Wednesday, October 24, 2018

October 24, 2018 Another Girl Gone, The Larch March, & Gluten

A clean hen house.
A coyote on our game cam.












Monday 10/22. When I went to feed the girls their breakfast, I discovered that Blondie had died during the night.  She had been acting a little off the past couple of days, and had shed a lot of her feathers all at once.  She was definitely our character, and probably the oldest.  She had a good life.

I got going early this morning.  Brought in wood, then down to the hen house for the semi-annual cleaning.  This project needs a face mask and I sounded like Darth Vader in there.  Shoveled out the manure and most of the old straw.  Sprinkled diatomacious earth around the bottom edges of each nesting box, inside walls of the hen house, outside walls of the hen house, all around the inside edges of the run, and in their favorite dirt-bath places.  When done, I headed straight for the shower.  

JB sounds worse this morning, so I made sure that he is taking the day off.

I have been trying to find the cause of my constant abnormal heart beat for the past several weeks by cutting certain foods out of my diet.  Conclusion: it's not coffee; it's not sugar; it's gluten!  Which really sucks because I love my wheat-flour breads and crackers.  I am going to have to find a good recipe for GF crackers.

I wanted to split wood today, but instead took care of small, getting-ready-for-winter projects that didn't call for so much exertion on my part.  I attached the tarps to the porch for covering the stacked wood.  Filled the small garbage can on the porch and three large bags with pine needles.  I use and re-use the bags until they are too full of holes to be used again.  Got JB's Jeep and the trailer ready for our garbage run tomorrow.  And buried Blondie next to Blackie.  I do this inside the wood shed fence so larger critters can't dig them up.

We could barely see the mountains today through the inversion layer.  There is an air stagnation warming for Chelan and other counties.  Other than that, it was another gorgeous day, with a high of 61.

Tuesday 10/23. It was 47 with clear skies this morning, ten degrees warmer than Down There.  We made our garbage run and did a few errands.  Stopped in for a short visit with Larry and Elsie, and were home before 1:00 pm.  By then clouds were coming in from the south.

After a late lunch, I baked a coffee cake using a jar of the peach pie filling I had canned.  Then JB made corn bread to go with the chili we are going to have for dinner.

The colors on our drive Down There were phenomenal!  There has been no wind or storm to rip the leaves from the trees, and our Indian Summer has allowed the leaves to develop even bolder colors, so around every corner there was gold and orange.  The larch (tamarack) trees are slowly spreading through the forest in the canyon and up our road.  They add to the brilliant gold.  Larry and Elsie's blueberry bushes have turned brazen red.  The trees going down the paved canyon are ablaze of orange, gold, red, and every color in between.  Color - the main reason that this is my favorite season.  That said, Spring is a tight second with its soft pastels and bright hues after months of only white and evergreen.

Sitting here this evening and watching the full moon through the window after we have turned off the power for the night, I cannot believe how dirty my windows are!  Something else to add to the list of things to be done. . .

Another beautiful but chilly day with a high of 60.  Clouds came in from the west to join the ones from the south, causing an overcast sky for the first time in weeks.  They cleared a bit after sundown.

Wednesday 10/24. It is 40 with mostly clear skies this morning.  Lots to do before the rain arrives tomorrow.

Thought for the day: I've come to believe that if we start each day from a place of gratitude, then it's bound to go a bit better than it would if we didn't.  Maria Shriver


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