Shopping the Valley

We suddenly need a shot of color to brighten our white-on-dark winter days. So we go shopping.

We should be hitting Costco and Target and the Good Food Store in Missoula as well as grabbing a great meal there. But we decide to wait. We're trying to keep most of our shopping confined to the small mom-and-pop stores that still flourish in the Hamilton area. They are, after all, among the citizenry who kept a Wal-Mart from locating in the valley, or so the story goes.

And so, we visit one of a series of rooms in a Hamilton antiques shop called the Mall on Bedford. There we see a pair of reproduction, mid-century-modern, red-leather chairs. They have nothing at all to do with our current vintage-Craftsman decor. Leather is the only common denominator with such Arts and Crafts style in the West. And still, I fall in love! Could it be the red, in context with a lack of color outside? Am I thinking that with the right pillow, they'd be great bedroom/guestroom additions?  Or would I like to see both of them in Alex's office, as he sits and plays music with a friend?

The color red and the shape of this little chair warms my heart.

We don't buy the chairs, not yet. They're a bit pricey and not old. I talk with a lovely woman named Donna who operates the niche where these chairs sit. Her daughter now lives in my hometown of Louisville, Ky., and loves it. Donna says that she also used to live near New Orleans, Alex's oldest haunt. We have other things in common, except a reduction in price for the chairs. So we go to Murdoch's.

This is not for buying furniture or anything else house-related. We go to Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply (http://www.murdochs.com/hamilton/storeinfo) for free live entertainment!  Alex had stopped in once before, thinking it was a hardware store. Well, if you want hardware for your horse...

Murdoch's horseshoe bin.

Or, you hanker for some beautifully colored rope...

Each one, 50 feet of "polyblend"...

Or, some brightly hued "field scoops"...

Murdoch's does merchandise its colors very well!

Or a toy of a different color for the dog (that's my voice in the background of this video, as I try to film via the iPhone -- so accomplished!)

Or, of course, a cowboy hat or two and other Western wear...

Yee haw!

A poster on the Murdoch's bulletin board describes a perfectly fitting event -- a first-annual fundraiser for improving rodeo facilities at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton...

(rc.mt.gov/content/fair/documents/cowboyball.pdf)

And it's near the checkout (we buy only a set of bungee cords for securing skis to our old car's new roof rack, a pair of Bogs brand mud/gardening clogs for me -- http://www.bogsfootwear.com/shop/index.html, fleece-lined slippers for Alex) when we spot an item that fits with a bumper sticker we've seen in the Murdoch's parking lot...

For the hunter on your gift list.

The parking-lot bumper sticker reads P.E.T.A.  And, at first I say, "Oh gawd, should we park somewhere else?" That is, until we get a little closer and see that it stands for "People Eating Tasty Animals." Too funny. And wholly Montanan. I look online and find a very basic Web site explaining that this particular P.E.T.A. organization is "a resource for those who enjoy eating meat, wearing fur and leather, hunting, and the fruits of scientific research (and more!)."

When we finally get back to our Hamilton home, one more colorful item meets us in the mail. It's a tasty one, waiting to be brought to life next spring...

My mail-order seeds often come from the wonderful Baker Creek -- http://rareseeds.com/.