Archive for ‘August, 2011’

Fire on the mountain

Late yesterday (Friday) afternoon I heard a helicopter fly over…sounding not that far overhead. As time progressed, the sound continued. I progressed from thinking Alert (air ambulance) to fire?

Fire.

Maybe 15 miles from my house – as the helicopter flies.

One helicopter, making a round trip from water to fire every 7-9 minutes I think.

That “bucket” looks so small under the helo. Depending on the lift ability of the helicopter they have buckets from 72 -2600 gallons. I think this fairly small helo carries on the lower end of the range.

But, in the 20 minutes I watched, the smoke lessened.

I heard the ‘copter going back and forth until dark. I am thankful every summer for the men and women who fight wildfires in the West…from helicopters, from airplanes, by parachute and on the ground. They work long hours in heat, in heavy gear and are responsible for saving towns and homes every year.

A bad year for purple

We are just past the half way mark for official Summer. But, in Montana, I call it 3/4 :)!

Despite a wet, cool Spring and a bit of rain almost weekly, it is drying up.

The grasses and woods vegetation is getting crunchier every day. As I write this, there is the rumble of thunder but so far, just a few drops of rain now and again.

Weeds and wildflowers…they were very different this year. I have both read and experienced that depending on weather and soil conditions, the things that grow can lie dormant until the specific conditions they like cause growth.

This year seemed to favor yellow things. Although the Lupins had a banner year, other blue-purple things have not.

Not looking so good at the moment, but whatever this is…a kind of yellow clover – it grew gangbusters all over my woods. It was like walking in sunshine until a week ago.

Another overachiever this year was St. John’s Wort which has some medicinal use, but is not good in cattle country and is declared a noxious weed in Montana. No photos as I’ve pulled it all.

It is not just my woods, though. St. John’s Wort is prolific everywhere in the valley this year.

This is what the Lupins look like now… crunchy. But they were gorgeous and abundant in the late spring/early summer.

Miniature wild asters… usually these start in mid to late July and are all over my woods through mid-Fall. There are just a few this year and they look to be nearly done, now in early August.

Even the spotted knapweed, another noxious…in fact, one of the worst noxious weeds… the few that came up looked sickly AND they pulled easily…root and all.

Thistles…I have a love/hate thing with thistles. I LOVE a few of them…the blossoms are beautiful and they attract butterflies. But there is no way to have just a few thistles. Birds love the seeds. Birds eat the seeds. The seeds go through the birds and get deposited, WITH fertilizer…everywhere. There will always be more than enough thistles, just not where I’d like them.

Even the thistles aren’t as robust as usual.

A bad year for purple!

Hot and hazy

My day had a bit of flexibility in it and Bob was starting to run low on his prescription food so Bear and I made a morning run to Calm Veterinary in Kila, MT and had a morning walk on part of the “Rails to Trails” path that runs between Kila and Smith Lake …actually the north end of the Smith Lake Water Fowl preservation area.

Kudos to Bear…2 bicycles passed us just after I took this photo and he stayed where he was with no excitement or barking…on a loose lead. I hadn’t heard them. They are supposed to ring a bell or voice a warning… We’ve not been passed by bicycles on our walks so very pleased with Bear’s behavior.

It was a warm 70F when we walked. Clear overnight skies were giving way to haze as it warmed up.

Clouds were starting to pile up over the mountains…afternoon thunderstorms are forecast.

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This week’s condiment: Horseradish

My folks and I share passions for dogs, cats, good food, good drink, winter, cooking, trying new cooking “tricks” – probably more, but those are the top items! We trade recipes, techniques and sometimes ingredients.

This past Saturday was my Costco day. For any not familiar with Costco, it is a “big box” membership/co-op store. Even solo, there are things that I buy in quantity and they have a wonderful meat department, complete with knowledgeble butchers.

My plan this last Saturday was to arrive at opening as it is warm and there are just a few parking spots in the early morning that are shaded. The Jeep heats up quickly so I need shade for Bear! And we needed a walk beforehand at our spot behind Costco. We arrived in the nick of time, had a nice walk and I snagged a parking spot in the shade. I had a fairly short list.

I gathered everything AND some beef tenderloin that was on SALE!!! – SCORE!

And then!!! arrived home to find a package of horseradish from my folks. I knew it was on the way but sorta forgot so on seeing the package, remembering and knowing I had most excellent beef to go with…yea!

I had instruction to phone Bill after receiving the horseradish to discuss all he’d learned about the process of dealing with the root. I phoned, I listened and then I proceeded.

Above is the root as it comes out of the ground. Bill told me he’d peeled and he’d scrubbed and the scrubbing method was recommended to preserve the most root.

I scrubbed…

Scrubbing worked. I proceeded to grating. We had already had a discourse on the benefits of a microplane grater. I had one for zesting citrus. Bill added some input on the size and type of bowl…

All went well :)! I performed the grating ON the front porch. My mother had warned of the sinus-clearing aroma during the grating process…

After grating, you wait until the heat-taste you prefer is reached. Adding vinegar to the grating, stops the heat process… Fascinating food chemistry! I waited about 5 minutes.

Oh boy!!! This horseradish was sweet-hot, full of flavor, what you think horseradish should taste like when you smell it. It, on rare tenderloin – and my slaw dressed with “Oldfield’s Poppy Seed Dressing” ( Save the barn) and a few fries – Saturday Supper.

This week’s condiment: Horseradish

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