Fun Times at GVL

So my man and I spent a lovely 3 days at the cabin in GVL.  It was weird being up there without other people, but we managed. 

We rented a canoe and paddled around on the lake for 70 minutes.  They gave us 10 extra for the price of an hour because he’s so darn cute!  A word of advice, the lake isn’t big enough for 70 minutes of canoeing.  We went back and forth, side to side, up and down, all around,, and still had 40 minutes left.  Plus, our old buns went to sleep!  What a fun time we had! 

We walked to the rock formations to see Arrowhead and watch the sunset, but were too early for the sunset,  Still quite a lovely view though.  It was eerie to see once shaded woods wide open to the sun, no leaves, blackened tree trunks.  Many signs of new growth and renewal were plentiful; offering hope that the once shady grove would again be one day.

I think all of the red ants in the western hemisphere moved to GVL for the summer.  They were everywhere!

We each worked on our own projects, I made a cross stitched pillow for the fair and D enjoyed his mancrame.  I think he has an excellent chance of teaching arts and crafts to retired men in Montana someday.

We painted 2 sides and 2/3 of another side of the back cabin exterior; redwood stain with green stain trim.  Not sure what color the door will be.  We didn’t want to go too far without input from you all.  If the green isn’t a fav of all, we’ll re-stain it redwood colored.  It shouldn’t take more than 4 hours to finish painting the balance of the cabin.  We’re hoping to finish Labor Day weekend or before.  There are pics in D’s camera and I hope to be able to post them soon.

We went to the Lake Inn for dinner and had what D told the waitress was “possibly the best pizza he’d ever eaten”.  It was very good and we had a lovely sunset view of the lake.  Very nice people, too.

We made a bird feeder and filled it with seed, grapes and cherries and a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts (which the blue jays found easier to feed from than the squirrels).  It was fun to sit in the cabin and watch a squirrel try to pull up the plastic cup feeder and dump it over.  He finally gave up.  Then the blue jays took their turn and proved much more adept at snatching the peanuts from the plastic cup.  The little tree just past the lilac bush in front of the kitchen window was COVERED with blue jays, each taking their turn stealing nuts from the cup.  All of this should explain the pie tin hanging from the aspen tree (bird feeder) and the plastic drinking cup hanging from the other tree when you visit the cabin next.   We plan to work out the bugs of our ‘be kind to animals’ campaign over the next few visits. 

And before I close, I need to apologize for doubting all of you who claimed that Alley Mills and Orson Bean moved into the cabin across the street.  I finally had the opportunity to speak with them from across the roadway on several occasions and once at the store.  She asked about Mimi and said to give her regards.  I don’t know how much you all had to pay them to come up there and purpetrate this fraid (akin to the marching band tale of John’s) but BRAVO!

Introducing …….The Rockin’ H Ranch (working title)

I could stress and strain, fret and finagle, ponder and pause, dilly, dally and delay searching for JUST the right words to announce the acquisition (FINALLY- Praise the Lord!) of the property where, Lord willing, we will be building our future home (for at least part of the year).  I’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words; I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Presenting NHN (no house number) Terra Vista Way, Lewistown, Montana.  Enjoy our new views…..

Standing on our land looking to the east….

From the property, looking to the west, the East Fork Reservoir.

From the south side of the reservoir looking east toward our place. We’re to the right of the buildings.

Standing on the property, the view to the south.

Since this was not so long ago a working cattle ranch, there are no trees.  Once we have a pretty firm idea of where our structures will go, we’re going to plant some trees so they will have a chance to grow big and tall by the time we arrive.

 

If you would be so kind as to indulge me….

What’s at the end of YOUR rainbow?

Here’s what’s at the end of MINE  You’ve gotta love it!

Blessings, S

 

“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” - William Morris

By Valentine’s Day 2007 our dream of a Craftsman style interior had begun to take shape. We found a rug we LOVED. It became the inspration for all of the other colors we are using in the room. We’d gone out on a limb and ordered the Motawi tile for our fireplace surround. We’d begun crafting the mantel to go over and around the tile. For as long as I can remember, I had dreamed of my husband sitting in front of a grand fire, reading. Taking one more step toward my dream come true, I gave my beloved a Morris chair for Valentine’s Day that year. We found the rug and the chair at our favorite home interior store, Craftsman Revival Home Furnishings in Solana Beach, CA.
After 8 long months of reading and writing, being out of town 4 days per month, balancing a new assignment, a daughter in her first year of college, a family adjusting to one less person living in the main house and one more person living in the back house, Dewey graduated from the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute in July, 2007. To celebrate another of his many successes I gave him a hand hammered copper table lamp to read by as he sat in the living room, in front of a grand fire, in his Morris chair. But something was missing.
In no time at all we figured out what it was. We didn’t have a table to set the lamp on! Thank God for the Internet because in no time at all, we found the perfect end table. (See www.missionstudio.com/endtable.) Nothing being as easy as it seems, the table was way, WAY, WAY out of our budget at a whopping $1,495!!! But I wasn’t worried; I have a secret weapon. I have a husband who can build ANYTHING, and better than that, he let’s me HELP him do it!!! How blessed am I??? Very, I say. We wanted to use the leftover tile from the fireplace for the top of the end table, but of course, there wasn’t enough. I called our new best friend Tom Gerardy, the owner of the aforementioned Craftsman Revival Home to ask if he had any sample tile that matched ours. He did! I bought it on a Wednesday and it was on our doorstep by Friday afternoon. How cool is that? And so, without further ado, I give you, the making of an end table, Heath Family Woodworks style.

 

Play Day!

I feel as though I’ve lost my voice. For a few days shy of two weeks, I have been unable to post pictures to our humble little blog. We have so many exciting things to show, and no way to share them. WordPress changed their dashboard and with it changed the ability of many users to do routine things - post images, correct duplication problems in sidebars, easily switch themes, and many others of which I have not been afflicted. I check the forums nearly every day to see if there’s any progress on the fix. At first, I thought it was me. I soon discovered that I am not alone.

We had a family play day outside today. We rented a dumpster, the REALLY HUGE one, 30 yards I think they call it. The three men had it nearly filled by 1:00 this afternoon! I don’t count me because my job was to fill, and refill and fill again a trash bin with clippings from my many gardens, starting with the roses. I would then drag the trash bin to the front yard and leave it by the dumpster until their next trip around front. They would dump it and deliver it to me in the garden, ready to be filled up again. My beloved husband and son were joined by Cameron, Curt’s friend from next door. Amazing how $10/hour can motivate the usually unmotivatable.

As I was out picking up the worker’s reward (Jersey Mike’s subs) Dewey was called into work, so he’s outta here. The young men and I will do what we can for the rest of the day or until the dumpster is filled to the brim, whichever comes first. The reward for my sweaty efforts will be a new climbing rose (or two) for the arbor. The worker’s will be well fed and paid for their hard work, and as for my beloved husband, well, he’s earning some overtime pay to stash in the savings account for his new truck! Someday I’ll tell you all about the Truck-O-Meter. Or better yet, when WordPress fixes the gliches, I’ll take a picture of it!

Happy Saturday to you all!

What’s in a Name?

My beloved and I were talking yesterday about where our names, and then our childrens’ names, came from. The more we shared with one another what we did know, the more we realized what we didn’t know. That is where you come in. As part of our Family Tree project, we’d like to add a note to each family member’s record explaining where their name came from. Please e-mail Dewey at dsheath@mac.com and share what you know about those names you chose for your children and what you know about how your names, and the names of your forefathers (and mothers) were chosen. We can’t wait to read your e-mails. Thank you everyone!

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:1

And it makes me wonder….

Welcome to today’s edition of a new feature to our blog we like to call “And it makes me wonder”. I wonder how long this will last.

When cows laughs, does milk come out of their nose?

Chasing Our Own Tales….

For those of you that might not know, Dwayne has been spending some of his free time researching his roots on Ancestry.com. We invite you to spend some of your free time perusing what he’s discovered. If you’re interested in being invited to view his Family Tree, please e-mail Dewey at dsheath@mac.com. We welcome any additions of information, photos or stories you wish to make.

The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.
- Stephen Ambrose, 1936-2002

Dad at Yosemite

Small Things I’m Thankful for……

(in no particular order)

1. Morning coffee dates

2. Bonine

3. C, G, H & T

4. Tejava at Trader Joe’s for $1.19/bottle vs. $1.95/bottle at Von’s (not to mention the ninety-nine cent carrrier that holds 6 (count ‘em, SIX) bottles of Tejava).

5. Easter Sunday

6. Fall back

7. May 22nd

8. ‘Love’ design postage stamps

9. lists