Family Mellmann

This afternoon, I took a little time to relax on the patio in my rocking chair next to my flowers (the only flowers I have at the moment) and was surprised to see this critter making use of their nectar.  He stuck around for awhile but I nodded off so I'm not sure when he left.  So much for being a gracious host.  

As long as I was already in Livingston, the remaining travelers for our anniversary party got together with me one last time for a dinner in town and dessert back at Dad's place.  They would be in Montana for a couple more days visiting Yellowstone again and hitting the other things on their wish list, but we wouldn't be getting together as a big group anymore after this.  I snagged a few last pictures including this one of my dad and is sister.  It was a really sweet time sitting around with this branch of my family hearing stories of when they were young.  

With the festivities behind and a work week ahead, Patrick returned to Chicago on Tuesday and Katherine went along for the ride to Bozeman...and for a lunch out with her favorite mom. 😁  

After a fantastic anniversary party and family reunion, we enjoyed a quiet day at home chilling with Patrick, eating leftovers, and running the dishwasher (no paper plates at my parties!). On Monday, Patrick wanted to go for a motorcycle ride before he returned to Chicago - leaving his cycle here with us.  Joerg's bike took a bit of a beating during the cross-country haul so it will require some maintenance and repairs before it sees its first ride.  But Joerg was kind enough to check the tires and the oil level on my bike to make it road-worthy so Patrick and I could take a spin. We started out by riding to Red Lodge, which is already a scenic ride, but once we got there we decided to see how far it was to the Beartooth Highway (the Beartooth Mountains are what we see outside to our south).  It was a lovely, if a bit chilly, ride but we made it to the first large scenic turnout where we stopped for some pictures and a turn-around.  It was a good enough ride for this...

Months in the making, yesterday we celebrated the 50th anniversary of my dad and stepmom. Who is "we" you are surely asking.  Well, it was a cast and crew of about 17 schemers and liars (inside joke, I'll let you in shortly).  The Head Instigators would be the daughters of Charles and Sharon...Pam and (yours truly) Erika.  We planned for a casual cookout at our newly built (not even finished when they asked if we could host it) house with some food, probably some music, and a relaxed time on the patio. Pam and I had a clear division of labor.  She was the program director (responsible for mischief, mayhem, and fun) and I was the host and chief-cook-and-bottle-washer (responsible for hosting and catering). In addition to our spouses and children, and to make this event extra special, we invited Dad's sister and her husband, and all the cousins and their spouses...but didn't tell them this part.  By the time you get to the bottom of the attendee list, we have seve...

For months we have had piles of dirt filling our view out the back windows and off the patio. We wanted those piles gone and a bulk of the landscaping done before this coming Saturday when we host the 50th anniversary of my folks.  We will see how the next couple of days go, but we might just make it.

For months we have had piles of dirt filling our view out the back windows and off the patio. We wanted those piles gone and a bulk of the landscaping done before this coming Saturday when we host the 50th anniversary of my folks.  We will see how the next couple of days go, but we might just make it.

April showers bring May flowers.  Yeah, we're too late for that. Rain, rain, go away; come again another day.  Yeah, not this one either.  We need the rain.  It can come again another day but today is good as well. As we returned home from dinner (one of our last dinners at our local restaurant - they will close the restaurant next week) it started to rain.  Most of the day was on and off light drizzle but this was shaping up to be more than that.  And more than that it was!      Fortunately, the big rain came late enough in the day that our excavator had most of the day to move dirt.  

Yesterday, we quit working at almost 9 PM. Today after a leisurely breakfast we got to work unpacking and trying to get things organized. We worked all day with no real break but ended with a dinner at around 6 PM. We unpacked almost every single box except for a couple with things like decorating items and odds and ends that will require some furniture purchases.  There are still many things to arrange and rearrange as he spends time in the apartment, but we made a real effort and got things to a pretty stable place so that Patrick can go back to work tomorrow.

The movers have arrived to unload the trailer and my car.  I am just keeping an eye on the exposed open trailer and car and Patrick is inside directing traffic. He came out to grab a couple of bed parts and as he turned around to go back to the apartment he looked at me with a cheesy grin and said, “it’s happening!“.   He’s wry excited.

We arrived in Chicago today. And we got here just in time to go have some dinner. Tomorrow starts the work.

This car is loaded and ready for another run across the United States.  This time, it’s moving Patrick from Phoenix Arizona to Chicago Illinois.

I said farewell to Katherine and Joerg this morning as they loaded up the Honda Civic headed north back to Montana.

The family is together again one last time in Arizona before Patrick moves to Chicago. We enjoyed a nice sushi dinner, conducted a little family business (Jörg is returning to Montana with his old Honda Civic which Patrick has been using for the past two years), and said our farewells. Tomorrow Jörg and Katherine will return to Montana, and I get to stick around to help Patrick drive his household across the country.  At least I’m not responsible for this move.  😎🤪

This isn't a particularly stellar photograph, but it shows the blue sky and our beautiful mountain view pretty well.  This is also your last look at that view through these dirty windows.  I have finished cleaning all (well, almost all) of the windows on the inside and tomorrow a window cleaning service is coming to clean the outside windows, and the higher windows in this photo and at the front door (both of which require a ladder taller than what we have...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!). I know what you're thinking.  "You can get a window cleaner out to Absarokee in the middle of nowhere?!"  I know.  I was also surprised.  It turns out that they are going to be in Columbus tomorrow and are happy to have one more customer to do while they're in the area.   

It looks like we have seen whatever snow this winter is going to bring so Bernie our excavator is back to flatten piles, spread dirt, and finish up the exterior ground work. We are so pleased to see the rocky pile across our back yard finally disappear. With that long pile of rocky soil gone, it starts to look like an actual yard rather than a dirt bike track. We are still loving this view (taken on the county road as I was leaving...our house is the dark grey one to the right of the tan one on the right side of the picture)

In more than 20 years of ringing bells in college, a church choir, a community group, and teaching at Trinity, I have never seen more than one handbell group ring together at the same time.  At a special concert in Livingston, we had the opportunity to see 14 bell choirs perform a free concert after a day-long rehearsal. Each choir practiced the music during their own rehearsals and then came together - from all over Montana and Idaho - for a ringing workshop.  It was a real treat, and made me a little homesick for my old Trinity students in the junior and senior high chime choirs.  It was a very nice concert and ringers did an admirable job given the physical distance from the director (reading music means looking down but following the director means looking up).  Next year this gathering and concert will take place in Billings.  

It has been a fairly low-snow winter season this year.  Cold temperatures have come and gone but the snowfall has been starkly absent.  This lack of precipitation has people concerned about the impact this will have on the late summer dry season and the potential for wildfires.  We spent a couple of days completely covered in clouds where all we could see were the hazy outlines of the rolling hills of our back yard.  When the clouds cleared, we were greeted by dusty white mountains.  We are still loving this view.  

Since winter seems to be a no-show this year and Easter is right around the corner, I decided it was time for a "refresh"... what the interior decorating crowd calls a seasonal or periodic change to ones decor.   I framed a map that Joerg and I found two summers ago at a local market.  It's a map of Yellowstone that was created by German scientists so while the location names are in English, the map text is in German. While Jörg was out of town, I was finally able to use the printer to print photos and prints which I could frame for our shelves. And, after two years hidden away in a storage box, the komodo dragon we brought back from Indonesia is finally back on display.  And a few spring flowers for the island. I'm still working on the kitchen shelves, but I made a start. This vase is carved out of waste wood from a Russian Olive tree.  Russian Olive grows wild and aggressively around here.