Feels Like a Snow Day

Yes, it is May 27, 2012 and after almost no winter, Spring sprung and here we are in Fort Benton, Montana having a snow day. Hopefully this will set those wonderful critters called mosquitoes back a bit. They have been eating on my family for a few weeks now.

Forgot how bright the snow can be. I am not fussing as I know this is short lived and there is green under it. I know locals flower gardens and vegetable gardens can't be thriving with this freezing temperature for the past couple of days.

So glad I have been slow in getting some flowers put in around a planter in the back yard. We got our commercial size flag pole set in concrete and some dirt spread around the planter circle, but only purchased the flowers yesterday. Now they are sitting in the house keeping warm with the family. Guess we will stay inside and enjoy the scenery inside and out.

Going to the Birds

A dear friend of mine asked me yesterday to send her some pictures of what I have been working on lately. One might could say that my life is "going to the birds" here recently. I have been stitching a new set of blocks that have birds in each one of them. I also think they look like Kaliescope pictures or even Mandala type art.




Now just have to figure out how I want to place them in a quilt and what fabrics to use. Lately, I have been using very vibrant colors because I have so wanted Spring to get here. Thanks goodness it has finally arrived, but we did have quite a bit of snow fall just the other day.




I am so happy the snow melts quickly once the winds start to blow and the sun comes out again. Does make for interesting driving down our mud pit though.



Also, people have been delivering vases of dafodils to the residents of the nursing home and personal care where I work. I love seeing this bright yellow around and the flowers make wonderful conversation pieces to get everyone talking to each other.

Enjoy your Spring and I hope it doesn't fly by too quickly!!

Spirits Are Merry

Well, yesterday and today have me in a very MERRY mood! Right now I am jamming away to classic Christmas tunes online and smelling some wonderful smells from the kitchen where two loaves of Eggnog Bread are cooling on the rack. (The kids have started coming around to see when the 1st loaf can be cut.)



After working three nights in a row and now having a few off, I am happy to see some white stuff on our ground. (I image the farmers in our area are very thrilled to see the moisture as well!) Happily, I can stay inside and watch the weather from my windows. A feeling of a want for some hot chocolate or hot tea right now is ensuing. (A tea pot was my request for Santa, but then I spotted something similar at Sam's Club that I especially liked for less than $20 -- Mrs. Claus purchased it and has it under the tree. Gonna be a good girl and leave it there till Christmas Eve when we open goodies.)



Happy to report that my efforts to get an Amaryllis to grow and eventually bloom are starting to perk up. I have had it a month and have moved it from one window to another to another. Finally seeing some growth.

Maybe it is the nutcracker guarding it that is causing the change?!!

Sunrise Colors

I have been working a 5 night stretch of shifts this past week and couldn't resist taking some sunrise sky pictures. The colors are just as magnificent as the sunsets.






Thought I would share some with you here along with some of the past snow we had recently.

Just chilling here on the farm listening to some classic Christmas songs!!

I put a bug in my husband's ear for a 10 cup tea pot for my Christmas present this year. That way I can sit at the dining table and have some tea parties with the kids and watch the landscape art outside my windows.

Happy Earth Green Day

Happy Earth Green Day!!!!

We here in Montana happen to experiencing quite a bit of the WHITE DAY this April 22, 2011.



From our local paper (The Great Falls Tribune) -- A spring storm dumped 7.4 inches of wet snow on Great Falls by 5 a.m., bringing 0.94 inches of precipitation over night that started as rain. Another couple inches of snow had fallen by 9 a.m., said lead observer Jerome Saucier of the National Weather Service. Higher elevations, under the warning, are expected to receive five to 10 inches of snow, while elevations of 3,500 feet or less are in the advisory area should see less. Great Falls is at 3,334 feet and lies in the northwest portion of the warning area so has already seen higher snow accumulations.

Thankfully by 5 p.m. the roads are melted off and things are just plain sloppy.


Wonder if we will be green for the Easter Egg hunt tomorrow at Gibson Park. Even though my kids are past the age of getting a basket full of goodies, I think a chocolate bunny just might tickle their fancy and put a smiles on their faces.

Montana Signs of Spring

A gaggle of goslings on a park pond, a dancing sharptail grouse and a whistling prairie dog were the first-, second-, and third-place winners of this year's wildlife category in the Great Falls Tribune annual photography contest.





I must say my seeing a prairie dog run across a busy street the other morning on my way home from work confirmed in my mind Spring has finally arrived. But, we are still seeing snow flying around here quite a bit as well. Another morning this week, my first feelings of seeing a white blanket on our lawns that are starting to turn green was very DOWN; however, my spirits rose when a few hours later everything was melted and back to my kind of liking.



Another sign of Spring here is the knock on the door from the sweet Girl Scout with our cookies. My husband thought I was silly taking a picture of the box, but this made me happy as well.

I am also wanting to try some of those Topsy Turvy growing bags with tomatoes or strawberries. I haven't tried my hand (or green thumb) with growing anything since my move to Montana a couple years ago. So I think with this feeling of Spring here, maybe now is a good time to go for it.

Happy Spring to you!

What Is With This Weather?

For several weekends now I have been trying to travel by roadways here in Montana from one city -- Great Falls -- to another -- Kalispell.



The first reason for not accomplishing my goal was SNOW! Go figure. It is after all in the middle of winter and I do find myself watching more and more of the weather channel for parts of this continent where I have friends and relatives nesting. Again, what is with this weather?!



Now my area is in the upper 40's, but the second reason for not accomplishing my goal or travel destination is WIND! After going over half the distance (almost 2 hours of driving one way), in winds up to 50 mph, my van reached a town called Browning, MT. The winds picked up to 70+ mph and the driver's door was literally moving in and out (like it was breathing) because the wind was so bad.



Then I get to my turn off for the last leg of the journey to find a Montana Department of Roads utility truck barricading the road -- Highway 2. We were defeated and by then the children in the middle and back seats were calling for lunch. So a turn around was made and travel back 100 miles down the road found us at Shelby, Montana in a Chinese restaurant as an alternate adventure.



The food was good and everyone satisfied to make the additional 85 miles home to Great Falls, Montana.



Phone calls have been made and relatives have been located in Kalispell since I have arrived home. They know we made an effort and I hope they know we are thinking about them. Another endeavor will be made in the future for this goal of visiting in Kalispell, but now I know to not even start if SNOW and now high WINDS are mentioned in the weather forecast.



Hope you like the pictures in this posting. They are from our local paper submissions from readers with the topic of Montana in Winter. I picked these, because I thought they were the best!

Great Falls MT Airport Buffalo

Our family has been visiting the local airport a lot recently dropping off and picking up my husband from travels with work. This buffalo is very new and has been installed in the past couple months.

The colors are very pretty even through a tinted van window with snow on it.



My daughter also captured a shot of one of the planes displayed at the Montana Air Guard entry right next to the airport.



Getting onto the interstate to head back into town, we noticed the Belt Mountains covered with snow and one of the children snapped a picture.



We then headed down 10th Avenue South (the main business street in town) and stopped at a realty building to capture a picture of another buffalo. I love the artwork on this one with the trees.



We plan on getting out some more in the next week and finding some more of these buffalo statues around our town. Each one is so unique in the artist's interpretation.

What Is Your Weather Doing?

Couldn't resist showing you the Montana weather we are experiencing now!!!



Weather In 59404

CURRENTLY: 1°F Hi: 4 Lo: -9

TODAY
Cold
4° F / -9° F

SUNDAY
Mostly Cloudy
4° F / -9° F

MONDAY
Snow
-4° F / -16° F