May-hem

The month of May has flown by in an almost impossible manner, from the dark mornings with fresh snow to the late, balmy evenings of lingering sunshine and occasional thunderstorms.  Summer no longer feels like some distant memory but a distinct possibility you could reach out and touch.  Nights are warmer, days are longer, and finally - finally! - little green buds are appearing on the lilac bushes and cottonwoods.  Spring comes tentatively at 6,000 ft.

This is an incredibly busy season for both Carl and me.  There's lots of dusting off, cleaning up, and getting prepared for the onslaught of summer.  My greenhouse is living up to its name, fit to bursting with beets, lettuce, carrots, and peas.  As soon as one crop's done it's time to plant another.  Good thing I have my four-footed helpers to keep me motivated.

Hey mom, if you pet me the tomatoes will grow faster

Peas! They'll be ready to go for our first farmers market in one week.

 On May 22 our favorite yellow dog had a birthday.  Bubba is now officially an old man at the age of 11, and going strong.  Here's to many more days of hiking, swimming, and holding down the couch!

All Things Green and Muddy

Happy Spring!  It's trying very, very hard to be, anyway.  Just like deciding when to take off your snow tires, gambling on when to put away the winter boots and long underwear is something of a crap shoot.  There may be two inches of snow on the ground for the drive to work, only to end up 60 degrees and sunny by the end of the day.  Between the tempestuous mood swings and working in a sauna (also known as a greenhouse), I've learned to dress in layers.  Lots and lots of layers.

The warm, moist environment of the greenhouse may be enough to cause humans to wilt but all things green are loving it.  The peas are getting taller every day, and we've already harvested savory spinach, leafy lettuce, succulent baby kale, spicy arugula, and crisp radishes.  Next week we may even plant some things outside.  Yes, I get excited about simple things like this.  But it's pretty good going to work with my dogs, listening to sand hill cranes and water fowl across the fields, and getting my hands dirty with green growing goodness.

When I'm not playing in the dirt I've started running again.  We celebrated St. Patrick's Day up in Bozeman, me running a 10k in a teeny tiny track suit, and Carl drinking beer with the dogs.  Behind every athlete there is a stellar support team.

 The trails around here are slowly emerging from the snow and ice, leaving behind plenty of muck.  The other things emerging are bears.  Really big bears.  Thankfully Carl reminded me to bring along bear spray on my first trail run of the season, and I'm so glad that he did.

 The dogs have been enjoying the warmer weather, as well.  Mojo is growing nearly as fast as the peas and her new favorite thing is sitting on anyone that will hold still for her.

In other news, I had a birthday.  The big three-oh, three whole decades on this earth.  Despite the gray hairs and stories, I still can't believe I've been around that long.  To celebrate, I added to my collection of tattoos.  This design is based on a compass from a journal written by my great-grandpa in, about a sailing trip he took in 1937 from Seattle up to Vancouver Island, retracing one of Captain Cook's voyages.  The tattoo artist cleaned it up and added a bit of his own style before applying it to my upper back.  Afterwards Carl took me out to a delicious dinner to forget about the pain and celebrate another revolution around the sun.  It's been a fantastic trip, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Being Mojo the Wonder-pup

It's pretty tough being a dog around here.  Between walks down the road to play with the neighbor dogs, snow drifts to romp in, and new smells to explore, there's hardly any time for chewing bones, barking at the wildlife, or relaxing in front of the fire.  There's simply not enough time in the day.

Last weekend we took the pups up Bear Trap Canyon, following the Madison River.  It was Mojo's first actual hike, and there were plenty of opportunities for training as it seemed like half of Bozeman was out there with us.  It's one of the few trails free of snow at this time of the year, and on nice days it sees plenty of use.  Over the course of the 7 miles Mojo went from barking and leaping up on folks, to sitting quietly by our side as they passed, to hiking past on her own with a tail wag and quick sniff.  Her good behavior may have been related to her exhaustion by the end.

At the trailhead

The aftermath on the ride home

Spring is arriving in fits and bursts here in southwest Montana - you have to take advantage of the nice weather between the blizzards while you can.

Soaking up some vitamin D on the porch

 Being half Border Collie, Mojo is pretty darn smart.  Sometimes, though, not so much.  See below.

"Uh, Dad, I'm stuck.  You should stop laughing and taking pictures and get me out!"