A photo I forgot to insert last week–the Cowboy and Emmi in the Tucson airport after we came through security. Our weather has been wild this week–temps in the low 20’s at times, snow, rain, sleet, wind that will blow your sunglasses right off the car dash and out into the parking lot (it happened!) and one warm day with glorious sunshine but still windy. We have welcomed an inch of rain this week. The grass is greening but with temps in the low 20’s the leaves are waiting a bit.
We have a very amorous grouse hanging out with us. He has a couple lady friends but spends a lot of time all fluffed up, waiting, hooting his displeasure that the ladies are not more accommodating! And he spends a lot of time avoiding Emmi.
Our wheels have been turning this week. In an effort to cut back on our Billings trips I scheduled several appointments for Monday and Tuesday. We had intended to take the little camper and stay in Billings Monday night but the weather didn’t cooperate. Monday I saw the orthopedic surgeon for my cranky hip and visited the dentist for a cleaning. And added a trip to Billings–a MRI on the cranky hip next week.
On Tuesday we drove back to Billings–the Cowboy saw his dermatologist early Tuesday and she gave him great news after all those MOHS procedures last summer!!! A clean bill of health!–she froze lots of those keratosis things and told him to come back in six months! Very exciting!
The next visit for the Cowboy was not so exciting and in fact it was down right aggravating for both of us. His urologist is retiring and without notifying us the office changed providers. They also sent us a text message to change the appointment time. We declined to see the locum provider and spent some time chatting with the manager for the urology clinic at SCL in Billings. The Cowboy now has an appointment with another urologist in the same clinic. Added another trip to Billings but at least it’s on the same day as my MRI!!
The last appointment on Tuesday was for a much needed haircut for me. We broke the bank at Costco and Walmart stocking the pantry. With grocery prices showing no sign of dropping we purchased a freezer at Costco and it’s now well stocked.
Thank goodness we could stay home on Wednesday and Thursday–not so fast! I had been complaining that the dryer was taking way too long to dry clothes. My handy man discovered why and had to make a quick trip to town for a new dryer hose. Unfortunately that wasn’t the issue, it seems the washing machine is not spinning as it should and the clothes are too wet when they hit the dryer. Our washer and dryer are just over 20 years old and it makes me sad that my outstanding, huge washer has issues that wouldn’t be cost effective to repair.
Friday the wheels were rolling again–this time for Emmi girl. Liver enzymes checked and are much better than when checked in February!! She received her rattlesnake vaccine and another vaccine today.
Life is good! Friday while in town we met friends Jill and Terry at the pizza place and enjoyed a good lunch and a bunch of fabulous gabbing! On Saturday evening the kids came for dinner–and once again we ate too much! Carne asada tacos, queso dip, a salad and one of those divine strawberry cakes. I only made a one layer cake this time so we didn’t have an entire two layer cake to devour! Millie is a bit of a picky eater and will NOT eat fruit of any kind. So we just said, “it’s a cake!” I warned all the adults, “it’s a cake!” Millie devoured her slice! Success in pulling the wool over a child’s eyes! 😍
Heavy frost Sunday morning–are you seeing why I don’t buy flowers this time of year? Too much trouble to take them in and out of the house!
A tree had fallen over one of our walking paths and the Cowboy dealt with it on Sunday. I baked bread, fed us lunch–a garlic shrimp stir fry that we both like very much. After that late lunch we took a drive up the Boulder–not very many people out and about the middle of May.
Happy Birthday little brother–hope you had a great day!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Whew, I’m tired just hearing about your travels! Montana spring is right on track! Good check ups for all is great, best of luck for your hip thing, hows the cranky knee?
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The cranky knee is still there, too!
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Boy, you really have seen the weather. While I’m not a fan of snow in May, it sure is beautiful on the mountains. I don’t know how you two do it with so much driving. I plan our Costco/TJ’s visits for about once a month since we have to drive all the way up to Henderson. It is 16 miles after all…haha! So glad to hear Michael got great news at the dermatologist!! That grouse is gorgeous! I hope one of the ladies falls for him.
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If it was only 16 miles to Costco!! Gas is a major budget item in this household, always has been. In our younger days we thought nothing of saying, “let’s go to Billings for dinner and a movie.” The grouse woke me at 5:30 this morning, hooting for his lady friends–he better find one soon!
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Love the snow on the mountains especially since we hit 104* today. Good news for Emmi. Hope they can fix your cranky hip.
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Seems too early for that kind of heat but my family in Arkansas has seen 90 degrees. Yes, we were thrilled with Emmi’s results this time!
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Beautiful views!
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Thanks Patti!
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Isn’t it nice to have days at home with no
appointments or errands?
We are getting warmer and the winds are not ceasing.
Would love to have some rain or moisture in any form.
That strawberry cake you made sounds delish!
I’ll have to back track, did you post the recipe?
Trusting for a non issue for your hip. Maybe a
muscle problem….. hope🙌.
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I posted the link to the cake recipe at Easter but here it is again–https://www.wellplated.com/sprinkles-strawberry-cake-with-fluffy-cheesecake-frosting/ Enjoy!–it is delicious!!
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Wow, the errands just wear me out!! Love that photo of the Cowboy and Emma. Somehow it is especially delightful because it is in a place where we don’t usually see either of them. Is that a Sage Grouse? Or do other grouse species puff up like that with the red thingy and the white. You probably know about the lithium mine proposed for some far eastern wilderness area in Oregon. Protected sage grouse habitat at risk…but yeah…we need our own lithium… Lots of stuff in the world breaks my heart…with no solutions…and sometimes no right or wrong answer. Enjoy your lovely Montana world, snow and cold and all of it. Summer will come too quickly.
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I think it’s a sage?? We have a platinum and palladium mine several miles up the road from us. It has destroyed a beautiful spot in our mountains but on the other hand it has brought vitality to our small community, our road is one of the best maintained county roads in the US I would dare say and the tax dollars from this mine help our community in so many ways. There is no right or wrong answer is there.
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Your weather really has been wild, but the snow sure makes for some gorgeous photos of the mountains. And I love the grouse in his fancy plumage!
We also have a long drive (70 miles each way) to get to Trader Joe’s and any other shopping than Piggly Wiggly. Sigh. We try to go only about every six weeks and come back with a truckload of supplies! Which then takes an hour to unload. It makes me realize how much food we go through. Crazy.
That’s a wonderful photo of Michael and Emmi. And very good news at the dermatologist!
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WOW–I didn’t realize you too were so far from shopping! We live 22 miles from anything and anything is a very, very small town with a terrible IGA grocery store where shelves are consistently bare. We live 100 miles from Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, etc.–still no Trader Joe’s in Montana. I’m with you–when we unload the car I cringe but then again, we are going back in two weeks to replenish. Produce is a problem–it just doesn’t last longer than two weeks. I love that photo of Mike and Emmi!
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Fortunately, we can get decent produce at the Piggly Wiggly! It has vastly improved in the last 20 years and there’s even a lot of organic produce. I don’t think we could live here if not for that. And we get fabulous fresh seafood locally, of course. But for so many food items we like, we have to go to Tallahassee. It’s a trade-off, isn’t it? Love the peace and beauty of living in a remote area, but shopping is a pain in the butt.
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It is a trade off. At least in Montana we have an amazingly beautiful drive to our little town then we travel to Billings on I-90 which rolls alongside the Yellowstone River with the Beartooth Mountains in the distance. In Arizona we dread our Tucson trips–that I-10 is a nightmare!
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Such beautiful photos of your backyard…May in Montana is definitely a mix-match! Don’t you just love to get those necessary appointments done and checked off the list? That’s a great picture of The Cowboy and Emmi and I’m so happy to read her liver enzyme numbers are improving. Love the photo of the fluffed up grouse.
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May in Montana is beautiful–but the next couple days all that green is going to be white!
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Even with all the driving required, it’s much better when the news received is good! Love the snow on the mountains, both the beauty and the water supply. Weather has definitely been nuts this Spring, hope your winds calm soon. Emmi looks so tiny in that pic 🙂 Hope you find a washer and dryer that live up to their predecessors.
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Yes, snow on the mountains always helps when the rain has stopped in the summer. Emmi is tiny–at her recent vet appointment she weighed only 9.3 pounds!
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Beautiful scenery! We, too, bundle as many errands as possible and make a day of it. Dave is always willing to go into “the valley” to take care of business there if he can have a Five Guys burger and fries in the middle! What floats your boat! Good news at the Derm…..we “look forward to” all thos necessary appointments once we get back home in October, ugh….
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Our days are long when in Billings but we always manage to find a good lunch spot–Mike was just saying a Five Guys would be good–maybe Thursday!
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