Author: montanaclarks

By the time this blog publishes we will be gone–we’ve fled the heat hoping to find some cooler temps.  The morning temperature where we are going was 35 degrees Saturday morning! 🙂 🙂  The internet signal is spotty where we are going so blogs may/may not be sporadic.  We are looking forward to some ATVing and we are taking the kayak.  The CanAm loaded into the trailer without incident–always a good thing!  I think most of what we need is in the toyhauler–it’s a very, very small community where we are going and has only a convenience store/gas station.

Check out today’s humidity levels–the bottom number–that’s why there is such a dangerous potential for fires.

It’s been very warm and a hot, dry wind blew all day on Saturday.

My geraniums are beautiful right now so they went to visit with Jim and Kathy while we are gone.  I’m taking a pot of petunias and a pot of daisies with me–maybe the varmints (deer) won’t eat them!  I tossed the basil–sorry Bonnie–I can never grow herbs without the dang things bolting and I really tried this time!

The day lilies and roses are blooming.  The columbine is finished for the year–it doesn’t tolerate the heat well.

So, hopefully the next blog will be more entertaining!

 

 

 

 

Forest fire season–today was hot and very windy.  Many evenings we have thunderstorms–no rain, only dry lightening which breeds all these forest fires you see on this map.  Today was the first day the air has been smokey.  I went to Big Timber for bird seed and fudge bars–a necessary summer in Montana treat–and on the way home the mountains were almost totally obscured by smoke.

We are planning our maiden voyage in the toy hauler trailer–we are trying to find a cooler place to be in Montana.  The Cowboy has vetoed my choice–Cooke City, Montana at 7500 feet elevation is seeing temps in the high 70’s.  But the Cowboy doesn’t want to pull the trailer through Yellowstone Park and I can’t really blame him–this time of year, the Park is a zoo and I’m not talking about the wildlife!!  So, we are looking at mountain ranges over near Wisdom, Montana.

Tonight Lonn, Mike, Katie and the sweetest little boy, Brooks came to have dinner with us.  They are busy, busy with guests–it’s that time of year for them too–guest time that is.

We’ve had a hummingbird hatch I think–I’m filling the feeder at least once a day–the hummers even caught Brook’s attention tonight.

And it’s that time of year when it’s hard to find blog worthy material–thanks for sticking with us!

 

 

 

Just have to get on the road again–that song seems to be our mantra lately.  Monday we drove to Powell, WY for Rich’s memorial service.  The church was crowded, Jane was so incredibly strong memorializing her husband in a way which left no doubt in your mind how much she treasured him.  Rich’s son Eric also spoke lovingly of his father. We spent some time visiting with their daughter Elizabeth who we’ve not seen in a long time–it was a good day spent saying goodbye to such a special man.

Today we went to Billings–I had an eye exam scheduled and a haircut.  Plus we had the usual assortment of errands.  We came home with a full car and tired feet.

I’m sure all of you watch the Pearce, AZ weather as we do????? 😉  Arizona natives of that area told us June was the worst month–hot and nasty–then the monsoons would start in July–here is a screen shot for the Pearce, Arizona 10 day forecast:

And then here’s a screenshot for our Montana weather–

There are several days with cooler weather in Pearce, AZ than up here in the Montana mountains!!!

Ninety degrees today and we still have those pesky sticky flies!  I’ve found a deterrent–

It’s one of those OFF battery operated fans which propels insect repellent into the air.  I used one of these while we were in Alaska in 2014–I am a mosquito magnetic and this little fan truly helped!  I can still hear the sticky flies buzz by but once they get the OFF scent the little buggers disappear!

Sunset last night was incredible–We get to stay home tomorrow–yippee!

Mom and her husband Chuck have been on a whirlwind road trip from Arkansas to California to Washington into Canada and then finally to Montana.  They arrived at our house Thursday afternoon on one of the hottest days we’ve had so far.  And didn’t stay long!  Late in the evening we headed into Big Timber to get Chuck to a lower elevation–his lungs didn’t like 5200 feet!!  They stayed in a motel in Big Timber and after having breakfast with me on Friday morning they turned their wheels toward Arkansas arriving home late Sunday afternoon.  I was disappointed but there will be other visits for sure!

We have two older horses who do nothing but stand in our pasture and eat and eat some more.  We cut way more hay than those two can eat in a winter.  The Cowboy’s daughter Shannen has many horses–she is a teacher but trains/boards horses on the side.  Her daughter/our granddaughter Kristen is a champion barrel racer.

Friday Shannen and Kristen came, today they came back and brought dad Mark along.  We are getting rid of some of those extra hale bales and Shannen was happy to have it.  They stayed for a late lunch/early dinner and we had a good visit.

We are experiencing thunderstorms almost every afternoon which provides welcome relief from the heat. Not much rain unfortunately but at least it cools the temps!

In 1992 I moved from Houston, TX to Powell, WY and became a single woman shortly after moving there.  This family of Rich, Jane,  and their children Jonathan and Elizabeth became my family.  They took me under their wing and we became very close friends.

Rich was a family man–family meant the world to him and I was considered family.  He and Jonathan came to mow my huge lawn when Rich discovered I was mowing with a small push mower/bagger–it took me hours to mow the grass with that silly little suburban mower.

Rich and Jane with their pride and joy–grand babies Tegan and Anders.

One day I looked out an upstairs window of my house in Powell and saw this fluffy pink stuff all over the lawn–flickers had decided to peck holes in my siding and remove the insulation.  Rich and Jonathan came to my rescue again bringing ladders and lightweight metal to cover the holes.

Jane and Rich helped me bury what seemed like miles of wire for an underground electric fence for my unruly Airedales.

Rich taught me how to refinish furniture–I still use the dining table I refinished with his instructions.  Rich worked in the lab of the hospital in Powell where I was the Director of Nursing.  At work one day he noticed all the band-aids on the ends of my fingers.  I told Rich all the sanding had really made my fingertips raw.  He had neglected to tell me he owned a drill with a small head which would have helped with that sanding! 🙂

One of my fondest memories of life in Powell was going Christmas tree hunting with Jane, Rich and the kids.  We had so much fun that day!

After I married the Cowboy and moved away from Powell we would meet Jane and Rich for dinner in various places.  Then it became our tradition to have Easter brunch in Red Lodge–this photo was taken at Rock Creek Resort and you can tell by our attire it was a chilly Easter Sunday!

Life has been unkind to this family with the loss of their son Jonathan in a car accident in 2002.  Now Rich has lost his struggle with a nasty cancer.  As our friend Geri so eloquently said, not enough life lived.  Rest in peace Rich, you will be missed so much!

 

We lost a very dear family friend on Monday and I have gone to Powell, WY to be with his wife and children.  Posts will resume at a later date.

This afternoon a thunderstorm rolled through our area with strong lightening, thunder and a bit of rain but the best part–our temp went from 94 degrees to 66 degrees!  Wish we could keep that temp for a few days!  One of the worst things in a hot Montana summer are what we call “sticky flies.”  They are buzzing, obnoxious things which land on your glasses, try to crawl up your nose and in your ears–these flies will drive you absolutely crazy with their buzzing!  Bug spray doesn’t affect them at all–the only thing I’ve seen kill the little buggers is horse fly spray and I doubt it would be good to douse myself in that stuff! 🙂

It’s been a touch boring around here–the bathtub is in the bathroom now instead of on the deck :)–that’s progress! The Cowboy grouted the tile yesterday and I served as clean up woman.

We took a late evening CanAm ride up Elk Creek Saturday but saw no wildlife only people–what’s up with that???  We usually see no one up there!

As I said, it’s been a touch boring so here are some new photos of the grandkids––Lora, Laci and John in Edelweiss, Germany over the July 4th holiday.

Katie and Brooks in the Beartooth Mountains.

Not sure where Brooks is in this photo or where he is headed but he’s one adorable little cowboy!

It’s still good hay cutting weather but not good weather for anything else.  This heat just saps any energy we might have.  Weed spraying is finished for the year–Over the last week I’ve sprayed out 100 gallons of weed killer mix, 10 gallons at a time.  I’ve climbed all over these hills and ditch banks chopping weeds with a shovel.  When I came back to the house to make lunch I was so dang hot and exhausted I told the Cowboy, “I’m done and so is the weed spraying for the year!”

The UPS and FedEx trucks have been making regular runs up our driveway delivering packages of things for the new to us Roadmaster RV.  First and best of all was a new mattress–isn’t it amazing mattresses come in boxes delivered right to your door.  No more looking goofy as you try to pick a mattress by laying on one in the store.  We purchased this one from Amazon and if we don’t like it, it’s returnable.

This bed is almost as hard to make as the truck camper bed, the mattress fits very snugly across the front of the RV with access through the opening you see in this photo.  One person is sleeping against the front wall and that would be the Cowboy–he doesn’t get up at night, I do. 🙂

There is another bed in the RV–you can see it in the below photo against the ceiling–it lowers electrically on tracks to various heights.

There is ample storage, of course not as much as was in the Country Coach motorhome but we aren’t living in this rig, it’s a camping rig.  I still have several empty cabinets which is always a good thing!  Accessing the bed also requires the use of a step stool and we are not short people!

 This is probably the best the bed will ever look!

 One of the things I’m missing from the motorhome is drawers–this rig only has two–the Country Coach had ten!!

The Cowboy is making progress with the bathroom remodel project, he installed the last of the tile today, now for trim and then grouting.  Yippee!

 

Last week we received an email invite from friends Geoff and Nancy–“Nancy and I would like to have you and the Nobles over for a 4th of July rib fest.  It will be exceedingly quiet and predictably low-key.”  And it was with good friends, great food–our kind of party.  Geoff and Nancy’s house sits along the river making their yard a touch cooler being so close to the water–at 88 degrees being a touch cooler is a good thing!

Nancy has a gift with flowers and yard decorations–it’s a beautiful and peaceful spot along the river.

Shine’s favorite spot when it’s hot!

 Solving the problems of the world.

The Roadmaster is ready to go from my standpoint–all we need to load now is food and clothing.  The Cowboy has some projects he wants to finish plus he needs to load tools and all that kind of stuff.  We do have a large Amazon order arriving on Thursday–a new mattress, etc.  Forest fires are cropping up everywhere in Montana–temps in the 90’s with wind make for fast drying conditions.  But on the other hand, those are good hay making conditions and our neighbor is taking advantage!

We think Emmi is fairly bullet proof when it comes to loud noises–she has never been around fireworks but has been exposed to gunfire on numerous occasions.  Gunfire, thunder–she doesn’t even flinch or wake up from a nap!  I’ve felt so sorry for the many people on Facebook saying their dogs are terrified by the fireworks–one of the reasons we are glad not to live in town!

Lemon cheesecake–one of my contributions to the food last night.

I made a run to town this afternoon for multiple errands–license plates for the Roadmaster, weed killer, the bank–etc.  The Cowboy stayed home and cleared a new path with the mini-excavator so I could more easily spray some weeds from the CanAm–oh joy!

 

 

Let’s just get the weather info out of the way–it’s making me grumpy–91 degrees yesterday and today with no end in sight to these way too hot temperatures–UGH!  Our house is not air conditioned.  Our only saving grace is once the sun goes down the temperatures cool quickly.

Our neighbor’s hay field which is planted in sainfoin–an alfalfa type hay and it blooms pink–kind of pretty!

Yesterday and today I worked on cleaning the inside of the RV–it’s air conditioned! 🙂 :)The Cowboy wasn’t so lucky, he raked and baled hay yesterday.  Today he stacked all the hay–that project is finished for the year and he is glad!

When we sold the motorhome we packed into boxes all our belongings.  Today I went through those boxes and moved some of the stuff into the new rig.  Wouldn’t you know it, I couldn’t find the non-stick shelf paper until almost the very last box–guess I should have labeled better!  The Country Coach had a 450hp CAT engine and I never worried much about the weight of items I was packing.  This trailer will be pulled by our Ford one ton diesel truck–a big difference–so I am being extra careful with what I put in the trailer.  We keep reminding ourselves–this is a camping trailer not a living trailer.

Just over a year ago Mom’s husband Chuck suffered that massive heart attack and we weren’t sure he was going to live.  Not only did he live but Chuck and Mom drove from Arkansas to California over the last few days to visit a sister, then will drive to Seattle to visit a stepdaughter.  Last stop will be here at our house before they head back to Arkansas.  Amazing!

I heading to the basement–it’s cooler down there!