June 17, 2019 I Am Back Home & So Is MAX

One of the Gridder's dogs,
a yellow Lab.

Miss Quackerie

Some of my blooming
irises (they are purple,
not blue).

Monday 6/17. What a busy and interesting ten days it has been since I last posted on 6/7!  I actually house/animal sat for five days, Friday 6/7 through Tuesday 6/11.  Quite a menagerie the Gridders have: two goats, one duck, about a dozen chickens (including two roosters), two cats and three dogs.  I loved it!  I think my dream job would be at an animal rescue farm.  Getting the goats to go inside their enclosed “bedroom” was a bit of a rodeo the first night, but quite easy the rest of the nights.  I became fast friends with Miss Quackerie, as I refer to their duck.  She is quite friendly and loves her showers.  And, of course, I LOVE their dogs.

They have streaming Netflix, which, of course, I binged on. . .  Watched at least seven movies (including Han, that was very disappointing) and a few episodes of several TV series. 

The whole experience was like a mini vacation. 

I drove back up the mountain at about 8:30 pm Tuesday, stopping by Larry and Elsie’s to pick up three tomato plants she had for me.  Back to much cooler temperatures.  Always good to be home again.  JB had done a lot of weed eating while I was gone, so Rose Camp looked almost domesticated.  Plus the fact that my iris are blooming.  Usually one or two of them bloom, but this year I have eleven stalks, each with three to five buds on them!  They are purple bearded iris.  So beautiful!

Wednesday I had to drive back Down There for doctor’s appointment, and some errands and grocery shopping.  I have something going on with my right shoulder and my doctor referred me to orthopedics.  Got an appointment there on Wednesday, 6/19.

So Thursday was actually my first day back home, but JB had to go Down There to pick up a couple of parts for the tractor.  He had a bit of a situation while mowing on 6/5.  The engine cover was not secured, so it flipped up and got broken by the bucket arms.

The fledgling fly catchers are out of the nest, but the parents are still here, so the babies must be in the trees.  Thank goodness the family didn’t leave like the wrens and robins do.  It is amazing how few flies and yellow jackets we have this year!

This was our hottest day yet, with a high of 86.  Thankfully we had a nice breeze all day.  By evening it had grown a bit windy.  But it was cooler so I planted the three tomato plants.  JB’s onions are really popping up.

Friday was our designated day to work on the tractor.  The cover had really been bent up, so it was a challenge to get it off.  When we finally did, we discovered that we needed two more new parts for two that had also been bent.  So JB ordered those, which will probably take a week to arrive.

When JB fed the girls their scratch on the way back from the morning walk, he discovered that Betty had died.  She is one of our oldest girls and had not been doing well for a couple weeks.  So now we are down to three hens.  We do plan to get four more this summer.

It was a bit cooler today with a high of 76.

Saturday morning was a cool 52 with a clear sky.  The hoard of humming birds seems to have moved on and we only have a few left.  Very early and kind of disappointing, but it sure cuts down on the sugar use.

After morning chores and lunch, we drove my Jeep down to get MAX.  I thought we would have to tow him up, but JB was actually able to drive him all the way home.  There’s a big project we can cross off our list.

As much snow as we received in February, it was all fluff and didn’t have much water content.  So the water table is a bit low this year.

It was another warm day of 80, as it had been for a few of the days that I was gone.  Seems rather warm for June.

Sunday we planned to visit our new neighbors who are building Up Here.  Before we left after lunch, JB baked a mocha bundt cake.  So good! 

Their place is on top of the western side of the canyon, while we are on top of the eastern side. Their elevation is about 140’ higher than ours (4020’) and from their house they will have about a 200 degree view of the mountains to the west and south.  Had a nice visit with them and look forward to watching their place grow.

Thunder clouds moved overhead this afternoon on their way north to the Okanogan.

Monday morning and it is cool and clear again, but I am sure it will warm up to at least the high 70's.  I am driving down to Mrs. Gridder's tomorrow afternoon to visit and hear all about their trip to Alaska.

Thought for the day: You need to let little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.  Andy Warhol