Sunday, August 30, 2015

A glimpse of the mountains

 
As Charles was returning from an evening meeting, he made a detour through the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge (located just north of Stevensville).

It was a surprise to actually see some of the mountains on both sides of our valley!  It was also a treat to see some wildlife - turkeys, deer (with fawns), eagles, pheasant, and ducks!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Smokey week

Mid-morning through the smoke
Evening at home

The heavy smoke that has plagued the Bitterroot Valley this past week has remained and has actually gotten worse each day.  Don't know when we'll be able to see the mountains again but it won't be anytime soon.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Open house, pt. 2

At the ready
Happy folk!
Lining up for floats
Belinda presents Mary with a gift of kale
Wesley is one tired parsonage kitty!

Open house, pt. 1

The welcome sign is up
Wesley greets visitors from the basement
Root beer floats under the apple tree
Floats and radishes for everyone!
Mo shows of her suite
 Our third open house here in Stevensville took place following worship this morning and as it was the previous two editions, a lot of fun to put the parsonage on display for our church family.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Smokey week

Smoke-covered mountains, picture taken on Wednesday
Same place as seen above, taken in September 2013
There has been a heavy, heavy blanket of smoke from the wildfires in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington over the Bitterroot Valley this week.  At one point the Nation Weather Service said the air quality over Montana was worse than that found in Beijing.

Here is a link showing the wildfires in the northwest at the present time.  We are in the Bitterroot Valley, about 30 miles south of Missoula.

We've spent a lot of time indoors and getting ready for the parsonage open house on Sunday! This will be our third open house!!

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Backyard foray


Cheddar caulflower coming along
Artichokes coming along
Blooming where we're planted
Good crop of raspberries coming in
Following our visit to the farmer's market, we returned home and enjoyed a wee foray into our own garden.  We've enjoyed a bounty of cherry tomatoes and radishes this year!

Famer's market foray

Ready to shop

Very talented craftspeople!
A lesson in glasswork
First market day since moving to Montana


It's a 'bee-utiful day'
Despite the smoke (from the fires south and west of Stevi) obscuring the mountains we enjoyed a delightful foray to the Stevi farmer's market.  With the temp hovering just over 70, those taking advantage of the talented craftsman and farmers got some great deals.

Monday, August 10, 2015

A wonderful weekend in the books

Taking care of business
Belinda greets folk during fellowship time
Sheila gets into the mix
Too much fun for Wesley
 Wonderful weekend here in Stevensville, now on to the work week!

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Mission u @ Mission Valley

Stacey King was one of the presenters
fellowship time
Marcia Prather (from Stevi UMC) was a presenter
One topic was Latin America
Some of Charles' stoles are from Central/South America
Belinda and Sheila joined others from the Yellowstone Conference this weekend for Mission u, an educational program sponsored by the United Methodist Women.

Creamery Picnic Parade (pt. 2)

Celtic Games are coming next week!
A new skate board park is coming to Stevi!
An awesome playground is coming too!
60 years of memories!
A really, really old truck




Creamery Picnic Parade (pt. 1)

American Legion gets the parade underway
Lots of old vehicles!
...and horses
St. Mary's Mission was there
Really old fire-fighting equipment!
 There is something special about a small-town parade!

Creamery Picnic, pt. 2

Charles helped secure the parking lot at the senior center
Amazing stuff at the farmer's market
Great time in the dumpling tent!
Lots for the children to do

The Creamery Picnic activities were a lot of fun and there was so much to see and do for all ages.  Charles had two shifts at the senior center (watching over the parking lot), great group of people there! One treat was at the farmer's market where Charles snatched up several bunches of fresh beets.  We LOVE beets at the parsonage!!!