Then: The Last 2 Weeks of May 2008 Now: June 6, 2011

Then: Last 2 Weeks of May 2008

I am in heaven up here on the mountain.  There are wild flowers popping up everywhere.  The chipmunks and squirrels are out doing their thing.  The birds are singing and nesting.  The deer wander through my camp.  It is too early for rattle snakes, and the bears seem to be sleeping in late.

Both JB and my brother made me promise not to go 10 ft from the trailer without my gun.  I wanted to use my Dad's old .38 revolver which I really like, but they want me to pack the .45.  So I do.  The first two rounds are snake shot and the last three are 300-grain bear loads.  With that, my camera and my phone, I'm good to go.

Each day I am out sawing off tree branches and pulling up scrub brush.  Wow, am I out of shape!  I had forgotten just how much of a jungle it is up here.  Most trees have branches almost down to the ground and need trimming at least 12 ft up depending on their size, and there are three or four kinds of brush in almost every open space.  There is no sage brush up this high, but rather a bush that looks a lot like it.  It will be great when I can find and unpack my Audubon Society Field Guides to Birds, Trees and Wild Flowers.  Did I mention my camera?  Its like another appendage for me.  I've already taken enough pictures to publish my own books.  I love digital cameras!  I average about 50 photos a day.

What I miss the most is a refrigerator!  With just a cooler I have to go to town every 4 days or so for ice and perishables.  If I want ice cream, I just get a pint and eat it all right away.  And going to town takes most of the day as it is at least an hour's trip each way.

On Memorial Day, my brother came up for another week and brought my belated birthday present - a 12-gauge, single-barrel shot gun!  I had always joked about being the crazy old lady on the mountain and he got this for me so I really could be!  Plus it can be very intimidating to trespassers.  It's just like the one Granny had on the Beverly Hillbillies.  He taught me all about it and had me shoot it several times.

That evening I got some great photos of a thunder storm moving up the Wenatchee Valley.

I realized, after the fact, that we had put the camping trailer too close to our proposed building site.  So RJ helped me move it across the driveway.  That was fun.  I didn't want to unload everything, so we hitched it up and inched it about 50 ft east.  He has 40 acres next to us, just down and north about a mile on the "road."  You would understand why it is in quotes if you ever drove on it.  A horse, ATV or Jeep in 4-low can make it, but not much else.  Going down, there are a couple places where you cannot see the road as it veers down.  Going up, you can see only the sky.  RJ's been building his dirt-floor cabin for the past 15 years, at little bit each year.  He's an artist and is not using any power tools.  Needless to say, it is a very cool place.

Now:  June 6, 2011

Yesterday we measured placements for the deck posts and got one hole dug.  It was really warm and muggy so a 2 ft deep by 2 ft wide hole in clay is not an easy project for two old farts.  Plus first we had to flatten out what will be the floor of the shop.  Because it is still so damp from the snow and rain, the tractor left some shallow ruts.  JB may get one hole dug today and we plan to dig two or three holes a day till we have six.  Only then will we go down for the concrete.  The last time we bought it before we needed it, we ended up with three 60-lb stepping stones!

We also went down to my brother's place yesterday so JB could see all the things RJ has done this trip and last.  He redid the kitchen so he has a built-in table by the new, very large window, and various other things including a new bathroom counter for his sink.  I am just in awe of his carpentry skills and the way he can see the possibilities for his cabin. 

I am going to town today, which is a major project in itself.  As I mentioned in "Then", it takes at least an hour each way, so we have to make the most of every trip.  I think I have about 10 places to go and I have them listed in the most efficient order.  We try not to go Down There more than every two weeks, and three if we can stretch it.  I go in the summer and JB goes in the winter.  Sometimes in the spring and fall we all go, including the dogs.