Then: September 2009 Now: July 8 2011



Lupine and Paintbrush

 


Wood Spirit - looks like his hat is slipping
down over his eyes a bit.

 

Then: September 2009



1:30 a.m. on September 1 and there are coyotes about 100 ft from the house yipping. Calling to our dogs to come out and "play." Dinga is in the midst of a frenzied barking, running from door to window. Very eerie, like something from a Stephen King novel. JB goes out on the porch and fires off a couple rounds, and we don't hear from the coyotes again. However, settling down the dogs and getting back to sleep proves much more difficult.

That day JB starts working on the wiring for the inside water pressure controller. Fishing the wire up through the wall is fun. We will also have to dig a ditch from the cistern to the house for the conduit. I am so looking forward to turning on the water faucet and actually have water come out.

Of course I am still splitting wood and JB gets in chipping when he can. By the end of the month I am starting to stack wood on the porch and have three 20 ft rows stacked 6 ft high behind the house. The nights are definitely cooler but the days are still warm. On Labor Day, 9/7, we go visit Larry and Elsie, and they send us home with a large box of peaches. My favorite fruit! I really need to learn how to can.

I am finally priming and painting the outhouse/garbage shed. It will be the same reddish-brown that I painted our front door and plan to use on the battery/generator shed. It takes a lot more primer than I thought, and two coats of paint. Looks great, but I think it needs a mural. And a door.

The washer repairman comes up on the 9^th and fixes the washer. I had gotten so used to the washing machine for the large items that going back to hand washing them was a real challenge. As soon as he is done, I hook up the hose through the window and start a load.  I am still using the hand pressure washer and the tubs and wringer for our smaller items, trying to cut down as much as possible having to use the generator.

On the 15^th the yellow-jackets start swarming, just like last year. Didn't do any caulking up under the eaves like I had wanted to, so we'll probably have them inside over the winter again. They tend to stay in the loft and are very slow and sleepy - easy to swat. We only see a few a day.

I get ready to go to storage the middle of the month, but as I am hooking up the trailer to the Jeep, I notice that the wires to the lights have been chewed through. JB does a quick but temporary splicing and I am on my way. We have been bringing up as much as we have room for from storage and were able to move into a much smaller and less expensive space. Once we get the shop built, we will be able to bring everything up.

Near the end of the month we load up all the garbage cans in the trailer and I take them to the transfer station in town, then off to storage for another load. We take the garbage down twice a year and it seems to be working out just fine. Only costs $22.50 per load. I think we paid at least that per month when we lived Down There. I also take the recycle items if there is room, otherwise I throw some in the Jeep every time I go to town.


Now: July 8, 2011

Yesterday the temperature crept up to 80, beating out the last two days. But then clouds started popping up over the mountains and so did a breeze. After lunch the dogs and I went for a hike down the road to our Wood Spirit (see photo above). About a mile and a half round trip. The Wood Spirit was completely carved by Mother Nature on a fir stump.  (Looks like a French-Canadian fur trader.) On a background of green the colors on the mountain have changed from yellow and purple to pink, purple and red interspersed with white. Everything is more abundant this year, and especially apparent are the lupine, wild roses and paintbrush. Their perfume is almost overpowering.

I did another load of wash and hung it out to dry, which turned out to be a very quick process what with the sun and the breeze. Then I made up the bed rolls for Rick and Maureen. They are the ones we used when rendezvousing. The outside is a sail canvas (a little lighter gauge than the tipi itself) in which we put a flannel sheet and blankets. There are ties on the open side and a flap for a pillow. I much prefer them to a sleeping bag. More options for keeping warm or cool. I'll put the elk hides on the cot under the bed rolls. JB's brother was cold sleeping in his bed roll Saturday night, but that was most likely because he kept kicking it off and it was hanging off the cot. Seems he ended up sleeping on the elk hide with just a blanket and pillow.

I mentioned that there are no yellow jackets this year, however there is no shortage of flies. On the good side, there is also no shortage of butterflies. White and black, neon purple, yellow, orange, white - I need to get a book so I can identify them all. The monarchs have not arrived yet, but should be here in August I think. The finches are gone. They were only here for a couple weeks.  July is a much more quiet and warmer than June.

Today I will make a quick trip to town for a few supplies and errands. Too hot to take the dogs, and I don't like to leave them in the house for longer than I have to.