springing native plants

We hiked around Crazy Canyon last weekend and my eyes almost popped out of my head it was such a deliriously packed blooming wild flower party.  It's very close to town up Pattee Canyon and close to my old house so when I lived nearer, I hiked it more often. Just crossing town for this hike felt like a greater refreshing retreat and the flowers totally sweetened the deal.

For more information on Montana Native Plants, I seriously recommend the Montana Native Plant Society.  It has been years since I made it to a weed pull, but I've been a member for years and no doubt, I will get more involved again. All of the people affiliated with them that I have met are enthusiastic and generous about plants and are a great resource.  They have annual garden tours and plant sales at the Farmer's Market. Even if you aren't in Montana, check out their links page for other states and especially the Native Plant Landscaping link for great information. 

Montana Native Flowers Snaps:

arrowleaf balsamroot

pussy toes

lupine

watch out for handsome wild animals sneaking up on you

indian paintbrush

beargrass

nodding onions about to bloom, pointing up among the shrubs

We saw a lot more that I didn't get very good photos of too.

all the color demands an even more cheerful, playful hike than usual. I think B was trying to help by dodging the camera here.

And finally......(drum roll, please)

 

lady slippers are bad-ass

Lady slippers knock me down they are so discreetly bold and elegant.


Native plant related resources:
Blackfoot Native Plants
Native Ideals Seed Company
Great Bear Restoration
Montana Native Plant Society

 

keep the Princess rolling

Today I broke out my bike, zipped over to a gas station and pumped my tires full of air, then rode downtown.  Within four blocks my front tire was almost flat.  Uh-oh.  I'm a fair weather bike rider, I'll admit it.  And I'm impatient with small hassles that mess with my plan for a day.   Oh, and forget about me fixing the tire myself.  I'll get my hands dirty with plenty of things, but this really isn't one of them.  At least not at this point in my life.  I guess it's a Princess point for me.  

Anyway, the weather was nice, so I figured I could walk my bike around.  I made it to Biga Pizza for my lunch date then went on to finish my errands.  I stopped in and saw my pal H-bomb at The Red Rooster, who reminded me that conveniently, Missoula has bike shops all around town and one is literally in the middle of downtown.  So, I pushed over to Hellgate Cyclery for a tire repair.  They had my bike ready and rolling again in thirty minutes.  Zippety-do!  Now, that's living like a Princess!

  

The Swimmer

This summer, we took a lazy, meandering road trip for three weeks to the Midwest and back. Night after night we rolled into towns, perused our options and stayed in hotels.  Many times we searched out the ones with a pool so I could swim.  Shedding my anxieties of work and life, and reflecting on visits with friends and family, I swam the length of each different pool. Back and forth, the obvious metaphoric cleanse became a simple satisfying ritual.  I felt like I swam across the country in a way. 

Burt Lancaster came to my mind.  Starring in the 1968 movie, The Swimmer, Lancaster played Ned Merrill. His body is fit but his mind is troubled. (Um, mine is the reverse, in my biased estimation.) The film, written by John Cheever and Eleanor Perry and directed by Frank Perry, has a simple and unorthodox structure, slowly revealing relationships, conflicts and the character's flaws. I don't love every scene, especially in the last half, but I love the steady rhythm of the film, the masterful use of subtext to move the story forward - instead of plot - and without question, Lancaster delivers as Ned Merrill. It's a fleshy surreal expression of human corruption as authentic as I feel I've ever observed in life. Oh and p.s. watch for a great little bit part from Joan Rivers.

days of greatness

Days of greatness is an expression my friend Dyna taught me.  The idea is like a birthday party extension. You get as many days of greatness as the years of your age.  Your days of greatness happen in the time around your birthday.  And you can even start them before the actual birthday if you like, but you only get that many days.  During that time, your friends and family are supposed to treat you with extra special kindness, affection and generosity.  Like a queen.

My 'days of greatness' have been especially rich and full this year. I'm just mentioning a few highlights here.

Emily took a picture of me wearing my new bike helmut hat.  B had to order it from England cause there isn't a retailer in the U.S. yet.  I can order more hat covers to change out for different fashion choices. It's absolutely great.

And then he made Hand Pies.

Just like it sounds, these are little pies that you can hold in your hand.  

It started with a recipe that I saw for Pie Lollipops.  He went for a larger size than the lollipops for a better pastry crust-to-filling ratio and abandoned the stick. An excellent decision. 

He made several kinds of filling: fruit compote, Nutella, apple, strawberry and combinations.

They were fun to make.

I helped with the details.

And they were so ridiculously cute as objects.

He was right-on with the proportions so every bite was a sweet and flakey balance.  They were a big hit at the party, of course, and saved us the stack of plates and forks to clean.  Plus, the informality encouraged everyone to help themselves. Because of the modest size you needn't feel guilty to go back for seconds or thirds, either. 

Since he made plenty, I enjoyed them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert for a few days.  That is definitely my idea of living like a queen.

The days of greatness are over now but I'm still feeling pretty damn lucky.