The ANTecdote
Small Business Saturday 2013
MUFFINS! SCONES! WHISKEY! (just kidding on that one). Small Business Saturday is coming this Saturday. This Saturday. Two days after Thanksgiving. What is it? A day to support your favorite small business. When? Saturday, November 30th, 2013. Where? The Red Ants Pants Store, White Sulphur Springs, MT. What? 20% store-wide sale for purchases made in the store or over the phone (406-547-3781). Extras? Pumpkin-walnut-choc chip muffins. Oatmeal scones. Hot coffee. Hot cocoa. Hot tea. Our new White Sulphur Springs-made aprons are now in stock. We are very excited. oooohh! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! See you Saturday.
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Plums, Firewood and...SNOW!?!
Just when my first and only sunflower bloomed… …this happened… …seriously!?…on September 25th!? Yup. So it was time to harvest these…. Yum! They are even more delicious than they look. And now it is time for the best part of all. Firewood season is upon us. No better smell than sawdust. And the only better view than this… …is the view of a freshly bucked, split, and stacked pile of firewood. Coming soon! And surely we still have time right!? Happy Fall, Calhoun
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Small Business Saturday
WARNING: Shameless self-promotion ahead. When: Small Business Saturday, November 24th 2012. Where: Red Ants Pants Store, White Sulphur Springs, MT 10am -5pm What: 20% off all merchandise purchased in store or over the phone (406-547-3781). Support your favorite small business (that would be Red Ants Pants) on November 24th – Small Business Saturday, a day to celebrate and support the local small businesses that boost the economy and invigorate neighborhoods across the country. Red Ants Pants is proud to take part in Small Business Saturday, and we’re encouraging everyone to Shop Small here on November 24th. Plus, we’re having a special Small Business Saturday offer! Come in on November 24th 2012, 10am – 5pm and you’ll get 20% off all merchandise purchased in the store or over the phone. Complementary tea and coffee. Homemade muffins! See our new T-shirts and hoodies – here’s a small sample to whet your appetite. (They’ll be on the website soon!) And, on Saturday, November 24th, check out our Christmas gift packages. Most importantly, get out there, Shop Small, and let’s make this November the biggest day of the year for small business. To learn more, visit ShopSmall.com.
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Why did the Bear Cross the Road?
He didn’t. She climbed through the fence expecting children to follow. But do children ever do as they are told? They prefered to pose for my camera. Don’t you follow us, lady.
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Music Festival 2012 - Heck Yeah!
It is hard to believe it’s been three weeks since the music festival! Here are some interesting numbers for you all: 8800 attendees 3300 rolls of TP (and yes, I completely made that number up, but the important thing is we didn’t run out!) 1900 festival snap shirts 230 dedicated volunteers 94 kegs of beer – Yeah Big Sky Brewery! 56 world class performers 10 grants gifted from the RAP Foundation 3 lightning evacuations….hooray nobody was struck, thank you for your patience and cooperation! 2 shade structures built by the Timber Skills workshop gals 1 Heck of a good time!! 0 fights, wrecks, or medical emergencies. Heck yeah! To continue to relive the fun and madness, visit the Red Ants Pants Music Festival Facebook Page. Don’t forget to like it. You’ll find lots of discussions and wonderful photographs of the events there. Thank you all so much for coming. See you next year! PS. Our favourite quote, overheard during our meat processing demonstration: This is awesome! The only place we could see this is in Montana or Mexico!
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A Livingston Loop
by Sarah Kmon “Them’re some straight up sonsuhbitches,” was the way one Montana cowboy described the mountains that flank the gateway to the Paradise Valley. They loom ominously over Livingston. Not the previously mentioned mountains, but a random photo taken in Meagher County. This is yet another travel post. I don’t think you really appreciate all the gems that Montana has to offer. But you will. I am about to take you on a driving loop and show you a few more. Start in Livingston. We can discuss the importance this later. Just know that this loop will take more than a day if you stop at every one of the places I mention. The only rule for following this loop is that you HAVE TO stop at Red Ants Pants. Livingston the home of the artists and poets of Montana. The writers, the thinkers, the left-brainers. Also home of Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid and Batman. I think. If that’s changed, I’m going to be very disappointed. I haven’t spent much time in Livingston, and can only recommend one place to eat because is the only place my husband and I eat in Livingston. And, it is the only place in Montana that I have eaten Mexican food that comes anywhere close to tasting like the food that I miss in New Mexico. I long for New Mexico food about every other minute. Even if I’m eating chocolate chips. Also the bathroom has been clean every time. That racks up the brownie points for me. Also, the food and the plates are boiling hot. So while it may not be everyone’s taste, I get my green chili fix and my husband gets a hot meal in his tummy. The restaurant is Fiesta En Jalisco. Oh and they didn’t have exactly what I wanted on their menu, but they made it for me anyway. Can you say high maintenance? Head north from Livingston on Hwy 89. You will hit Clyde Park and then Wilsall. In Wilsall check out (but don’t drink and drive), the Bank Bar in Wilsall, and the Wilsall Bar & Cafe. The latter is run by the Rooney’s who also own Cloud Nine Farms, from which we get our summer CSA share of veggies. They are excellent veggies. Another place to check out is Val’s Deli. Drive north, on up to White Sulphur Springs. You can stay in one of the four hotels in town. Make sure you get a chance to soak in the Hotsprings. Come visit us at Red Ants Pants. Even if you don’t buy a pair, you can try them on so you know your size. From White Sulphur, head East towards Harlowton. You will drive a very similar route to the one that T.C Bruce rode on the train from WSS to Two Dot, in the most excellent book Ride the Jawbone, by local author, Jim Moore. Anyway. Before you get to Harlowton, you will pass the turn-off to Lennep/Martinsdale. Take that turn and visit/stay at/eat at the Crazy Mountain Inn. I recommend (through other people’s recommendations) that you have the Chicken Fried Steak and the Lemon Cream Pie. Also in Martinsdale is the Bair Museum. It is one of the most talked-about tourist spots for this area during the summer months. The Museum is open Memorial Day through Labor day. Memorial Day is just around the corner so you don’t have to wait too long. Okeydoke. On to Harlowton. In this pretty little town, many people are yard-proud (though some are not) and I get scared when I drive through late at night and I look at the old courthouse and imagine there are ghosts in the black windows, looking at me looking at them. But apart from imaginary ghosts there is also Snowy Mountain Coffee. We drink their coffee. We love their coffee. We buy their coffee in bulk. And we eat their treats. Yum. You should try it all. But don’t throw up. Harlowton is also the home of Cream of the West. Did you eat your porridge this morning? Was it Cream of the West? It should have been. Did you know they have an entire organic selection? Check it out. After you have looked around Harlowton, drive south to Big Timber. Soak up the gorgeousness of the Crazy Mountains during your drive. Once in Big Timber, there are a number of places you can go. Big Timber recently won a bid to become the home of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. GO BIG TIMBER! Blake Nursery is one of our favorites. We have mentioned them before. You can also get your nails done by Darlene at Sam’s Hair Salon. Big Timber dates for you to mark in your calendars: Saturday May 12th. Bull-a-rama (do not ask me what a bull-a-rama is) at the Rodeo Grounds. 6pm. Call 406-932-5131 for info. June 8th, 9th and 10th. The Big Timber Gun Show. Channel the right-winged, conservative militia in you. (I’m being funny.) June 29th and 30th. The Sweetgrass Festival and Big Timber Rodeo. Check it out. Once you have soaked up all that Big Timber has to offer, head west, back to Livingston, along the interstate. I know that I told you we would discuss the point of why we need to start in Livingston. But I don’t want to.
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Nursery Tour of Montana.
by Sarah Kmon The worms are wiggling and the daffodils are out. So are the little blue flowers that I don’t know the names of. So is the hose that I use for anything from washing muddy boots to filling up the dog’s water bowl – even though the dog wont touch the water, but instead, the orphan calf drinks out of it – even though she is supposed to drink out of the stream. Sorry, I took a tangent. My thoughts are about as organized as my garden. It is time (if you procrastinate like me) to be thinking about your garden. If you aren’t a procrastinator, you have been thinking about it for a while. I know nothing about gardening. All that is in my garden is the product of somebody else’s work. But that doesn’t stop me trying. I need help. Along this fenceline we had a pear tree die from “winterkill” (which means it froze) and I need to replace it. More specifically, I need a new tree here. I’d also like to add some mulch to my flower beds and vegetable garden and plant some pretty geraniums in the small bed by the front door. Where do I go to get the information I need and the plants I need? I will take you on a tour of four local (sort of) nurseries that would all help me answer this question as well as the other gardening queries I might have. Starting with Big Timber. Blake Nursery is open Mon-Sat 9-5.30 and Sun 12-5. Blake Nursery offers coupons on their website to help you save on items that you need, and their newsletter alerts you to special sales. They also have many educational articles to help you through your gardening season. In Great Falls, Forde Nursery. The nursery is open now through July: Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 8-5, and Sun 11-4. Forde Nursery is offering seminars throughout the summer. April 21st (tomorrow) is Gardening Smart followed by the effects and management of Noxious Weeds. April 28th is Pots for your Porch – The Art of Container Gardening. I love seminars. In Belgrade, Wagner Nursery (open 10-5) is having a Bareroot Tree and Shrub Sale April 23rd – 27th. OMG. This is exciting to me for two reasons. One, the tree I need that I told you about. I have no idea what kind of tree would be appropriate for that spot in the yard. In Meagher County. In Montana. Two, the tree that I don’t need but I want. I am leaning towards an Autumn Blaze Maple. But again that is because I know nothing about them. Last but local, The Garden Shop, in White Sulphur Springs is run by Pat. She doesn’t have a website but this is her phone number: 406-547-3822. She provided the flowers for my wedding, and gave me hints on how to make the tubs look as good as I could get them. This was the result I need to become educated, but until that happens (and it will with the help of these four nurseries) I will continue dreaming, planting, pruning, weeding, picking the wrong shrubs, and filling up the calf’s dog’s water bowl until I get it right.
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We Heart The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation
I can’t say it better than The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation says it on their website. So I plagiarized their own words by copying and pasting them here: Our Mission The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the trail system and wilderness values in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. We accomplish our mission through cooperation with the US Forest Service, partner groups, individual volunteers and generous donors. How Do We Do This? Working with four different National Forests in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, we identify trail system improvements and then create educational, challenging, environmentally minded and scenic trail service projects into “The Bob”. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation helps coordinate crew leadership, work itineraries, food menus, tool and equipment needs, pack support and post project reports to the Forest Service for every project. Who We Work With Our partners include the US Forest Service, youth programs, conservation organizations, university groups, volunteer packers, local businesses and thousands of individual volunteers across the country. One of the primary objectives of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation is to provide an opportunity for volunteers, especially youth, to develop team building skills, learn new skills including Leave No Trace backcountry ethics, and develop wilderness awareness while participating on volunteer projects. Sarah Kmon’s Perspective “The Bob” is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. What does that mean coming from a gal who lives in boring old White Sulphur Springs? I’ll tell you: One, White Sulphur Springs is not boring, the Smith River Valley is beautiful. Two, I have seen pristine, gorgeous lanscapes from the top of far off places such as: the Brandberg Massif in Namibia; Mogollon Baldy in the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico; Ben Vorlich, Scotland; Ben Nevis, Scotland; Ben Somethingelse, Scotland; the Organ Mountains, Las Cruces New Mexico; Sacajawea, Bozeman, MT; and some random park above Little Apex in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. And the Bob Marshall Wilderness is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. These are some photos that I took during my time in the Bob. I took this by putting the lens of the camera up to the looking glass of the binoculars. I am an uberprofessional photographer. I strongly recommend a trip to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Either to volunteer with the Foundation itself and really experience it, or by going for a trip into the backcountry. We are hugely grateful to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation for all their support. So yes, we are a little biased. But did you see the pictures? You don’t have to be biased to enjoy such a beautiful place. Go see for yourself. Then come and tell us what you thought. And show us your uberprofessional pictures.
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One Job, One Reason: Spring Planting
by Sarah Kmon Red Ants Pants are great for spring planting because: They have a contoured waistline, which means that when you are bent over, circulation to your torso remains intact but no-one is traumatized-for-life by the site of your plumber’s crack/builder’s bum/whateveryouwanttocallit. It’s a win-win situation.
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