Till next year

Embracing the color nature provides before the snow flies.

These pictures were taken early September

picking (mostly eating) huckleberries amongst the pearly everlasting, fire weed and aster.

 Its been one heck of a gorgeous summer- free from the wild fires that raged our forests last year

can't complain

Oh summer- my favorite time of year

you will be missed

Till next year.

Look down

As a kid I was always told to look up

 watch your step

 don't look down or you'll trip and fall

grownups say the stupidest things

 often what was on the ground was more interesting than then the surroundings!

forever an expert at avoiding the cracks in the pavement

skipping or jumping over them

 

There are all kinds of cool stuff on the ground

bugs, bottle caps, rocks, feathers 

 not to mention money

money to buy a piece of candy at the kiosk

 these days I find dimes on the ground

aware that dad drops a few from heaven 

so that I know he's watching me

Magic

Reading Pippi Longstockings as a child and to my kids

a particular chapter I loved- when Pippi taught Annika and Tommy to become a "thing finders"

when out with my kids and the distance became to long for their short little legs

I challenged them to become "thing finders"

which turned the whole walk into something fun

scouring for treasures

These days I do it for myself especially when my camera takes me for a walk

 Montana is still really grey makes the surroundings rather bland

so I look I down.

On my walk I found rocks displayed into interesting designs

compliments of mother nature

Lichen, delicate yet rugged

the perfect balance

the lime blends so beautiful with the greens and teal-

I get inspired to knit a sweater when I see the colors and texture it offers

contrasting with pretty whites and pinks of the birch tree

Lilly’s soft cream colored tail against the brown pebbles and the debris

The pitter patter of rain drops on the asphalt – also a secret favorite smell of mine

wet asphalt

I found a spot where fairies live in the “Moss Woods"

snuck up on one or two as they were gathering some fire wood

my last shot do you see what happened?

A Viking split a stone in two while in  fierce battle

..it's all true.

look down you might see some magic too

Mountain Living

Keep close to Nature's heart...

and break clear away, once in awhile,

and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.

Wash your spirit clean.

- John Muir 

Nothing like the mountains and nature to wash your spirits clean...I think Muir was on to something there. We've had such a great winter in the northwest, much down hill skiing and x-country skiing,  unfortunately for me I hurt my right leg down hill skiing- after much investigating online I figured I did not have a torn meniscus but tendonitis- which is a relief- but equally stinks because I am so much pain hobbling along.
Feeling a little sorry for myself I nourish myself with hot chocolate and whip cream also granola- epic amounts of granola, both store bought and home made. Homemade is best but when in a pinch I'm not complaining eating the premade stuff, as long as I get my oats- my horses are rubbing off on me.
Birgitta, my aunt taught me how to make hot cocoa- the secret is to mix the cocoa and sugar first in the pot and then add a small amounts of cream to make it all blend in to a liquidy paste...then add the milk, other wise you get the cocoa clumps. I think of my mom when I drink cocoa, growing up in Sweden during the 2nd world war- where everything was rationed or non existent, they would make it with water and no sugar (pretty bitter tasting)- if there was any cocoa available.
Growing up in Oslo as a kid, after hours of sledding- looking like a wet felted wool blanket ( fleece & Gore-Tex was not yet invented)with my wool mittens, hat, sweater that had been soaked and then frozen stiff by playing in the snow. Once inside, I quickly peeled off  my wet wool clothes and sat in my long johns by the fire, frozen fingers wrapped around the cocoa mug, the warm steam and sweet smell of chocolate would be inhaled, then devoured, accompanied usually with a delicious open faced salami sandwich - which always hit the spot.
Fond memories. My mom made the best cocoa, and so.... the memories of her and my family in Norway I guess somehow is connected to that, in a cup of cocoa.


Here in wintery Montana, darkness is the name of the game, getting up in the morning at 5:30am to feed my horses, still is under a starlight sky. " Zero dark thirty" as chef calls it. Wearing my heavy muck boots and whatever parka or the like, I can find in the wee hours I trudge in the snow, it is bone cold. The girls greet me in the darkness with a whinny, they are cold and hungry after a blustery night- I grab a bale from the barn, I can't find my knife to cut the twine that holds the bale together. Using a leftover piece of  twine to rub against the twine that holds the square bale - the friction between the two will brake the twine, the hay comes out in flakes and easy to feed. Fiona and Bella get good amounts of hay in the winter- it's what keeps them warm.


Living in the mountains a great sense of gratitude for nature and quietude that is here, but also a sense of isolation. As an introvert living in a small mountain town suits me - I never felt at home in the city, but I still miss all the cultural and historical offerings Oslo provides. My daughter left for Portland, Oregon with a group this morning- she will be gone for 4 days visiting and exploring the costal city. I am a bit jealous since there is no travel in my near future. Always been very interested in Portland, it seems like such a vibrant and energetic, artist town...city. With limited amounts of artistic endeavors in my neck of the woods I yearn to stretch out my arms and ask for more- more creativity and inspiration and as I wrote here I have been quite lost as I no longer dyeing yarn. So....I have signed up for an E-course with Flora Bowley who lives in Portland. The beauty is I have access to her and her teachings online, I am eager to get started. Her colors, creativity and talent has inspired me to jump into something head first -painting.
Pretty incredible to be able to do big city things from my little small town in the mountains, using my puter. I can still have one foot in the city and one foot in the woods -I'll always be in the woods...heh!


Mountain living can have the best of both worlds....even in the darkness of winter a new bright light that shines inside me...


In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. 
~Aaron Rose

Seasonal color

The seasons each have their own colors.

 Not completely in tune with father winters color palette- however softly falling snow and skiing has it's perks, white can be a GREAT color.

I love snow!

 Sunless for several weeks is beginning to ware on us

 I get lost in nature and try to find as much color as possible.

 

Movement lifts my spirits, moving away from darkness of any kind (interpret that as you wish) is very important to me and color- it has a profound influence on how I feel.

Lack of both

well, winter gloom sets in.

Hence the outdoors,

the dogs, hubby and whoever wants to join in of the family-

unfortunately for Foghorn who's 10 - doesn't have much choice. 

Cruising through the woods I walk on the beaten path that snowshoers have tracked

 avoiding the xcountry ski tracks... holy to those of us that ski.

I notice the range of color that mother nature left for us to enjoy during these frozen season,

maybe to to assist  father winter with his rather mundane color choices?

- white and grey.

 Green cedars and pine take center stage, some adorned with beautiful pearls,

melted snow drops,

 I lick them off the needles with my tongue- refreshing and "piney"

Sheltering us from the weather the old cedar branches her arms of fresh greens and warm reds 

 like a soft cloak, I enjoy this view

Comforting from where I stand underneath. 

Blue mountains, softly frosted with snow, peak thru the forest,

quiet and dense they sit- old and wise to the world they are.

Looking up to their peaks time almost stands still,

 frozen.

 A welcomed splash of lime colored lichen hangs from the lodge pole pines

adding a little zest to the season.

Brown bark, broken and rough from weather

melted sap covering it's growing pains

 I savor it's familiar smell

Down the road is an old cabin- a beauty, wishing it was mine,

rustic yet cozy the keeper of many memories

 it has seen nature change it's seasonal colors.

And the lake softly resting against land- not frozen,

 a deep blue almost black

cool, refreshing glacier water on our sun burned skin in summer

  an elixir

Small waves rhythmically wash in to shore from a little fishing boat. 

There is no place quite like this.

Multi colored rocks that make up the shoreline contrasts the white of the snow, 

against the dark colored sand

Lilly walks between the two.

Deep green forests hug the cold blue mountains which ascends to white winter skies.

It's good to get lost in nature,

let it's beauty sweep you away

life has way of falling into place in nature,

Questions I seek from within are often answered outside. 

Reluctant to go home,

I think of a warm cup of cocoa, a cozy fire and letting the day sink in

makes it easier to return 

Sometimes I have to search for it... step outside

explore

breathe in that mountain air to feel alive.

 finding a little seasonal color

making this season brighter.

Montana Morning

 

 

 

 

 

 

feed horses

breakfast

kids to school

 Lily

wet

early a.m. ride

 

Okay Monday...let's do this!