Five Recent Photos

Well, it’s been months and months since I’ve written any blog posts.

I started a new job in August as the Secretary at our local elementary school. My commute is easy, but lengthy, and my job is busier than my previous job, which means overall, I have much less free time! Also, I spend pretty much my whole day at work staring at a computer screen, and I don’t really want to add more screen time when I get home. So, motivating myself to blog has been tough! But, as always, I’ve come back around because I do miss the outlet of writing.

I thought I’d start with a simple post. My idea was to post the last five photos I took on my phone, and write a bit about them. Here goes!

Above is a photo from a run I went on with Abby and Harvey. I’m not training for anything specific these days, but still getting out for short runs of 3-4 miles. The dogs always love to go!

The angle of this photo is kind of weird, but this was our Thanksgiving feast!

We hosted my parents for Thanksgiving, who were visiting from Iowa. They were here for about a week, and it while it was a pretty low-key visit, it was nice to catch up and spend time together. I don’t see my family very often, since I live in Montana and they live in Iowa.

Jeff and I cooked the Thanksgiving meal. We were pretty traditional for the most part, but we spatchcocked and grilled our turkey with southwest seasoning and wood chips. It took some time, but it was DELICIOUS! We used THIS RECIPE for Smokey Spatchcocked Turkey from Cooking Light. Actually, the November Issue of CL was more or less our Thanksgiving Bible/Menu. We also served mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted brussels sprouts with cranberries and walnuts, homemade stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, and crusty bread. I was really excited about cooking the meal. Everything was from scratch, except for the bread. I probably should be embarrassed to admit that I have never actually made mashed potatoes, gravy, or stuffing before, so that was all new to me and I was really happy with how they turned out!

We also had (unpictured) pumpkin pie, which I also made from scratch. So satisfying to bake a pie from scratch! I use THIS CLASSIC PUMPKIN PIE recipe from Bon Appetit, and a standby crust recipe that I use a lot. Seriously, if you’ve never made a pie, start with pumpkin because it is truly very easy. You can purchase a ready-made crust if you’re not confident in your abilities to make one from scratch, or if you don’t have time.

We went for a run on Thanksgiving morning, too! It was me, all three dogs, and Jeff. You can see in this and the earlier photo that I got to sport my blaze orange vest… During hunting season, I wear one every time I run. There are enough extra people around that it just feels safer to wear one even if I’m not hunting.

Ok, so I didn’t take this photo… I downloaded it from a friend’s facebook post. I’ve been thinking a

lot lately about the diversity of the town I grew up in, Ames, IA. You wouldn’t think of central Iowa

as being a very diverse place, but as a university town, there were people from all over the world

living in Ames. The university family housing was within my elementary school district, too, so I had

many classmates of a wide variety of ethnicities and religions in my classes. I feel tremendously

lucky for the perspective on world cultures and people that having such diversity in my school gave

me.

When I was in Elementary School, our school district decided that the break from school that

happened in the winter between the Christian holiday of Christmas and New Years would no longer

be called “Christmas Break,” but would be renamed “Winter Break.” I distinctly remember one of my

friends, who was Jewish, saying that she felt happier and more included at school just because of a

simple name change.

When I saw this post on my friend’s FB feed, I remembered that time in Elementary school when a

simple name change made a lot of people feel more welcome at school. I couldn’t agree more with

the bottom line, referring to the thought that, while I believe in and celebrate Christmas, I recognize

that there are a great many people in the world who celebrate other holidays in the winter, or none at

all, and I respect them, too, and wish them warm greetings regardless of their religion.

Finally, this photo is from the day the Bobcats beat the Grizzlies in football. Many of you know that

my Montana family are big Bobcat fans. The Cats were definitely the underdogs in this game, so it

was a big surprise to all of us that they won. A few of my family members decided to drive the flag

around town in celebration. All in good fun!

If I’m being honest, this is my least favorite game of the entire football season. I just don’t like how

people can become so antagonistic, on both sides. To me, even as a football fan and a Bobcat fan, the 

best part is just spending time with family. Nevertheless, I’m glad that the Bobcats, who have had 

dismal season, will have something positive to take into the off season and hang their hats on.

How have the rest of you been? Hopefully you’re all in good health and happiness!

Thanksgiving Roundup

We spent Thanksgiving in Bozeman with Jeff's family, including our new nephew, and stayed after the holiday for some Bobcat sporting events. It was an exciting and eventful time, so I'm going to take this post to give you the Roundup of all our activities!

We arrived in town on Wednesday evening and went more or less straight to Katie and Josh's house so we could see them and meet our new nephew, Brandon!


Jeff and I love him so much, already! He is a perfect little peanut and we're so excited to be a new Aunt and Uncle! It was pretty fun to see him, meet him, hold him, and watch how much he changed and grew even in just the short four days or so that we were there.

Harvey traveled with us this time, too, and so he met Brandon as well. Harvey was good with him.  He was cautious and gentle, but more than anything he was sort of afraid and leery of the baby. He did sniff him occasionally, but if Brandon started crying, Harvey pretty much hid. He doesn't like loud noises. Too bad for Harvey, he's going to have to learn to deal because Brandon isn't going anywhere! :)

Wednesday evening we also decided to head downtown to the Pour House to take in Cat Chat. It's a fun radio call-in show, typically featuring heavily on the football team and their season's progress. This week, Coach Ash also brought a few players along, Alex Eekhoff and Odin Coe, and they all discussed Thanksgiving plans and the upcoming FCS Playoff game against South Dakota State. I've been to Cat Chat a couple of other times and it's always fun. Cool to see the players and Coach relaxed and having a good time.

Alex Eekhoff, Coach Rob Ash, the radio guy who's name I don't know, and Odin Coe.
Photo by Carol.

 The next morning, Jeff and I participated in Huffing for Stuffing, the local Thanksgiving Day fun runs for charity. Stay tuned for a full race recap of the event coming soon on the blog!

Me and Jeff, after completing HFS.

 The rest of Thursday was spent at Katie and Josh's house. We helped Carol prepare Thanksgiving diner and enjoyed eating a great and lovely feast with family. Sadly, I have no photos, but it was really nice. I also got a call in to my parents and brother in Iowa, and it was so nice to catch up with them, too! Jeff and I are looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks when they visit us around Christmas time.

 Friday, Jeff and I spent some time taking Harvey to some of his favorite parks in town. He's almost never on a leash at our house, so being on a leash here in Bozeman seems to stress him out quite a bit. We did find a few off-leash parks where Harvey could roam more freely, and he did great!

Gotta love a running Vizsla!

One of our favorite games to play with Harvey is something we call back-and-forth, where Jeff and I spread out a ways and then say, "Go Get Mom!" or "Go Get Dad!" and he runs to whichever one of us we've called, back and forth, for a while. It's good to get him to sprint, and he loves to run! That's what we were doing in the above photo.  The next several photos are from a big off-leash park on the edge of town, in the foothills of the Bridgers.


These are all still shots, but I promise Harvey did his fair share of running and romping around with other dogs!

I love the views of town and the mountains you can see from this park. It's a nice place to be!

Friday evening, the Bobcat Men's Basketball team had a home game, so Jeff, Tom, and I went over to the arena to watch them play. It was their first home game of the season and the first home game for new Head Coach Fish.
 The game was awesome! The Cats played really well offensively, and scored a TON of points, including lots of threes. It was exciting and fun to watch. The final score was 104-81, Cats won.
I will admit, however, that we three were a bit distracted by the Bobcat Football players who had come in to watch the game, too. Specifically, we were focused on Quarterback Dakota Prukop who had missed a few games this season with a sprained MCL. We spotted him in the student section wearing his knee brace and spent much of the game checking in on him and the other players, trying to somehow divine whether or not he'd be playing in Saturday's playoff game against South Dakota State. You can see him right above Champ's bicep, in the gray and green sweatshirt.

Saturday morning before the game, Jeff and I again took Harvey to the dog park to try to wear him out a bit. It was there that I spotted this next unforgettable image, which I took as a sure sign of an upcoming Bobcat Victory over the SDSU Jackrabbits:

A Bobcat carrying a jackrabbit in it's mouth!

Just kidding. I found this photo online. But, I still thought it was cool!

 The weather in the morning was still pretty awesome. When we went to the dog park, it was 47 degrees and sunny, but by the time we left the dog park it had dropped ten degrees and had become very windy. The cold front had started to move in.

By the time of kickoff for our 2:00 p.m. football game, it had dropped down to 20 degrees and was snowing hard. This was the scene at kickoff:

This photo is proof that we're no fair-weather fans!

Jeff and I filed into the stadium in time to hear the starting lineups announced. When they announced Prokop was indeed starting at Quarterback, the stadium erupted into happy cheers! Without him, we didn't think we'd have a chance to beat SDSU, but with him playing, we thought it could be done.

By the end of the game, the temperature had fallen all the way down to 4 degrees and it snowed the entire game. Nevertheless, the game was very exciting, with many great plays by both teams. Dakota Prukop played really well, despite not being 100% mobile on his banged up knee. He proved once and for all that he was the starting QB all season long (before his injury) for a very good reason and showed that he was a very effective pocket passer, which, thanks to his excellent mobility heretofore, fans had not seen much of. Our running backs played well, too, and our receivers made some very excellent clutch catches. Unfortunately, the SDSU offensive attack was too much for our defense to hold off and the Cats fell by a score of 47-40. They had a great last-ditch effort in the final quarter, but couldn't quite get it done. So, our season of Bobcat Football is over.

Jeff and I stayed through to the bitter, cold end of the game. Then we stayed and watched the men sing the school song in the end zone, and then watched and cheered them back into the tunnel into the locker room. We were trying to show our support and love for our team, but still felt sad and disappointed that it was all over. When you're a fan, you love your team, win or lose.

Looking on the bright side, however, I don't think very many people expected that this team, this year, would even make it into the playoffs when the season began, but they did. This was supposed to be a building year, and it was a building year in a lot of ways. Jeff and I are already looking forward to next year, when we'll be even better. Prukop still has a couple years left at QB and he's only going to get better. He said it best in his post-game interview on Saturday, "I feel sorry for whoever we play first next year." It's gonna be awesome!

Sunday morning, we were sad to say goodbye to Brandon and Josh and Katie, but also ready to be home. We have no travel planned for quite some time. I'm looking forward to the peacefulness and still of winter.

Weekend Roundup!

We had a busy and varied weekend this past weekend, so I thought I'd give you all a brief roundup of the activities!

This was a Bozeman weekend for us, as the Bobcats were at home for football against Portland State. Jeff and I attended the game with friends and family, as usual. Carol snapped this awesome picture of a bunch of us before the game:

Jeremy & Jacynta, Josh & Katie, Jeff and Me
Photo Credit goes to Carol.

The Cats won the game, the weather was great, and we had a nice time. It's always good to spend time with our Bozeman friends and family. We're also really enjoying seeing Katie, my sister-in-law, so frequently as she's nearing the term of her pregnancy. Now, we're just a few weeks away from her due-date! So excited to welcome our nephew to the world very soon!!!

There's just one more regular-season home game left for the Cats, against Idaho State next weekend. After playing Idaho State at home, the Cats will travel to Missoula for the annual Cat/Griz rivalry game.  If the Cats win at least one of the next two games, they should at least be on the bubble for the post-season. If they win both, they should be a lock for the playoffs. We shall see! Neither of their remaining two games will be easy, so we're hoping they can stay sharp and play tough and that we'll see them in the post-season. Go Bobcats!

Saturday morning before the game, I wanted to get some fitness in. Whenever we travel, I always try to be on the lookout for 5Ks and races that I can participate in. This weekend, the Big Sky Wind Drinkers Running Club held a Turkey Trot predictor race. The idea is that you try to predict the time you'll finish the run in--and you can't bring a watch or phone or anything to pace yourself. They had three distances to choose from: 1.3 miles, 2.7 miles, or 4.4 miles. Odd distances, again, to try to make it tougher to guess your time.  To top it off, the courses were hilly, which makes it even tougher to predict times. The three closest people to their predicted time in each distance would win TURKEYS to use for Thanksgiving dinner!

There were about 20 people there, total. Only four people signed up for the 4.4 mile distance, which is the one I did. I was the only female at that distance, and had the slowest predicted time by about ten minutes. I thought about changing to one of the shorter races, just so that people wouldn't have to wait on me to finish, but then stuck to my guns. Since I new the course would be pretty hilly, I predicted a time of 42 minutes. I would have been pretty close, but I had to take a pit-stop during the run to go to the bathroom (who organizes a fun run with no potty access pre-race?!), which probably accounted for the extra time. I finished in 44 minutes. I was the absolute last person to finish at any distance, but I didn't feel bad about my time. In fact, I felt really strong throughout the run, even with some really mondo hills. The guy who guessed his time in the 4.4 mile bracket was within 6 seconds, so it was unlikely I would have been any closer to my time than he was to his, anyway.

All the participants of the Turkey Trot Fun Run, with Bozeman's beautiful Bridger Mountains in the background.

But guess what?! My Adam family tradition of winning door prizes at fun runs and races struck again and I won a turkey anyway, thanks to the random drawing of names of all participants! This is seriously a thing in my family-- we win door prizes. It's uncanny, but cool. One time, between my brother and I, we won over $100 in cash and prizes from another small-town fun run, just to name another example. So, even though I didn't guess my time, I still won a turkey for Thanksgiving! Awesome!!!

Winner, winner!

The best part of the event was simply how encouraging and friendly everyone there was. Even as I held up the show by finishing much later than everyone else, they were lined up at the finish line cheering me on. They were all very welcoming, even though I wasn't a member of their running club. That's what running and racing is all about. A couple of them told me-- "You'll be back!" and they're probably right!

Sunday, the day after the run and the Bobcat game, Jeff and I got up early for the 5 hour drive home. We were intending to be back on the Hi-Line in time for a baby shower I was supposed to go to that afternoon. However, Mother Nature had different plans. The weather system we weren't expecting until overnight on Sunday arrived early-- by mid-day. So, we had to beg out on the baby shower fun and get home to tend to our livestock.

We made it home by mid-afternoon, changed into warm layers, then headed over to Tom and Carol's place, where the herd and corrals are. I felt bad about ditching our friends who still braved weather and crumby roads to go to the baby shower, but this was the right thing to do. The cows had been bunkered into the side of a coulee bank down by the creek, but when they heard us drive into the yard they came running in to the corrals. It was quite a sight to see them charging in at full-tilt from the creek. They were definitely happy to see me and Jeff!

Here's a whole bunch of our cows, waiting to be served some straw to bed in and snack on.

We laid down some straw bedding for them to stay warm as the temperature dipped and the snow drove sideways, and swung some gates so they could get in to the corrals to access running water (AKA- water that wouldn't freeze in sub-zero temperatures). We also fed the bulls a bale of hay. I helped by swinging gates, keeping cows where they were supposed to be, and driving tractor a bit. The cows were very glad to see us, and for the straw. They don't eat straw like they do hay, but they'll munch on it a bit. It's mostly to keep warm and dry. Today, Monday, Jeff went back over and fed them some hay bales.  Truthfully, our cows are pretty spoiled and don't forage much after snow falls-- they're used to being fed hay bales in bad weather. What can I say? We love our animals!

Even though it was snowy and cold, Abby and Harvey were happy to run around in the snow and play outside!

 Abby was so excited to see us that she jumped up on me when I tried to take her photo. She was in her element running around and playing in the snow. She was so happy!

Harvey was having fun, too, but he made it pretty obvious when he was ready to climb back into the tractor or pickup. We left our house in a pretty big hurry, so we forgot to grab his special cold-weather coat. Really, in 15 degrees, wind, and snowfall, I can't blame him for not loving the outdoors. He still got some play-time in though-- he wrestled with Abby, sprinted around in the snow, and chased a few cottontails.

Winter weather has hit Montana. I'm glad for the long fall of warm temperatures and nice days, but now I'm also really looking forward to skiing and snowshoeing. Winter means bundling up all the time, being prepared for icky driving conditions, more livestock chores, but it can also be a wonderful time if one is prepared. I'm excited to get into some winter running and winter recreation!

What were you up to this weekend?

The Next Farm Family Of The Year?

Someone nominated this photo and our family for the CHS Farm Family of the Year contest--


The photo was taken during harvest, about two months ago or so.
Front row (L to R): Josh, Harvey, Katie, and Jeff.
Second row, on top of the truck (L to R): Me (in the hat), Stennie, Carol, and Tom.

I don't know who submitted the photo and nominated us for this. I'm guessing it was Carol, but who knows! :)

If you want to give us a vote, CLICK HERE to re-route to the Facebook page that is sponsoring the contest. Last I checked, we were in second place, so we could really use your vote!

If we win, we get a trip to the final home Bobcat game of the season and we get recognized (on the field during the game, maybe?) as the Farm Family of the Year! Pretty cool, huh? Show us some love and click on over to FB and give us a vote! Thanks! :)

Calving Prep

Can you find Jeff in this photo?
Also, I'm starting to get to the point where I remember some cows from year to year-- that lighter colored cow with the small white star on her forehead is one of my favorites. 

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time with Jeff and Tom working with the cows and getting ready for calving to begin in earnest. As of now, we actually have four calves so far. I posted about the first calf two posts ago, and in case you missed it, CLICK HERE to read up on the first newbie of the year. Since that first calf was born on February 13, we have had two more cows give birth. One of them had twins, so we've had four calves out of three cows so far.

That white-faced calf was our first one.
The really small looking calf that's kind of behind her is one of the twins.

We spent several hours yesterday taking care of last minute preparations before calving really begins in earnest. First, we tagged the three calves who hadn't been tagged yet and sent the pairs out to the big pen. This was done primarily so they'd be out of the way of the rest of the herd who has yet to calve. Plus, now they have more space.

Getting ready to give this calf its new tag!  Just like getting an ear pierced.

My favorite photo of the day. This little calf was born most recently. She is my new pal. She let me pet for quite a long time and just leaned into me while I was doing it, like a dog would. She was very sweet, and her mama did not care at all. 

Then we separated the cows into three groups: 1) Older Cows, 2) Young cows and heifers/first-time calvers, and 3) Late-calvers, or those who look like they will be in the second cycle of calving births. This helps with feeding and checking. Generally, the younger cows get a little better feed, and since they are younger or are calving for the first time, they are more likely to need assistance. The Older Cow group will still get walked through regularly (several times a day and once or twice at night, just like the first-timers), but they are a little less likely to need assistance unless the calf comes breach, or something else comes up. Once the cows have had a calf, after that they seem to remember what they're doing. The late-calver pen will still get walked through, but not probably as often as the first two I've mentioned.

Once we separated the cows into groups, we laid out A LOT of straw bedding for the animals to lay down in. With the weather turning cold, they certainly appreciate some extra warm straw!

Cows aren't the only animals who love new straw! Harvey could not stop rolling in it! 

Then it was time to feed bales in each of the pens. Pregnant cows go through hay pretty quickly. I wonder if any of them have any strange cravings?  Peanut butter and pickles? Mayonnaise and chocolate? More likely they want just the right mix of alfalfa and grass in their bale... Who knows. :)

Mmm... tasty, tasty hay! This is the young-cow/heifer pen.

Our official due date is March 1 but there are always some who go early.  Right now, there are some cows that look like they could go at any time. Because of this, and because of the very cold overnight temperatures we've been having lately, last night was the first night Jeff and I stayed at his parents' house so Jeff could go out for night checks. I usually help function as his alarm clock- making sure he gets out of bed the first time it rings. I'll also try to stay at least semi-lucid until he gets back so that if there's a problem, I can be ready to help.

Which of these ladies will be next?!

For now, we'll keep checking and making the rounds through the pens. It may seem like annoying chore or waste to go out at night when we aren't having any calves right at the moment, but with the weather so cold (below zero over night temperatures) we would hate to not check and go out on the morning to find a newborn calf who froze to death. It's a lot of work this time of year, but it's also very fun and very rewarding.

PS- Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed my previous post-- the 200th Post (Observed)! That post had great response and quickly skyrocketed into the 6th most-viewed post I have done. It's only out of 5th place by one pageview! Thanks, everyone, for being faithful readers! I appreciate it!

Bobcat T-Shirt Quilt

A few posts ago, I had mentioned that I was enjoying some much needed time at home after a very busy fall and had used my time to catch up on some projects around the house.  One such project being a quilt.

And... this is where I've just lost most of my male readers. This post probably won't have anything to do with farming, sports, or anything manly at all. There's my disclaimer.  If you don't want to read about the first quilt I ever completed, that's fine with me-- Go ahead and leave. I'm sure there's a Bowl Game on TV.  ;)

As I was saying... Yes, this quilt was the first quilt I have ever completed start to finish. I do have a quilt top that is complete that I pieced back when I was living in Jackson (several years ago). It just needs to be backed, quilted, and bound.  I also have another quilt top in progress that I have been working on off-and-on for several years as well.  But this recent project makes me feel good because for once I actually FINISHED a quilt. And, it took me less than six months to do it!

This quilt is a T-Shirt quilt. Many of you have probably seen one of these before-- they're quite popular. The idea is nothing new.  The inspiration and theme for this quilt came about when Jeff informed me that our beloved Montana State Bobcats (Ok, you caught me-- there IS a Sports mention in this post!) would be updating their logo marketing.  We decided it would be a really cool gift idea to gather a bunch of shirts together with the old logo and work them into a quilt.  We also decided the best recipient of the quilt would be Carol, Jeff's mom, as she is possibly the biggest Bobcat fan we know. Or at least the most unabashed.

The idea came about in mid-July. Given my track record of, well, incomplete quilts, I decided that a deadline of Christmas would hopefully give me enough time.  The fact that I was sharing the plan and timeline with others gave me some much-needed accountability, too, which I think was absolutely critical to not only finishing the project but getting it done on time.

Favorite Moment #1: This woolen pennant, an idea taken from a quilt my Mom gave me, was appliqued onto the quilt front. Right above is a t-shirt piece featuring the MSU Fight Song.

 After the decision on who would receive the quilt was made, it was time to start gathering t-shirts. This had to be done with some secrecy since Carol can be hard to fool. I found a few shirts in my drawer and convinced Jeff to part with a few of his.  Josh and Katie (Jeff's sister and her husband) rounded up many several of their shirts and gave them to me over a football weekend this past fall. Tom had the trickiest time of all of us, and had to wait for a weekend when Carol was out of town to go through his drawers. He said he had to find some that he knew she wouldn't notice being gone.  It must have worked because as far as I know, she never mentioned any missing t-shirts.

Favorite Moment #2: The small piece in the lower center of this image is a wonderful vintage graphic from one of Tom's shirts.

The main guide and inspiration for this quilt was a very similar quilt my Mom made for me out of a stack of old Iowa State T-shirts.  She had mentioned to me that she stabilized the t-shirt material with fusible interlining on the back. A brilliant idea because then the t-shirts don't stretch and they can be worked and manipulated just like any woven quilting fabric.  I also borrowed her idea of stitching a large team flag on the reverse of the quilt.  My Mom was the person who first taught me to sew and first encouraged me to be creative with sewing-- one of the best gifts I have ever received. :)

Favorite Moment #3: I just liked this corner, with the log-cabin look of the way the strips ended up layering. Also shows the binding.

I wish I could say that I was really organized and followed some excellent instructions and executed brilliant planning sessions followed by diligent hard work. In reality, I made the whole thing up as I went along. I'm nothing if not resourceful. Most of the fabric used to supplement the t-shirt pieces was leftover scraps in my bin. I did supplement a bit with store-bought stuff, but not much. There's material from several other projects-- pot-holders, aprons, even some fabric from our wedding favors.  There was a lot of re-cutting pieces and trueing up edges to make straight seams.  Next time I will cut my t-shirt pieces much bigger- leaving room to chop off edges. You can see in some of the blocks that the logo got trimmed a bit in places. Oh well. Live and learn.

Favorite Moment #4: Mimicking the fadeout of the word Bobcats in the T-shirt graphic with gradiations of blue and gold fabrics.

I also had a bit of difficulty quilting the layers. I have never actually done any quilting of any kind before and tried a few different methods before ultimately deciding to use my sewing machine to strategically tack through all the layers. This was actually another trick I took from the quilt my Mom gave me.  In the end, I think it turned out great and saved a lot of time and hand-stitching.  I also opted to machine stitch the binding to save time and followed the instructions off an excellent sewing and quilting blog Cluck Cluck Sew.

Favorite Moment #5: Another delightful vintage graphic from Tom, met with a log-cabin style treatment around it.

Overall, I'm pleased with the final product. I love the colors-- it reminds me of stained glass. I'm really proud of myself for finishing a project. Most of all, the recipient was very pleased and touched.  Now, I already have plans to complete the other two quilts I've got started.  Perhaps I've caught the quilting bug... Just got to stick with it!

Finished quilt front

Finished Quilt Back

Overall, I think I used 25 t-shirts, 1 pair of gym shorts, a golf towel, a pennant, a team flag, and lots of time and hard work. Can't wait for the next project!

Good to be Home

For those of you who have been keeping track, I haven't made a post to the blog in 20 days. But who's keeping track, right? How much did you miss me?!  Actually, don't answer that.

I have missed writing, however. Between starting a new job and all the travel we have done over the past few weeks, there just hasn't been time. 

Most of our travel was football trips to Bozeman. The Bobcats finished the season in disappointing fashion, losing their last two games. They should have been better than they played. Sometimes even with a talented roster, there are intangibles that don't fall into place the right way. If you're asking my humble opinion (which you really probably shouldn't) it was all due to the DESTRUCTION sign on the back of the scoreboard.

From the moment I saw it, I did not like that sign. Bad JuJu, if you ask me. One look at it and I just had an inexplicable feeling that the destruction might be of us and not by us. I shudder to admit that my completely irrational, fleeting thought may have been right.  Ugh.

Anyway. We also traveled to Minot, ND about a week and a half ago for our most recent FUE Leadership Couples training, in conjunction with the North Dakota Farmers Union Convention. If you don't remember what the FUE thing is all about, catch up to speed by reading this post: Welcome to FUE!  It was so, so good to see our FUE friends again-- I wish we all lived closer!! It was so interesting to hear about all their respective harvests and farm projects, and also extremely enlightening to drive through western North Dakota. I'm hoping for another post soon with some more in-depth info on ND and the training we did.  As always, stay tuned.

Thanksgiving was low-key for Jeff and I as we traveled with Tom and Carol all the way to town (Rudyard) for dinner with some dear friends. We feasted and played silly board games all afternoon long. It was great to spend time with family and friends, even if it meant tearing my reclusive self away from the home I had been missing all month long due to incessant travel. 

Jeff and I have been giving considerable thought to the amount of time we have spent away from home this fall.  We are thinking pretty hard about letting our Bobcat Football season tickets go for next year. Before you judge us as fair-weather-fans feeling glum after a disappointing season, hear me out. Our future is here, on the Hi-Line, on the farm. We have spent so much time away, that we have come to feel like our priorities have not aligned with the way we have been spending our time. It would be one thing if Bozeman was close by, but it's a five hour drive. Not exactly a day trip. When you're always gone, you just can't get as much done at home. I personally have declined to join the Christmas Cantata this year because I just couldn't justify spending another several hours away from home when that was often my only time of the weekend to do laundry or cleaning or anything else around the house. The underlining theme to our ongoing conversation is that it takes much community involvement to keep activities alive and rural areas thriving.  When it comes down to it, we feel like we have been spending too much time away from the community that is our home.  The decision has not been made yet, but is definitely pending.

That is all why it was so good this weekend to Just. Be. Home. I helped Jeff a bit with cow chores this morning and also did some garden maintenance. I have felt so disconnected from the farm lately, so it was nice to do something productive in the yard, even if only for a short while. 

Harvey looking on as I pulled dead plants and hoed the raised beds.

Added a bit of compost and raked through the soil.
Should have asked the hubby for a layer of straw over the top I suppose.

Jeff, Harvey and Abby, wrestling in the grass. Good to be home!

I hope you all had a  fabulous Thanksgiving. I am Thankful for Home. 

Early Fall Roundup, 2013

As I have alluded to in previous posts, a lot has happened in September and early October. I decided it was time for a general Roundup of all the goings-on, complete with photos.  With all the photos and randomness of this post, it could get a little long. Nevertheless... Enjoy!

I also wanted everyone to know that I did adjust the comments settings for the blog, so I think it will be easier for people to leave comments if they want to.  (Be kind!)

First event in the Roundup is Fall Seeding.

Not my best photo, but Jeff is actually standing on the platform of the air drill, which is directly behind the semi trailer, while it is filling with seed.  Bad angle. 

Again this year we seeded winter wheat. Early fall precipitation was bountiful, which generally makes seeding winter wheat an easy decision.  This year, the majority of the winter wheat we seeded was planted on Tom and Carol's land, and also on some CRP Jeff and I are seeding on our leased-ground for the first time.  Already the crop has sprouted well for Tom and Carol.

Second Event in the Roundup: Travel to the Tetons

Mt. Moran as the clouds lifted on a September morning.

I met my mom in Grand Teton National Park (obviously this was before Government Shut-Down) for a few days of photography adventures and light hiking.  The fall weather was warm and beautiful.  Wildlife and colorful scenery was abundant.

The photographer and the understudy!  

September was a great time to be in the parks because the elk herd was in full rut. Our lodging for the weekend was in the cabins at Jackson Lake Lodge, which was ideal for early morning walks listening to bugling elk in the valley.  The next two photos are actually of the same elk, that I saw while driving back north through Yellowstone at the end of the weekend.

This is his "Blue Steel" expression. 

Many of you know that my husband is an avid hunter. The joke of the weekend was that yes, we did indeed "shoot" multiple elk... with our cameras! Har har har...  This bull elk was just posing for the camera, however. In the height of the summer tourist season, he would have created an insurmountable traffic jam. On this cool, drizzly fall day, however, the park was pretty empty, which allowed a more prolonged, more relaxed viewing.

Section Two Point Five of the Roundup: A Wedding
Regrettably, I took very few photos at the wedding of our friends Skyler and Deitra, which was the evening of the same day I shot those elk in Yellowstone.  I did, however, stealth this great photo of Tom and Carol dancing at the reception...


Third event in the Roundup: Chicago
We went to Chicago a few days after I was in GTNP/YNP.  We were minus my mom, but the group at one point included me, Jeff, Katie, Josh, Tom, Carol, my dad John, and my brother Ryan, and Ryan's lovely girlfriend, Marissa. We took in two Cubs vs. Braves baseball games at beautiful Wrigley Field, celebrated Tom's 60th birthday at Tommy Gun's Garage (a delightfully hokey mobster themed dinner theater event), watched the Bears beat the Steelers at a classic Chicago sports bar, visited museums and toured the city.  Somehow I managed to take zero photos.

Event Four: Bobcat Football

Jeff and I before the Gold Rush season opener.

As we have the past two seasons, we again have season tickets for Bobcat Football, which means we are travelling to Bozeman for as many home games as we can.  We made it to the first game of the season back in August (above photo), missed the second home game in September (because we were at the aforementioned wedding in Helena), and took in the third home game, Homecoming, this past Saturday (photo below). As always, it's great to reconnect with family in Bozeman, cheer on the Bobcats, and enjoy gameday atmosphere.  We have three more regular season home games this year, and hopefully home playoff game(s) to follow in December! Go Cats!

Katies love Bobcats!
Special Thanks to Tom Bangs for allowing me to borrow his vintage Bobcat hat!!! 

And now for the Odds and Ends...

Evening walks with Harvey tend to yield excellent photo ops.  This photo was taken last week of a pair of antelope engaged in what looked to my uneducated study as a courtship dance. Photo was taken on my phone and again really isn't that great, but we spent several minutes watching these two speedily chase each other around the stubblefield directly across from the house.  Harvey has learned that he can't catch antelope and so did not try to chase them, but he did watch very intently.  The parlays and retreats were like a fencing match.  It was fascinating. In this case, between a buck and a doe, the point was not a battle to the death, but I was reminded all the same of Shakespearean sword fights.  My mind narrated the scene in iambic pentameter. 

And speaking of literature...

This book, Wild, by Cheryl Strayed is one that I recently completed. It is the pass-around book du jour, I am certain, among many circles. I also hear it is to be made into a movie soon starring Reese Witherspoon. All the more reason to read it as soon as you can! It is a memoir by the author, detailing her adventures hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.  I finally read it after many recommendations by friends and family. I think the biggest compliment I can give this book is that I came to feel like Cheryl was my old friend. I found myself thinking of her as she thought of her hiking pack, Monster, like someone who was with me wherever I went.  I would think to myself, "Time to check in on Cheryl," and then devour another fifty page chunk of the book.  I was sad when the book was over and now I feel like I want to call her up as if she is one of my long lost friends, and just chat.  She really bared all in the book and it is truly a remarkable story. If you haven't yet, read it now. Or, kindly ask my sister in law and perhaps she'll pass it on to you when she's finished with the copy I received from my Mom, and the chain of strong women who preceded her in reading it.

On the docket for this afternoon is working cows. I'll try to sneak in a photo hear and there and hopefully a blog post on the event later this week.