Rainbows on the Ranch

Last night, while driving along on a ranch trail, the most beautiful double rainbow appeared:

Looking down the hillside, this was another good omen- the house with the green roof is our house.  It looks like the rainbow is almost touching it!

The weather and light is constantly changing.  We woke this morning to a heavy fog covering everything.  Dan was out early checking out another trail, and saw this:

If you look very carefully in the center of the photo, you'll see a nice male elk.  Here's a closeup:

And a couple of days ago, this was the sight off our deck as the sun rose:

Beautiful!

"Just What Do You DO All Day?"

Napkins.

Today I did napkins.

People are curious and have asked what I'm doing as part of a 'caretaker couple'.  In simple terms: housework.  But it's housework on a large scale.

Today I cleaned out a large fireplace and detail cleaned a bathroom.  Then I took the entire store of napkins (I'm guessing about 400+) and spot treated, laundered, ironed, folded, and reorganized by color.

Other days I've changed sheets on 6 or more beds, cleaned bathrooms, swept and washed floors, and laundered bedding, towels and linens.  The ranch has a very large main lodge, 3 guest houses, a pool house, an exercise loft in the barn, and a saloon.  All are decorated in rustic western art and decor, and there are many, many edges and surfaces to dust and keep clean.

The summer season will be my busy time.  When there are family members and guests in residence, there will be much laundry, daily sprucing and cleaning, and I'll be involved in dinner prep, serving and cleanup.  During the winter will be annual cleaning projects and maintenance chores.

Dan is the gardener and chief fixer-upper.  His work is much more physical; creating new gardens, cutting down trees and bushes, digging out stumps, transplanting, planting new plants, weeding, mowing, etc.  Winter work will be plowing snow and repairing wobbly chairs, tables, etc.

There is variety and a never-end to things that need to be done.  We get to do this in a place that has stunning mountains and trees, horses grazng in the pasture, and wildlife.  Today I saw about 35 elk on the mountain across the valley, and 7 elk about 100 yards away.  A week ago I saw a yearling black bear 100 yards away (fortunately) going the opposite direction. We can hear elk bugling and coyote howling in the night. Our drive to 'work' takes about 1 minute and Dan and I come back home each day for lunch.

I'm happy.  :)

Pre Labor Day Grill Envy...

Dan got his grill last week.... and we revv'ed it up today.  Since we grill a lot, we're happy to be 'back in the saddle' again.... and the steaks were awesome!

This is big mountain country, and Dan now has a grill worthy of its surroundings.  We've got one side for grilling, one side for smoking and it's even got smokestacks!!  Yee-haw.

Yes.... what you're seeing is snow.  It was a drizzly day which turned into mothball-sized hail earlier in the day, and then snow.  While it won't likely stay, it's an interesting thought to see the precursor of winter on September 5.......

Here's another photo of the snow:

Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Meet Gerta, Our Ranch House

After Dan and I had been at our home for a few days, I felt we had to give the home a name.  It was definitely a 'she', and after some discussion we both felt the name 'Gerta' fit.

She's strong and sturdy.  A bit weather-worn, but she'll do nicely. She'll keep us warm and dry, and I think we'll be quite cozy here.  We'll get her spiffed up over time...

When you climb up the mountain and through the ravines, you finally see an upper valley/basin open up.  There is one spot where you can see our home; after that the road keeps going uphill, and you can't see her until you've turned the bend.  Here's what you'll view way across the basin:

The brown building to the left houses 2 apartments where the seasonal help stay. Here's a view of ole Gerta at the top of the road:

In the back of the house is a full deck with great views.  Below is a horse corral and a paddock area. She's basically a one-story ranch style house with a walk out basement, except for a bedroom in the front on the second level.

This is our morning view from our kitchen, which is at the front of the house:

I was rushing to snap a photo before the full moon disappeared behind the mountain! 

Here's a couple of views from the back of our deck:

Pretty, huh?

We're getting close to pulling our house together inside, and will take some inside photos once we're done.  Last Saturday, we went to Bozeman to stock up on food, get a few necessities, and buy a grill.  Here's a cowboy doing some serious grill study.....

This Labor Day weekend it will be fun to 'nest'.... Dan will be assembling our new grill, I'll be hanging curtains, and we'll be working at getting Dan's workshop set up.

Yippie  Kiy Yiy Yay!

Westward Ho….

I sent out an email right before I left and misspelled the title- the caption I sent was ‘Wetward Ho’. And it was prophetic…. When we left Friday night, it was pouring down rain with high winds and lightening. We drove north 2 hours to Mackinac City and stopped for the night.

The next morning it was still gray and drizzling when we over the Mackinac bridge. Over the next 2 days we drove through the Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana.

On the way, I realized a few things….

Not many people travel across the country on the northern route

There are way more acres of sunflowers in this country than anyone would ever realize

Big rolled bundles of wheat, straw and hay look like roly-poly sheep in the distance

North Dakota is a very harsh place when it’s 98 degrees and the hot winds hit you in the face

Mountains sneak up on you gradually and then pow!- they are all around you


I think we looked a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies as we passed the various states….

We’re now unpacking at our new home, and in closing I thought I’d share this last photo- this is called the Devil’s Slide, and is about 10 miles from our home. This is in the Yellowstone valley north of the town of Gardiner. Once upon a time, this nearly vertical stripe of land was horizontal…. pretty impressive, huh?

Criminals and Police Stops and Bears.... Oh, My!

Remember the Wizard of Oz saying, "Lions and tigers and bears... oh my"?

Well, the news networks have had some interesting items since our decision to move to Montana.  First was the story about about the killer grizzly bear(s) that killed one man and wounded 2 other people in a camp near Yellowstone Park.

Then, today was the notice of escaped human killers on the loose near Yellowstone Park.  They were seen late Sunday in Gardiner, Montana.

Since we are living near Yellowstone Park and the closest town to us is Gardiner AND part of our mailing address, it has been  interesting to say the least.

The police were stopping all vehicles in Gardiner Sunday evening.  The word was out, and Dan spent the night in our new home on his inflatable bed with a loaded gun nearby.... just in case.

And we thought we were moving to a quiet place without drama...... :)

Transition

Moving - Ugh.  Need I say more?

But on to better things..... here's a photo of the view from the back deck of our new home:

And here's a family of elk Dan watched while drinking his morning coffee:

And.....a rainbow over the mountains.  I'm choosing to view this as a good sign. :)