May 28, 2018 Cougars, Bears, Elk & Snakes - Oh, My!

Cougar on the game cam.

Rattles from our first rattlesnake
of the year.

Friday 5/25. It was a very busy day getting ready for our guests who are coming up tomorrow.  One person doing everything for two people takes a lot more time.

The dogs and I started out on our morning walk only to find our first rattlesnake of the year behind the wood shed.  A very large prairie rattler.  I used my snake stick to cut of its head and rattles.  Threw the head in the outhouse and flung the body over the west ridge.  I added the rattles to our growing collection.  And that was pretty much the end of our walk.

Because of all the thunderstorms we are supposed to be getting this summer, I packed our bug-out bags.  Made a chicken salad for tomorrow's lunch and baked an apple coffee cake.

By 1:00 pm I was ready for a break, so the dogs and I walked down to the game cam to change the cards.  Saw very LARGE elk tracks on the road.  It was the perfect day for such a walk.

Back home, JB and I looked at the 300+ photos on the card and saw lots of critters.  The first was a cougar (see photo above), then the huge elk who made the tracks.  There were several bears: a sow with two cubs, a sow with one cub and a two-year old by itself.  And of course, many deer.  Wow!

It was a beautiful but breezy day with a high of 74.  The wind really picked up in the evening.

JB has been sleeping on the couch as it seems to be more comfortable for him than our bed.  He has his annual check-up with his doctor a week from Tuesday and I think he is going to be told that he needs a knee replacement.

Saturday 5/26. It was 50 and clear this morning, with the wind still gusting.  JB's brother and sister-in-law called from Cashmere at 9:15 am, so I left for the laundromat, knowing JB wouldn't be alone very long.  They arrived at the gate just as I was unlocking it.

I did eight loads of wash and picked up a spark plug gap tool on my way home.  JB's brother was taking a look at our generator and said the new spark plugs needed to be gapped.  As it turned out, a Caterpillar engineer (JB's brother) fixed our Cummins generator.  (He insisted I write it that way. . .)  But for some reason, when we tried to run the well pump, the generator bogged down.

We had a great visit and they were on their way home around 4:30 pm.  It was a windy day with a high of 70.

Sunday 5/27. It was 49 and clear this morning.  Since I didn't have time yesterday, I made a quick trip Down There for water and a few other items.  Was just gone just a little over 2-1/2 hours.

Gridder came up with his youngest son to hook up our gasoline generator to the well pump.  While he was doing that, I paid his son to gather fir cones.  Within a very short time, we had water being pumped into the cistern.  Woo Hoo!  Had a good visit and I loaned his son some DVD's he hadn't seen.

Nene called to check on our generator situation and we had a nice chat.  Her recovery has really been amazing.  Two weeks after the laperoscopy on her lung, she was back driving and living her life.  This is a 92-year-old woman!

It was another beautiful day with a high of 73 and a cool breeze.

Monday 5/28. This Memorial Day morning is 57 with clear skies.  Life is good.

Thought for the day: If you can read, thank a teacher.  If you can read in English, thank a soldier.