Then: The 1st Week of July 2008 Now: June 11, 2011

Sunset over Rose  Camp

Then: First week of July 2008

On July 1, I am eating breakfast about 9am, when I hear a branch breaking.  A small bear is trying to get at the yellow jacket trap I have hanging from a tree about 20 feet from the trailer.  I yell and he looks up, but just goes about his business as he now has the trap and is ripping it open for the sweet juice inside.  I grab my gun and camera.  I run out yelling, trying to explain to him that it will probably just give him a stomach ache.  He just sits down and licks it out.  I take some pictures, then shoot a round to scare him. He jumps up but doesn't go far.  I keep yelling and he ambles up toward the south ridge. He stops to nibble on a bush and I shoot off another round. Finally he takes the hint and runs off. 

I start working, but it is just too hot.  I had set up a hammock in the grove, so I grab a book and go lie in the shade.  The rest of the week is cooler and I am able to get a lot of work done.

Our contractor called to advise that they won't be able to start until 7/21 at the earliest!  Well, lets just hope this all gets done before the first snow flies. Nothing else to do but just keep on trimming trees and clearing bushes.  At least I'm in much better shape now.  My brother came up for the week of the 4th and brought some extra electrical supplies he had, along with some really good books on wiring, plumbing, etc.  Also brought some more snake shot.

The sunsets over the Cascades range from the sun going down with a slight pink on the crest of the mountains and surrounding hills, to brilliant pinks, reds, yellows and oranges.  One evening it was so intense that I took 89 photos and they are phenomenal!  It's really difficult to be up here and not take pictures.  I keep telling myself that the pictures will be a much better record of this adventure than my words are.  When I went to the laundromat, I took my computer and made a disc of pictures for JB and mailed it to him.

My cousin called to tell me that she made a great necklace out of the snake rattles!

Now: June 11, 2011

The weather forecast has changed from rain to sun for the next several days.  Thank goodness!

Yesterday we got ALL the joists hung for the deck, except the center ones that will be attached to the pole.  Actually JB did most of the work, hammering in all the hangers, while I just helped put the boards in.  But I did get a few small piles of branches moved up to the big pile for cutting.  It was a good day, and we have a lot to show for our work.

I have mentioned the gate on the road so I better explain about it.  It is amazing how town folk simply ignore "Private Road" and "No Trespassing" signs.  Their attitude seems to be that even though it is private land, there is so much of it that the owners couldn't possibly mind if they drove or hiked through it.  So about ten years ago Larry and Elsie put a locked gate across the road about 1/4 mile down from their house.  Everyone who owns land Up Here has the combination and is urged to keep it private.  It works for cars and ATV's, but motor and mountain bikes and hikers can and do get in.  At least once a year we will get a hiker coming over our South ridge completely befuddled why we are upset that he is there.  What part about "private" do they not understand??!!  When Larry encounters trespassers, he asks them for their address.  When they ask why he wants it, he tells them, "So I can go sit on your deck and use your pool.  Same thing as you hiking/biking across my "yard", however large it is!"  When we lived in Illinois, I saw a sign on a private road that read, "Private Land!  Trespassers will be shot.  Survivors will be shot again."  I'm seriously thinking of getting one of those.