Like a Lion

March certainly did come in like a lion. It's still storming as I write. It's not quite as bad in our little town, we're far enough away from the passes we don't usually get as much snow. We were supposed to go to a funeral in Bozeman this morning, but the sheriff issued an "essential travel only" warning. This never happens here-schools never close even if the temps are way below zero.

Our poor deck furniture probably thinks we'll never use it.

So I'm baking to keep the house warm. And yes, those cupcakes are "safe" for me. Pizza later.

A warm up is expected tomorrow and it will be thawing by the middle of the week. Some of the snow piles around town are over 15 feet high, it'll probably be July before those are gone!

Something New!

I have never seen anything like this!  Our ornamental crabapple tree is blooming, in September!  The only thing we can come up with is either the bad July hailstorm traumatized it, or the extra hot late summer weather.  Pretty cool, though!

Proof that it's on the same tree with the ripening apples.

I tried to get my camera set so the date stamp would be on the picture but I failed.  You'll just have to take my word that it's blooming on September 5, 2013!

Sad Day

I was in Bozeman when I heard there was a terrible storm warning for Manhattan.  I called Stan and he said he thought it would go around.  Well, it didn't.

Nice little pile up against the door!

My kale!

And Stan's tomatoes!

These leaves blew all the way over the house onto the truck.  The whole town is carpeted with leaves and branches.

Gardeners all over town are sobbing and fingering shredded bean plants.  Usually the storms go around Manhattan but not this time.  Other towns in Montana got it even worse-one town had many trees blown down and the last I heard they still didn't have power because of downed power lines.

More From Mother Nature

I pulled up Facebook tonight and everyone I know had pictures of tonight's sunset.  I think it's the prettiest I've ever seen:

What a show!

Think We Have Summer Again!

Montana summers are so unpredictable, but if the weather people are correct, the whole week is going to be nice-in the 70's and not much rain.  Maybe my garden will get a good start!

We did have a bit of big hail one day, but it was pretty sparse, thank goodness!

Just had to show you the two dogs-Chloe was 5 and Merlin was almost 4 when he came to live with us-they're now 7and 6.  They love each other so much, and have gone from being two completely different dogs to doing everything the same, including how they sit!

I've just gone for my third acupuncture treatment and things are progressing nicely.  The first visit, my improvement was pretty profound, so I was kind of giddy!  (Poor Stan!) The subsequent ones resulted in smaller improvements, but improvements just the same.  I am much less stiff, and the sciatic pain is slowly fading.  He wants to work on my allergies, too-yay!

I updated my cooking blog too, but I kind of whined so if you aren't in the mood for a pity party I suggest not going there.  If you don't mind, go ahead, I talk about quinoa for breakfast, too.

The Week

Didn't mean to ignore the blog for so long.  It just seems things get in the way.  So here's the week in a nutshell:

Thursday it snowed-a lot!  The snowflakes were two inches across!

I sat in the hot tub with a ball cap on, to avoid a pile of snow on my head.  The flakes hit the water with resounding splashes.  Then we went to a funeral-stood at the graveside in the snow to say goodbye to a former classmate of Stan's.  Later that night, in true Montana form, the snow was gone and the sun was out.  Chilly, but we were still able to take in a Little League game.  Stan's sister Norma decided to take the night off from her kitchen remodel and come watch a game.  She was really tickled by the small serious ball players.

Friday was "Muffins for Mom" at Sydney's school.  Since his mom lives too far away, he asked Gramma.  Of course Gramma was pleased, especially since she knew Grace and Sam would be there too.  Grace and Sam didn't know and were pretty surprised.

I always take the grandkids out to coffee for their birthdays.  Things had been so hectic Saturday was the first chance we had to go.  Of course she likes to go to the local food co-op and sit on the balcony.  She has to have "fish salad."  (Tuna on a lettuce salad)

The chokecherries are in full bloom and oh so fragrant!  Too bad we don't get the berries from these trees.  The birds beat us to it-they eat them green!  Our trees are all getting so huge.

Yesterday I went to open the living room drapes and there sat Merlin on the arm of the couch.  Not sure why, but it was cute!

I took his picture, shut the camera off, then went back to finish the drapes, and this is how I found him.  The pictures on this little table don't stand a chance.  It must be a Westie trait to sit up high-both dogs like to do it.

And my log cabin afghan is coming right along.  The rows are getting longer, so I'm having to push myself to keep going.  Stan doesn't know it, but I think this will be his.

I was well remembered on Mother's Day.  I got cards, greetings, and flowers.  Jim and Millie gave me a cute brass hummingbird feeder that lights up at night with a solar powered battery.  Stan and Steve cooked lunch, and Stan made me a yummy gluten-free peach cobbler.

A nice laid back day.

How We are Doing

Stan is doing just great-he even shoveled the driveway today.  He's done dishes, taken out the garbage, finished the crossword puzzles in the newspapers he missed.  I picked up his diabetes meds-very cheap, thank goodness!

The timeshare people called me to let me know that they had a room for me on that extra night, so I called and cancelled my reservations at Playa Mazatlan.  As nice as the hotel is, I am glad we don't have to move off the resort.  Things are coming together.  My cousin offered to take us to the airport, so now I just have to find a sitter for one dog.  Jim and Millie are taking Chloe, but with their houseful of kids and a big dog, Merlin would have been too much-he's a bit high maintenance.

We were laughing about the lack of snow and how we would feel bad about leaving such nice weather, but that changed today.  It's been snowing all day-the kind that makes the roads super icy.  When I got on the Interstate to come home, there were four accidents in a mile and a half.  I made it home just fine, but I don't think we'll leave Manhattan tonight.

My massage therapist asked me to shorten the sleeves on her college professor's suit jacket, so that will happen tomorrow.  He needs it before we get back.  I'll just take a massage in payment-very fair to me!

Well, it's time to make supper happen-after 43 years of marriage I am very tired of that job.  Maybe we'll eat out.

Happening Right Now

I almost caught the lightening arcing across the sky.  Then the sky opened up and it's raining cats and dogs.

Resurrection

Thirty some years ago, the neighbor across the street stopped by.  She and her sister were going to get some lilac suckers to plant in their yard and they wondered if I wanted one.  I said sure and they went on their way.  About three weeks later the husband came over with a sheepish grin and a bucket with a dead-looking twig in it.  "Sorry," he said, "We totally forgot about this and it's been dry for a couple of weeks."  I told him I'd take it anyway, and planted it because even if it never grew, it didn't cost anything to plant it.

Now look at that dead thing!

 

Sometimes it pays to take a leap of faith!

There's a rain drop on the lens in the first picture-the rain won't stop and the whole area is flooding.  We're OK where we're at, but I feel sorry for the people who live nearer the rivers and streams, especially those in Roundup, MT.  We took a drive on the back highway last night and the East Gallatin river is all over the place.

I wish we could just tell the rain to go south to cool down Texas and Arizona's terrible heat spell.  Maybe if we all yell at it together, hehe!

We did have about two days of sunshine and Merlin took full advantage of it.

Is It Really Summer?

Today was absolutely beautiful-it got all the way up to 70.  We planted the garden and just enjoyed the day.  I did some baking-not too hot for that, thankfully, and barbecued.  I have to show you our trees.  They are breathtaking this year.  Right now we have 3 lilacs, one pink crab, one white crab and a chokecherry bursting with blooms and perfuming the air.

 It feels like a fragrant park in our yard right now.  Soon our Spirea and peonies will open up.  In the back I have two beds full of day lilies and irises.  There are two lilacs back there, too, that are doing their fragrant thing.

Every photogenic beauty has to have a close-up, right?

And the cedar waxwings are still pruning the old apples out of the pink crab.  They are so darn cute!

Tomorrow is supposed to get to the 80's but then it's going to get cold again.  I love summertime in Montana but all this chilly weather and especially that icy wind really makes me miss Mazatlan.  Oh well, we had today.....

It's a Rule!!

In Montana it's the rule that you must have snow on Easter.  It doesn't matter if Easter is early or late, there will be snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

Everybody is getting a little crabby around here.  Thursday night we were hit with ANOTHER blizzard.  People are talking about moving somewhere warmer.  Our racks of summer clothes at the store are still full and look mighty lonely.  They even moved them closer to the restrooms so people could see them as they pass by, but when you have to slog through six inches of freezing slush, shorts and cute little tops are the last thing on your mind.  I am totally convinced that if Easter were in July, it would still snow!

It does make for a pretty sunrise picture, but I could do with a summer type of sunrise.

We've had a bunch of stressful things hit our family lately-some I can talk about, some I can't.  But all the stressors make me want to fly away to Mazatlan and forget about everything!

Anyway, have a blessed Easter, and remember that He loved us enough to die for us.

Spring!

The wind is blowing, the sky is blue.  The snow is gone, a farmer on his four-wheeler just ran through the subdivision to his other fields, and the teens across the street are playing basketball in the driveway.  I have the windows open, even if it's only 54 degrees, and I can hear my wind chimes singing.  Tomorrow it might snow and there is always a chance for really cold temps, but for now we have springtime in the Rockies.

This will play out until late April when things really do start greening and growing.  But this is what we get here for now-the hope for something better.

What's Happening Here

Well, let's see....  We have a train wreck, a two-day blizzard, and two trucks submerged in Canyon Ferry lake.  Just another day in Paradise!

17 cars derailed, with 14 cars completely turned over.  It happened at midnight Saturday and by midnight last night they were running again.  They had to replace a mile or two of track.  They probably worked fast to hurry up and get out of the cold!

And because of a two-week thaw, the ice on Canyon Ferry Lake was getting iffy, but a couple of folks decided to try it anyway,  One truck was recovered, one is still at the bottom of the lake, two people were rescued, and one is still missing.  The authorities have closed the lake to vehicles, Hubby and his brother are fishing near there, but they wouldn't dream of driving a pickup out on the ice now anyway.

The sun has finally come out, but it was a very frigid weekend.  The wind was blowing so hard you couldn't stand up and it brought the wind chill factor down to well below zero.  It was almost impossible to keep up with the shoveling.

But this week won't be quite so bad, hopefully.  Spring WILL come, even if it happens in July!

What the........

Manhattan, Montana today:

 Mazatlan, Mexico, at the same time:

Just what gives?  I saw a physicist on the news yesterday who said the mild winters in the north, all the snow in the east, and the cold temps in Mexico are because of global warming.  Something about air currents meeting moisture and putting cold air where there usually isn't any and warm air where it's usually cold.  OK.

The problem for the poor people in the south is they don't have heaters, maybe not even windows or doors.  I have all that, just a cranky hot water heater that won't put out hot water when the boiler is busy heating the house.  (Our heat and hot water come from the same boiler)

Mexico Dreamin'

Very excited that it might get up to 30 F today, but for right now:

Hubs went ice fishing with a young man from church-hope they enjoy the day and catch lots of trout.  I'm not wild about trout, neither is Stan, but he cleans them, sticks them in the freezer, and when he has a lot, he brines and smokes them.  Then he gives them away.  Don't like them smoked, either!  I'm just waiting for Mahi Mahi and fresh shrimp.  In the meantime I'll eat a lot of good Montana beef.

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

It has been snowing here since last Thursday.  Every day Mother Nature dumps several more inches on us.  And now, as the snow might be letting up, the forecast is for very cold temperatures.  Interstate highways have been closed in the area on and off all day, and right now I-90 is restricted to essential traffic until morning.  I am so over this!  The one bright spot is we don't have to travel for Thanksgiving and by Black Friday, my first official day of work, things should start getting nicer.

It is very pretty, though:

Hi From Mazatlan!

Just a quick hello from Paradise! The weather is perfect, and we are having a lovely restful time. There was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile this morning and the Pacific is in danger of big waves, but they tell me that we are protected here by the Baja Peninsula, so the only waves we get will be from the full moon. Tonight we will go to the Fiesta. Great food, entertainment, and in a beautiful old hotel. I'll post pictures next week when I get home. Adios!!

Welcome, Winter!

We got our snow today-in some areas of the county they got three feet. Here in Manhattan, we get much less-probably about 5". It was beautiful, but what a headache. My daughter-in-law works at the University. It took her 45 minutes to park this morning, after getting stuck three times. She was in a 2 hour zone, so she went out to move her car after 2 hours and got stuck again. She went into her office, got her work and went home to work for the day. That was on top of having a bad cold!

I have been sewing, just not blogging about it much. I'm making a black cardigan out of a nice interlock-kind of a wardrobe stretcher, and I have all the grandkids' PJs cut out:

Now to work through that pile.

Smokey Sunset

A few small fires burning near here. The sunsets prove there are blessings hidden in troubles.

Freaky Summer Storm

I was having coffee with a friend at my favorite place when Hubby called. He asked what the weather was like in Bozeman. I described it, calm and cloudy, and he told me that he was witnessing the biggest hailstorm Manhattan has ever seen. Golf-ball size stones that shredded our garden and drove apples and leaves to the ground.



The ice loving dog-she must have thought it was manna from heaven.

Good size hailstones.



I don't think the storm ever hit Bozeman, even though it was heading that way. I did hear from Jenn and she said Livingston got hit as hard as we did, and they also had a huge power outage.

An update-the insurance rep came right out (Safeco-nice, huh?) and told us that our roof was trashed, so right then and there he cut us a check to replace it. We will get a bid when our roof guy gets back from camping. That really was some kind of storm!