This last winter was LOOOONNNGG!! Meaning it didn't want to end! We had what seemed to be more days below 0* than previous winters. And it just wouldn't warm up! Because we had such a long winter and because last year was a tough one for me and my family, we decided we needed some change in scenery. So like many people that live in the north, we decided to go south.
We purchased a motor home. Mapped out a route that would hopefully get us quickly to the coastline of Oregon so that we could then meander down the coast and into California. The motor home we found was perfect, if not old. It is an '86. In good condition too, except for the hot water heater that had a huge hole in it. Nothing some welding wouldn't fix. ($80) and a tune up ($150). And of course the gas mileage of 7mpg. Yep, perfect. I set to work inside, making sure it was all clean and packing it up.
We only had the motor home, which from here on out I will simply refer to as the "shasta" because that's what it is and it's quicker to type, for one week before we left on the trip. Two days before we left, the previous owner called my husband to tell him there "may" be a mouse in there. I had already cleaned the camper very well and packed it up and saw no sign of a mouse anywhere. But to be on the safe side, my sweet patient husband, knowing I would not ride quietly if there "may" be a mouse on board, bought some traps and set them in the dark recesses of the Shasta. The next day we found out that there was infact a mouse, but now dead. Whew!! Now we could take off with a sound mind!
We were a little slow on the take off but eventually got to my daughters house and dropped off the dogs, for which we were so thankful they were willing to babysit the furry kids for us. Hours later, not quite making our planned destination we stayed at a place called Coyote Run RV park. As my husband went into secure a spot for the night, my son and I were in the Shasta stretching our legs and he says to me, "Mom, I hear something. It's like a squeak". I got over to where he thinks he hears something and yep, there's alittle squeak. I mention that there was a mouse prior to us leaving but it was taken care of and just incase, the traps were left and still empty. So it was most likely the tree outside the Shasta rubbing on the side of it.
We set up in our spot, had dinner and settled down for some relaxation then bed time. As we start to nod off, I am informed by my son that there is a mouse running around in the roof, he could hear the scurrying. I listened and yes there was a scurrying sound. He pounds the roof and that mouse was not in the least bit scared because he just kept on scurrying around. I tried to ignore it. My son tried to ignore it. My husband was snoring. But it was so hard to ignore! One, it was right over my son's bed!! He was about 2 feet from the ceiling, which is hard to ignore. Then that mouse brought a friend. And that friend brought another. They were having a ripping party in our Shasta!! And they were heading toward our end of the Shasta!! This was getting hard to ignore. So my son thought he'd sleep in a chair instead. Of course my son and I kept discussing things and moving around and my husband isn't snoring anymore. We woke him up. Oops. I told his it was an infestation and we had to do something about this! I couldn't travel with little Mickey and pals all over the country!! Then my sweet and patient man told me if we were going to be like this he would turn the Shasta around and we were going home! I told him that was not nice. Sleep deprivation is a hard thing on all of us...
After that conversation, my son is quiet, I am quiet and my husband is snoring. Then I think this is silly. I should be like a detective and observe the situation. (it was by this time 2am.) I think, mice do not scurry endlessly. There hasn't been any other sign anywhere. And there couldn't not in all reality be this many mice.....so I lay there thinking all of this over.....hmmm.......I wonder.....
I roll over and open the window....sniff sniff.....hmmmm......open the screen, stick out my arm....and RAIN!! That's right!! RAIN!! All of that scurrying was rain!! Praise God it's rain!!! Oh hurray! I was going to get sleep after all! I call out to my son, "It's rain! The sound is rain! Not mice!! Just rain!!" He responds with a very firm, "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"
Next morning, he sheepishly says, "You know, now that I'm awake that makes sense. What were we thinking?" And so we survived the mouse infestation of Coyote Run. And that was only day one of our trip!! Ah good times :)
Monday, July 7, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
Little pieces of paper...
This morning as I was cleaning the kitchen and looking for a new home for my new food processor, thank you sweet husband, I came across an idea I had a year ago. It was a thankful jar. The idea was that every day there ought to be something you are thankful for, maybe a special blessing, maybe something that is there everyday and it just hit you how thankful you are for it or them. It didn't really even have to be added to daily - maybe just weekly or when you really had something to put in there. And as papers are added to the jar it fills up and at the end of the year you can see what God has been doing in your life. How He was there and worked in your days. I decided since it's the 30th of December, it was ok to sit and read through them.
The first thing I saw was how little contributions were in my jar. This isn't to say that there weren't a million things I was thankful for, it's just that I didn't write them down. I pulled out a few and started readying. Wow! It brought me to the moment I wrote them down. Some I had forgotten had happened and some I don't know what prompted me to write them.
It was for sure the hardest year I have had to go through. The passing of my dad in April was very difficult. And every "first" without him is very hard. I think that threw me off course a bit. Not away from God. No, I clung to Him with all I am!! But it set things in a motion that was not my usual course. Not as focused. Not on my game so to speak.
There were 2 entries from my husband, but no one else. I think even though it didn't gather the interest of others to participate, I may do it again. It's still a great idea. I still think it is important to remember where we have been, what God has done, how we have pulled through difficult parts of life. That helps us in where we are going and what is coming towards us. Those little pieces of paper helped me see in words what I felt this year. Yea...I'm going to try it again.
The first thing I saw was how little contributions were in my jar. This isn't to say that there weren't a million things I was thankful for, it's just that I didn't write them down. I pulled out a few and started readying. Wow! It brought me to the moment I wrote them down. Some I had forgotten had happened and some I don't know what prompted me to write them.
It was for sure the hardest year I have had to go through. The passing of my dad in April was very difficult. And every "first" without him is very hard. I think that threw me off course a bit. Not away from God. No, I clung to Him with all I am!! But it set things in a motion that was not my usual course. Not as focused. Not on my game so to speak.
There were 2 entries from my husband, but no one else. I think even though it didn't gather the interest of others to participate, I may do it again. It's still a great idea. I still think it is important to remember where we have been, what God has done, how we have pulled through difficult parts of life. That helps us in where we are going and what is coming towards us. Those little pieces of paper helped me see in words what I felt this year. Yea...I'm going to try it again.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I see a light...
OH MY! You just wouldn't believe it. I have been seeing a light. A light way up in the sky! The sun has been shinning for a few days now that and the fact that the temperature was above 32* makes the snow disappear! I can not fully express how happy that makes me. I LOVE THE SUN!!
I love the snow also, just not now. Snow really needs to arrive sometimes around Thanksgiving and leave by mid-March at the latest. It just isn't a natural thing to have so much cold...and white...and wet around one's self.
It isn't natural to have kids dress for Halloween if you are going to cover it up with snow clothes. And it just isn't natural to hide Easter eggs in the snow either.
Our first Easter in Montana we found ourselves in a 640sq.ft house we build in 3 months...all 4 of us! It was cozy for sure. And very easy to clean. But outside there was a good foot of snow on the ground! With no room inside to hide eggs, we decided to be good sports about the whole thing and hide them outside. So with kids waiting inside, we suited up and headed out with plastic filled eggs, to hide in the "playground area".
Now with nothing but white all around, colored eggs kind of stand out. We put a few in the trees by closing the eggs around little twigs and tried setting some around here and there. Eventually realizing that this is silly because you can see every single one of them, not to mention that you can see our foot prints leading to all of them.
So with a bit of frustration mounting, because I like to torture my kids by actually making them LOOK for eggs, not just automatically see them, I decided to just stay in one spot and throw them around. It worked much better!! Because not only were there no foot prints to follow, but when the eggs hit the soft snow they didn't break AND they sink a few inches, hiding them from sight. :D
I guess Easter is "do-able" with snow, but it just isn't the same as running around a nice big green yard, not freezing looking for eggs.
Of course now one of my kids is married and away and the other is 15 so I most likely won't be hiding any eggs this year...so I suppose it won't be an issue. But it would be nice to wear a dress come Easter Sunday.
Yeah...I love the sun!!
I love the snow also, just not now. Snow really needs to arrive sometimes around Thanksgiving and leave by mid-March at the latest. It just isn't a natural thing to have so much cold...and white...and wet around one's self.
It isn't natural to have kids dress for Halloween if you are going to cover it up with snow clothes. And it just isn't natural to hide Easter eggs in the snow either.
Our first Easter in Montana we found ourselves in a 640sq.ft house we build in 3 months...all 4 of us! It was cozy for sure. And very easy to clean. But outside there was a good foot of snow on the ground! With no room inside to hide eggs, we decided to be good sports about the whole thing and hide them outside. So with kids waiting inside, we suited up and headed out with plastic filled eggs, to hide in the "playground area".
Now with nothing but white all around, colored eggs kind of stand out. We put a few in the trees by closing the eggs around little twigs and tried setting some around here and there. Eventually realizing that this is silly because you can see every single one of them, not to mention that you can see our foot prints leading to all of them.
So with a bit of frustration mounting, because I like to torture my kids by actually making them LOOK for eggs, not just automatically see them, I decided to just stay in one spot and throw them around. It worked much better!! Because not only were there no foot prints to follow, but when the eggs hit the soft snow they didn't break AND they sink a few inches, hiding them from sight. :D
I guess Easter is "do-able" with snow, but it just isn't the same as running around a nice big green yard, not freezing looking for eggs.
Of course now one of my kids is married and away and the other is 15 so I most likely won't be hiding any eggs this year...so I suppose it won't be an issue. But it would be nice to wear a dress come Easter Sunday.
Yeah...I love the sun!!
Friday, March 23, 2012
A Day in the Life...
So life in Montana is not predictable. Well life in general is not predictable. But life in Montana is especially not predictable. Anything from weather to the events of any typical day.
For example, one day you can have anything from sun, clouds, rain, wind, snow and that can easily be in an hour!
Yesterday was really not what I planned. I was excited about staying home and just doing some amazingly, awesome things with my day. Here's how it went...
As usual the dogs had to go out and do their thing outside, when upon return, my dog. My own personal dog. My loving, chocolate eyed dog, golden retriever came in with a very guilty look. Upon further inspection, I discovered he had found something...dead! Not only by some disgusting something on the side of his neck, but also by a most unpleasant odor. (when I say unpleasant, I mean it pretty much makes you want to throw up!)
So while I called and called my sweet dog to come to me so I could clean him up, ( I say called and called, because he simply refused, which is not at all like him. Up til this point his main purpose in life has been to make me happy, which has been a wonderful arrangement, but he knew he was in for it) I asked my son to go outside and investigate and report back any findings.
Meanwhile, I proceeded to try to clean up the guilty party by giving him a bath. About 10 minutes later I get the report that indeed there is a dead deer in our yard, by our berry patch. Birds have been pecking at it. And it is not very old, perhaps a year, and has only been deceased for approximately 1-2 days. Don't ask how he seemed to know that, he just did.
So what did I do? I did what any Californian living in Montana would do? I called my husband who was down in Texas to help with the problem :) Ok, I just could think of anything else to do. Seriously! Usually I am a fairly good problem solver, but the thought of the dead deer in my yard, smelling things up,wild animals coming looking for it... just sort of stopped all brain function.
My husband was sweet as ever. He asked what do you want me to do? I'll save you our conversation and tell you that he decided to call his dad to come over and remove said animal. When my father in law arrived, carrying his gun (although I have no idea why, the deer most likely was not going to hop up and attack him) he had trouble locating the animal and required my assistance. So I grabbed my snow boots and a jacket and off we went. By the way, I was feeling very confident at this point in helping him with this terrible job.
My father in law agreed with my son in the analysis of said dead deer. That is was in fact only about a year old and only dead for 1-2 days and seemed quite healthy (prior to the death). Now I have to wonder, how in the world did my son know such things? Is this some kind of guy instinct? Is it somewhere in their DNA? Maybe I don't really want to know.
Well, my dad in law, said he would gladly take care of it, except that he doesn't have a truck. After a few minutes of thinking, I offered my husbands truck, after all it's just sitting there, I have the keys and I am sure he wouldn't mind....except... the animal could quite possibly leave blood in the bed of the truck.
Now I am again, not sure where my mind was. I was concerned that the blood in the bed of his truck would not be a good thing, after all I wouldn't want it in my vehicle. So to help me with my dilemma, he says, "perhaps we ought to get a tarp." Off I go to retrieve one. And start taking it to the deer, thinking, "well, if we want to keep the blood out of the truck bed, we might as well keep it from dripping all the way to the truck!" Makes perfect sense to me.
Now, if some of you are unfamiliar with what the woods are like. There are lots of little twig type things that stick out of the ground in the woods, making it extremely difficult to pull a deer on a tarp. In fact, the twigs will create many holes in your tarp and the deer will most likely just slide off. In which case it's best to disregard the trap, let your father in law drag the animal by the legs while you walk to get the truck dragging an empty tarp behind you.
So since I do not usually drive my husbands truck, I had to go find the keys, unlock it, start it to warm it up, because even though it is spring, it looks and feels very much like mid winter this March. (Oh and don't forget to unplug the engine warmer thingy, driving off with it plugged in would make your husband in Texas not very happy.)
I put the truck in reverse, so as to avoid driving into the garage, and could really hear the ice cracking under the truck. Wow! Not moving it for a few weeks the ice sure can build up!! Backing up, the ice was louder than usual, but the weather has been hard and cold and wet, makes a lot of ice you know!
I went down to the middle of the drive way where the deer was waiting his final trip and noticed my father in law walking up the driveway. He is so sweet to think about the tarp that I tossed to the side. At this point, I had already realized that my husband has had bloody animals in the back of his truck many times since he is a hunter and that surely he wouldn't mind this one. I decided if he really wanted to use the tarp I guess we would go ahead, because I'm real giving that way.
As I hopped out of the truck, I see him walking back down the driveway toward me with his gun. I guess he didn't want to use the tarp after all. When he got close he said, "You ran over my gun!" I did? Hmmm, maybe that was the sound I hear under the truck.
Of course I felt quit bad. I mean, I have heard men and their guns have a very special bond. Some even going as far as naming them some female name....maybe we shouldn't explore this bond right now. I apologized again and again. He said it seemed ok, maybe just got the end of the stock.
Well, the deer got loaded in the bed of the truck. We both hopped in the cab. Then it occurred to me, that although I drive my vehicle in 4WD daily in the winter, putting into and out of 4WD as needed, I did NOT really know what I was putting it in...Was it 4H or 4L. I have been told one is good for regular driving and one is more for like off road stuff.
I asked my father in law if he knew which to use. He is a bit hard of hearing, and doesn't own a truck, so I don't know if he didn't hear me or just didn't know which one either. So, I pushed one of the buttons. If it didn't work, I could always try the other one. I have now forgotten which one I pushed, but it doesn't really matter, because it got us up the hill which is where we left the poor little deer for some birds or something to feast on.
I am very thankful my father in law helped me out, I'm not so sure he is. So my day wasn't really what I would call "doing something amazing." It's just kind of a "day in the life of a Californian living in Montana.
In fact, when I don't know how to handle this kind of situation, why I shouldn't live here. I think it all went quite well really.
For example, one day you can have anything from sun, clouds, rain, wind, snow and that can easily be in an hour!
Yesterday was really not what I planned. I was excited about staying home and just doing some amazingly, awesome things with my day. Here's how it went...
As usual the dogs had to go out and do their thing outside, when upon return, my dog. My own personal dog. My loving, chocolate eyed dog, golden retriever came in with a very guilty look. Upon further inspection, I discovered he had found something...dead! Not only by some disgusting something on the side of his neck, but also by a most unpleasant odor. (when I say unpleasant, I mean it pretty much makes you want to throw up!)
So while I called and called my sweet dog to come to me so I could clean him up, ( I say called and called, because he simply refused, which is not at all like him. Up til this point his main purpose in life has been to make me happy, which has been a wonderful arrangement, but he knew he was in for it) I asked my son to go outside and investigate and report back any findings.
Meanwhile, I proceeded to try to clean up the guilty party by giving him a bath. About 10 minutes later I get the report that indeed there is a dead deer in our yard, by our berry patch. Birds have been pecking at it. And it is not very old, perhaps a year, and has only been deceased for approximately 1-2 days. Don't ask how he seemed to know that, he just did.
So what did I do? I did what any Californian living in Montana would do? I called my husband who was down in Texas to help with the problem :) Ok, I just could think of anything else to do. Seriously! Usually I am a fairly good problem solver, but the thought of the dead deer in my yard, smelling things up,wild animals coming looking for it... just sort of stopped all brain function.
My husband was sweet as ever. He asked what do you want me to do? I'll save you our conversation and tell you that he decided to call his dad to come over and remove said animal. When my father in law arrived, carrying his gun (although I have no idea why, the deer most likely was not going to hop up and attack him) he had trouble locating the animal and required my assistance. So I grabbed my snow boots and a jacket and off we went. By the way, I was feeling very confident at this point in helping him with this terrible job.
My father in law agreed with my son in the analysis of said dead deer. That is was in fact only about a year old and only dead for 1-2 days and seemed quite healthy (prior to the death). Now I have to wonder, how in the world did my son know such things? Is this some kind of guy instinct? Is it somewhere in their DNA? Maybe I don't really want to know.
Well, my dad in law, said he would gladly take care of it, except that he doesn't have a truck. After a few minutes of thinking, I offered my husbands truck, after all it's just sitting there, I have the keys and I am sure he wouldn't mind....except... the animal could quite possibly leave blood in the bed of the truck.
Now I am again, not sure where my mind was. I was concerned that the blood in the bed of his truck would not be a good thing, after all I wouldn't want it in my vehicle. So to help me with my dilemma, he says, "perhaps we ought to get a tarp." Off I go to retrieve one. And start taking it to the deer, thinking, "well, if we want to keep the blood out of the truck bed, we might as well keep it from dripping all the way to the truck!" Makes perfect sense to me.
Now, if some of you are unfamiliar with what the woods are like. There are lots of little twig type things that stick out of the ground in the woods, making it extremely difficult to pull a deer on a tarp. In fact, the twigs will create many holes in your tarp and the deer will most likely just slide off. In which case it's best to disregard the trap, let your father in law drag the animal by the legs while you walk to get the truck dragging an empty tarp behind you.
So since I do not usually drive my husbands truck, I had to go find the keys, unlock it, start it to warm it up, because even though it is spring, it looks and feels very much like mid winter this March. (Oh and don't forget to unplug the engine warmer thingy, driving off with it plugged in would make your husband in Texas not very happy.)
I put the truck in reverse, so as to avoid driving into the garage, and could really hear the ice cracking under the truck. Wow! Not moving it for a few weeks the ice sure can build up!! Backing up, the ice was louder than usual, but the weather has been hard and cold and wet, makes a lot of ice you know!
I went down to the middle of the drive way where the deer was waiting his final trip and noticed my father in law walking up the driveway. He is so sweet to think about the tarp that I tossed to the side. At this point, I had already realized that my husband has had bloody animals in the back of his truck many times since he is a hunter and that surely he wouldn't mind this one. I decided if he really wanted to use the tarp I guess we would go ahead, because I'm real giving that way.
As I hopped out of the truck, I see him walking back down the driveway toward me with his gun. I guess he didn't want to use the tarp after all. When he got close he said, "You ran over my gun!" I did? Hmmm, maybe that was the sound I hear under the truck.
Of course I felt quit bad. I mean, I have heard men and their guns have a very special bond. Some even going as far as naming them some female name....maybe we shouldn't explore this bond right now. I apologized again and again. He said it seemed ok, maybe just got the end of the stock.
Well, the deer got loaded in the bed of the truck. We both hopped in the cab. Then it occurred to me, that although I drive my vehicle in 4WD daily in the winter, putting into and out of 4WD as needed, I did NOT really know what I was putting it in...Was it 4H or 4L. I have been told one is good for regular driving and one is more for like off road stuff.
I asked my father in law if he knew which to use. He is a bit hard of hearing, and doesn't own a truck, so I don't know if he didn't hear me or just didn't know which one either. So, I pushed one of the buttons. If it didn't work, I could always try the other one. I have now forgotten which one I pushed, but it doesn't really matter, because it got us up the hill which is where we left the poor little deer for some birds or something to feast on.
I am very thankful my father in law helped me out, I'm not so sure he is. So my day wasn't really what I would call "doing something amazing." It's just kind of a "day in the life of a Californian living in Montana.
In fact, when I don't know how to handle this kind of situation, why I shouldn't live here. I think it all went quite well really.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
just a reminder to myself.
Funny who God matches up. Take my husband and myself.
He's a Montana man.
I'm a California girl.
He likes to hunt big game.
I like to play games.
He's a meat and potato guy.
I'm a rice and veggie girl.
He says coyote with a silent e.
I say it with a long e.
We have many more differences, but there are things we also both like. For example,
we both love the beach!
And we do like mountains.
I like to create and grow most anything.
He helps me to make it happen.
God knew what He was doing. And He still does. That is something I have to remember when I have days where I just can't see beyond the blurry colors of the painting of my life. Eventually I will be able to view what God is doing from a distance. And I will see something amazing. I just need to remember to trust in Him. God is good!!
He's a Montana man.
I'm a California girl.
He likes to hunt big game.
I like to play games.
He's a meat and potato guy.
I'm a rice and veggie girl.
He says coyote with a silent e.
I say it with a long e.
We have many more differences, but there are things we also both like. For example,
we both love the beach!
And we do like mountains.
I like to create and grow most anything.
He helps me to make it happen.
God knew what He was doing. And He still does. That is something I have to remember when I have days where I just can't see beyond the blurry colors of the painting of my life. Eventually I will be able to view what God is doing from a distance. And I will see something amazing. I just need to remember to trust in Him. God is good!!
Friday, March 16, 2012
hello blogging world..
So, my daughter has been after me to blog for sometime now. I agreed, but she had to get this started for me. (Thanks Pip!!) I am not sure what I will blog about. Perhaps just the ins and outs of life as I see it from my half empty nest in the mountains of Montana. Perhaps just the meanderings of my mind. I have been known to take mental vacations every now and then. Perhaps I may not remember to blog at all, which in no way reflects any aging on my part, but perhaps just a very busy schedule. Whatever becomes of it, thank you sweet daughter for thinking I have something to say. And I do....I love you!!
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