Beautiful Bozeman

We are in the process of setting up our pool room in the basement and getting ready for our trip back to Michigan and Chicago. I took Bill for a walk tonight and the sky was beautiful. Thought I should share some of the beauty. We live in a pretty special place.

Handsome Bill


Pretty sky

Garden of Eaten

I started some seeds this spring to plant a garden and also bought some starter plants. Here's what I was hoping to get:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Jalapenos
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Sugar Snap Peas
Onions
Carrots
Spinach

I put the starters in the ground in the beginning of June and then IT SNOWED! in JUNE! It appeared that everything survived, thanks in part to the fact that I thought to cover everything. Things got off to a nice start:

Garden Box


Lettuce


Tomatoes


Sugar Snap Peas


I got my tomato starter plants pretty early, so I had fruit really fast. I watched that first tomato grow first while the plants were still inside, and then saw it ripen on the vine to a nice, pretty red. Then, I went to pick it and this is what I found:


What?? My first tomato and the birds got to eat it. I was really bummed. At least there were already 3 or 4 more growing on the vine. Then, this happened:



I wasn't as prepared this time and so there was some damage. I lost some tomatoes and the leaves on the broccoli and cauliflower were demolished. I didn't give up though and kept watering everything. I also bought some mesh to help keep out the birds. Today, it paid off. I harvested my first broccoli!



I'm thinking of making a broccoli salad. How does this one sound:

2 medium size broccoli crowns
1 Clementine (Can substitute tangerine)
2 Tablespoons finely chopped soaked walnuts
2 Tablespoons finely diced sweet or red onion

Dressing:
Juice of 1 medium Naval orange
¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup fresh cilantro
½ tsp orange zest


Can't wait! More to come . . . .

Summer has FINALLY arrived!

Summer took it's sweet ass time this year. We couldn't be more excited that the temperature is finally staying above 35 degrees :) In celebration of summer, Jim decided to build a deck, while I headed back to Michigan for a wedding and family visit. Here are some shots of him hard at work busting it out in less than a week:



And here is the finished deck:




While the deck is pretty sweet, we took it up a notch this weekend with the purchase of an inflatable pool. We enjoyed a couple of pool parties Saturday and Sunday. To all those headed out here this summer, be sure to pack your swim suits!

Reason for upper ass/lower back burn

As shown in Jim's last post, I suffered some premature sunburn this spring. The cause of this sunburn is shown below. Let's hope the temps continue to rise and rain keeps falling instead of snow so that these blooms don't freeze and die.






To refresh your memory, check out what this looked like about 1 year ago.

This just in...Spring is Here!

Spring finally came to Bozeman this weekend. Want proof? Just check out Sara's lower back/upper ass sunburn:



Classic, sorry dear.

More Flor

Welcome to the new basement rec room / soon to be pool room.


We ordered more flor carpet tiles about two weeks ago and I finally found the time to put them down on Saturday. Each square in the picture is actually four tiles put together and they have a subtle texture that really 'ties the room together'.



Also, we are set to receive a used pool table that is being salvaged from one of my job sites. My client (who previously owned the table) refused any kind of payment and we are thrilled with his generosity. Big thanks to Walker.



The major task, however, lies ahead. In order to extract the pool table from its current environment



it must be disassembled and driven across town. I'll be enlisting the help of pretty much all my friends in Bozeman as the slate is estimated to weigh in around 570lbs. Ugh. Watch for future posts chronicling my hernia operation.

New Painting

We received a painting from Jim's Grandma over Christmas. It used to hang in her house, but she did not have room for it after moving into an apartment, so we inherited it. Jim has always loved the painting and I could see why when I saw it for the first time. The color scheme and size work perfectly in our living room. We look forward to enjoying it for many years to come.