Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I was really pleased the hummingbird was going together so much easier than its companion, the CA quail. (Here)

Until I sewed the last seam and turned it to admire…

So disappointing. (And yes, there was a swearing.) 

It worked!

Considered calling it a ‘design decision’ and leaving it as is but a night’s sleep convinced me I could maybe fix it without ripping everything out or starting over.

Oh so carefully ripped the old piece out, opened the adjacent seams a couple of stitches, folded everything back out of the way and sewed the new piece back in. Nerve wracking but much better than having to redo everything. Hooray! It’s a first for me.

That gives me 3 finished Birdwatchers Project blocks, with 11 more to go over the next 10 months (another month will also have 2 projects). Only one week until the next block drops! 

Back To School

All the grandkids are back in school, so here’s the annual roundup.

Jaclyn, 9, started 4th grade today in Idaho, still rockin’ her hats and sunglasses.

Donovan, 7, started 2nd grade yesterday. He’s being homeschooled again this year and says he likes it like that. 😍 OOPS! Apparently he starts school next Monday. Yesterday was just a practice first day. 😜

Leia, 17, had her first day as a college junior at Arizona State University (Go, Sun Devils!) on August 22. She sent me a first day pic without being asked, ‘cause she knows I love them. And that’s why she’s my favorite*. (Also, it made me cry that she remembered. 😍)

Leo, 14, is doing internet school, beginning August 21, for her freshman year of high school. Iddy the cat is keeping her company. 

Cyrus, 18, is in her second year of college in Colorado, starting in August also. Since I don’t have a first day pic I’m using one of my favs from our Alaska trip. (So fabulous.)

Travis, 13, and Isaac, 8, are in 8th and 3rd grade respectively. They started back August 20 in Culver City. I love that their mom also sends me first day pics every year. She’s my favorite too*. 

* They’re all my favorites, who am I kidding. 😂

The New Normal

Starting tomorrow, all the grandkids will be back in school. It’s going to be very strange not having to do the before- or after-school run for the first time in… 13? 14? years.

Good news is we still have Donovan two or three afternoons each week. He’s being homeschooled so his mom drops him off when they are done, on her way to work. 

See his holey smile? That tooth had been loose for awhile but was stubbornly hanging on … until D fell on his face yesterday and knocked it out. 🤣

His first day was today and we celebrated with a new Lego build. 

He picked this one out before we went on vacation and I think he’d forgotten about it.

He told his dad he built all these animals - it’s pigs birthday party, see the cake with candle front and center? - in 30 minutes. I don’t think it was quite that fast but it was definitely under an hour. Sweet boy does love his Legos!

Montana, Day 6 - East Glacier, Part 1

When we planned this trip, Teena and I both wanted to see the east side of Glacier NP in addition to the west side, where we were staying. 

But driving the 32+ miles of the Going To The Sun Road was a bit too challenging - too winding, too narrow, too tiring, too “oh h*ll no” from our primary driver.

At the time, we didn’t know you could drive around the southern tip of the park. 

But that’s still 1.5 hours of road-time each way. 

Turns out, Amtrak’s east-bound Seattle to Chicago route stops at West Glacier station each morning, with a stop in East Glacier 1.5 hours later. 

And repeats the process with the Chicago-to-Seattle route in the evening. 

Things to remember for next time: Amtrak isn’t always on time (morning pickup was an hour late) but there’s an app for that - and they are verrrrrry thorough on texting updates says Teena, who forgot to put her phone on silent when she went to sleep the night before. 

Top left: W. Glacier side; bottom left: E. Glacier; from top right: west side, Teena’s train view, oncoming orange monster that startled me mid-picture, east side. 

Sitting upstairs in coach is fine, good view, comfy-ish seats. Sitting downstairs? Never, ever again. No AC , or any air at all, dirty, crowded… ick.

First fence is by the train depot building.

We weren’t sure what to expect services- and distances-wise in East Glacier. Some reviews recommended making advance reservations to get a ride between depot and hotel. 

 The ride from depot to hotel

Others said it was a loooooong way to the local town. 

 East Glacier Depot

Fortunately neither was true. For day trippers like us it was an easy 3-4 minute walk to the hotel. 

We didn’t go into town, but for that you walked around the corner, under the train tracks and across the main street. Easy peasy. 

East Glacier Lodge was built on the same scale as Yosemite Lodge. Big, over-the-top construction, with lots of wood and local rock.

 Porch had outdoor sofas and multi-person wooden rocking chairs

Slightly shabby, very expensive and fun for a night or two.

  Main lobby and registration 

Or to visit for a day.

 Side lobby

We had fun wandering around, admiring the 3-story individual trees used in construction (load-bearing, not just decorative),

 Probably my favorite place in the hotel.

the peaceful atrium 

 Support post/tree in the atrium. It was huge.

with chairs by the windows so you could admire the view,

and the stories of how and why things were built.

We had time for a quick lunch 

 Interesting decorations. The stone fireplace was amazing.

before heading out front to meet our van for the trip to Two Medicine Lake. 

And then there’s the landscaping.

 Rainy day flowers

So beautiful.

 View toward the depot

Part 2 tomorrow, along with editing/corrections to this one. Gotta go board our plane for home!

Montana, Day 5 - Lake McDonald

Our last planned event in Glacier was a boat tour on Lake McDonald. 

Ceiling lights in the main lobby

We’d heard horror stories about traffic backups and lack of parking (and seen the evidence on previous tours), so we decided to get there early,

 Main lobby

which gave us lots of time to admire the lobby and have second breakfast in the (also beautiful) dining room. (We were in the parking lot before 9 am and got the very last spot near the Lodge. Parking is nuts.)

 Dining room

The forecast was for cloudy skies, with rain in the early evening, 

 Tour boat is the blue one in back

but as soon as we sat down for breakfast it started drizzling 

 View behind the boat, looking toward Heavens Peak

which made for some very gray, gloomy photos. 

 Sprinkles on the water

Fortunately, the tour guide was interesting… 

Our tour boat was built in 1930... 

Temperature of the water is 65° on the surface and 37° lower down. 

Under water visibility is 50-100’ and the lake hasn’t frozen over in 30 years…

The lake’s Native name was “Sacred Dancing Waters.” “ McDonald” comes from Duncan McDonald, who carved his name in a tree around 1878 as he was passing through the area, never to return…  🙄

What we think of as the back (lake-facing side) of the lodge 

was originally the front since guests arrived via ferry across the lake…

And my favorite: there’s a forest of perfectly preserved trees deep in the lake from a landslide years ago. The park service used to allow diving there but it became too dangerous (and the nearest hyperbaric chamber is a 10+ hour ambulance ride away.)

We spent time after the tour wandering the grounds,

away from where most tourists were spending their time.

Really peaceful.

Had to stop for obligatory “I was there” photos

on our way to lunch at the Boat Club in Whitefish (we really like that town…)

where we got to hang out with Huck, short for Huckleberry, of course. 

We tried one more time to visit the Whitefish Depot Museum but it was closed again. Nice sculptures in the back made it almost worthwhile.

Our favorite new store - 

The Sapphire Shoppe in Columbia Falls has a very nice selection of everything from rocks to fine jewelry, including two kinds of Montana sapphires, some from the owner’s own sapphire mine claim.

We never missed the turn onto our rental house street with this on the corner. 😂