Page 25 - Home & Garden

We've all been there: standing in front of racks of winter horse blankets in a sea of colors and styles wondering which winter turnout is going to meet your horse's needs as well as yours. WeatherBeeta has taken the pain out of blanket shopping by suggesting turnouts based on your horse's personality. Our entire selection of WeatherBeeta blankets is online here. The Blanket Friendly Horse This horse can use the same blanket for two or three winters in a row because this horse is a lady or gentleman. Maybe older, or maybe with a slow and quiet demeanor. This is not the horse you see at the rodeo tied to trailer trying to dig a path the freedom through solid steel, no, this horse is blanket friendly and kind and can get along just fine in the WeatherBeeta Standard turnout Blanket. The Blanket Houdini Horse This horse is a little hotter tha...

  As the cold weather is approaching and I'm busy clearing my closets of summer clothes and shorts making room for all of our sweaters, long johns, thermals, boots, scarfs hats, gloves and everything else us Montanans wear during our 6 months of winter: I come across my wool socks. These are by far my favorite accessory and you can tell by ranging assortment (most of them SmartWool of course) and each one with a memory: the pair I got from my grandma who has since passed to the bright stripe ones I enjoy wearing to work or the heavyweight ones perfect for a winter day moving cattle with my husbands family. I've got them all- Why do I love SmartWool? First of all they keep my feet warm even during those -50 degree days when the car will barely start up and you pretty much don't want to look out the window, let alone go outside into ...

Dogs on the River's Edge Trail in Great Falls, MT. These are my two pals, Dida and Copper. Dida is almost two-years old and a Siberian Husky. Copper is almost one and a mixed breed. I have had them both since they were puppies and at almost at 39 years old myself, they are pretty much my first companion pets. I have had some great working ranch dogs in the past but these two have taught me a lot about pet relationships and we have formed a strong bond in a short amount of time. They love being outdoors with me and going all out just as much as I do on our many adventures. When not running or mountain biking all over the Missouri River breaks, these two love to play and wrestle aggressively with one another. Needless to say we are pretty hard on pet supplies. Cycle Dog: Innovative Collars Built to Last We have been in the market for a ne...

Smartwoolâ„¢  Men's PHD Ultra Light Mini Our Sock of the Month for September 2014 is the Men's PHD Ultra Light Mini Smartwoolâ„¢ for $6.95. This is by far the most comfortable sock I have ever worn- perhaps after writing a bunch of these Sock of the Month blogs (now a regular posting), it will be harder for me to write those words, but for now, let me reiterate: this is by far the most comfortable sock I have ever worn. I came home from the Great Falls store with this sock, went to my friend's house to have the kids color Cecelia and get free Sprecher root beer opened it up and promptly lost it to my friend K, "I better try that on for you," she says to me in a "I'm-doing-this-for-your-own-good" kind of tone. Two days later, I got the sock back so I could actually wear it around and write it up here. After I got my socks back f...

Hoof Jack Equine Innovations & Bellota Finish Rasp I've been finishing horses for my brother for probably about 8 years now. Every summer since my freshman year in college. We work out of Great Falls, Montana so I've worked on rodeo stock, draft horses, pack mules, reiners, cutting horses every kind of horse really. Two things you know you need when you finish horses: a stand and a file (you also need a clinch block, nail clippers, a gouge, a finish hammer, maybe a hot rasp for reiners/ropers, plus miscellaneous shoeing equipment but this is a spotlight on the Hoof Jack and the Bellota Finish Rasp). If you're looking for a clench block, clench cutter, or any of the other tools I mentioned above, they are online here. You can see the utility of the Hoof Jack right away those magnets on the side are heavy-duty and can hold stacked nip...

The efficacy of the Carhartt Pyramex Billings safety glasses, the functionality, the fit- and most importantly the price our store is able to get them to you that's the subject of this blog. These glasses are available at our stores right now at a price of under 5 dollars. You can't beat that. Carhartt Pyramex teamed up to get you these glasses at a ridiculous price. The glasses my brother is using in this video are the Carhartt + Pyramex Billings model- price? $4.99 yeah... $4.99 in USD. Shop for your Carhartt Pyramex Billings safety glasses here. And, well- I've used my brother once again for a tester of our products. He is a farrier out of Great Falls, Montana that only uses handmade, bar stock shoes on the horses. The argument for handmade horseshoes versus keg shoes- that isn't the subject for this blog. If you have your own though...

The FITS® socks you see here are knit in Niota, Tennessee and have been since 1902 and are made in the oldest operating hosiery mill in the United States. That's history you can wear comfortably. These FITS® socks, available at our stores, are constructed from two-ply, compact-spun, ultra-fine Merino Wool, providing the ultimate blend of softness and durability.  FITS® F3 Technologyâ„¢ delivers a unique form FIT thanks to a deep heel pocket, specialized toe seam, and contoured leg - which keep FITS® socks firmly in place. This means no more bunching, hot spots, or friction, regardless of the task at hand. And believe me that comfort is no joke. I wore these socks logging in Monarch, Montana under a brand new pair of Georgia 8044s if you know these boots you know it takes a while to get them fitted to your feet. With  FITS® so...

This all started as I've explained here when I went logging in Monarch, with Sam offhandedly saying, "Hey Jake, Cutter. You guys free Wednesday? We have a shoot for Husqvarna. Leaving about two." Cool, we think collectively. Just another, normal, run-of-the-mill day at work. Wrong. Carhartt Double Fronts + Georgia 8044 Work Boots We stopped at the Great Falls store to pick up the gear- and Sam threw me all the clothes you see me in here. "Put this gear on. Carhartt & Georgia Boots 8044s. That's the most iconic pairing you can get off these shelves. People swear by that pair." I began here to feel a slight trepidation with this "outfitting." It was like I was gearing up to battle nature or something. I figured it was for us to have photos for ads in the company mailer. No big deal. But I was, of course, wrong. This was a work fittin...

Building bread with Wheat Montana Flour starts off like most other times I build bread. Which is never. For this product review though, my wife and I have decided to make bread from scratch. For the first time. Here is a little background video on the product we now stock at North 40 Outfitters. Check out this video titled "From our farm to your table". Really neat piece. Gives a good idea of why North 40 Outfitters stocks this stuff now it's one of the best local brands you can buy. Anyways. Back to my kitchen which looks like it exploded, or like some giant, bandy-faced raccoon's been in here trying to find the peanut butter. Our three year old won't come in as per usual instead he stands at the door with his eyebrows drawn down very seriously concerned for his flour-coated, red-faced parents. He has a spatula gripped liked a sword and...

Pawtriotic treats. What's so special about these anyway? Well beside the fact that they're made in America, besides the fact that North 40 Outfitters is running a ridiculous sale on them, besides the fact that they offer a healthy choice for your dog, besides the fact that they come in a wide array of flavors (Bonnie's favorite being cranberry that's right, cranberry), besides the fact that well you get the picture. First let me premise this blog with an explication of the whole "price" thing 16oz of dog treats, American made for 1.99 that's a real deal. I won't go so far as to say, "It's a FOURTH OF JULY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!!!" (insert car-salesman-esque echoes) but again. I could. We've been stocking these at our locations for a while now but I think they deserve a shout-out as it IS the Fourth of July (almost), and these are made in Am...

Westfield Camp Rocker & Sprecher Root Beer Combo or, "The Westy and Sprech" This picture titled, "True Vision," features our very own Daryl Moats from the Great Falls location. You can probably tell this Westfield Rocker and Sprecher Root beer is a killer combo to "kick up and chill" on or off the job. Work or play, the Sprecher line is a connoisseur's dream. We have a full range of flavors at our store, each with its own sell points, but for this one, let me tell you about the root beer. This old fashioned soda has a unique flavor you can only get from using pure Wisconsin honey direct from the combs. The Sprecher extracts are prepared at the brewery in a hand-made, gas-fired brew kettle, by combining honey, pure vanilla and a host of aromatic botanicals. Here is one of the suppliers Sprecher uses when making this root...