We are Modern Cowboys!

We moved the last bunch of cattle in from summer pasture. As the time for winter storms approachs, the cows must be closer to the haystacks and water we can keep 'open' (unfrozen). This year's mild weather let them stay on the pasture a week or so longer than normal, but it was time to 'trail' them in to the fields closer to home.
You can see we are Modern Cowboys! This was the first year everyone rode 'wheelers' (ATVs). No horses!

Above, John on the right, seems to be having an interesting conversation with our neighbor. We make these days of 'work' into days of 'fun' when our friends and neighbors come help.

Banana Chocolate Cake

Sift:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt

Cream until fluffy:

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cup sugar

Add, one at a time, beating after each:

• 2 eggs

Add:

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Stir in:

• 1 tsp. vanilla

Add dry ingredients alternately with:

• 1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3)

and:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Beat well after each addition.
Turn into greased 9-inch layers or large cake pan.
Bake at 350 F. for 30-35 minutes.
This is from an old cookbook, and it did not mention frosting. We found we like it equally as well frosted or unfrosted.

November... and still warm!

It is November... and I am still working in my yard!

However, I have put the roses 'to bed'.

I have three plants of the rose Mary Rose (David Austin) and am experimenting with several different ways to give them a bit of protection over Montana's winters. Most sources list this variety as hardy to zone 5. Montana is listed as 4 to 3. In my past experiences with this rose, I know it 'may' live over without protection, if surrounded by the dead tops of other plants grown around it, and with some leaves and other protective mulch. However, this new yard isn't as 'grown together' and included many annuals, AND is in an exposed site, so I am trying two different methods of winter cover for this rose.

We use the Styrofoam cones, mainly because we have problems with mice when using mounds of organic mulch such as leaves or hay. So, the two shortest Mary Rose plants received a little mound of dirt over their crowns, and a Styrofoam rose cone. The third Mary Rose plant had a HUGE mound of dirt piled over it's crown and canes, and I am filling the top of the tall wire surround with leaves and hay, along with a sprinkling of mouse poison baits.

The yard doesn't look as nice now! (photo taken on 11/7)

Still hauling in dirt and manure!

Will I ever be done hauling in dirt and manure????
The final count is now 81 tractor bucket loads... and I am not finished yet!
I just had to post this count, to help myself keep track! :)

Montana had an extra month of summer!

This 'fall' has been a very unusual one for Montana! Usually, we have a killing frost near the 1st of September, even though the remainder of the month may be warm and settled. So, we usually figure September 1st as the end of the growing season for our garden veggies and yard flowers. If we cover selected plants well, we may often have a few more days of warm days, but the nights are usually cool enough, actual productive growth stops.
THIS YEAR, our first frost came on Spetember 24th.... and it was only hard enough to get the tenderest veggies... it didn't even blacken the marigolds! The first really hard frost came on October 10th! I picked several bouquets of flowers, roses, etc. the evening before! WOW!
Our growing season is usally short enough that various long season flowers such as dahlias, glads, etc. are just hitting their peak when the frost cuts them down. This year, I had the opportunity to really enjoy my 'first-year' flower beds! :)
When I received a Fall Sale catalog from Orion Farm, I was brave enough to order several new roses! :) They are planted and have had several weeks to settle in .... and still more nice weather is predicted... although we are now seeing night time lows in the low 20's.
One of the wonderful advantages of this fall has been that I am getting a head start on next year's 'prep work'... such as hauling in more manure, reshaping contours of the slopes and working on a terrace area.
One of the disadvantages is that while I gained a month or six weeks of summer and still have nice fall days ahead, I have LOST that time from my usual winter 'work' of painting and decorating inside, playing with my African violets, and decorating cakes!
Here are several of the final photos of my patio in 2008:
The patio on October 2nd:

and again on October 11th:

September has been GREAT

September is usually a month of frosts, and dying flowers! But this year, we have had rain, cooler nights, yet good days for continued growing and blooming... great for my yard! The flowers continue to bloom! :)

Click the photo below for a larger view:

I have begun work on the other sides of the house... where I have had potatoes, veggies, etc. growing, but also some very persistent weeds! But I am working on them! :)

I have also hauled in more loads of manure, and dirt! Plus adding more plants like iris, plants scavenged from abandoned yards, etc! :)

More photos to come later.