A Timber & Scarlett Story (11-2008) Years ago I submitted this story for some dog-related prize relating to the movie “Marley & Me.”  I did not win, but I thought I would share it anyway.  JR and I continue to refer to this episode, especially when he is in the grocery store and hungry.  Here goes… Our…

November – December 2013 Catch Up Once again, time really got past me once it got close to Thanksgiving.  We hosted our very first Thanksgiving and cooked our very first turkey.  It gave us a bit of trouble in the morning as the darn thing wasn’t completely thawed, even though I gave it an extra…

Christmas 12/25/13 Our very first Christmas in Montana.  Ahhh….we’ve waited nine years for this!  We slept in, had coffee, opened presents, stuffed ourselves with homemade biscuits and gravy, and JR went skiing.  We had a soak in the hottub, visited with the neighbors, and made dinner together.  Most importantly, I stayed in my jammies for as long…

The Wind (12/23/13) So…..the wind.  Oh my goodness.  Holy moly.  I laid in bed listening to the wind howl and whistle past the house.  I kept repeating my mantra “there are hurricane straps on the house, there are hurricane straps on the house.”  Still, it was hard to sleep.  Gusts were probably around 30mph but sounded…

A Cold Stroll (12/6/13) It was a cold, cold Christmas Stroll in Red Lodge.  Strolling temp was -18 degrees.  After about -10 degrees, they should just start describing conditions by what being outside will do to your body, as in: it’s “you’ll really wish you had bought those hand/foot warmers” cold out now, or it’s “lose your…

Deer Hunt (11/25/13) Guest post by JR Preface by Jenny – First of all, let’s just say there’s been some “controversy” over this dearly departed deer.  I’m not against hunting per se, but I had asked that none of “my” deer get murdered.  This guy was on the 20 acres next to us.  Semantics, if you ask…

The Bear Bell (12/28/13) Today we were pretty lazy at the Lazy J.  We took a boatload of boxes to the recycling center – boy howdy I sure do miss curbside recycling pickup!  After that, I made Raspberry Chocolate & Toasted Walnut Rugelach (from “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook” – thanks Mom!).  That was involved, to say…

12/14/2013 The Christmas Tree We cut down our very own Christmas tree today!  A five dollar permit allows you to cut down one tree in the National Forest area.  We did this quite a bit later than we planned, but the weather wasn’t ideal for the past two weeks.  There were days the temperature didn’t get…

12/12/13 Supplies We went to Billings to go shopping.  Look what I got… Oooooh, I know you are all jealous of my new snow shovel and tow rope for my car.  It’s not just any tow rope either.  It’s a blaze camo tow rope.  That’s right.  Everyone go put it on your Christmas list right now.  And…

Timber Hunt – The Best Boy With the heaviest of heavy hearts – there are no words – we had to let Timber go.  Our Good Boy was suffering from heart failure.  We made him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible, but it was time for his suffering to end.  It seemed to…