Back to school

Bike rack at the ready

Charles began his fourth semester at the University of Montana today with three classes on the schedule.  This term he's taking: Latin American Art History, Printmaking (screen), and Sculpting I.

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!

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.

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.

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!!

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!