Yarn Quest

Yesterday we woke up to a few more inches of snow and some drifting from the wind during the night. Here is the view of Laurie's house and ours as I walked home from yoga. (Becca's classes are wonderful)
The forecast was for the temperature to drop, and knowing that the roads wouldn't improve before we leave on Wednesday, I lobbied for a trip to Dupuyer to the Cache-a buying trip for Beaverslide yarn. Somehow I convinced Harry (against his better judgment); he suggested I take a picture of the road to document the 40 mile trip.
The yarn is amazing, well worth a trip to Montana to get it. Click on the picture below (the yarn I used for Caitie's, Jess's, and now a hat for Meg) to see their website and read the story of their locally grown and processed yarn. I bought enough for a sweater, a scarf to be woven, and of course- more hats. Thanks for yarn swift Christmas present, Caitie; it will be put to lots of use when I get home!

Plowing Snow in Choteau

The official total of yesterday's snow in Great Falls was 11 inches. I don't know how they measure snow that is lighter than air in sustained wind, but I'll take their estimate. Montanans don't get too excited about it, mainly because they have the big-guns snow removal machines in place (see above- he waved to me after I took this picture). Also, dry snow is totally different to drive on- it apparently has a degree of traction based on the speeds of the vehicles passing our house. By the way, our thermometer said 0.5 degrees when we got up this morning. It is supposed to get down to -15 tonight.

Yesterday we did a little bit of nothing. The night before Norman and Sharon Haug and their son, Ethan, came over to watch Tuesday night football with us. I did a little shopping that day in advance of the snow, but yesterday was a stay at home and watch the snow day. I hung a load of clothes in the house to add a little moisture to the air, and I'm doing the same today. Dryers are over-rated. You just can't wait until you're totally out of clothes, however, since the drying time is about 24 hours!

We have a date with Shelly to ride the 11am shuttle up to the newly opened ski area on Sunday. We'll eat lunch at the new restaurant up there (they stole the Log Cabin's chef) and watch the skiers while we wait for the 3pm ride back. I wonder how patient Shelly will be... Her grandmother, Marie, has been hospitalized since Thanksgiving. Shelly didn't even put up a tree or buy gifts this year, so she was really looking forward to our visit. We have a date with her for Tuesday of next week, too, since she has an Applebee's gift card burning a hole in her pocket. (Those of you who know Shelly understand...)

And Harry is still learning to fly his remote-controlled helicopter. He's already had to get out the enclosed repair kit.

Choteau Snow

We got up this morning to the beginning of our snow. They started forecasting it several days ago, and the predictions have never wavered. All that has changed is the how cold it will eventually get. Today's forecast is for 8-12 inches of snow today, 2 more inches tomorrow, and more at higher elevations. Unfortunately, there is to be wind with this, as well, which is what elevates it to blizzard conditions.


As the sun has come up the snow plows are going by, fluffing up the snow into a cloud around them, as it's 18 outside right now.







Meanwhile, we're sitting by our "fire" and Christmas tree, enjoying our warm house.

Christmas in Choteau

Harry and I arrived in Great Falls after spending a wonderful Christmas with family in Virginia. This is the sunrise over Great Falls from the airport, which is on a bench above the city.

Although snow was moving in as we left, we were fortunate to get out at just the right time (even though it was incredibly painful to leave our house full of kids). Within hours Meg couldn't navigate the car on our driveway, and the airports were quickly scrambling to handle the changes the snow was bringing. Although our flights were almost all over-sold, we made it to Great Falls on Christmas night. Jill and Russ Owen, who own the Mountain Front Market across from our house, came in to get us at the airport, and we returned the favor by bringing them in the next morning to catch their flight to South Carolina. (Their flight was delayed, so this plan was a last-minute change) As you can see, the sunrise at the airport made it all worthwhile. We had a nice breakfast in Great Falls (making sure Jill and Russ got off on their flight without a problem) and got to see the snow-covered Rockies over Freezeout Lake on our way back.