Monday, September 19, 2016

September 19, 2016 History & JB Returns Home


Pine cones that the squirrels
have been feasting upon.


Friday 9/16. Cleaning the hen house and run took about an hour, but it was a very dirty and energy-consuming hour. After raking up the poop in the run and cleaning out all the old straw and shavings in the hen house, I sprinkled diatomaceous earth around the edges of the run, in all the nesting boxes and on the floor of their house.  Then I put down fresh, clean straw on the ground and pine shavings in the nesting boxes.  When I was done, I immediately went in and took a shower.  The girls spent the rest of the day rearranging the straw in their house.

The new straw and shavings smelled so good!  I wish there was an air freshener with that scent.  Pretty sure it would be a hot seller, especially in the country.

The temperature hit 80 today, but that was before noon and the ensuing cloud cover.  The rest of the day was in the mid 70's and a bit muggy.

Our canyon is quickly becoming dotted with Fall golds, oranges and rusts.  Seems to be a bit later than usual, but it is beautiful.  I have seen upstate New York in the Fall, and the colors there are almost overwhelming, even painful to the eyes, because they cover the entire landscape.  I prefer Washington, where the brilliance of Fall is on a backdrop of evergreen.

In the past week, Larry and Elsie have had a rather large bear near their house feasting on the choke cherries.  The fermenting choke cherries.  I gather it is quite an entertaining sight to behold.

With 9/11 came many articles in all the newspapers and magazines about the event itself and the following years.  One article mentioned that with it having happened fifteen years ago, this year's high school freshmen were not yet born, and do not remember it.  Which makes me realize that they are also yawning their way through history class and lectures regarding so many other events that happened during my lifetime.  Possibly the way I did when hearing about the events of my parents' lifetime.  The history of my parents came to life for me years later as I listened to their first-hand stories.  

It is amazing how much life changes from generation to generation in the past century.  Many things our children and grandchildren take for granted weren't even invented when we were growing up.  And so it goes.

Saturday 9/17. It was 55 and overcast this morning, and obviously raining in the mountains.  JB left Seattle at 9:00 am in the pouring rain, and it didn't stop until he was about five miles out of Wenatchee.  The dogs and I felt a few raindrops on our morning walk, but that was it.

JB was home by 1:00 pm with lots of Trader Joe's gluten-free goodies.  By then the wind was gusting to 21 mph, trying to blow the rain over to us.  By 2:00 pm, it was gusting to 25 mph, but the rain never arrived.  Once again, it went to the north and south of us on its way east.  Our high for the day was 62.

Yesterday I started on one of the books I bought at the Dollar Store, The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross.  Very entertaining!  His writing style reminds me of Jim Butcher.  This is Stross' twelfth book in the Laundry Files series, so I've got a lot of catch-up reading to do.

And speaking of ketchup, Elsie is still making and canning the stuff.  Got to use up all her tomatoes somehow. . .

Sunday 9/18.  It was a brisk 46 this morning with mostly clear skies.  So nice to have JB home.

After breakfast JB wanted to get my Dream Tree secured in the ground where I wanted it.  The two bags of concrete for this project have been sitting in his Jeep for about a month now.  So we dug the three holes for the concrete and got it poured in and mixed.  By Tuesday we should be able to drill and place the bolts in that will secure the legs of the tree so the wind won't blow it over.

Then we jacked up MAX onto large pieces of wood, so he'll be ready when Larry can come up and fix the one chain that has stretched.  If we get a lot of snow again this year, MAX will be our main vehicle.  We don't want to use the snow plow that we got with Miss Kitty when we bought her used, as it is really too heavy for her and is probably the real reason her gears got stripped.  The plow that is especially made for her is a bit expensive and we will have to wait until next year to buy it.

We all went on both walks today.  I really need to get out for both of them instead of just the afternoon one.  Need the exercise.

It was another beautiful Fall day with a high of 68.  Didn't really feel that warm as the breeze was a bit chilly.

Monday 9/19. It is 46 and mostly cloudy this morning.  Looks like there is some fresh snow on the mountains.

Thought for the day: I have started drinking coffee out of a clear mug so people know where my tolerance level is at.  Author Unknown

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