Travels with the Scotts

Since I have not posted to my blog for a long time, and since I have a lot of photos, I am going to make two separate postings so when you get to the bottom of this, keep reading [the Harvard Classics, Montana style!].
In between all the great projects Scotty did for us while they were here, the four of us took some trips to see some of the local sights. Montana is such a huge state, there is no way we could have hit anything but the local high spots.
One day we went into Missoula, had lunch downtown then went to a carousel near by. You need to have visitors that look up local stuff, because I did not even know it was there. I had never ridden a carousel but got lucky and caught the brass ring.
Another day we went to the Daly Mansion, a beautiful place built by a wealthy early settler to the Bitterroot Valley. The group who runs it has been fortunate to get some grants for renovation as it is a wonderful example of local history.
From our house we can look up and see St Mary's Peak. One day we drove to near the top and looked down at our house [our house is 3600 ft and the peak is 10,000]. One of the local delicacies are huckleberries which grow on bushes at higher elevations, and are a favorite of bears. We stopped and picked some, although there weren't a lot [not sure if it was the bears or the tourists that ate them!]
Anne is the one who got me into wood carving [although I have not done much in the last year] so one day we went to the neighbor's yard and looked for cottonwood bark that is a favorite of carvers. Anne had gotten some different and interesting pieces of wood in her western travels and started experimenting with them. She also got a new camera while here, and was trying it out. In between all this we did some cooking, ate some good food, drank some beer [guys] and wine [girls], told and heard some great stories and all in all, had a great time.


Carousel at a park in downtown Missoula

Scotty and Anne

Daly Mansion

Daly Mansion

Daly Mansion

Daly Mansion

From St Mary's Peak

Our house is in the middle of the picture [what do you mean you can't see it!]

Picking huckleberries [is that Scotty or a grizzly!]

Goodbye to the Scotts

Our friends Anne & Scotty have left and we sure do miss them. As I mentioned in a previous posting, they stay at the same park in the winter where we do, but this year, instead of going home to visit family in New England for the summer, they made a trip through the western part of the country and spent time with us. Scotty is an amazing handyman and boy did we have stuff for him to be handy with. Below are some photos of the projects he did [with Dan, his able bodied assistant].
The light over our dining room table was one that I had disliked since we moved here. The guys replaced it with an antique fixture that we brought from Oklahoma that had been given to Dan by a very good friend. The lights in the kitchen were track lights that only illuminated the island, but no light over the kitchen sink [who wants to do dishes anyway]. It didn't matter in the summer when there was lots of light but early spring and late fall it was a problem. They replaced the original with a different kind of track light that was longer and flexible so that it lit the sink and adjacent counter tops.
We have radiant heating in our floor but it was put in 12 years ago when the house was built and while it worked well, we were not sure if it needed any repair or maintenance. Scotty has installed many of these units so checked ours, and said it was a really good system and did not need any repairs, other than a shut off switch for safety, which he installed.
In the shop, he got our second well working [we have plenty of water for domestic use but this well is for irrigation etc], fixed the heater, fixed the generator, and installed 20-30-50 amp electicity [and built a box to put them in] to take care of any visiting RV's.

We kept telling him he didn't have to do all this stuff but he said he loves projects. We really did appreciate all he did for us.

Scotty and Dan replacing ugly light fixture.

New light fixture

New track lighting in kitchen

20-30-50 amp RV hookups in weatherproof box

Fixed heater

New hose bib [backyard never had one]

Second well in shop now works

Philipsburg, Montana

Skalkaho Falls with Anne & Scotty


Doe Brothers Restaurant at Philipsburg

Restored Building...Philipsburg

Historic Jail...still in use...has solar panels!!!

Area around Philipsburg

Gem Mountain

Searching for Sapphires

We have really enjoyed having Anne & Scotty here. Dan and Scotty have been working on the myriad things that always need to be fixed when you have a house. Scotty is really a master and Dan is becoming an experienced assistant. We now have 20, 30 and 50 amp hookups for any visiting RV, as well as solutions to the water and sewer connections. There is no way we could have done those things by ourselves.

Friday, to break the all day work hours, we took a drive up to Skalkaho Falls then over to Philipsburg for lunch. After all the stops to look at birds, deer, butterflies, flowers, plants, lakes, trails etc we finally ate lunch at 4 pm. The drive was beautiful up through the Sapphire Mountains and the town of Philipsburg is a real experience. It is a restored 19th century mining town and they have done a wonderful job. Almost all of the downtown is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, and painted in keeping with the period. We had lunch at Doe Brothers which was decorated in 19th century motif. After lunch, we walked around the town admiring all the buildings and flowers [while shaking down our lunch so we had room for ice cream cones] then headed back home.

Along the way we passed Gem Mountain where they mine sapphires. You can buy a bucket of gravel, sluice it in the water to clean it, then pick through and find possible sapphires. Then they will look at your treasures and tell you what they are worth and if the stones are worth doing anything with. We talked about trying our luck but decided to head down the road. Good thing as we didn't get home until 7 as it was and I am sure those buckets of gravel are not designed to make you rich!!

Hummingbirds

Rufous...immature male


The "Junk Yard Dog" ...who else can I beat up!!


Calliope with broken bill

Black chinned at Anne's feeder

Through Anne's window.

We have had a few hummingbirds at our feeders all summer....black chinned, rufous and calliope all of which I feel sure had nests somewhere in the area. Now, with fall approaching, migration has started and the chaos has begun. The birds that have been in the area are stocking up on calories, and the ones that have been up north are taking advantage of the feeders as they pass through. The immature male rufous are very territorial and spend most of their time chasing off the others. As a result, I put a second feeder in the front yard out of sight of the one in the back yard so that "tough guy" would have to fly over the house if he wanted to defend both feeders....and defend them he does. You can hear the little skirmishes constantly through the day and up until dark. Today I decided to try to take some photos. On looking more closely, there was a female calliope that had a broken top bill and could not/would not retract her tongue. I ended up with a few good photos [after taking MANY] and will post some. Our friends Anne & Scotty who are staying in their motorhome at our place have a feeder that attaches to their window. The window is tinted and the birds cannot see in so you can take a close-up picture through the window without them knowing. All in all a terrific time waster!! but lots of fun.