2011: Year in Review

At the start of a new year, I do like looking over the past year and contemplating what it's brought.  It was a good year, all told, with some fun travels, explorations of beautiful landscapes, new garden projects and good times with family and friends.

At the very beginning of 2011, we spent a week in Baja with Greg's parents.  I'd never been to Mexico before, and it was lovely, and I would love to go back and explore even more of it someday.  (For more pics, check out my Facebook album.)

When we got back, we (belatedly) celebrated Greg's 36th and Britta's 25th birthdays, with cake, friends, and beer . . . and blowing out the birthday candles, of course!

In February, we visited Andrea and Philip in Bellingham over President's Day weekend, and had a lovely day cross-country skiing near Mt. Baker and another lovely day taking the ferry to Lummi Island and hiking.  I love that my sister lives only a day's drive away (and in a pretty spectacular place--I have more pics on Facebook)!

Last winter was very snowy, which was fantastic.  We're still waiting for the snow to show up this year.  But it was also very grey and chilly longer than usual, stretching far into what is usually spring.  Even so, we were able to start work on a few yard projects in March.  Our neighbor, Emily, came over to prune our oak and maple trees;

we spent a weekend in Hamilton preparing for and enjoying Bill & Becky's spring equinox party;

we got our garden beds ready for planting;

our kitties were cute;

and we added the final piles of soil, mulch, and cedar bark to our front landscaping project.

In April, the sunshine and some warmth finally arrived, and so did the buttercups on Mount Jumbo . . .

. . . and our Very Own Chickies!  Here they are, only four days old.  Amazing to think that it's less than a year later and we've been enjoying eating our own eggs for several months now!

We were thrilled when our garlic started coming up--truly, garlic is not only satisfying because of its deliciousness, but because it is one of the first green and growing things in the spring.  It is little verdant spears of hope bursting through the warming soil.

Getting four baby chicks also inspired us to really get cracking on the henhouse and chicken coop, which Greg had begun to work on in fall 2010, but had to stop when the weather got chilly and snowy.  

At the end of April, I got to participate in a program through the Montana Natural History Center, one of the those we offer periodically for our Explorer's Club members.  This one involved spending a morning with Denver Holt from the Owl Research Institute, while he and some of his staff showed us how they mist net, catch, and study long-eared owls (which Denver has been doing for more than 25 years). 

What a magical experience, to see this beautiful raptor up close!

May brought true spring--sunshine, warm days, opening the windows, tulips, melting snow--it was wonderful.  We spent lots of time outside, working on the garden:

We watched the chickies grow rapidly into adolescents.

Greg taught an intensive weekend Advanced Master Naturalist course on plant identification, which Bill and Becky and I all participated in.  

We traveled to several locations in and near Missoula to study various ecosystems and plant life, and got REALLY good at finding the glossary at the end of our dichotomous key books!  

It was a marvelous weekend with lovely people.  I love natural history geeks (and feel very blessed to be married to one!).  

But the excitement of May didn't end there.  We also had visits from some very good friends: my friend Rachel, who works in Uganda for the Uganda Studies Program, but who very fortuitously has a sister who lives in Missoula, and Greg's friend Bill, who was taking a break between jobs to do some traveling and visiting friends.  We spent a beautiful day hiking around Mount Jumbo together, on hillsides awash in wildflowers.  Yay for good people!

 

My good friend and former co-worker Jessie also visited, spending Memorial Day weekend in Missoula.  The arrowleaf balsamroot was still going crazy on Mount Jumbo at the end of May!

June was an eventful month.  We continued our wildflower walks around Missoula;

finished the henhouse and chicken coop and moved the chickens to their new home;

took a hike to see the rushing and raging Morrell Falls in the Seeley-Swan Valley;

participated in the Advanced Master Naturalist bird weekend;

enjoyed a visit from my parents, taking them on a hike up Waterworks Hill to see the wildflowers . . . and, oh yes, the birds, too!;

 

spent a gorgeous weekend in the Sawtooths with Jessie and her boyfriend Shawn and my co-worker Alyssa;   

and tasted the first fruits of our garden (truly the first fruits--these are the first cherries from our cherry tree, and they were DELICIOUS).  

There is always so much happening in the summer.  Last summer was no exception.  In July, we started out fairly mellowly, staying home over the 4th of July holiday for a rejuvenating few days of reading, writing, and basking in the sunshine--though we also managed to install a new gate and fencing to the east side of our house--but from there, things got busier. 

Andrea and Philip came to visit for a few days, and when they left, I went with them--not back to Washington, but east to Sioux Center, then south to Branson, MO, for our biannual VanderHart family reunion. 

After a few days there, my dad drove me east to Illinois, so that I could spend a few (very hot and humid) days with Tricia and Benjamin and Miriam and Peregrine. 

 

I got to see the lovely addition to their house,

as well as the progress John and Sue are making on their strawbale/cob/cordwood home,

and then it was back to Iowa for a day,

and then the long drive back west through South Dakota, Wyoming, and most of Montana (with a stop at the historical grounds near Billings). 

It was a wonderful road trip, and I loved being able to spend two full weeks with my sister (neither of us can remember the last time we got to enjoy that luxury), but I definitely missed my Gregory, who was teaching through the end of July and unable to join us.  He spent his time teaching and grading, working in the garden, writing, and getting in some long summer hikes.  Next time, though, we're doing this together!     

In August, we got some family time with the Peters clan, driving over to Spokane to spend a couple of days with Bill & Becky, Wendy & Morgan and Ada and Andrew, and then we joined Wendy and Morgan for a couple of days in the cabin they'd rented on Lake Pend Orielle.

We had a great time exploring northern Idaho with them! 

Then it was back to Missoula to enjoy the high garden season and the delight of having most of our food come from our own backyard. 

 

This included the discovery of what may be the most delicious tomato EVER:  the chocolate-striped tomato from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Order some of these seeds.  Eat one of these tomatoes.  It's a tomato as you've never experienced it.

Tricia and Benjamin and Miriam and Perergrine stopped by for a day on their way to Washington,

and then, at the end of August, we traveled west to the Oregon coast to spend a weekend with Greg's college friends--Bill, Tom and Molly, Amanda and Brian and baby Walter, and Evan and Ashley.

 We rented a house built high on a rocky outcrop over the ocean,

and had a spectacular time making delectable food, lounging on the sand,

and playing badminton on the beach (beach badminton may be the best. sport. ever).    

As I recall all our activities of last summer, I am remembering what a fantastically full summer it was.  Lots of time with friends and family, explorations of new places, amazing gardeny goodness--yes, summer 2011 was a good one.

In September,  I celebrated my 32nd birthday (!!!) with a lovely weekend down in Hamilton with a hike up Blodgett Canyon, good friends,

 and of course, a few hilarious rounds of telephone pictionary.

Greg started teaching again, and I got busy at work as MNHC's school programs started up and we began preparing for the annual auction in earnest.  We got our first eggs from our chickens (!),

and celebrated Beth and Britta's return to Missoula from Alaska with lots and lots of tomato canning weekends. 

We eased out of summer into the busier fall routine, and helped ourselves stay sane by taking walks in the woods . . .

. . . and following our kitties' example of taking occasional naps in the sunshine.

October is always a crazy month for me, work-wise, as I'm busy not only with finding volunteers to help with all of our 4th-grade field trips, but I also am working overtime to do last-minute preparations for our auction.  I love the busyness and the challenge of getting so much done in just a few weeks, but I'm always grateful to be finished with it all.  Despite the busyness, however, Greg and I took the time to enjoy a weekend up at Holland Lake for our 2nd anniversary at the beginning of October. 

This included a visit to our wedding site, of course!

We also found time to take a good many fall hikes, in the hills around Missoula,

 our annual larch pilgrimage to Glen Lakes,

and on a slightly snowy excursion up Sweeney Ridge.

 We continued canning tomatoes, but also added a few rounds of applesauce and apple butter, 

harvested our sweet potatoes (!),

 

readied our garden for the winter, which of course included planting our garlic,

and cuddled with our kitties. 

Greg also got to visit Wendy & Morgan for a long weekend, flying to Boulder to help with some fence building and playing with his niece and nephew.

November brought some calmness, a welcome break after the intensity of the previous two months.  I had time to put together a homemade goodies basket for our church's silent auction,

learn to make Christmas trees out of junk mail/magazines,

and make sourdough bread.

We also visited Andrea and Philip over Veteran's Day weekend, but, since it was cold, windy and rainy the entire time we were there, we mostly stayed indoors, made yummy food, and, um, watched Glee.  Over Thanksgiving, we continued our tradition of spending several days in Hamilton, eating WAY too much food, hiking in the woods,

enjoying each other's company, and, of course, cutting down our Charlie Brown Christmas trees. 

Wendy and Morgan and the kids were able to join us, as were Beth and Britta, and we had a marvelous five days with friends and family.  There was even a bit of snow--more, actually, than we have now.

In November, I also got to write my first article for the Montana Naturalist magazine, of which I am now the official editor (and am very much looking forward to my first issue coming out in April!).  I wrote an article on pikas, which may very well be the cutest creatures ever.

By December, we were ready for more snow, which just didn't come.  We had warmish, dry days, and more sunshine than is usual for winter in Missoula.  I can't complain about the sun, but if it had been sparkling off of a foot of snow (or, hey, even three inches!), it would have been even better.  Greg finished up his semester and is still enjoying his well-deserved break--reading, editing his story, cooking yummy food, etc.  We had the time to paint the bathroom, I started running three times a week with my friend Beth, and Greg continued the running and hiking he's been doing for the past several months.  We spent a (warm, sunny, dry) week in Iowa with my family,

 

having lots of fun playing games,

taking walks in the sunshine,

 

 and seeing friends.  

Oh, right, and being silly.  Just a bit.

 

We returned to Missoula in time for the New Year, which we spent with Bill and Becky and Jan, as well as Beth and Britta and their parents.   Looking back, it's been quite a year!  And now it's 2012, and we are looking forward to all this year will bring.   Happy 2012, friends!

p.s.  In case you were wondering, the kitties are still cute.