There are new additions on the mountain.

I have two new raised beds for my garden thanks to Travis.  The lumber for the raised beds came from trees that grew just down the road from us on Alan's property.  Travis cut them down and hauled them to his mill and then he and Alan sawed them into 2x6's.  They are beautiful boards and they now make up my two raised beds.

 It only took these two carpenters about an hour to put the first one together.  Beautiful! 

Ta Da!

With any luck they will be filled with plants soon.  Please turn off the rain. 

What! No grinding! No way!

I couldn't believe it.  My dishwasher healed itself! 

The A-1 Man was here yesterday.  He and Retired Mountain Man tried every setting on the thing and it would not make the grinding noise!  The final decision was that when it makes the groan again (I am saying when not if, as I am a bit pessimistic about the future of my dishwasher), call the A-1 Man back.  In the meantime, I have started looking at new dishwashers trying to find one that operates quietly.  No groaning or grinding.

I can't be there until tomorrow morning around 8:30. Would that be OK with you?

Have you ever heard those words from an appliance repairman? 

Yesterday, I turned on my dishwasher and it made the most horrible sound!  Trust me, it's a sound that no woman wants to hear.  My dishwasher is on it's deathbed!  NO!  No way!   I have only had it for fifteen years.  How could it possibly be on it's last dish washing legs?

Luckily for me, my appliance repairman lives about a mile up the road.  The A-1 Man.  When I called him, he said, "The earliest I can get there to look at it would be tomorrow morning around 8:30!"  I love that guy! 

Is the pace picking up at your house?

We did finish that shed in Montana.  Well, it's almost finished.  

When we left, it still needed the window, door hardware, the work bench and paint inside and out. 

 Spring is definitely here and Retired Mountain Man is starting to panic and make his annual "honey do" list. 

The list:  Get the lawnmower ready.  

Put nitrogen on the lawn.  

Install the rain gutters on the eaves.

Build two raised beds for you know who.  

(She's always causing trouble and wanting something new.)

Move the deck furniture out of the shed to the deck.

Clean and install the pump in the fountain.

Get out the weather station equipment to monitor rainfall amounts.

Check dahlia tubers and get ready to plant them.

The pace of life is definitely picking up here.

We can add to all of this the band has a gig on May 12th!  

Yesterday some of the band chicks took timeout from practicing and drove to Moyie Springs to buy our seed potatoes and onion sets for the garden.  We shopped at the Farmer's Market in Bonners Ferry, an art gallery, a book store and enjoyed a very nice lunch at a little place called "Under the Sun".  Yes, they did have just about everything under the sun.  Our final stop was the Moose Valley Garden Center.  The back end of the Subaru was packed full as we headed back to Hope.  Next year we should probably take a truck.   

Today the Cougar Creek Band will have almost a full band practice.  (We are still missing Saxophone Man).  Eleven of us will be here as Banjo Man and Violin Chick are here for the next three weeks.  The house will be rockin'!

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it's not the fish they are after. Henry David Thoreau

It was the last beautiful day this week before the rain moved in.  

Retired Mountain Man and I decided that we would go fishing for perch.  

Denton Slough

Fishing in Denton Slough is a social event.  The two men in the photo with 

Retired Mountain Man are from Priest River.  They frequently have their mother 

with them, but not that day.  They already had a very nice mess of fish when we 

arrived around 2:30.

Travis and Dale both stopped by to fish for bass.  Some people just stopped by to 

 

chat, like Tyler, who was on his way home from work (net-fishing in the lake).  

 

Cami, who walks her little dog a couple of laps in that locale, also stopped by to 

 

visit.  It's a very pleasant way to spend a few hours in the afternoon.  It's also more

 

entertaining if you catch some fish every once in awhile.

 

 

 

 

This is my pole.  

 

 

I was banned from casting as my first cast ended up between the two fishermen 

 

from Priest River. 

 

 

The next one got caught over Retired Mountain Man's line and we ended up 

 

losing both lines in the rocks.  

 

 

Retired Mountain Man did a lot of !#*& and I said it was OK if he cast my line 

 

from then on.   I think I've told you before that I am a klutz!  Yep!  Even at 

 

fishing.  At least I didn't trip and fall down on the rocks. 

 

 

 

 

We did catch some fish. 

  I caught one.  See the tiny one in the photo?

 

 

 

Fresh fried fish are very tasty.  These are going to make a couple of very nice dinners.