Then: The Rest of July 2009 Now: July 6, 2011





Just too tired to stand up and eat!







Tipi and wild roses

Then: More July 2009

July was so full that I did not have enough space or time to write it all yesterday, so here is the rest of it:

Since late 2008 we had wanted to have some sort of a get together for all those people who own land in the canyon past the gate. Larry and Elsie are acquainted with most of them, but we have only met a few as there are only three families who live Up Here year 'round. Some of the others only get Up Here once or twice a year. We finally get organized and schedule it for July 26. We mail out invitations to the "First Annual Rose Camp BBQ and Potluck" in early June. Of course at that time we have no idea our Summer will become so busy. We end up with 16 people and a very enjoyable time. We all meet new friends and eat great food. Larry's birthday is around the first of August, so I figured the BBQ would be a great time to give him a birthday present. I made him a magnet that read, "My Indian Name is Runs With Beer." I think I have started a tradition. . .

Somehow in July we also manage to buy a chipper. It takes a while to learn all the tricks to using it successfully, but JB does get a large pile of branches chipped and laid in some of the places that get the muddiest. The chipper is his, the splitter is mine.

Early the morning of the 31^st, I am getting ready to bathe before going to town and there is a baby mouse in the bathtub! I catch it and put it outside, then find another one in the kitchen sink! Not a great way to start out the day. It is really hot when I go Down There which is typical for this time of year, but even worse because my Jeep's air conditioning does not work.

Yesterday I mentioned giving Larry and Elsie some Amish Friendship bread. JB's sister-in-law, Ann, had given us some along with some starter when we were in Seattle. It is delicious, but hard to keep up with baking all the bread and keeping the starter going. Not quite sure what I am going to do about that.

Now: July 6, 2011

Yesterday was our warmest day yet this year - 76 . JB left at 8:30 a.m. I had gotten up at 4:30 a.m. when the dogs wanted out, and since I was wide awake, I just stayed up and wrote my blog.  That was after I discovered we had finally caught the mouse in the house.  Only his foot was caught in the trap, and he was making quite a racket dragging the trap around. So with my gloves on, I picked him up and released his foot. Then I put him outside and he scampered off, probably right back to the place where he got into the house in the first place. Didn't go back to bed, just eased through the day doing the wash and some light, inside chores. Read a book. Ate some ice cream. Went for our after-dinner walk.

I also cleaned the two cast iron frying pans we used over the weekend. Since we have been Up Here, we have really begun to use the cast iron cookware we have had since our rendezvous days. We have also purchased a few more in different sizes. In our opinion, nothing really cooks as well as cast iron. And, because of its weight, I am so glad I don't have to wash it in the sink with the other dishes. To clean it, one simply boils a little water in it until all the cooked on food can be scraped off with a non-metal spatula.  Then wipe it out completely, and pour in a little vegetable oil. Wipe that all around, getting off all the excess oil. Let it cool and sit for about 24 hours. If there is no stuck-on food, simply wipe it out. No need to season it if you did not have to boil water in it.  Keeping it seasoned makes it very easy to wipe out any residue.  I really like the little frying pan in which I made a toasted cheese sandwich today. Mmmm, there is just no better toasted cheese sandwich that one made in a cast iron pan.

No sign of the coyote today, although he could have very well been sitting up in the bushes watching us. Another reason I don't like to go traipsing through the underbrush once it has grown tall. I have seen a bear go behind a bush and completely disappear. You just never know what's up there, so I stick to the trails and roads.

Just a footnote on this year's 4th of July weekend.  There are no yellow jackets this year because it was too cold for them to swarm last September.  But there are bees.  We usually tell visitors not to wear pastels because they do attract the stinging bugs.  The one guy, who is an outdoors, camping, rock climbing, canoeing, should-have-known-better type, wore a yellow t-shirt and, sure enough, got a bee sting on his belly.  Ouch!