Touring

This was the week I was going to take you with me on a tour of the grounds.

 We would have started on the west side.

 In anticipation of the tour I took a few quick pictures.

 Of the things that were blooming.

 The yarrow.

 The red wood dogwood.

 The clematis.

 The daylilies, which were just budding.  But before they could bloom, or I got around to posting about them, I came home to this.

And the west side of the house took the brunt of the storm.

 And then the next day it hailed again.

And hail is not kind to plants.  So if you don't mind we will start the tour tomorrow- on the south side.

Chamber of Secrets

It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Today I chose to put another coat of paint on the emerald dresser.  And take a walk with the dog.   And finish book 2.
And I would like to choose a house elf.  Just saying.

Well Begun is Half Done

Popped open the can of Emerald Cut paint this evening, and if the practically perfect, ever practical, and wondrously magical Mary Poppins is to be believed, I am half way to crossing number 8 off the non-resolution list.
Is "My dresser needs a second coat" an acceptable reason to call in sick?

It's a Mountain, Get Over It

Today's post is not about the mountain.  It is an announcement that I have started rereading the Harry Potter books, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  About which I would like to say a few words, and here they are: 

Nitwit.  Blubber.  Oddment.  Tweak.

Plus I have added #53 to the list:  Make a treacle tart.

The End of a Long Day on the Mountain

By the time we got to Shell Falls,

we were mere shadows of ourselves.

Take a Picture

The STP and I went over the mountain.

To see what we could see...

And all that we could see...

And all that we could see...

Was the other side of the mountain.

 The other side of the mountain...

 

Was all that we could see.

So we took a few pictures along the way.

And I share these that didn't fit into the wildflower or animal posts. 

( The funny thing to us is that along the way there are a few signs that say "Scenic View--1000 ft."  None of these pics were taken at designated "scenic view" sites. )  

Last month, on my way to see the gynecologist in the big town, I drove past wild horses and antelopes and mountains with awesome expanses of clouds, sunshine and shadows in between.  I passed a car with a camera being held out the passenger side window.  And it occurred to me that after five years of trips to the big town, I no longer take pictures out the window along the way.  Maybe because I already have already photographed the whole trip.  Maybe because I know, that no matter how hard I try, I can't capture the awesome landscape with my point and shoot.   More likely, because I take the amazing scenic views for granted.  So I'm thankful today for a reminder to slow down, stop occasionally, look around, and take a picture.

You know what this picture means, don't you?  Sibley Lake is open.  Time to get the kayaks out.

Incidental Animal Sightings

 While in search of wildflowers, we couldn't help but notice this moose: 

Oh, you drove right by and missed it?  Let me zoom for you.

Still can't make out the moose for the trees?  A little closer then.

Oh, we're so close now it lifted its' head.  It looks like a young one, doesn't it?

Here, let me take a pic for you through the binoculars.  What?

Okay, here is another one.  Closer to the road. 

 See?  It's hard to miss a moose.

Deer, on the other hand, will hide behind guardrails so you may overlook them if you are concentrating on seeing flowers.  

If the 'over the car roof' shot doesn't work, you might have to use the 'close to the ground' maneuver we practiced with the wildflowers.

And then do a little cropping.

Not bad, especially since I was just here to see the flowers.

Catch or Duck

 I picked up a little something for you this weekend.

Here you go!

Productive Weekend

41.  Finish the north rock bed.

This has been on the list since last summer, and completes the beds around the house.  (Five short years after I started.) 

**With thanks to the STP, the Goob, and my friend the Game Warden who all recognize a good rock when they see one.

The SLD and Why I Love Her

 We invited the Goob to go with the STP and me on our trip to the mountain, but he has no enthusiasm to go anywhere with us.  Especially if it involves the outdoors.  Or moving.

 On the other hand, we had the dog at the word "Go".

She loves the outdoors.  Especially if it involves running.  Through snow or mud.  Or both.

She loves smelling things.  Like imaginary underground rodents.  

And she loves protecting us from things (like moose and crows) with her vicious bark.

When she is outside, she has the attention span of a hyper little dog. (Squirrel.)  She listens to the STP, and is deaf to the sound of my voice.  When she gets in the car, she prances her muddy feet across my seat.  Occasionally she does that stealthy dog kiss thing that I hate.  I hope she lives long enough to move out of my house with the Goob.

But the thing I love about her is her ability to be in the right place, at the right time, looking in the right direction when the shutter snaps. 

Good dog.

Wild About the Mountain

Tiny wildflowers bloom in very hostile places on the mountain.

Some are so tiny that you almost can't see them.

Unless you are looking for them.  

And you use your macro setting.

And get close to the ground.

 Some are slightly less exotic than others.

And some are more exquisite.

And, like most things, if you take enough pictures of them, you are bound to get a few good ones.

Touched today by the beauty of the creation and the vast creativity of the Creator.

A Memorable Day

6:30am  Get up to go for a little walk/run.  (First day of my summer 10,000 steps program.)  Raining.   Return to bed.
7:30am   Get up.  Blue skies.  Assess weather forecast.  AM showers.  Clearing.  Partly cloudy.  Pleasant temperatures rest of day.  Put the flag out.
Get ready for PICNIC ON THE PATIO (#29)  Send STP for ice for assorted cans of pop in washtub.  Gather plates, straws.  Wrap assorted red and blue cloth napkins around plasticware (one knife, one fork, one spoon)-tie with assorted coordinated red, white and blue ribbons--place on newly spray painted silver tray.    Remind Goob to pick up dog dirt.  Count invited guests and chairs.  Try on tablecloths.  Make fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips and form hamburger patties.  Discover mold on GF hamburger buns bought yesterday.  Send STP back to store to exchange rolls and pick up one more  pack of hot dog buns.  (Sad truth--no mold free GF buns in town :( )
11:00am  Relax
11:30am  STP starts charcoal.
11:40am  Coals look good. Skies look clear.  Winds calm.  Pop cold. Tablecloths on. Think I should get the camera and take a picture of my silverware tray.  Get distracted.
11:50  Phone rings.  Party guest will be late because she has to move her dad to tornado shelter.
11:51  Walk to other side of house and survey sky to west.  Ominous black clouds.  REALLY?!?
11:53  Take flag back in.  Remove tablecloths.  Fold up chairs that will fold and drag others and stack on deck.  Drag everything back in house.  Put it everywhere there is a flat space.  Pray it blows over.
11:55  Consult weather channel forecast again.  Storm to the south west of us.  Moving north east. 50 mph winds.  Rain.  Hail.
12:00pm  Party guests arrive.
12:05  STP grills burgers/hotdogs.
12:10  Storm arrives.  Wind.  Pouring rain.  Hail.
12:20  Burgers are done.  Hot dogs are black.  Guests find plates on top of freezer in entryway by crumpled up tablecloths and bags of buns.  Guests find meat on kitchen counter.  Condiments on stovetop.  Guests can not find silverware.  Guests clear spots at tables inside and eat with fingers.
12:30  Remove potato salad from fridge.  Pass around silverware.  Have tiny nervous breakdown.
12:40  Make myself a plate.  Get cheese from the fridge.  And some lettuce.  Put it out on counter like it has been there all along.
12:45  Sit and enjoy food, conversation, freedom.
1:15pm  Storm has passed.  Blue skies.  Serve homemade strawberry ice cream brought by late arriving guest.
1:30pm  Move outside to patio.  Have another can of pop.  Play a game or two of corn hole.  Sit long, talk much, laugh often.
5:00pm  Guests leave.
5:15pm  Help the STP clean up.
Note: No tornados. One pack of hot dog buns left over. 
Pretty much the way I planned it.

29

Half a Pound--Off the Top

Welcome to make-over week.
(My reward to myself for reaching a weight goal.)
Been awhile (like forever) since my hair was this long.





And awhile since it was this short.

Also treated myself to the welcome-to-summer chili cheese coney dog at A&W.

Which I'm pretty sure puts me back over the weight in question.  And  cancels out any weight I lost as a result of the haircut.  This diet plan is complicated.  But you can't undo a haircut, so I get to keep it. 

Not to self:  Celebrate next goal with new clothes instead of food.  

Sinking

It did not escape my attention that while everyone else was blogging and posting about Mother's Day, I was posting about toilet paper and gyne appts.  In fact, I had a wonderful Mother's Day that included breakfast in bed, gifts, cards and phone calls from each and every one of my children.  So pleased with each of my kiddos and where they are at right now.  So pleased to be their mom.  So thankful that, in spite of my mothering, because of God's grace they are surviving.

Love you, Goob, Princess (formerly from Slovakia), Queen of Queens, and Princess Amidala

One More Down

15.  Visit the gynecologist.
Unlike a trip to the dentist, there are not a lot details that I can share about my trip to the gynecologist this morning.  Except to say that this may be my favorite gynecologist ever, I am weathering the female aging process fairly well,  I am one polyp lighter than I was at the start of the day,  and number 15 is off the list of 2013 non-resolutions.  Really, I am just posting this to serve as a reminder that the whole process was not as  painful as I had anticipated and I should not put it off again for another 5 years.

Little Reveal

For at least 10 years I have not had a toilet paper holder in my bathroom. (Because...well, just because.) That fact alone makes this newest addition to the downstairs bathroom blogworthy.

So here it is.  Simple.  Elegant.  Easy to use.  

 

The perfect display piece for my mad toilet paper origami skills.

You're welcome.

Run, Mom, Run

Today I was a participant in the Montana Women's Run.  Along with 10,000 other women. It is clearly a race designed to be run by women with women.  The problem I had is that the women who encouraged me to sign up and convinced me I could do the five mile version instead of the 2 mile version had to back out at the last minute.  So there I was, all alone in a crowd of 10,000 women on the streets of the big city. But not to fear-I had a plan. The STP and the Goob accompanied me to Montana to cheer me on and help me carry out the plan.  I carbo loaded on cheddar bay biscuits at Red Lobster on Friday evening.  (The STP and the Goob liked this part of the plan.) I  ate the gluten free STP's share as well as my own. (I was taking myself pretty seriously at this point.)
I have never wogged 5 miles at one time.  Ever.  So my plan was to 'run' for 15 minutes and walk for three and repeat as often as I needed to until I got to the finish line.  This worked pretty well until I mistook a water station for the mile 4 marker.  At which point I thought I could jog right on till the end.  Thus it was a major mental roadblock when I encountered the real 4 mile marker right around the time I hoped to see the finish line.  So I had to change the plan.  (Thank you once again, Kelsey, for teaching me the value of flexible plans.)  And walk another minute and self-talk myself into finishing.  Which I did.  In just a few minutes more than an hour after I started.  A time I am just a little proud of.
The STP took pictures.  One of me at the finish line before I started.  In case I didn't make it back there.  Only he zoomed in and cut out the words 'FINISH LINE' so it is just a picture of me standing in the middle of the big city street.  He took a picture at the start.  I am not in it.  He walked to a midway point, and waited to cheer me on and take an action shot, but somehow we missed each other.  It could be because 9,992 of us were dressed exactly alike.  Or because I was faster than he imagined possible.  Yeah, let's go with that.  He took another picture of me approaching the finish line.  Only his camera wasn't ready, and he got the shot when I was right beside him and it is mostly of my chin. Which I managed to stop him from posting to facebook just in time.  I did not carry my camera, so there are no pictures of how awesome it was to be in the middle of a crowd of thousands of runners,  stretched out for blocks.  And no pictures of beautiful children handing me cups of water and telling me I was doing great.  No pictures of policemen and bomb sniffing dogs keeping me safe.  No pictures of the Goob and the STP in the crowd right where they could cheer me on as I crossed the finish line. And no pictures of the buckets of pink carnations that they were handing out to everyone who finished.  I did get this one picture of me and my pretend daughters.  

Because part of my self-talk at mile 4.1 was that maybe my girls all flew out to Montana to surprise me for Mother's Day and were waiting for me at the finish line.  And wouldn't it be a shame if I didn't get there.  Since this was clearly the deluded thinking of a slightly oxygen deprived chubby woman overdosed on fat biscuits, I just asked these two beautiful young women to stand in as my daughters.  I love my girls.  Even the ones who couldn't be there today.  (And next time we are together, forget the aprons, let's all wear tutus.)
So here is what I learned today.  I CAN cover 5 miles at one time.  So if the STP and I are 5 miles from civilization (and cell phone service) and he falls and breaks his leg, I can run for help.  However, it may take me several days to recover and given my sense of direction I may not be able to get back to him.
Nonetheless, I am totally adding the Montana Women's Run to my list of things I wanted to do this year and crossing it off.

Running Tally

32.  Run a 5K
You know by now that 'run' is loosely used when it relates to my athletic ability.  Nonetheless, I 'ran' the BBBS 5k on Saturday morning.  Finished, didn't walk, under 36 min.  Raised over 100 dollars for Big Brothers/ Big Sisters thanks to the generosity and support of my little brother and  little sisters.  Next Saturday I have plans to walk/run 5 miles in the Montana Women's Run along with 7700 of my best friends.  And I am contemplating one more race the beginning of June.  For someone who doesn't run, I am doing a lot of it this month. 
If you are keeping track, that is 11 things off my non-resolution list of 2013.  More than 33% of the year gone and only 20% of my list accomplished.  Need to pick up the pace this summer. 
Speaking of picking up...the STP and I gathered a load of rocks yesterday in anticipation of finishing the rock bed along the north side of the house.