Aug 9, 2013 Baby Wrens

More park to the north of the house.

Wednesday 8/7. By the time we ate breakfast and got outside to work, that welcome breeze had disappeared.  There was little, if no, air movement and it was warming up quickly.  

We drove down to the end of the driveway to cut some large, downed trees but when we hiked up to them, the chainsaw would not start.  We figured out later that it just needed to sit a while, as I had carried it up on its side.  Oh well, live and learn.  And we certainly are learning Up Here.  We ended up pulling out several more but smaller downed trees, and I hand sawed several more smaller ones with JB's new saw.

By the time we quit for lunch, we both had sweat running down into every crack and crevice.  Not comfortable. . .

After lunch and a short nap, JB mowed to the north of the house by the tipi, adding to our park.  I looked for hidden rocks and logs.  What a difference!

By dinner time I was starting to feel pretty crappy, like I was coming down with something.  We watched the last two episodes of "The Closer."  I guess I didn't have it all figured out but we both loved the ending.  Now we can hardly wait to start watching "Major Crimes."

Larry and Elsie drove up with fresh eggs and blueberries for us in anticipation of our son's visit, and to pick up Elsie's ATV.  We had a nice visit and gave Larry his birthday present, which he didn't have to receive in front of a crowd because we did not have our Rose Camp BBQ this year.  It was a door mat that says: Welcome!  I hope you brought beer.

Thursday 8/8.  The day began with a few clouds, 63 degrees and a breeze that stuck around a little longer this morning.  It was gone by noon though.

I woke up with a sore throat and indeed feeling crappy.  So I had the choice of staying inside; doing nothing; and feeling crappy, or going outside; doing light work; and feeling crappy.  I chose the latter.

There was a lot of chittering going on outside and we discovered that the baby wrens were out of the nest!  The first time we ever had the opportunity to see some.  Mama wren was watching over them as they flew in and out of the nest, which is 14" high under the eaves.  They are so cute!

We pulled out three old but good logs from the area between the tipi and the driveway.  Then I went inside for breakfast while JB mowed up on the south ridge, re-mowing the road and widening it.  I had a fresh blueberry and banana smoothie which would have been the perfect start to the day if I hadn't been feeling so bad.  It was so good!

I am reading Jeffrey Deaver's novel, The Broken Window, which is a Lincoln Rhyme book.  It is about data mining and is pretty scary, like 1984.

After lunch, it suddenly occurred to me that there was no chirping outside.  It was eerily quiet.  Mama and the babies were gone.  At least we finally got to see the babies this year before they left.

I got outside again to do some more light work, but it was really too muggy to do much more than load up the wheel barrow with small sticks from where JB had mowed by the tipi.

About dinner time, JB smelled smoke and sure enough there was a smokey haze from the north.  He checked on the computer and there is a small fire west of Leavenworth.  Because there is no air movement, the smoke is just filling up the valley and canyons.

We spent the evening on the porch, enjoying a very slight breeze.  Our high for the day was 77.

Friday 8/9.  It is 65 this morning with a few thin clouds.  We will probably attack that area at the end of the driveway again this morning.  I am feeling a little better, thank goodness.

Thought for the day:  Most of us lead far more meaningful lives than we know.  Often finding meaning is not about doing things differently; it is about seeing familiar things in new ways.  Rachel Naomi Remen