Rule Breakers

Happy Holidays! 

Well, "Project Clean Up My Big Bunch O' Blog Drafts" went well when it came to reviewing and deleting, obviously not as well when it comes to completing and posting! Most of them turned out to require more time and effort to finish than my hibernating self has cared to expend, but here's one that was nearly done and that I had a lot of fun putting together. Hope it'll provide as many chuckles for you as it has for me! But should any of these tempt you to go forth and be naughty, remember: Santa's watching. :-)

No fair!

"Hell, there are no rules here. 

We're trying to accomplish something."

~Thomas A. Edison

Let's face it. Some rules are good and necessary, but some just seem made to be broken. 

Sometimes subtly...

And sometimes not...

And lest you think it's just dogs who are engaging in acts of civil disobedience...

Photo by Marcia M. Olinger, Caledonia, Michigan

Adding "please" and an emphasis on "not" doesn't always work either...

Then again, sometimes you're just better off complying...

SkyWatch Friday: "Harvest Moonday" Hike, Early Snow

It's been a week of many seasons - Monday and Tuesday were definitely summer, with highs of 90ºF. Most nights and early mornings recently have had the chill of Autumn to them, and Wednesday was a chilly, rainy, Fallish day. Wednesday night and Thursday we were under a Winter Storm Warning and it snowed several inches (14" in our neighboring, higher elevation town of Story and up to 18" in parts of the Big Horns). Though we didn't get nearly that much (about 4" at our house), by early this morning our temp had dropped to 19ºF.

But let's begin with the summery weather and Harvest Moon of Monday, before the flowers, trees and shrubs were dealt such a cruel blow that also likely annihilated our chances for fall foliage.

Monday morning, before it got too hot, we loaded up the dogs and took them walking on a new extension of the wonderful Sheridan Pathways system (on the attached map, it's the red and black path near the bottom right, running between the yellow and purple signal light symbols). This part of the path leaves very busy Brundage Avenue and as it heads toward Sheridan College it takes you into a different world… one of trees and marshes and birdsong and tranquility. And shade - which was our chief objective on such a warm, sunny morning!

Here are BW, Willow and Josie crossing one of two handsome footbridges that cross the marshy stream meandering through this area...

Once over the footbridge (you can just see it in the bottom right of this next photo) and out of the trees and into the meadows, you get to enjoy this beautiful view of the soon-to-be-snowcapped Big Horn Mountains (if you know where to look, you can even see the road that led to our old house on its way over the mountains!)…

Look at that clear blue cloudless sky!

Oops, I spoke too soon. Startin' to cloud up. :-)

And you thought I was joking about it clouding up, didn't you? ;-)

Here's Willow enjoying a rest in the shade back at the trailhead after our walk. Notice her leg draped elegantly over my foot, her way of keeping me from wandering off! :-) …

She was intently watching BW deploy our wonderful PetLoader, which Tess demonstrates...

That night, of course, unveiled the full Harvest Moon, seen here rising over the dry hills to our east...

Rarely satisfied with how my moon closeups turn out, I decided to have some fun and make this one a little funkadelic….

And now for a too-soon taste of things to come, the wintery scene from our patio yesterday…

We covered our front flowerbed Wednesday night, but could do nothing for our large rose bush except pluck this last beautiful, fragrant bloom and bring it inside to enjoy for a while. The bergamot on the right had already broken off when I went out at 5:30am to knock the snow off the trees and shrubs, so I brought it in, too. I think the rose looks sad, and doubt the reassurance that our temps will return to the 80's early next week offers much consolation…

Wishing you a week of lovely skies! 

We'll be spending it in Big Sky Country (Montana) with our dogs and camper! 

Happy Campers!

I am pleased to report that as both a learning experience and a fun outing, our inaugural camping adventure on Thursday with Girasole, our new little T@B trailer, was a success (though not without a bit of unanticipated excitement!) Naturally I had to record it for posterity. :-)

Here's BW putting the finishing touches on setting up our campsite under the watchful - if somewhat baffled - gaze of the girls...

And here BW conducts a final inspection of our portable dog kennel set-up, which met with everyone's enthusiastic approval...

We bought two of these for the kennel, used a few of the interlocking foam mats we'd purchased to go under their beds, and used an old tarp for a shady shelter. And we hauled all of it (plus more of the mats and our folding camp chairs) on top of the Jeep in our new soft cargo bag. BW's package-car loading days at UPS (memorialized on his water bottle, lol) sure came in handy...

The kennel was very handy for keeping the girls both safe and legal (the park has a leash law) while we were busy and overnight, though they were so very well-behaved (as we knew they would be) that they were quite content to just hang out with us, never wandering off or making a sound, even when other people walked by with their dogs. We camped along the Tongue River (I think; I'll explain later!) at Connor Battlefield State Park in Ranchester, about 20 miles north of Sheridan. It's a small campground, and when we arrived at around 2 that afternoon there were only two other campers there. A few more arrived during the night, but it stayed very quiet. Except for the trains! We didn't realize the tracks were just three blocks away, and trains went by all night long, blowing their whistles with gusto. The only thing that drowned them out was the thunder - I know, look at that cloudless blue sky, right? More on the unpredicted midnight storm coming up. Meanwhile, enjoy our peaceful campsite by day, like we did...

We also all enjoyed our walks around the park. Let me take you on a little tour…

This place wasn't always peaceful. This monument marks the site where an Arapaho village of about 500 inhabitants once stood...

At around 8 in the morning of August 29, 1865, in what is now known as the Battle of the Tongue River (or Connor Battle), the non-belligerent village was attacked by Gen. Patrick Connor, commander of the Powder River Expedition, and about 300 of his soldiers. Most of the young Arapaho men were gone, raiding ponies from the Crow along the Big Horn River. The women, children, and mostly elderly men who were left in the village were caught completely off guard by the attack and the indiscriminate firing by the soldiers, and many were killed, wounded, and captured. After the initial attack, the few able warriors in the village managed to put up an effective defense, retreating 12 miles up Wolf Creek while covering the escape of the surviving women and children. Most of the soldiers remained in the village, looting and burning about 250 lodges, while Connor and 30 or so of his soldiers and Pawnee scouts pursued the retreating Arapaho, who counter-attacked. When all was said and done, Connor claimed to have killed 63 Arapaho, including 35 warriors (the latter number one that historians believe was probably exaggerated), with a loss to himself of five dead and two seriously wounded.

The highly observant among you may have noticed that we happened to be camping there on the 149th anniversary of this tragedy, and its victims were very much on my mind. I agree with what this brief article about "The Connor Battle," states in its final sentence: "The tragic events of the past can be felt in this quiet and contemplative setting." And I take issue with calling an unprovoked attack on non-combatants a "battle." It's worth noting that as the Powder River Expedition began, Connor's orders to his officers were, "You will not receive overtures of peace or submission from Indians, but will attack and kill every male Indian over 12 years of age." (Connor's superiors countermanded this order). It's also worth noting that after this, the Arapaho did become enemies of the US Army (understandably!), attacking a wagon train three days later on Sept 1 and joining forces with the Cheyenne and Lakota (Sioux) in their successful attack on Fort Fetterman the following December.

I think the Arapaho may be continuing to exact a small measure of revenge, in that both times we've visited this park we've been attacked by a cloud of mosquitos whenever we stood before this monument. Didn't matter what time of day it was, and we didn't experience it anywhere else in the park!

All that history of violence and tragedy here stands in stark contrast to the playground that now also marks the spot. It was deserted the entire time we were there and so never disrupted the "quiet and contemplative setting"...

The bison appeared to be made for climbing with all its toeholds and handholds,

while the stagecoach was a unique alternative to typical playground equipment.

On the opposite side of the park is this nifty suspension footbridge that crosses the river (or creek?) to a residential area. The dogs were very brave about crossing it a few times, given that it sways and bounces noticeably!  

Despite the bouncing, the bridge provided a great vantage point for taking the next two photos. I have tried to do my homework on this, I really have - but I still don't know if this waterway, which wends its way around three sides of the park, is the Tongue River or Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek is a tributary of the Tongue River and the road that runs along this portion of the river/creek is "Wolf Creek Road." The river/creek is identified on various maps of the town and park as the Tongue River, Wolf Creek, and Five-Mile Creek (where'd that one come from?!) I'm guessing the portion beside our campsite where the water flows more rapidly is the Tongue River, and this more sedate portion opposite is Wolf Creek, but that's the best I can do. It's pretty, whatever it's called, especially with the evening sun shining on it and the Big Horn Mountains in the distance...

The arrow is pointing to our campsite and "outfit," as they call a truck or a tow vehicle + trailer-of-any-kind combination in these parts...

While we relaxed at our campsite that evening, I noticed a white church steeple, nicely illuminated by the evening sun in the distance on the other side of the river, and took this photo of it with my telephoto lens...

Not long after, when we took the girls for another stroll across the suspension bridge to explore the surrounding neighborhoods, we came upon the church, which turned out to have a Mini-Me! lol...

As dusk fell, we went inside and prepared our first meal in Girasole - a complex affair that we slaved over for hours! ;-)~ We've enjoyed various Dr. McDougall soups at home for years and are happy that they, along with his delicious oatmeal, are also perfect for camping (just add hot water)! BW had snagged the chocolate goodies at the health food store the day before, but the beer was a spontaneous purchase. We've been told by several veteran RV campers that some people engage in this activity in order to socialize (so our main goal being to get away from people might prove tricky!), and we'd also heard that the colorful T@Bs are people magnets. Sure enough, we'd barely arrived and were setting up the dog kennel when a man from one of the two other campers in the park strolled over to visit and ask about our T@B, Scotch on the rocks in hand. He was joined later by his wife, who we'd hoped was coming to fetch his talkative ass but no such luck, she was there to join him (with a stinky lit cigarette in her hand, yuck). They were nice people, but a half hour of their uninvited, chatty company right after we'd arrived was a bit much! Anyway, a while after they left I said to BW, "I don't even like Scotch, but damn his drink looked good to me!" And BW said, "I thought so too!" And then together we said, "Let's get beer!!!" :-) Our site had no shade, Mr. and Mrs. Chatty Britches and the other camper having snagged the only two shady spots, and running our A/C really sucked the generator juice, so needing to get more fuel gave BW a great excuse to pick up some Fat Tire ale while he was at it. We enjoyed our simple meal on our new table (having ditched the heavy convertible table/bed platform that came with Girasole, installing bed rails and slats instead along with getting this lightweight folding table), by the light of our sweet new little 3-way LED lantern...

While we were noshing, BW remembered Girasole's stereo and jumped up to turn it on. It happened to be tuned to Sheridan's oldies station and he'd turned it on just as the chorus to Still the One was beginning! "We're still having fun after all these years…" :-) So of course we clinked our beer bottles and sang along! (And you can too, as I've put the video with lyrics at the bottom of this post!) :-)

It's all fun and games till a wicked thunderstorm that no one predicted appears overhead at 1am (a ghostly, meteorological anniversary reenactment of Connor's attack on the Arapaho, perhaps?) BW got up when he heard one of the dogs pawing at the fence (most likely Tess, who is terrified of thunderstorms), and that's when he saw all the lightning in our vicinity. A loud crack of thunder woke ME up, and the race was on. Willow and Josie can't safely or easily jump in or out of our Jeep anymore, so we bought this PetLoader a few weeks ago - best purchase we've made. But we had to get it untethered from the back of the Jeep and deploy it, put a harness on Willow (she still has bouts of vertigo and holding the top of the harness helps steady her as she uses the PetLoader steps), put collars and leashes on Tess and Josie, gather and shake off their beds and put them in the Jeep, and then load the girls - in the dark and the wind (luckily the rain held off), with lightning striking all around us and thunder crashing and banging overhead. Though our girls haven't used the PetLoader very often - and never under such challenging circumstances - they were real champs! Loaded right up and spent the rest of the night sleeping contentedly in the back of the Jeep. We rolled the windows down so they could catch the nice breeze, and although it rained most of the rest of the night we were all lucky that the inside of the Jeep stayed dry. I checked on them at 4 in the morning and wish I had a photo of our little angels snoring peacefully away, all lying with their butts touching in the middle of the Jeep with their bodies fanned out like flower petals. :-)

The next morning we had a muddy mess to contend with, but that's all part of the camping experience. It was chilly and overcast but the rain didn't resume, and as you can see in the reflection of Girasole's front window we even had a few tatters of blue sky flirt with us before it finally cleared up late that morning. I took photos of the pretty, chameleon-like sky and will share them as part of this week's SkyWatch post. Meanwhile, here is BW sipping his hot tea and being entertained by Willow's vain attempts to convince Tess it would be fun to mud-wrestle...

I'm pretty sure that packing up, getting there, unpacking and setting up camp, then tearing it down, repacking, driving home and cleaning everything up took longer than our actual camping did! :-) But it was a great experience and we are really looking forward to our next one, a much longer trek to northern Montana, a little later this month. We'll see if Girasole is "Still the One" and if "we're still having fun" after that adventure! :-)

SkyWatch Friday: Ringside at Sunrise (+ bonus goodies)

As if the splendid "Super Moon" rising in the evening skies wasn't enough to take our breath away this week, our morning skies on Wednesday and Thursday seemed to be putting all they had into a Sunrise heavyweight title match to which we had ringside seats! Choose the winner (if you can!)

Ladies aaaaannnnd Gentlemen! In the east corner, in the orange, gold, pink, and purple trunks, Wednesday's "Tornado Cloud" sunrise...

And also in the east corner (awkward!), wearing… well, pretty much the same colored trunks but with more fluffy bits, Thursday's "Golden Glow" sunrise…

Let's get ready to ruuuuuuuuummmmmble!!!

And now for anyone who's interested, here are some bonus, non-sky pics. I have not forgotten my promise to share photos from Sheridan's (relatively) recent annual Garden Tour, but since it's looking like a multi-post dealio, I wanted to first clear out some of these poor little stragglers that I never seem to get around to posting!

During our hot summer weather, our front porch is the place to be in the early mornings and evenings. When we were clearing out and organizing our garage recently (to make more room, for reasons that will become apparent at the end of this post), we found our pretty iridescent glass-winged dragonfly candle holder - a gift several years ago from my friend Jo. In the melee of moving 3x in a year, it had wound up stashed away rather than hung up and enjoyed! So we immediately remedied that - finding the perfect spot for it was easy!

Yup, easy as 1-2-3! :-)

Now his little doorbell brother has someone to talk to! :-)

Speaking of insects, here's a threefer, though it's a sad ending for two of them. Sitting on our back patio (the place to be in the hot afternoons), we watched this robin chase several grasshoppers along our back fence. We didn't think she'd manage to catch one, but she did! She then - with her mouth full, the feathered glutton - continued to chase the surviving grasshoppers around. This time we knew she'd never be able to catch a second one, not with her mouth still full of her first hapless victim - but again, she did! Beats us how, despite watching it happen. Aware she had an audience, she perched on our fence, turning her head to the left, the right, and straight at us repeatedly so we'd have ample opportunity to admire her grasshopper-catching skills. She did this for so long that I eventually fetched my camera, attached the telephoto lens, and took several photos of her before she flew off to those trees in the background - where she no doubt has a nest full of late-summer babies to admire her grasshopper-catching skills far more than we, her vegan audience, ever could. :-) 

Only when I downloaded this photo did I see that I'd inadvertently also captured a winged critter in flight…

And while we're on the subject of critters, here's a recent photo of a content and contemplative Tessa, watching the passers by from the shade of the front porch...

And now to our final critter, BW - who retired two weeks ago today and has finally learned to love it (haha!), posing beside our new T@B teardrop trailer!

It's a 2014 S floorplan w/wet bath "M@xx" model. Despite being teeny-tiny (it'll fit in our garage, yay) and so lightweight you can tow it with some cars (like the Subaru Outback) and even maneuver it around by those two handles you see, it manages to squeeze in a U-shaped sofa/dinette which converts to a queen bed, a wee kitchen (2-burner stove, bitsy sink, little fridge), a "wet bath" shower with commode and hamster-sized sink, a furnace, air conditioner, stereo system, and television with DVD player! All the comforts of home. Well, not really, but it's not really camping if you haul all the comforts of home with you! 

We got the T@B - which, in a nod to my Tuscan heritage as well as its cheery trim color we have named "Girasole," Italian for sunflower (gira sole meaning "turns to the sun") - so we can take our dogs with us when we go places. They are all canine senior citizens now, but still love going on adventures! 

Though we signed the purchase agreement on Girasole a couple weeks ago, we won't be picking it up at the Montana dealership till Monday because we took our 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee ("Otis") in for repairs and upgrades. He's got over 206K miles on him, bless his little 8-cylinder heart, and we needed him to be as safe and dependable a tow vehicle as possible before asking this additional duty of him. We spent the time he was in the shop, well, shopping! Getting such a late start on camping season does have one advantage - we're getting a lot of stuff on sale (including the T@B itself!), which is especially helpful since we have almost no camping gear (sleeping bags and a camp stove are about it), and have never had a travel trailer/RV of any type before. So we needed accessories - boring stuff like hoses and tire chocks, and fun stuff like a (backordered till October, sadly) matching yellow & grey T@B tent that attaches to the trailer's side (where the dogs will sleep and where we can stash some gear), some portable dog fencing, fun party lights (a necessity, you ask me!), and a pair of these reclining camping chairs. Which I blinged up for this photo with the sunflower from the bouquet from BW's retirement breakfast, plopped ever so appropriately in an empty Girasole wine bottle! :-)

AdventureJo's Sheridan Adventure :-)

At long last, we're enjoying some lovely Autumn weather all week before we get belted with more cold and snow on Monday, but at least the cozy days will be more conducive to working on my annual Quilt Show posts! 

Talk of weather, quilt shows and quilts is a perfect introduction to a few of the highlights of Joanne's fun 5-day visit from Michigan a couple of weeks ago. I met Jo (whom some of you know as "AdventureJo" in the comments) in AFROTC at the University of New Hampshire our junior year, so we've known each other for *gulp* 31 years. Not possible! But I have proof of how young we once were...

Me helping pin on Jo's new 2nd Lieutenant bars on May 19, 1984 ~ 

the day we were commissioned and graduated. (Yo Jo, who's the guy?)

I wasn't even wearing my own rank yet, but eventually got it after 

my pitiful parents finally quit arguing over where on the epaulet it should go! 

Dad: "I've been a Marine for 34 years, I think I know where the rank goes!"

Mom: "And I've been sewing for 30 years, I think I know what an inch looks like!"

Jo ~ an award-winning and prolific quilter, member of multiple quilt guilds, teacher of quilting workshops, and aspiring future quilt show judge ~ always enjoys my posts of our library's annual quilt show. So this year she timed her visit to coincide with it so she could see it in person, and those photos will be my next posts. But that doesn't mean this post won't have a quilt or two in it! In fact, let's start with the generous housewarming gift Joanne made and gave to us when she arrived, a lovely wall-hanging from a pattern by my favorite quilt artist and designer, McKenna Ryan (hey, just because I can't quilt a stitch doesn't mean I can't have a favorite quilt designer!) :-) This block is from McKenna's "Faith Hope Love" quilt pattern...

We love the colors Jo chose, no easy task for someone who only had photos of our new house on this blog to go by! We found a few perfect spots for it, eventually choosing a great spot in our upstairs hallway where it's out of the sunlight but is enjoyed every time anyone goes upstairs. (Jo also brought me my birthday gift which she'd created and which deserves a post of its own once I've got it framed and displayed! It's SO PRETTY!)

Though we'd hoped for more nice days than cozy ones since Jo and I both love to go for long walks and had lots of exploring planned, we ended up with some truly abominable weather. So while that was great for all the cooking, baking and Netflix-watching we enjoyed, we had to squeeze in some bundled-up outings between the rain, snow and wind. We went to the quilt show on Jo's first full day here, and afterward walked over to Dragonfly Cottage (whose neighborhood has changed mightily since we lived there, with a house now crammed onto every tiny lot!) and Whitney Commons, across from the library, where Jo posed with Mr. Whitney himself and some fellow book-lovers...

Jo looks delighted because she'd discovered the bronze book her little buddy is holding actually contained some "writing" in it. (The pages were a bitch to turn, though!) ;-)

Fortunately, our nicest day fell on Saturday when BW could join us on some sightseeing around town, an exploration of Sheridan's beautiful and historic cemetery, and a nice long walk to downtown Sheridan with the girls, photographed here by their Auntie Jo during a pit stop in Kendrick Park...

L-R: Josie, Willow, and Tessa. 
Josie and Tess asked me to assure you that they are fluffy rather than fat, 
plus the camera adds ten pounds. Which is 70 pounds in dog weight. :-)

Though most of Sunday was cold and windy with another winter storm moving in, the day began with crisply cold sunshine, so Jo and I took the girls for an early long walk through a lovely neighborhood. Fortunately, Jo had brought her camera and so was able to capture this handsome mule deer buck's photo when I noticed him watching us from a front yard...

I love that she captured his pluming breath in the frosty air!

Not only did our new friend pose this way very patiently for several photos, he followed us when we turned down an adjacent cul-de-sac, bounding ahead and posing for Jo again, this time with the scenic backdrop of the Big Horns behind him (but the lighting was much better in this photo)! This guy's got star quality and needs an agent! :-)

Despite our recent snows, sub-freezing temps, and no sprinkler action since Labor Day, our grass continues to grow and was in need of mowing. At home, Jo works out every day and so had requested a chance to take our reel mower for a spin for the workout it provides. I'd be a terrible hostess if I'd robbed her of the joy, don't you think? :-) So after we got home from our walk, she mowed while I did the edging and photography. She did a great job, but I must say after BW and my summer of very sweaty mowing, it looked odd to see her doing it bundled up in winter coat and gloves! (See those clouds hovering low against the mountains? That was our next wintery storm moving in!)

When the weather drove us indoors and we weren't busy catching up, watching several movies and the first few episodes of Breaking Bad (got Jo hooked on both it and Pinterest during her stay, so we may have seen the last of her online for a while, LOL), we were cooking, baking, and eating. Jo treated us to lunch at the Good Earth Food Co-op's deli in Billings the day we picked her up at the airport, me to a lunch of delicious vegan burritos at Oliva's after the quilt show, and BW and me to a dinner of vegan fajitas at our other favorite restaurant in town, Las Delicias. Yum! But the rest of the time we cooked. Boy did we cook! And bake, because Jo and BW both have major sweet teeth! :-)

Before she came, I'd made Confetti Muffins, Hearty Spiced Cocoa Muffins, and Banana Date Walnut Muffins (they all freeze splendidly), which we snarfed on a daily basis. BW had made chocolate sorbetto, and whipped up a batch of Chunky Apple Oatmeal Pancakes on Saturday morning. Jo and I also made a batch of Pecan Leprechaun Shillelaghs (so what if it's October?) and Chocolate Pudding Cake, and I made a batch of Banana Chia Pudding.

When we weren't eating sweets (like, when we were sleeping, lol) we snacked on fresh fruit, homemade kale chips (torn kale leaves spritzed with tamari, sprinkled with garlic powder, a bit of cayenne, and a liberal amount of nutritional yeast and dehydrated at 160ºF for a few hours till crispy), two kinds of pumpkin hummus, and Smoky-Cheezy Walnut Spread. For our main meals we enjoyed Tempeh Salad sandwiches, Cadry's Lemony Baked Tofu with Rosemary (always a huge hit!), steamed kale with walnut dressing, basmati rice and Roasted Delicata Squash with Rosemary "fries" (subbing No-Oil Oil for olive oil), "Weenies and Gravy" with BW's homemade boule, super-deluxe tossed salads, and even an early Thanksgiving dinner - the only meal any of us photographed! Good thing Jo thought to grab her camera or I wouldn't even have it to share...

Quinoa & Red Lentil Cutlets, butternut squash, smashed organic red potatoes with 

Road's End Organics Shiitake Mushroom gravy, organic peas, BW's basic boule, Girasole's Sangiovese wine for me and Rogue Ales Mocha Porter for BW and Joanne.

Though it goes without saying that we never went hungry, we all wished we'd had time to make even more dishes for her to try. So much yummy vegan food, so little time! (At least we sent Jo home with lots of recipes!)

And last but not least... I know I've yet to share any upstairs photos of our new house (now just over a year old), where the bedrooms are located. One reason is that Jo had said she wanted to see it in person before seeing photos of it, so now that she's gotten to do that here's a photo of the guest room...

I took some photos of the guest bathroom too, but wasn't satisfied with them so will make another attempt next time I think of it. 

The quilt on the bed (LL Bean's "Timeless Floral Quilt") provides a great segue to the first of this year's quilt show posts, coming up next and hopefully soon(ish!) Thanks so much again for making the trip out here to see us, Jo!