Seriously.

Well maybe not out on the back porch for all the neighbors to see but I keep it hidden under the bed. Gotta give em crackers because Phillip won't let me have any of his Banana bread for em.
Darn conspiracy is what I think. After all what else can I do? What do you think about it, huh?

This was a ho hum kinda day.

I don't know if I made anyone smile but I did a lot of smiling myself.
We had the laundry to do so we had to get up EARLY to go to the laundromat. Cheaper to do it there with the price of water now since they put up a huge water tank along with a 6 dollar surcharge on the water bill to pay for it. Any way after we did the washing we dropped off at the river and sat with our feet in the water for a spell. So much cooler and we had a nice breeze most of the day. Lots of birds to watch along with other critters. There is a black cat and a orange tiger stripe cat that hang around down there as well. Didn't take any new pictures that turned out. 6 does crossed the road downstream from us. I tried to get pics of them but they were in the shade. I zoomed in but the deer just didn't show up against the rocky, brushy background. Rats!
A lot of people used the river crossing today. One dude had a big pickup with 4 dogs in a horse trailer. he stopped to let them out for a swim in the deep part of the crossing. About knee deep to me. As dogs always do, they had to come say a shaky hello before he could get them back in the trailer. Another guy with a new white dodge pickup stopped to let his dog have a swim. He let his dog jump right up on the seat with his wet body and dirty feet. Another couple had two little Boston terriers who waded a bit. They toweled them dry before putting them back in their car. A couple with a kid and a dog went downstream under the bridge to do their thing. 3 guys in a State fire truck stopped to eat their lunch in the shade by the river downstream from us.
Then the 2 guys that made us laugh came not long before we left. They had been somewhere and got some panning samples somewhere in three buckets. Must have been from 3 different places and they only had enough in each one for just one small pan. The one guy seemed to know how to pan but the other one guy put the dry dirt in the pan and started to wash it out without even getting the dirt all wet. Never got a chance to settle any gold even if there was any. He dipped it a couple of times then started to fish around in the dirt to find his nuggets I guess. Then he dumped it out and did another bucket. That's what made me smile. If they did have any gold, its in the river now. They might have gotten their samples down where those people filed that 160 acre claim. From what I have heard of that place, the gold is very fine stuff. They drilled the well there, then capped it. Nothing going on yet. They maybe just trying to sell the thing. Who knows.
Phillip feeling better today. He had a touch of stomach bug or something. Had to pick him up some yogurt. That stuff seems to work wonders on a queazy gut. Whatever it was, I didn't get it this time. We have both had it a time or two before. He claims it was the watermelon but he ate some he packed in our lunch with out any problem.
Killed that darn big wolfy spider the other day and got another this AM in the bathroom. I'm not afraid of spiders as a rule but we have some nasty ones down here and if they are not daddy longlegs, they die.
I downloaded a new game the other day called " Jane Angel Templar Mystery" another hidden objects game. Haven't had time to try it yet but now I think I will cut this off and try it.
Granny.

More flowers.

This is a shrub. Don't know the name but flowers smell devine, unless too many are around, then they tend to be overpowering.

Indian paintbrush in this high meadow. Funny how this flower seems to be in all the western states I have been in. I wonder if it grows east of the Mississippi as well.

I think this is a thistle poppy that hasn't gotten around to blooming yet. The foliage looked interesting, so I took a picture of it. Just a pattern thing for me.

Took these a while back. Haven't taken many since. Phillip has taken some down at the river. Speaking of the river, we might go down tomorrow after we do the laundry. It has got hot again and I like it down there where it's a whole lot cooler.

Phillip just finished a walking stick that is just crazy. Have to get a picture of it. You'll laugh your head off. I did when I first saw it.

Phillip is having a fit again because the birds ate a lot of the new cuke plants. Had to get some netting to cover them until they get bigger then the birds will leave them alone. A snake got tangled up in the bird netting he had over the tomatoes. Damn thing died and it was so tangled up in the net he had to cut it out. Ruined a big part of the netting. Blasted thing. He may not have pig problems but a whole lot of other critters to vex him now. Like I always say, " It's a great life if you don't weaken."

Granny.

Hey Virginia, I saw your nasty-gram in facebook and figured I had better try to get on the blog again. This time it worked. I will be checking in from now on. Gindy

Up to and including.

Maybe.... but then again...who knows?

Ohhhh so true. I can attest to that thought.

Granny

Getting off of the couch!

Well I'm settled in and preparing for the fall semester!  I'm splitting my time with some R&R and class prep.  This may be the last summer I have off in the foreseeable future, especially if I can get some funding for summer research projects.  In light of this I'm trying to make the most of this summer, so that I do not look back on it with a shoulda/coulda/woulda mentality.  So I have been picking up the slack on the domestic front as far as cleaning, laundry and such so when the weekend rolls around we can git' out of town!

Two weekends ago the in-laws flew into Montana from Ohio.  They have never been to Montana and they do not really have much experience in outdoor activities.  Steph and I figured we would give them their first taste of the outdoors by going to Yellowstone Nat. Park.  They could see really cool geology and perhaps see some wild animals they have never seen before.  The hope is that they would really like it and want to come back for more outdoor awesomeness.

In addition to the Yellowstone plans we hoped that our folks could meet up.  Ma and Pa drove down from Noxon to hang out with us in Bozeman.  That was a lot of fun!  Our parents had never met before so it was a treat for everybody to visit with each other.  After a half day and a morning hanging out in Bozeman we split up with Ma and Pa and headed into the park.

We were prepared for rough weather but we didn't expect snow.  We got a dusting at Old Faithful.

At Mammoth Springs a dusting turned into an accumulation.  We didn't see much wildlife either.  I believe my mother-in-law thinks I'm a fibber as she said to me "Jason, where are these elk you told me about? I thought you said there were moose in Yellowstone?"

 I had to think fast "ahh... uhhh.. er... well you see elk are only found during times when the indian paintbrush flowers and it is a bit too early in the season for that.   As for moose they are primarily nocturnal creatures, they use their big nose as a sonar device to locate swamp plants at night for feeding."  The look on her face gave me the impression that she didn't buy my explanations.  I'm finding out that just because a person has a Ph.D. doesn't mean they can easily fool people.


The Sunday before Memorial Day the in-laws were bound for Cleveland.  Steph had Monday off and we decided that rather than be bumps on a log (or dents in the couch cushions) we would get out and do a half-day car trip.  The original plan was to check out a nearby wildlife preserve north of Billings.  That plan was successful in that we saw way more critters than the entire time we were in YNP.  We saw a pheasant, antelope (one of which being chased by a coyote), golden eagle, elk and a long billed curlew.  These long billed curlews are some weird looking birds long billed curlews   However, after driving through the "wildlife refuge" we started to think that it was just one long strip of open field.  We didn't see the whole area, perhaps the parts we didn't see are more scenic.  Steph noticed that we were close to the Little Snowy Nat. Forest.  I had no idea that Billings had any national forest area this close north of town so we decided to check it out.  It wasn't super spectacular but it was pretty neat to drive around and check it out.

We had so much fun a week ago that we decided to take another trip.  The Beartooth Hwy. opened up this past weekend so we went for a drive up there.  I took a boatload of pics but here are a couple of my favorites.

Ran out of weekend again.

You sure as heck won't lose sight of me if I walk behind a fence post.

Oh how I wish.

He may have got away the first time but I got him when he came back. One less spider in my bedroom now.

And pity all who don't believe it.

Granny