East, West, Hame is best...

Someday. Maybe. I'll call Wibaux home. I love my husband and he's there and it's home in that regard of course, but it's not Home like Ashley Lake Home. I miss it much. It's natural I'm sure, but someday we hope to feel home where we can wallow in the homey-ness of the very word, home. Perhaps it'll be there, but who knows. We're happy and thankful. That's what matters.

The purpose of going home this time was to see my best friend Sue and help her with the kids while her husband is at work. I stopped via Ashley Lake first because we got a great slide show from DP and we had to make the baklava and turkish coffee which has cardamon in it. I can guarantee this is the strangest coffee you've ever seen made, but it is SO good!!

We made 6 batches of baklava resulting in a little over 300 pieces. Lets just say it's amazing even though I didn't and couldn't eat any, it was good. I know this on smell alone and the fact that the sampling by others was in the double digit surplus...

You see me using a paint roller. This is not a trick! It is the best invention ever- our USDA Food Grade paint roller for butter! Each phyllo sheet is separated and buttered, with a nut/spice layer for 3 layers and 5 phyllo sheets, then an entire package buttered and layered on that. I think there are 25 sheets to a package. It's time consuming but again, worth it!

This is what 6 batches of baklava looks like! We had such fun doing this. It was a great day!

Then we had to go for a walk because we're on our feet all day. And we needed fresh air. So we went around the road through the meadow and happened on some ice! Which was great ice for skating and we wished we had time to shovel snow. But we didn't, so we saw some sights, of which this was impressive!

Here are bird tracks to the left, an eagle or hawk wing imprint and then the fascinating 'knuckles' of a birds talons imprinted clearly in the snow. I have never seen this in such detail! It was incredible!

Then we went home- see?? It's Ashley Lake in all its winter, cow feeding grounds glory!!

And this is who went with us on our walk. She was so tired and curled up on her favorite perch. Little Whiski loves walks, but really she loves cuddles in a warm house!

Baby Days

What a wonderful two weeks! I've been out of blogging land because I've been spending time with wonderful friends and their sweetest kids -a 2 year old and 3 month old twins. I have fallen in love, taken all the night shifts except two in the last week and have loved even 4am crying. After all, we know that's when they always have the best smiles! 

They picked me up at the train station in Edmonds, we went to Sunday morning meeting with these dear folks, the Scholls and had a wonderful meal. That was the start of my week and it was a wonderful start for I saw friends there I hadn't seen since I had lived in Seattle 13 years ago. Oh how the time goes....

This was my train ride. There really is nothing more beautiful than the pacific northwest. I'd live there again in a minute, but perhaps not too close to people. It is funny how I was amazed over the MANY people, but started feeling clausterphobic. Does this mean Wibaux has made me a Wibauxite yet??

I had to laugh when I left because Dustin asked if I had my sunglasses. I said, I bet I wouldn't use them the whole 2 weeks I'm gone. And I was right! Even though it's beautiful, it's rainy a lot. And while I can stand the rain, I can honestly say I am VERY used to the sun in good ol' Wibaux. Of course 45 verses 0 degrees isn't too hard to figure out either.

But this is what I came for. Sad of all sad stories, I'm missing a baby at the moment but trying to find photos that I accidentally deleted, so hopefully I will have all of them in a week or so. I will be heart broken if they can't be recovered because I fell heaps over in love with those three sweeties. I honestly thought of sneaking them back in a suitcase!

Saturday Morning

I love Saturday mornings. The only thing that would make it perfect is if Dustin didn't have to work on Saturdays. I get up and get my coffee inserted by IV.... (something I need to take some serious thought to) make my husband his roast beef sandwich slathered in my homemade hot mustard and piled with veggies. Then I sit, have a read, dream up a huge breakfast then make it and eat it. After that, the day is Saturday.

Saturday's are magical. You can get away with any food on Saturday. Any diet, any thoughts, it's a free day!

This Saturday though started out entirely different. Dustin got up, flicked on the light and zero happenings. Power was dead out. I remembered that there was a saturday yogo class in Glendive, so I got up. But no shower. no COFFEE AAAAHHHH! No breakfast. No sitting in the morning sun. But to yoga I went.

Besides Saturdays, i LOVE yoga. Always have, but this is the first class I've taken in a long time. I felt brutalized afterwards but stretched, mentally alert, stabilized and ready for the day. Later in the day I found this photo. I want to be able to do this someday.

Lots of people scoff yoga because they say it hurts you. Well yes it does! Hello! Because your body isn't used to that kind of flexibility! Yoga makes you limber and very strong IF the poses are done ccorrectly. If you cannot breath into the stretch or ignore listening to your body, you WILL hurt yourself- most often the joints. But when you are doing yoga correctly, it takes so much more stamina than running, I am instantly hooked. Again. It's hard work, and so rewarding. I love the way I feel when I'm doing yoga and I love how I feel after yoga.

I've had an offer this week to go to Costa Rica and get 100 credit hours of Yoga Instructor in April. It would be awesome.

When a storm rolls in

This is a view I never tire of. This looks to the northeast and often when I look out this window I see weather changes in the clouds I never was aware of when I lived in the mountains. The intense black of the sky was imposing, looking like it was going to rain or snow with a furry! But then, the sun peaked through and illuminated the wheat field!

I appreciate trees. I went to Billings yesterday with a dear friend Tracey and saw lots and lots of Ponderosa Pines. I miss those stoic giants! I really laughed when Dustin told me that our house had trees! Oh I felt so disheartened when I saw, what I considered then, as scrub brush. But I do appreciate them now. The wind is howling today and they just stand there solid, most of them in the wind breaks, thankfully blocking some of the wind.

Knits n Randoms

Just found a sign that says

KEEP CALM ~ CARRY YARN

This is good advice. 

And this is what has become of some of my projects this month

Baby Sack

Hat for me, but my hubby modeled

With all this strenuous activities, one needs chocolate. So I made Scotcharoos which I'd never heard of until I married my husband. I had to make my own rice krispie cereal which I did by boiling rice as usual, but with some ginger ale. Then I spread it over a cookie sheet and baked it in the oven. Do NOT use sushi rice... it's too sticky and too chewy.

Then i discovered a wonderful kitchen! My favorite here is the antique stove!

A big new Toy

Last year Wibaux got 100 inches of snow. It started snowing in September and finally disappeared in March only to rain for two straight months. Basements flooded every night, every house had 3-5 sump pumps and could hardly keep up. They tell me this is not a normal situation, nor a welcomed one.

This year, they predicted 200 inches of snow. No one is sure where the knowledge came from as it is now the middle of January and no snow. To date, we've had 3 inches total all winter.

I think the reason we don't have any snow is because my father in law decided with the winter they had last year, he was going to buy a loader which is something he's always wanted. And he did. With a vengeance because this is what pulled up in the their yard a few weeks later.

Of course it arrived on a sunny day, but you can see them bundled up. It was 8 degrees outside with a howling wind that dropped the temp right around a balmy -20. Why does equipment ALWAYS get delivered on the coldest day of the year? It happens without fail that it's gelled up going down the road at 65 so naturally it doesn't start. They fiddled around for nearly 2 1/2 hours before Frosty showed up. That Terex either got tired of having ether poured to it, or knew Frosty meant business, for 20 minutes later we were in business. He won't smile at all, but this guy is excited!

Little towns, big distance

Big blue sky. This is a regular sight out here. I like the angle of the trail left by the airplane so arrogant of  what's going on below because it's 35,000 feet down. I imagine the occupants of the plane are busy reading world news, or the latest book and have no regard to what's happening on the ground. 

Miles of fence, billions of miles of wire, hundreds of thousands of acres that man doesn't see very often, and little towns of seemingly no consequence. 

But, it's a matter of perspective. Up that high, the world below looks like funny little ants aimless in their direction. And on the ground, the immenseness of the sky, the rise and valleys of the ground makes the ol world here seem huge and unconquerable. It doesn't seem possible to get anywhere when no matter where you are, the horizon meets the land with an endless amount of distance on either side.

Dustin woke me up one Friday morning informing me that I had to take him to Watford City. I got a lot of these photos on the way up and no photos of Watford. Why? Because I was in such shock as to what that town was like. I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was so scary, a tiny little town where the ants descended and made a sleepy little town, voted the Best Town in North Dakota a few years ago to a over run and under cared for metropolis. It's horrible and not a pretty sight with thousands of campers and trailers popping up like villages every other block and takes 30 minutes to get out onto a 2 lane road.

But this cute little town below is indeed a town. This is Trotters. All that is left is the school house and a church.

A week ago, I had a melt down. The kind that I cried and cried and cried for 12 hours, for absolutely no apparent reason and when that happens, the only therapy is to go home.

Except I couldn't go all the way home. So I went to a 2nd home up in Plentywood which is another cute town that I didn't get any photos of. I'm really bad at this! 

But I found refuge there, in the big country. We tore apart a basement and redecorated. I found my favorite chair in the world looking out to the rolling hills and farms beyond with a good cup of coffee and chatter for company. And found my equilibrium once again. I'm so thankful for 2nd parents and faithful, good, honest, friends. 

Here is part of our decor, a huge clock and 'wheat'.

There is a line I read somewhere that said, "There is nothing like a magnum of French champagne and a fountain to set you right again." I've not had the experience, but it is safe to say, there is nothing like French clothing and good company to set you right again. It truly works!

This is Regina, Saskatchewan. A cute little city, and fun shopping. I said this to a Canadian and she nearly died... clearly she only believes Winnipeg is the best!! And I'll have to take her word for it until I can compare the two! That photo is for you ASB!

One of the funniest sights I saw coming up to Plentywood was this. Antelope, next 7 exits. It is not a lie, nor are there any roundabouts, stop signs, or clover leafs. Nope, just straight road as you can see below... but there are indeed 7 exits. For 7 driveways, each 200 feet apart.

And then, we head on to Baker. An old cow town that became a dirty oil field town years ago. It's starting to clean up a bit and become a self respecting little town as there are adorable shops and a fabulous coffee shop and little things that make you feel loved by a small town and yet cultured from a city. Go to Lawler's if you ever are through there. You can't miss it. It's the yellowest of yellow storefronts you can imagine :) You can see a portion of it just to the right of the photo of town.

I crack up at the dumbest stuff... but this stop n go storage.... yep, they were in such a go, they didn't stop to finish the rest of the phone number!

The Bike

See this?

Bike.

Yep.

Not just any bike, but the bike that has an attitude. With a Kapital A. I have one in our house because, well, it’s good furniture after all. It holds towels and sheets amazingly well because, alas, we don’t have a dryer, and I’ve found that freeze drying towels and sheets outside don’t work as well. Plus it’s cold and windy which breeds crabbiness in me with quick abandon.

The furniture, aka The Bike and I have something to prove and I hate every blessed minute of it.

You see, I got married. That's NOT crabby. That's very very good- the best!! It's just the Bike part.

But, like all  wifely-poo’s do to prove to their hubbily darlings that love originates through a man’s stomach, takes it upon herself to cook divinely French rich sauces over chicken or fish with a side of a beautiful herbed brown rice that makes me tuck in with knife and fork and he nibbles politely oohing and ahhing over how nice it looks. And, because a job for me is in excessive scarcity, I stay at home puttering and muttering while he goes to work and is rewarded back home with beef ribs cooked with fantastic homemade BBQ sauce drizzled over red skinned mashed potatoes made with, Cream. Oh yeah. What’s that old verse? “big heart never liked little cream pot?” Tis true, tis true. Then, consider the gorgeous salads and homemade eggnog and cookies and slow baked apples that take at minimum four hours to cook at 200 degrees. Going even so far as to make stews and soups and homemade fresh bread right out of the oven with a pat of butter and slaved over beautifully canned little soldiers of apricot or raspberry jam that I made just a month after we got married.

Oh yes, there is a call to all newly married women who are on the hunt for the most outstanding recipe to stop him in his tracks and again renew his undying love like the day he asked me to marry him. How pathetic that I still think this may gain me flowers...

When I brought home chicken wings from the store looking horribly freezer burnt and a disgusting yellow orange because I didn’t have time to cook that night, he pounced on them like a cat, with a bottle of ranch and ate the whole platter. I watched feeling positively green/grey over how gross it is while he grunted his approval between bites finally coming up for air at the last one, and noticing my expression felt his duty to offer me one.  I declined, no words needed. I noted that I never knew the way to a man’s heart was with chicken wings that only took 12 minutes, including opening the package, and then dumping them cooked onto a plate.

Needless to say, that happy little background is why I’ve gained 12 pounds (if I’m really honest, 14 lbs) in four months and why I’ve decided to take a hard look at the bike. I have ALWAYS eaten like that. Mom cooked that way, I cook that way and nary a pound was thought over.

UNTIL.

I turned 30.

And got married.

This whole turning 30 thing I laughed unworriedly over aunties and friends saying your body changes  and I’ll have change my ways. All  taken with a laugh and a shrug while slicing off another slab of cake, ignoring their pleas that gravity takes over, pounds begin where there never was, etc. Well, it happens and horror of ALL horrors, I start talking about it with others or with my hubbly because there’s no one to talk to and when he says the same thing, “you look fine,” I stoop to writing about it. I muster that I have no pride left. I’ve never dealt with this quite in this fashion.

So bike and I. We have a forcible conversation every time I try to touch it. For one it’s a fairly new one and actually tells you how you’re doing. I’ve decided I’m rather partial to my gram’s old bike which was so ancient, you decided how you FELT how you were doing and took an early exit.

But back to this bike, it tells you how far you’ve travelled, how much time you’ve been at it and how many calories burned. I look down after 5 minutes and explode with rage and wondering how on earth I’m actually sweating. I hate sweating over exercise. I’d much rather be outside gardening and sweating under sun and sky or chasing cows and sweating in the muck or sweating in a tractor over bumpy ground with no AC because on those times you don’t know you’re really working out. It’s ever so much better.

However, I refuse to go outside. It’s a wind thing. And I detest the wind more than anything I’ve ever encountered. Exercise, coupled with wind lambasting me in the face, hating every minute of it….Yeah. Not gonna happen. So, just bike and me.

I’ve sweated over this bike. I have got up to 14 miles in 35 minutes and not one thing is happening to my body. No change. I may detest the bike more than wind.  (not really) But seriously. Why no change? I’ve done this for a month now, and rotated workouts etc and so on like my trainer husband tells me to do. Is it possible to “plateau” on your first day?? I’ll have to ask him.

I’m off for a bike. And a ½ cup serving of cottage cheese for lunch, with a little side of tuna. Oh ye French sauces....!

A cold blustery evening

Some days the walls get a little close inside. So the only way to venture out is to have a big puffy warm coat with big pockets for extra lenses. And then bundle up the rest of the way. All for 20 minutes, which is all about you can take from the cutting wind.

Some shots of the yard and sky and grass. Notice how the grass is bent to the right? This is the way the grass grows naturally, bent from the wind.

Just an interesting line of crooked old fence posts against a beautiful sky. For some reason fences here fascinate me. I think it's because you can see them disappear into the horizon, something I've never seen.

One of my favorite type of photos- silhouette against the sky.

A view of our house from the back in the setting sun. Which is West. And I'm still trying to make it West in my mind. Yes I know the sun sets in the west. Yes, I know that's natural, but in my brain, west here is still dead east....

Christmas

We're not a big family on Christmas, unless the occasional family gift swap which usually constituted of chocolate. I'm a big believer of chocolate, gift wise or not!  I never remembering there being a real Santa Claus and besides that, in lieu of presents, we voted for trips! And we took some great ones. I never remember a Christmas present I ever got, but I do remember staying at Bellows Beach in Hawaii, surfing with cousins in Oahu, going back to Alaska and seeing where I was born, watching the Silvers run in the Kenai River. Going to Banff National Park and staying in the resort, going to the Edmonton Mall where my youngest sister got lost, and all 6 adults and 10 kids panicked wondering where she went. We found her, staring at the roller coasters. I think she was 3 years old. She was totally chill.

We went back to Hawaii and stayed on the top floor of the condo, watching the whales jump while we watched the evening sunset, and attended a luau, flirted with the bus boys and got to snorkel at Hanama Bay. We crewed and sailed up to Desolation Sound from Bellingham and ate like kings off the fish and shrimp and oysters we caught. I can still see my dad getting excited about seeing fresh jumbo oysters and taking the skiff to shore before the boat had stopped! We sunned, slept, played, swam and found an old raft most likely lashed together by a modern day Huck Finn. We were much obliged because we had more fun diving off of it trying to touch bottom that was inky, creepy black! And we never could.

We went to Phoenix, stayed in the middle of winter, lounged in the pools and it was 75 degrees. Oh we loved that. And took a day trip down to Mexico where 12 of us slept the night in a two bedroom trailer. The bonus? The boys walked down the beach and purchased fresh salsa for 3 pesos.

We sisters stalked grocery stores looking for Hawaii Sweet Bread and Guava Jam, hiking through bamboo forests and seeing waterfalls. Then going up at night to Mt. Haleakala and seeing the moon rise behind while the sun set before you. Truly an amazing sight to do again. Having my swim suit come off in the ocean- oh the embarrassment!! Seeing my brother nap under palm trees and nearly fall out of the hammock. Watching mom and dad walk down the beach hand in hand.  Helping dad and my siblings build a sand castle. Seeing mom read an entire book in one day sitting ocean side. Nothing short of amazing since she's always up, going and doing and 90% of the time, cooking.

We also went to Seattle. There is nothing sweeter than being on Bainbridge Island, with my second set of parents. (I have a lot of 2nd sets) Watching air craft carriers float buy, picking sea shells, digging for gooey ducks and then us girls thrift shopping in Seattle and watching the fish fly at Pike's Market. We had such fun! What's even more fun was meeting up with our Rimbey, AB parents, Bainbridge parents and seeing our dad's and mom's chat, laugh, discuss, and reminisce fireside is sweeter than any candy and more of a security blanket than any gift could ever be. No, none of us will ever be rich but I can attest that all of us kids felt love, security, kindness and humor.

Those are just a few of the trips, some with friends, some not. I realize that what mom and dad were teaching us was money and presents weren't important. They know that what all kids crave is their parents' time. Certainly it wasn't easy getting a hotel for them and four kids and eating out, but it was time spent with us that we learned how to relax, how to have fun and most of all, appreciate each other. We didn't get ice cream on every street corner, and the souvenirs we coveted, didn't come home with us. I mean really, what are you going to do with 5 mini boxes that fit one piece of candy?! But fun we had. And memories we still talk about.

We're pretty lucky. Incidentally, we're taking trips in the D. Frasch Family instead of 'doing' Christmas. Our first started with Mexico, on our honeymoon. The man actually had to specifically go apply for a passport. But he loved it. And can't wait to go again. We will, but we've other places to explore first. For Christmas we joined my family in Fairmont HotSprings in Butte, MT. This is not the flashiest place, but we've spent many years coming to soak in the pools. Alas, I didn't get many photos because we were either water logged or full in the belly! But the few I did, will trigger memories.

Merry Christmas!

Frost days, but not frosty company!

I have never been aware of the sunshine in winter in my life. I am used to not seeing the sun for 50-60 days at a time, but out here where the sun always shines, I start wondering where on earth it went if it's "out of sight" for more than a day.

We had wonderful company this last week. Dustin P and Heidi H came to see me for lunch and it was JUST what the Dr. ordered. Dustin brought me Huckleberry Jam to get through the winter. He has no idea that this is an actual Cure! And Heidi is hopefully planning a nervous breakdown here soon. Devin L came to stay with us for the night and we had a wonderful, wonderful 24 hours. The Dr. sure was giving out healthy doses of curatives all around. It came just in time for me too. Devin came inside and showed me this photo on his phone, so I had to sneak out and get one myself!

This is what we woke up to the other morning. A 1/2 inch of frost covered everything! It was so humid the temperature dropped towards zero and was that way for 2 days.

You can see the freeway to the left of the trees. It was pretty quiet and traffic moved slow. It seems that weather here shuts people down. I cannot understand it but people do not drive when it starts to look like bad weather. Then again I've never been in a true white-out blizzard either, but for now I humor my husband when he says, "We are staying put tonight!" and I agree although I think he's crazy!

 
And then like magic, the sun came out and the starkness of the snow against the brilliant blue sky encouraged us on again!

To the tune of.....

Wednesday is the day Dustin has the day off. Usually. That's what his schedule says, not always what happens. My husband doesn't know what to do with himself because he hasn't had two days off in a week for over five years. He thinks he's getting 'special privileges' where I argue that that is his 'right!' Right?! Right.

I tell him to never fear how to act, because no matter how much has been done, there will always be a "honey-do" list. And I supply it with frequency and relish. It's not that I can't do it, but past history with a level and myself has proven several times that my picture hanging abilities will never make him happy.

It's okay. Plus, he's very handy when he applies his mind and time and I appreciate it.

But. I'm not really sure how to account for his actions below. I had downloaded some songs to the ipad that he had requested and he took ipad and pencil into his den which is also furnished with a computer and bags and bags of deWalt tools.

He wanders out to find the level.
Wanders out again to find a tape measure.
(tedious isn't it?)
Hollers out wondering if I've got a calculator... What? Why!? You're only finishing up a shelf....
And then Music suddenly comes blaring out of den. I look up through the window and this is the sight I beheld:

I laughed so hard! This is definitely a one time show, free of charge, to the tune of 2Pac. I will never listen to California Dreamin' quite the same way again.

He's a funny guy and makes me laugh because most people don't know this side of him.

On to demoralizing!

Reflections

When I got up today, I noticed the icicles hanging off the eves from the kitchen window. The morning sun was glinting on it and they were so sparkly! I tried to snatch a few photos of it, but even though i could see about a quarter of my nose in it, I couldn't quite catch it. But it made me reflect on life, people rather.

More specifically my family.

Ughhh I miss them. It has been a good long while since I've encountered homesickness. But here I am, wallowing in the grief of it. It's ridiculous. I'm 30 years old for the love of pete and there is no reason why I should be given it's only been 3 months since I saw the lot of them.

But there is something about living with my sisters and fighting with them or joking and getting an a-HA moment at 10pm that it's a good idea to rearrange the pantry. Or having a brother drop in to clean out your refrigerator and around a mouthful of chicken ask if you're going to make him a pie. Just cuz. I miss them a lot. I miss sunday dinners with mom and dad helping get the meal on the table and the afternoons being lazy and picking on my brother as he tries to duck out of three sisters opinions of how to snag a wife for him. We never were popular with our insight. Poor guy. He'll be the stronger for it! I'm just getting back from him always scaring me as kids.

And my mom. You know there is something about having your own mother 3 miles away knowing that you can duck in for a cup of sugar or dive into her hug because still, as yet, apparently at 30 I can't navigate life on my own (even happily married) without my mom. Only a mother can dry tears of doldrums and offer comfort in her hugs and with a cookie. My mother has the best kind of love for her kids. All sympathy until she gets tired of us wallering in our own soup and then it is the toughest kind of love. I feel sorry for the child who hasn't a mother like that. And she is fun. No one can have a good laugh like mom and make her kid feel better.

Or being out and about with my daddy, fixing on something. I miss my father's quirky sense of humor and laughing til my sides ache when he gets in one of his tirades. He has lately become boss of the kitchen and I can't tell you how many times he's told me how proud he is of his messed up venison and potato roast. And "mom even liked it!"

I remember a week that mom went to her uncles funeral when I was about 10. Dad was the cook and I can remember 4 pairs of eyes that were around the kitchen table eying dad as he made none other than a Huckleberry Pie. We were slightly shocked as I didn't remember dad puttering in the kitchen so much. But make a pie he did. Shuffled around, found a recipe, rolled out the dough and all of us had our input of, "but dad, mom does it THIS way....." and so on. He took out a gallon of hucks, poured them in the pie shell, poured more in, and a little more, then took the sugar bag and heaped cups of sugar on the hucks. I informed him that, "mom puts butter on top before the top shell" and he popped it in the oven. I remember it being the BEST pie ever. With lots of ice cream, even more than mom would have allowed.....

With mom being gone a week, we ran out of bread. So he called grandma, got a potato bread recipe and we peeled potatoes like you'd expect to have for convention stew. We mixed the dough up, left for Wednesday night meeting and by the time we returned, the dough had oozed out of the pan, the towel kind of suspended in the air and had started it's decent on the way down the cupboard, floor-wards. We rescued it in time, but neither of us were really prepared for the result of adding too much yeast. We made 3 loaves of bread, and a pan of cinnamon rolls- the carmel-y kind that oozes around, but we didn't know that you must immediately upend the baked rolls and goo onto platter after taking them out of the oven. We didn't and the result was something that would have made JB Weld proud. We pried out the rolls, and were happy as clams about it. I have no idea how many days mom had to soak that pan upon her return!

I even miss the dog. And I'm pretty sure that Little Whiski misses her aunty the most. Because she is soooo cute. And she has the best cuddles.

And the way the air is still. Not a puff of air. It's amazing.

I miss the comfort of trees. And the way the ice moans and pops at night from the lake.

I miss the wood heat of the fireplace. 90 degrees inside and wearing a summer dress while it is 20 below outside.

I miss the comfort of that old lake house which architecturally makes no sense and is designed exactly opposite of 'having a view in mind.' But there is a lot of memories there.

I miss the garden there and the flowers. Talk about a labor of love, but I enjoyed it.

And, I honestly miss the snow. I'm so cold now it's ridiculous to admit, but I miss how it stacks up! In inches and feet.

Okay, that's enough homesickness.

Sew Much!

Disclaimer:
Everything in the following photos IS organized. There is no clutter. Thank you.

Now then.
I'm pretty sure I have a project started in every corner of this room. But no matter. I love this little part of the house. It's so homey and inviting to me, yes with a Red floor and pink walls! It's very different for me, but I'm entertained with it for now. It's actually quite restful.  And often I sit up there with a cuppa in my favorite china cup and saucer that I got from Grandma Lulu many years ago. I miss her. I wish I knew her in my adult life as she was a woman of no nonsense, hardworking and so capable and would have been such a help to me now living out here on the prairies that she came from with Grandpa Erwin. How did she cope?!

I sip on my tea (made to Auntie Hazy's specifications: "warm cup first with hot water, brew PG Tips in the tea pot, pour out warming water, add a healthy dash of milk and then pour brewed tea") and think about a lot of stuff. Mostly if I'm capable of creating. Anything. And how do I do it? And do I have the ability?! And how much I'd like to have my own gift store someday. (ACK! I admitted it.)

I unpacked all of my fabric the other day. Finally... Up until that point, this room looked quite sweet and unruffled. Well that changed. This is every scrap from my stash and Grandma Hazel's stash without regard to the stash of lace, ribbon and zippers. I'd need another shelf dedicated. I miss her too. And each piece of fabric from her - all polyester of course! makes me want to talk to her over a cup of tea while learning how to embroidery again. She did beautiful embroidery. And quilting. And sewing.

So what we have here is the stairs to upstairs. And the painting was given to me by another Mom named Lovie for my 30th birthday. This painting has a cool story. She was taking a painting class and the instructor told the students to pick out a photo from a huge collection. Love found this one, and it happens to be of our family before my youngest sister was born. I love the painting.

And then there is the Yarn Stash. Made out of old barnwood of 1x12's that I found here on the property discarded. I measured twice, cut once and screwed it all together with my husband's awesome DeWalt's. He came in later to look at it and the only thing he said about it was that it wasn't level. (see post about that several days ago) Go figure. I wasn't surprised he'd say that, but how on earth are you supposed to get "level' out of warped?!!? Since he doesn't need to look at it everyday, it stays and I think it's awesome.

This is the Fabric Stash -why does it look smaller in a photo?!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving, and I got a grand total of 3 photos.

I loved this little captured moment though. The men shot trap after a huge feast. And little nephew here decided he needed to color at the table. I set him up and the next thing I know, he has a crayon in one hand coloring away and the salt shaker in the other, giving the 'photo' a good douse of flavor. He decided that coloring was boring and proceeded to 'color' with salt and pepper in each hand. I am so bummed I missed the moment, because grandma took it away from him. But this little face of complete concentration and then being caught, was too adorable to pass up! (minus the bad shadows) :(

So, because I missed thanksgiving photos, I'll share some photos of what I did the other day with my friend Sarah. They just moved into a house which happens to be the old Benjamin Ranch! Pretty awesome place and we had fun taking a brisk walk up beyond the home place.

The Very Creepy Rock was looking like it would topple any moment- it was so ginormous we scooted around it, always being on the uphill side! I love the old glass insulators for the fences and crunching through leaves. The barn is just and old weathered icon of no importance except that it stands the test of time in all manner of weather. It's a picture in itself of endurance.

I liked the blandness and antiqueness of these photos because that's life here. Sometimes it seems you have to search for beauty in the landscape- quite a new thing for me to search for. But you can find it. Sometimes it's in just the way a line of a fence is crawling up a hill. I'd never thought to appreciate that line of beauty, but one looks for all they can out here. Or maybe that's just me! It certainly makes you slow down to search it out.

This view leaves me breathless. Yes for the flatland if you can believe it. The camera really cannot capture how far you can really see. It's incredible. Oh how we would love to be farming that and that it (any farm) be called ours.  :)

Food, Fall, Fab, FUV

When I think of fall, I think of food. Always. Well, I'm always thinking of food, regardless of fall, it's not just because it's the holidays. There are a few things that I really love about fall. Like apples- I have bushels! It's so fun! I've never been able to say that before but apples grow here in E. Montana and the neighbors make good on their hospitality. I also really like squash (really good on hospitality- I currently have 8 on my counter), oranges and a brandied nut bread. The color thing really makes me feel alive though. Red, orange, yellow and various hues of brown. It's so vibrant and interesting that just a month ago, the leaves on the tree were green. Now they're red. It's like a magic trick happened over night.

What isn't awesome of course is that it's getting cold, is windier than normal (they say it's normal- what do they know?! They probably blew in from Minnesota and do not really know they're in Wibaux.) Someday I'll get around to dedicating a post to wind if I learn something about it that is beneficial. I have not learned anything yet, so it's still on pause.

It might be a long pause.

I have been cooking a lot. I have a husband that likes food that runs outside the parameters of hamburger, roast, and steak and I am fortunate that I like to cook. He is fortunate that he'll try anything. Really we're a match made in heaven I think. Still. It's quite amazing!

Is it Straight or Level?

This has been a standing argument since we started hanging pictures on the walls. Himself walks in the house, looks at a wall and secretly sighs. I know he does this because he gets this crooked set to his mouth that means he's not going to say anything, but he's sure going to think it and think it with all his might.

What he's thinking is, "That wife of mine does not know how to hang a picture. And I've told her repeatedly I'd do it." I tell you that I do know how. I locate the photo, locate empty wall space, and locate hammer and nails. This is all done in about 11 seconds. Now to hang the picture. I put the photo in several places that look balanced on the wall. If there are several photos to hang, I might arrange them on the floor first. Then I eyeball it a couple times to figure out the space and dimension. I do not bother with two nails as this is taking up time. I whap the nail in place, slap up the picture, push it left and right so it hangs straight on the nail and I am done. The whole process maybe takes 5-10 minutes.

However. Himself has an entirely different routine that I've yet to understand the first time I asked him to hang a mirror. He locates his Dewalt Impact Wrench with the philips end, the sheetrock screws, finds his tape measure, his carpenter pencil, the level and piece of paper. Then he asks ME where to hang the photo (he's smart btw) and I stand back while I'm giving six instructions of where it goes. Finally he yells enough, asks me again if this is where I want it, then proceeds to measure, mark, locate, level, remark, measure, level, etc.  He does this for even a 5x7 wall hanging. Of which can take up to an hour.

I am a watch-and-do-kind-of-girl- completely visual. So I saw all that he had done hanging a mirror and proceeded to do as he had done with a housewarming gift we received. I measured, subtracted, hung the first screw, saw it was definitely secure, leveled the picture, made a second mark, put in a 2nd screw, and hung the picture. Admittedly it was not the most level thing I've ever seen. Admittedly also, I was quite irritated that it had taken me 3 tries to get it as level as it was (It's not easy to drill through plaster) and I blamed the level considerably because obviously it didn't help me as much as I thought it should. But I was done, especially dangling 3' in the air and I called it good. Homey even. Quite sweet and thanked my thoughtful sister-in-law for such a nice housewarming gift. That evening he walks in the kitchen, looks up at a newly hung picture and gave an endless sigh. I laughed, completely unconcerned and went back to making supper. I did not know my little act of putting things in their place was gouging the part of his level-laid-out-evenly brain at regular intervals. 

For this is what I found this morning: Note the included level.

It's even funnier because at this angle, I see two more screw holes –NOT mine. I was definitely not that off. 

So we agree that he hangs the photos. If I hang them, he will only rehang them. I have no use for a level- they tax my abilities and leave the whole business to him. We're happier this way. The house is content, the occupants at peace. Oh the things you learn in the first year of marriage…..