Big Timber!

Hello to you all! Here’s another update for everyone, my sweet friends. I’m frustrated at not being able to comment on your posts but glad to read that most of you are doing well and enjoying the fruits of your gardens. I’m so sorry to hear that Sam has been in the hospital, but she is now home and sounds like she is doing much better. Also Connie, (Far Side) has also been unwell. Several have had Covid, but others are enjoying the “dog days” of August. I’m thinking of you all and keeping you in my prayers.

On Saturday we spent the day with our best friends, Neal and Jenny. We picked up Panda Express and went to Manito Gardens in Spokane for a picnic lunch. The first few photos are of the Duncan Garden there. Lots of people were around so it was a bit hard to get photos, but you get the idea of how gorgeous this park is. 

A kind stranger took a photo of the four of us. It was SO hot. I think it was 99F that day but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Giving Zoey a much needed drink out of her collapsible bowl while we rested in the shade.

They have a gorgeous conservatory there too. This was just one plant out of dozens of orchids.

Here’s a bit better photo of the Duncan Garden.

There is a wildflower section too.

One of the thousands of plants in the conservatory.

There is also a huge rose garden, but this post is too photo laden as it is. After the park, we went back to Neal and Jenny’s house where we barbecued hamburgers and had a summer feast with potato salad, watermelon and coconut cream pie. It was wonderful to have the entire day to spend with them.

Zoey and Izzy hit it off together right away and were inseparable. Izzy is just two weeks older than Zoey and is the reason we have our girl. We stayed with Paul and Lori when we visited Spokane last August and they had just gotten Izzy two days earlier. To say I had “puppy fever” would be a definite understatement. 😍 We had Zoey by the next weekend! Izzy was on our camper steps first thing every morning or else Zoey was peering in their patio doors. 😂 She was a regular peeping Zoey! If we went anywhere, they stayed together in the house or they cried without each other. (That only happened once and then we accepted the inevitable.)  Lori says Izzy is missing Zoey terribly and that Zoey taught her how to play. She was an only puppy in the litter so has never had a playmate. Both weigh about 10 lbs and are the same height.

I did a little clearance yarn shopping at my “old” Michaels. Enough yarn for three baby blankets, three pair of socks and a shawl for $38.87. Regular price was about $96.00. I also found that glass ball that is covered with Q’s for $2.24, regularly $9.99. The cashier even remembered me! 

Since we left home I have crocheted 2 baby blankets and started another one. All are using the “Which Way Filet” pattern.  I folded the two completed blankets into triangles for the photo. The WIP is laying on top. They are laying on the bed in the trailer.

I also made three more nine-patch squares. This gives me thirty in total. I stopped there until I get home and lay them out to see if more are needed. They are about 12 inches square including the cream border.

We have been in Big Timber, Montana for the past two nights. Early tomorrow morning we will leave for Custer, South Dakota for a few days. We hadn’t checked before we made reservations, but apparently we’ll be there during the big Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There are literally thousands of bikers there during this week every year. We should have remembered that. We may not stay our entire reservation time. We talked to a few bikers here at the campground last night that were heading home early. They were five older men who said it was just too wild for them. Too much “drinking and riding”. They said it was a once in a lifetime experience, being with so many other bikers in one place, but that the partying just wasn’t their thing. It isn’t ours either, so it may be a short visit!

This is our campsite in Big Timber. It’s been in the 90’s everyday, but cools off beautifully into the 50’s at night. There is a pool, laundromat and nice store here and the view can’t be beat.

Need I say more? There is also a small creek that runs though the campground behind our trailer.

Next time I post we should be home. We have sweet angels watching over Mom and our house while we’re gone. We can’t express our thanks enough to them for giving us this much needed break to visit with our Spokane family.

Take care everyone.

Blessings and love,

Betsy