Can ya hear me now?

I finally got some hearing aids on a 45 trial basis after a couple of hearing tests, and agonizing over the miriad of selections and the enormous cost of these things. I was initially amazed at the sounds that I have been slowly getting muted out of my life. I have more of a high frequency loss overall and especially in my left ear.
So I got this set from Lloyd Corporation in Rockfor Il called the iHear Mini Canal for $559 for the pair for only 1/3rd down on a 45 day trial. This was the least expensive way to get into a hearing aid set that would allow me time to try this technology out. True, these may not be the final product for me and my hearing loss. There is a lot better technology out there but the costs go up exponentially it seems. I've worn these now for a few days and fiddled with the adjustments on them nuerous times. There are only two adjustments on these analog devices, volume and high frequency.
Because of the various atmospheres I live in and not a sedintary 'at home' lifestyle, these may not be sophiscated enough for my needs.
I have also discovered there is another set called NaturEar Digital hearing aids that may be worth trying out.

Later...

Puttering

Today was a good day to get into the garage and get our stuff more organized so we could utilize the space in there more efficiently, and get all our vehicles inside.

After about 3 hours, I was able to get some more shelves up on the North wall, move my 4 foot bench over near the Southwest wall, rearrange several belongings AND get both cars and the Harley inside, AND have a little space left over.

Ckick on images to make them larger...

First Run of the Year

Missoula to Seeley Lake.

Wow, what a nice day. We went from the 40's to the low 80's almost overnight. Up here in higher altitudes, the mornings are crisp on the spring but then the day ages nicely into 70's and 80's temperatures.
Geri and I got out the freshly washed and inspected Harley around 9AM and we were off. We decided to get out of town early and grab some breakfast on the way. We rode through the early morning coolness, out past East Missoula and then off the freeway at Milltown then headed Northeast through Bonner on hi way 200. We wound through the Blackfoot River valley then pulled into McNamara's Landing for breakfast. The bridge that crosses the Blackfoot river here is called McNamara Bridge and there are ruminants of the old bridge piers still visible on each bank.

After breakfast I traipsed down to the river to take a few photographs while Geri used the 'facilities' before traveling on. I got some nice images with my new camera, and noticed someone in a far clearing practicing fly casting. I was wishing I had my gear with me, but then, this was a 'riding day'...

I climbed the bank back up to the restaurant and we got ready to leave.

We traveled on up 200 to an outfit called Paws Up. This is an elite resort for the rich folks and they cater to a lot of out of towners for luxury adventure vacations. I have a BIG problem with the name of the place, because, as most hunters know, 'paws up' refers to a dead animal that is on its back with its paws up... Really 'graves my goat'!

We headed north up 83 and found Salmon Lake still pretty much frozen over. The air was still cool around here but we stopped for a few more photos. We rode into Seeley lake and I drove us down to the little creek that Geri's Grandparents, Allen & Mildred Chaffin lived next too. They are both gone now, but we still visit their old home. We lingered there a little while, taking some shots of the old home and creek nearby.

We went on into town looking for a place to get a little desert. Not much open in Seeley Lake on an early spring Sunday afternoon, but we did find a nice little espresso shop to get a beverage and a cookie. She shop also sold a lot of hand made log furniture, jewelry and the like. Geri took a photo of me in my riding garb out in front of the place. We were considering riding on up to Kallispel from here, but that would have got us back to Missoula pretty late in the day and we were on a more or less 'lingering' ride for our first outing of the year.

We headed back south on 83, and just out of town spotted a couple deer on a golf course. This was a good excuse to take some photots, and besides, I wanted to get some shots of the snow covered peaks on the Eastern edge of Seely Lake. At the 83/200 Clearwater junction, I decided to head East further up 200 to see what was up there. We spotted some deer in a meadow down by Monture creek, so stopped to shoot a few photos. We turned around and headed West on 200 again to get us towards home. We saw a lot of other bikers out today as well. As we traveled along the Blackfoot river, we saw many floaters and fisher folks, so stopped to shoot a few of them trying their luck.

Hope you enjpy the photos.

Click on any photo to view a larger image

We're IN ! ! ! ! !

We are in our new home!! We have been moving in since the 7th of March, and we now have all our belongings here from the old place except for a few cleaning items we left behind to clean up after ourselves.

We have been 'puttering around' putting stuff in the places we think is best.... for now. We know we will be moving stuff around for several weeks trying to find it's best home. Geri has been buying a few accessories for the kitchen and bathrooms to hold various necessities used in each room. The double car garage is full of boxes of belongings that will eventually find a proper place.

This picture will be given to the homeWORD institution as proof of our home purchase. They will, in turn, provide us with a nice gift certificate to use toward household items at one of the local home stores. We attended a 'GET READY FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP' class last fall that helped us prepare for home ownership and by doing so, afforded us the certificate with photographic proof of our purchase. The class we took was very well attended and was taught by not only a real estate professional, but also by a local mortgage lender, a home inspector, a title company representative and others one meets in the process of buying a home.

We are glad to be in our new home, and look forward to the rewards that home ownership will provide us!!

Don & Geri

39 Signatures....

We are proposing this as the name for our new home. Geri signed all the papers for our new home on Thursday the 6th, and we are now able to move into 2807 Renae Court. We were not able to get a morning schedule for our 'closing' as there was some delay due to insurance binding, but that finally came through, and mid-afternoon was set for the meeting.

So, it took 39 signatures on all the documents before we were finished with all the paperwork for our loan on the property.

We are so looking forward to getting into the home, and making it truly ours.

Don & Geri

Plenty nervous

Geri and I conducted the final 'walk through' at the new home on Monday with our real estate agent and the agent for the seller. The place was a little messy as the owner lady was getting her last few belongings moved to her new place.

We inspected the items that were listed on the inspection report that needed attention before we accept the home. We are going to be scheduled to 'close' on the home on Thursday and will be meeting at the title office to sign all the paperwork.

We have been packing at our place for only a few days now, and expect to start moving stuff into our new home as soon as we get the keys. We are looking forward to getting moved in but not all the work that it entails! Our time to move will be limited by work schedules, but we will both have Sundays to work together.

More later....

Don

Monte Dolack and Fish

Some time ago I saw a painting by a local artist, Monte Dolack, that had fish swimming through a living room window…. I thought this was rather unique until I discovered this artist has a real ‘thing’ for “fish” art.
Then at Christmas, Geri’s mother gave us a 22 x 25 poster of one of Monte Dolacks paintings titled Stealing Fire. Now this was not of a fish theme but of a woodpecker ‘stealing’ a burning branch from a forest fire, and flying with it to another part of the forest. Seems this woodpecker has a touch of pyromania!
Growing up in Great Falls, Montana, Monte Dolack was surrounded by vast wheat fields, nuclear missile silos, and beyond them, Rocky Mountain wilderness. although he come of age in Charlie Russell country, Monte embraced the West Coast scene, playing in rock 'n' roll bands an making frequent pilgrimages to the San Francisco Bay area.
Monte studied art at Montana State University and University of Montana, and his early work was a melding of West Coast Funk and Pop Art. He opened his first studio in 1974 as a co-founder of the Missoula Warehouse Artists Co-0p, which functioned as an important arts and crafts center in Montana. There he worked in both fine arts and graphics, specializing in poster design for which he has gained an international reputation. Monte has created posters for such clients as the Literacy Volunteers of America (1991 Best of Show award from the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators), the Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife and the Telluride Film Festival. Responding to a growing number of collectors, Monte began publishing posters and notecards which are now distributed widely.

Monte is a versatile artist, painting in acrylics, oils and watercolors. He has also pursued his interest in traditional printmaking, creating editions of original lithographs which have been exhibited in numerous invitational and juried shows. Monte enjoys this medium because of its great range of visual possibilities, from the delicacy of of softly drawn lines to the richness of its of its color blends. His prints and paintings, which blends mythology, technology and elements of nature, are infused with a sense of humor and ironic undercurrents. A love of the nature world, coupled with an exuberant curiosity and extensive travel, has helped shape the content of his imagery. Monte's work continues to evolve and to provide viewers with surprises and discoveries.

Geri and I took the opportunity to finally visit his gallery on Front Street in downtown Missoula a couple weeks ago, and were amazed at the breadth of his talent. We were considering having him sign our print, and looking for ideas on how to matt and frame it for display in our home. I wanted to do the work myself as we are a bit on a budget and I like doing for myself whenever possible. As a wedding photographer, I had constructed several photo albums and framed some prints for display, so this was interesting to me.
The proprietor at Monte’s gallery was a lady I recognized as the wife of one of my former customers at Montana Harley-Davidson, and a fellow Harley Owners Group members. She said she could get a signed copy of our print for us for an additional fee if we wanted to bring in our print for an exchange. There were several signed and unsigned, framed and unframed examples of his art available at the shop, including a large selection of post card and greeting cards of his and his wife, Mary Beth Percival’s art work.
Geri and I purchased several cards to get some ideas on what art work would look good in our new home. I actually framed several of these to hang in 8x10 matted frames. I also liked the idea of enhancing the framed pieces with some pewter fish I purchased on the Internet, and also considering matting with relief cutouts in the matt for additional enhancement.
I apologize for some of the framed images seeming a bit skewed as they were a little manipulated in Photoshop to correct perspective from flash photography at an angle….
You get the idea….

Hope you like the images, and hopefully we will have some of Montes ‘real’ art hanging on our wall someday instead of just cropped postcards!!!!