Family Mellmann

Moving from Vermont to Montana involves more than just packing up our clothes and furniture and shipping it across the country.  There is also the business to move.  But when your business is rental real estate, you can't just pack it up and ship it.  So, we are gradually selling our Vermont properties as we shift our business to Montana. Just before Christmas, we closed on the purchase of our first Montana rental property.  It is a four-unit apartment building in a charming planned community with shopping, dining, playground, and an elementary school all within walking distance.  Located on the southwest end of Billings, the community is outside of the downtown area but has easy access to it.  So, as we wind down the work of Covered Bridge Apartments in Vermont, we are pleased to introduce you to Lost Sheep Rentals.  Like Covered Bridge, Lost Sheep is the management arm of the business. This is the new building. Each unit has a Master Bedroom with pri...

It has been reasonably quiet around here lately; well, quiet in terms of nothing interesting to report.  So, here is a little update on the not-worth-a-whole-post happenings. December 31st; I came home from running errands to find a herd of deer relaxing in our "yard".  About six of them got up and moved away but these two were pretty committed to staying put just outside our door. January 5th; We got a good Montana snow!  Montana has a completely different attitude toward snow from what we were used to in Vermont.  In Vermont, the municipalities would run the snow plows until there was no snow left on the road and many towns would haul snow away to clear parking areas. In Montana, it is assumed that you drive a suitable vehicle for the environment and have the sense to put on good snow tires.  Chains are an option here as well as studded tires.  Meanwhile, it's every driver for themselves.  The state will make sure that at least one lane (each directi...

 Wintery weather...but not much snow.

I thought I would try to capture a time-lapse of sunrise.  While the days are still short, I figured this was my best chance.  Here is my first try.    

With our family festivities done on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day is available for other things.  This year, we enjoyed a community Christmas dinner in the local civic center.  Free to everyone, this meal is advertised all over town and everyone is invited.  It is a community event put on by volunteers from all over town. The civic center, built in 1938, hosts a variety of activities from Christmas dinners to basketball games to craft markets.  The annual Christmas dinner (this is their 41st year) feeds over 700 people...including us this year. At each place at the table were postcards that people could take with them.  They had several Bible verses written out, including one of my favorites, "Be still, and know that I am God".  And all around the gymnasium were banners about Jesus being the only reason for the season, Christ being the true gift of Christmas, and so on. After 25 years of living in Vermont, where those who hold a belief in the Bible and of Je...

It has finally happened.  It is Christmas Eve Day and BOTH of our children have to work!  Patrick sent us some pictures from his morning preparing to fly, and I snagged one of Katherine after she got all decorated for her shift at the grocery store which she expected to be extremely busy.       Once Katherine was done working, we began our evening activities.  First action was the annual Christmas picture by the Christmas tree.  As this year is anything but normal, we opted for a tree in front of our apartment with the mountains in the back. With the pictures done, it was time for singing, the reading of the Christmas story, dinner, and a few presents.  With our fondue supplies in storage, we mixed things up with the menu as well and enjoyed a lovely Pork Wellington.  It was a lovely break with tradition and a fun evening.