Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Farm

About 20 miles outside Big Sandy, MT, is my great-grandparents' farm.

Last weekend Monique and I joined my aunt and uncle and a cousin and his wife out there. It was my first time being at "The Farm" in spring -- mine were always autumn hunting trips -- and our first time there since my dad's uncle Ed passed away in February 2006.

I won't type much here, except to say we had a terrific time, it was beautiful, and I can't wait to get there again. The 5.5 hour road trip is SO much nicer now than when we lived in Seattle!

































Tuesday, June 10, 2008

14 Hours and Counting

June 10. Not March 10, or even April 10, but JUNE 10. This morning, around 8a, it started snowing here. Mostly rain with a little snow, but then it went the other way.

This was taken just before noon, when it had been snowing for almost four hours.

It's now after 10p, and it has snowed all day.

All -- stinkin' -- day.

Heavy, wet snow requiring tree shaking to unburden the leaves (and in the case of the giant lilacs, the flowers) of the slushy stuff. I don't remember too many days this winter when it snowed fourteen hours straight. If it freezes tonight, we'll have some tree damage, and the cherry orchards in the valley could get wiped out.

The other big news for the day is my sister and her two dobies are visiting.Lucy (on the couch) and Silas (on the floor) and Carla (not pictured... see her blog here) arrived this afternoon, we had pizza, we played in the snow, and in keeping with the rather odd weather happenings, we listened to Christmas music and watched the Peanuts Christmas Special after dinner.

All in all a terrific day. And given the incredible bizarre dangerous weather happening elsewhere in the country, I'll take a misplaced snow day anytime.

Here's hoping you all find the true meaning of Christmas this summer. Peace!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Lush

The crabapple tree's flowers are mostly gone now, but it was a beautiful bloom. We've been weeding, and scattering seeds, and basically walking around saying "green!" to each other. (Yes, this picture focuses on pink, but you get my drift).

It's a rainy June so far, which is fine. More snow in the mountains, lots of free watering for the trees and garden, and when it does get sunny and warm up, it'll be all the sweeter.

We've lived here nine months now, and how time flies. Although the last snow melted from the field just over a month ago, it seems ages. The deer -- daily visitors throughout the winter -- are just now appearing again, having switched from their more reserved gray coat to the "traditional" tan spring/summer look.

We've taken the kayak out a few times, Monique having gone the furthest so far. It's a good little boat, and once I feel more confident in my balance, and once the river's dropped a little, I'll try it from upriver a ways. The water's still high, and the sound it over flowing by is one of my strongest childhood memories from the old cabin. Spring runoff is not done, but there's almost no "stuff" floating by -- the logs, branches, stumps, twigs, posts, and planks that were sitting low throughout winter have moved on.

Monique, me, and my uncle Bill cleaned out the swimming hole -- armed with rakes, we worked about 90 minutes to get the majority of stuff in our beloved swimmin' hole back into the current. I'm not a huge fan of making all that someone else's problem, but in this case, I guess I was.

Still haven't gone to Glacier Park, or the Jewel Basin, or Bond Creek. Maybe next weekend. Being around here is so fun and so energizing, I can only imagine what some of our favorite hiking places look like.