Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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We've finally had several nice days up here in the way-beyond middle-of-nowhereland. That has allowed lots of outside work to be completed. The garden space has been worked, despite a slight mishap with the garden tiller. Note to self: when turning the little garden tractor sharply, remember the tiller attachment on the back swings farther out in the opposite direction of your turn. AND having the tines rotating at a rapid clip means they will grab the strip of old truck tarp that's suppressing...
For years I have ignored Dennis' many farming magazines and newsletters. I have separated the pages of the newsprint ones to use the sheets to line the garbage cans and for washing windows. Newsprint is wonderful for cleaning glass, leaving a lint- and streak-free finish. Of course, they leave your hands black, but hands are very washable. Just use lots of soap and a soft-bristle nail brush (and/or soak in bleach or lemon water, depending on which smell you want left behind), then use lots of lo...
Closing the Glasgow City-County Library was difficult, but important to keep people safe during this challenging time. Undoubtedly, it has had a huge impact on our patrons and community. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve and change, the library is working on ways to safely provide services as we begin to reopen in phases at some point in the future. The Valley County Friends of the Library will be providing free grab-and-go bags Thursday, April 23, and Friday, April 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the library, 408 3rd Ave. S....
While the calendar says it’s spring, there’s still the occasional snowflake swirling down, at least up north. I wish Mother Nature would update her calendar to match ours. The sky is blue and the sun is shining as I write this Monday morning, and the temperature is well above freezing. What few snowdrifts remain are slowly melting away. The howling winds are assisting with that. Most of the seeds I started are sprouting, which is encouraging. However, some of the starter pots are showing no signs of activity, which isn’t. Okra was the first...
A program delivered entirely online that aims to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms will be offered for free to hundreds of adult Montanans. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is making the program – an internet-based interactive platform known as Thrive – available to many more Montana residents over the age of 18. Previously, up to 1,000 adult Montanans were invited to enroll in the Thrive program for free during the research phase. Now, hundreds of additional free accounts are available for adult Montanans wit... Full story
My alliteration skills are lacking this week. I have not been able to come up with a catchy headline for my drivel this week. I think my brain wants to remain in pajamas this morning. I suspect there might be just a few of us that way as we enter into the fourth week of "sheltering in place," or "social isolation," or "lockdown," or whatever your preferred term may be. So far, whatever we call it, it seems to be working for our county, so please continue! My seeds have mostly arrived by now....
I’m sad to report we’ve been getting more snow, off and on. It melts a little, a little gets added, then melts a little more. The melting is winning; I can see a bit of lawn next to the garden, as well as mud at the bottom, where my asparagus grows. Instead of April showers bring May flowers, we get April snows means more indoors. Of course, that works out okay while we’re self-isolating, doesn’t it? It also helps me not feel guilty for not getting outside to clean the south flowerbeds. Those are mostly cleared of snow, but are buried in the...
A program delivered entirely online that aims to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms will be offered for free to hundreds of adult Montanans. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is making the program – an internet-based interactive platform known as Thrive – available to many more Montana residents over the age of 18. Previously, up to 1,000 adult Montanans were invited to enroll in the Thrive program for free during the research phase. Now, hundreds of additional free accounts are available for adult Montanans wit... Full story
The spring bird migrations are finally occurring. We have had flocks of geese flying overhead. Last week a flock of crows had briefly graced our yard. There are lots of sparrows, juncos, and at least one pair of red polls visiting the feeders. They're singing outside the windows. They've drawn in a hawk that's patrolling the trees. Several flocks of robins have used our yard as a way station on their way farther north. It's so nice to see those sparks of bright red against the snowy-white...
Living well beyond the Middle of Nowhere has some advantages over living in town, especially these days. Keeping your distance socially is much easier when your nearest neighbor is almost a mile away! I can go outside without worrying about accidentally getting within six feet of anyone. We're also used to keeping our larder and pantries well stocked. The threat of a winter storm keeping you housebound longer than you'd care to be is a great incentive. (I know it's officially spring by the...
The time interval between snows and storms up here seems to be getting shorter. Last week our Monday snow arrived on Sunday; this week it arrived on Saturday. Mother Nature has taken this jumping ahead on the time to an insane level. She’s out of control. I don’t think we got that much more snow, but the 40 mph wind certainly made for some very deep and new drifts in our yard. In the space between the propane tanks and the lilac hedge just to the west of the tanks, the snow had shrunk to a depth of 18 to 24 inches. It’s now running 3 to 4 fee...
Can we all agree we hate the biannual time changes? “Losing” that hour each spring seems harder than “gaining” it back in the fall. In reality, all we are accomplishing is messing up everyone’s time schedules. It’s an arbitrary insult to all our systems. Even Mother Nature got thrown off her stride. Her regularly-scheduled Monday snowstorm arrived Sunday morning! My preference, if it counts for anything (and it doesn’t) would be to now and forever remain on daylight savings time year-round. I’m more than willing to have that hour be forever...
HiLine Skating presents its 14th annual Showcase on Saturday, March 7, 2 p.m., at the Valley Event Center. The public is invited to come see what the skaters in the Learn to Skate program have accomplished this year. There is no cost for this event and those attending may skate with the stars after the show....
Depending upon how you view reading my musings, you’re either in luck, or doomed. There was no major snowstorm on this Monday morning, March 2, just wind. And that wind was more of a breeze than the major gale we experienced Sunday. It had been warm enough that the fresh snow from the week before partially melted and compacted, so very little of it moved in those gusting winds, although it was drifting across the highway closer to Opheim. It’s still whiter up here beyond the Middle of Nowhere than we’d like. Ah, well, spring is coming. The b...
Just in time for Easter, Jason Myers will have 30 of his exquisitely designed and handmade sugar Easter eggs at the Wheatgrass Arts & Gallery's Artist of the Month reception, located at the gallery, 523 2nd Ave. S., Glasgow. This is Myers' second year to take on this endeavor at the gallery, which has proven to be eye-candy for anyone visiting the gallery during its show. Each piece is made of a sugar and water solution that is molded in an egg shaped form. The surface is then decorated with...
It seems as though on Monday mornings (the time I take to write this column since it is due by noon, after all) Mother Nature decides to frown on us and deliver another helping of unwanted snow. It’s almost enough to make me want to discontinue writing a column, just to see if I’m the cause. Almost. But then I think of those of you who approach me when I’m in town to tell me you enjoy my scribblings. I do so like hearing those comments. Who wouldn’t? So here I am again. The extent of my gardening this week was to water my houseplants. And to...
We had planned to head to the Outpost Cafe in Opheim on Valentine’s Day for their steak and shrimp special. Mother Nature intervened, disrupting our plans with a short but intense snowstorm. Our home is only about 50 yards from the highway, but in the midst of this mini-blizzard that highway disappeared into a wall of white. We’ve been caught out on the roads after dark in blizzards before. It’s not an experience we care to repeat, so we stayed home. I found a package of rib steaks in the freezer. The defrost cycle on the microwave was emplo...
I’d copied a recipe from a magazine quite some time ago. It was held by a magnet on the exhaust fan cover above my stove top, where I saw it daily for months. I’d put it there so I’d be sure to try it. But there were ingredients I knew Dennis would balk at, so it continued to sit there. That visual reminder finally got to me when I had an epiphany. The thought of combining this with the chow mein recipe I’d gotten from his mom 40-some years ago entered my head, and that got me going. I’ll first give you both of the recipes, as originall...
He died alone and was buried, with everything he owned, in a plywood box at a small cemetery in Hinsdale, Mont. That is the end to the story of Marine Bruce Powers, age of 79, after dying in the dementia unit of Valley View Home. As a widower and estranged from his remaining family, Powers was left in the hands of the county to be buried. For those reasons, he was buried in a funeral plot owned by the county on Feb. 6. The only attendees were the mortuary staff, Sheriff Tom Boyer, director of...
I feel as though I don’t have much to talk about this week, but, being a woman, talk I will. We aren’t still in Florida, so there aren’t comparisons to be made between Montana and Florida flora. It’s a long time until spring returns, no matter what that groundhog (he’s a rodent, for heaven’s sake, not a meteorologist) says. The seed catalogs are showing up in droves in my mailbox, but I haven’t opened a single one. It’s much too early to start dreaming of days spent mucking in the dirt of my garden. I do have one more older amaryllis in bl...
While shopping for fresh fruits and veggies last Thursday, I was greeted by a friend in the grocers. He accused me of being the cause of coming bad weather. (We did get snow flurries, a bit of rain, more heavy snow, and strong winds Saturday, causing icy roads Sunday.) He claimed the weather always turns nasty upon the return of the snowbirds. I protested that title, as we’d only gone south for a short vacation. That encounter prompted me to look up the official definition of snowbird. There are three: 1) birds that winter in cold climates, e...
We are winding down our Florida sojourn. I am not looking forward to returning from this green semi-tropical paradise to our frozen white tundra. The grandsons had a weekend off from hockey, so we took advantage of that and visited a beach. Shark Tooth Beach, near Venice, Fla., has darker sand than other beaches we've been to on previous Florida trips. It's fossiliferous sand, formed from the sea life that was left behind when the waters receded millennia ago. Apparently, a lot of that sea life...
We're still vacationing in Florida, and watching lots of hockey. We did throw in a real circus last weekend. The contrast of the heat under the big top to the chill of ice arenas was similar to walking out of a warm home and into -30 degree temps. We ventured to Daytona on Jan. 12 to watch the middle grandson. He had two games: a tie and a big win. The youngest had games in Orlando. His dad took him. He is the goalie and notched a shut-out. The oldest played in Fort Myers and scored the winning...
We are in sunny Florida, visiting our middle daughter and her family. Don't be jealous. While it's sunny (for the most part - we did see lots of rain Saturday) and green, we're still experiencing some cold. But this cold is man-made. Our grandsons all play ice hockey. Maintaining ice here means lots of cold. The youngest grandson is seven. He is both a player and a goalie. In his jamboree yesterday, he only played goalie. He had four games, 20 minutes each, in Ellenton, spread over the entire...
The Glasgow Scottie Speech and Drama teams made their way to Sidney on Jan. 4 to compete in their annual invitational, which drew a large swathe of Class A, B and C schools from the region. The meet was also the first competition of the new year for the Scottie Speech and Drama team as they head into the home stretch of their long season with some top competitors. Carrying the speech team to their newest "Speech Sweeps" trophy were Isabelle Griffin with a first place win in Dramatic Solo – a s...
