Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

Lily of the Valley: Continuity

Happy Happy Birthday to my Mama this day!

And it is a bit fitting that this day, there is a strong breeze from the southwest.

A breeze that is bringing the scent of Lily of the Valley into the house.

Fitting because my Mama’s Mama had a Lily of the Valley patch on the path to her back door – the door we used. The scent of Lily of the Valley takes me back to that house, to that path and to my Grandma Ruthie…my Mama’s Mama.

Grandma Ruthie’s birthday is also in May: May 5. I thought of her that day when the Lily of the Valley were just sticking up their heads.

But, today…on my Mama’s birthday, they are in full bloom and full scent.

Continuity.

Lily of the Valley.

The good, the bad, the ugly, the cute and the “not today”!

We’ve been having our typical mid to late May pseudo Summer.

Bear and I walked on the road which is a continuation of the Road Home – across the highway.

70 something, breezy, beautiful…

To the northwest, Big Mountain ski runs.

To the West-Southwest, Blacktail mountain ski runs.

We have been walking away from home, because of the bad and ugly…

Not to worry, this particular bad and ugly is trapped between the window and the screen. But it is bad because it WAS in the house.

Just 1 of 5 trapping venues in the yard.

The traps are getting about 100 yellow jackets each day. It is a bit horrifying.

Before today, except for the 2 early emergents in April, I have not had any in the house. But today: 5!

I’ve been keeping Auggie in except for early morning and early evening and a midafternoon time when things seem quiet. He’s doing fairly well with the plan but is not 100% happy.

We might run away from home!

Bear, Auggie and I went out briefly about 3:00. There seemed to be a lull in activity. The photo above is Auggie mid dirt bath. That’s the cute!

This is the “not today”. I succumbed. I’m not sure it was a good idea, but it is here. I have no intention of running it around the yard, though – not with the buzzy-flying-stinging things out there also!

No, not today!

Sunday catch up

Sunday morning sunshine on the front porch…

Waning gibbous hanging over the yard…

Auggie being Auggie!!

At least he can get down by himself now.

What??

The live mint being LIVE. The thing is growing and looking for light and smelling wonderful and it is just a joy to see in the window. I crush a few leaves in my mid-morning tea and have a recipe for a mint pea spread that I will make soon. It seems to be sending new shoots so hopefully, I can harvest and grow and etc.

The Bear boy.

See that pink (shaved) belly ? All is well, but we had 2 vet appointments this week which is why the dearth of blog posts…and you, know the work to pay the bills thing also.

On Wednesday – which was also the 3 year anniversary of the day Bear came to me – we went for some vaccinations and I had some questions about some things I’d noticed recently. We ended up doing a Senior Package: full blood work, other fluid/solid testing, EKG even. The clinic has a new package which makes it reasonable to do EVERYTHING. Bottom line there were 2 blood thingies that were 10X normal and kind of sort of explained what I’d noticed.

We went back on Friday for an Ultrasound which turned up a fairly benign condition, treatable with medication and Bear was noticeably better within 24 hours. We are on the med for 3 weeks and then a blood recheck. Dr. Clark AND 2 vet techs including dear friend Janine – allowed me to be there for the ultrasound. It was good to be with Bear who had to be on his back in a cradle contraption, held by the techs and me…have his belly shaved, the cold gel and then 1/2 hour of the ultrasound gadget going to and fro. He did wonderfully. It was nice that I could be there as Dr. Clark was highlighting things, notating, telling us what he was seeing…to me an ultrasound just looks like the ocean…as in “IN” the ocean. Anyway, it was a relief that it seems minor and also that Bear is feeling better so soon.

And at least his stomach is cool. He is doing the major shedding routine that northern breed dogs do this time of year. That coat that is good to -25 is thinning out for the summer.

How Montana does Spring

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were warm, warmer, almost hot…relatively…with blue, blue sky and sunshine.

We were all out as much as possible.

Because, it wasn’t forecast to stay that way.

And it didn’t.

Today, Saturday, started at 49F and cloudy.

It has been showery off and on

And at 3:30 p.m. it is 48F.

On Friday, while it was still sunny, my yellow jacket traps caught another queen.

And on another pest issue…

Auggie on the roof of the generator “house”. This is good news because the generator house is the launching spot for the yearly crazy robin that attacks my living room window. And yes, I’ve pulled the blinds, left them open, hung streamers, etc. etc.

But this year, Auggie is on “robin duty”!

***another goofy video…from Wednesday. The background “machine groaning” sounds are the neighbor’s backhoe. “We” and I use that “we” VERY loosely at this point…have a plan to clean up downfall, cut some trees and split firewood.

Farmer’s Market: opening day and an Easter Sunday video

It was a stellar start to Kalispell Farmer’s Market.

It didn’t snow.

It didn’t rain.

The sun was shining!

Yes, it started cool, but there was NO precipitation and the SUN WAS SHINING!!!

Bear and I were about 15 minutes late for the absolute start, but still.

What a grand day.

The loot: Eggs and cheese curds from Flathead Cheese, an arnica salve from Montana Folk Remedies, Chocolates from JC Chocolates, Spring Greens, tomatoes and Persian cucumbers from MountainView Gardens (hydroponic) and woven placemats from Martha’s Weaving.

The eggs are beautifully colored by nature for Easter!

We came home…

…and enjoyed the continued sunshine.

The closet door was hung!

Farmer’s Market: opening day.

Today, Easter Sunday, I took the below video. It is marginal but I included as it gives an idea of our walks. I need to figure out what I’m doing wrong with the video outside or if it is just the woods that confuses the camera or ???

Don’t try to watch it full screen – it is best in the small window.

***House maintenance notes for ME: Changed water filter (uneventfully!) and cleared washer discharge (1 lb. lye with hot water before and much after)