Posts from the ‘Misc’ category

Crazy time

It is nearly 10:30 p.m. … LATE for this morning person! Typically, I have been in dreamland for over an hour by 10:30 p.m.

I finished most of my work day at 6:30 p.m. and took Karl to Wayfarer’s for a walk. A long day that needed a break – Karl and I both needed fresh air, a long walk and a change of scenery. It has continued to be unusually warm and even at 7-7:45 when we were by the lake, it was above 70 and felt balmy. The walk was wonderful – the low bushes are more red every day, the sun was setting behind the Bitterroots to the west and the lake was barely ruffled by a bit of a breeze. We dawdled around the mid-range path I chose for this evening.

A quick stop for a few items and we headed for home as the sky was turning gold and pink with the last of the sun.

Dinner, a bit more work day and then time to wind down.

I knew I had photos from our Wednesday morning walk…

Sun on the grass, the rising sun – funny to be looking at them this night when it is late for me – but, it brings back that soft, beautiful morning… Crazy Time.

…I feel strangely exhilarated to be up this late!

Shorter days, longer nights.

Slightly less than a week from the Fall equinox and sunset is now at 7:45 or thereabouts – 2 hours later than mid-summer. And it goes from light to dusk to dark faster with the lower sun angle. While the temperatures have been trying to imitate summer reaching into the low to mid-80’s, it takes all day to get there and about the time it does, it starts back down.

The days and evenings have been very pleasant and the nights wonderfully cool.

Our last walk tonight started at 7:30 and by the time we dawdled around the loop it was nearly 8 and on the dark side of dusk as we came back through the woods.

The work day, unlike the daylight, is lasting a bit longer. But, a dinner break, an evening walk and I get a bit of a second wind.

Karl is not a fan of evening work hours as those are typically his time. He prefers me to be on the floor with him, tossing a toy or just being near while he chews on a bone. Tonight, after a bit of that, I snuck back to my chair and all was companionable for a little late work…

..including Bob.

Birthday weekend

Today is my birthday and I’m thrilled that I got to have another one! And I’m grateful that I am living in my little house in the woods by the mountains and especially grateful that Karl and Bob are in good health and with me as I begin my 55th year on Earth.

Some years I have birthday week, some years birthday month. Neither my waistline, nor my budget could stand more than birthday weekend this year. Yesterday started with a ham and cheese croissant and cappuccino (they claim made the authentically Italian way!) at Colter Coffee in Kalispell. It is my favorite coffee house in an old Kalispell building with brick walls, tall wooden tables, massive front windows looking out to the street as well as excellent coffee and pastries. Yesterday morning it was pretty quiet at 7:45 a.m. – just a few other morning people and the two baristas – perfect!

Afterwards, the supply gathering was completed and one of my finds was a cherry pitter – YEA! The plan for birthday dinner is pan seared scallops with cherry sauce. I was getting tired of pitting cherries with a knife. The pitting tool is wonderful, so wonderful that I will run into Bigfork mid-morning and see if I can get more cherries.

I’ve had a bit of the birthday cookie with my morning coffee… It is a giant molasses cookie from Colter’s that I doctored with fresh whipped cream laced with hazlenut syrup, cinnamon and cloves… not sure that the birthday cookie is going to last the day..

My birthday present arrives tomorrow – a new pair of Wellies for tromping around wet woods. They are a bit untraditional – photos to follow.

Birthday weekend has been wonderful so far and I expect it to continue that way. Hope all who visit here are having a wonderful weekend as well.

Changes are brewing…

Coffee brewing has become slightly less automatic here at From the front porch.

Above, ye olde coffee maker. A bit hard to tell from the photo, but it was LARGE. It is a Capresso Grind and Brew and unlike other Grind and Brew machines, the grinder (a burr grinder) was to the side. The filter basket swings over under the grinder and when the grinding is finished it swings back and brewing commences. I had 2 of these – one in the house and one in the motorhome. I’ve had one for nearly 10 years and the other for 6 or 7 so despite the fact that they are expensive compared to the regular coffee maker, their life span has been excellent. Both, however, decided to kick the bucket nearly in tandem this summer.

I had already regressed from using the grinder much so started looking for something simpler and smaller. I love my coffee and I love it hot, strong and black. I will spare you all the dithering and almost ordering I did before I bought the Chemex.

No parts to break or clog and cleaning is a breeze!

The brewing process is a bit more involved than pushing a button, but the up-up-upside is that there is no plastic and no plastic taste coming through and the resulting cup of coffee is wonderful! I’ve been moving from plastic use – using mason jars or pyrex instead of tupperware type containers – and I like it. I can’t and won’t debate the health benefits but things taste better and glass is easier to clean.

From the pot, the coffee goes into the airpot thermos where it stays hot all day long and I can sip away at what tastes like a fresh cup each time. It is early days and the brewing shenanigans are fun at the moment. We’ll see how it goes long term. But for now, I’m happy with the brewing change!

Karl is looking a bit down as changes have been brewing with the weather. He wasn’t all that happy with the heat of the last several days, but last night we had thunder – loud, right overhead kind of thunder. This morning it is overcast. He doesn’t trust overcast after a night of thunder.

It is supposed to get very cool (60’s F) and rainy and then stay at “seasonal norms” (mid to upper 70’s). Changes are brewing…

A day that ended better than it started

Today started with a few glitches. Bob threw up a hairball at approximately 3:50 a.m. I was sound asleep and did not come awake in time to get his blankie under his mouth…hairball and the accompanying yuck made a direct hit on the down comforter – rats! I did a quick half-awake cleanup and went back to sleep.

On getting up for good, I grabbed the comforter and made for the washer. There was not actually much of a mess and the thought crossed my mind that I could clean the corner in the sink, but that comforter had not been washed for awhile so I threw it in and started the washer.

Background: I have had down comforters for most of my adult years and successfully washed them with some regularity. The tricks are: a good comforter, proper soap, and beating the down as it dries so that it does not clump. The place I buy the comforters sells a special soap. They also sell some poly-rings specifically for putting in the dryer to do the beating – they beat the “tennis shoe in the sock” thing that I used to do.

The second glitch was that after my first cup of coffee, on going to check on Bob’s meowing, I discovered that the washer had quietly overflowed. A lot of water was on the floor of the laundry closet, entry and the room that I now know is downslope – the workout/craft/boys room. The floors are all engineered hardwood – they do not like water.

It took every towel and my entire supply of old flannel sheets to sop up the water. And a lot of time. The runners that are in that area were soaked.

The good news is that floor has not been that clean since I moved in. Additionally, after an experimental small load to see what was leaking where, it appears it WAS an overflow vs something broken so I was able to wash and dry all of those towels and sheets. And the comforter is fine and clean. And the runners had a bath.

I will be going to Home Depot tout de suite and purchasing a vac that sucks up water, ensuring that I will never have another “flood” in the house being thusly prepared. Still… worth it! If I had one of those, the cleanup as well as the cleanup of the cleanup would have gone much faster. Lesson learned.

The other good news is that the day improved from there! The sun came out. There was a soft breeze and blue sky and moderate temperatures – a perfectly, perfect day.

The cause…

…unaware!

GoatsBeard: a pretty wildflower that is open in the morning and closes at noon. I saw it for the first time this year on the lunchtime walk.

A sunshiney flower for a sunshiney day…a day that ended better than it started.

More than you wanted to know about lupins and my life

Lupin or Lupine, that is the question… I googled lupin to make sure that my spelling was ok and found that while Lupine is the typical North American spelling, Lupin is the original. Lupins were so named after the latin for wolf, as it was originally thought that they “wolfed” the soil of nutrients. As it happens, it is the reverse. Lupins add nitrogen back to the soil, enriching it for other growing things. Additionally, they are a larval food, hence Fuzzy and many of his brethren that were all over the lupins…

Now, to the my life part of the post… I have had a business trip to San Francisco area pending since November. It is now to happen but there is no room at the inn for Karl, ( K9 Kamp) – it is full and it is full for several weeks.

I really wanted to do this trip by RV. There is some indication that more than one meeting might be necessary. My original thought was to go and park near and be available for awhile. Yippy-Skippy, that is what is going to happen. Wild Thing and all of her crew are cleared for take-off and will depart late next week bound for South San Francisco. All of this getting ready for the meeting, getting ready to go, getting the house ready to leave…it takes time. Posts might be skimpy or missed.

But once we hit the road things should be fun. New places to see and share photos of. Adventures to be had, all shared at From the Front Porch. Karl, Bob and I are going to Californ-i-a!

See, more than you wanted to know about lupins and my life.