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Maybe it was T. S. Elliott or some other poet who said that April is the cruelest month of all. I agree! When I look at the three months of spring, not counting June, but starting with March, April and May, March usually is as much winter as summer and we all have grown to expect that. But when we finally get through March, and are basking in the early April sunshine, that sunshine can turn cloudy in a heartbeat and the next time you go out the back door, there is three inches of snow on the sidewalk. That is what I find so cruel about April....
Camels are able to build a resentment toward their handlers. They can literally get angry at their handlers over a long period of time, then suddenly attack to release their pent up hostility. Some observers have compared them to pressure cookers that explode after enough heat has built up. An experienced camel handler can learn to observe and recognize that their animal is reaching the limit and about to blow up. Interestingly, their solution is to give the exasperated camel their coat, right at the point when the camel is about to lose its...
Q: Both my parents were alcoholics, and I always vowed I’d never go down that path. But now I’m in my 30s, and I’m afraid I’m about to go the same way they did. What’s wrong with me? I hate myself for being so worthless. A: I don’t need to tell you that you’re about to go down a dead-end road; you saw what happened to your parents. One reason I wanted to reprint part of your email here is because I hope it will warn others who are in danger of making the same mistake. Don’t beat yourself up, however, or tell yourself that you’re worthles...
New Montguide for Gardeners is available at the Extension Office A new Montguide (MT201612AG) is available at the Chouteau County Extension office or on-line at orderpubs@montana.edu. The Montguide is titled “How to Prevent Non-Target Injury of Broadleaf Crops and Vegetables by Residual Herbicides”. The Montguide was written by Katrina Mendrey at Ravalli County Extension and Noelle Orloff (Associate Extension Weed Specialist). Segments of the Montguide are included in this article. In 2016 the Schutter Diagnostic Lab received 17 vegetable sam...
I went into my mother’s bedroom the other night and found it to be like it was when she used it. Some of her favorite pictures and mirrors were on the walls. An old cannon ball bed, vanity, and chest of drawers were used for years by her and there are Oriental rugs on the floor along with a huge mountain goat rug made from four mountain goats. She said she liked put her bare feet in the rug as it kept her feet nice and warm. There are some odd pictures that make a good story for mother, me, and Grandma Lucke. I was about ten years old and we h...
One of the most difficult and meaningful experiences I ever had was teaching the Bible at the home for kids with emotional disorders. Every day, I would sit with different groups of kids and talk about Jesus’ teachings to young people, many of whom had almost no experience with Jesus or the Bible. The experiences they had had were negative. Most kids saw everything about Jesus to be boring, disconnected from their lives, and aimed at telling them how bad they were. I noticed a strange phenomena, when they would try to quote Bible verses or s...
Q: I know we’re supposed to trust God instead of worrying all the time, but I just can’t help it. Our budget is very tight as it is, and I worry constantly about what will happen if one of us loses our job or something. How can I stop worrying so much? A: It’s not wrong to plan ahead or budget our money; if we don’t, we easily end up spending money we don’t really have on things we don’t really need—which is wrong. The Bible says, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways” (Proverbs 14:8). But planning ahead isn’t the same as...
While I was at the Montana Gerontology Society conference last week, I attended a session on nutrition for seniors and wanted to pass some of the information along. As we age, our life circumstances and bodies change and it becomes necessary to adapt our food intake accordingly. Many factors such as income, mobility and health issues and accessibility to food can have a profound effect on the level of nutrition. The negative effect of the above mentioned factors may lead to malnutrition. It was astounding to hear the high rates of malnutrition...
When we ran the story about the Gist ranch being included in the National Register of Historic Places. A couple of readers told us that we should not feature that place as no one can get to it by road anyway. There are two roads into the Gist part of the Missouri River. One is a road down from the Bullwhacker Coulee road. That road is in very bad shape and the owners of the ranch at the top of the hill will not let people go on the road in the first place. The other road takes off from the Ferry road and most of the time it is closed as well...
Q: I admit I’ve always been kind of a “Christmas and Easter” Christian, since those seem to be the only times I manage to make it to church. What would you say to someone like me? A: The first thing I’d say is that I’m glad you at least make it to church twice a year! Even if God and church don’t mean very much to you right now, at least they must mean something—and in our increasingly secular age, this is noteworthy. But I’m also glad for another reason: God could use these two days to speak to you and give you a new understanding o...
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine approached me to disagree with how I handled a situation I was dealing with. My initial response was to grow irritated and argue as to why I was right. As the discussion continued, I realized I was wrong. It is a difficult thing to hit the breaks when you are angry and turn in another direction. In my case, I had to turn 180 degrees and apologize for my initial response. I also had to reconsider my approach to certain types of issues and make some decisions about adjusting my approach for the future. I...
Chouteau County is in Excellent Condition for Soil Moisture The Chouteau County Soil Moisture Survey was started by Judee Wargo in 1993 to assist farmers with determining recropping potential on cereal grain stubble. After 24 years, the Chouteau County Extension Office continues to compile data for determining recropping potential and providing the state drought committee with soil moisture information. Testing for soil moisture took place in Chouteau County on March 23th for locations south of the Missouri River and March 24th for locations...
Canning Class—Meals in a Jar, First Christian Church, 1201 Main St, Fort Benton. We will begin at 5:30 pm. Join us for an evening of hands-on learning and fun. You will experience making two recipes and additional meals in a jar recipe options will be available for tasting. The basics of pressure canning and safe food handling will be covered and you will receive research-based recipes and resources to take home. If you have been afraid of pressure canning, this class is a great opportunity! Or, even if you have a lot of experience pressure c...
Big Sandy is an amazing place! While most small towns in this area are retrenching and drying up, Big Sandy is making progress to become larger and have more amenities that will attract even more people to call this home. Think about the new library on Main Street. The Bakery that the Stiles family made out of an old and unused building, the remodeling of the Mint, the great school system, our own grocery store. Big Sandy Activities and maybe most important of all for a small and isolated town, a medical center with a care center combined with...
Q: My husband just dumped me for another woman, and I am crushed. I don’t see how I can carry on, I feel so worthless and helpless. How could anyone be so heartless, abandoning not only me but our two children? Please pray for us. A: God gave marriage to us, and one reason He opposes divorce is because He knows the deep hurt it causes those who have been betrayed by their spouse’s unfaithfulness. The Bible says, “The man who hates and divorces his wife… does violence to the one he should protect” (Malachi 2:16). Your feelings are understan...
I have a stationary bike in my living room. It serves several purposes. Sometimes it is a coat rack. At other times, it is a fun way to burn off a little energy, though admittedly these times are rare. Usually, the stationary bike is there for the purpose of improving me. I ride it to make me healthier and fitter. Ideally, this means that in the long run, I will likely be happier as a result of using it, but the immediate effect of working out on the bike isn’t my happiness. Happiness is a byproduct of the work I put in. The stationary bike e...
Seeding Practices for Pulses The Chouteau County Extension office has compiled notes per communications and workshops from Extension professionals. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 622-3751, or stop in for a visit. We are located in the green building next to the Chouteau County Courthouse. • Testing seed for Aschochyta blight will cost $200.00. It takes ten days to develop the fungus on a plate. In addition, the $200 will test for 8 other diseases. Please contact the Extension office for a...
A friend was telling me this week how much she loved March because each day held the promise of spring. I told her I did not like March at all because it always seemed to have more winter than spring and that the March winds are always some of the worst in the year. The day after my talking with her, I experienced those terrible winds in Big Sandy where coming out of the east, there must have been gusts of more than 40mph. Many is the cabin on Clear Creek that I spent nights in March when I thought the roof was going to blow right off. That...
Q: I’ve finally had to face the fact that my main goal in life is to get other people to like me. I guess most people are like this, but sometimes I’ll go overboard trying to win someone’s favor, even if it means doing something that’s wrong. How can I quit this? A: You’re right; most of us like to be liked. And sadly, we may even do things we know are wrong (like lying about ourselves or doing things we know aren’t right) in order to get someone to like us. But such “friendships” are seldom lasting. The Bible rightly says, “What a person desir...
Fifth Annual Chouteau County Agriculture Day The fifth annual Chouteau County Ag day for 4th and 5th graders will take place at the Chouteau County Fairgrounds on April 19, 2017. All 4th and 5th graders in Chouteau County are invited to attend. Home school kids who are interested in participating should contact the Chouteau County Extension Office at 622-3751. Participants will learn the importance of Montana’s number one industry; agriculture, and why agriculture is important to their health, home and community. For thousands of years, c...
National Poison Prevention Week, March 19-25, 2017 How safe do you think your house is of poisonous household products? Poison is all around us, affecting anyone anytime. By taking the time to look around and exercising caution during the usage and storage of these products will be the best prevention of poisoning yourself and/or your family. One product you may not have even given a second thought is liquid laundry detergent packets. These contain highly concentrated amounts of the detergents. They need to be stored in the container they came...
This is Charlie Russell’s birthday week. You can always tell that because it is Western Art week in Great Falls, Montana. Charlie Russell was born on March 19, 1864. That would make this his 153rd birthday. Charlie Russell was a boyhood hero for me and my friends growing up in Havre. I was given many Russell books for birthdays and Christmas and still cherish them to this day. Whenever my family went to Great Falls, I spent hours wandering around his Great Falls home and studio. I saw that he stacked his teepee poles on brackets on the front p...
Q: I’ve gone through some hard times recently, and my aunt says I ought to be thankful because they’ll make me a better person. Is she right? I admit I’m having a hard time seeing things her way. A: We all want our lives to be smooth and trouble-free, of course—but unfortunately life isn’t always that way. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was completely free of worries and problems. Job rightly said, “Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). The real question, therefore, is this: How will we react whe...
Friday is St. Patrick’s Day. It is a time to visit Butte and see the wonderful parade if you can, to wear plenty of green and to cook up a batch of corn beef and cabbage for the family. I have a very good corn beef and cabbage recipe. It even has a secret sauce for the corn beef and for dunk at the table as well. For the secret sauce you simply need equal parts of yellow mustard and brown sugar. Mix together and it should taste more sweet than mustard. Last time I made this corn beef recipe I used cranberry mustard and that was very good w...
Q: My girlfriend and I are talking about getting married, but we’re reluctant to go ahead because so many of our friends have gotten divorced after only a few years. How can we be sure this won’t happen to us? A: I’m thankful you want your marriage to last—because this desire will be an important part of being sure it will last! Far too many couples, I’m afraid, enter marriage casually or thoughtlessly. But God gave marriage to us, and His perfect plan is for it to be a lifelong commitment of the husband and wife to each other. Jesus said, “Th...
