Then: March 2011 Now: August 12, 2011




Spring Down There, Winter Up Here, 3/15/11

 




Is Spring on its way? 3-31-11

Then: March 2011

Weather wise, the whole month of March was like a typical February. We had a couple feet of snow most of the time and it did not start to melt until the very last day. Most of the winter JB was going Down There about every three weeks. We were grooming the road after every snow fall, which is really quite enjoyable since the weather is still in the 20's. No minus 10 like it was in 2008. I think the coldest day was 12 degrees.

I was getting anxious to be able to start trimming trees though. Usually I can do that about the third week in March, but not this year. NOAA and others had predicted a long winter. Looks like they were right. Although by mid-month there was no snow left in the valleys and in town.

So this year March was much like the rest of winter, only I think I read a lot more books this time around. Same with JB. We tried new recipes for stews and soups. We have also learned to substitute Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free flour for regular flour in any recipe. So of course we have to try all our favorite cookies and quick breads. The new snow blower has reduced our time and effort in clearing the snow. I only have to shovel around back where I need to get to the fire wood. And also in front of the door to the garbage/recycle shed. I have to shovel a lot more often there as the snow slides off the metal roof right in front of the door. If it melts and freezes, it's a real pain to chip it out. We really should have put the door on the side of the shed, not the end of it.

At last on the 31^st we woke up to melting snow. It has officially been Spring for 10 days now, but this is the first hint that the weather Up Here may be reacting to that fact.

Now: August 12, 2011

Well, maybe it will be safe to say that we will be done with the deck by the end of the month (definitely not the week). Turns out we need longer screws. We have 3-1/2" and we need 4". JB has to go Down There today for a follow-up dentist appointment, so he can add them to the other items on his list.

We discovered a big yellow jacket nest under the eaves by the deck a few days ago. JB sprayed it each morning for a couple of days and all the critters are dead. There was also one in the battery room several weeks ago. So they are back. We just have to keep them under control. We will get some traps hung in a wide perimeter around the house.

Mike was up for most of the day and helped us lift some of the decking up on the shop roof and put chalk lines on the sleepers that will help us get the screws in the right place. After we realized that we couldn't go any further, it was lunch time. When our break was over, JB worked on getting the window installed in the shop. Mike and I went for a short ride on Elsie's ATV, then hiked up to the south peak. We helped JB with the final stages of the window installation, and by then RJ was back to pick up Mike. RJ had been to town to buy the last of the pavers for his kitchen floor and then installed them. They will both be back up tomorrow afternoon for cards and dinner. Mike is going to ride with me down to Larry and Elsie's to do all the watering and feed the chickens, which we will do before dinner.

And speaking of the pack rat (I think I was yesterday), I was reminded of a story that my Aunt Nene told about my Grandmother. When they were living on the ranch in Spokane Valley, my Grandmother was the teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. She had a suit with buttons on the jacket that had a shiny glass diamond in the middle of each button. One evening she hung the jacket on a kitchen chair for the night and when she got up in the morning, all the buttons were gone! The family joked about having a ghost in the house. It was quite a mystery until a few months later they discovered a pack rat nest outside and in it were all of Grandma's buttons.