borrowed this photo of the house we rented from the AirBnB website–

The house was located in what is labeled “the medical district” of Billings and was absolutely perfect! The home was convenient to everything–shopping, restaurants, Dairy Queen😍, and a marvelous coffee shop–Rock Creek Coffee Roasters.

The fabulous yarn store in Billings just opened in a new space in the downtown area. Kelly decided we should purchase yarn and at least start a knitting project together–so we did. We had so much fun choosing the project and yarn with the help of the amazing women at the Yarn Bar. Kelly started knitting her “market bag” while I continued to work on the never ending shawl I started at the first of the year!!! This photo was borrowed from the Market Square pattern available for purchase on Ravelry.

We had a really bad meal, a really outstanding meal and a mediocre meal. We chose to have late lunches and then dined on cheese/crackers/fruit/bread for dinners at home–and of course nightly Dairy Queen blizzards! The outstanding meal was at a restaurant that opened on Black Friday in 2019 before the pandemic started the following March. The restaurant, The Marble Table, so named because the owner’s last name is Marble hit the ground running and has not stopped. It’s a restaurant that is so busy reservations are recommended even for lunch. They started out in a very small space and have expanded with the help of a local contractor who donated his time–the new space opens soon. The corn/cheese fritters appetizer was divine–I could have eaten twice as many! The chicken piccata was perfect and the peach/shortcake dessert was to die for!!

I like food that’s presented in a pleasing manner but some restaurants carry it to the extreme! At the mediocre restaurant, The Fieldhouse, the roasted brussel sprouts with tapenade aioli appetizer was amazing. Kelly and I both ordered the fried chicken sandwich. It was an entire, fat chicken breast on a bun–about 10 inches tall!! How the heck are you supposed to eat something like that?? My chicken was not cooked all the way through and that’s an instant turn off for me. So, this place wasn’t a hit for us and we will just try to forget about the really bad meal at the really bad restaurant.

We were both sorry to see our time end on Thursday and plans are in the works for the next gathering. The Cowboy and Emmi were very glad to see me. The Cowboy worked so hard while I was gone building fence in that heat.

We’ve had about three days of less smoke but today–oh, my goodness–it’s awful!! The wind is howling and new fires are starting. A cold front is blowing through and is forecasted to bring rain–we are praying this happens.

Friday was just a day of chores. Saturday afternoon we attended a neighborhood picnic sponsored by the Boulder River Watershed Group. It’s always fun to see neighbors and friends plus eat some great food!

Sunday morning we drove over to see friends Sarge and Sarah. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch from Follow Your Nose Barbecue and Sarah who provided salads and delicious potatoes roasted in her air fryer. That’s one appliance I don’t own–maybe I should?? The barbecue place and bakery is located in Emmigrant, Montana–a tiny little spot on the road between Livingston, Montana and Yellowstone. Emmigrant is also where the Emmi girl was born on a ranch in 2009.

So, that’s what we’ve been doing the past week–thanks for reading along with us!