I decided to leave the whole debt ceiling thing to the care of others and head for Montana, where a rag-tag crew had agreed to assemble for five days, in order to build a garage and studio/office/guest room adjacent to our cabin. It's going to have an admirable view, as you can see from the appropriate photo above. My primary challenge has been to keep this crew plus three finicky girls well fed throughout the framing process. Terry, my brother-in-law, is the mind and matter behind Paradigm Builders, his framing company. He's the best in the business and has a rock star client list to prove it. I'm not kidding.
I snapped a shot of Terry and his son Cory as they leveled something extremely important under the hot Montana sun.
Terry and Cory are being assisted by the owners of the cabin, my husband Walt and my brother Carl, both pictured above. They are also being assisted by Terry's younger son, Jordan, and Sage, my sister Carolyn's son and Terry's stepson. Jordan and Sage are captured above in a rare moment of repose on the sofa. They seemed to be skyping with some girls they met online, but I persuaded them to put the computer down for a second so I could get this shot.
The three girls (pictured above) have become adept at making and eating chocolate chip cookies under my benevolent guidance. Since we are at 4,400 feet, we tried the high altitude version once but found the result way too cake-y. We like 'em chewy and runny. Walt, who has the highest standards in this area, was on his knees for these chewy ones.
As for me, I am cooking up a bunch of grub that I'm not eating, since I have become a vegan. Actually, it is an experiment that I decided to try and have not yet completed. I heard the pot roast and resulting stew were fabulous, and so were the bbq-ed chicken breasts and today's Tex-mex extravaganza. I have perfected guacamole, which is something even vegans can eat. We started the week with tons of perishables in the refrigerator (more on that later), and I am proud to say that we have managed to save and eat most of them. Tonight, the cook is taking the night off, the crew members brought in by Terry are heading back to the city, and the rest of us are going to the Cowboy Bar and Supper Club in Fishtail, pop. about 20.
And tomorrow I will begin to work seriously on my new song, whose working title is It's Hard To Be A Vegan In Montana (sung to the tune of Merle Haggard's I'm Proud To Be An Okie in Muskogee).
