Family Mellmann

As I returned home this afternoon, after a visit with Katherine in Livingston, I had to stop to capture the mountains and the clouds.  It has been weeks since the mountains were visible as they were obscured by the smoke wafting in from wildfires to our north and west.  A weather front came through bringing some wind and rain which seems to have cleared the air for us. Then, just before I started dinner, the thunder and lightning turned to rain and wind.  We didn't get a lot of rain, but it was enough that I didn't have to run the sprinklers on the grass seed.  At the end of the video, you can see my erosion control mats holding firm against the wind...a job that the "tackified straw" could not manage!

First thing Monday morning, before it could get too hot - and since the Rosebud Cafe is closed on Monday so we couldn't go out for breakfast - I went out to seed the next roll. The second roll went faster.  Now that I know what I'm doing, I can do larger patches of raking and seeding.  This time, the five+ hours of work included setting up the irrigation.  Now I get a "day off" to let my blisters heal over and my achy muscles to relax before starting the next roll. Is it just me, or does this look a little like a...runway?  Well, except for the little obstacles running down the middle. :)

A few weeks ago, we attempted to put down grass seed on our post-construction property.  I researched what landscapers use for new construction lawns - besides pre-grown sod or must-mow-every-week (and water all summer) lawns.  I ordered native prairie grass seed.  I bought "tackified" straw, purported to create a woven "glued together" mat once wetted which would hold down seed against seed-eating birds and wind.  Oh.  You noticed that I said "purported".  It didn't work.  Once the tackified straw dried, the first breeze blew it away (a Montana "breeze" is more like a strong wind to my New Englander friends). Anyway, back to the drawing board I went to find a better option...one that could be nailed down. I ordered more native prairie grass - to replace what blew away.  I ordered 112 foot rolls of erosion control mat.  AND, to make sure this round stays put, I bought a case of wood spikes! As every project goes, the first one of whatever you...

In an effort to get acquainted with our new home state, Joerg and I went to the 107th annual Crow Festival in Crow Agency, Montana.  It is a week-long festival attended by indigenous people from across the country.  It is hosted by the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation. Apsáalooke is the Crow word for "Crow" and from which we get the name of our town - Absarokee - where the Crow once lived.  Our subdivision continues this theme by being called Crow Chief Meadows and having several Crow-related road names. Anyway, the festival is closed to the public except for the weekend during which they open it up for non-natives to observe.  This is also a good time for their food trucks to sell lots of goodies and their vendors to enjoy a little tourist ba'laa (Crow for money).  Like any good festival, there are competitions and pageants, and of course, a parade.  They have indian-style horse races (bareback) and a native-style rodeo.  There are dance competitions, drummin...

The photographer we hired to capture pictures during Dad and Sharon's 50th anniversary celebration took some really fun pictures.  Rather than loading up this post with tons of pictures, I'll share my Amazon Photos album of that day.  I think it will be pretty obvious which ones are from the professional and which ones are...mine.  👀  In case you missed the link above, here it is again.  Link . Enjoy 

After a brief but moderately violent storm (lightning, high wind, and driving rain) the sky turned into an evening show. We even had a near full rainbow. And if you use your imagination and squint really hard, you can see the start of a second rainbow. Seriously, squint really hard.

Today what a beautiful day. This afternoon the clouds rolled in bringing some rain. But what they really brought was crazy cloud formations, wild colors, lightning, low rolling thunder, and a rainbow. For a few minutes we even had a double rainbow. I am loving Big Sky country!

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.