thrifting in MT

I've lived in the Midwest. Everyone always talks about the great antiques in the Midwest. But, I have a secret. Columbia Falls, MT. is the real antiquing mecca. So much fun.

Here are few of my favorites that came home with us...

I've been wanting a set of these chairs for a long time. They're in rough shape. but, nothing that a little paint won't fix. The one on the right is a rocker. So comfy. Can you just see me and Rick out on the front porch in these babies? Can't wait to get them spruced up.

And this Pyrex beauty? Matches the set of bowls Rick gave me for Mother's day. LOVE IT!

I pretty much fell in love with this little vintage school desk. Now it's an end table in the library. Happy with this purchase as well.

I'm not sure where this little chair will end up in the house, but I LOVE it, too! So cute. I don't even care that the paint is chipped. I think that is why I love it so much.

And the last treasure is out in the garage still. It was a great, great find. A vintage, unrestored gas pump. I kind of like it the way it is, but Rick is doing some research to find out how to restore it and paint it. Funny thing is that it still had a bit of fuel in it when we got it home. The garage smelled of gas for a few days...

Can't wait to go back to Montana.

books, books, books

We just finished reading Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

I didn't think that Cole was really paying attention, but when it was time for a bath and a story each night he would always ask if we were reading the "Monkey" book. So, I guess he was listening to something. Then when we finished that book, he asked if we could read the Frodo book again. whatever.

We have started reading a new book:

My all time favorite book...

Next up on the list of books to read with the kids is this favorite...

it just makes me want to say, "no more rhyming, I mean it. Anyone want a peanut." or "my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

The sad thing is that I am usually searching for a good book to read, but right now my night stand if FULL of books to read. I can't keep up. The problem is that now both Summer and Sierra are reading chapter books and want me to read some of their books (they both got some pretty good books for their recent birthdays).

We ordered this one from Amazon last week (it came out on Tuesday):

It is the 3rd book in the Mysterious Benedict Society Series. It should arrive on our doorstep any day now. But, I'm sure Summer will beat me to it.

I hope you all have a good book to read. Cool weather is coming soon and we'll all need a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate to go along with these good reads.

Flee Shot

so, yesterday morning Rick mentioned that we should go get our flu shots. Cole was ecstatic. Seriously. He kept skipping around the house, "Flee shot. Flee shot." Then Rick told him that he could not get a flu shot if he couldn't say it correctly. So all day long Cole was practicing, "FLU shot. Flu shot." it was funny. When we got to the health dept. there were about 1,000 other people with that same brilliant idea. CRAZY. They were trying to get people through there as quickly as possible. So, instead of sending us to a private room, they sent us to the end of the waiting room where they just have one of those portable curtains. When the nurse saw us, she looked at the 3 kids and said, "uhhh, we ususally don't let kids get shots here..." (Because when they scream and cry, it's very disruptive to the others who are still in the waiting area.) Rick said, "Really, it will be fine. He's been looking forward to this all day." Cole jumped up on Rick's lap and pulled up his sleeve with a big grin on his face. So, the nurse said, "OK, I'll give it a try but you might want to hold his arms down and turn his head." Cole seriously watched her get the needle out, poke his arm and give him the shot without even a flinch. The nurse just shook her head as Summer and Sierra lifted their sleeves because they both wanted to be "next".

Next time I need to bribe Cole, I'm going to tell him that he needs another shot.

Hike to Hidden Lake

During the last full week of September, the weather in Glacier National Park was perfect for hiking. The "Going-to-the-Sun" Road was closed from the west and the only access to Logan's Pass was from the less popular East side of Glacier. There had been snow earlier in the week, but it was a great day for us. We took a 3 mile round trip hike to Hidden Lake. This is what the scenery looked like as we started our hike. If you look closely, you can see the 2 Big Horn Sheep.

Cole and Rick at one of the many waterfalls along the hike.

Rick was going ahead of the rest of us for a while and he decided to leave the path for a bit to see what was on the other side of this "hill" of rock. So, we followed him and over the hill of rock we found a big huge dip that was full of more rocks and a bunch of small glaciers--soooo cool.

We spent a long time hiking around these rocks and touching the glaciers. After we were done and we returned to the main trail, we noticed that sign that said that trail we had taken was closed for reclamation. Oooops. But we were so glad that we had taken it because it was the highlight of the entire trip. We didn't want to leave, but there were other cool things to see ahead of us.

Sierra did not want to leave. We had learned that the glaciers in Glacier National Park are disappearing. In 10-20 years (depending on the source) the glaciers will have all melted. This caused Sierra some major concern. Since she had her camera that she had gotten for her birthday with her, she toke dozens and dozens of pictures. She wanted to make sure this experience was well documented so that she could explain and describe the pictures of the glaciers to her children since they will most likely have melted by the time her children are old enough to hike in Glacier National Park.

This is what we saw when we returned to the designated trail:

Pictures from the East side of Glacier...

Taking the Road Less Traveled

On Wednesday we decided to take a less popular route into the park. It included a short section of dirt/gravel road. We were riding along dealing with car sick kids when we heard a rumble and sure enough, a flat tire. So, no big deal. We stopped. Rick got out the jack and the lug wrench. But, he has custom wheels on his truck which requires a custom lug thingy. It is supposed to be in the glove compartment. At least that is where it was before his last tire rotation, they must have used it and then not put it back. So, here we sit on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere without the little part to get the flat tire off. A few people stopped, but weren't much help because they didn't have the part we needed. After just a minute, Greg from the FlatHead County Road and Bridge Department stopped. We were about 30 minutes from anything, including cell phone coverage. So, he turned around and took us back to Polebridge to make a phone call. Polebridge is a very remote area that allows access into Glacier. Greg wouldn't let me take a picture of him and us in his truck because of insurance and liability. So, I had to sneak this picture of him. Rick couldn't find anyone to help us with the part we needed, so Greg got on the phone and found a tire center in Kalispell who had someone who could drive the part out to us. If it were not for Greg, we could probably still be sitting on a dirt road in Flathead County, MT.

This is the store in Polebridge. They don't have running water or electricity. But, they have a dang good bakery. And Cole DID use the outhouse in Polebridge. I think he knew we were desperate.

So, we found a tire center who could run the part that we needed out to us: a 45 minute drive, when they were done with their current jobs. So, Greg hauled us all back down the dirt road to sit at the truck and wait for our part to arrive. It was at least an hour, but we were occupied.

Cole and Rick waiting on the bridge.

Summer, Sierra and I went down by the river and built towers out of rocks. The rocks were totally cool. We were having a good time, but we didn't want to get to far away from the road since we were in "bear country".

This is the tire man, "Dion". He brought us the part that we needed to change the flat tire. Since it cost the same to deliver part as it did to just go ahead and change the flat, we let him do it. He was amazingly fast. And it only cost $325 dollars. seriously. wow.

But, it was OK, because once we got on our way and finally got into the park, we saw a mama bear and her 3 cubs. I almost missed them when I was reaching for my camera, so I ditched that idea because I knew I'd never get a good shot. Rick stopped the truck, turned it off, and rolled down the windows. The bears were quick, but we could hear them as they rumbled down into the thick pine forest. it was so cool. We decided to skip the hike that we had planned for that day since we had spent 3 hours with the tire drama and because there were obviously bear in the area.

Avalanche Lake

Cole had to use the potty when he was done hiking to Avalanche Lake, that is, until he got a whiff of the outhouse. It freaked him out a little. I can't blame him. I needed to "use the Potty" myself for the better half of that hike, too.

You can kind of see the waterfall in the back ground of these pictures. There were actually several of them and you could hear the distant sound of falling water from where we were at the lake. It was really neat. We decided not to hike all the way to the waterfalls, though.

Hiking to Avalanche Lake

Scenes from our hike.

Sierra was pretending to push the rock down the mountain.

Cole hated hiking. He kept telling Rick that his legs were tired. They struck a deal so that Cole would hike on the "downs" and Rick would put Cole on his shoulders on the "ups".

Going-to-the-Sun Road

We checked online and the Going-to-the-Sun Road was scheduled to be open through the last day of Summer, when it would close at midnight for repairs. We were so excited because that meant it would still be open on our first day at Glacier National Park. However, it was stormy the night before and it snowed on Logan Pass and a portion of the road had to be closed. So, we went as far as we could go on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and turned around and drove back the way we came (through West Glacier). Here are some pictures from that ride.

Freezing cold water, right from the glacier. It was so clear and pretty.

This road was built through Glacier National Park in the 1930's. It was designed by a landscape architect. at first I didn't see what the big deal was about the road. But as it winds its way up through the mountains and peaks, it is very impressive even though I felt at times like I was on the road to Hanna in Hawaii.

Cole at the Lodge at Lake Macdonald. We stopped to buy our tickets for the boat ride for the following day since that would be the final day of boat rides in the park. Rick asked which boat trip we wanted to be on and the only thing I could think was, "the warmest, sunniest one!"

We were freezing! Luckily for us it was the only day of cool, wet weather.

Lake Macdonald

Just a little preview...

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

This came in the mail yesterday. Sorry if you need to reach me. I'm busy in the kitchen.

I'm also out of canning jars. again.

The recipe of the day today is: Honey Spiced Peaches. It smells so good....

Have you ever picked chokecherries?

well, I have. Summer, Sierra and I picked a bucket of chokecherries over Labor Day. Summer held the bucket. I reached up and pulled down the branches and picked the berries. Sierra's job was just to tell us stories to make us laugh so that we would drop half of the chokecherries we picked. It was a wild tree just off the side of the road in Carbon County (kind of vague-- I can't let my secrets out). People kept driving by on 4 wheelers and asking us what we were doing. Nice. It took us about 3 hours to pick half a bucket of chokecherries. OK. More like 1 hour, but it felt like 3. Chokecherries are about the size of BB's. And they are about 90% seed/pit. So, there is not a lot of fruit. at all.

So, what did I do with my chokecherries?

I washed them and picked out the yucky ones. That left about 1/2 of an ice cream bucket full of fruit. Seriously.

Then I got out my vintage juicer that I acquired this spring. It was still in the box and it had a Grand Central price tag on it. I couldn't read the price. but I remember the good old days when Arctic Circle and Grand Central were the only 2 businesses on that entire block on 1200 South in Orem.

It took about 1 hour to juice the chokecherries. I got 3 cups of juice. Barely.

Then I took the juice and added about 25 lbs. of sugar and some pectin and stirred and stirred and stirred. I also added a little bit of apple/raspberry juice.

In the beginning I thought I might give these to neighbors for Christmas, or bake a loaf of bread and give it to my friends and neighbors for their birthdays. But, after having put so much sweat and blood into these 7 little jars of sugary goodness I feel a little bit like the Little Red Hen. I don't want to share with anyone. I picked every single one of those tiny chokecherries with my own hands. I am going to enjoy every single spoonful of chokecherry jelly all by myself. OK. Not really. I will share. But, I'm still upset that they didn't have a canning competition at the stake Harvest Fair last week. Because I am certain my chokecherry jelly would have one first place.