Somewhere in the middle of Montana

It's 2 degrees.

Cold.  Brrrrr.

Under normal conditions I would have either opened the window or stepped outside onto the deck to take this photo, but not today, which resulted in the reflection of the light fixture in the middle of the photo.  All I can say is that sacrifices have to be made while enduring the Arctic Blast. 

The Good things:

There will be football games to watch today.

There will be sunshine.

Also, there will be plenty of time to play some music - piano or guitar.  Maybe both.

It's Sunday, so that means tonight there will be another episode of All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece.  I hope Tricki-Woo, (a Pekingese) is in this one.   

Miss Lady is curled up in one of her favorite spots underneath the piano bench.  Lady and I have already been outside three times, beginning at 3:58 a.m. when it was a balmy 5 degrees.  On our next trip the temperature had dropped to 2 degrees.  

It could be a good day to bake some cookies, but I haven't decided yet.  It will take another cup of coffee to make any difficult decisions. 

I talked to my brother Roy yesterday.  He  and his wife Patty live "somewhere in the middle of Montana" (as Merle sings in his song, Big City).  Roy put in his thirty years as an engineer for Burlington Northern and then Montana Rail Link.  They lived in Missoula all those years and when they retired they bought some acreage near Hobson, Montana. They are living their dream.

Yes, it's colder there and they were lucky enough to get a nice snowfall before the cold temps.  He was taking a break from shoveling snow and he told me that Patty was baking sourdough cinnamon rolls.  Yum.  That sounds really good.

I hope your day includes coffee and warm cinnamon rolls.

Merle Haggard - Big City 

Let the thaw begin?

 I actually began working on this post about ten days ago, but at my age it's easy to get distracted.  

The days of January 2023 are about to end and I'm happy to put them behind me.  I love it that sunset has moved on from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  A whole hour of more daylight!

My plan for this post was to reminisce about Jan. 15, 2010 when we hiked from our house to Green's Falls.  There was very little snow on the ground at our elevation that year, which meant that by wearing our snowshoes and then changing to ice cleats, we could make it to the falls.  

I don't remember who came up with the idea to hike up there, but I think it was Neil Wimberley, and this is a copy of the photo that he took.   It is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime shot.   It's a fantastic memory of a wonderful afternoon with our friends, Neil and Ann, plus what else was there to do in January?

This year I can happily report that my snow blower has been parked for a couple of weeks and with any luck it will remain that way for another week.  We've had very little fresh snow to shovel so I won't complain about our next round of the Arctic Blast this week.  

A batch of chili and a beef stew will get us through the cold snap.  I pulled out the leftover prime rib bones from New Year's and put them in my crockpot to simmer until the meat was tender.  The broth will make a nice base for the stew which I plan to finish today.

We have not had freezing temperatures the last few nights but now the cold blast has blown in.  It's almost daylight and our bird feeder hanging from the eave is swaying in the wind.  The wind does seem to have died down since Lady and I got up, which was around 5:00 a.m.  I can report that she and I did not spend a lot of time outside this morning.   Too cold!

Last Wednesday friends, Tim Gunn, Mark Heisel and Bruce Bishop, drove up to spend a couple of hours playing some music.  We've been trying to get together for several months and it finally happened.  The get-together isn't just about the music, we also have coffee and cookies, lots of laughter and good conversation.  Neil joined us and we all had a great visit.   It's how we all get through the winter months.

Now we can start thinking about February.

Valentine's Day, Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras.  It's also time to think about starting some vegetable seeds.  My seed order for 2023 arrived in the mail and the Red Robin tomato seeds will need to be sown so that we have some ripe tomatoes by June. 

At this moment in time the stair steps are covered with about 3 feet of snow which has fallen off the roof, but after January the thaw can officially begin.  

Four more days...

I am getting the infamous "Border Collie stare" right now.  If you have a Border Collie, you know what I mean.  They sit directly in front of you and stare without moving until you respond to them.   It would appear that Miss Lady wants something.  A beef bone? A toy?  Food? To go outside?  Attention?  To sit on my lap?   

"Nope!  We're not going outside.  It's too cold."  

Famous last words. 

January Ice

It's Sunday.  

In January.

We may see some sunshine today, but I'm not sure.  We're at a lull in our snowy weather which is alright with me.  The atmospheric rivers in California are keeping the snowstorms away from us and our daily temperatures above freezing. 

Miss Lady woke me up at 5:00 a.m. this morning which is a tad too early but I got up anyway, bundled up in my warm "take the dog out" clothes, and out we went.  Fortunately, she decided to take a nap once we were back indoors.  

I enjoy Sunday mornings because I record the CBS Sunday Morning show.  I can browse through the recording and watch the segments I'm interested in while drinking my morning coffee.  Then it's time for football.  

I'm in second place in the overall in our football pool, but my number is too far below the first place contenders, Jon and David.  They are tied for first place today.

All of my Christmas decorations are stored away for next year except for the outdoor lights.  I like to keep them on through February because they are so colorful and light up the darkness of the long winter months.  So, the Christmas lights on the barn turn on every day at about 4:00 p.m. and the same goes for the lights on my front porch, including the baby Christmas tree.  

They make me happy. 

Our driveway from the county road to our house, which is around 1/4 mile, is very icy.  It's been plowed but then it rained on it and froze and now we have ice.  I shift my car into X-mode whenever I'm driving down the road.  Other than that, one can bounce off the snow berms to try to stay out of the ditch.  

Unfortunately, the UPS driver didn't make it last week.  There was a lot of water running down the road underneath the ice/snowpack and it made for a very soft, muddy spot on our corner which was not really visible to drivers.  The UPS truck got too close and ended up in the ditch.  Now there are 3 orange cones set on the corner to warn drivers not to get too close.  One of the many hazards of winter driving.

That said, the icy road conditions are not keeping me home. 

 On Tuesdays and Fridays I go to the Hope Community Center for the exercise class and also on Tuesdays I am taking the watercolor art class.  The teachers are Kathy Gorup and Kally Thurman and they rotate the classes from basic drawing to watercolor and acrylic painting.  It's $5 for a two-hour class and so much fun.  I certainly can't claim to be an artist but it doesn't matter.  It's just fun to learn something new.  Plus, we are slowly working our way to spring. 

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday and the slow days of January.   

This is my January photo on my 2023 calendar.

Ginkgo leaves and spring

       

Yesterday was wonderful.  We had some sunshine here and it helped my spirits immensely.  I decided to start the snowblower and see if I could clear any of the frozen snow out of our paths.  I had managed to keep them clear until our last round of snow and then it froze before I could get to it. 

It wasn't easy but I was able to blow some of it off and at least smooth out the paths to make it easier to walk on.

Miss Lady was an escape artist and managed to get out the door while we were taking out the Christmas Tree.  She had a really good time running around the yard and in the field.  She stayed within sight but didn't respond well to us calling her.  She still needs a lot of recall work.

Taking down the Christmas tree and putting away all of the Christmas decorations took a couple of hours but it's really nice to have all the furniture back where it belongs in the living room.  

My poinsettia really likes the humidifier and I see new leaves are growing.

The bay window is one of Lady's favorite spots where she can play guard dog and bark at anyone or anything she sees outside.  Yes, there's a squirrel out there. 

My friend Ellie Lizotte gave me a beautiful little tree made of ginkgo leaves in memory of our friend Ann.  The ginkgo tree and leaves hold a special place in our hearts because while Ann was recovering from her major surgery years ago, Linda Heisel picked ginkgo leaves off a tree at the Hope Market and sent them to Ann, who was at the Mayo Clinic.  

 

Linda felt that Ann needed something from Hope that she could touch.  

The leaves arrived on Ann's "transition day" from the hospital to a rehab center.  Ann ended up on the "ginkgo floor" where there were prints of ginkgo trees on the walls.  We saw that as a sign that she was going to return to Hope. 

This is the view from my porch.  As you can see, the maple tree still has lots of leaves on it. The path to the porch is packed with snow and our driveway has a lot of ice.  Every time I wish it was spring I remember that each day we get a smidgen more daylight.  By mid-January we will have about two minutes more per day.   I'll take it!  

By mid-February it will be three minutes more...and so on.

Yes, I am looking at my seed catalogs and actually thinking about starting some seeds under my gro-lights.  It's very comforting to sit and drink my morning coffee and browse through the catalogs. 

Cheers!

Goodbye to 2022 and welcome 2023

 The White Elephant gift exchange and Burkhart Christmas shenanigans.

All things llama for Collin.

Miss Rylee was "Santa" this year.

A "friendly" card game of "do bad things to your neighbor"...

Miss Lady finds a hiding spot. I should also mention that she hid behind the bathroom door while we were all singing The House of the Rising Sun.  Hiding behind the bathroom door seems to be her place of refuge whenever she's terrified.

The Christmas tie on display.

Edgar, the goose, finds a new home.  As you can see, Dylan is thrilled.  Jon and I are both delighted since we have been taking care of Edgar for three years.

JP gets a real Gravy Boat!

Eek!  How did I end up in this crazy family?  It's a nightmare!

Everyone tried their luck at Ben's "Fishing Game".  A lot of fish got away.

Neil had either luck or great skill and did land one of the fish he hooked!

Dylan and Kelsey

Kalispell Burkharts 

It helps if one wears their eyeglasses...

Julie took most of these photos but I did manage to include her in a couple of my shots.

All in all, we had a wonderful time with a lot of craziness.  There were only a couple of "oops"!  About two hours after everyone left to drive home,  we discovered a backpack on the floor in the pantry.  Unfortunately, it contained a very important laptop and the Missoula Burkhart's had to turn around and drive back.   We got to enjoy having them with us one more day, but they spent a lot of time driving around in circles in Montana. 

Later on New Year's Eve we chatted with Jon's sister and her family on the phone while we all watched the end of the Georgia-Ohio State football game.  Everything is good in Edmond, Oklahoma. 

We also received a text from the Heisel family that included a video of them all singing The House of the Rising Sun!  It made us very happy to hear them sing our favorite New Year's Eve song, especially since we've been lucky to enjoy doing so with them for many years.    

 As we approached the stroke of midnight, Jon decided to empty the dishwasher and while doing so accidentally knocked a coffee mug off of  the hanger on the wall.  There was an impressive crashing sound of breaking glass and pottery after which we discovered that he had broken both his and my favorite coffee mugs, one other mug, and the sugar bowl.  

We have decided that was the final bad luck end to the year 2022.

  

Welcome to 2023 and many days of good luck!

(I have already ordered replacement coffee mugs and a sugar bowl.  They are on the way)

JP, your late arriving Christmas gift showed up on Friday.  David, Julie, Grandpa and I decided that we should review it for you.  We played several rounds for a couple of hours and give it a 4 Star rating.  We think you'll like it. 

P.S. It's in the mail..

. 

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year from the Burkhart Clan!