August 31, 2011



Our red and green grass



One of our many busy bees



Ahhh, the best laid plans of mice and men.  It was 47 degrees with a strong breeze when I got up at 7:00 yesterday morning, so the summer outfit I had out to where Down There got put back into the closet.  I needed blue jeans, t-shirt and a jacket.  And that was just the beginning.  Shortly after I hit the pavement, my brakes started making a grinding sound, so instead of going to storage, I headed to Les Shwabb.  Sure enough, I needed new front brakes.  They were able to squeeze me in, so I made a quick trip to our town mail box for something to read.  I was out of there a little after noon, but now it was 80 degrees.  I drove to our storage unit anyway, but there was no way I could get to the boxes I wanted without getting filthy and sweaty.  I grabbed a small, flat dolly that I had also wanted so the trip wouldn't be a complete loss.  Then it was off to do the shopping.  Needless to say, it was a very long day.  I didn't feel it until I got back to Rose Camp, put everything away and then sat down to relax.  Almost fell asleep before dinner was ready.

While I was gone, JB moved all the wood from the grove to the splitter. He finished cutting the large branches and stacked that in the wood shed.  He had a nice, cool day in which to work as the high Up Here was only 65.

During my shopping I did score a copy of the 30th anniversary release of Blazing Saddles for $4.  Can hardly wait to watch that.  I think it's been at least 29 years since I've seen it.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings we watched the three Bourne movies, which we both think are three of the best action movies ever made.  Every time I watch the first one, The Bourne Conspiracy, I always jump in the same place. You know, where the guy comes crashing through the apartment window.  I could barely stay awake to watch the last installment of the second season of Castle last night.  We are rewatching them all in anticipation of season three being released in September.

  

Wow!  August 31st.  As I said yesterday, it comes earlier each year. . .

August 30, 2011



Timber!



End result - more wood to split



Woke up to a refreshingly cool breeze yesterday morning, and it proved to be a cooler day by about 5 degrees. JB cut down two of the smallest trees in the grove, each of which had grown at a right angle about 15 feet up. I cut the branches and JB cut the trunks into 16" rounds. Before doing that, he cut two wheel barrow loads of large trunk wood for the splitter that I had put in my cutting area. We will probably move the three or so loads from the grove to the splitter on Wednesday. I was also able to get a full load of branch wood stacked in the wood shed. The day may have been cooler, but that didn't keep us from sweating up a storm. I had to shower last night so I could go Down There today without getting odd looks. Wow! Two showers in less than 7 days!


We still have not seen any monarch butterflies. I know this is the time they usually arrive, and there have been several articles in some of my magazines about them. I guess they must have taken a different route this year. The swallowtail butterflies are gone, but there is a very pretty white one with a little black design on the top of each wing. The hummingbirds have also left. Only the yellow jackets are enjoying the sugar water in the feeders. JB had to empty the two yellow jacket traps already as they had quickly filled up. He hung them back out, adding a third one.

When our house was being built, I was amazed at how sturdy it is compared to a stick house. And how less expensive it is to build. That idea seems to be catching on as last year someone mentioned that they had a friend who works in the building permit office and he had commented that there seemed to be a lot more permits being given out for pole buildings. And they aren't just barns. Our entire house, including labor, cisterns, well, solar power, etc, cost about $120,000 in 2008, even with the solar panels we purchased in 2010. Of course that does not include the land. But it does mean a home with no utility bills except for propane, and once we are able to buy a different inverter, the propane expense will be minimal. I realize our self-sufficiency isn't complete by any means, but what we have sure feels good.

Yesterday I made the curried egg salad recipe that is in the current issue of "Country Woman". I have always put sweet pickle relish in egg salad, but this was very good without it. And a great way to use a lot of our eggs.

I also spent some more time looking for more photographs yesterday. There must still be some in storage, so I will leave extra early this morning and go there first to look for them, while it is cool. I had hoped to get our storage unit all cleaned out this month, but that just isn't going to happen. We really have to get then done in September. September??!! OMG! It's already time for school to start! I'm sure I say that every year at the end of August. It's just that August ends earlier every year. . .

Two fairy doors in the grove.

August 29, 2011

Grasshopper on yarrow

Our plans have changed for driving to the west side of the mountains. Bob's brother is going to have a family party for their Mom's 90^th birthday on Saturday, September 10. So we will drive over on the 10^th and come back on the 11^th. We'll sleep in their pop-up trailer that I used in 2008, so the dogs can be with us. In preparation for the party, I spent most of yesterday looking through photo albums and cd's for appropriate pictures with which to make a memory book, and scanning hard copies into the computer.  Still not done. Ninety years is a lot of pictures! Not sure yet exactly how I am going to do this.  A digital frame may be the answer.

Yesterday was a good day to stay inside as the temperature was into the low 80's. NOAA is predicting a cold front will move into the area today bringing lower than normal temperatures for the rest of the week. Yippee! I am planning to go Down There on Tuesday and just could not face it if the heat was going to persist.

August is definitely the month of the Buzzing Mountains this year. Usually that starts in July. During the day there is a constant buzz of insects outside. A low drone in the background. This year we also have many more grasshoppers than normal. Didn't think much about it and neither did Larry and Elsie until they realized the grasshoppers has started munching on their blueberry plants. They hightailed it to their supplier and bought an organic spray to use. It worked.  Their plants are safe and healthy. And the berries are still delicious.

In speaking with his brother, JB found out that with the two trees that were cut down there was almost 200 feet of wood. Divided into 16" pieces, that equals about 150 pieces!  Actually I got an e-mail from JB's sister-in-law advising that there are approximately 120 pieces. We'll be renting a truck, not a trailer. I just hope it can make it up our road with that load.

I just finished reading a book in my very favorite series about my all-time favorite hero - Harry Dresden. He is a wizard in modern-day Chicago. Fantasy is not the ilk I prefer, but Jim Butcher writes these books so well that I am hooked. I read the first one a couple years ago, and as soon as I finished it, I turned around and read it again. Never done that before. But they are just that entertaining, and I am always laughing while I am reading them.  Dresden is completely irreverent, and as one critic put it, "Harry Dresden is a cross between an adult Harry Potter and private eye Jim Rockford from The Rockford Files."

Not much else going on except that Dinga discovered a frog in the house a couple days ago, and another mouse was executed last night by one of our traps. I am confident that chocolate chips are the best mouse bait. They work for me too. Fortunately I have my own stash and don't have to go raiding the mouse traps.

Our first "outhouse" for Rose Camp, 1989
Across which Bob's Mom put this
ribbon to be cut by the first user.



August 28, 2011



Typical load for woodshed



Dinga blending into the grass



There is nothing like a day off even if you're doing what you like. Going to the fair reminded me that no matter how wonderful the scenery is that you are in, it is always good to have a change. The drive up to Waterville was worth the whole trip. It has probably been 50 years since I have been on that stretch of Highway 2. My mother drove my brother and I on that route from Bellingham to Spokane every Christmas from 1960 til 1963 or so, until Interstate 90 opened as a four lane highway between Seattle and Spokane. Highway 2 crosses the Columbia River just north of Wenatchee and follows the river north a few miles to Orondo where it turns east and starts climbing. The road starts at an elevation of about 750 feet and, through a six-mile, steep canyon, climbs to more than 2800 feet, then comes out on top of the Columbia Plateau. Wheat country. And Waterville is right on the edge of it. After the steep climb, I realized that we would have to climb another 1000 feet to be as high as Rose Camp at 3800 feet.


The North Central Washington Fair is certainly the smallest fair I have ever been to, but very interesting nevertheless. I always enjoy the exhibits of sewing, flowers, art, photography, canning, and of course the animals. The goats were just being taken out to show and it was comical to see some of the little 4H'ers with animals as big as they were. In the commercial section, there was a man from Waterville who makes fascinating baskets, mirrors, canisters and many other items out of used rope by winding and melting the rope together. Wish I'd had the money to spend on one of his creations. There was less of a variety of fair food than I am used to, but I managed with a large BBQ pulled pork sandwich, cole slaw, and a huge plate of peach short cake with whipping cream and caramel sauce. I planned to have a waffle cone after that, but my stomach said, "No way!"

It was starting to get hot at the fair when we left after lunch, and it was uncomfortably hot Down There was we ran a couple errands. Back at Rose Camp it was a bit cooler and we were glad to be home. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading the mail and newspapers.

My Aunt Nene had called last Monday to let me know she had mailed a package for me and Elsie. I wasn't supposed to open it without Elsie there and inside were two items, both the same. Now, my Aunt is a wonderful person and a real character. I honestly didn't know what to expect. The package was there when we picked up the mail on Friday, so I called Elsie to be sure she would be home after dinner. Then I drove down to their place so we could open our surprise. And sure enough, Nene came through. We each got a little sack of "Port Orchard Chicken Poop"! (Nene lives in Port Orchard and the "poop" was actually wild huckleberry jelly beans.) Nene reads my blog every day and knows how Elsie loves her chickens and brings us fresh eggs all the time. She also knows that I often take care of those chickens when Larry and Elsie go away for a few days. Thank you, Aunt Nene!

A day or so ago I wrote about wanting to find a recipe for canning peaches without a lot of sugar. Well, ask and ye shall receive. In the new AARP magazine, there is an article, "Canning Lite", in which they give a recipe for canned peaches made with unsweetened apple or white grape juice. I am definitely going to try that.

And speaking of magazines, in the September/October issue of "Countryside & Small Stock Journal", there is an excellent article on essential oils called "Using peppermint essential oil and Building your natural home medicine cabinet" by Millie Troth. Peppermint is amazing. I always drink peppermint tea for an upset stomach, often combining one bag of peppermint and one bag of chamomile. It's good just before bedtime to help in falling asleep, too. And, as usual, in that issue, there are a lot of delicious sounding recipes. And, speaking of recipes, JB is making his scrumptious pizza for dinner tonight with homemade, gluten free crust.

Yesterday it was back to work. Didn't get quite as early a start as we would have liked, but it was so nice to sleep in a bit. JB worked in his shop and I moved all our "junk" into one pile: junk wood, all the metal poles from our two carports, etc. Then I cut two wheel barrow loads of branch wood and stacked them in the wood shed. Even though the chain on my chain saw is getting dull, I didn't want to waste a day by not cutting any wood. I will probably go Down There on Tuesday to drop off two chains for sharpening and buy another one for my saw.

After lunch, JB sat out on the porch while I gave him a hair cut. I have cut my own hair for the past 30 years or so, and even cut JB's quite often when we lived Down There. Why pay someone else to screw up our hair, when I can do it myself?!

August 26, 2011



Woodshed currently



Woodshed, small branch wood on left



   






Looks like it will really be hot at the fair today. We plan to get an early start and arrive when it opens at 9:00 am. That way we can leave before the heat of the day. We'll run some errands Down There on our way home. Am going to take a whole day off from everything, so I don't plan to post on my blog Saturday morning, but will resume again on Sunday.


Yesterday morning I moved two loads of wood in the big trailer down to my cutting area. One load from the south ridge and one load from down the driveway. It was just too hot when I was done unloading the second one for any more such activity. JB was working in his shop, and after lunch I helped him finish building a large box in which to put scrap wood that will be used mainly for burning in the shop's wood stove. I also moved the dimensional wood back on to the shelves. Our thermometer registered 78 today, but I know it was well into the eighties. With that heat and all the dust, we almost clogged up the drain with our showers in the evening.

We sure enjoy Larry and Elsie's visits, and not just because of the goodies they bring. They keep us updated on all the events and news of the canyon. Larry keeps telling us that we need to get out more and drive around all the roads in the surrounding area. He is right. We should. And next year, when we have no major projects, we definitely intend to. We have detailed maps of the area, but they do not compare to seeing the land up close for oneself.

It amazes me that so many young people today live in a virtual world. A world of virtual games and virtual people. I can understand it as an escape from life in the city, but I am sorry for those who will never experience the "real world" and Mother Nature. I am so thankful that our son is such a good, no, an amazing father. He sees that his children get out to the beach, museums, community events, and other experiences in the real world and out of the virtual one. At seven and four years old, they each have their little hand-held devices and games, but they are not allowed to make them the center of their world.

When we were camping Up Here in 2002, while building the outhouse, I stood in the middle of the grove and took several pictures while turning in a circle. There are about ten of them that form one continuous photo when placed side by side, and I have them hanging on the edge of a shelf in our bedroom. Whenever I think we are not getting enough done, I look at those pictures. There is just no comparison from then to now. I don't ever think that we have "tamed" the area. Anything domesticated can turn back to wild in just a very short time. Or maybe I should say natural, not wild. And if that is natural, then is city life unnatural? It certainly is for me. . .

It is about time to get some canning done this year. I want to find a recipe for peaches that doesn't use as much sugar as I used last year. If you can find peaches in the store that are canned only in their own juice, then why shouldn't I be able to do the same at home? Larry and Elsie have a friend whose family cans meat every year going back generations. They want to be able to watch their friends before canning their own. I really want to get into canning meat also, as I have heard from several sources that once you taste canned meat, you'll rarely eat it any other way. And it's such a great way to store it for a long period of time.

Yesterday morning when I was on the porch enjoying my coffee, I heard what sounded like raindrops. Looking around I saw pine cone "petals" falling from one of the trees. There was a squirrel sitting way up on a branch eating the seeds in the pine cones and dropping everything else on the ground.  (There is a seed on the inside of each "petal.") I picked up six pine "cobs", as I call them, because they look similar to small corn cobs that have been picked clean. If memory serves me (and it often doesn't), they don't usually start that in earnest until mid-September. Well, the first of September is next week, so I guess it's not all that early. Just more paranoia about another long, cold winter. Hey, just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. . .or the long, cold winter isn't coming.

Pine "cob" and empty "petals"

August 25, 2011

The August heat seems to be here to stay. NOAA was predicting possible thunder storms for last night east of here and by late afternoon the clouds were headed their way. We have been fortunate in not having as many storms this year. Yesterday I finished cutting all the wood we brought up from the road, and took one load to the wood shed and 1-1/2 loads to the splitter. I split and stacked one load before lunch & the second, smaller load afterwards. JB had to use his big chain saw to cut the last, large log as the chain on my little one is getting dull. My cutting area is in the shade until about noon and the splitter is in the shade most of the day. Even on the hot days, it is usually cool enough to work in the shade until mid-afternoon. At that point yesterday, it was time to take a nap. Which I did.


We are going to go t the North Central Washington Fair in Waterville on Friday. I think I mentioned earlier in my blog that we really enjoy the small fairs. They are such a hoot. And fair food is always so scrumptious and delightfully decadent. Since we are going down there, I will drop off the chain to my saw for sharpening and probably buy a second one. JB started cutting one of the stumps near the house yesterday morning and it was so hard and full of pitch that his chain quickly became dull. So we'll drop off than one to be sharpened also.

Larry and Elsie visited us again last night.  They are getting to be a grocery delivery service what with the fresh eggs and produce they give us.  Yesterday it was potatoes, onions, eggs and one very special Heirloom tomato.  Can't wait to try that today.  Hmmm.  If they would just add ice cream to those items, I wouldn't have to go Down There nearly as often. . .
I don't consider myself "old" at 64, but just "older." And I always thought that when I was older, I would be more flexible and patient. But I am not. I think I am more accepting of the way some situations and people are, but I am not necessarily patient with it. And I am not flexible in changing many of my ways that are now set.  I know what I like.  I know what I want.  I know what I don't have to put up with.  I have learned that there is only so much one can do to create change. You can change your own life, and perhaps influence some of those around you, but I firmly - and sadly - believe that mankind in general will not change. It is still all about power and self. When I was in high school and college in the '60's, we seemed to have some politicians, at least from the state of Washington, who were actually concerned about our country. Actually willing to work hard and long to make it better without putting their selfish interests first. I don't think I can name one today about whom I feel that way. And maybe I was just naive back then. In fact, I know I was is many ways. But now I believe that it is not the hawks or the religious right who will destroy our democracy, but rather the naivete of the newcomers and the deviousness of their backers. Politics can be a nasty game that does not easily abide fools or naive participant. In playing, one must weave their lies into the subtle fabric of deception, not blatantly state them and think at least some people will not notice. It is the audacity of their arrogance in their naivete that will bring our country down, and mainly because the majority of the American voters are too near sighted to see beyond their own, small lives.  It is a Congress that is too concerned about being re-elected than doing the right thing.

Well, I guess I told them!  I hesitated to write that rather rambling paragraph, but what the hell.  It's still a free country, right?  At least for now.

And that brings me to the audacity of mice. I really believe that country mice are smarter than their city counterparts. I think I mentioned previously that the glue traps we tried did nothing but trap some of their fur, while one of the stores Down There uses them quite successfully. I remember one morning during the first year we were Up Here, I was sitting at the table talking on the phone with Sandy when I heard a little noise. I looked down and there, in our vegetable cart, sat a little mouse chewing on a sweet potato! I literally was almost able to grab him before he scurried away at the last minute. Well, okay, maybe they aren't smarter, just more bold and luckier. Another time there was a mouse that I just glimpsed running under the couch. When I got down to floor level and looked under the couch, there sat the mouse washing its face, just out of reach. I am so glad we have those new traps.

Well, that's enough musing for one day.

August 24, 2011




April clouds

 

July clouds with sun trying to shine through.



It is the heat of August and I am starting to see the kinds of bugs that are in the house during the winter. As I was stacking wood the other day, clouds of tiny moths arose from the stack I was adding to. I also saw some in the garbage/recycle shed. I don't recall seeing them until mid-September. Then there's a hard-shelled little critter, one of which is climbing around on the loft window as I write. A weather site that JB subscribes to (no charge) mentioned that crickets in Oregon have just started singing, which is the latest this particular entomologist has ever heard them begin. Has something to do with a long, hard winter. Just lovely. The name of the site is ovs.com, then Weather Café by Rufus. His predictions are even more accurate than NOAA.


At least we spent yesterday collecting wood. JB hitched up a trailer to MAX and we drove down our road to gather the small trees and branches we had cut in clearing the road prior to our annual BBQ. We took my small chain saw and generator, and filled the trailer with wood. Back at Rose Camp after lunch, I cut one wheel barrow load and then split two loads of wood that had already been cut for splitting. By then it was too hot and too late to do any more. It was a slow, leisurely evening walk for all of us.  I'll finish cutting the wood today.

In one of my early blog postings I mentioned the small, hand washing machine that we bought and used in 2009. I haven't been using it since my electric washer was hooked up, but yesterday morning before we left to gather wood, I used it for my lingerie. I want to do that from now on with any small loads. Too much of a waste of propane to use the big washer when I can quickly do it by hand. It just takes two minutes to wash and two minutes for each rinse.

I may have also mentioned that since living Up Here, I have become entranced with clouds. They give the sky character.  And make it seem so much larger than when it is just plain blue. I think I have taken almost as many pictures of clouds as I have flowers. And speaking of flowers, there seemed to be more fire weed and asters than there were the last time I was down the road. Maybe it's just because we go so much slower in MAX and I have more of a chance to look around. There were also numerous tracks on the road: turkey, grouse, deer, bear.

Something else I am more aware of Up Here is the moon and its phases. Outside there is no other source of light at night except a few little solar lights we have around the yard. No street lights; no head lights; no traffic lights. When we go to bed, sometimes the moon is so bright that it makes us think we left a light on somewhere in the house. Other nights it is almost pitch black outside. And the stars are so brilliant. JB would like to get a telescope at some point for some actual star gazing.

The dogs were fairly quiet this afternoon, after their morning run. But they did have a few barking sessions, and following one of them, the lovely scent of skunks came floating over the west ridge. I read that the only way to get rid of them (other than with a .22) is to trap and relocate them. Although there is one specific place to which I would like to take them, the White House is just too far to drive in this heat.

Wild Rose cutting wood along the road.

August 23, 2011



House with new shop and deck!



Thistle and tipi



No more tarps! We have everything in the shop and the big, hand-made shelving unit taken apart. JB has a wood floor in front of his work bench. His electric saws all have their place, and there is spot in the southwest corner for the wood stove that is in storage. We plan to get everything out of the small unit we have before the end of the month. Ooops! That means within nine days. What happened to August?


We have another pile of dimensional wood that I had forgotten about, and all the wood that I had taken to the shop and helped JB put on that last shelving unit had to be take down. We had to move the shelf a couple feet closer to his work table as MAX couldn't get in the door without grazing it. Now there is plenty of room but we have all that wood to put back up. And there is even more wood with the shelves we took apart today. Lots of wood with which JB can use for lots of projects.

I did stay up yesterday morning after I posted my blog and was outside working at 6:30. I moved a large pile of small branches to the chipper and cleaned out some of the sticks from the grove.  While I was at it I found a tall thistle that is in the process of blooming.  I have so many pictures of thistles, but they are so pretty that I just can't keep from photographing them every time I see one.

My BFF, Sandy, took exception to my posting of August 18 where I stated that she had never been camping. Seems she did go once, shortly after she was first married, and that experience is the reason she has never been since. Here is her story in her own words:

   "My husband, John, dragged me out to the Wisconsin woods with a tent,
   a roll of toilet paper and a frying pan.

   For starters, Mr. Outdoorsman couldn't get the tent erected. Took him
   about an hour and ½. Have pictures. Don't even remember what he
   fried in that pan, but I do remember peeing in foot-high grass behind a
   tree with God-knows-what crawling around. Hope toilet paper was
   biodegradable because I felt bad about leaving that behind.

   Later, we crawled into one sleeping bag. When we awoke in the morning,
   John said, "Don't move," and he proceeded to remove a tick from near
   my eyebrow. That was the first of three. The other two were lodged in
   my inner UPPER thigh. I wondered for months how far they had crawled
   up!

   If anybody thinks for one split second I would EVER endure that kind of
   abuse again, they would need their head examined. In my mind,
   roughing it is poor room service in a nice, big hotel, or maybe the pool
   water is a little too warm, or the TV doesn't work."

She says she occasionally takes out those pictures just for a good laugh and an OMG! If I can ever talk her into seeing those photos, I may just have to "borrow" some and post them.

It was supposed to be hot again yesterday, but Up Here we had a refreshing, cool breeze all day and our highest temperature was 74. It clouded up in the afternoon and even looked like it might sprinkle a bit, but never did. We had all the windows open to let in that cool air.

There are some yummy sounding recipes in the August/September issue of "Country Woman" that I want to try, especially an egg salad with curry and olives. We have a lot of eggs to use thanks to Larry and Elsie. Tomorrow night we are going to have our favorite breakfast for dinner, German Oven Pancakes. We usually plan our weekly menu during Sunday dinner. I don't mind cooking, it's the planning what to cook that I don't like, so it was JB's suggestion that we just plan once a week. Last night I made scalloped potatoes and ham with fresh potatoes from Elsie's garden. It was one of my Mom's staple meals when I was growing up and it is still one of my favorites. It's one of those meals that I can make a little differently each time, but I always use canned milk.  That way it is so creamy. It was one of the many meals I learned to make when I was in junior high . My parents divorced then and my Mom found herself as a single mother with a "tweenie" girl and a baby boy. She went back to college for two years to complete her teaching degree, and I did a lot of cooking and babysitting. Money was tight and I learned from her the thrill of a good bargain.

Hmmm. That was an interesting paragraph. Started out with new recipes and ended with part of my life's story. My mind does tend to associate certain new situations with old ones and jump from here to there and back again. Kind of like I do my housework. I take something from one room to another with a specific errand in mind, see something else that needs to be done and do it. Then I find another job to do and while I am doing that I may finally get to the original errand. Or not.  I do end up getting everything done, but it drives JB nuts.

Dogs in their spa.

August 22, 2011



Mount Baker in the distance (right)



Mount Baker up close



Too hot to work outside yesterday, so we both used the time for cleaning and organizing inside. I did an extra load of wash. I usually do three loads a week, but in the summer we really go through the clothes with all the extra sweat and dirt. I defrosted the fridge. Sorted out the bedroom closet. Finished the book I was reading by Faye Kellerman, entitled The Hangman. She is one of my favorite authors and this book is one of her best.

Later in the afternoon, we both worked on re-organizing the loft.  Having taken some things out to put in the shed, and cleaned and moved furniture and boxes around, we have some more room now.  Mainly JB's area that got redone, but it affected everywhere else.

By 10:30 it was 78 degrees outside, and almost the same inside.  By the end of the day it was over 80. I'm sure our inexpensive thermometer is not doing the most accurate job in registering the heat, which is why a reliable weather station is on our wish list. We want one that records temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, rain and snowfall, etc. that we can place outside and read inside. Costco on-line has a couple we are looking at.

Our new traps caught another mouse Saturday night and work as advertised. Instant death. There is nothing I hate worse than having to kill a trapped mouse. As much as I dislike them, I hate to see them suffer.  Of course this morning I noticed that the bait (a chocolate chip) is missing in that same trap.  We're just going to have to glue it in.

On the weather front, there have been murmurs of another long, cold winter. Larry and others, who have seen adult bears up close this year, were surprised that they had such long, thick fur into the summer. Not a good sign. Kind of like the woolly caterpillars. Well, we will just put in an extra cord or two of firewood like last year. Fortunately we now have the shop in which to put MAX if we have to work on him.

On the numerous clear and crisp days we have Up Here, we can see many of the mountains in the Cascade Range. I was delighted when I recognized Mount Baker to the northwest of us. Growing up in Bellingham from junior high (that's what they called middle school back then) through college, it was a daily sight to the east on clear days. Not as many clear days on that side of the mountains, but being 100 miles north of Seattle, at least we had less rain than they do and more varied seasons. Mount Baker's familiar silhouette is a visual connection to that part of my childhood. I am also connected with the ongoing friendship of Pat, one of my Mother's best friends, who reads my blog every day and keeps me apprised of our other mutual acquaintances. She also updates me on her growing family of great-grandchildren, the newest of whom was born just this month.  Congratulations Grandpa Jeff and Great-Grandma Pat! 

My Mother has been gone for almost 16 years now, but it's funny how after a certain age time really does not have the meaning it used to. My 36-year-old son is still my little boy, and my Mom was just Up Here camping with us recently.  I am not yet to that point in my life where the past is more vivid than the present, it's just that time is not so lineal any more.  It rushes and it slows, often letting the past creep into the present.

Having been forced into being inside today, I seem to be waxing poetic. Don't get me started on that, it will probably just confuse the both of us.

A tale of three tails
Dinga, Jesse & Mindy (Mike's dog)

August 21, 2011



Thunder clouds north if us on 8/10



Larry & Elsie's second batch of baby chicks



I woke up with such a feeling of relief yesterday morning - no more boards to screw into the deck! JB worked on planing and sanding the ends of the boards down to where they meet the center board. I was finally able to gather and cut more fire wood. I brought a load down from the south ridge, and cleaned out a pile near the grove that I had been wanting to get rid of since last summer. I took two wheel barrow loads of stick wood to the shed, then cut three more loads with my trusty 10" McCullough chain saw. I have to buy another 10' piece of ½" quarter round in order to finish my part on the deck - filling in the last little gap next to the house. Wish I had to use more cold tar. I love the consistency of it. Almost like a soft sculpting medium.


When I was done cutting the wood I had hauled, I helped JB in the shed. We assembled the last shelving unit, which he will use for dimensional wood. We got all the tarps put into a large plastic container so no pack rats can shred them into nests. And I brought all the dimensional wood scraps down to the shed. We now have only one more tarp covered unit outside! Looking less and less like one of those "You might be a Redneck if" definitions.


As with the solar panels, by building the deck we have created another winter chore - clearing off the snow. That will be my job and JB can continue to deal with the panels. At least I don't have to walk far to get to the deck. . .

According to NOAA, we are in for three or four very hot days, and at 5:00 am this morning it is still warm out there. I thought I might stay up after posting my blog so I could work outside while it is cool, then take a nap in the early afternoon when it is too hot, but it was uncomfortably warm last night and I couldn't sleep much, so that isn't going to happen. In the past week or so, we have woken up to 47 to 50 degrees. Had to put my robe on to go side outside with my coffee which is usually unheard of for August.  Won't need anything but my jammies this morning.

I think I mentioned that I have really gotten back to basics while living up here, and one of the things I use a lot more is baking soda. I add it to my laundry. I use it to scrub out the sinks, and my face. Last Fall I asked the doctor about a small red blotch I had on my cheek that had been there for a few years and seemed to be getting bigger. He gave me a prescription for an ointment, and after spending $28 it had absolutely no effect. A month or so later I started using baking soda as a facial scrub and within several weeks that red spot was gone. I have oily skin which can get very dirty working Up Here during the day. Scrubbing it with baking soda at night has proven to be the perfect solution to any clogged pores or sun spots.

There is a interesting article in the Sept/Oct issue of BackHome magazine about goats, including how they can get rid of noxious weeds.  It is entitled "Weed Control with Goats" by Heather Smith Thomas. We have been considering maybe getting a couple goats, and the comments from others have ranged from very positive to very negative. We're still thinking about it, so we'll see how we feel in the Spring. I'm pretty sure we'll be getting the chickens, but JB may not be able to build their coup this Fall.

In the same magazine, there is also an excellent article entitled, "The Art and Science of Splitting Firewood" by Stephen Gregersen. It's all about splitting wood by hand, which is for much younger folks than us (we'll use the splitter, thank you), but the last sentence is so very true: "The final perk is spending those cold, winter days in our off-grid cabin, reading a good book and basking in the warmth of the wood burning stove." Could not have said it better myself.

JB's brother who lives near Seattle is going to have two very large trees in his yard cut down next week, fir or spruce I think. We are going to take the wood, which should be about two cords. It will save us a lot of work as they will already be cut into 16" rounds, and it will save his brother money by not having to have it hauled away. The timing is excellent because we planned to go Down There on September 7 for JB's Mom's 90^th birthday, and we now can also pick up the wood. We'll stay the night and rent a big trailer in which to haul it back to Rose Camp.  Might have to make two trips. Of course the dogs with come with us, but will probably have to spend the night in the car.

I took photos of the yellow jacket nest we knocked off from under the eaves by the deck. It looks just like a bee hive inside, only with larva in the cells instead of honey. I much prefer honey.

Inside a yellow jacket nest

August 20, 2011



Pine Drops



Pine Drops up close



We screwed the last boards into the deck yesterday! Whoo Hoo!! I put globs of cold tar in before the last board, which had to be cut lengthwise in order to fit. A ½" round and some caulking will just perfectly take care of the small gap that is left.  I refuse to write any more comments on when this project might be completed.


Larry and Elsie visited Thursday night just to get away from doing anything else. Seems it had just been one of those days. The final straw came when they got home to find everything torn up inside. A chipmunk got into the house and their two dogs had chased it all over trying to catch it. After cleaning up the mess, Larry went to make the daily egg collection and dropped two on the ground making quite another mess. As Elsie was gathering vegetables out of the garden, their Beagle came over to her and spit out a dead chipmunk at her feet! "There. All taken care of."

Like ours, their two dogs are such characters. They keep us all laughing even in the worst of moments. Just can't picture life without them.

Last evening on our walk, I spotted three pine drop stalks. I usually have to go searching for them, but these were just a little ways off the road. I picked the tallest one, although maybe I should have let it dry where it grew. They are so different, and perfect for decorating. I have seen stalks grow anywhere from one to four feet high.  In the photos above, the stalk on the right is the new one I just picked and is almost four feet tall.  The one on the left is a dry one from last year.

There are a lot of other stalks around now also. Dry balsam root stalks with seed pods on the end are everywhere. Which reminds me of when my Aunt Nene visited us a couple years ago. It was the first day of August, and when she saw those dry stalks, she told the following story. When she and her cousin were in high school (in the late 1930's), they would sneak cigarettes from his Mother's purse. When his Mom realized what they were doing, they got a good scolding. So they would pick the dried balsam root stalks and smoke them! She warned us not to try it as it was very harsh on their throats. Not sure I would have tried it anyway. . .  What really cracked me up about this story is the dropped-jaw looks on the faces of Nene's son and daughter.  They had never heard it before and couldn't begin to imagine their Mother smoking!

The fire in Tumwater Canyon looks to be almost out, as there is very little smoke this morning. With our summer weather having finally arrived, so has the fire season.  Hope it can be kept to a minimum this year. 

Not much else to write about. I did all my ranting yesterday.

Screwing in the last boards!
(Don't know where that black smudge came from.)

August 19, 2011



Mullein by our front porch




Mullein blossoms

 

JB working on the deck

As I was on my way back to bed after my daily posting yesterday morning at 5:30 a.m., the smell of smoke was wafting in from our bedroom window. JB thought he had seen smoke the night before towards Leavenworth, but I wanted to check it out for sure. I put on my bathrobe, grabbed my gun, and headed out to both the south and north ridges with Dinga and Jesse in hot pursuit. The dogs were thrilled to be going on such an early walk. Me, not so much. I could see an exceptionally red sunrise in the making and the Wenatchee River Valley was full of smoke. Good. No threat to us. So back to bed it was. 

We were able to put in all the boards on the deck yesterday, except for the last 2-½ on each side! Of course even when all the boards are in, our project still will not be finished. JB needs to plane the decking where it meets the center board. The water should flow into the center, down that board, and off the deck. We will have to waterproof the seam where the wood meets the house and all along the center board. Then we get to seal the deck. Actually finishing this project is going to be anticlimactic. It will never make it into House Beautiful, but it is very solid and functional. We'll see how it's doing this time next year.

Larry and Elsie drove up to visit last night, bringing fresh blueberries and eggs.  They told us that the fire is a few miles up Tumwater Canyon, which ends in Leavenworth.  Seems that someone flipped out a cigarette while waiting for road construction.  What is it with these people?  So wound up in their own little lives that they are not aware of what they are doing and where they are! 
JB performed his annual shaving of his beard last night. Now I'm living with a stranger! Fortunately it doesn't take long to grow back.

In writing this blog, I have discovered that it is much easier for me to tell a story with photographs than writing about it. I can really appreciate the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  I am seriously thinking of switching to all pictures.

As the month goes by, the colors of the landscape are changing from green to brown in many places, although the north faces of most hills are still quite green. The yarrow is fading and the mullein is growing. It is a tall, one-stalk plant with large, soft leaves and pretty yellow blossoms on the top foot or so. I have seen it reach more than six feet high. It has a long history of use both in North America and Europe. In early Rome, people would cover the dry stalks in wax and use them for torches. The Wicca did the same on this continent. It is considered a noxious weed in hereabout, so I let the few plants around our house bloom but cut them down before they can go to seed.

The September issue of the National Geographic has a very interesting article on protecting houses from wild fires. In it they list four basic ways to protect your home: 1) Install class A-rated coverings on your roof. 2) Have duel-pane windows. 3) Keep gutters clean of combustible debris. 4) Remove dry, dead vegetation and prune over-hanging trees or branches. Is it just me, or are all those simply common sense? I don't understand why anyone would live in such an area and not automatically consider those basics. I guess you just can't fix stupid. I received a great e-mail a few weeks ago on the death of common sense. If you are interested, let me know and I will send it to you.

Very soon I am going to have to take time to make some birthday and other cards. We have been so busy that I don't think anyone has received a birthday card from us on time this year. So if you are reading this and are one of those who haven't received yours yet, don't worry. I haven't forgotten you.

We have another frog in our crawl space again. I don't even want to think how they get in there. It seems like we always had a basement when we lived Down There that would be home to crickets and the occasional frog. Never did figure out how they got there. Please don't tell me the answer is just common sense.  (I seem to be ranting a bit today, sorry about that.)

August 18, 2011



Sunset from deck on 8/15



Small part of big patch of asters



Tipi in which we spent a lot
of time "roughing it"

I am beginning to feel like one of the Keystone Cops. We installed ten more 12 ft boards yesterday morning - then ran out of caulk. I knew we were getting low, but did I buy more when we went Down There on Tuesday?? No! If I had a brain, I'd be dangerous. Our gas bill is going to be horrendous this month.

So, after I arrived home yesterday, it was once again too hot to do more work on the deck. (I had treated myself to a vanilla latte and a specialty loaf of bread at the Great Harvest Bread store to soften the blow of going Down There again - and it worked!) So, once again, we attacked the inside of the shop.  While I was gone, JB had built a rack hanging from the joists to hold long pieces of lumber. We moved the lumber in, and other shop items and found places for them. While taking things off the large, tarp covered shelves outside, we kept finding more dried mushrooms. Don't know where the pack rats crawled off to die though. Didn't find either one of them in their nests. 

So today, you guessed it, we will take that year's supply of caulking I bought yesterday and get another early start on the deck.  I would really like to change the subject, but afterall, this is a diary.

I am finding time to read a intriguing historical novel that takes place in the years between the first and second World Wars. It is The Hunt, by William Diehl published in 1990, and previously titled 27. Told against the backdrop of the events of that time, it demonstrates how easily a population can simply overlook and/or deny what is happening in their country, or someone else's. Very scary. Hmmm. Sounds a little like our current situation. Obviously not as dramatic as back then, but sometimes subtle can be even worse. I do believe that it is possible to have things too easy to care about political events and where they are taking us.

And speaking of having it easy, our deck is going to be wonderful for sitting out on and watching the sunsets. Even now I can just walk out on it in my stocking feet and take pictures, instead of having to put my shoes on to go out the front or side door and walking around on the dirt. I captured a stunning sunset the other evening that unfolded while I was writing my blog.

All the rose hips I see now on the bushes are already getting huge. By October when they are ripe I shouldn't have to pick as many as I did last year to get the poundage I want. I am definitely going to make more rose hip jam this Fall.

My daily blogs are certainly going to be shorter since I am down to our current status. It was great fun to relive the past three years as I was writing about it. I had almost forgotten so many of the events and challenges that we had experienced. Like almost a whole year of hand washing our laundry! As I was writing, I was thinking, "Oh My God! That's right!" Forgot it was so many months.

Because of the type of inverter we have, we still have to be careful about overloading the electrical system. Just this morning we had the water on, the fan on in the crawl space, the coffee maker on, and then I made toast which caused everything to shut down. As I mentioned before, we would like to get a larger capacity inverter at some point down the road. But it will have to be a straight and easy road that will allow us to save up for it.  Thank you, Wall Street.

As I was writing about my trip to California in May to visit my best friend, I began to doubt if my City Mind ever existed. Sandy is a city girl, born and bred in Chicago. I am a small town girl who, as an adult, has experienced living in big city suburbs (Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago). She has NEVER been camping. Her idea of roughing it is staying at the Hilton with slow room service. Whereas I feel like I have spent 1/4 of my life in a tent, cooking over an open fire or Coleman stove. Not only did my parents and I do a lot of camping when I was growing up, but JB and I have camped a lot also. And of course there is all the Rendezvousing we did. Talk about roughing it! So my City Mind was never as domesticated as many others may be. But I still have changed my attitude in many ways over the last three years. And, as they say, attitude is everything.

August 17, 2011



Jesse's Bull Snake



Pack Rat's mushroom stash



Inside JB's shop



I am beginning to think that we will still be working on the deck as the snow falls. The doctor changed one of JB's meds, so another trip had to be made Down There yesterday. Since we always want to make the most of any trip, we decided that we would all go for the drive and take the rest of the recycle with us. So we hitched up the trailer and loaded it with cardboard - a LOT of cardboard, and a bag of tin cans. The dogs were very excited to be going for a ride. Not JB. This was his third trip down in five days. At least there is room to move around in the garbage/recycle shed now.

As we were driving down the dirt road, we realized that some of the tin cans were falling out. We only put up three sides on the trailer and thought we had everything strapped down really well. Unfortunately, the bag of cans was not tightly closed. I tied it up and walked back a little ways to pick up the cans. When we were driving back home, we discovered several more cans, one every few hundred feet. Kind of like Hansel and Gretel with their trail of bread crumbs. Hopefully we found them all.

By the time we finished following the cans back home, it was just too hot to work out on the deck, so we focused on the inside of the shop. We finished installing the window, then moved JB's work bench in, along with a small shelving unit. We discovered the late pack rat's nest under the tarp on the work bench. There was a lovely little nest made out of a woven strap, with a month's worth of dried mushrooms, leaves and flowers, in amongst which was a nibbled-on piece of poison. Quite the foodie he was. But he had marked his home with big puddle of pee. So once we got the bench situated inside the shop, we poured bleach on top of it. As bad as bleach smells, it smells a lot better than pack rat pee.

And speaking of odors, we haven't smelled the skunks for a few days now, so maybe the little pests really have moved on. We did see what JB thought were cat tracks on the road going down yesterday morning though. Very big cat tracks.

We plan to install at least 14 pieces of decking today. It is going to be a little tricky when we get to the wall of the house, as the deck will be a little too high to slip in under the metal siding. Had we known we were going to put in sleepers, we could have hung the joists a little lower. At this point, we plan to put a thick, wide strip of cold tar along where the wood meets the metal. It won't be pretty, but it will be functional. Next summer I would like to build a bench running the length of the deck against the house, that should hide the tar and shelter the seam a bit. In fact, I would love to have a bench all the way around as part of the railing.

When we were working on the deck on Saturday, I heard Jesse barking and could see him on the path going up to the south ridge. He was just standing there barking at something on the ground. My first thought was - snake. So I grabbed my gun and ran over to him. Jesse is our "snake dog." We had only had him about a week when, on one of our walks, he jumped straight up, did a 180 mid-air and hit the ground running. He had come across a rattle snake. That same thing happened a few weeks later. As it turned out, what he had found this time was a big bull snake. Interesting that Jesse knew it wasn't dangerous. It was just lying in the path ignoring him. I got my camera out and the snake immediately reacted to me by hissing, shaking its tail like a rattler, and partially coiling. Even though I knew it was a bull snake, that hissing and weaving back and forth like a cobra really freaked me out. I did get some good pictures of it though, then took a stick and put it way off the path so the dogs wouldn't bother it.

Mama wren and her family moved out early yesterday morning before we could say goodbye. So, once again, our front yard is quiet, with just the humming birds and nuthatches, but no frantic activity. Just a lazy August, at least for them.