I love Montana, with its rolling buttes covered with sagebrush and stalks of yucca flowers, green valleys with winding rivers, and then the snow capped mountains.

We were all impressed with this house. What a view!! It's outside Cody, Wyoming, on the way to Yellowstone.

This photo is of the boys playing at Sylvan Pass.

Here's my RV by the the hot pots, and the rest are of buffalo and the Canyon.

I love Montana, with its rolling buttes covered with sagebrush and stalks of yucca flowers, green valleys with winding rivers, and then the snow capped mountains. We were all impressed with this house. What a view! It's outside Cody, Wyoming, on the way to Yellowstone. This photo is of the boys playing at Sylvan Pass, and the rest are of Yellowstone.

Oh, never a dull moment on these trips... The refrigerator isn't cooling (the freezer works just fine), the water pump isn't working, no water to flush the toilet when we're driving, the shower isn't draining, and now Scott's face is swelling up (he said it happened once before, had to go in and get put on antibiotics). So we're heading down to Billings and he's going to go to a doctor. The bright side? We're in Montana!!

Yesterday we went through the northern badlands, the real sign that we're in western country. Here they are, and here's Scottie, sitting in the same spot as he did 5 years ago:

If things go right, we're going to get off of the freeway after we hit Billings and start meandering our way up to Glacier National Park. Oh, and I guess Lukas is just going to be stuck with cable tv when we can get it. I forgot the satellite remote at home. What can I say, other than it wasn't on the list of things to take.

Oh my, this the way to travel. I'm laying in bed, cool air is blowing through the open windows, and Mark is driving. We'll be in Fargo, North Dakota in a couple of hours, and we'll make a Walmart stop for supplies. Minor problems so far, boys had to tighten a loose radiator hose, the fridge wasn't kicking in, and the water pump isn't working. Hope it's just a fuse.

It’s 9 p.m. and I’m waiting for my sister to drive up my driveway, with my nephews and their boys. We’re going to try to get as much stuff out into the RV tonight, and then tomorrow morning the boys will put the toggle switch in for the radiator, and Christian will get Lukas’ computer set up, and I’ll finish getting last minute things packed.

I am so ready to go!! I will miss Christian, my home, my ferrets, my books and computer, gardens, and especially my torch.

We were dodging tornadoes again tonight. That’s why my sister is running so late. They had torrents of rain down there, and the streets were flooded. Amazing!

I had to post some home photos before we left, so here’s some of my favorites. The pet photos are from before we got the AC fixed. Poor babies were all so hot, except for Squeak, Lukas' chihuahua. She doesn't even have hair on her tummy, so she didn't mind the heat at all.

And here’s my RV, just about ready to go:

And my flower gardens. I really expanded them this year. I needed the extra color.

And raindrop photos:

Oh my, I love spring/early summer so much...

It’s been 5 months since David collapsed and died. I miss him terribly. I miss my friend, the man I fell in love with, I miss the sense of being a partner, of belonging. No matter how bad things got, I always knew that he would be there. And now he’s not.

David’s death was sudden and traumatic. I thought I was coping until the end of March, when Lukas had a horrible seizure. After that the depression came back full force plus some. I have never been so close to falling into the black hole. But with lots of prayers and the help of God and a good therapist, I’ve been able to push it back on a back burner again. One of the ways of finding joy in life again has been to follow Bible principles, which precludes dwelling on bad things (Philippians 4:8 is a good one to follow).

So I am posting the announcement of dropping the defamation lawsuit against Ullja Kuntze, and I hope that this is the last time you’ll see her name in my blog. She is a small, petty person who doesn’t deserve the time and energy so many of us have spent on her.

“The Plaintiffs in the defamation case Liz Putnam et al v. Ullja Kuntze have filed to withdraw their motion seeking relief against Ullja Kuntze for defamation (libel and slander per se) and fraud.

The Plaintiffs arrived at the decision to withdraw after Ullja Kuntze, with much delay, finally complied with court-ordered disclosure and provided documents confirming that she publishes the blog “handmadeartisanfraud.blogspot.com” and has made false tax evasion reports specifically naming the Plaintiffs and many others to the IRS and state revenue offices around the country.

During the legal proceedings, the Plaintiffs attempted settlement with Ullja Kuntze and requested that she remove the blog, but Ms. Kuntze refused. The high cost of pursuing the case to completion has been weighed against the satisfaction of her admission that she is the publisher of the blog and the person behind the spurious reports to local authorities against artisans around the country. The investment to date resulted in obtaining evidence of her acts, an ample and welcome reward.

However, to pursue the case to completion and obtain an injunction against Ullja Kuntze ordering her to take the blog offline would be very expensive, given her lack of cooperation to date. With proof of her wrongdoing, the Plaintiffs and others targeted by Ms. Kuntze have the needed evidence to protect their professional and personal reputations individually.

The Plaintiffs wish to thank everyone who contributed to the legal costs and to assure their supporters that with proof of Ullja Kuntze’s guilt, a win in civil court is not necessary. Thanks to the support of the artisan community, the evidence of Ms. Kuntze’s acts is now a matter of public record for all to see.
Case information is available online at the Harris County Clerk’s website. The case number is 200966253 and can also be located searching for Defendant name “Kuntze, Ullja”.

The artisan community spent $14,000 on this case. Her lawyers filed the vast majority of the documents with the court. You do the math. We simply couldn’t justify spending any more money, especially considering the way the economy is now. A lot of the lampworkers have been hit hard, with losing or their husbands losing their day jobs. There’s abundant proof of Ullja’s guilt and the type of person she is. Just Google her name, or go to ulljas.com.

The End!

Now to the joy. My RV sits out on my front lawn, my flower gardens are just beginning to burst with color (and I’m going to miss it!!!), it was a wonderfully cool night last night, and the birds are singing. Oh, and only 2 more days before I start the song ‘Me and You and a Dog Named Boo’ on my iPad and drive down the driveway in my RV, heading out west to Yellowstone and the mountains.

Oh my gosh, that was hilarious!! Peaches, the cat, was laying on a chair in my studio, switching her tail back and forth, and Chunk, the ferret, was underneath jumping up and trying to catch it. Peaches just ignored him until he finally caught it!

Got some new glass today, TAG’s Dalai Lama and Dalai Lotus #2. Going to play with the torch and see what comes out. :)

Am I going to get to go or not? Mark called about the radiator. The first place he took it to gave him a quote of almost $600. ☹ He’s going to check around at some other places.
This is where I want to go, my Yellowstone. Cool wind, thin air, warm sun...

And here, cool ocean breezes and miles of beaches to walk...

What a gorgeous summer day! Had some rain, but there was warm sun and a cool NW wind, and very few bugs. Just lovely. I’ve been trying to get all of my plants in the ground. The problem is, I keep buying more! My sister and I were at Walmart and Linders yesterday, and found some really good deals. I do have most of them planted, but I really need more pots!

I went down and picked up the RV yesterday. I’ve been kind of wishy washy about going on this trip, mostly because of getting everything ready, and the thought of how neglected my flower gardens are going to be. But driving the RV has gotten my feet to itching. I’m ready to find some roads that I haven’t been on yet. I think we’ll be heading to Glacier National Park. I haven’t been there since the 70s. I worked out in Yellowstone for a couple of summers while I was in college, and one summer a friend and I caught a ride with another friend who was going up there, and we hitchhiked back. Yup, the same summer there was a serial killer picking up hitchhikers. But that’s how a lot of us got around back then. After Glacier, we’ll head to the coast, and enjoy the redwoods and the oceans. I just love walking the beaches, it’s just so peaceful.

Anyway, back to my toy. It was running too hot for my comfort bringing it home from the garage. The last time we went out West, it was overheating, and we stopped at a place who told us the radiator needed to be replaced ($800). It ended with him pulling the oil cooler off and spraying all of the dead bugs off of the radiator, and that worked. But just to be safe, the boys pulled the radiator out and Mark is taking it to get it recored.

I bought an apartment size washing machine (it’s just so cute and tiny!) for the RV; I’ll put it in the shower and in the mornings before we start the day, I’ll do a load and hang clothes up in the BR, and open the windows. That will dry everything out very nicely, it gets pretty windy back there while driving. Not only will this save on time and money spent at the laundromats, but I won’t have to pack nearly as much clothes. On previous trips I was packing clothes for 3 weeks, and for 3-4 people, that’s a lot of clothes.

I still need to vacuum and shampoo the carpets in the RV. I would love to have the boys pull all of that carpet up and put down sheet linoleum. It would be so much easier to keep clean. I HATE carpeting. We don’t have any at all in the house, just small rugs that can be thrown in the washing machine. Much easier to keep the floor clean, with cats and dogs tracking in dirt, and the inevitable throw-up.

Well, Lukas is requesting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so it’s off to the kitchen.

It’s much too hot to even think about doing beads today, so I’m updating my blog with cute photos instead.

Right now, it’s 91°. Oh, yuck!! I turned on the air last night, but turned if off this morning. The compressor needs to be replaced, and overnight it cooled the house from 84° down to 82°. What a waste of electricity! I don’t want to replace it right now because I’m trying to save up money for our trip out west.

I had a mockingbird hanging around this morning. They sing such a wonderful variety of songs. Here’s a sample, http://ibc.lynxeds.com/sound/northern-mockingbird-mimus-polyglottos/adult-singing-tree-branch-un-adulto-vocalizando-desde-l

The boys were up yesterday and cleaned out the RV so I can go through it all and see what I need to put back in there. This is a photo of my great-grandnephew using Chester for a pillow,

And here’s photos of the new calf. I decided to call her Daisy May, since she’s a May baby,

And here’s Mama and Daddy checking her out,

Now, as I said, it’s quite warm today, and has been for several days now. My poor babies have been sleeping just sprawled out,

Gosh, don’t you wish you could stretch out like that?

Now, this is Peaches and B.B. (Bad Boy). Peaches has gotten nailed before by B.B. So what does she do when he comes cozying up to her? Just lays there, thinking, ‘OK, he’s going to scratch my ear.’

Let’s get a little closer, she’s not moving...

Still not moving, let’s grab that ear!!

Hah, got her!

And not letting go!

At least until Peaches started yowling and Pip came and busted it up.

We have a new baby calf, another heifer. Sally’s mother, Suzy, was a very nice cow, she threw bulls calves every year except for her last one, Sally. Well, this is Sally’s 2nd calf, and 2nd heifer calf. Which is inconvenient, because I don’t want another cow, I want a bull calf! Rats! Oh, well, I’ll have to get photos tomorrow.

I do have some photos. I cleaned and photo’d a batch of beads, and here’s my favorites:

Oh my goodness! Got a red grosbeak at my feeder!!

There are days when I just shouldn’t even get out of bed.

Today was one of them, starting at 3:30 a.m. when I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. And S.C., one of our cats, didn’t help. Over the next couple of hours, she thought since I was awake, it was time to play in my bedroom, batting something around on the floor, which drove Pip nuts, and she had to jump up and try to chase her out of the bedroom. Several times. More than several times. Until 6 a.m when I gave up and got up and made some coffee.

Did I say this was going to be a short story? Ha, not my life! I’m the drama queen!

My back has been out the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been spending a lot of time on my massage/heat pad when I lay down. I have 3 massage/heat pads, one for the RV, one chair size, and one full length. I got the chair size out to put on my chair in my studio, thinking maybe if I spend more time on one, it’ll help. Couldn’t find the adapter. Found the adapter for the one out in the RV, but it’s raining and I’m not going out there to try to find the pad. So I got the adapter for the big pad. Doesn’t work on the chair pad. OK, I gave up and went and got the big one and was trying to put it on the chair, when it hit my coffee cup.

Coffee on my computer desk, on the heating pad, and on the floor. Don’t dare use the heating pad because it’s all wet from the coffee and the cleaner I sprayed on it. And now I’ll probably have 3 wired ferrets who tried their best to help clean up the spilled coffee. Yup, ferrets on caffeine and chocolate... just what I need.

Christian took Lukas to the dentist. I have the house to myself!! I am going to go play the piano, and I am going to crank the volume up until the walls shake!

YIPPEEEEE!!!! I have 2 orioles at my hummingbird feeder. Got to get some oranges and grape jelly out for them!

Oh my gosh! Just had a pileated woodpecker come to my feeder. He was HUGE!!!

OK, I admit it, I’m a pearl junkie. I love pearls!

I’ve really been getting the urge to get back into making jewelry. Here’s some things I’ve made:

So anyway, I made the mistake one evening last week of looking on ebay at pearls. BIG MISTAKE!!!

These are some that came today:

And here I am, trying to simplify my life... sigh.

I saw my first hummingbird the day before yesterday. Poor thing, there was snow on the ground this morning. I had to turn the furnace back on. :( I also saw several crows chasing a bald eagle. That was really neat to watch.