December 28, 2015 - Good times at home!

Lots of photos on this one so be patient!  Obviously we are back home again in Montana.  We came back here for the holidays. It's nice to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's day with family and friends.  In addition December is about the only cold month (by Montana standards) in Overton so we decided to spend it here in MT instead.  Here we have more things to do, more room, and better heat!

It snowed the day after our arrival and we quickly learned that our little front-wheel-drive car wasn't going to make it.  So ... we bought a (well!) used Subaru sedan that was all-wheel-drive.  We immediately put new studded snow tires and a battery and had more money in it in parts than we paid for the car.  But it gets around great on theses snowy roads and gets acceptable gas mileage (25 mpg) so we're happy with it.  We had one winter without studded snow tires and decided that that was never going to happen again!

So here are 47 photos showing some of the things we've been up to the last month!

We had a covey of grouse spend a little time outside our living room window one morning.  There are seven in this photo. We thought about bagging a couple for dinner but I just enjoyed watching them too much to shoot any.

I got out my old treadle sewing machine to hem up some pants.  Scott was fascinated with it so when I finished I took the needle out and let him play with it for awhile (like my grandmother did when I was his age).

Susan found a (very!) large serving tray and the Legos now reside in it.  It's half the size of the table and we can just move it off the table whenever we need the table for more conventional uses.  The Lego blocks provide hours of entertainment for Scott and most of our male visitors (and me!).

A Lego robot Scott put together.

A trip to Kalispell with a stop at Coscto for groceries and lunch.

One of our pressure canners put away for the season. Susan lubes the seal with cooking oil and seals it in a plastic bag to keep it soft.

My Santa suit came in the mail so I had to model it.  Scott was ecstatic but just a little confused.  He thought Santa lived at the North Pole.

Then Grandma tried it on.  She got a nice long hug for her efforts!

Scott decorated his birthday cake himself.  Susan keeps a crate of cake decorations for all events around and Scott has decorations for his birthday, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.  He wanted a "red" cake so Susan used food coloring to make it (light) red.  He was happy with it.  We celebrated his birthday a couple of more times in order for all the relatives to enjoy it with him.

Scott's mom and brother playing in his rocket tent.

One of our "traditions" is cutting the Christmas tree on our property (we have hundreds to choose from!).  We like to get it before the snow so I don't get all wet cutting it down but this time we were a few hours late.  Scott picked this one out.  We'd originally planned to take the one behind it but this one made an excellent tree for us.

He helped decorate the tree with Grandma.  (Or maybe it was Grandma helping Scott!?)

As Scott says ... "Ta Da."

Sleep kind of sneaks up him at times.

We are low on firewood.  I don't normally let that happen but I delayed cutting because of the fire danger.  If a fire rolls through the firefighters will not save your wood shed and then you have to start all over again so many of us like to wait until after the fire season to cut our wood.  I normally cut some in the spring anyway but my stepfather died last spring so we spent several weeks in Kansas.  Then when we got home the forest fires up here were so bad we headed south to get some clean air.  Then we spent several more weeks in Kansas helping my mother with the estate sale then we headed south from Kansas.  So, my excuse was that we weren't home much last summer (which is true!)  Anyway, now I'm cutting firewood in the snow which I hate doing but you do what you gotta' do.  I cut the trees down on our property then we sled them to the wood shed.  I could have used the truck but it was only a couple hundred yards and we needed the exercise anyway.  Scott, of course saw the opportunity for a sled ride and took it. 

The ride down was best because he didn't have to share the sled with the fire wood.

Susan hauling a load of firewood up to the wood shed.

Then the snow began!  I've had to shovel off the shack roof twice and clean the shed roofs twice (the barn, wood shed and storage shed) and shovel off the work shop roof once and brace the roof on it too (it has a nearly flat roof and I brace it up every winter).  They almost need it again.  I clean the snow off when it reaches about 12 inches deep on the roof.

The road coming in towards our cabin. 

Our solar panels need to be swept daily and then we have so few sunny days in December that it doesn't seem worth it.  We run the generator most evenings in December.  Our small generator (4000 watt) is getting old and tired.  We've had it for twelve years now and I estimate it's only producing about half of what it did when new.  But it's a lot easier on gasoline than our big generator so we are still using it. It will probably get replaced next spring.  We have electric starters on all of our generators here in MT.  When the temperature is -10 or lower they can be impossible to start using a pull rope.  In those cases you have to bring it in the cabin to warm it up first.

Our daily sweep.  I bought a commercial snow rake in an Overton yard sale last year and the handle extensions will fit the broom handle so now I don't need to use the ladder anymore.  I can do it from the ground.  Unfortunately, I didn't discover that until after I'd already used the ladder a few times.  It goes a lot faster now!

To say that Scott enjoys the snow would be a bit of an understatement.  He loved shoveling the driveway.  Well, he loved it for about five minutes at a time.  After that he found other things to do. 

Susan made a couple of snowmen.  This was the second one after we'd had several snow storms roll through.  It's a dandy!

Scott tried running his plastic lawn mower but it just didn't work well on snow!

Home made pizza!

Scott requested biscuits for breakfast only he stipulated that they be made using some of his favorite cookie cutters.

Our "work station."

After last summer's fires we waited until the ground was covered in snow to burn this slash pile.  It was a bit difficult to get it started but once it got going it did a fine job drying out and burning the rest of the wood.

Breakfast on the wood stove.  I have hash browns cooking in the skillet and the pan has coffee in it.  I reheat the previous day's coffee and drink it until the pot is empty.

Scott's new treasure from the thrift store.

He saw what it was made for and had to have it.  Every child needs the perfect ... snow ball maker!

This was the first snowman that Susan made.  Not much snow yet so she picked up a few leaves while rolling the snow.  It's been snowing almost constantly this month.  Typically it just snows very lightly for weeks on end.  It does finally accumulate though.  We probably have anywhere from 18 inches to two feet of snow depending upon where you're standing in the yard.

Scott getting his morning cuddle from Grandma.  Its a great way to start the day.

Melting snow for water.  We have used snow for drinking after after filtering it  So far this winter we've only needed it for washing clothes, dishes, and us.  We always bring each new batch to a boil before using it.

Susan rolling out the dough for Christmas cookies.  Scott's mom (right) and dad (left) are waiting by the table.  Scott is occupied with something in front of the cabinet behind the table.

Decorating cookies is one of our traditions not only for Christmas but also for Easter and Halloween.  Some are nearly artistic quality.  Susan goes all out mixing colors of frosting on her plate.  It looks like an artist's palette.  Her cookies are almost too pretty to eat ...  "almost" being the key word here.

More cookies ...

and more cookies ..

I did the cookies on the paper plates.  Not much artistry.  My main goal is to ensure that the frosting in at least 1/4 inch thick.  Scott likes my cookies best!

Stonehenge Air Museum

Our youngest son works at a private golf course where they have recently opened up an air museum.  The guy who owns the golf course also owns the planes in the museum.  You'll note that most of the planes have oil drip pans under them.  That's because most of them are working rigs and the owner flies them regularly.  I've put the link to the museum above this photo.  They have more information on the website.  There are a lot more planes than those in the photos.  This plane is very special.  You'll have go to the website to know why.

More planes ...

More planes.  (I used to love the stories about the Flying Tigers in WW2 so it was great to be able to see this plane up close.)

This is one very few people have seen.  Anyone know what it is and how it was used in the Vietnam war?

This one has quite a story behind it.  The pilot who used to fly it is going to visit the museum in the near future.  It should be quite a reunion.  (It was fully armed when he flew it.)  There are many more planes to see and each one has a unique story behind it.  A trip through this museum is much more than just looking at some airplanes.

Scott relaxed and playing Angry Birds on the tablet.

More snow to melt.  When the kettle is nearly full it works better to just scoop the snow into the kettle to keep from overfilling it.

The ice-cycles from snow melting on our roof.

Thanks for your patience!

28 February, 2015 Solar and camp fire cooking, power inverters, hiking, riding and tanks!

And life goes on ...

We had a couple of days with light wind so we got Scott's kite out for some fun.  This year he's old enough to fly the kite himself (although grandpa helped him gain some elevation a couple of times).

Sunny days offer a chance to do some solar cooking.  It's amazing how hot things can get inside the reflectors.

Over three-hundred bucks for the new tagalong and Scott was mostly interested in playing in the box it came in!

We got this one because most of them just have a bicycle seat on them.  We were concerned that Scott would fall asleep or fall off a bike seat (messing around or just letting go of the handlebars) while we were riding so we looked for one that was more secure.  This one was expensive but the reviews were excellent so we got it.  We've made one trip to Overton using it and Scott loves it.  The pedals actually provide assistance and he was "helping" grandma pedals on some of the steeper/longer grades.

We're up at Roger's Spring looking at the fish ...

And tossing in some old bread.

Laundry day.  It was time to wash some sheets sleeping bags and the rest of the laundry. We do a little all the time at home and only take them to the laundry when we get backed up or have large items to wash.

Scott's holding up his new bed time toy.  It has a light in the middle that comes on with two taps and goes off automatically after a few minutes.

This is a familiar site on our road.  We are on the highway here going to Blue Point spring.  We heard they'd done some work to it and we wanted to see what they'd done so we rode bikes up there.

Scott is always finding something new to observe on the road and is telling us about the rumble strip on the side of the highway.  When we have Odie with us she runs along the side of the road beside me.  I call her and point and she knows to stay beside me and off the highway unless I "release" her to chase rabbits.

Scott discovered his "pockets" on the sides of his seat right away and uses them to store his refreshments while we're riding.

He picked out a model tank at the store.  We bought it with some misgivings about it's life expectancy but it was cheap and the pieces just snapped together so we gave it a try.

That was last week and it's  holding up better than a lot of the toys we've bought him.

We bought him a bicycle at the Salvation Army thrift store in Henderson and put some training wheels on it.  He rode it around camp a bit but it's hard to keep it moving because of the rough ground  (it keeps getting high centered).

Our  single "0" cables came in for the 3,000 watt inverter so I installed it.  I found out it's one of those that turns on a cooling fan when you turn on the inverter.  If I had known that I wouldn't have purchased it.  Most better quality inverters use a temperature sensor to turn on cooling fans.  The cheap ones turn on one fan as soon as the unit is turned on then have extra fans to turn on by temperature sensors if the unit gets hot.  I may just clip the power line to the fan later.  The way it is now the only time I can turn it on is when I actually want to use it.  I also have to go outside and switch the cord to the big inverter at the same time.  It's better than starting the generator when I need more power (usually for the vacuum, microwave, or electric heaters) but it's still an inconvenience I hadn't counted on.  I may be able to wire it where I can turn it on/off  and flip a couple of breakers inside but that' will be a future project.  Right now I'm leaning toward cutting a couple of wires.

We planted a very small garden this year.  It's just a few peas, onions, and a couple of tomato plants but we are looking forward to the fresh veggies.   These are the tomatoes.

Onions and peas.  Susan rolls the sticker plants over them at night to keep the dog, and coyotes from digging them up and the rabbits and burros from eating them.

Susan made Scott some rocket, train and plane pancakes using cookie cutters.

They came out pretty good and Scott loves them.

That snow is too close for comfort!  We had a cold night and when we got up the next morning there was new snow on the mountains to the south and north of us.

We took Scott's bicycle into Overton so he could ride it on pavement.  It's the first time he's been able to do that and really enjoyed it.

It's the first time he's used the child swings too.

And this was his favorite way to swing!

Scott in his batman cape throwing the ball for Molly (Rusty's dog).  He can't throw it that far but she's a good sport and brings it back to him.  Odie just looks at the ball and waits for  him to throw it again ... only farther!

Pork chops over a bed of coals!

Scott shooting his bow.

Scott and grandpa at Roger's Spring.  He likes me to swing him over the channel.  The water flow had decreased in their measuring system and they sent someone out to see why.  When the flows of a spring decrease it's possible that there's a problem in the aquifer feeding it (which could be a big problem in some cases).  In this instance the water had washed out a channel around the concrete spillway.  They just filled in the channel and everything's back to normal.

We took a little  hike back into the desert from the spring.  There were fresh burro tracks and Scott wanted to follow them.  Pretty soon he wanted to follow them from grandpas's shoulders which worked for me as well. (Faster!)

Susan and Scott goofing off.

Been a long day and we had a tired little boy who went to sleep snuggled against grandma while eating supper.

Grandma playing with Scott.  She's an "angel" and he's a "butterfly."

We decided to start making our own coffee drinks to take with us when we're driving late.  We couldn't find the kind we like on our last late trip into Henderson so I had some coffee from a 7-11 store.  It was very strong (Marine Corp coffee!) and even though I diluted it with about 20 percent water I still couldn't get to sleep for about three hours after we made it home.

Barbecue time!  Chicken breasts in the middle with red bell peppers around the edge.  In the foil we put sliced sweet potatoes with a gob of butter and some spices.  It was great!

Scott and Odie putting in some "quality time."

We've been questioning whether our wind generator was working so I installed an amp meter.  With a light wind we are getting about 10 amps output.  We  haven't had any high wind since then but if it's doing ten amps now it should be better with more wind.  We'll see!

Susan has a blog up that gives a little more info on what we're up to on a daily basis.  If you want to see it got to:  Steven and Susan Snowbirding, Season Five

I also have a new series on my Grit blog.  I'll be looking back over the last 12 years of our Montana homestead.  There'll be lots of photos!

Looking Back on our Mosquito Mountain Homestead