Turner Mountain

We spent last Saturday on the ski hill.

Yep! A Saturday in August on the ski hill!

We started our ski patrol training early.

This is chairlift evacuation training.

I took the above foto as I was rappelling off the chair.

This is a fellow patroller lowering himself down,

I am still on the chair.

The view from the chair near the top of the lift.

That is the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness in the background,

Mt. Tom and the saddle in the foreground.

 This is when we first started,

down near the lift line, we just filled some chairs

and then rode a little way and evcuated.

We do self evacuation and passenger evacuation.

This year we did an exercise where we evacuated a "sit-ski"

since we have a disabled skier who frequents the hill,

and for future disabled skiers.

We also learned and practiced ascending.

Here is a fellow patroller ascending.

The rope in the foreground, (upper corners of the foto)

are held by me, I am the anchor,

one patroller holds the other end of the rope and K is ascending to

help the kid in the chair with evacuation.

(the kids in the chair was a gung-ho helper and din't need help really

he was just helping us out so we could practice ascending!)

It was great fun!

The day couldn't have been more perfect.

The huckleberries were gorgeous, but teeny.

We ended the day with a potluck BBQ.

Before and After

It was a labor of Love.

Jay pressure washed the building, twice.

Mark scraped and painted.

I did the organization and painted the trim.

Mark also helped me patch up the oak barrels,

the metal rings had slipped and they were falling apart.

Now our office is much lovelier!

We are proud.

We are also working on the grounds.

The City (we lease from the City of Troy)

has promised fertilizer and loaned us the week whacker.

After several years of mowing and watering, we have

green stuff, we call it a "lawn".

I planted hollyhocks and sunflowers and other things that

needed thinned at home.

Just last week, I got Mark to till another patch and he donated some compost from home

and I intend to do some more planting when the weather cools a bit.

I also planted some baby conifer trees.

One day our work campus will be verdant!

Downtown Troy, Montana.

That is City Hall down there by that jeep.

The Kootenai River is between City Hall and that hill

that you see in the background.

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." — Lin Yutang

It was nice to pull into the driveway on Sunday.

To wander around the yard moving sprinklers and fussing with plants.

To watch the sun shine through the water droplets from the sprinklers,

creating little rainbows of mist.

To lounge with the cats in a sunbeam.

Hang laundry on the line.

Ah, Sundays!

Festival at Sandpoint.

Festival opening night fireworks.

Notice the fireworks trying to compete with that full moon!

Attempting yoga on a paddleboard, Sourdough Point, Lake Pend Orielle.

That was not that easy! But at least the landing is wonderful!

Breakfast at Samuels Store, which is a gas-station.

look at the view!

More opening night fireworks.

Our camp spot on Lake Cocollala, AKA: Camp Cocollala,

not to be confused with the Bible Camp Cocollala! (snort!)

Swimming with kids at Sourdough Point, Lake Pend Orielle.

Hamerville

Here are the custom raised beds.

Gorgeous and growing beautifully.

The plants in this one are small so you can't really see them yet.

The water tower.

This is the current water system.

The well driller is coming any day now.

See that red pipe? That leads to the kitchen.

This is the bedroom. It is basically finished.

You can see the wiring, it will need lights.

And the window is out right now to give that airy feeling.

The path to the privvy.

And to the back 5 acres that are across the small stream.

Close-up of the potato patch fence posts.

These are hand cut beams.

I like the character of the rough cut timbers.

Bear

Last night I was upstairs putting some laundry away

when I heard a rustling that wasn't a normal rustling.

(this wood pile is roughly 60 feet from the back door)

Turns out it was this guy.

He was pulling down branches and then sitting on them while he ate

the service berries, (also called june berries or saskatoons).

I watched for quite some time.

If Mike had been home, he would have run him off right away,

but I wanted to watch and wanted to get some fotos

before I ran him off.

After I had taken these shots, I swung the door open loudly,

started clapping, and yelling, "git outa here"!

He ran off startled and then stopped.

I had to run out after him a bit, shouting to get him to high tail it for real.

Little Bitterroot Lake

I had to take a co-worker to Kalispell yesterday

so I took that oportunity to swim in a different Lake

on my lunch break.

My fun friend, Helen, is always game for spontaneous fun,

so I called her and she met me.

We swam over a mile and didn't see a boat or another person on the water.

Office 'maters 2

I love my urban tomato patch!

These are like my little children.

They look so lovely in the morning light.

Note the building they are up against,

my desk is right there, so I look out my window

onto these. But also note the state of the paint

if you can tell. A paint job is in the works.

We have pressure washed the building and will scrape and such next week.

We have our colors basically chosen.

When it is done, I will show you the transformation.

Today we tilled a patch along the fence and

a few of us will bring soil amendments next week,

and then I will start bringing plants from home to fill in.