August 25, 2014 Welcome, Randy, to Mountain Life!

Wearing my Boonie hat and
splitting wood.

Storm moving in over the mountains
Saturday evening.

Friday 8/22. It is so nice to have to put on a flannel shirt to go feed the girls in the morning, and to snuggle under a blanket at night.  But, of course, to enjoy this we are experiencing shorter days and longer nights.  Now darkness is quickly descending by a little after 8:00 pm.  Oh well, I'm also getting back into watching a movie mind set.  Hastings had a great on-line sale of 50% off used DVD's and I took full advantage of it.

The pack rat is back in JB's Jeep, having built another nest in the engine.  Thankfully, he doesn't like my Jeep.  I guess we will have to get some new poison.  Hopefully this isn't some kind of hybrid rat. . .

JB chipped three Miss Kitty loads of branches, slowly working his way up the drive.  I split and stacked four wheel barrow loads of firewood.

Clouds floated over all day, but most of them marched to the north like they did yesterday.  That storm caused mud slides and washed a lot of debris into the Okanogan River.  That area to the north of us usually gets much more severe weather than we do.  Our high for the day was a very comfortable 70.

Pine needles have begun to fall.  I collected a big bag of them after dinner - my favorite fire starter.

The clouds switched direction and started coming in to us from the east at about 7:00 pm.  Rain was falling by 9:00 pm.  This all happening while we were watching Monte Walsh, one of our favorite westerns.

Saturday 8/23.  It was 54 and clear this morning. Ding(a) Dong, the Pack Rat is Dead!!  Dinga caught it first thing and it was quickly dispatched. 

Randy arrived at his new northern Idaho mountain home a few days after Nene and I left.  And, like JB and I during our first few months Up Here, he is feeling the panic of being ready for winter.  But he is also thrilled to be there.  Welcome to The Life, Randy!

There is an excellent article in the Sept/Oct issue of BackWoods Home magazine entitled "The State of Freedom in America."  Also "Homestead Medical Supplies."  The current issue of Countryside also has an excellent article, "Homesteading Prep Must-Haves."  It lists some items I never would have thought of.  I also love Countryside because it is always a good source for my "Thought for the day."

Today I got started before lunch and was able to split and stack six wheel barrow loads of fire wood.  I have now completed the fifth row and started on the sixth.  Wish we lived closer to Randy and could give some firewood to him as we will probably have enough for two years, while he is scrambling to get any in.

JB got one load of branches chipped before he got a major jam and had to take the chipper apart to get it out.

Such a great evening, we just sat on the porch and enjoyed it.

Sunday 8/24. It was 57 and partly cloudy this morning.  After our Sunday Breakfast, I got on the computer to send some email only to discover that there had been a 6.0 earthquake near Napa, CA.  And that is very close to Santa Rosa where my BFF, Sandy, lives!  I called and left a message.  Being able to do that meant that her electricity was on, so that was a good sign.  She called back about 1/2 hour later and all is well.  It woke her up at 3:30 am, and she drove to Sonoma to check on her Mom and Aunt, but all is well with them too.  Just some pictures askew and little items knocked over.

Dark clouds and thunder began moving in from the southwest around 10:00 am.  As often happens, the worst of it broke off still going east, but to the north and south of us.  JB was off in Miss Kitty to check things out around noon.  We only got a few sprinkles, but we continued to hear thunder until about 2:00 pm when everything had moved on.  More towering thunder clouds threatened to fill the blue sky left behind, but they soon either dissipated or moved way to the south.  Our high for the day was 69.

After a slow Sunday morning, I split and stacked three loads of firewood.  We had to move the bale of straw that was in the wood shed down into the tipi so I could work on that sixth row.  The bale fit just perfectly in the back of Miss Kitty, and will go in the hen house when the weather gets cold.  JB had a crick in his back, so he took the day off.

The evening before I left for Idaho, we heard the first small cricket in the evening.  By the time I returned, the whole symphony had arrived.  A very pleasant indicator of Fall.

I read that new magazine, Permaculture, and we will definitely be subscribing to it.  Great ideas, especially a wicking box garden that only needs to be watered every two to four weeks!

Monday 8/25.  It is 54 and clear this morning.  We are going down to Larry's and Elsie's this evening for a fish fry.  Oh, yum!!  I baked a chocolate zucchini cake yesterday to take for dessert.

Thought for the day: America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.  Abraham Lincoln