Norhwest Montana...

...features one eye-popping scenic after another...Here are a few we captured on the aborted ruffed grouse hunt I posted previously...Not so hot eatin' wise but a for sure eye feast....

Swan Lake Fishing Access Site

Mission Mountain Wilderness

Placid Lake State Park

And before you sharp-eyed viewers scream foul...I must confess to fiddling with these a bit in Lightroom 3.5 which I am at the moment trying my damnedest to master...These were tweaked using the presets in the Develop Module...Not much to master there since all that is necessary is a mouse click and deciding whether or not you like what you see or...next preset...Oh well, to my eye these turned out pretty damn nifty...Right? Right...

Snakebite Victim Update...

This picture had become all too familiar up until yesterday that is....

...finally after countless water baths, wet towel treatments, pill battles (Annie does not do pills period, end of discussion) several injections (not havin' needles either)...not drinking, eating little, hopping around on three legs...as I say finally yesterday she put foot down (for the most part), drank some and ate pretty good...Hooray!

Ten long pain filled (for Annie), fretful, frustrating, fearful (for us) days since a rattler nailed her in the foot. Up until yesterday the hoped for, though highly unlikely, quick healing process seemed to us negligible at best and two three days ago seemed to take several steps backward--dead in the water actually.

Gale and me already stressed by a string of events that included constant worry, no sleep, unanswered questions, vet visits which by then had become almost a daily occurrence; to say nothing of shattered nerves which led to ridiculous shouting matches--admittedly foolish and certainly doing nothing for Annie's equally stressed out condition--well, as I say two, three days ago we had all just about had IT...

Then yesterday morning, the threat looming of a whole day in the vet's office administering intravenous fluids due to Annie's baffling refusal to drink or for that matter eat much of anything...suddenly a breakthrough she ate pretty good, drank some and wonder of wonders actually walked on all four feet...

Actually the swelling has all but disappeared from her lower leg and foot and except for up under in the groin area the only redness is where some "superficial dead skin" has sloughed off..."Looks pretty good according to vet" which as you might imagine sounds pretty sweet at this point...So there you have it, perhaps not quite out the woods yet but damn close...With any luck at all the next update will include a shot similar to this one...

Feels Like Fall Today...

...As the temperature barely made it out the 30s...And while I would not bet the farm on such a fickle sister as Montana weather I am pretty sure we've seen the last of Indian Summer...The leaves, really colorful just a day or so ago have suddenly tinted toward brown and in the backyard already a couple aspens are bare. Won't be long until all the leaves are gone and we all know what that means...Yikes, hard to imagine another winter lies just around the corner...

While we haven't seen the last of the honey bees no doubt their visits will be few and far between in the upcoming weeks...

From the sound of it the last of the sandhill cranes boogied this morning...Already a week or so ago we noticed their numbers out on the East Bench (staging area) had thinned considerably...Always sort of sad to see these beautiful birds go but then again if they stayed around all winter what would we have to look forward to come early spring...

Tis a shame we don't have bracken fern here in southwest Montana to color up the fall woods; always makes me a little envious of the folks in northwest Montana...but on second thought we got way more trout and way fewer folks so...Ah, forget it...

How's this for proof the fall so far has been warmer than usual...this poppy bloomed next to deck two days ago and last night Jack Frost killed it but still...

On another way more serious track Annie is still hurtin'. And today especially has not been one of her best...she was putting weight on her foot yesterday but since this morning has been reluctant to put any weight on it. Plus the bruising and discoloration is all the way up her leg and looks much more sore than it did a couple days ago...Add to that the dead skin is starting to slough (something we all hoped would not happen) and...Well, I'm afraid she is in for not only a long painful haul but a serious one besides...Yeah, we got our fingers and toes crossed on this one and trust me, I would gladly eat all the crow the healing gods care to serve up...