Big Sky Country, wine, shopping and thaumaturgy

I had a great week in eastern Washington along with a jaunt through the panhandle of Idaho to Kalispell, south to St. Regis and back to I-90. The drive through Montana just made we want to move there even more……and gas was twenty five cents less per gallon. I drove two-lane highways with little traffic; so little that I could drive with the cruise control set on sixty. Of course most everywhere looks glorious this time of year because of all the new spring growth.

But to back up. I spent two nights with Jerry and Lois, and Lois and I treated ourselves to lunch and martinis for her birthday that was in April. The birthday I had done nothing about. We had a good visit and caught up on what has been going on in our lives.

Then on to Big Meadows to stay with Rod and Karen for a few days. She and I spent a fair amount of time (and money) shopping for fabrics for the class we are going to take in November. It is so wonderful to have her holding my hand while I am making all of these decisions. We also did quite a bit of prep work for the class – cutting templates and pattern pieces.

Their yard is beautiful, and we frequently took our coffee or wine out to the pond where we could sit and listen to the bubbling water and look at the green hillsides. They have been hard at work getting ready for their grandson’s graduation party this week end, and it shows. Rod was busy pouring concrete for curbing. He was quite happy with his project.

I spent last Saturday afternoon with Mike and Mary. Mike had been off work all week because of bronchitis, but he seemed to be mending well. Mary looks fabulous. I think she is as slim or slimmer than when she got married. I admire her tenacity. They are getting ready to drive Pat’s pickup back to Indiana to Steven and Sandy. They will stop in South Dakota to visit Martha’s daughter and son-in-law, Rachel and Assad. And not to be left out, Martha plans to hop in her car and zip up from Iowa to see them. Wish I were going to be there.

I came home via the wine country so I could pick up a few bottles to have on hand. I visited with Kathleen Montez who was the bookkeeper for Al when I worked there. She is like a fish out of water having just moved to Benton City to help care for her mother who has cancer. Kathleen has always lived on this side of the state and always had access to a boat and saltwater. It is quite an adjustment since she lives out in the country perched atop a hill surrounded by rock and sagebrush soon to be turned into vineyards.

There are two baby robins in the nest outside the kitchen window. One egg disappeared, and the other didn’t hatch. I suspect it will soon only be one baby bird because there is quite a difference in the size of the two. Mother Nature at work.

We are looking forward to the end of the month and the first part of July when we will get to see Brian and family, and then Keith and family. Brian, Sheila and the boys will be here for several days around the Fourth, and then we will drive to Montana to park the motor home for the Baltimore Kirkwoods to use for a few days on their property at the lake. We will trade them the motor home for their motel reservation in Kalispell.

We are in shock after having received our new tax assessment – the house only increased by about 10%, but the land increased by 60%!!!!!!!!! Talk about following the real estate market. I plan to contest it since there has been nothing done to either the house or the land, and in fact, the view is slowly being eroded by the growth of trees on down the hill. I feel like we are fast approaching the time when we will have to sell to get out from under taxes. Washington is bad enough about taxes upon taxes, and it is even worse in this part of the state.

Word of the day: thaumaturgy – magic.

Ciao