The End of Summer

We're trying to make summer stay with us, but the killer frost ended my monster green bean crop.  The only veggies left in the garden are the tomatoes and a few carrots and beets.

These deck chairs are just waiting for someone to sit in them and enjoy the last few days of warm weather.

On the lookout for Sasquatch

We have our first freeze warning for 2014.  That means it's time to get the peppers picked.  Yesterday I picked the first row and I am trying to harvest the rest of the onions, carrots and beets.  

The first row filled two 5-gallon buckets and one two and a half gallon bucket.  My goal for today is to get these in the freezer and then to pick the next row before frost hits us.  


The two dogs, Maggie and Mackie, look like they are guarding my harvest but actually it's a game of who is in charge here?  They spent their entire time together running around the yard at breakneck speed.

Jalapenos and some sweet yellow bell peppers

Anchos and Sweet Banana Peppers


There were so many that I had to spread them out on the counter, in the bay window and on my dining table.There's going to be lots of salsa this year!

and more of the same

It is also possible that the two dogs were on the lookout for the Sasquatch? He has been sighted here more than once.

A Mean Green Bean Mother from Outer Space.....

My vegetables have been growing and growing and growing while I have been doing other things.  August has been action packed!   What is happening?

Our neighbors on the hill are tearing down their house to get ready to build a new one.  We have had several nasty wind storms with heavy rain and lost our electricity for many hours.  It's August and the weather is changing......

The view from where the band is setup at Trinity on Friday nights.  The last two Friday gigs have been cancelled due to the bad weather

On my way back from Montana and the Paul McCartney concert, I stopped to take some photos of the fire near Thompson Falls.   Yes, more about the mean green bean later.....

David and I went to hear Trombone Shorty at the Festival at Sandpoint.

Ann and I went to Trinity to listen to Mr. Bruce and Drew play.  Yes, they are really good at it.

The Oyster Party happened!  I think everyone had a very good time.  I did not have time to take any photos except this one of the kids.  I think we had about sixty people attend.  The food was incredible.  Barbecued ribs, Alaska salmon, lake trout on the barbie, clam chowder, fresh corn on the cob, oysters and clams......

It was definitely a feast of food and music.  The Cougar Creek Band played and we finished off the evening with our usual songfest.  The vocalists were awesome!

Yes, they can all sing The House of the Rising Sun.

I rescued my Begonia Beauty from the high winds.  I didn't realize how big it was until I set it in my bay window, which is about 8 feet wide.

Retired Mountain Man's April Dawn Dahlia is blooming it's heart out, as always.

The Cougar Creek Band has a gig on Thursday at the Hope Farmer's Market.

Retired Mountain Man and his sister both had birthdays and also Lester Bug.  Lyndsie Kay went off to college.

I have a new grand nephew, Chase Justin!   I also have a new niece in-law, Angie, and another grand nephew will be due to arrive soon.  Not to mention that my youngest grandson, Ben will be 5 in just a few days and one of my favorite brother-in-laws, Malcom, will be having another birthday before the end of August.

Whew!

August isn't over yet.  My vegetables in the garden just keep on growing.  I think my green beans are on steroids.  I'm starting to be afraid to go out to my garden.


I am reminded of the plant in The Little Shop of Horrors.  Don't feed the plants!  I'm a mean green bean mother from outer space!

She was just seventeen.....

and a very crazed Beatle fan.    Forty-eight years later I am finally going to my first rock concert, Paul McCartney's "Out There Tour" in Missoula, Montana.  Can you believe it?

The concert was sold out.  25,000 fans were trying to get to the event.

 And we are walking......

 from downtown Missoula.....

Our first look at the stage.

The very crazy people who climbed Mount Sentinal to watch the show for free.    It was 90 degrees.

He hits the stage!

Let It Be

The beginning of Live and Let Die and the pyrotechnic show.  On the front of the stage there were 10 foot flames shooting into the air.

I did not take video of it, but I found this online.   It was the same show.    Wait for the "Live and Let Die" refrain.  It's the best.  Enjoy.

This is my best shot of the flames.

How much of a Beatles fan was I?   At one point I painted a life-size mural of them on my bedroom wall.  My parents were not too happy about that.  I had every album they recorded.  On each of the Beatles birthdays, my two best friends and I would bake birthday cakes in the shape of guitars...  we also sent a message in a bottle down the Loup River.....

Now the only memorabilia I have left is this letter, from George Harrison's mother?

which also included this photo card.

She still loves you, Sir Paul.  Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Small town America

Burwell has it's own Veteran's Memorial.

The Veteran's Park has a wall of bricks with the names of all of the veterans from Burwell.  My dad and uncles names are on the wall.  Also many of my cousins and a lot of other very familiar names that I hadn't thought about for years.

All of the Simpson's are relatives.  There are a lot of them.

On Saturday evening we were all invited to dinner at my cousin Teena and Harry's farm near Elyria, which is about 6 miles from Burwell.   Of course there was a windmill to climb.

It was a beautiful summer evening and we celebrated Mitzi's 60th birthday with a birthday cake and five pies!  One of which was my Grandmother Phillipp's recipe for Sour Cream Raisin Pie.  Yes, it was very good.  

The high school was across the street from where we lived.  The arrow points to the principal's office.  I was only there once and I was innocent.

Our house was actually directly across from the tennis courts which are at the east end of the school.  I remember that they used to flood the court in the winter so that we could ice skate.

Two of the buildings on the square.  The one on the right had the drug store and a dime store.  The dime store had everything, including penny candy.  Do you remember penny candy?  Candy cigarettes?  You could buy licorice strings or pieces for a penny apiece.

The building on the left was my father's real estate office.

 As you drive around the square the building on the right is new.  It is now the drug store.   What I remember there was a bakery and also the meat market and grocery store.  I remember going to the meat market for my mom to buy hot dogs.  They were made there and they tasted so good.  The hot dogs that you can buy today taste nothing like them.   Ah, the good old days......

I am sorry that I didn't get photos of the other side of the square.  On that end was the American Legion Club, where you went  for dinner and dancing.  Our band played there many times.  If we turned up our amps too loud, the old duffer in charge would turn off the electricity.  Right across the street from the American Legion Club is the drive-in restaurant where you could get a burger and a root beer float delivered to your car.

One of the local haunts that is missing now is the Blueberry Hill Cafe, which was on a hill on the edge of the town.  My Uncle Jerry owned it for a while and I don't know the story of why it is no longer there.  A lot of my hometown looks very much the same and it's definitely an example of small town America and a very nice place to live and grow up as a child.

My next trip back to Burwell....

Go Longhorns!

Here's to the Class of 1966!  Our 50th reunion is on the horizon.