Picnic Denim Blanket

I love this blanket! It's made from blue and white jeans. I pieced it together using the log cabin pattern. It has red courderoy for the centers, binding and backing. I tied it together and we have hauled it to soccer games, picnics and MSU Bobcat games. This blanket is sooooo heavy.

A Woman's World

I have 10 daughters, thus the dogs pay the price. Our dogs got lei-ed, Hawaiian style. They had to wear these for 3 days straight. I imagine the other local animals (horses, jack rabbits, coyotes) laughing at them.
The dogs weren't the only ones who fell prey to feminine displays of design. I did, too. Stacey worked on my hair. I think it took about an hour.Then the girls had a tea party with my antique teacups and saucers.

What a nice Sunday afternoon. A time to enjoy the conversation and company of other cultured women. This is Rachael and her friend Holly. They were eating bread with butter and honey with their tea. Mmmmm, finger-lickin' good!

Stacey and Megan were very proper and used their lady-like manners. No elbows on the table and gentle music in the air, whilst the blizzard rages outside.

A Man's World

I was standing in my bedroom when something outside caught my eye. I saw two large jack rabbits running/hopping up the driveway. I wasn't the only one who saw them. Clint and his friend, Mikey, dashed to where we stash out 22 rifles and ran after the critters while frantically loading. The rabbits got away, but when the boys returned to the house, they were amazed to find 8 more jack rabbits zippin' all over the property. The boys fell to their stomachs and started firing.

Though, I am sad for the fate of these animals, I don't like the damage they do to the foliage in my yard. And they burrow! Victor found them nesting in the engine of our vehicles all winter long. They love to chew on the coil wire and spark plug wires. What little nuisances! Remember the terrific weather during the rabbit slaying? Well, just a mere 24 hours later we got 12 inches of snow.... AGAIN!! This is Victor in his shorts and crocs shoveling. Clint was throwing snowballs to Alli who loves to chase them. She loves to chase anything you throw at her.

It was very beautiful the next morning. We have had beautiful birds at the feeders, so even though it's snowing, I KNOW it's really Spring. This is Matthew. He is enjoying learning about a man's world. Today he was invited by a girl a whole year older to attend her birthday party held at the local civic center. He gave her a bag of candy as a birthday present. I substitute taught her class on Friday and it is clear that she is very "smitten" with my little boy.

Do we need a Deer Cemetery?

I really haven't done much lately to write about, okay, maybe I have. I watched a deer die yesterday. Is that doing something?

Really, it was kind of sad. He/she/it was with in a herd of about 16 deer. Heather let our dog, Bo, out the back door and that very "tough" mongrel chased the herd off our property and into the horse pasture across the road.

The herd finally realized that he is all bark and no brains so they quit prancing off and slowly walked off. But as they walked away, I noticed that one was laying down and not moving on.

This picture of a deer is NOT the one I watched, but I slipped it into my story so that you will look into those eyes and feel how sad I was. :-(

Anyway, after an hour the deer had passed away. How do I know? 'Cuz I am a Mom and I just know. OK, it's tongue was hanging out and it was lying on the hill upside down. Very odd position to just sleep in.

How did this deer die? Perhaps our very fierce MUTT gave it a heart attack? OR perhaps it was a deer conspiracy. The herd drew lots and decided Mr. Lolling Tongue Deer would get to die 100 yards from the house so that as it degrades back to the earth, it would get rolled-in by our other very naughty dog, Alli. She loves all things gross and slimey. She will spend the summer dragging deer carcass parts back to the front porch. Oh JOY!!

Celebrating Easter

"Look how many eggs I have!"

I wrote previously that the weather forecast proclaimed a drizzly Easter weekend. They, those weather guyz, were so very wrong and we were thrilled! The kids and Victor had a 5-day vacation and though we expected rain, it was very nice. The sun shone and the kids played very hard. They took walks, rode their bikes into town, played with friends and slept outside on the back deck and watched shooting stars. They thoroughly enjoyed being together and had a great time. We were blessed to have Victor's girls, Stacey and Rachael, this weekend.

Matthew, Heather and Meggie hunting for eggs.
Megan and Rachael are gathering eggs and stashing them in their bowls.
Matthew, the collector of candy.

For Easter, I took my kids to my church and enjoyed a very spiritual meeting. Victor took Clint and Nathan to his church and they also came back uplifted and edified. What does that mean, exactly? Well, I don't know except that we would repeat the day's messages a few times to kids to remind them of who they are and how they should act.

We decided that the kids were a bit old for baskets (especially since we don't have any that aren't mouse-eaten and moldy from floods) so we improvised. The kids colored the hard-boiled eggs, I stuffed plastic eggs with candy, hid them and they found them.

Rachael found the hidden kite!
Stacey thinks she is too old to hunt for eggs!

Can she have one of your's please?

Oh yes, and Brooke is too old, too. Megan are you going to share?

The kids also blew bubbles into the air and mostly on the dog. They played with sidewalk chalk, played the new games, and everyone tried to fly the new kite. Note: It's nearly impossible to get a flimsy plastic kite airborne if one lives in the windy-est spot on earth.

UP!...

UP!...and NOT away!.....

Clint, Nathan and a friend went 4 wheelin' in the mud and snow clear up into the mountain we live on. They wore their helmets and were solid mud from their visors to their toes. When they came home, they were thrilled and filthy. I made them strip most of their clothes off on the front porch. Oh, the LAUNDRY!!

Victor, Clint and Nathan spent much of the weekend working on Vic's 1979 pickup. They purchased a 4-wheel drive chassis and tranny off of a 1974 pickup. They cleaned up the '74 frame, added new shocks, and other stuff I don't get. They put the old '79 body on the new '74 chassis and will make Vic's truck into a 4-wheel drive BEAST! The boys have loved this greasy job!

Victor and I served a feast of ham, prime rib, mashed potatoes, broccoli raisin salad, that-green-salad-with-little-marshmallows, green peas and the girls made deviled eggs out of the colored Easter eggs. We also made a nice dinner punch out of orange juice and Sprite. We had a very fun dinner!

The Glorious Sun

If you live in our neck of the woods, the only talk about town for the past three days has been the warmth and the SUN. I has been 65 deg. and no clouds! I think the people here were beginning to go postal because of the doom and gloom of winter. Oh, we all try to put up a good front, keep our chins up and be tough, but deep down inside we are all wiggin' out!

Megan actually got pink cheeks on Sunday! Victor did an inspection of a home/business in "the valley", yesterday, and was invited to sip lemonade, chat and rock on the gentleman's front porch when the inspection was over. Victor's face had some nice color to it when he came home. He also seemed rested and relaxed.

Oh, what the sunshine does to brighten one's soul and outlook on life. The kids were in a chipper mood when I picked them up from school and all they wanted to do was play and go to the local malt shop for an ice cream. They wanted to hang out at the public library and "ooooh, Mom could we go to the park and play in the lagoon?"It has been a Norman Rockwell-esque few days. I don't want them to go away. I miss summer. I love the sounds of the sprinklers. I LOVE ice cream sundaes and root beer floats. I love the foods of summer like barbecue ribs, steaks, hot dogs and hamburgers. I love potato salads, watermelon and popsicles. I love lying on a beach chair, reading a book, sipping any kind of drink with ice cubes clinking against the glass and being totally enveloped in the warmth of the sun's rays.

I love the activities of summer like running through the sprinkler, swimming at the outdoor city pool, hiking, fishing, camping, boating, washing the car in the driveway, mowing the lawn, gardening, picnics and parades.

The sad thing is, the forecast for the Easter weekend, starting with this afternoon is RAIN and thunderstorms for the next week. I will remain hopeful, however, that summer will arrive soon and I promise to bask in every moment of it!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

Today is our One Year Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to US! This has been a wonderful first year. We have worked together in every situation. We have dealt with teenage issues, had a wonderful time with all our children and totally enjoyed our marriage together.

On St. Patrick's Day, I had won the grand prize in a drawing; free ski tickets for two at Big Sky Ski Resort. So we planned to use them on our Anniversary. I got sick the week before but we hoped that I would be well by swoosh-time.


Friday night, we ate a wonderful gluten-free dinner at the OutBack Steakhouse. Then we drove through a roaring blizzard up the canyon to Big Sky. Most of the time we had little to no visibility and the only way Victor knew he was still on the road was by driving on the teeth-jarring rumble strips. We were so relieved when we finally arrived at 10 p.m. We are staying at the Huntley Lodge. In this picture of the Lodge you will notice someone, Victor, made a path across this bern of snow. He scrambled over it in the middle of the night, rather than walk clear around from the parking lot to the front door of the lodge. It was cold!

This is a picture of Lone Mountain. I can't believe that people actually ski off the top of that thing! Victor took all these pictures, by the way. It is so nice here.
I still remained sick and by Saturday, I couldn't breath well. I was/am so miserable. Victor took me to the Medical Center on the mountain and I was diagnosed with bronchitis and given antibiotics and decongestants. I dutifully took the medications and was still coughing and lethargic the whole day. Sunday has been no better for me, physically. We are missing a glorious day of skiing. It's about 35-40 degrees and the skies are blue and the sun is shining. There is about 2 feet of powder.
I have stayed in bed in our hotel room, Victor beat me at Gin Rummy, he did some reading for work,I am blogging alittle and we have eaten yummy food at the local restaurants. Actually, we have had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. We are going to save the ski passes for next weekend. I am so looking forward to skiing here over Easter Break.

Sidewalk Cafe's

The first time I ever experienced a sidewalk cafe was when I was 16 in

Franeker, Holland. This picture shows the canal that winds through the town of Franeker. It's a very nice, quiet little town.

Imagine, in the distance, there is always a windmill in the distance, gracefully turning in the breeze, with the canal so quietly gliding by and we ever-so-casually sitting next to a foot-bridge, chatting across our wrought-iron, glass-topped table. Oh, it was the picture of serene beauty and has left

a lasting memory.

Did I mention the tulips? Multi-colored splashes of petals edging everything.

Then we travel onto Gay-Paree. France is very old and is amazing with it's museums, Cathedrals, and Louis-esqeness. I liked that. The Louvre is stunning and should almost qualify as one of the 7 Wonders of the Art World. The truth is, I didn't like Paris. After driving from Holland to France through quaint cobblestoned villages with cottages adorned with flower

boxes, I found Paris, drab, dirty, immoral, loud and big.

But I did get to sit at a nice sidewalk cafe and eat a gelato, which is an ice cream cone that tastes like lemon sherbet, and is actually Italian. It was excrutiatingly hot that summer of '76 and that lemon treat was succulently cool and soft and refeshing. I watched the average Parisian pass by and

wasn't very impressed. The women were in baggy tank tops with very hairy black airpits and no bra, which wasn't very flattering, since I'm sure they hadn't EVER worn bras. I decided then and there, that I was going to submit myself to be "uplifted" throughout my life.

My most favorite sidewalk eateries were scattered all over Italy, my most favorite country to visit. If I was forced to leave my beloved America, permanently, then I would move to Italia. I think I would check out Tuscany, first, just because of the influence that region has had on our recent home decor fads.

I love Italy for the ancient history it boasts and for the Baroque architecture. The people were friendly, boisterous, expressive, jovial and giving. Even the

Monks, guiding us through the Roman Catacombs, had a sense of humor. The climate is perfection and the vegetation, with vineyards covering every mile, was so gorgeous and tranquil.

To STROLL:
1) to walk in an idle, leisurely manner; to saunter
2) to go from place to place; to wander

I learned the definition of strolling when I was in Italy. The more rural

the better. And while wandering, in a leisurely manner, I would come upon a sidewalk cafe that looked 750 years old with Baroque dripping off of it like dew off a grape leaf. It was wonderful to sit, rest the feet after all that sauntering, and reminisce over The Pieta or St. Peter's Basilica. I would imagine Michaelangelo or Davinci walking by and tipping a hat in my

direction.

I believe, however, that my most memorable and wonderful morning spent at a sidewalk cafe was in Cozumel, Mexico.

Victor and I had left Cancun early in the morning, taken the public bus to Playa del Carmen (a treat no one should miss - boy, did we stand out! Victor is 6'4" and I am very blonde) and then we took a ferry to the island of Cozumel.

We had a superb egg-burrito while enjoying the view of the beautiful robin-eggshell colored ocean in front of us. It was just down right ROMANTIC.

Our town has a few outdoor coffee shops, but I just don't think Montana has the kind of weather that makes eating outdoors pleasant. The table umbrellas, potted plants, furniture and food would sail off in the wind within seconds. One would have to grab a meal in the nearby pasture. Isn't traveling to other places a great idea!