MONTANA DAY 1

Of course we woke up on our regular schedule this morning even after only getting about 5 hours sleep but I feel great and man is this place beautiful.
The inside of the cabin is new and beautifully rustic.

Hubbie and I walked over to the lodge for our breakfast and were amazed at the choices we were served.
Our breakfast are included with our payment and we could eat all we wanted from the bar.
#2 son and Tif  joined us shortly and then we all took a walk around the property and watched some deer in the fields.

The Sage Lodge in the background.

 Hay roles stored for winter feed supply....

Deer were everywhere....

This is a stocked trout lake we can fish in on the lodge property.

Our cabin with Emigrant Peak in the background across the lake.

I am totally amazed at the beauty around here and am so glad we made the decision to come see this part of our country. We were being watched from every angel while we walked. These large irrigation pivets were in all the green fields.

We went back to the cabin and headed out to see some sights today. First stop was Chico Hot Springs.

The hot springs is really a swimming pool that mixes cold water with the hot springs water so you can swim in it.
We enjoyed petting the horses there and shopping in the gift shop.

We left there and decided to drive on into Gardenier Montana which is just outside of Yellowstone.
The Roosavelt Arch is at this entrance to the park.

We were surprised to find out it is a hallow arch.

We shopped in this little town called Gardenier  and had lunch of Bison burger which was really delicious.

One thing that really stood out to me was all the wood that everything was built from.

While we ate it started raining and we watched the line of cars waiting to get inside the park dwindle to none so we decided we would drive into the park a little ways today with the weekly pass we had.

The beauty in here is amazing as we drove in the rain and I took pics out the window .

We made it to Mammoth hot springs and took pics as we drove saying we would definitely be back on a dryer day to hike around.

We headed out of the park and went to Livingston, Montana to make a grocery stop at the only grocery store we have seen around.
Our lodge is really out in the middle of nowhere .
We came back and sat out on our back porch and watched deer come right by us.

A storm was brewing and finally drove us inside out of the cold wind and pouring rain.

We ate supper from the groceries we bought at the store and then watched the sun go down after the rain on our first day in a different world in Montana.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone .
God Bless and Good Night.

FIRST FLIGHT

Well at least I slept better last night than I expected I would and I don't really feel that nervous this morning. We got chores done and headed to market. Since our flight is out of Greenville, SC   and doesn't leave until 5:20 we are going to market this morning until noon.
Hubbie left right after he helped me get set up and I had a very good selling day. Since the weather has finally broke and the sun is shining folks were out and about today. And thankful for the sunshine so hubbie can get the lawn mowed this morning.
I left market at noon and got home to get things put away and check the animals and get ready to go. #2 son and Tif came over at 1:30 and we loaded all our luggage in my Honda and left son's truck here.
We are going to leave my Honda at the airport. Several family members and friends have offered to drive us there and today isn't the problem but we aren't supposed to get back next Saturday until about 10:30 and if we should get delayed it wouldn't be fair to ask someone to get out in the middle of the night and pick us up.
Daughter and son-in-love arrived home about the time we left so we checked with them on the interstate conditions to choose which way we should get to the airport which is about a hour drive.
We didn't have any traffic problems at all and arrived at the airport earlier than we needed to but it is always better to be early than late.
There were no lines anywhere we went to check bags at the scanners. My necklace set off the scanner and I had to be felt of around the neck but that was minor. I guess that cross necklace wasn't as cheap as I thought it was !!
As we sat and chatted waiting to board our plane I was amazed at how calm both hubbie and I were. I can't speak for him but my nervousness totally left me.
We boarded a small United airlines plane and were off.

I truly enjoyed the window seat and watching all the land go by under us all the way to Chicago. I was elated that we actually flew over Lake Michigan before landing.

The Chicago airport was very large and different than Greenville and I was very glad we were with #2 son as he expertly maneuvered us from the terminal we landed in to another terminal that our flight to Bozeman, Montana was leaving from.

This flight was longer and required a much bigger plane.

Luckily I ended up with another window seat which I was very thankful for as I got to watch the sunset from above the clouds which I thought was amazingly beautiful.

This flight was long and we got pretty bored and both of us had to spend part of it standing to relieve our painful knees.
We actually made it in less time than predicted and it was a perfect day for flying.

We landed in Bozeman at 10:00 but it felt like midnight to us on eastern time.
We picked up the checked bags and our rental car which made Tif very happy as it was a 4-runner just like the one she had traded for her mail jeep earlier this year.
It took a couple wrong turns to get our directions in the dark correct but we made it to the Sage Lodge in Pray , Montana  about 11:30 Montana time.
We are staying in one of their cabins and are very happy with the beauty of it. The one bad thing is there are a couple other bedrooms they could rent out and that would mean sharing the common area and kitchen with strangers so we are hoping no one rents the other 2 rooms.
When I got a quick bath and got into bed it was 3am eastern time.
I am very thankful for the traveling mercies we received today and for the loving protection of our Heavenly Father. Also I am most thankful for the peace He gave me to do something I never thought I would do.
God Bless and Good Night.

BIG NEWS and PACKING DAY

Todays post might be short and not perfectly accurate since I am writing it on Sunday night and sooo much has happened since Friday.
We woke up Friday morning to another rainy morning and the start of a pretty major flood caused by the additional 2.3 inches of overnight rainfall.

We got soggy chores done and then I got my baking started. I baked 12 caramel, 4 chocolate, 4 pound cakes, 1 German chocolate order and 1 pan of brownies.
#2 son stopped by to get Tif a large suitcase and go over our plans for tomorrow.
I haven't said anything about this on here because like always I don't say when any of the family is going to be gone. But back in July the Friday hubbie and I came home from the beach #2 son and Tif stopped by to bring the eggs and mail by they had gathered all week. They told us Tif had just found out she got the 1st week in August that son has down for his vacation off also and they were thinking about going to Montana and wanted to know if we would like to go with them. Hubbie and I thought about it and decided this would be a perfect time to go if we were ever going to go anywhere. Neither of us has ever flown in a big airplane and since #2 son has flown multiple times he would be a good guide. The only time I have ever flown was years ago  when I was dating a pilot and he took me up and around town in his small plane. So this will be an entirely new experience for hubbie and me. But we figured getting to see Montana and Yellowstone National Park would be worth it.
So today is the getting ready for our trip day.
After I finished baking we packed our carry on bags and went through all the can and can't take items a second time to make sure we were okay.
The weather out there fluctuates greatly as you go higher so it was hard to pack all different weather clothes in just carry on luggage. Tif is going to check her bag so we are putting a couple things in her bag.
I think we are both getting nervous because we are snappy and ill.
#1 son brought RL up to play awhile this evening and tell us good bye.
We did chores and put extra feed and water in for all the animals. Daughter and son-in-love are coming back from the beach today and will be taking care of the farm while we are away.
They have been at Ocean Isle Beach all week and have been in the same rainy pattern as us but thankfully they did manage some beach time here and there for IR .

Son-in-love's brother Jason bought a boat while they were down there and they all got to go along on its trial run. IR did not like the life jacket or the boat ride !!!

We finally got inside about dark and I iced cakes the rest of the evening staying busy to keep my mind of the flight tomorrow.
As the day ended the clouds mostly broke up and gave us a beautiful sunset on this last day for a week around here.

Thankful for the blessings of this day, thankful for safe travel home for daughter and family, praying for safe travel for #2 son,Tif and hubbie and me tomorrow.
God Bless and Good Night

SLOW RAINY MARKET DAY

Up to an earlier alarm today to get everything done and get to market on time. Hubbie is already gone since he is managing market today and that makes for some extra work for me getting ready.
It is still raining lightly this morning after some very heavy overnight rains that left another 1.5 inches in the gauge this morning.
I looked around for damage from the heavy overnight rains but saw nothing thankfully.
I got chores done and then got the rest of our things loaded for market.
I did make it on time and hubbie and g-son who was spending the morning helping us at market for something to do helped carry things in as the rain still was pretty light. D-in-love had dropped him off with hubbie after she dropped RL off at pre-school camp.
Rain fell all morning, sometimes very heavy other times lighter but it kept customers away and we had a pretty slow day but I am thankful for all we did sell.
D-in-love picked g-son up after she picked g-daughter RL up from her pre-school camp last day.
Hubbie and I got things together and left to run our errands. Hubbie had to make his dump run and then stop at Walmart. I made stops at the bank ,PO, and Aldi in a pouring rain.
It was raining so hard when I was driving home it was scary there was so much standing water on the roads and visibility was so bad. Thankfully I made it .
Hubbie helped me unload , he had just gotten home and we were both already wet so we finished unloading and then changed into dry clothes.
He and I both rested and watched the news until chore time. Thankfully we were able to get chores done in another short break from the heavy rains. I emptied another 2.5 inches of rain from the gauge from today's rainfall that brings the total for the 2 days to 5.7 inches. I am surprised the creek isn't flooded and it is running bank full this evening.  I think the intermittent heavy and light rain periods plus the fact that it was so dry around here has helped more of the rains get absorbed and not run off.
There are plenty of places that are flooding around the area this evening.

We set a new record low temp for this date today with a high of only 72 degrees.

And it looks like we will be getting plenty of rain for awhile now.

And we are getting ready to get hit once again.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and the love and grace of my Precious Savior Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

RAIN WELCOMES AUGUST

Woke to a really dreary cloudy morning today. I got out and got chores done before the rain moved in thankfully.
Hubbie and I had some errands to run this morning so we went on early in hopes that the light rain that was already falling wouldn't get heavier until after lunch as predicted.
We got all our stops made and made it home for an early lunch. I love to get fresh food straight from the garden and especially on a nasty cool rainy day these fresh zucchini and pepper taste so good heated up.

Our garden is really doing well this year in spite of the drought we have had lately. I made these pics yesterday while the sun was still shining. 

We have some surprise pumpkins that are looking good but were definitely not what we planted.

Hubbie's cantelopes vines are looking good.

Finally those great tasting garden ripened tomatoes are plentiful.

After lunch hubbie went up to his shop to work and I got my baking started. I baked 12 caramel, 3 chocolate, 4 pound cakes, 1 angel food cake and 1 pan of brownies by 3:00.
When hubbie came back inside he laughed and took this picture of me at the stove. I told him some days I just need a little more "bracing" than others !!!!

I had a big bowl of tomatoes setting on the table so with hubbie's help scalding and peeling them I canned 6 quarts and 1 pint of deliciousness .

When this was finished I had about an hour to put my feet up and rest before chore time.
The rain has gotten heavier as the afternoon has wore on and as I lay on the couch and watched out the window it looked like the same type of rain that comes when a hurricane moves through our area. It seemed to be raining in bands, some heavier than others.
At chore time it was still raining pretty hard and all the animals looked pretty miserable but were happy to have the before bedtime snack.
When we got back inside I had to make another trip out to Ingles to get more butter for my icings.
There was 1.70 inches in the rain gauge this evening and the rain has gotten heavier throughout the evening.
I did weekly paperwork and then finished the day in the kitchen icing cakes and getting things ready for market. Hubbie had to stay up with me to get things loaded tonight while the rain has slacked since he is managing market again tomorrow.
Thankful for the thirst quenching rain and all the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

HAPPY 64th TO ME and GOODBYE JULY

A strange morning to wake up with hubbie gone to work at managing market.Got up feeling refreshed from the good night's sleep I had. Thankful that my back eased off enough with the heating pad to allow a good night's sound sleep.
I did chores and had a leisurely breakfast out in the sunroom with even an extra cup of coffee on this cloudy cooler morning.
I changed out all the monthly decorations from the red ,white and blue of July to yellow and green sunflowers for August.
I finished this by lunch time and had a salad of mostly fresh vegetables from our garden and then stripped the bed all the way down to the mattress and did a load of laundry.
The clouds grew really dark and rain started falling about the time hubbie came in from market.He said it was a pretty slow day but he did sell one of daughters tobacco stick ladders and my money plant bunch that I had out there.
After the short shower of rain ended hubbie and I went to Walmart and stopped by sis-in-laws to pick up some things.
Lastly we stopped by daughter's apartment.
We got home just in time to get chores done before the thunder started rumbling again.
Today is my 64th birthday and I spent it doing my routine things.
All the kids called or text to wish me a happy birthday and RL said if it was my birthday it must be hers also !!!
Today also brings another busy summer month to an end.
We started out this month with a busy 4th of July all day celebration starting with a trip to Columbus to a street fair and ending it at Aa and Re's house for a cook-out and fireworks.
Each Monday when we have had g-son and g-daughter RL we have planned a park visit and met daughter with g-daughter IR to have a fun day.
We have made a couple trips to see the goats at Carl Sandburgs and a couple trips to Flat Rock Park where there is things for all ages to enjoy.
We made our family beach trip a little early this year with a trip to Isle of Palms, SC. The kids had a blast and everyone enjoyed it very much.
Our garden has done well so far and I have canned green beans and made dilly beans this month.
Market has been very busy this month thankfully and that has kept me busy.
#1 son cleared daughter's house site and is waiting for the permits to continue work. He also built RL a chicken coup for the 6 silkie chicks I gave her and she loves those chickens each day.
G-son had a week of soccer camp which he enjoyed very much.
#2 son and Tif are making plans for an upcoming exciting trip.
Daughter and son-in-love closed on their new house this month and they both got new vehicles. Son-in-love who leases a Honda traded his Accord for a Honda CRV and daughter traded her small Equinox for a Toyota Odyssey van which has much more room. They also made another family beach trip with a couple of son-in-love's brothers and their families. They are both excited about the progress of their house site.
This summer is slipping by me like most months and seasons do and it seems like a dream that this is the last day of July and that summer is coming to a fast end. Seems it was just yesterday that we were looking forward to playing in January's snowfall.
I am so thankful and so humbled by God's love and blessings that He pours out on my family as life goes on. I pray each day that God will guide me through each day and that my paths are always pointed toward Him.
God Bless, Good Night and Good Bye July