Montana is Beautiful in July

Yesterday morning, Elaine’s niece, Becca, came over to see the snakes in the garden. I told her that I was delighted that someone else appreciates the snakes as much as I do. She was brave enough to pick one up so we could visit with it up close.

She said I also have Pacific Chorus frogs in my garden. We looked for one where we were hearing it but could not find it. Good to know, though. I will keep an eye out.

That deer did far more damage in the garden than I first realized. It had pulled up about half the bean plants after nibbling off the tops. I replanted them and hope they will recover. The deer also ate about half the cabbage plants. Fortunately, I still have cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse, so I can replace them. I don’t know if the peas will survive, let alone produce anything.

This has been a tough year so far. The cucumbers gave up and died—I put them in and we promptly had a cold snap, and then it rained on them for five days straight. I think they decided it just wasn’t worth it. Of course, I am teaching a pickling class in August, so I will have to get Hutterite cukes.

The potatoes, all of the summer and winter squash, and the tomatoes are doing splendidly. We’re almost out of both sauce and salsa, so a good tomato crop is crucial. I don’t think that will be a problem.

We should also have a great raspberry crop. Every year is different, but I am a bit dismayed by how difficult gardening has been this year because of the animals. I think that replacing the fence on the south side of the garden is going to have to go on the infrastraucture list for next year. It’s not in good shape and that is the side where the deer was getting in.

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Robert and Deana and I went out to the Glacier Symphony Orchestra’s America 250 concert last evening. It was held at Rebecca Farm, which is a large equestrian venue west of town. The evening could not have been more perfect. We arrived around 5:45, which gave us plenty of time to locate good seats on the lawn and avail ourselves of some food truck fare. We all had fish and chips from The Codfather. Delicious.

The performance was excellent. Some of the pieces were familiar to me but some were not. The concert lasted until 10:00 pm and believe it or not, it was just getting dark as we were leaving. I had hoped that we might see some northern lights as we drove home, but it wasn’t dark enough yet.

We are off to the parade and the community band concert this morning in Kalispell. I am hoping to do some sewing this afternoon, or at least cut out the lining for the Lou Raincoat. I have a big sewing-related project that needs to be done some time next week. It is the kind of project where I am going to need a couple of hours—or better yet, the entire day—of uninterrupted time. That project has a deadline and I also have to be getting ready for the bike tour our church is hosting, so I want to have it completed sooner rather than later.