Saturday, November 10, 2012

First Snow





daily haiku

six months of drought
the first good moisture is snow
white irony

Our first snow today. Yesterday it was dark and snowing but cleared with two inches on the ground. This morning I went to draw back the curtains, saw the white light shining through and I knew we'd had more. A total of around six inches.  With low temps forecast for next week we can expect it to go into the ground - how marvelous! I feel cold despite the house being at 70' and I know I am experiencing what my husband used to call the Radiating effect - the walls are cold and pull the heat away from your body.

Household hint #1

If you put brownies in the oven, 
don't go outside and rake leaves!

Household hint #2

If your brownies are over-baked,
crumble them in a dish, top with ice cream and a jolt of chocolate syrup :-)

Senegalese Soup for two - on a cold day

1 chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
2 Tbsps finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 apple peeled and cored - finely chopped
1 carrot peeled and chopped
1 stick celery chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 can low sodium (or homemade) chicken broth
1 Tbsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken in a 4 qt Crockpot.  Saute the vegetables and apple in the olive oil, in a small pan until soft. Add to the chicken. Pour the the broth over the contents and stir in the curry powder. Cook on high
for 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper if you prefer.  Serve with a dash of cream or just as it is.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Consumer Research

 Sunrise #1- November 1st

 Sunrise #2 - November 1st

 Keeping It's True Colors

 Light through lilac leaves

 Tongue River - Hill House shows above the island

daily tanka

tan ecru umber
the colors of late autumn
wait for the first snow
when blankets of white contrasts
bark against montana blue


We are having typical fall weather - bright sunshine, azure skies and days in the fifties.  Also as is usual in fall - no rain. The weather forecasts call for showers and we get an occasional twelve drops. The fire danger is still there but with no lightning to set a fire, it is much lower. 

The flies know it is fall and have moved into the house in abundance, along with wasps. After having used spray for years and hating it, I found the perfect answer - a Dustbuster! I happily suck them up and then empty them outdoors - who knows with their dogged persistence I may even be recycling them! 

I have been busy with fall chores and insulating every nook and cranny I can find where cold air might enter when winter comes. My best friend is Rope Caulk these days; you can tear off long strips and place along the windows and other places then peel it off come spring leaving no residue to clean up. 

Along with fall come the catalogs - a full two inches of them on Mondays - and I am doing my Christmas consumer research :)   Here is a piece that I wrote about ten years ago.

Catalogs

Everyday the mail can hold untold pleasures for me. I love the letters, hate the bills, but I adore catalogs!  I savor them, divide them into groups for reading at different times of day, and dedicate special time to what I humorously refer to as my  “Consumer Research”!  My husband is fascinated that a person can read so many catalogs, not once, but several times over. He even e-mails me at work as to the number of catalogs that arrived in the mail that day!

I jokingly refer to myself to friends at work as the “Catalog Queen”, and we laugh.  The funny thing is, I know many women who also love catalogs, but they keep it a hidden secret.  Like hiding and eating their Twinkies and Little Debbies, they stash their catalogs in the bathroom or laundry where they can indulge in fantasies of wild clothing, expensive household gadgets, or gourmet foods, unobserved by others.  I say to these women, “Stand up to the secret majority in your mind that you think might label you dumb, or that would judge you as an airhead because of this past-time! Consumer research has it’s place in the world. The Direct-Mail Industry needs us!”
                                                                                               
Reading catalogs has a dark, downside however. In November I receive a pile in the mail each day fully two inches or more in thickness.  All the delights of Christmas consumerism descend to cheer the gloom of November days. But then in January when the days are short and the cold reaches into your bones, add to this dreariness a lack of consumer reading materials. Catalog withdrawal sets in!

At mail time my hopes are dashed. I am lucky to get even one in the day’s mail.  After that one is read, I wander hopelessly around the house like a lost soul.  At first I utter cries of, “I’m bored”, and get no response from my husband who looks at me wearily from his newspaper, having been through this before at the beginning of each year.

At night I pick up books to read, only to set them on one side because they don’t fill the emptiness, and I have an overpowering sense of loss. Eventually I adjust, read books and magazines that I set aside through the Pre-Christmas months, I even write!!  January is my most productive month as a writer. But then along comes February and the White Sales! Oh there is nothing like the Bloomingdale’s White Sale catalog, or the Williams Sonoma Winter Sale centerfold, and after these the new spring clothing catalogs for L.L. Bean and Lands End.  The winter blues melt away as I get into the recliner, put up my feet, and settle down to a mind bending, chills-in-the-spine, all-engrossing session of Spring Consumer Research!






Friday, September 28, 2012

The Gift of Vision


daily haiku
trees are becoming
a river of gold reaching
from mountains to me


The photos don't do the trees justice - too much haze either due to fire or dust - I am not sure which. They are at their peak right now but are beginning to lose leaves mostly due to death from drought.

Yesterday I was with my friend Bruce.  As I parked the car in the parking lot he said,"Why don't you park over there in the shade?" I looked and there was a shady place under a tree. I moved the car and then laughed and told him - "Bruce, it takes a blind person to see things sometimes!" With his disability, Bruce could see what I did not.  Light and shadow. My mind was already in the store searching for the product I wanted to buy.

Often I allow my mind to get ahead of the present and miss something that is beautiful or interesting that is close to me.  I remember when I first started working at the Detox in Lame Deer. So many tasks to do and not many people to help.  My friend Harold Fisher would say to me, "Slow down, Christine, slow down!"  So I would take time to sit and chat with him and have never regretted it. My first husband often said, "It'll still be there tomorrow."  So very true. 

I finally finished a task which I did not attack hammer and tongs, but I did have a vision in mind. The guestroom was full of junk and many, many books belonging to my husband. I just could not face sorting it out - it was too overwhelming. Then I read in my daily Guideposts about using ten minute increments to work on a project - anyone can manage ten minutes a day. So I started, and once started I kept at it a bit at a time until this week I have a clean, tidy and pleasant guest room - the vision.  Books were mailed and donated; old technology taken to the dump - no recycling plant in Birney; I parted with years and years of magazines that I had to admit I had not re-read in at least 5 years; family history papers were mailed to the children who hopefully will pass them on to the next generation.

Last week I was diagnosed with a new health problem. It was frightening, caused me to panic for a while. But I remembered my 12 step program and it helped me to get calm again, and now I have a new vision - me as a healthy old lady!  Thanks to Bruce for his gift of "special" sight.


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Fall Creeps In... on little cat feet (apologies to Carl Sandburg)


daily haiku
ash and box elder
flame their way into the fall
equinox this week

Today there is a 20% chance of rain which is pretty low, so I am praying.  This past week we had three mornings with light frost that took cucumbers, tomatoes and all tender plants. It also turned the some trees to gold,. and fall colors are creeping in. If we don't have a big wind I think the color in the valley will be spectacular this year.

Everything around the house looks so sad. The grass is dead; many leaves have fallen from the trees because they died from thirst not frost. Even my hardiest plant - mint - that I use for greenery in this arid climate is mostly dead. I water with the bad methane water hoping that it will preserve the roots so it will revive next spring.

As you can see from the photo we still have smoke around us coming from the many fires further away. But thank God not in the immediate vicinity at present. One thing for which to be thankful are the cooler daytime temperatures in the 70's and low 80's. I was able to sit outdoors and read one day. After I put down my book and just relaxed for a while, a bluebird flitted down and twittered at me from the fence.  I asked him why he had not flown south yet, but he was silent about that. Later he and the missus were in front of the house and checking out the nest under the eaves , so evidently they are nestlings from this year's brood. I saw bluebirds on my daily walk too, so evidently warmer weather will continue for a while yet - bluebirds know for sure.

In contrast to the bluebirds, the herd of Elk are back at the Diamond Cross Ranch; they obviously sense fall and breeding time and sought out their favorite grazing in the alfalfa fields along the Tongue River. Soon there'll be reports of Bears. With the cool nights I can sleep without the air conditioner - such a joy - in the fall I swear the Bear in me comes out too. I sleep so deeply it's like hibernation!


 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Long Hot Summer





sneezing through the day
thick smoke now fills the valley
health hazard summer

making the dust fly
house haze - summer's legacy
smoke dust and road dirt  



dawn breaking later
earth tilting ready for fall
dry leaves know it's time


houses in ashes
homes only in memory
can never go back

Monday, July 9, 2012

Firestorm

Smoke fills the view to the east

Daylily - Lemon Drop

daily haiku

a red moon rises
smoke in air from tragic fire
beauty from ruins

These past weeks have been very stressful. On June 26th - a day with temps at 106' and 40 mph winds - took fire up the Tongue River Valley and desecrated a lot of the Cheyenne reservation north of Ashland.  The Amish community and some of my Cheyenne friends lost their homes and or ranch buildings. The whole town of Ashland including the St Labre Complex and Heritage Living Sr Center were all evacuated. The Ash Creek fire as it was named, has been one of the biggest fires in Montana history, and may actually be the largest.  It is still not fully contained see today's bulletin from KTVQ.com
:

Fire managers are hoping to complete containment 
of the huge Ash Creek Fire Monday, and are nearing containment 
on several other fires burning across Southeast Montana.
The combined fires have burned more than 330,000 acres 
since the region erupted in lightning-caused, and human-caused 
blazes two weeks ago.The largest fire remains the Ash Creek blaze, 
which has scorched over 249,000 acres, destroying several structures 
and forcing evacuations as it spread north and east from its initial 
starting point near Lame Deer. That fireis now 95% contained, 
and crews are hoping to get full containment on Monday

All of the homes south and east of Ashland were without power for three and a half days. No power means no water also.  At temps ranging from 95-109'  I was very lucky to have good friends who let me haul water from their outdoor well.  They had a generator and took me in for "cooling" and I was so very grateful.  We had a good time team-cooking suppers and as they say around here "shooting the breeze". As the Ash Creek Fire came under control, lightning started many small fires throughout the area and they were promptly put out by a mobile fire crew, but a few remained including one east of here - The Taylor Creek Fire which is not yet contained so each time we get an easterly wind the valley fills with smoke. 

My garden looks pretty sad, the hardy mint is burned, but the moss roses being a succulent, are still blooming and a lovely small daylily "Lemon Drop" blossomed and filled me with cheer. Tonight more thunderstorms seem to be in the offing and everything is dry despite a welcome 1/2 inch rain 5 days ago. 
Meanwhile my relatives in England are having one of the wettest summers on record with flooding. Wish they could send us some!




Sunday, June 24, 2012

Bonds of Friendship




daily haiku

the pain of bereavement
life without you moves on
my heart is full of loving you 
 
daily haiku
the gift of healing
there is no greater love
than that from our friends

On June 15th my dear friend and companion, Snowy, became ill. I took her to the vet and she got worse so rapidly that we had to put her to sleep. The vet says there is no test the confirm it, but he thought strongly it was Addison's Disease.  It comes on suddenly and progresses rapidly. I think I was in shock for a number of days and pretty depressed. Then and now I still "see" her around the house in her usual places. It is getting better. 

Since Peter died she had been my faithful companion, sitting on my lap at night and watching TV and filling my life with her demands for daily living. I had little beds for her all over the house where she napped, to avoid the cat hair problem! She loved to get a massage in the morning before she took her after breakfast nap, which is unusual, as cats in general don't like to lie on their backs; but she purred all the time and swatted my hand when I was through as though to say "We're not finished yet."

When I went to knit with my friend Victoria on Friday I had a wonderful surprise. She showed me a portrait she had painted and underneath there was another painting. I asked if I could see it too, and she said yes. It was the most beautiful picture of Snowy - so true to life, and a lovely tribute to my beautiful cat friend. I cried when I saw it & then while I was knitting the strangest thing happened.  I kept looking at the picture and something in me was healed. I could not explain that feeling ever. Maybe it was the love of friendship; maybe Snowy's spirit came through to comfort me. Who knows? But I have felt better each day since then. 
Thank you Victoria.. for one of the best gifts a friend has ever given me.



Friday, June 8, 2012

For The Birds



the wren
three inches big
terrorizes the bluebirds
kills the babies
bad things can come
in small sizes

Life with the birds is an ongoing soap opera this year - never know what will happen next. The bluebirds that nest under the eaves were evicted by wrens last year. Who would know that what sings so sweetly could be so vicious?! But undaunted they came back this year and rebuilt the nest. The eggs hatched and as I sat at my computer I could hear excited twittering as mom or dad brought in the food. The downside is that on warm days this end of the porch smells vaguely like a chicken coop. 

Mr Bluebird is very defensive of his territory. If the chipmunk who lives in the rock wall nearby oversteps the boundary line he gets a fly-by and a peck on his whiskery nose. That upsets the robins and they fly at the bluebird in defense of the chipmunk - good lord there is a definite caste system out there.

A few days ago the wrens moved in again - dozens of them and one went into the bluebird nest and threw the babies out and killed them even tearing off their wings in the process. The grass was littered with tiny bodies and I was very upset. I buried the little things in a flower bed nearby and thought that was the last of the bluebirds for this summer; however they came back and were rebuilding the nest. This morning there was a wonderful flirtation going on, on the fence as Mr Bluebird started his courtship rites again. Much fluttering and flying and Mrs Bluebird seemed to have a headache as she was quite uncooperative. In the middle of this r-rated activity the wrens appeared, there was some flying and fighting between them all but one wren did get into the bluebird nest.  I am not sure what happened but I went out with my yard broom and banged on the outside of the entrance. Don't know if it did any good but the wrens are now wary of the old witch who lives inside the house :)  

I have not seen the bluebirds since, so they may have given up and gone away to find a new nesting site. Meanwhile the wrens are trying to get inside my shed and one went into the gap in the stone wall where the chipmunk stores his seed. He may have met his match if Chippie finds him there! 

Footnote 6/13/12


Well undaunted, the bluebirds are nesting again; flying back and forth to the nest. The wrens did not win that battle. Hopefully Mrs Bluebird is laying another clutch.

Another story - I heard scratching in the mud room at the weekend and thought I had a mouse, could not find anything.  The third time I saw a bird near the window.  Suspicions grew and I went outside to check the dryer vent. Sure enough the wren had filled the opening with dead cedar twigs!  I took out about a pint or so of twigs, then put duct tape across the opening and considered myself lucky to have found it instead of having a dryer fire! 

 Later on in the afternoon I went through the mudroom and there was such a ruckus - a wren was clinging to the window strut and fluttering and twittering at me in wren profanities! So I told it that we were now even for their killing the bluebird babies. What a nasty old Brit I am!


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Life in High Definition









daily haiku

roses bloom in may 
ahead of nature's schedule
take time to smell them
One of the things that I enjoy that amazes me all the time is my high definition TV. The picture is so sharp and the colors are glorious. This time of year nature goes into high def too!

With the drought this year we missed some of the blazing colors of flowers, but there's still plenty to enjoy if you look around the hill.
The flax seed I scattered years ago still sends a few baby-blue-eyes to greet me  - so delicate and lovely.  My Harrison's Yellow Rose, that was brought west by the pioneers in their wagons, goes crazy for a few days, and the wild pink rose after which our county is named, blossoms with an aroma that sends me to heaven.  

The bird life is colorful too; the golden-bib of the meadowlark, the green back of the tree swallows, the brilliance of bluebirds nesting under the eave by my desk, rooster pheasant in his wedding suit, and one of the sights I love the most - goldfinches taking a bath in new puddles after a storm comes through.

For sure I love my TV, but there's really no better program than mother nature!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sleepin' With The Bees






daily haiku

flight path for the bees
directly over my head
I am buzzed for sure

I sat outside in the shade to read near the honeysuckle tree. It was wonderful; as the breeze dropped, the smell of warm honeysuckle scent drifted to me, intoxicating and full of spring. I was directly in the flight path for bumblebees nearly the size of a half dollar. Laden with nectar they flew over my head on their way to wherever their nest is (to the northwest). One landed on me and I was so startled my book went flying! 

I could not resist photos, got a few as you can see, but wished I had a real macro lens for sure. The hill is alive with creatures enjoying the fruits of the season. Behind me the Lilac in it's last stages of bloom was alive with small butterflies, and to my amazement, moths were in a psychotic frenzy hardly stopping to take nectar or whatever attracted them. 

With the buzzing of the bees, the warm (85') air, the aroma, and the twittering of finches, my eyes started to close and I had trouble reading my book. So I moved out into the sun, but it was no solution to the problem.  I almost fell out of the chair as I nodded off briefly! I finally came inside to write and hopefully stay awake.
Who knows about the book..........



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Spring Blossoms Forth





daily haiku

snowflakes in april
petals from the chokecherry 
drift us into spring

I have not posted for a while as I was having difficulties with the new blogger format; I finally accessed through Mozilla Firefox and that seems to work. Blogger wants you to subscribe to Goggle Chrome and I hate the Internet telling me what to do. Too much like 1984 and Big brother!

Spring is here. Last week in the 90' weather, the chokecherries blossomed filling the garden with their heavenly scent. As always, I smelled it before I realized where it was emanating from! We are still having frost off and on and I am holding my breath; the lovely white lilac outside the bedroom window unfurled buds in the hot weather and I don't want them to be frosted. There is nothing like going to bed with the window open and the scent of lilacs filling the room.


We are at the stage of spring conflict - the house has an accumulation of dust and the grass is growing fast and furious outside - both need attention and it is hard to choose which to do first! Hopefully the weather will help me to decide - at least it doesn't make me download a special program!











Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Charging Up For Spring







daily poem

to hoe or not to hoe
that is the question
whether to root out the weeds
and risk damage to the plant
or let weeds steal precious water
aye - there's the rub


Well, spring is here in all it's usual drought-ridden state. The cries of "We need the moisture" fill the air at each gathering and in conversations from pick-up to pick-up in the middle of the road. If it's a typical year it will get so hot that we have an almighty thunderstorm and then turn showery for a while. After awakening to 40' mornings for a few weeks we now have 10' of frost most days which is a good thing as all the trees are in bud and leafing out. Hopefully the frost has preserved the spring blossoms and not killed them.


The warmer weather leaves me with indecision about whether to do spring chores or leave them until the usual time. So far I have not succumbed which is just another word for procrastination. This morning I decided to check the battery on the old Toyota Pick-up and it was a little low, so that is now being charged ready for spring chores.

My knee is being uncooperative with the spring weather, so I'll charge it up too by getting a cortisone shot next Friday. I was feeling sorry for myself and generally rebellious about missing my daily walk until I remembered - I could use the time to write! So I took some photos and am "showing up at the page" as they say. Now - about the lawn tractor - to call or not to call the Sears mechanic, aye there's the ($400.00) rub!


























Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Unseen World

Gregii tulips pushing through




Canadian Chokecherry in bud


they dream beneath - II

under the cool soil
bulbs dream of spring
pray that snow will be kind
frost will not kill

tulip
grape hyacinth
iris
all smile
daydream of the rain and sun
next march
as the blankets of winter
are stored
and the soft down of spring
hovers over their bed

The poem above was written last summer when my friend Art, and I, wrote a series of poems inspired by our gardens. For some reason the last few days I have been thinking about the unseen. The plants in the garden that are emerging like the tulips pushing through the crusty soil after the little rain we had last week. So many things underground; we aren't aware of their energy or even their existence until they suddenly appear - all little miracles.

Temperatures have soared the past week hitting 80's on several days; today is cooler at 66' with plenty of sun. Not exactly a typical March, except for the breezes, but I haven't heard a complaint except the ever-present "We need the moisture." As my friend Bruce said this morning, "a rancher could have two feet of water over his head and they'd drown saying -' we needed the moisture!' " The motto of an arid homeland.

Unseen things are all around. At night I'll be watching TV with Snowy on my lap when she'll suddenly be alert and staring at something over my head and behind me. She stares for at least 2 minutes then generally jumps off my lap and goes into the kitchen. I decided that it is very possible that spirits of those we have loved do come to visit us. Cats are reputed to be able to see paranormal activity and I tend to believe it as our older cat did this too, but not as much as Snowy.

The other unseen in my life has to do with a Teddy Bear. I have a Xmas bear that has a little button on it's hand that you press and it plays Xmas carols. When Peter was alive, if we had a thunderstorm in the night we would be awakened by "silent night" which we found very amusing as the night was anything but silent at that point! Since his death Ted bursts into song for no reason. No-one touches him, there are no apparent electric charges like lightning. Sam and I have decided that "Dad" is visiting when this happens. Who knows? When Sarah came to visit last year, I was interested to see if Ted would greet her. Indeed he did, on the night of her arrival! So plants and ghosts, the unseen world is there, and wouldn't we love to know more?!















Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thawing Out




daily haiku


at fifty seven

cat stays outdoors all morning

and I search for green

Hanging Woman Creek is thundering down to the Tongue the past few days, swollen with snow-melt and some rain earlier in the week. Normally it is a dirty placid body of water so it is exciting to see it in so much motion.

Golden Eagles appear to be feeding and possibly nesting under the hill and make exciting sights to watch through the big porch window. Snowy is outside as much as possible constantly checking the flower beds for the first signs of new catnip plants so that she can nibble them, come indoors, spread eagle on the kitchen floor, and look cross eyed!

Most of the snow has disappeared leaving a few patches of ice here and there. Our post office in Birney may still disappear in May. The congress has not performed their agreed task of correcting the bill that makes the USPS pay employees' retirement many years in advance. While Washington squabbles the electorate suffers, in particular those of us in rural areas. Our postmaster retires at the end of the month and I cannot help but think that USPS will use this as an excuse not to renew the position and close down. While thawing takes place all over the west the biggest thaw has not, the thaw between the U.S. House and Senate. Maybe we should send them some of my early spring catnip!