MURDOCH'S: MY MOST FAVORITE STORE ON THE PLANET

Yesterday we had to make a dog food run to Murdoch's. So it was a great day for me. A lot of girls like to go shopping on Rodeo Drive, not me. I'm a long way from there and I don't care. This girl finds shopping nirvana at Murdoch's in Kalispell. Murdoch's is a ranch store here in Montana. The store started out in Bozeman, Montana in 1994 by, of all things, a man named John Murdoch. The Murdoch's Story. It is also one of those few enlightened retail outfits that welcomes dogs.

Just my luck, Kinsey loves the place as much as I do and has been coming here for 14 years. Also helpful is, the Canidae dog food I relish is carried at Murdoch's making it essential that we visit regularly. The particular dog food I get is Canidae ALS. ALS stands for all life stages. It was recommended by my breeder. It must be good stuff because I am fit as a fiddle and have a coat to die for.

Canidae All Life Stages

This store caters to the ranch crowd and if you can't find it here you probably don't need it. I mean they have everything from tack and livestock supplies to Carhartt work clothes for men and women. They have fancy duds too. The aromas in this place? OMG! I nearly go crazy walking up and down the aisles. I look like a blood hound on scent. They have a dog treat selection second to none. Kinsey let's me sniff everything. There's so much wonderful stuff I simply can't choose. I want it all!

Not only does the store have everything a rancher could want, the people are doggone friendly, if you'll pardon the pun. Everyone is so nice to me I nearly don't know how to behave. If you ask Kinsey I don't know how to behave. :)One of our favorite people is Terri in the boot department. She has been helping Kinsey out in this area, and others, for years. We don't always run into her but we did this time and it's always a treat. Almost as big a treat as the ones I get at the checkout counter. ;) What's not to love?

Terri Arnst - Boot Specialist

There is an Ariat boot display there behind us in this photo. Kinsey loves Ariat boots and you won't find a better selection than at Murdoch's.

Whilst I get aroma therapy all over the store Kinsey get's it in the tack department. From the time she was 5 until she went out into the business world, horses were her everything. The love is still there. We could have horses at the ranch but we move around so much it just wouldn't be fair.  Maybe one day. Today Francine took time to visit with us.

Francine in the tack department

You all know how I love to hike and explore but going to Murdoch's is no chore.  I wish there were more places like it. And, in truth, there are a number of stores that allow dogs in Montana, it's a very dog friendly state. But, of all the places that welcome me, Murdoch's is my favorite. It's Kinsey's too. I just wish I could eat up my chow faster so we would have to go more often. I could eat it faster if Kinsey would let me. That isn't going to happen. She thinks it's a crime to let a dog get overweight. That probably makes me lucky too.

And, do you think Kinsey has to lug that 44 lb. bag out to the car? Not on your life. They cheerfully pick it up off the shelf and deliver it to the car.

Did I mention I really love this place?

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

The Week of March 7th, 2011 Japan Quake

This was one of those weeks when the weather was everything from rain to snow, cold to warm, sunny to cloudy, a real box of chocolates. I was so uninspired by the thought I never even made it into to town to pick up the mail.

Two memorable things happened this week. The biggest was an 8.9 earthquake in Japan, the strongest earthquake in their recorded history. The devastation from the quake and the ensuing tsunami is just incredible. Makes me wonder if the Mayans were on to something. On top of everything some nuclear reactors have been damaged and the world waits to see how that unfolds.

The second thing was relative to the markets. Bill Gross' Pimco is pulling out of all US debt. As far as I know no one but me thinks much about it but I think it will prove to be a watershed event.

Below are some pictures I took of my world.

This is a piece of bark that had fallen into the fresh snow. The snow was so light that the piece sank about three quarters of an inch into the snow. I thought it looked like a gingerbread man or some kind of man.

Just messing around in the house because it was raining.

I was sitting in the recliner looking at the sunset when I noticed this silhouette of a crow perched in the top of a fir tree. This is lazy man's photography

Came across this red leaf that was uncovered by the melting snow. It's hard to tell but the leaf is sitting on the snow.

The view from the kitchen window whilst I washed dishes on Friday. I love the angles and contrast.

One of the house herd nesting. The mulies seem to like to be close to the house. I took this out the kitchen window too.

I took this one Saturday. It was a beautiful day. I love the big sky.

Kootenai National Forest - Montana

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Yesterday Koty and I took a good long hike up the Blacktail Trail. The wild flowers this year are the best I have ever seen here. It must be the cool weather and lots of moisture.

Bluebell and Lichen

Clover

Indian Paintbrush

Saturday Sojourn

Yesterday I spent the morning raking up pine cones, got lots of those, and cutting up yet another big old larch that had fallen prey to insects and wind. I'm generally only good for one or two trees. It's a lot of very hard work, cutting one up and stacking the wood.

Koty, is no help. He just hangs around whining "When are we going for a hike?!" As usual I promised him we would "go". A lot of power in that tiny little word. Koty goes crazy when I say it. Such enthusiasm. Such joi de vivre.  I love him so. If you're not yet acquainted with Koty I wrote a little about My Best Friend a while back that may be of intrest.

Anyway, by the time I'm finished with my ranch work I am not hankering for a forty mile hike but a promise is a promise, and I do not break promises to my dog or anyone else. Late in the afternoon we headed up the mountain. Days are already long here in Montana. It doesn't really get dark until around nine. At this time of year I can work in the morning, have lunch, take a nap and then go all over again. It's like getting two days for the price of one. Which is good because at my age I need all the days I can get.

Deseased Western Larch

We took a route we have taken a thousand times before but the trip is never the same and I  always see something new an interesting. Ironically, the first interesting thing I saw was this rather handsome example of exactly what the larch I'd just cut up looked like at it's core.

My next discovery was lichen on some boulders. The boulders around here look like they come from a another planet. I'd forgotten how interesting they are to study.


Lichen on Boulder by Kinsey Barnard****Click on photo to purchase


It's a well established fact that I am a bit daffy but I truly think this ancient rock is just beautiful, so intricate and delicate of design. I seem to be on a real roll here with natural designs? Check out my Natural Designs Gallery. There's some very interesting stuff in there.


Rock and Lichen by Kinsey Barnard****Click on photo to purchase

An hour out was about all the energy I could muster but Koty was happy and so was I. What more could a country girl ask for?

©Kinsey Barnard Photography



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Osprey of Montana

Yesterday I saw my first osprey sitting on a nest, the spring cycle about to begin. In honor of the event I thought I'd post some photos taken in the past.

Osprey are found just about everywhere and northwest Montana is no exception. The osprey is actually found on all continents except Antarctica.

Osprey generally make their home near bodies of water and are fine fishermen. Unlike the bald eagle, which they can be mistaken for, they dine almost exclusively on fish. Those lovely eagles can often be seen dining on roadkill where they are not looking so regal.

The wingspan on these beauties can be as much as six feet and when they soar they are a site to see.

The Ospreys most endearing characteristic is that they mate for life.

In the fall, during the salmon run, osprey are pretty easy to find. The Tobacco River is just chock full of Kocanee Salmon and the osprey spend a lot of time cruising up and down it. It's very easy pickings for them. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel.

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These are really wonderful birds!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

MONTANA WILDFLOWERS

Springtime brings visions of wildflowers and although they aren't here yet I thought I'd shares some of my favorites from spring and summers past. We are still getting a little snow here in Northwest Montana so it will be awhile.

This first image is of a wild honeysuckle. Honeysuckle are delightfully delicate flowers. This particular one had the good graces to get the light to shine from behind it giving a glowing quality. This photo was taken at Dickie Lake, Montana.


Wild Honeysuckle by Kinsey Barnard

The wood lily is one of my favorite. They too are delicate flowers and they seem to bloom for a very specific period of time which is more or less the month of June. They are like hunting treasure in the forest blow down and when you find one it is like discovering a jewel. This photo was taken in the Kootenai National Forest, Montana


Wood Lily by Kinsey Barnard

This next photo is of wild white daisies. In this instance it appears to me as though the flowers have formed into a perfectly natural daisy bouquet. This image was captured at Flathead Lake, Montana


Wild White Daisies by Kinsey Barnard

I may be pressing my luck with this next photo in terms of whether or not it is a wild flower. It was certainly wild in terms of it's location, along the Whitefish River, but I'm doubtful sunflowers are considered wildflowers. Nevertheless, this sunny flower caught my attention. It reminded me a little of a book I was required to read when I was a kind called The Day of the Triffids. This photo was taken along the Whitefish River near the village of Whitefish, Montana.


Sunflower by Kinsey Barnard

The pasque flower is a very pretty flower but near as I can tell this image is rare. I had a hard time researching exactly what it was because I couldn't find an image that looked like it. Most photos I found were with the flower open and this little guy is closed up. I found it near Lake Koocanusa, Montana.


Pasque Flower by Kinsey Barnard

Next is a lovely example of a Columbine. It too is a delicate flower and a delight to discover. I found this one in the Kootenai National Forest, Montana. I find lots of things in the Kootenai National Forest because I literally live in it and it covers 2.2 million acres. Oh, boy, what a backyard!


Columbine by Kinsey Barnard

I couldn't resist putting up another wild daisy because I think there is nothing that says spring time and sunshine like they do.


Wild White Daisy by Kinsey Barnard

So, that's my little offering of spring. These beauties certainly have me filled with anticipation. Koty and I wish you a very Happy Easter! And may the Bunny bring you your fondest desire!

So, tell me, how do you feel about wildflowers?

Life is short. Be inspired!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

EEL LAKE & WINCHESTER BAY

Spring is certainly taking it's own good time getting here. We are still in Oregon waiting for winter to end in Montana. Here in Oregon it has been tough to get any outside time between rain drops.

We did find a small break in the weather and drove down to Eel Lake and Winchester Bay. Eel lake is a pretty lake and there is a very nice hiking trail that goes for about three miles along and above the shore. We did see some signs of spring, some flowers beginning to bloom and creature activity.

There were a number of Canada Geese winging in and out. They look so cool when they skid on the water to land. There were a few other wild things out and about. That slug for example.

But, the very most coolest thing we saw was this steelhead. Eel lake has a fish ladder for steelhead and salmon. Just as we arrived at the ladder this huge, and I mean huge, steelhead tried to leap straight up the dam instead of using the ladder. Boy, if only mom had been camera ready what a photo that would have been! Needless to say this guy's ambitions were a bit too much for him and he fell back into the stream. We never saw him try it again.

After Eel we drove up to Winchester Bay. This is another little harbor with fishing boats and such. It was not as interesting as some we have visited but it was nice. I asked mom which harbor village on this trip she liked best. She said she would have to go with Ilwaco. Ilwaco you may recall is just across the Columbia River in Washington.

That pretty much sums up this day. I'm gettin kinda anxious to get home to Montana. I hope the weather clears soon!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

MY MOM HAS GONE AND LOST HER MARBLES

Look what my mom has gone and done now! She has plastered my picture all over Clementine. This IS embarrassing! Although, I am kind of handsome if do say so myself. :)

She's even going to start a world wide club. She's had stickers of the logo made up and is going to send them to friends and patrons all around the globe. Her idea is that people will automatically know they have something in common every time they see the sticker where ever they may be. What they will have in common is goodwill towards others and an abiding love and respect for nature.

Geez, if things weren't bad enough already with people wanting to pet me everywhere we go. Can you imagine it? My own mother has gone paparazzi on me!!!!!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

EMPIRE LAKES

Whilst we were driving around we discovered this really cool place called Empire Lakes. It is a park that is right in the middle of Coos Bay. It is really beautiful. The paths, for the most part, are asphalt so just about anyone can enjoy it. Rather than bore you with my drivel I'll just let mom's do the talking for me today. Enjoy!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

HELLO NORMA JEAN!

We started the day out at Castroville. Castroville is a small Central Coast town known as the artichoke capital of the world. And, believe it or not, Marilyn Monroe was the first artichoke "queen". Now there was a real honor! Obviously, this was all way before my time but that's what mom told me. That cool sign there was right along the road at a produce stand and depicts workers bringing in the artichoke harvest. Very well done I think.

We wandered up and down PCH between Moss Landing and Watsonville for half the day. Mom has developed, in addition to a wave thing, a bird thing. As you can see from the photos she got some pelicans, mallards and something I've never heard of before, a marbled godwit. I wonder if that's like some kind of a twit? But who cares. I mean, she uses a telephoto lens and I can't get anywhere near them. Boring. Boring Boring!

Hmmm, I wonder if this attitude of mine is the reason I keep seeing all these signs everywhere with a dog in a circle with a big red slash through it! I do seem to be spending a lot of time in the back seat!

More interesting was that big bunch of harbor seals lolly gagging on the beach. Unfortunately, there was no way to get very close to them even for a photo.

After spending half the day hunting for photographs I finally talked my mom into a walk on the beach. I even got her to leave her blasted camera behind. When she's carrying the dumb thing my forward progress is interrupted every two seconds. A guy hardly can get any kind of walk at all! Anyway, we had a really great time.

Check this out: Press Release

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

WAVES, WAVES & MORE WAVES + WE GOT A GARMIN

I think mom has gone a little slap happy with these waves. But, I have to admit they are beautiful. I think winter must be especially good for waves because we have seen some doozies.

I must tell you. That GPS thingy we bought, it is really neat and it cuts down significantly on mom's stress level which is good for me as well! :)

To give you an idea of what you can do, here's what we did. The other day mom decided we needed to clean up poor little Shadow who has been on the receiving end of a lot of sand. So, she types in "car wash" and the GPS takes us right to one of those do it yourself places. Naturally, the coin changer thing wouldn't work. So, we typed in "bank" and it took us right to the nearest bank where we bought a roll of quarters. After cleaning up Shadow mom typed in Costco and it took us right to Costco.

Anyone who does any car travel has got to have one of these things. Of course, my mom is generally behind the curve on technology so probably everyone already has one. But, if you are a techno slow poke, like my mom, you really need to look into one. We bought the Garmin Nuv i 260 for around $300. There are more expensive ones equipped with Bluetooth. Anyway, check them out. You'll never get lost again! :)

© Kinsey Barnard