Posts by Liz

Birthday weekend

Today is my birthday and I’m thrilled that I got to have another one! And I’m grateful that I am living in my little house in the woods by the mountains and especially grateful that Karl and Bob are in good health and with me as I begin my 55th year on Earth.

Some years I have birthday week, some years birthday month. Neither my waistline, nor my budget could stand more than birthday weekend this year. Yesterday started with a ham and cheese croissant and cappuccino (they claim made the authentically Italian way!) at Colter Coffee in Kalispell. It is my favorite coffee house in an old Kalispell building with brick walls, tall wooden tables, massive front windows looking out to the street as well as excellent coffee and pastries. Yesterday morning it was pretty quiet at 7:45 a.m. – just a few other morning people and the two baristas – perfect!

Afterwards, the supply gathering was completed and one of my finds was a cherry pitter – YEA! The plan for birthday dinner is pan seared scallops with cherry sauce. I was getting tired of pitting cherries with a knife. The pitting tool is wonderful, so wonderful that I will run into Bigfork mid-morning and see if I can get more cherries.

I’ve had a bit of the birthday cookie with my morning coffee… It is a giant molasses cookie from Colter’s that I doctored with fresh whipped cream laced with hazlenut syrup, cinnamon and cloves… not sure that the birthday cookie is going to last the day..

My birthday present arrives tomorrow – a new pair of Wellies for tromping around wet woods. They are a bit untraditional – photos to follow.

Birthday weekend has been wonderful so far and I expect it to continue that way. Hope all who visit here are having a wonderful weekend as well.

Views from the dump

I like to do my supply gathering and errand running mid-week, even if it means working a bit evenings or on the weekend to make up for it. But the San Francisco trip resulted in a large project with tight deadlines and it has been head down and work, work, work during the week. And then the weed control, septic fixing, house painting…yikes! It has been somewhat busier than House de Summers is used to!

We never, never, never skip walks or stomach rubs…but the supply gathering and errand running and hair appointments have slipped to the week end (say that as the Brits do – emphasis on “end”…).

The drama continues this week and I find that yet again, I am doing the aforementioned supply gathering, etc. on a Saturday.

But, mitigating the “pain” of being in the weekend “crowds” was today’s scenery. Along the route, this morning on the Somers cutoff (Rt. 82), were these views from that dump site*:

The green box dump site on the Somers cutoff affords a view across the fields of Flathead Lake from the northern tip to the southern, where sits Polson, MT.

This morning as we have our mid-August Fall preview, the clouds and light were spectacular.

Views from the dump…I love them!

*There are 2 green box/dump sites that I have spots I love to take photos from. My favorites from the other site:

A little color

Display Misty for me

T.G.I.F.

“I have done the work of TEN men!” says Bob.

It has been a tough week dodging pressure washers and paint sprayers.

T.G.I.F.!!!

Mountain Views

The neighbors have gone home and we are back on our mountain loop walk…

After morning rain showers, the afternoon and evening cleared – SO clear!

Beautiful green, green, green, high in the back country.

We sat and looked and smelled and felt…the clean, crisp, western mountain air.

Looking worse on the way to better

Kalispell, Montana, Flathead Valley Painter, Andrew Rech of A&B Painting, started on my house yesterday. It is a happy day all around except for maybe Bob who didn’t think the pressure washing was his cup of tea.

Day one was washing, masking, sanding and priming.

When Andrew left, he told me there were just a few little things that he needed to do before he would start spraying the main color today. I’m sticking with light gray on the house, but changing the trim to a dark gray. And then…..and then! – maybe some shrubs or plants or something around the base of the house. I’ve put that off saying I didn’t want to be painting around shrubs and plants. I’ve wanted to paint the house since I bought it almost 3 years ago…

Thanks, Andrew! Although the house looks worse right now, it is on its way to looking much better.