New glass table

Tammy likes glass tables.   We moved three of her glass coffee and end tables from Minnesota to here.   We haven't set them up for several reasons.  First we have no place to put them.  Second, I am leery of glass tables.  Glass breaks and I don't trust myself around them.

Well... Tammy didn't like my wood coffee table I use to hold my stereo equipment.  She thinks it is ugly.

So she ordered a table to her liking.  Guess what?  It's all glass.

She got the table and like a kid on Christmas couldn't wait to get it out of the box and put it together.

Here is how everything looks now.

Oh joy.  I can see more of my ugly green carpet.

Now to do something about all those wires.

Nuts

I like nuts.  Snacking on them or ground up and added to my oatmeal cereal.

So much so that when a grocery store had nuts on sale for $1.98 a pound I filled several bags.  Tammy helped me as she likes nuts too.  She held the bags while I shoveled nuts into them.

Once I was done there wasn't enough filberts/hazelnuts left to fill another bag.  There were more almonds left but I thought two bags each was plenty.  For now.

I left the walnuts be.  Walnuts are easy to get and not as expensive as almonds or hazelnuts when bought shelled and in a bag.

A couple people in line made comments to me when I was in the checkout line.  Tammy - not standing anywhere near me - heard other people comment on my nuts.   Right Tammy?  They were commenting on my nuts and not me being nuts? 

My nuts...

These are a little more than 23 pounds of nuts and they cost me about $47.   The hazelnuts weigh more than the almonds do.

Broken handle

I'm still splitting logs for firewood.  Usually I don't get around to this until around dusk.

Tuesday night it was fairly dark when I was about done splitting logs.  For my last log to split I needed one more hit to complete the split.

I missed.

The splitting maul's handle hit the top of the log.  The log split and the handle broke.

*argh!*

Wednesday I replaced the broken handle with an old axe handle from my "treasure" pile in the tool shed.  I had to trim the handle a bit to squeeze it into splitting maul.   Then it was on to splitting a few more logs.  I quit splitting logs earlier this night.

Cleaning ash

The weather was nice today so I decided to clean the ash from my wood stove's pipe.  It has been a couple of months since the wood stove burning season started. The section of pipe that is closer to horizontal collects ash more than the other sections or the chimney.

Here is how much ash collects in the horizontal section of the pipe.

The loose stuff shakes out.  I have to use a wire brush to get it all out. This job is one that is done before a person takes a shower that day.

GPS smart phone app

Tammy found a GPS app for her smart phone.  It is called: Backcountry Navigator.  I tested it out by walking around much of the ranch's boundary.  I then downloaded the data to Google maps.  My mapped route is pretty close to Google's (via the USDA Farm Service agency's) satellite image for the ranch but not perfect. East/west and north/south are off a few feet with east/west off by a greater amount.

The mapped route had me walking through part of the barn when in reality I walked just south of it.  The route did have me start and end correctly in the house even though my entry and exit into the house were through the same door, which is in the NW corner of the house.  Therefore the line from the right going into the house is wrong as I have no door in the NE section of the house.

 
And the GPS app had me some distance off the fence line when I actually walked right next to the fence.  In the photo below I had walked to the corner even if the track does not have me doing that.  Also I walked in a straight line to under the tree where I marked an X.  I wonder if walking under the tree threw the GPS app off and it then guessed that I had walked north of the tree?

Also when I walked along the river I often was shown to have been walking in the river.   In the photo below I walked to the right of A, the end of land.  Then I backtracked to go to B as I had to walk around the tree that is in the 7 o'clock position from B.  I then walked a little to the left of B then up to C.   As you can see this doesn't not match the route mapped.  The route here is in the middle of the river and I assure you I did not walk in the water especially as this is December and the water is very cold.

I've noticed the same problem with my property boundaries/fence lines with other government agencies who have mapped the ranch using satellite photos.  I think the original GPS coordinates for the USDA Farm Service Agency satellite photos were inputted a little off, or is this in the margin of error for GPS units?

The distance I walked seemed to be correct.  However the elevation gain and loss were way off.  The GPS app had me gaining 679 feet in elevation and losing 820 ft.  I walked in a circle starting and ending in my house.  The elevation gain and loss should be identical.  Also I think the elevation numbers are off by a more than a factor of 10.  My estimate of the elevation gain/loss to have been 20 to 30 ft.

Still, for a $9.99 app, this may be a good deal as a decent GPS unit - or at least the one I would like - is $600.

Birds

The birds have been working on the suet.  Yesterday the sun shone so that was a bonus day.

Bohemian Grange Hall expo

Sunday, December 11, Tammy organized an expo for home based businesses like her Tastefully Simple business.

For a place to hold the expo she found and rented the Bohemian Grange Hall south of Whitefish, Montana.  Because part of the goal of the expo was to collect winter clothing for the Evergreen Panty, Tammy was able to get fifty free posters printed for her event.

Fourteen vendors including Tammy said they would be at the expo.  Twelve vendors showed up that day.

Because Tammy and I were running the expo we had to be at the grange before the other vendors started to arrive at 9 am.  We were there at 8:20 am on a cold frosty morning.  I had to take care when driving as some sections of the road were slippery.

The grange is a two story building and some vendors had to be on the second floor.  There were plenty of electrical outlets for vendors to use.

All the vendors were ready when the first customer showed up right at 11 am.  What seemed to be a good sign, wasn't.  It was a slow day.  All total we maybe had around 30 customers. Tammy and I put posters up all around Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.  We had the expo listed in the events sections of the locals newspapers and on a number of radio stations.  So the word should have been out there for people to know about the expo.

Maybe it was because it was a Sunday. Maybe it was because people are worn out from all the Christmas shopping.  Maybe it was the location.  I don't know why the turnout was so light.

A number of vendors sold a few items, but overall it was a dead day.  Even though the expo was to go until 4 pm, we all made the decision to pack up and leave after 3:30 pm.  All the vendors were gone before 4:30 pm.  Tammy and I had to clean the building in order to get our deposit back so we didn't leave until 5 pm.

Bohemian Grange Hall

We could have made better signs.

All the vendors were to bring sweet and/or salty food.  Most vendors brought sweets.  One vendor brought Cosco wheat bread on top of which he added Parmesan cheese and with his homemade Ratatouille.  It was very tasty.

Some of the food the vendors brought

Tammy's location.

Bunny and pie

I made another apple pie today.  The brown streaks on the crust are from the cinnamon and sugar I sprinkled on top.

After getting my mailbox smashed several weekends in row, my mailbox was left alone this weekend. It appears putting a board and bar across the top has deterred the vandals.


Late afternoon near dusk, as I was working on moving more of my boards and stuff from my pole shed, I noticed a large black rabbit sitting in the corral near the loafing shed.  It sat there until I looked away.  Tammy had seen this rabbit before but I never have seen it. I have seen its tracks in the snow.  The rabbit is very large and completely black.  I've never had a rabbit at the ranch before.  I don't know if this is good or bad.  I don't have a garden right now.  The rabbit is cute.  So I guess having a rabbit around the ranch right now is good.  If the rabbit ever becomes a problem I can always have Tammy research rabbit stew recipes.

Zero horses

The last two horses left Sunday.  They were way out in the south pasture but came when they saw their owners' horse trailer and heard them call.  Loading these horses was much easier than loading the first two horses.

So the ranch feels empty once again.

With the horses gone I rolled up and put away for the Winter the hoses I had used to fill the water trough.  Definitely on the 'to-do' list next year is to get a pump for the well by the water trough.

I put the salt blocks into the barn for Winter. As I now no longer need to get into the barn until Spring I laid some boards and fabric inside the large door to prevent/reduce the amount of snow that could get blown into the barn by the mean ol' north wind.  In the past I've had some hay ruined when snow blew in then melted on the hay.  The wind doesn't blow much here, but in the Winter, on occasion, cold air will spill over the mountain passes from the east and will roar down into the Valley.

I'm still working on clearing a spot for Tammy's van in the pole shed.  I'm still splitting more logs for firewood.  I finished clearing the logs off two pallets. I am down to one towering 6 ft pile of logs on one pallet.  I do have enough logs split to last the Winter.  I think.  Tammy likes the house warmer than I usually have it.

Turkeys

There are a flock of turkeys that roam the neighborhood.  Now that the Corriente cattle are back in the neighbor's pasture the turkeys show up there and in Bob and Jan's yard more often.  In Bob and Jan's yard the turkeys eat the bird seed that the birds spill from their feeders.

(Tammy took this photo with her new smartphone.)

Two less horses

Today the owners were in town to fix a flat tire on their horse trailer.  They decided to take two of the horses back home even though there is little to no snow and the horses still have lots to eat in the pasture.  The owners came this afternoon and loaded two of the horses: one older horse and one filly.

Once the horse trailer door was closed and the two horses left behind understood what was happening they now wanted to go too.  Especially the filly.  She ran around the trailer and pawed at the ground trying to figure out what to do.  The wife and I got the two remaining horses out of the corral into the pasture and this enabled the husband to drive out of the corral with the horse trailer.

Once I let the two remaining horses back into the corral they ran to the front gate in hopes of joining their friends.  It was not to be.

They are sad tonight.  They would whiny calling for their friends.  They ran around the corral in hope of spotting them somewhere.  Whenever they saw me come out of the house they called to me.  When I walked to the corral they would look at me then turn their backs to me.

They get over it by tomorrow.

Here are the photos of the remaining horses.   Photo 1 is the older horse (Fancypants) looking for her friends who left.  The second photo shows the filly who ran around and around the corral looking for her friends.

Here are two photos of the oldest horse. Now and when she first arrived this past Spring. Being at the ranch fattened her up and did her good.

Here one horse is unfriendly and the other is accusing.  The two photos also are now and then to show how the filly grew over the Summer.

Looking out to the pasture for her missing friends.

Sqeaking refridgerator

My refrigerator makes noises quite often. Some days are worse than others either with loudness or frequency. Sometimes it sounds like it is full of a herd of crickets.  It is driving Tammy crazy.

I don't hear it half the time as I am so used to it making noise.  If the refrigerator is quiet for too long I worry it has died.

I don't know how old the refrigerator is.  Since dad didn't leave a warranty instruction manual, the refrigerator must pre-date dad's ownership of the house. Therefore it may be from the early 1970s or 1960s.

Here is a 23 second video of it squeaking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lorpp3IYqI

Damaged mail box

A week or so ago someone dented my mailbox.  I pounded out the dent.  Then I put two wooden poles in the ground on each side of the mailbox to prevent someone from again whacking my mailbox as they drove by.

This morning I found my mailbox dented again.  This time it was worse than the first time.  They had to stop and then hit the mailbox from the top to dent it.  I haven't seen any other mailboxes a short distance up and down the road that were dented so I don't know why seem to be only targeting my mailbox.

I again pounded out the dent and straightened the mailbox so I could close its door. I added a board and bar to protect the top of the mailbox.  It doesn't look pretty but hopefully it will protect my mailbox.  I have an idea now on how I can use some odds and ends of re-bar and pipe I have and make a cage around my mailbox.  That will have to wait until next year and warmer weather.

The two poles on the right exist to protect my mail box from the snow coming from a snowplow.  Once it snows I nail a board to the poles to deflect the snow and protect my mailbox.

The two poles on each side of the mailbox are what I added a week or so ago.  Monday I nailed the board to the poles and added the re-bar over the box.

Browning Expo

Last Saturday Tammy and I drove east of the Rocky Mountains over to Browning, MT to attend an expo held in the gym at the Browning school.  Tammy sold her Tastefully Simple product at the expo.

It was a long way to drive at around 95 miles. And through the mountains. We had watched the weather all week and crossed our fingers hoping for good weather and driving conditions.  Driving over Marias Pass on a snow covered slick road is not a fun time.

The weather cooperated.  No snow or ice.  Just snow along the sides of the road and pretty snow covered trees. It was chilly outside as the temperature was in the low teens Fahrenheit for much of the morning.  Once we reached the Pass the wind started.  There looked to be some icy snow spots between the Pass and East Glacier but it was no problem to drive on.

The expo started at 10 am and Tammy wanted to be there to set up around 8:30 am.  That meant we have to leave the ranch close to 6:30 am as it was around a two hour drive.

Morning came early.   Way early.

It was dark when we left and for much of the drive up to Marias Pass we drove in darkness.  This meant watching out for deer along the road.  Fortunately we did not see any on the drive there.  On the drive back home I saw two deer crossing the highway.

View NE from near Marias Pass

Browning is on the Blackfeet Reservation.

Browning Montana.  The building with the red roof to the left of center is the school building.

We were set up and ready well before the expo started at 10 am.  Tammy made and brought some Tastefully Simple wild rice soup for people to sample. It is in the red crock pot.  We got a corner location so we would have electricity to keep the soup warm.

The expo organizers said they had enough vendors to fill the gym.  As you can see not all the vendors showed up.  The weather was decent so that shouldn't have kept the vendors away.  Perhaps the lack of vendors was because both of Montana's university football teams were playing playoff games.  The price of a vendor spot was only $10 so the vendors who didn't show up weren't out of much money.

The traffic at the expo was light.  One vendor who was at this expo last year said there were more vendors and people last year.  Again, the football games may have had something to do with the light traffic.

Tammy ended up selling more to other vendors than she did to people attending the expo.  She could have sold lots of wild rice soup mixes as everyone who tasted the soup loved it, but she didn't have many mixes to sell.

The expo was also a fundraiser for women's health.   One booth took a person's blood pressure and tested their blood sugar. This is especially important on the reservation as Native Americans have a high chance of having high blood pressure and blood sugar readings.  Since both of my parents had diabetes I had my blood sugar tested. I had last eaten food (breakfast) at 6 am and I had my blood sugar tested after 1 pm.  My reading was 86, which is good.

The expo went to 4 pm.  People quickly took down their displays and were out of there.   The sun had gone behind the mountains and clouds by the time we were on the road.

The mountain on the right half of the photo is Calf Robe Mountain.  Last year I had hiked up to the long flat part just right of center.  Awesome views.

We didn't get home until 6 pm.  It was very dark by then.  We got and cooked a Papa Murphy pizza for supper.

Tammy's first Montana freezer meal class

Wednesday night Tammy held her first Tastefully Simple freezer meal class.  While Tastefully Simple is known for their seasonings to make great dips, the seasonings can also be used to make meals.

Four women bought eight Tastefully Simple seasonings each and then Tammy held a class at the house to show them how to make eleven meals to be placed in their freezer for later cooking.  The women provided the meat and canned goods the seasonings are added to.   Around 6 pm the women arrived with their ice chests of food.

The class was over in less than two hours even with all the chit-chat that went on.

Tammy made a few dips, wild rice soup, and some beer bread for the women to sample.

I spent all day cleaning the house.  The lady came and got the couch and loveseat I had sold her and that freed up room to allow us to move some furniture around and to set up the table and chairs I had bought at the auction a few weeks ago. 

This was the first time we had a chance to put the extra leaf into the table and we discovered the leaf's color was slightly different from the rest of the table.  We have no idea as to why this is.
 
I cleaned and cleared off stuff of my kitchen table and took off the table cloth to find a nice table underneath.

Before and after the freezer meal class with the happy meal makers.