It's Been A While...

It has been a while since my last post, life sure does pass by quickly.

We're staying warm and safe as humanly possible in our small spot in Montana.

 They have closed all bars, breweries, wine tasting houses, and casinos in Yellowstone County and other counties are following suit (glad I don't drink or gamble) and they are limiting restaurants to take out and delivery orders only. All K-12 schools are closed in Montana as of Monday 3/16 until April 26th or longer if needed, on-line classes are sure to follow, all colleges are already going on-line for the rest of the school year. 

I have a doctors appt. on Thursday for a blood draw to check my new new BP meds. It's a small office with far fewer patients than the bigger places.

We're going to do a stock up trip this weekend to add a few necessary items to our pantry stores. Luckily TP is not one of those items, I've had plenty stored in plastic totes for years for just such an occasion. People have gone crazy even here, with the hording of items.

I do plan to sew up a couple of masks before these trips and a few for the hubs to take to work and I also have a large aloe plant and a few bottles of rubbing alcohol on hand if I need to make hand sanitizer, any type of protection is better than none. 

I thank God for our pantry at times like this and after all is done I know there will be quite a bit that will need to be restocked. I'll be taking inventory of our freezer today to see how much is there and what is needed.

Praying you all stay safe and healthy and that this Virus is over soon so our lives can go back to a somewhat normal state. Until next post....

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy

 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very 

Merry Christmas & 

a Joyous New Year!!

May you be surrounded by beautiful memories & those you hold dear & may your days be filled with Love, Laughter & Happiness.

Here is a small gift from me to you.

 This was designed to go with my earlier designs "Noel" & "Merry Christmas" that you can see here:

https://smalltownstitchin.blogspot.com/2010/12/tis-season.html

 

heart = 321

X = 319

. = 676 & back-stitch on leaves (opt.)

0 = 729

lg. black dot = 680

As always my color choices are just a suggestion, so pick the colors you love most and stitch away. 

I would love to see your finished pieces.

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !

 

Wishing you all a day filled with Blessings, Love & Family.

Hugs, Sandy & the Hubs

Oh What A Difference A Day Makes

Hello Everyone, Hope you all are well and staying safe and crafty.

Isn't it supposed  to be Fall right now, the leaves have just barely begun to change color and are still clinging to the branches of our many trees. So why oh why is my entire yard WHITE!!

Just yesterday I was outside in 70 degree temps & short sleeves taking pictures of hoof and paw prints in a shaded damp area, collecting a few apples and pears and just enjoying the fall weather.

Doe & Fawn tracks.

We have two doe's who frequent our yard with their fawns. This year both of them have twins and they use our yard as their daycare area.

We also have Raccoons & Squirrels.

Not sure which these belong to, but I'm thinking Squirrel (only four front toes).

Woke up today to 28-30 degrees so I had to turn up the furnace put on my Sorrels and jacket and deal with this crap.

At least 6" to 7" of heavy wet white crap. 

Sorry, beautiful, magical, fluffy white snow.

Who am I kidding, you all know I hate this stuff. 

I've cleaned of the sat. dish and porch steps and will do it again before the hubs gets home.

 

It's not done yet and is still coming down. Unfortunately the hubs had to drive from Billings to Bozeman today to take an extra load for work a 3-4 hour drive. 

 

This won't be going away anytime soon as the temps are going to stay in the 20's & 30's for the next few days. 

This is our second snow this October but the one on the 1st or 2nd melted as soon as it hit the ground. 

 

Hope it's warmer where your at.

Take Care & Happy Fall

Hugs, Sandy

Tried Something New

Hello Everyone; Hope you all are safe and well.

The weather here in Montana has most definitely taken a turn into fall. We went from day time temps in the high 80's and 90's down to the low 70's, 60's, and even high 50's. Good thing about this is I no longer have to run the A/C to keep the house cool, the ceiling fan's do just fine to circulate the air. Of course, I'm much happier with the cooler temps, but after this will come winter and that fluffy white crap that I love so much (lot's of sarcasm there).

About the truck, we found out the transmission is toast. The mechanic in town started to drain the fluid and it looked like liquid metal. So a new transmission and clutch will be needed. So goes life and a few grand$$$$.

I saw some beautiful macrame curtains and room dividers on Pintrest and thought I would try my hand at it on a much smaller and simpler scale, a key chain. I used Caron Watercolors.

It's definitely not perfect by any means, but I will try again at another time when I have studied up on the different knots and proper threads/rope to use.

I would love to make a piece for our 5th wheel to hang above the steps to the bedroom.

Take Care & Happy Creating

Hugs, Sandy 

August Trip to the Bighorn Mountains

Hello Again; I hope you all are doing well and those in the hurricanes path are staying safe. 

Here are the pics from our final trip to the Bighorns for 2019 and most likely our last camping trip for the year. 

While on our way home we stopped for fuel & drinks in Lovell, Wyoming. The hubs thought he heard something dragging, so he got out looked all under the truck and trailers and Nothing.

We started down the road shifting gears until he tried to shift into 5th gear, there was loud grinding and a bang. Down shifted and tried again, same thing so we headed home in 4th gear not going over 55-60 mph. (Difficult for my heavy footed hubs😁)

Now we're just waiting till we can get the truck in the shop to see what the damage is.

Now on to the pictures.......

 Our usual camping spot was full so the first place we spent the night was a scenic overlook after driving around looking for a spot for 2 hours on Friday.

This is the first place we stopped at and the second place we spent the night when we got up the mountain after driving around for 4 hours on Saturday.

Doesn't our Yamaha Rhino look like guard dog standing watch.

Our third and final camping spot on Sunday after the three campers staying there left. They left two trailers in our usual spot so we took the spot below that. You can see the other trailers in the distance.

Of course, a storm started to roll in that night.

But left us with a beautiful sunset.

There was an early full moon rising on a couple of nights.

We were also given an amazingly beautiful fully arched double rainbow that wouldn't quite fit in the photos the hubs took. Our camera can never quite capture the true colors.

There are always beautiful views and rock formations in the Bighorn's as well as old cabins that people use for hunting and emergency.

Quartz and granite go hand-in-hand as does quartz and gold so our metal detector and gold panning stuff go with us everywhere. Hubs is sure he found a small bit of gold, but it is very fine. He always searches and test pans creeks while we camp, now if we can only find some flaky gold or nuggets.

A string of quartz.

Can you see the old cabin in the distance.

And one that was easier to get to. 

It even had an intact outhouse barely visible in the trees.

 When our 9 day trip was at an end we loaded the whole circus train up, drained the fresh water tank and stopped at the dump station on the mountain we headed down the canyon.

(draining the fresh water)

Here are a few views that I've never taken pics of before while heading down the canyon.

That's it for the Bighorn Mountains, but we will be back next year when the temps start to rise in July and August. 

I love it up there and was sad when we had to leave. 

With any luck when the hubs retires we will be able to be campground hosts up here at one of the many campgrounds on the mountain.

Until my next post.......

Take Care, Be Safe, &

Enjoy the Journey that is Life

Hugs, Sandy