Jan 31, 2014 Notes on Solar Power

Our sign on the main canyon road.

Wednesday 1/29.  Happy Birthday, Elsie!!  Mother Nature gave Elsie a soft, white blanket of snow in celebration of her special day.  We awoke to 17 degrees and 4-1/2" of snow.  More fell off and on during the afternoon, each time chasing the fog away.  And the sun was able to break through a few times.

JB had to clean the panels first thing, then he shoveled pathways after breakfast.  I stayed inside to wash the dishes and do the laundry.  

I absolutely have to finish Dance With Dragons so I can get on with my life!  Took breaks to start making valentines.

So nice to see snow falling again.  This is more like winter.

Thursday 1/30.  It was 23, overcast and breezy this morning with another 1/2" of snow.  After morning chores, we decided that after lunch we would drive MAX down to our sign on the main canyon road, where our road branches off.  It was a great ride, although with the breeze we often found ourselves driving through small flurries as the snow blew off the trees.  The dogs thoroughly enjoyed themselves, running at least six miles to our three.  Even with this new snow, we should be able to drive JB's Jeep down the road.

I was finally able to finish my book late this afternoon.  Only problem is, now I have to wait for the next one.  T'is an enchanting world in which to immerse oneself.

The overcast skies broke into patches of blue in the afternoon, and the sun's rays scampered over the south ridge and down into Rose Camp.  Such a great winter day!

I have had some questions regarding our solar power system.  We have a bank of twelve GEL/AGM batteries, which are good for being in a non-heated shed but are a bit more pricey than regular batteries.  Fortunately, we were able to purchase used ones.  We have four solar panels mounted on one large pole.  And we have a non-standard sine wave inverter, which produces "dirty" power.  At the time we purchased it we had just lost more than 60% of our savings in the great Wall Street fiasco of 2008, so we really could not afford the standard one that was almost twice as expensive.  We also have the necessary charge controller.  This set-up gives us all the electricity we need for our home, but because of the type of inverter, we have to use the propane generator to run the clothes washer and well pump, and we cannot charge batteries for tools or even flashlights.  We charge them using the JB's shop generator.  On a really cloudy or foggy day, we also use the generator when we wash the dishes, for the cistern water pump, and that gives us enough of a charge for everything else.  Otherwise there is plenty of power for our lights, computers, printer, TV and microwave.  We do hope to one day be able to afford a standard inverter.  Larry and Elsie, however, have 14 solar panels with a standard sine wave inverter, and can run a small village!  Elsie has an electric refrigerator, washer and dryer, garbage compactor, and dishwasher (which she only uses in the summer), in addition to lights, computers, water pumps, etc.  And Larry has a shop full of electric tools.  But in the late fall and early winter, when the sun goes so far south and does not reach into the canyon where they live for more than a couple hours a day, they need to use their generator for an hour or so in the evening to power up their batteries.  JB says that Home Power Magazine is an excellent source of information on solar power and the various systems.

Friday 1/31. This morning is 16 with a heavy overcast and more snow predicted, and the valley fog is creeping up from the valley into the canyons.

Thought for the day: Dogs are like furry little life-teachers; they are the goofiest looking gurus.  They remind us that the true joys in life are happiness, love, affection and, of course, food.  And let's face it, they are right. Lucy Schwartz

Jan 29, 2014 Rime, Rhyme and. . . Snow!

Rime on Rose Camp -
 lizard.

Rime on Rose Camp - branches.

Rime on Rose Camp -
clothes line.

Rime on Rose Camp - everywhere!

Finally - snow, 4-1/2" this morning.

Rhyme on Rose Camp

Rime & fog on Rose Camp mine
White as snow but crystal light.
A dreamscape, a land of lacy ice,
A cold but beautiful sight.

Crystals form on every surface
As frozen fog creeps in to spite
The sun so far above,
Shielded from us by clouds & night.

My Grandmother was a poet,
But I am not & don't I know it!

Jan 27, 2014 Girls Rule!

Rimed landscape on the south ridge.

JB on our north ridge towards the end
of our walk on Sunday.

Friday 1/24. The fog in the canyon to the south was very persistent in attempting to creep up over the ridge and down into Rose Camp, but the sun beat it back at each attempt, and only a few light fingers of fog managed to rime the grass and trees around us more.

Finally able to do the laundry and dishes at the same time!  Woo hoo!  After that I had to get outside, so the dogs and I spent more than an hour on the south ridge and east slope.  I gathered a couple armloads of kindling and took them to the wood shed.  The dogs love it when one or both of us is outside, regardless of what we are doing.

On Thursday we had strung the wire for the radio from the loft down to my desk in the great room.  So much handier to have the radio there.  But today I was forced to sort through the pile of papers I had sitting on my desk.  I really need to get into the habit of filing things as soon as I have them.  There were items from 2011 in that pile. . .

JB was home by 3:00.  He still had the loaner SUV, which he parked at Larry & Elsie's, as the computer at the shop found that the reason the engine light came on in my Jeep was because of "misfiring".  They hadn't been able to make it happen again and the spark plugs seemed to be fine.  They will do some more testing and if the light doesn't come on again, we'll just get the Jeep back.  I know that engine lights can be very fickle, but I don't want to ignore it.

Saturday 1/25.  We stayed up late watching "Zero Dark Thirty" last night, which kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, so I slept in til 9:00 am today.  It was 12 degrees with fog when JB got up at 8:00 am, and we were fogged in the whole day with a high of 17.

It was a good day for reading the newspapers, magazines and mail.  JB worked some on my old computer, trying to clean it up, but that may be a lost cause.

We had an evening of "marbles" planned at Larry & Elsie's, so we left about 6:30 pm to drive down to their place.  The further down we got, the thicker the rime became, until we were in a scene right out of "Dr. Zhivago."  I felt like we should be riding in a horse-drawn sleigh.  It was phenomenal, and words simply fail me when it comes to describing it.  A dreamscape.  The trees sparkled in our headlights.  It was as if some giant had come through and over-flocked everything for Christmas.  Absolutely amazing!  And we saw a rabbit in its winter white, something I had never seen before.  On top of that we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.  Girls beat the guys best two out of three games!!

The temperature at their place was 25 when we left and at Rose Camp it was 11.  Most of the fog had cleared out by then, but cold is cold.

Sunday 1/26.  Clear sky and valley fog this morning with a temperature of 12.  The fog quickly moved in though, until the sun began to burn it off around noon, the rime glistening in its rays.  Even with a sunny afternoon, our high was only 20 - and that was at 9:00 pm.

Another day to sleep in, for me at least.  JB got up with the dogs at 7:00 am, which was fortunate, as our son called at 7:30 am on his way home from picking up our granddaughter at a big sleep-over for the girls in her private school's class.  JB got to talk to her and hear all about it.  Both our son's children go to private school.  Jake says if you live in Alabama and can afford it, you definitely send your kids to private school.

And speaking of weird winter weather, Jake says Mobile, AL, was been warned of a possible two inches of snow on Tuesday, with more than a foot in Georgia!

Monday 1/27. It is foggy and 16 this morning.  There is snow in the forecast for this week.  I can only hope that NOAA is right this time.

Thought for the day: On the road of life, meet people where they are.  Accept who they are. . . And there are some folks that you need to leave where they are and keep walking. Dennis Linn

Jan 24, 2014 Victory Dance!

A lake of fog, with islands, to our south.

Wednesday 1/22. The skies were clear first thing, but the clouds moved in slowly and by 3:00 pm it was overcast.  Our high for the day was 28.

We did a load of laundry and the dishes and a little water backed up into the bath tub.  So JB snaked the pipe in reverse - from the septic tank.  He found the problem about five feet in and soon the clog and water came rushing in.  Now it's time for a victory dance!

On top of that, Dinga's leg seems to be back to normal.  She's not limping at all any more.

I started another book that JB gave to me for Christmas, George Martin's fifth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance of Dragons.  It is much thicker than the other, 959 pages, in a large paperback the size of a hardback.  

It took a while to sink in, that the pipe was finally clear.  What a weight off our shoulders!  I feel like I can finally get to other projects.  I haven't even been on the computer for Facebook and email much at all.

There was an article in yesterday's paper that Elsie emailed to me about the wolves.  They are back, in the same place they were last Spring, and were sighted by a deer carcass.  Probably not much to worry about as there is plenty of wildlife for them.  Nevertheless, we will be packing, as usual.

It was Downton Abbey night, and I am so tempted to watch two episodes but we want to make it last as long as possible.  Boy, are we hooked!

Thursday 1/23.  It was 24 with clear skies and low valley fog.  Looks like Larry and Elsie had some sun today.

Before lunch we covered the septic tank back up.  I broke up the chunks of clay with the pick ax and JB shoveled it all back where it belonged.  Then I brought in wood, and that was it for the day for me outside.  The antibiotics are upsetting my stomach a bit.  At least tomorrow is my last day on them.

I baked a banana coffee cake and read my book.  This is not a book that I can read for a few minutes here and there, I need at least a half an hour.  And it's going to take me weeks, not days, to finish it.

We are trying to determine where to put the outside part of the weather station that our son gave us for Christmas.  It needs to be on a pole with nothing over it and can be up to 300 feet from the house.  We don't need to put it that far away, but because of the metal siding, we may need a clear line of sight to the receiver.  Going to test that out.

When Larry checked in on the radio this evening, he said they had indeed got a lot of sun.  Their solar panels pulled in enough power so that they didn't have to run their generator this evening.  They usually do in the weeks that the sun is at it's most southern point as they are in the canyon and the sun doesn't shine down there for more than a couple hours during the day.  And, of course, with all the fog they've been having. . .

Friday 1/24.  JB left for Down There a few minutes after 8:00 am, going very slowly.  He called me on the radio when he got to our sign on the main canyon road.  That was pretty cool.

Thought for the day: The state remains, as it was in the beginning, the common enemy of all well-disposed, industrious and decent men. Upton Sinclair

Jan 22, 2014 Fogged In

Sun off the south ridge trying to break
through the fog.

Rimed grass.

Monday 1/20.  JB had baked blueberry scones yesterday, so I had one for breakfast.  Just nothing better than a warm scone with puddles of melted butter on it.

We did a load of laundry in the morning - and nothing backed up!  To test it further, I took a shower in the late afternoon.  Still nothing!  Maybe the problem was just a bad clog that we finally got rid of.  We are going to start using water as usual to see if, in fact, that was it.  No victory dance yet. . .

The day was clear and the solar panels were sucking in a lot of power, so I finally vacuumed.  Also sliced up a ham that we bought last Tuesday and vacuum-sealed packages for the freezer.  Then I defrosted both the fridge and freezer.  Even had plenty of time to finish my book.

JB has the short-wave radio up and running, so every evening at about 7:00 pm he talks to Larry.  We all have our own handles and don't mention names of people or nearby places.  Sure saves on the cell phone minutes.  Larry said they never saw the sun today.  Their high temperature was only 26 and everything at their place is covered with a thick layer of rime.  Even with the sun, our high for the day was only 27.

Tuesday 1/21.  It was a cold 12 degrees this morning with some clouds and high valley fog that soon crept up and surrounded us.  The sun couldn't burn it off today so we remained fogbound until about 4:00 pm when it started to sink back down again, leaving a rime-covered Rose Camp.  Our high for the day was only 17.

JB wanted to open the small cover in the septic tank so he could watch how fast the water comes in when I flush the toilet, but he couldn't get it out by himself.  The tractor had a low front tire that he didn't want to deal with in the morning, so we did the morning flush and washed the dishes.  After lunch he filled the tire and will try to check the water in the tank tomorrow.

Being engulfed in the fog makes the low temperature seem even colder, so we cut both morning and afternoon walks in half.  Spent a busy day inside.  Read the Feb-Mar issue of Mary Jane's Farm magazine, which really can't be done in one sitting.  There is a very interesting article on breast cancer and bras.  It seems that wearing a bra "can constrict and interfere with circulation.  Lymph fluid cannot easily drain from a bra-constricted breast. . . stagnant lymph fluid cannot be adequately flushed away, concentrating waste products and toxins in the slowly toxifying breasts.  Ultimately, this can lead to cancer."  Certainly the perfect reason to whip mine off.  My, that feels better.

JB is going Down There on Friday, which is much earlier than we had planned, but he needs a refill on his meds.  The engine light had come on in my Jeep when we went to town last Tuesday, so I called to see if he can drop it off at the garage and get a loaner.  They will let me know tomorrow if they will have a loaner available, otherwise he may have to postpone til Monday.

Wednesday 1/22.  Blue sky and 20 this morning.  The valley fog is much lower than it was the past few days and the trees in the canyon are white with rime.

Thought for the day: You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.  Knowing is not enough!  You must take action.  Anthony Robbins

Jan 20, 2014 Frozen Clay & Aching Muscles

After 3 hours of chipping away.  Okay, 20 minutes.
It only seems like 3 hours.

My, what a lovely odor you've
discovered!

Friday 1/17.  Read magazines with my morning coffee.  Birds & Blooms and Home Power.  Actually I just skim Home Power and read Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze's article in the back.

We were out to start digging a little before 10:00 am.  And, as you can see by the photo above, it was very slow going in the frozen clay.  We worked till 11:30 then went in for lunch.  At 1:00 pm we trudged out again to chop on the clay some more.  After almost four hours we didn't seem to have much to show for all our effort.  We were able to open the little top to the second section and everything seems to be working fine in there.  As Han said in Star Wars, "My what a lovely odor you've discovered!"

It was definitely an ibuprofen night. . .

Saturday 1/18.  This morning dawned with a mostly light overcast, valley fog and 20 degrees.  Just couldn't get going as early as I had wanted to.  We are both sore, to say the least.  Got outside about 9:30 and worked a couple hours.

The fog tried to sneak up to Rose Camp around noon, but the sun had broken through the overcast and would have none of that.  Our high for the day was 26.

After chipping on the dirt for another four hours today, we finally found the inbound pipe.  It seems to be fine, with no leaking.  JB had to use the tractor to lift up the small top.  A little muddy water was was coming in the pipe and that side of the tank look okay also.   We will take tomorrow off, and on Monday I'll go down under the house and dig around with my trusty spade to see if anything is leaking there.  With the ground so frozen, we may just have to wait til Spring to figure this out as it looks like most of the water going down the pipe is getting into the tank.

Sunday 1/19.  It is 27 and overcast this morning with high valley fog.  As I said, we are taking today off.  Even if we hadn't planned to, our muscles would demand it.  With no sun to burn it off, the fog moved in from the canyon to the south about 11:30 am and stayed til mid afternoon.

Was so nice to just relax with my book after JB's yummy breakfast of eggs, polenta and toast.  We did the dishes late and then I had a burst of energy.  Must have been because I felt so much better after taking some ibuprofen.  So we moved a couple wood chests and an end table around in the great room, which I had been wanting to do for several months.  Makes it look bigger and I really like the change.  

Around 4:30, Larry drove up with our new neighbor from the canyon.  He is on the other side of the gate and not off the grid, and Larry was giving him the grand tour.  Was nice to have visitors.

Today is the one-year anniversary of my Uncle Jack's passing.  There are some things in life where time simply has no meaning  I can only hope that the Seahawks' game helps to distract my Aunt Nene.  I tried calling, but she wasn't home. 

Monday 1/20.  The sun is shining in a clear blue sky this morning and it is a chilly 22.  Not looking forward to climbing under the house, but that's just the way it goes Up Here.

Thought for the day: Trust yourself.  You know more than you think you do.  Benjamin Spock   

Jan 17, 2014 Discouragement Is Setting In. . .

Valley fog this morning.

Wednesday 1/15.  After we washed the dishes JB drove MAX up to Erno's to give the dogs a nice long morning walk.  Halfway down, Jesse went off somewhere on his own and came walking up the driveway about ten minutes after JB and Dinga had returned.  He wouldn't have stayed away too long as he knows they get a treat after their morning walk.

After lunch we snaked the pipe again.  I crawled under the house to listen and be sure the snake got all the way down, and it it.  Was so much easier using JB's knee pads.  

By the time we were done, it was too late to do laundry so we will do that tomorrow and hope the pipe is clear.  Sorted through all the junk mail, chucking most of it.  Read the papers, and will start on the magazines tomorrow.

Am already feeling a little better now that I am on the antibiotic for my sinus infection.

Watched another couple episodes of Duck Dynasty.  What a hoot!

Thursday 1/16.  It was 28 with clear skies this morning.  Enjoyed some magazines with my coffee.  There is a very interesting interview with Maria Shriver in the AARP magazine.

Did my lingerie in my hand washer, then put them in the washer for rinse and spin.  And watched the bathtub fill with about 3" of dirty water (not from my laundry). . .  I think I have bad water karma.  Almost every house I have lived in has had water leakage problems, whether there was a basement or not.  I am not a water person.  Don't like being in or on the water.  Maybe I have to make my peace with water somehow.  Anyway, first thing tomorrow morning we are going out and dig down where the pipe meets the septic tank.  All we can think of is that the pipe broke or became disconnected, like what happened to the cistern.  I really am starting to get discouraged now.

This evening we started watching the first season of Longmire, and enjoyed it very much.

Friday 1/17.  It is 23 with clear skies and valley fog that is trying to move up and engulf us.  A few minutes after I took the picture above, I could barely see out the window.  Am not looking forward to our day. . .

Thought for the day: Sometimes you're the windshield.  Sometimes you're the bug.

Jan 15, 2014 A Venture Down There

The snow ends here.

Dinga playing in the snow.

Monday 1/13.  I wrote letters, ran copies of genealogy charts for Nene and got the mail all ready to send tomorrow.  Also worked some more on the computer with my genealogy files, but my old one is so very slow.  JB is still taking programs off but that is very time consuming.  

I enjoyed Shadow of Night so much that I am now re-reading the book that comes before it, A Discovery of Witches, both by Deborah Harkness.  These are not books that I simply read, but rather immerse myself.

I brought in firewood and we all went for our afternoon walk.  Our high for the day was 38 so I hardly even needed a coat.  I actually took it off towards the end of the walk, even though a breeze rustled through the trees all day.  It will take more than one warm, sunny day to melt all this snow and ice.

I set the alarm when I went to bed.  Something I haven't had to do for more than a month.

Tuesday 1/14.  Some horrible sound intruded into my dreams early this morning and while I was trying to figure out what it was, I heard a disembodied voice say, "Are you going to turn the alarm off?"  The alarm?  Aha!  So it wasn't a cougar screaming outside our window.

Getting up at 7:00 am is not my idea of a good time, but we wanted to leave no later than 9:00 am for Down There.  We actually left a few minutes before and JB drove very slowly.  The ice had started turning soft so our journey was quite safe.  That was only one place where the road was covered in a solid sheet of ice, but it was flat there so no problem.

We accomplished everything we wanted to and my doctor's appointment was a success.  My arm on which she had removed a small skin cancer three months ago was doing just fine, and, as I suspected, I do have a low grade sinus infection for which she gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  Should be feeling much better pretty soon.

It felt more like Spring Down There.  Their high was 54 which is 20 degrees above average.  Our high was 38.

This is our sixth winter Up Here and the first time we have been able to drive down the road in mid January in the Jeep.  Since we did, I bought more than I normally would have had we taken MAX.  We got all the groceries put away, with JB noting them on our inventory list as I put them in the pantry.  Now there is three weeks of mail to go through.

We received the short wave (CB) radio and JB will get it all hooked up soon.  Our "lightening rod" is well grounded, which is more than I can say for some people I know.

Wednesday 1/15.  It is still 38 outside this morning with mostly cloudy skies.  I had hoped to take the day off, but JB seems to have it all planned out for us: dishes, snake the pipe again, then do a load of wash.  Today I will be under the house - with knee pads on - while JB snakes so I can tell just how far the snake actually gets.  Fine.  In return, I am taking the next two days off.

Thought for the day:  We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend to much.  Ronald Reagan

Jan 13, 2014 Finally - Snow!

Our porch Sunday morning.

Deep, sculpted snow by the woodshed.

Friday 1/10.  It was 28 and mostly cloudy this morning.  The wind took all day to calm into a light breeze, then completely disappeared by sunset.  Our high for the day was 35.

After getting up at 8:00 am with only 3-4 hours of sleep, I posted my blog; fed the dogs; talked to Sandy; and was snuggled back in bed by 9:30 am for a couple of hours.  Then I was finally ready to face the day. . . or what was left of it.

JB worked on my old computer, taking a lot of programs off of it, as I want to use it strictly for genealogy.  I worked on getting my genealogy files organized and little bits of information where they belonged.

We watched Django Unchained this evening, which was a bloody, Tarantino hoot!  When it was over, we realized snow had been falling for a while.  Big, beautiful flakes.

Saturday 1/11.  Sometime during the night the snow flakes had turned into rain drops.  The ground was mostly brown.  The wind had picked up again and it was 29 degrees.  All the ice (which I had hoped had melted with the rain) was still out there, and the sky was mostly clear and sunny.  I have to remember that the first few weeks of January are usually like this, only there is often much more snow on the ground to begin with.

I worked on my genealogy, both on the computer and organizing my papers.  I tend to get immersed in memories when I do this and nothing else gets done.

Dark clouds moved in and by 1:00 pm tiny hail began falling just after JB and the dogs left for a hike down our driveway to check the status of the road.  Within 15 minutes the tiny balls of ice turned to tiny snow flakes being blown about by the wind.  By sunset the flakes had grown and were really stacking up on the ground and trees.  The wind had picked up later in the afternoon and by bedtime we had 3" of snow on the porch.  JB had to really push to get the door open.  Our high for the day was 29.

Sunday 1/12.  We awoke to 6" of snow, 22 degrees and a mostly clear sky.  The wind was still howling and the southwest side of all the tree trunks were white.  Our porch and everything on it are white.  Lots of work to do today.

JB was out of bed at 7:30 am, having to get dressed right away and go clean off the panels.  The wind had taken care of most of that, but then he shoveled a path to the outhouse.  It is a wet snow, so it sticks much better to the ice, but we still had to be careful.  He could hear the avalanche control canon booming on Mission Ridge.  Jesse must have heard it too, as he did not want to go out of the house with them.  In looking around, we obviously were on the north side of the storm.  I don't think Larry and Elsie got any snow!

After washing the dishes, we started up MAX and JB drove us down to our rope gate that we put across the road during hunting season.  It's about 1/2 mile from the house.  The dogs had a great time.

After lunch JB drove all the way down to the main canyon road by himself to check it out and flatten the snow.  Someone had already plowed that road, but we can still take MAX down, hopefully all the way to Larry and Elsie's on Tuesday.  It will all depend on whether or not we can get from their house to the pavement without chains and what the weather is like between now and then.

The wind blew most of the day, still sculpting the snow.  In some places it comes almost up to our knees, especially around the woodshed.

Larry and Elsie drove up for a visit this evening and had a very nice visit.  Hadn't seen them since New Year's Eve.  They only received a dusting of snow and it had been in the low 40's at their place today.  They have been able to drive to the pavement without chains for a couple days now.  Our high was 32 which came at 9:30 pm.  Between that and the wind, don't know if we'll have any snow left in the morning. . .

Monday 1/13.  It is still 32 this morning and much of the deep snow is gone but the ground is still mostly white.  Looks like we'll be taking JB's Jeep down the mountain tomorrow instead of MAX.

Thought for the day: If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.  Milton Friedman

Jan 10, 2014 January Chinook Has Arrived!

Rose Camp is, barely, white again.

Wednesday 1/8.  Valley fog crept up to engulf us about 10:00 am.  We saw the errant snowflake or two off and on during the morning but remained socked in with fog.  

We snaked the sewer pipe again, trying to do a better job.  Then we did the dishes.  Had a lot of them to do and there was no gurgling or backing up of the water.  We'll find out for sure tomorrow when we do laundry if it worked or not.

Dinga has been favoring her bad back leg the past few days.  It is very stiff when she has been immobile for a while, and she walks on three legs when she gets up.  Once she is up and walking for a few minutes, she only limps occasionally.  She may have slipped on the ice and strained it.

I mentioned how living life Up Here can change a person.  My attitude towards friends and family changed so that those who count became more dear and those who didn't really were easier to let go.  I am no longer floundering in a world where I do not belong.  By realizing my natural self, I have found a new sense of self-confidence and self-worth.

As we left for our afternoon walk, tiny snowflakes began lightly falling.  By the time we arrived back at the house, they were coming at a steady rate.  The high for the day was 18.

Thursday 1/9.  Our January Chinook arrived and howled most of the night, and blew all the snow and rime off the trees.  We received another 1/4" of snow (we think - hard to tell with all the wind) and the temperature had warmed to 22.

When JB hiked up to see if the solar panels needed to be cleaned (which they didn't), he found two sets of cat prints - one large, one small.  He tracked them down to the garden where they went over the ridge.  Okay, I really need to be more diligent about remembering to carry my gun. . .
We did a load of laundry and nothing backed up into the bathtub.  Thank goodness!  Now I just have to scrub it out.

JB worked most of the day on trying to find my genealogy files that have been missing on my old computer since August.  He finally figured out how to access them, so I don't have to begin all over again.  Hooray!!  I spent most of the afternoon on my sister-in-law's Ancestry.com account looking for details and dates.  I really am going to have to join this site.

I also read a lot more of another book JB gave me for Christmas that I started yesterday, Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness which is the second book in the All Souls Trilogy.  So very, very well done.

Snow began trying to fall around 2:00 pm and finally got serious about it when we went on our afternoon walk.  Much larger flakes than yesterday.  We probably received another 1/4" by the time it stopped around 4:00 pm.  Our high for the day was 25.

Friday 1/10.  None of us slept much during the night with the wind howling even stronger than it did the night before.  Dinga spent most of the night on our bed.  Even now as I write, it hasn't blown itself out.  Very strong.  Very nasty.  Much of the snow has been disappeared, although the ground is still white, and we can see the ice again.  Not planning to go outside much today. . .

Thought for the day: To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.  e.e. cummings
  

Jan 8, 2014 Choosing This Life

Short wave antenna affixed to our deck.

Dinga upon her look-out rock on the north ridge.

Monday 1/6.  We snaked out the vent pipe today, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.  We'll try re-snaking the sewer pipe on Wednesday.  Don't think we got far enough last time, and we have to do a load of laundry tomorrow.

I finished Cold Days by Jim Butcher.  What a ride!

I received a very interesting email from a reader who has been following my blog for about 1-1/2 years.  He is in southern California and has purchased property in northern Idaho, to which he will be moving this year.  My brain went on overload last night with all the things I wanted to tell him.  My whole blog reduced down to one list of things to be sure to do and not do.  I couldn't sleep all night.  The fact is that when you trade your frustration of urban life for life in the country, the remote country with all it's freedom and independence, you also take on the responsibility of all the amenities that community life affords you.  It will change you, your priorities, and your attitude toward life, government, Mother Nature, yourself, friends and family.  However, if you choose this life, then your attitude was probably ripe for such change.  This is a way of life that you really have to want.  To yearn for.  And that is great in general, the devil is in the details.

After almost six years, I still have not perfected my list of necessary food and supplies.  I still forget to put things on my list.  I have too much of this and not enough of that.  On the other hand, I have learned to stack wood so that (most of the time) it will not fall down.  I am learning the basics of mechanics, construction, gardening, and just plain necessity of doing-it-yourself and improvising.  I have learned to can.  I am comfortable carrying a gun.  I have learned to enjoy the forest while being vigilant for danger.  I am learning to be patient.  The more I learn to rely on myself, the more I am learning to rely on the Universe, and am being rewarded for it.

We thought we were prepared for living Up Here.  Ha!  What helped us through it all was wanting it so badly, and having great neighbors and a brother to rely on and teach us some of the details.  I guess that is all I can tell anyone considering such a change.

Tuesday 1/7.  It was 17 and overcast this morning with snow in the forecast for the next five days.  That being said, we had an awful lot of blue sky today.  However, as I write this in the late afternoon, the mountains have disappeared under a mantle of heavy overcast.  It looks like it is snowing on Mission Ridge, and we can only hope that it will begin soon at Rose Camp.

Did laundry today and ended up with a bathtub half full of nasty looking and smelling water.  Although discouragement is threatening to set in, it looks like we must have roiled things up with our snaking of the pipe the other day.  We'll give the water a chance to drain and snake it again tomorrow.

JB ordered our short-wave, single-sideband radio today.  We should have it by the end of the month.

Forced myself to get out again today and hike a bit.  Our high temperature was 20, which wasn't so bad when the sun was out, but our afternoon walk was quite chilly.

We had received 1/4" of snow by the 9:00 pm.  It had quite falling, but all was white again.

Wednesday 1/8.  No more snow this morning, but it looks like more is on the way.  It is 15 and overcast.  At least we will be inside the shop while snaking the pipe.

Thought for the day: Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.  Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.  Pamela Vaull Starr

Jan 6, 2014 Ice Camp!

Our yard with the retreating ice.

Friday 1/3.  JB has renamed our home Ice Camp!  Just wish we had skates.  There is so much ice, I wouldn't even try to walk down our road let alone drive.  On their way to work this morning, it took Larry and Elsie about three hours just to drive the one mile from their house to the pavement by throwing dirt on the road.

I finished Painted Ladies by Robert B. Parker today, another book from JB for Christmas.  No one does it better than Parker!

It was a bright and sunny but brisk day.  Our early morning temperature of 23 had warmed up to 25 by 1:00 pm when we went out to the shop.  JB had to dig down about a foot, but was able to find the drain right away and snaked it.  Too late to do a wash, so we'll see how it works tomorrow.

Friday is pizza night.  Somehow mozzarella didn't get on the shopping list last time JB went Down There, so we are out.  Used the Kirkland Mexican mix from Costco and it works okay but I think we'll skip pizza til we go down on the 14th.  At least we haven't run out of chocolate!  It's also movie night but we decided to binge on season three of the Vampire Diaries.

Saturday 1/4.  16 and clear this morning.  Did dishes and a load of wash.  Found out it was NOT a clog in the pipe that was the problem, so it must by the vent stack that is blocked.

Had to get out and about, so I went for a short hike with the dogs.  Such a magnificent day!  Before we left I had helped JB get the 16' radio antenna up on the deck.  He had been trying to decide the best place to put it and then realized that we had a small tripod for a satellite dish that his nephew had given us.  So he was going to attach the tripod to the deck and then attached the antenna to the tripod.  The perfect solution.  When I returned from the hike, I helped him finish up.

I started the Jim Butcher book that JB had found for me last Fall, Cold Days.  I don't actually read his books so much as devour them.  I had been saving it and it is so worth the wait.

Sunday 1/5.  This morning was 18 and mostly clear.  A very thin overcast crept in and our high was 25.  Obviously the temperature isn't even getting up to near freezing and yet the ice is slowing disappearing.  It must evaporate like water does.  

We always have even a slower morning on Sundays than the rest of the week and after lunch JB decided to bake bread, so we'll attempt to snake the vent stack on Monday.  Thank goodness it is in the wall and near the edge of the roof by the deck.  Not really looking forward to that.

Monday 1/6.  This morning is 13 with a light overcast and a 40% chance of snow for tomorrow.  I certainly hope NOAA is right this time because we sure need it.

Thought for the day:  When you figure it out, you're ready to know.  Jim Butcher in Cold Days.

Jan 3, 2014 New Year's Musings

Valley fog to the south of us today. . .

. . . and to the west.

Monday 12/30.  JB and I obviously got our wires crossed as to what we were going to do today.  While I brought in the wood, I thought he was going to open the shop and start cleaning up.  Instead he uncovered MAX.  JB thought it was more important to finish up on MAX, so that's what we did.  The job went surprisingly smoothly, especially compared to last week.  So now we think we have correctly finished fixing MAX, but there is no snow on which to drive him, so we really can't be certain!

We are still getting the occasional sleepy wasp flying around the house, but nothing like the hoards of the previous years.

Reading the book about Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) has reminded me of my Grandmother and how not a day passed that she didn't write at least one letter.  A much more gracious way of communicating than today's email and texting, although not nearly as quickly received.  But then those were much more gracious, slower-paced, and classy times.

Elsie called to invite us down for dinner and games on New Year's Eve, and we are really looking forward to it.

Tuesday 12/31.  26 and mostly clear this morning.  Our high for the day was 33, although just down the canyon at Larry and Elsie's it was 41.  Even so, they still have more snow than we do in their yard as they don't get much sun in the winter.

We enjoyed a lazy morning, then I took down the Christmas decorations while JB worked at cleaning up the shop.  Also read the new issues of Capper's and Backwoods Home.  Very interesting articles, as always.

And speaking of interesting, the January issue of the Smithsonian magazine is really fascinating.  From fossils to an article on the real "Monuments Men" who George Clooney's new movie is about.

After our walk and feeding the dogs, we left for Larry and Elsie's about 4:30 pm and had such an enjoyable evening!

Wednesday 1/1.  It is 25 and clear with valley fog this morning.  Our high was 28, so nothing melted today.

Just a relaxing day, doing our own things.  I worked on more cards, now that I finally have my craft corner cleaned up.  Also started a detailed accounting of our 2014 budget that I have been working on for a few weeks.  Everything looks great on paper. . .

One of the movies that our son had given us for Christmas was World War Z, which we finally watched this evening.  Very good movie!  Hard not to be, with both Brad Pitt and zombies.

Thursday 1/2.  Mostly cloudy and 25 with a breeze and valley fog this morning.  It stayed breezy all day and our high was 36.  Right now Rose Camp is mostly mud and melting ice, with freezing rain in the forecast for tonight.

Our afternoon walk is at the right time (3:30 pm) to observe the return of the light.  By the time of the winter solstice, the sun had just dropped below the tree line when we reached the south ridge.  Now it is sitting just on top of the trees.  Such a welcome sight!  However, I am still being tempted into hibernation, sleeping ten and eleven hours each night.

But while I am awake, I really want to be more organized.  I have succeeded in organizing my craft corner, so now I need to work on papers.  I tend to cut interesting articles out of newspapers and magazines, and also ads for products that look useful.  But then they just sit in a pile or a box, and it's too time consuming to find anything specific.  I really need to set up a file for all of them.

While sitting in the loft at the computer and then making cards today, I could see the valley fog creeping up into the canyons near and far.  As the temperature rose, so did the fog.  Almost all the way up to us.  Then as darkness moved in and the temperature started falling, so did the fog.

I always get that inner urge to clean and get rid of things around New Year's.  I guess to make room for new blessings and projects, both physical and mental.  And I have been thinking about how much our lives have changed since we moved Up Here.  When I was growing up, I was a shy little mouse.  But like everyone else I wanted nothing more than to be accepted and belong.  I overcame most of my shyness while in college, but more often than not I tried too hard, and failed to fit in.  I'm not sure just where I wanted to fit in.  I was never really a party person, and didn't have the same objectives as most of those people in the main-stream.  I tended to voice my opinion in places where I was in the minority, having to defend my views.  I also tended to rush to first impressions that, most of the time, were wrong.  

At some point, I stopped trying so hard to be like everyone else, and just accepted that I would never be part of a large group.  I would just be me.  Doing my own thing.  So now I am living up on a mountain, away from the masses, and am not only in the best place for me, but am at my personal best physically (well, for my age), mentally and spiritually.  I finally fit it where I am, and I love it!  As for JB, he seems to feel the same way.

Friday 1/3.  Yesterday's breeze grew into a gusty wind about 6:00 pm yesterday and blew all night.  I thought for sure that our annual Chinook had arrived but this morning it is only 23 outside, which is rather cold for a Chinook.  I was sure all the ice and patches of snow would be gone, but they aren't.  We could go ice skating in our front yard!

Thought for the day: Conscience keeps more people awake than coffee.

Jan 1, 2014 Welcome 2014!

Wednesday 1/1.  Happy New Year!

Thought for the day:  Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes - every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. Orison Swett Marden