What have you been doing?

Well, the answer to the question... This Memorial Day weekend it is rainy, cloudy and cold in Livingston. Here is what we have been up to . . .

Thursday night I hosted the 49'er Winer at our house. Levia, Page, Darcy, Megan, and Shana came over. We had a GREAT night! As usual the noise in the house reached unimaginable octaves. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Girls have a lot of fun left with a few bottles of wine, some quarters, and playful imaginations.

Let's just say - I won by 5 quarters and a bottle cap! However, I now have a busted toe and am walking around limping like Igor from Frankenstein. The entire nail on my big toe is black and the actual toe itself looks like a small tomato (I'll spare you the photos). It's putting a slight kink in my running training schedule to say the least!

Peter drove to Ennis this week and picked up to of Storr's and Bev's fjord horses (Emma and Diara(?))to take back to the ranch he works at here in town. They haven't been able to ride them and get them where they need to be, so it's the Horse Whisperer Pete's turn. He will be trying to break them in a bit more and get them ridable. Pete says they are loving their new home and they are warming to him nicely . . . He will have them eating apples out of his hand and riding them bareback in no time! We will likely buy at least one of them for the outfitting business. One down, 11 more to go.

Peter and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie last night. There was a very creepy part with red ants that gave me nightmares. Harrison Ford is still a hottie.

Peter is with Matt Blank fishing on the Missouri River again for the weekend. I guess he just can't get enough of that scenery and those trout! If it rains too much he might come home early . . . Is it bad to wish for a monsoon?

I am almost done with a great book by one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Weiner. It's called Certain Girls and it takes me back to that torcherous time of life as a pre-teen. The book has given me some insight as to what a SAINT my mother must be to have lived through life with a teenage daughter - yikes.

Peter is reading Endurance - the story of Shackelton and his eventful journey to Antarctica.

The rain has made our lawn and gardens look very green and lush, but our lawnmower is broken so the yard is now a jungle for the dogs . . . I think they like it. Pretty sure they were playing cowboys and Indians this morning.

We have decided to xeriscape much of the yard... Trying to keep a yard green in the middle of a semi-arid landscape in the middle of a historical drought has proven to be expensive, disrespectful to our water resources, and a whole lot of work! Not to mention the MUD that is created most of the year from the areas of the yard that the grass just won't take is driving me CRAZY (just ask Peter).

So, we are going to create some neat rock / gravel designs with some occasional native plants and shrubbery that don't need to be watered. We will leave a large area in the backyard for the dogs to play, of course. That new big Dodge duelly pick up will soon be making a few runs to the gravel yard... Pictures to come soon!

My veggie garden is looking GOOD. It has loved the rain and I already need to thin much of it out. I have a mystery sprouting of something that made it through the winter. I think it is calendula... It is everywhere!

The Waters girls- Marni and Loni (Pete's cousins)- along with their mom Jan (Joellyn's sister) are coming over tonight. Looks like it will be another girls night at the Howell house!

The dogs are with me at the Shop today - being as charming as ever. Greeting customers, protecting me as I work all alone. It has been very quiet around here, as the Yellowstone River reached an almost record high (for the last 10 years) in terms of river flow and height this week. It makes the fishing a little tough when the water looks like chocolate milk and there are large trees being carried down the river.

It is an actual "event" around here to go down to the River morning, noon and night to see how high it is, how muddy it is, basically just to look at it. This week, we would ride the Cruisers down to the River and see 1/2 of town - everyone oohing and ahhing and reminiscing about the last time they saw the banks of the Yellowstone underwater. Ah, life in a small river town.

So folks . . . That has been life for us lately. Two young late twenties / early thirties kids and 3 dogs - living a too-good-to-be true life!