October 3, 2011



October in full bloom



Close up of some of Fall colors



Sunday is my "forced" day of rest, per JB. No manual labor. So I spent most of the morning sorting the last three small boxes of financial records and then shredding them. Three bags of paper later, I decided it was time for lunch and a change of pace. JB was out in his shop having fun while I was in the loft getting really, really bored.


Took a break for lunch and reading my book, then headed out with the dogs for a hike. Followed a deer trail up the east slope and found where the deer were going over the fence into our neighbor's land. The barbed wire between two posts had grown into a tree and that tree had fallen down, probably during the winter, so the fence is actually lying on the ground. Will have to tell them about that.  The fence doesn't have to be down for the deer to go over.  They will just jump it.  The bears will just walk over or through it, literally.  I turned down another trail which led back down to our driveway, and stopped about 15 feet short of the road after hearing a "buzzing" sound. Sure enough, there was a small rattle snake coiled in the middle of the trail. It was only 50 degrees out so he wasn't moving fast. I simply put the point of my walking stick on his head and skewered him with it.  Didn't want to waste snake shot and have to clean my gun. Unfortunately these snakes don't stop moving when they are dead. I walked back to the house with it writhing on the end of my stick.  The dogs, especially Jesse, wouldn't come anywhere near it. It was only about 14 inches long and the rattles weren't really worth keeping, but I cut them off anyway. Got a good photo of the snake before I did that. (See below.)  Completely forgot to take one before I skewered it.

After that bit of excitement, the dogs and I headed out for a longer hike down the road. No other wild life was sighted, only their aftermath - rocks and logs that had been overturned by bears looking for grubs. But I did get some good pictures of our Fall landscape. Instead of small patches of color, now the mountain sides are in full Autumn bloom. So brilliant against all the evergreen trees. When we arrived back home, it was dinner time for the dogs. And then it was time for me to start the big pot of chicken broth for them that I use to put on their dry food. I use chicken thighs, carrots, onions, garlic and a salt-free seasoning mixture. When it's all cooked and cooled, I take the chicken meat off the bones; mix it all up; and freeze it in seven or eight containers. They get two tablespoons of broth and some small pieces of chicken on their dry food for both meals.  Sometimes they get an egg and/or bacon grease with their breakfast.

Now that it is October, Leavenworth's Oktoberfest is in full swing for this last weekend and the next two. We have been so busy building Rose Camp for the past three years that we haven't taken the time to check out the surrounding area, except for a couple county fairs. This year we want to get to Oktoberfest, so hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can go during one of the upcoming weekends.

JB's fried green tomatoes were a success for dinner last night. We both thought they were pretty good, although we probably wouldn't go out of our way to make them again. At least they didn't make me cry like the movie did.

Second rattler of the year
(skewered on my walking stick)