August 22, 2018 Cleaning Up And A Bear In The Berries

Cleaning up the branches.

Monday 8/20. I drove Down There for some groceries, errands and mail, and was home by noon after visiting Mrs. Gridder.  JB had been using the tractor to move most of a large pile of small branches over the west ridge.  I helped him finish it after lunch.  Then we both took a nap.

Again, I picked up kindling and stacked it.  Will be doing that for quite a while.

Our high for the day was 74.  Very pleasant except for the smoke, although the cooler temperatures and increased humidity are helping to fight the fires.

Elsie woke up a few days ago to find a bear in the blueberries.  He was just sitting there and very delicately picking and eating the berries just like a person would.  He showed up for a few days, eat and then wander off.  They figured he ate about 5-6 flats worth of berries.

Tuesday 8/21. It was 56 this morning and we could actually see across the canyon.  I drove down to Larry and Elsie's at 8:30 am to pick blueberries before the bear got the last of them.  They are done for the season and have turned off the wild bird recording that they use to keep the birds away.  It works quite well for the birds, but obviously not for bears

While I was gone, JB moved six of the eight huge rounds from the bottom of the pine tree that were still sitting along the drive.

Our propane generator quit while we were doing laundry, so we just plugged the washer into the gasoline generator.  JB will have to take it to Yakima to be fixed.  In order to make that long drive, he had to go Down There to have the spare tire replace one that had a small slice in it on his Jeep.

While he was gone, I cleaned up the gravel area up from the hen house, piling large branches and raking the small ones into two piles.  After dinner, JB used the tractor and we moved a large pile of small ones over the west ridge.  It's been a week now since the trees were cut and the area is looking good.

Our high for the day was 80 with lots of blue sky.  There is a possibility of rain in the forecast for the weekend.  That would certainly be nice.

Wednesday 8/22. It is 64 with blue sky overhead this morning.  We can see a bit further than just the other side of the canyon, but the mountains are still hiding.

Thought for the day: Falling down doesn't make you a failure, staying down does.