Category: Weather

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not pretty, but beautiful!

Last evening (Wednesday) was not a pretty night…in front of a cold front, heavy overcast moved in. It was that eery stillness of ‘calm before the storm’. Everything was quiet…no breeze, no birds, no squirrels, no bugs. Not pretty, but beautiful in its own way and we enjoyed.

And even though the yard and woods are a bit dry and crunchy…

…they still inspire a good roll around!

Overnight, the wind blew and I woke to the sound of a good soaking rain.

I also woke with a strong craving for a cinnamon roll. I grabbed a peach sized bit of dough from my dough crock, rolled it into a thin rectangle, brushed it with melted butter, added some chopped apple, cinnamon and brown sugar. Rolled it up, folded it over, let it rise for half an hour and then into the oven. The finishing touch: a caramel glaze of brown sugar, butter and milk. Not pretty, but beautiful and seriously, YUM!!

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News and Weather: brought to you by Bob with special commentary from Bear

Bob: Well, against all odds, all the herbs are still alive. And believe me, it is pure luck. The nursery person TOLD her, EMPHATICALLY!!!…that the parsley needed to be watered 4 times a day. A number of times it has just laid down and gasped its next to last breath before she got out here and watered.

Bob, cont’d.: It has been warm and even a bit hot and smoky. Fortunately she remembers to feed me better than she remembers to water the poor herbs.

Today, it got dark between my second breakfast and my elevenses and then it thundered and rained and got cool.

The darn dog is pretty happy about the cool.

Bear: Thank goodness for the air conditioner! And today it cooled off a little. I’m ready for snow!

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Cool August Morning

Kind of an oxymoron, eh??? … cool August Morning…

Thankfully, that is NOT unusual in these parts…in northwest Montana!

A cold front blew through the area last Thursday evening. It was accompanied by a wonderful overnight soak of rain.

The moisture, the rising sun, the cool overnight temperatures = a beautiful, misty morning.

Also, on Thursday evening…a friend picked Huckleberries…and she brought some to me!!!

These huckleberries are truly a gift extraordinairre! This is an hour and a half of picking…not to mention the driving to the picking area and the walking/climbing to the picking spot…AND the fact that the competition for huckleberries is Grizzly Bears!

Fortunately this friend has a bear savvy European Laika … VERY close kin to Karelian Bear Dog. Still…

The berries are absolutely gorgeous. I tried to capture them several ways. Their color is spectacular and varied. The scent is intoxicating. The possiblities for their use…I am considering several…

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Cooking from the garden week 6 & 7

The bounty from the farm continued week 6 with spring greens, spinach, radishes, green onions and rhubarb. I was able to share some greens and the remainder I used as I have been.

Meal salads that started with chef’s salad several weeks ago, continue:

BLT, hold the bread!

A southwestern take with a dressing made of mayo, greek yogurt and salsa…more salsa on top…Ole!!!

Week 7 added broccoli to the haul. I had plans for a fresh broccoli-bacon-cranberry salad but ended up steaming the broccoli to have with some cream of chicken over rice.

Not from the garden but I’ve been wanting to share Karin of Paper Route Design’s Granola. I make 1/4 of her recipe and mix it with a rice cereal I buy in bulk at the natural food store. I have never been a granola fan, but Karin’s recipe sounded so good. As she states on her post, it makes the house smell like the inside of an oatmeal cookie :)!

I scoop the granola – rice cereal mix, add some chopped apple and have a great start to my day or a nice bedtime treat.

…so… week 6 & 7…and there will be no week 8.

A minor weather disaster occured here this last Tuesday morning.

That is hail. And that hail is already partially melted.

We had a strong thunderstorm with 1 – 1 1/2 inch hail and then a torrential downpour.

It did a number on the vegetation, including the gardens at Swallow Crest Farm :(

I received an email this afternoon that this week’s distribution would not happen and it sounds like next week’s is questionable as well… Mother Nature. I am sad for the farm folk as things were going so well and they are now having to re-plant and repair.

Here at my house…the sun has re-appeared. There is a lot of yard and woods cleanup to be done but…

…one must enjoy the sun and fresh air!

Happy Day.

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Happy Solstice (yesterday)!

The skunk??? No, just Bear in the tall grass…a bit ironic that his tail looks very skunk-like.

But we stayed clear of Skunk-ville today: work, a run to Whitefish, more work and a beautiful couple of hours outside this evening.

Bear had a much better day today and recovered his smile and his usual sang froid!

It was a glorious first day of Summer in Northwest Montana! Hope it was wherever you are – Happy Solstice (yesterday evening) and may your Summer be beautiful.