Happy Halloween Hodgepodge

 

Hello Friends, it is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

 Click here to join the fun!

 1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why.

C. M. Russell 

I think he had amazing talent sharing the great American West in his works. He truly captures the history and for me when looking at his works, I can feel the West.

We visited C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana. If you travel to Great Falls, Montana, the museum will not disappoint. 

 2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate. 

Yes. Many people have commented that the bouquets I create are a work of art. I enjoy designing seasonal flower bouquets and I do think they are a work of art.

 3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? 

I think I have designing bouquets 'down to a fine art'. I know what flowers will last in a bouquet for long vase life. I use seed heads, herbs and even vegetables to create fun bouquets.

 4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).  

We do not dine out very often.

Usually somewhere in between.

This past July we ate breakfast at one of our old time favorite cafes after we went strawberry picking. Sadly the service was poor and the breakfast was not up to the usual standards.   

 5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? 

Yes, we celebrate Halloween. We have our light on for Trick or Treaters on Halloween night. We enjoy seeing what the favorite costumes are for the season. The last Trick or Treat for our boys they dressed up as Star Wars characters. 

We also host an annual Pumpkin Carving Party. We enjoyed our day with family this past Sunday. I will do a post soon showing off all our pumpkins.

6. Insert your own random thought here.   

A few of our past pumpkin creations.

 

Minneapolis Institute of Art.. part 2

 Charles M. Russell is my favorite Western artist. I find his work to be fascinating.

We did visit the C.M. Russell Museum located in Great Falls, Montana a few years ago.

I highly recommend visiting.

Click here to learn more.

 I was excited to see that MIA had two of Charles Russell on display.

to be continued..

Hope

 Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

 

A Story To Tell

  

What would this homestead tell us if it could talk?

On our trip West we saw several old homesteads, or ghost towns?

Oh, I wish these walls could speak to me.

 Wind, rain, snow and these buildings still stand.

 Who lived here? Why did they move on?

 Do you ever wonder what happened to the families of abandoned homesteads?

Have you ever been brave and peeked into the windows of an abandoned building?

 If only these walls could talk.

 

And tell us the story.

 

On the Road Friday ~ Biking Around Great Falls, Montana

  

Hello

On Friday, we usually take a trip. Today, this trip will be on our bikes.

Great Falls, Montana has 35 miles of  tails along the shores of the Missouri River. The construction of the trails began in 1989 and continues today. You can hike, bike, Rollerblade, run, anything you like on the trail. We have hiked along the trails during our past visits to Great Falls. We wanted to take in more of the trails, so we decided to take our bikes along this time.

 

 Looking across the Missouri River at one of my favorite buildings.

  

We biked way up to the overview...I had to walk a stretch of the hill. 

It was well worth it, the view was amazing. 

 My favorite building again, from up on top the overview.

 The communities in Montana have the initials of the name of the city in white rock on a hillside. Here is a photo of G.F. for Great Falls.

 We biked all around Great Falls. 

I loved the tunnels.

 Black Eagle Memorial Island

 I will do a special post about the Great Falls of Montana.

Here is a photo of one.

A real treat...a Bald Eagle spotted on Black Eagle Island.

We do not have Pelicans in the area of Wisconsin that we live. Pelican watching was fun for me.

I just love how they catch fish and eat.

Thank you for biking along today in Great Falls, Montana.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Our winner in our Studio206 card giveaway is Kris of Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies

Thank you to all who entered.

 

Montana Coffee Traders

 Montana Coffee Traders

Huckleberry Fresh from the Mountains

Huckleberry Coffee, yummy...this was one of our treats that we brought back home with us to Wisconsin from hour trip to Montana.

Not only do people like Huckleberries, bears do too. I love the art work on the bag of coffee just as much as I love the coffee.

Montana Coffee Traders 

What treats do you like to bring back from your trips?

Did you ever get a T-Shirt that said, "My grandma and grandpa went to Hawaii and they brought me back this T-Shirt." ? 

I did. 


♥

Montana

 Big Sky Country

Central Montana

This land of sunny wheat fields, rolling mountains and big sky.

On our drive to one of our hikes a storm was rolling in. We stopped and captured the ever changing sky. Even photos can not capture the true beauty of the sky and land. I feel so small when I am out in this open country. I feel like I can truly touch the sky.

Montana

Have a great Monday!

 

A Journey West

 Hello Friends,

I am on the road this week.

Off on a journey to visit a dear friend, who we have not seen for a long while.

The photo above was taken in 2009.

Forever Friends

We lean on them when times are tough. We turn to them when we can't find our way. And we laugh with them over life's little joys. They are our best friends, our soul mates, our precious gifts from God.

 

 We will be seeing lots of the good old United States. I love to watch how the land changes as we head West. 

We are heading to Great Falls, Montana.

The mighty Missouri River in Great Falls, Montana.

 I hope to see some fun animals along the way.

Mule deer, antelope .... and?

Wishing you all a great week.

 

Homemade with love

Before 

 

And after!

 My felted tote!

This was a fun project for me. I am a beginner knitter (does that sound strange)? I was so pleased how my felted tote turned out for my dear friend Bobby Jean. I made this larger tote for Bobby Jean for her dog gear. She has a love for animals and has rescued many dogs. She treats her pets so well. I thought a large tote for her items, she needs when taking the dogs for a ride, would be a great Christmas gift for her. I had a lot of fun knitting this tote. The best part is putting it in the washer and felting. It is amazing how it turns out!

 

Time to start working on 2013 Christmas projects.

That is, if I can get to my knitting?

John Muir - Think Quote

God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild.

John Muir

I am joining up with Lori for think quotes at...

Life, Love and Laughter

On the Road Friday

Big Sky Country

Montana, United States of America

On the road to Great Falls, Montana 2009. We were heading out to visit our friend Bobby Jean and delivering her final items she left in Wisconsin. We pulled a little uhaul trailer behind us. This was our first trip West. Our boys Sam and Atticus were 9 and 7. Yay! We made it to Montana....how much farther...well Montana is a big state.

Big Sky and Trains! We do not have trains like this where we live. The boys loved seeing them and the fact that they were traveling just as fast as we were, was simply amazing.

We do not have these where we live either. Pronghorn - they are  beautiful animals. To learn more about them check out the following site: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/antelope/

Big Sky! Take a peek, not too many people out and about.

More Big Sky!

Beautiful Montana

Okay, what happened? Settle in for the story. We stopped in Lewistown, Montana to fill up for gas. http://www.lewistownchamber.com/site/  I was opening the back door when I heard a sizzle. I saw that our truck tire was slowly going down-down and flat. Jeremy came out of the gas station smiling. I smile back. As he gets closer I move from the blocked view of the tire...his face lost that smile. Jeremy decided to pull out over to a side street and see what he could do. First we unhooked the uhaul. Then he got to work. He got to the spare tire, which is under our truck. He could not move any of the bolts. It was stuck! The salt that is put down on the roads during the Wisconsin winters did a number to the spare tire stored under the truck. As you can see, we are also parked in the sun. There are not a lot of trees in Montana, so shade was hard to come by for this job.  We pondered on what to do next. We could hear a dog barking across the road, the fella came out to see what his dog was barking at. He found this family of four from Wisconsin. He asked Jeremy what was going on. Jeremy told him. He said, come on drive into my garage, I will give you a hand. Into a cool garage we went. He grabbed a blow torch to get the spare tire off! In about 45 minutes all was good again. We offered him some money. He turned the offer down and simply told us to enjoy our trip to Great Falls.

A few miles from Lewistown, we hit this nice surprise. Road construction. Road construction out west is also a bit different then in Wisconsin! Of course, the thought of  ... What if the tire would have went flat here, in the middle of this road construction! It is amazing that Carla heard the sizzle, in amongst the visiting with the boys and commotion of a gas station! The man coming to see what his dog was barking about! All we could say....

Praise God

That is what Jeremy and I both said. We talked about all that happened with our boys. How God provided for us and He protected us. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

We went on to Great Falls. Having a wonderful time!

Of course I kicked myself for not getting the fellas name or address. We wanted to thank him.

I decided to send a Letter to the Editor to the Lewistown Newspaper. We prayed that he would see my letter.

Lewistown

News – Argus

Dear Letter to the Editor,

We would like to express our thank you to a Lewistown citizen. On August 2^nd we had a flat tire as we pulled into Lewistown. As we tried to get our spare tire free from under our truck...we noticed the Wisconsin salt rusted the tire tightly under the truck. We were not able to get the tire free.

Thank you to the Lewistown man who saw us struggling out his window. He allowed us to work in his cool garage and helped us free the spare tire with a blow torch. He would not accept any money in return for his help. He insisted to get on with our journey to Great Falls and enjoy the rest of our vacation.

This was our first time traveling to Montana. We were blessed with Montana kindness.

We Thank You!

Sincerely,

Carla TePaske

Cameron Wisconsin