First 'Real' Snow

Drove to Kalispell yesterday for a day in the 'big city' =)...The drive was beautiful and the little Rav did awesome! I stayed on the road the whole trip =)

Fisher River

Home for Thanksgiving

Walking through the door of my parents' home is always a treat. There's coffee in the pot, comfy chairs, a crackling fire, music and lots laughter.  A friend and I drove down there to spend the holidays and enjoyed every minute of it there.

Liesel with her sweet uncle

 

 

on the hayride and talking with Grandpa

hiking McDowell Creek Falls

 



the new additions to the family--lots of fun here!



 

Thanks, Dad!

      This pack has been many hiking miles so far this summer. Dad gave it to me at the beginning of the summer, and wow! It's been great. In this picture it is full of sun-bleached pieces of a cow's spine=). Teachers need things like this. Nathaniel and I found the remains scattered around the trail while hiking up onto a ridge. As I've been in need of consecutive spinal column pieces for sometime, we loaded it up in my roomy pack and took it back to the lodge. Thanks, Dad! =)

A storm hung over the Gravelleys as I drove home last Sunday. Some storm clouds are pearly and bronze, without pattern and very magical looking. Such were these. I could see the storm brewing on the right side of the road and stretching lightly over toward the Madisons on the other side of the valley. Only it thinned out into a rainbow on that side. It was gorgeous! I felt treated to a movie scene.

The Centennials

The flat-topped, rocky, basin-filled Centennials form a solid boundary between Idaho and Montana. They also form a large valley of the same name. If you can picture an upside down 'T' then separate slightly the perpendicular lines you will be picturing an elementary map of the Centennials and the Gravelleys. The Gravellys being the up and down part and the Centennials being the across part. The Centennial Valley dives through the space made by separating the lines. It is a beautiful, grass-laden valley. Harsh in the winter and oh, so rich in the summer. This picture is taken looking southward toward the Centennials (from the perspective of the very southern end of the Gravellys). The lodge is placed at this point and if I would have pointed my camera slightly downward, you would be able to see it in the middle of this picture. Speaking of which, ignore the differing blues in the sky. I tried to combine a few photos and they weren't exactly the same color!

Sheridan is probably one of my favorite towns in the Ruby Valley, and the Ruby Valley is close to my favorite place in Montana. Here's one of the reasons. Serendipity is a cute, fun little place that is sparkling clean and good smelling. Sometimea curl of homemade pizza smell wafts passed as someone is being served their lunch or the inticing coffee scent of a freshly made  americano guides your eyes to the drinks board. Yum! 

My good friend and I went the other day and this delightful huckleberry milkshake is what I ended up with. It was a hot day and we had already been plant shopping. It was time for something cool. I also bought my sweet little niece something there. The proprietor has a wonderful selection of quality, valuable toys and kids items along with some other things like candles, shirts, jams, etc. A cute little girl helped me pick out the puzzle. She was an efficient little saleswoman!

This is my sweet little saleslady.

                                                                                                                                        
Another great place to go is Kindred Spirits Gift Gallery. While at Serendipity we ran into the gal who owns this place and this prompted a little walk down the street and across for a visit. It's wonderfully eclectic and 'ritzy' feeling. She has art of all kinds: paintings, cards, wooden works, iron works (like these hooks made by her husband), painted brooms, jewelry, and more. In addition she has a great selection of books to peruse through.


Kindred Spirits Gift Gallery

There's lots of great stuff packed into this little town, and I haven't even begun talking about the fields, cows, nice people, gravel roads, charming yards, tranquil rivers, beautiful mountains, great greenhouses, and shimmering round bales of hay!



A Meal

Elk Lake...dinnertime for the workers brings wonderful things to the table. We take turns cooking. Sometimes we pull out delicious leftovers out of the fridge, sometimes it's a mix of old and new, and sometimes it's all new. Laurel's turn was last week and we enjoyed some great food! We had a round-the-world food week. One of my favorites was jagerschnitzel. Pronounced yeagerschnitzel this meal comes straight from Germany.

Laurel put together a yummy fresh salad with a sparkling vinegarette dressing and roasted corn; homemade French fries; and pound, breaded and fried pork cutlets; and a rich, smooth mushroom gravy to pour over both pork and fries.

Earlier in the day I had walked into the kitchen following the sound of pounding coming from it. Laurel was pounding a bunch of plump little pork steaks into the thin, wide pieces she needed.  This is not a little amount of work.

The smell of the gravy drew me in later as it bubbled in readiness on the stove. The final product was delicious as I already stated. We were all 'full as ticks' as the saying goes!


Laurel, the chef of this meal, has a blog called Eating Up the Road that I would be remiss if I didn't mention. It's a chronicle of her and her husband's travels and experiences as caretakers of Silver City, ID. Take a look!