Mtn Bike Night

The Blurrrr

Don't know why I like this foto, but it was taken on the bike ride and I like to think it was blurry because I was driving too fast!

Views from the bike trip to work...am

In the beginning,

here I go heading down the driveway....
1/3 mile later I am on the highway!

6 miles later, after descending a curvy hill, I am crossing Lake Creek.
(See the bench above in the fog? That is the top of the curvy hill)

Another three miles later I am cruising through this scenic, tree lined lane, (Lake Creek Road, I only ride the highway for 3 miles and then turn off on the "scenic route to avoid traffic).

At the intersection of Lake Creek Road and Highway 2

about to descend into Troy.

It rained hard last night, accompanied by athunder and lightning show.
The world was soaked this morning with quite a lot of rising fog.
As you can see, it was still slightly dark in the drivway this morning and the sun was cresting the mountians and shining brightly on the Kootenai River when I reached Highway 2.
The smell was unbelievably wonderful this morning, that fresh rain scent.
I saw twin fawns on Chase Cut-Off Road.
Aaaaah! The life!
I will try to capture the trip home, there are some things of interest I missed this morning, but the streams and roads look prettier in the morning light.
(All fotos taken from the seat of my bicycle while in motion)

Ruby Love

Lovely ground cover flowers that can be found in most places that

these beauties can be found....
Mmmmmm!

Look how each berry has a gorgeous little flower in the center!

Bucketfull of Rubies!

There are different types of berries, some are nearly black and glossy,

some are "rubies" (and I adore these), some are blue and small,

some are pear-shaped, some are more tart and some are more sweet.

I like to pick big, fat ones that grow on taller bushes as opposed to little ones that grow on short bushes.....

Mostly I just love to be out in the woods wandering and gathering and soaking it all in!

Yaak Wilderness Festival

This is a puppet from a few years ago when "the puppet lady" came to Troy and the local students created these fabulous puppets over the course of several weeks and then had a parade and puppet show. Part of the " puppet project" was for the kids to learn about the communities heritage and to talk about what their perceptions of the community were and to incorporate these concepts into puppets and act it all out.

The puppets always show up at Yaak Wilderness Festival, but randomly at other events around town too. This tree guy started dancing as soon as the sun dropped over the mountain and Sol Jibe started playing! I took a movie of it but it was too dark to really see.

Below is Mike in our shady spot by the River where we got a great side view of the stage.

Sol Jibe!

On the mainstage with the Kootenai River in the background.


Usually the Yaak Wilderness Festival is in Yaak.
But the venue at which it is usually held was unavailable this year
so it was moved to Roosevelt Park in Troy.
It was a fun party, but it did lack the charm of the Yaak.

Mtn. Bike Night

Wednesday Night Mnt. Bike Group,

or at least some of the "regulars".

riding up Mount Vernon, with Bull Lake in the background.
Ibex was showing clearly in the background too,

but is obscured by smoke in the foto.

The next shot is looking at a lower flank of Berray Mtn and up the South Fork of the Bull River.

It was a two flat tire night.

first Randy got a flat on the way up the hill,

and Steve got one near the mine on the way down.

Therefore, our last several miles were ridden in the

near dark and dark.

It stayed a beautifully warm temp. all evening

and the huckleberries were stupendous!

Guess what season it is?!

Huckleberry!!!

This is the new truck that Mike bought that he found on craigslist and the new camper

that he also found on craigslist! Wow! He is a good shopper!

The camper was only $100!

He has been working on the camper, and when he is done,

I am going to do some painting

and decorating in there.

I am pretty excited about taking it out camping!

Scapes!

This is a bouquet of garlic scapes.

I broke down and cut them off.

Supposedly the garlic bulbs get bigger and more robust if you

remove the scapes.

Like i said in a previous post,

the scapes are so beautiful, I hate to cut them!

But I broke down and removed them yesterday.

they do dry nicely and taste heavenly

and now I have a food dehydrator, so my

intent is to make garlic powder from this lovely bouquet!

Kootenai River Bluegrass Festival

This is one of the musicians from the Bluegrass Festival,

I don't know who he is, but he was nice enought to pose with the River in the background

and I like this foto!

The kids had fun digging this hole and then playing in it!

it was very entertaining to watch!

I did have to get in there and stand just to feel that nice mud!

This daisy kept Randy and I cool as we manned the ticket booth!

We took turns cooling down.


Here is the water shooting from the kiddie pool,
very cooling and lovely (and popular) on 100° days!

A bouquet for YOU!

Here is what is blooming in the yard and garden right now!

A bit of brightness and cheer!
The birds and butterflies and beez are all in love!
and are regular visitors!

HopZ

Here is a semi birds-eye-view of the hops covering the porch.

This year there seem to be more "windows" than I remember!

The table is nicely tucked in!

It's Alive!!

This is one of my Clematis plants.

I had two, one on either side of the porch.

One appeared to have died during the winter.

I was sad as it was the oldest one and the one that came with the house.

(actually I have another one in the garden!)

But Look!

It is alive!

It is small,

but it is living!

I am so excited!

I had a little celebration last night when I discovered

LiFe!

Bella

Little Bella Wood!

What a cutie!

We stayed with Dad and Elvis as our "wedding lodging"

Bella was there all the time we were there.

It was very fun to become aquainted with her!

Nina's Wedding

The Bride and Groom

Two aunts of the bride

the bride strikes a pose!

Scapes

Time for me to snip the scapes.

This supposedly makes the garlic cloves bigger,

but the scapes are SO cool,

I have a hard time making myself cut them off!

These "Johnny-Jump-Up's" just come up on their own,

I can't seem to make myself pull them,

so I just mulch around them and enjoy the burst of color!

See the perfect scape circles!

lOvE them!

making jam.....

I have been getting gallons of fresh picked strawberries from a "neighbor" and they are delicious!

I get raw milk from another"neighbor" and the fresh cream from the milk is wonderful on a bowl of fresh berries!

I have been dehydrating the berries too, to preserve some summer sunshine for the dead of winter. Dehydrating them really concentrates the sugar and makes them super sweet.

Such a treat!

I also made some strawberry vinegar. That is what is in the middle bottle.

I did strain the whole berries out and it makes a nice vinaigrette!

July 4th

These little girls were feeling like rock stars driving this convertible!

They were waving and socializing and actually ran into another little girl that was dashing for candy, the savvy moms saved the day and noone was injured, but as you can see they are not looking ahead of them as the drive! they nearly struck pedestrians 3 times while they were in front of us! Future "driving to work while applying make-up" ladies here!
Note the keg on the back!

This is Mizz Mazzy, one of my favorite little friends!

And

the Mother Tub!