March 7, 2014 Country/Mountain Vehicles

Wild turkey tracks on the north ridge.

The berm on the south side of the
house has turned into the backbone
of a dinosaur!

Wednesday 3/5. The snow has sunk down at least a foot everywhere.  I am sure there must be a river running down the road by Larry and Elsie's.  It was a mostly sunny day with fog continually trying to sneak over the south ridge, but by mid-afternoon the sky was overcast and our high for the day was 40.

Spring is definitely trying to march right in and chase winter away two weeks early, regardless of what the groundhog said.  The birds and bugs are out and about.  The stumps, logs and small bushes are re-appearing.  

We drove MAX down to Miss Kitty again in an attempt get her up the driveway, but her battery was completely dead.  The road was probably too mushy to get her up the hill anyway.

The rest of the huge mass of snow and ice on the roof of the garbage shed had slid off right in front of the door, so I had to shovel that out of the way. And I couldn't get out of shoveling off the deck.  The snow just wasn't melting fast enough.  Certainly got my cardio workout for the day.  Then I walked down to the north ridge and sat on my bench for a while just enjoying the view.  Took a few pictures and discovered a trail of turkey tracks.

A light rain began to fall about 3:30 pm and soon became a steady downpour.  And as the sun set, the fog moved in.  I read my book and took a short nap before cooking dinner.

Larry and Elsie have purchased six new chicks and are keeping them in a back room at their shop for the first few weeks to be sure they are warm enough.  They are waiting for two more of an special breed.  Some of their older chickens died last year and their flock needs a boost.  And, during our even talk on the radio, we were told that there is indeed a river running down the road at their place.  Not an awful lot of damage. . . yet.

Since we bought Miss Kitty, I have had questions about just what vehicles one needs living off the grid and fairly remote.  The trick is to have the fewest and easiest to care for that can do the most tasks.  You have to ask yourself just what do you need done and on what kind of land.  We need to have safe ingress and egress on our 4-mile road during all four seasons.  We need to move rocks and logs; mow a large area of grass and small bushes; plow snow; haul cargo; cut high tree branches; and ride the mountain roads.  Some people may also need to plow a large garden.  MAX was our godsend when we moved Up Here for our main need of getting in and out in the winter.  The tractor was necessary for mowing, moving logs and rocks, cutting high tree branches and even moving loads of cut fire wood.  And I am sure there are many more uses we can find for it.  Miss Kitty is gives us protection against the elements while driving and will hopefully prove to be more maintenance-free than MAX.  The snow plow will be invaluable during the winter and we may be able to drive our Jeep up and down our road for a longer period.  Where we have limited space on MAX for cargo, Miss Kitty had a huge cargo area that can even be dumped.  If we could have afforded it, we would have purchased an Arctic Cat side-by-side when we first moved to Rose Camp.  So basically, you want the least amount of vehicles that can do the most tasks.  And that is the lesson for today.

We watched two more episodes of season two of Downton Abbey.  JB was able to get a really good deal on season three at Hastings when he was in town last time, and we already have season four.  So we are re-watching seasons one and two before we watch the new ones.  I just love this program and do so want to get Upstairs Downstairs.

Thursday 3/6. It was 32 and overcast this morning.  All the snow was still mushy and melting.  I am sure our plans to get Miss Kitty up to the house are giving Mother Nature fits of hysteria.

It seems that the reason Miss Kitty would not start yesterday was because I did not have the gears in neutral.  (Senior moment)  The battery is still charged and she started right up this morning, but to no avail.  The snow is just too deep and too slushy to drive her up.  JB even had a hard time getting MAX back up the driveway.  And, yes, Miss Kitty does have a winch, but there is only about ten feet of cable, as it was purchased just to keep the snow plow on.  So we thought that maybe shoveling would help and after lunch we walked down to do just that.  Basically all we did was to make a river bed for all the melting water flowing down.

After walking back up to the house, we all took a nice, long nap.  Then JB put on a big pot of split pea and ham soup.

Late in the afternoon, the sun popped out and our high for the day was 37.  It is supposed to be this warm for another few days, with rain on Sunday.

We mark days on a calendar, and minutes and hours on a clock.  But in retrospect, time really doesn't have any meaning.  I look back on our almost six years Up Here and it seems like a month or it could be a lifetime.  The time has passed as quickly as a slow month, but the years before being Up Here seem to belong to someone else.  Time is all about perspective and perception, not the minutes ticking by.

Friday 3/7.  This morning is 28 and mostly overcast.  JB's morning walks will be down the driveway to Miss Kitty to start her up each day.  It's back to having spikes on our boots. 

Thought for the day: If you wish to know a man, give him authority.  Proverb