Turning into home

Small changes here and there are turning the house into a home.  It's so exciting each time something is added.  Well, exciting to me.  Matt just ends up sweaty from all the heavy lifting and moving he has to do with the new additions.

Why didn't people check with me before they built houses in the way of the view I'd have?

And stop signs, too.

Oh, big birdie, how I love to watch you fly.

Last night, really windy, hawk going almost nowhere as he rode the gusts.

I love my mountains.

We have trees!  A couple of baby aspens given to us by a lovely co-worker.  Why aspens?  Story below.

I have plants!  Never could have them in the apartment.  Apartment = no sun.

Wicked cool painting by our friend Leslie K.  The four elements.

New, beautiful desk!  Have I mentioned how much I love slate?

Cat tested, cat hidden, cat approved.

We've got plants, which add some life to the place.  They were at work for the longest time, just because I sat by the window at work and they got some much needed exposure.  When I first took them in, one plant had ONE leaf (the one on the far left).  I called it "Pathetic", now I call it "Jungle plant" because the leaves are so flippin' huge.  I have a habit of naming things. No idea why.  In our fish tank are a couple of sharks.  They're named Back and Forth, because that's what they did--swim back and forth and back and forth.  Other fish are named Duck and Goose, Bill and Jill, etc.  I need to figure out names for the trees.  Yes, I'm that weird.

A co-worker who lives in the Bridgers was kind enough to dig up a couple of aspen trees from his yard--last year.  In October.  2 days before the first snow.  Matt refused to dig in the cold & wet, so they sat all winter, with bags around their roots, and waited for us.  As you can see in the first hawk picture, the larger tree has started to bud out.  Matt dug holes, I helped (which was a lot of fun for me, not so much for him) and we planted the trees this week.  I've wanted aspen trees in the yard of our home since we got married.  The day we got married was hot but breezy.  We had the wedding outside in front of a stand of aspens and the sound & sight of their leaves fluttering in the wind is one sensory memory I've cherished since.  This year, the year we celebrate our 10th year of marriage, is the year we got those aspens I wanted.
I'm content.

The early years

I'm home sick today, so I'm pondering the good ol' days....

For most of the first decade of my life, I lived in an old converted grocery store.  Yes, it sounds weird, but it was my first home.
After my Mom and biological father divorced, she moved us in with her partner (I hate to say boyfriend, because it sounds a little juvenile).  He was 30 years older than her and, as I grew up, it was just what it was.  I guess I learned from my early years that age doesn't matter when you love someone.  He was the first father figure I knew, since the biological father was barely on the radar, and he'll always have a place in my heart as my first dad.  Never mind that he was old enough to be my grandfather (which my paternal grandparents had HUGE issues with....), he had a hand in raising me and encouraged me in so many ways, from my arts to archery.
Anyway, back to the "house"...
The apartment portion of the building was a mixed bag of crazy, creative, and scary--to a young me.  There were lots of dead heads.  Back in those days, he was big into hunting, and so was my Mom.  On almost every wall hung a glassy-eyed mount--from moose to elk to red yak (no idea the specific breed?) to badger to bison.  Deer, antelope, beaver, fowl of all sizes and shapes, I think there was some rodents & snakes, too.  And they all stared at me...their dead eyes followed my every move through the place.  It was creepy as hell for an imaginative 6-8 year old who pictured them glowering at me when I went to sleep on the couch--and then imagined them leaping out of the wall at me.  Thankfully, at least one dead animal didn't stare at me: the elephant foot stool.  I have no idea how the hell he got it, but there was a stool made from an elephant's foot--and topped with a cushion of a piece of zebra hide.  Weeeeeird.
Along with all the mounts on the walls were tons of pictures--most of which showed a particular dead animal being crouched over by smiling friends & family.  Ah, Montana....
The kitchen was an open area--and lined atop the cupboards with lots of bottles of foreign beers.  The washer, dryer, and fridge/pantry were just off the kitchen.
In the living room area was a fireplace and some furniture.  But the absolute best part, my favorite part, was the fish pond.  Yes, a fish pond.  In the back corner of the living area was an open pond built into the floor.  Koi and other species of fish swam there.  You could reach right down and stick your hand in the water.  To make things even cooler--as you left/entered the apartment, you could walk over a piece of plexiglass that allowed you to look right down into another part of the pond.  The first time anyone came over, they were always afraid they'd break through.  It was funny to see the reactions.  So the dead animals were creepy, but the pond was so cool.  I fished out a koi once, when I was about 5.  I told Mom's guy that I was going fishing--he thought down by the creek (fenced at the banks) that ran at the bottom of the hill next to the building.  I meant in the fish pond.  Apparently it was hilarious...and a little expensive.  Koi aren't cheap.
That was just the downstairs.
Upstairs was my room, which I shared with my sister.  This room had one wall papered with the images of a sunlit forest in autumn.  It was golden-hued and most of the trees were narrow.  There was lots of places for monsters to peek out at me as I lay in bed.  Oh, how I hated that wall.  I slept on a trundle bed--the kind where one bed fits beneath the other, so if you need an extra place to sleep, you can just pull it out from under the other.  It was kind of neat, but also a great spot for the cats to hide.
Next to our room was my brother's room.  In his room was a hole in the wall that led to the rafters above the apartment.  It was another scary place to me, especially since bats could occasionally be found there.  Luckily it was usually covered up with a painting of some sort.
None of the rooms had doors, except for the toilet & shower.  This was a free-for-all kind of place.  Not a lot of privacy, but who needs that anyway?
Just outside the bedrooms was a balcony that overlooked the first floor.  There was railing all along the length of the second floor, so when the adults had friends over, we'd sneak to the railing and watch them when it was late.
Also on the second floor was the party bar.  Pre-Mom, the guy & his wife liked to have friends over.  So much so, they built an actual bar--stocked with glasses hanging above, a sink & fridge below, and lots of bottles behind.  It was such a cool place to play as a kid.  Strange, yes, but how many kids get to play bartender at an actual bar when they're 7?  The adults made it look so cool, and kids love to mimic adults.  We never opened any bottles, or even touched them, I think.
Just above the center of the second floor was the skylight--the only window in the apartment.  I think that might be an influence as to why I've always been comfortable living in basements.

All in all, I loved and hated living there.  But mostly loved it.  The only reason I hated it was because of all those eerie eyes following my steps...
Did I mention my out-of-control imagination?

In any case, I have so many happy memories of being there.  I remember a birthday when I got 3 cakes--I think I turned 7 or 8.  I remember listening to the sound of Mom's laughter from upstairs when she had friends over.  I remember my brother teaching me how to make scrambled cheese eggs so I could give Mom breakfast in bed for Mother's Day.  I remember watching the cat give birth--amazing to a kid. And I remember sneaking out to the rail on Christmas Eve to watch "Santa" putting presents by the fireplace.
Sad memories, as well, of goodbyes--when my brother left for Washington the first time.  I cried because my heart broke.  I loved him so much and my world was going to be emptier without him.
I cried when we had to say goodbye to TC, the big, sweet Malamute mix.  She was sick, arthritic, and old, and they had to take her away with a tarp tied between two poles (the way I remember it) because she was so big.  That was my very first goodbye to an animal I loved. I can still remember burying my face in her fur as I sobbed before they came to take her.

There's more memories....the smell of Old Spice in the bathroom....pranking Mom with a huge frozen moth on her pillow (she was terrified of moths), which my sister thought would be funny....sitting on the spiral staircase while I watched the grownups talk....watching the Weather Channel every day after school, then calling Mom 7 times the day when a tornado watch went into effect--and going outside to see the funnel lower into the center of town.  F.R.E.A.K.Y....my sister putting gum in my hair "just to see what happens" (what happened was she got in big trouble and I got a new haircut)...and the time I used the itty bitty scissors the biological dude got me for Christmas to cut my own bangs, followed by me pretending I didn't know what Mom was talking about when she asked if I'd cut my own hair the next morning.

Ahh, nostalgia...

Unremarkable Me

My world is the focus of all my thoughts and energies.  My world is small, with few people in my life who are truly important to me.  My world has very few branches, very few exciting adventures.  My world is truly unremarkable to everyone...but me.
There are times when I ruminate about my life, my place in the world, my effect on the greater existence and I feel terribly small.  I have a lovely relationship with my mother, but none with my biological father.  I have negative feelings about my two siblings, but I've been lucky enough to have cousins that I love and respect.  I'm not a people person, an extrovert, or a social butterfly, but I care about the ones I love, and I care deeply.
The world is so big.  And so small.  I think about all the people I've met in my life, and all the people I wish I had more time to be with.  I love my dogs but don't want kids.  I like the kids of people I know, but don't care for stranger's children.
I watched a show today about David Suzuki.  He talked about a fellow scientist that spoke about the gas argon--how we inhale it with various other gases that go into our lungs with oxygen, but it, unlike many of the other gases, argon gets exhaled right back out.  And how the air we breathe out is then breathed in by someone, or something, else.  And so the air we breathe makes us part of itself, and what we take in has been taken in by others, so we are a part of everything that takes in this gas.  And there's a high likelihood that what we breathe today was breathed by dinosaurs millions of years ago.  So we're a part of our past, and we're a part of our future, and we're a part of each other.  But we still heedlessly spew toxic chemicals into the air we breathe without thought for anything other than getting from point A to point B or how awesome our status symbols are.
I think too deeply of many things.  I wonder why humans exist.  Honestly, we're on a speck of dust in a giant space the size of the Pacific Ocean.  Earth is just another planet next to a star, like any other star, in a spiral galaxy like any other spiral galaxy...and yet, there's life here.  Humans have existed for a split second in the vast universal time.  Yet my life seems so long, and short.
Many people believe in a god, whether it be Allah or Buddah or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  After reading and learning what I have of Earth, of the smallest amoebas to the duckbill platypus to the blue whale and Himalayan Tiger, I'm boggled by the amazing variety of lifeforms we share this place with.  Mice, mongoose, mossy oak, moths and melons.  But I have an extremely hard time believing that anything other than evolution has gotten us to where we are.  Everything has a niche, it has a place where it belongs, and because of the actions of humans, many lifeforms are dwindling, or already gone.
I wish people really understood how their actions, and the butterfly effect of their actions, causes death & destruction to so many beings that are precious.  I sound like a hippy, and I know I'm rambling.
Life is precious, and short, and unbelievably miraculous.

One year ago....

I was living in a basement apartment.  My upstairs neighbors also owned the house.

I paid half their heating bills for a year because they wouldn't listen when I told them we didn't use heat, just the fireplace.  It was a major reason we decided to move out.

I had to shake out my towels before I used them because I had, more than once, encountered a hobo spider in my towel as I pulled it off the hook.

I couldn't open my refrigerator door all the way.  The short counter ended approximately 1 foot in front of the fridge.  And the fridge was jammed into the corner of the kitchen, right next to the stove.  Needless to say, whoever designed the kitchen--they were a frickin' genius!

The stove had one (of four) usable burners.  It was the large one, the only one that was flat in the front.  I tried to use the other burners a time or two, but stuff spilled out of them too easily.

The cupboards in the kitchen were set too low above the counter.  We couldn't store anything on the counter that was more than a foot tall--no wine bottles fit.  Major bummer!

I no longer have to worry about earwigs in my toothbrush.  Yes, that happened.  Of course, at 6 AM, when I brush my teeth, I'm not exactly awake.  Needless to say, the earwig wasn't discovered until after I opened my eyes--and finished brushing.  blech!

We have a couch!  A real, full-sized sofa!  At the apartment, we couldn't fit a couch in the living room, so we had a loveseat.  

We have a dining area!  The kitchen was so small in the apartment we had no room.

There's places for people to sit now--on the couch, at the table, or even on one of the bar stools. Holy cow, we can have people over!  Crazy.

I have a real guest room.  It has a real bed and TV just waiting to be used.  A year ago we had a "spare room" with a full-size bed and all of my bookshelves.

Speaking of bookshelves....I have a real library!  A beautiful, hand-built (by the Mister--what a guy) bookcase.  All my books fit, plus there's room for more.  If you're a reader like I am, you will understand my joy.

A year ago I parked in a driveway.  One we usually had to fight over with the neighbors (they now park both of their vehicles in the driveway).  Now, Nigel has his very own garage.  And it's big enough I could probably park him sideways.  Not that I would.  Unless I was really bored.  And wanted a funny picture.  I'm like that.

Leaves had to be raked.  Now, we have no grown trees.  I miss it at the same time as I treasure it.

The Mister likes to come home.  A year ago, he hated where we lived.  Now he's happy to come home and unwind.

In the past year, our new home has withstood nasty hail, became a place for Mom to heal from her surgery, witnessed grief when we said goodbye to Gunner, and is now a place of refuge after a long day at work.  As an introvert who greatly values quiet time at home, I truly love having a home of my own.

One year ago, I had no idea how much a house could mean to us.  Now I wonder how we managed to not have our own home for so long.

I Spy From My Eye In The Sky...

I forgot to post the cool pictures I got to take while we were flying back to Bozeman from Dallas in November.  So, enjoy....
I think the view from above, seeing what the land looks like from a different perspective, is so much fun, and very educational.  I geography.

Oh, and the red arrows (seen better by clicking on the picture to view the actual size) are explained at the bottom.

I hiked up to that M a couple of times!  It's harder than the picture implies.

Ah, Bridgers, how I love thee.

Foreground:  Bridgers;  Distant range:  Crazy Mountains.  My 2 favorite ranges!

See, there's still some good land here!

While taking these pictures, I noticed a ball of light on the ground following us, like someone was shining a flashlight from inside the plane.  It followed us all the way home.
Either it was aliens, or there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, like the sun reflecting off/through the plane or something.  Very weird in either case.

The love never ends...

Smudge is a cat.  As a cat, she proudly behaves as most cats might.  She eats (a lot), she sleeps (a lot more), and she has a love/hate relationship with Lily.  It reminds me of Garfield and Odie a little bit.  Except Smudge isn't witty, and Lily's tongue isn't hanging out much.

The other night, Smudge found a new spot on the couch--a few inches away from her usual spot.

You know how sometimes you sit on a really cushy couch that just seems to suck you in?

And the act of getting un-sucked is a lot of trouble?

Smudge seemed to find herself in that situation.

Of course, Smudge thinks that just getting up from laying on the back of the couch is too much effort.

She got herself into the space between the cushions on the couch and just laid there for awhile checking things out.

For the first 8 seconds of the video, she's just watching Lily gnaw on Amber.  Then Lily sees Smudge....

And rescues her from the couch that was eating her!

Sorry for the terrible quality of the video--I took it with my phone, and it was so dark I had to lighten it as best I could.

Home Improvements

Since we can because we OWN THE HOUSE, and since I love slate, the guys put in a backsplash in the kitchen for me.  Here are the pics of the process and the end result, which looks TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

You can click on any of the pictures to view them in a larger size.

And many, many, many thanks to the Mister and his husband for doing this!  I loooooove it!

Before

Baseboard removed.
That red was the original color of the kitchen.  blech!

Faceplates removed

Thinset applied

First row applied

First row completed

Adding accent layer

Accent layer complete

Top layer added

Ready for grout

Applying grout

Grout complete

Sealant added

Right end

Corner

All done!  Beautiful kitchen.

Fabulous.
And, it matches the kitchen and paint color perfectly!
Come on over if you want to see how fantastic it looks.  :o)