Nov 17, 2012 Fog & Rime



Valley fog to the southeast
Wednesday afternoon.





Rimed spider's web on
Thursday















Wednesday was another glorious day of mountain sun.  No fog Down There until late morning when it started creeping up from the river, filling the valleys and canyons like slow incoming tide.  Creating an ocean of white below us.  Great for photographs.  Not so great if you live Down There.

Since I had worked so hard on Tuesday, the dogs and I went for a hike on our south ridge.  We headed west, following the deer and elk tracks along the crest.  Absolutely breathtaking!  And, of course, my camera batteries died about a third of the way into the hike. . .  Oh well, we had a great time getting some good exercise.

JB puttered around in his shop, trying to organize and make room to work.  Got his wood stove going, and generally enjoyed himself.  We ran the well pump for 20 minutes, bringing in, I'm sure, at least 60 gallons.

On my Wednesday blog, I mentioned the "winter" sun.  Well, it may be just mid-November, but it's winter Up Here.

We were fogged in all day Thursday and everything was rimed.  Even the spider's web hanging from the battery shed.  I decided to go Down There to see if I could get a better phone, buy a few groceries and help Santa do some Christmas shopping.  Thanksgiving is so early this year!  Just yesterday I realized it is next week already!  The drive in these conditions is always a little more dicey going down the mountain than coming back up, but it was beautiful.  The road was sprinkled with the gold of Autumn's last hurrah, and covered in the tracks of rabbits, squirrels and deer.

Thought for the day:  Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills to the far horizon? Hal Borland

Nov 14, 2012 Mountain Sun & Valley Fog



Mountain sun and valley fog early
Tuesday morning


We had more fog on Monday with the sun trying its best to blaze through it in the afternoon.  Well, as much as the winter sun can blaze.  But it did succeed for a while, allowing our solar panels to suck in some power.  Did the dishes another load of wash, and turned on the well pump.  Water gushed into the cistern and we let it run for about 30 minutes.  But our new washing machine now has a nasty rattle in the rinse cycle.  Made an appointment for service on Tuesday, however the fact that it would be 1-1/2 hrs just traveling to and from our place in our Jeep didn't get relayed and now we had to reschedule for next Monday.

JB tested all the batteries and they seem to be just fine.  Then he once again tried to get the snow blower going but with no luck.  If the road permits, we will try to take it down in the trailer to the repair shop.  Would have been much easier to do last summer. . .

Tuesday brought beautiful mountain sun and valley fog.  With all that power coming in I vacuumed and did the dishes, then dusted and washed the kitchen and bathroom floors.  (I must be coming down with something. . .)  I remember Elsie telling me when we first moved Up Here that with solar power when the sun comes out it's:  Quick! Vacuum, wash the dishes, do the laundry!  Anything that takes a lot of electricity.  And she was right, especially when we have had a lot of cloudy and/or foggy days, I am in that mindset.  JB worked outside clearing the snow and ice off the cars, and puttering around in his shop.  It warmed up to 32 and our 6" of snow is down to 2" or 3".

Since Sunday there have been new deer and elk prints in the snow each day on our south ridge.  Yesterday about 5:00 pm we saw what we thought was an elk up there.  He was large, and with a rack big enough to be seen in the dusk from the house.

With our having water again, I am back to hanging up the laundry to dry in the house.  Then folding it all on the bed.  There is something very relaxing about that.  So much better than going to the laundromat.

My doctor's appointment last week was for problems I am having with the ball of my right foot.  The diagnosis was another one of those that began with, "Well, as you get older. . ."  Older, schmolder!  I'm not getting older, I'm getting better!  Anyway, it should be able to be taken care of with just a metatarsal pad in my shoe.

Thank you for your comments, Don.  Yes, I am sure our inverter is the culpret.  Since we do not have a true sine way inverter, there are some things we just cannot do.  Larry and Elsie have a true sine wave and are able to run their front-loading washer just fine without the generator.  And one of the other families Up Here runs their front-loader on their non-true sine wave inverter.  Very confusing. . .

And speaking of relaxing, as I go about my chores Up Here, I am realizing how much I have changed in the past four years.  All my life it seems I was always rushing around in a hurry.  Get it done now.  I want to see results now.  Here, let me help you so we can get it done more quickly.  Like my Mother, I had a hard time just sitting down and relaxing unless I had a book to read, TV to watch or something to do with my hands like needlework of some kind.  Now I find myself being very methodical.  Moving more slowly, not necessarily because I have to, but because I want to.  I can enjoy just sitting and being.  Or watching the birds and little critters.  Or the clouds.  Or the wind in the trees.  Maybe part of it is my age, but I think it is more being away from the hustle and bustle of Down There.  I think it is from being surrounded by nature, and not constantly being pounded by electronic buzz of some kind.  Whatever the reason, I am enjoying life so much more.

Thought for the day:  We are not troubled with things, but by the opinions we have of things.  Epictetus 

Nov 12, 2012 Girls Rule!



Snow and fog at Rose Camp on Sunday



On Friday it snowed gently all day.  As gently as the fog wafted in and out. Our fog isn't like that on the coast which rolls.  Ours wafts.  And "wafts" is one of those words that when you say it often enough, it sounds like pure gibberish. . .

JB made a "quick" trip Down There to pick up meds that he had forgotten to order so that I could have picked them up. . ., got gas and bought a few more packages of Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Crust mix that was on sale at Fred Meyer for 25% off.  There's a recipe on the back for cinnamon rolls that I want to make.  Don't really need it for pizza crust as JB has his own figured out. 

I had gone to gas up his car on Monday and the yellow Shell station was now a blue Exxon!  Then Wednesday I discovered that the other Shell station in East Wenatchee was also an Exxon.  We have a Shell card and have purchased it for years.  Looks like now we will buy our gas at Fred Meyer or Costco who are currently engaged in a gas war.  Last week at Coscto the price was down to $3.09.  JB gassed up at Fred Meyer and got it for $3.07.  I just love free enterprise!

While he was Down There, I worked on Christmas gifts.  Finally got going on them.  Don't have our Christmas card designed yet, although I worked on it on Saturday.

And speaking of Saturday, we woke up to 16 degrees and more snow falling.  There was almost 2" on the ground and it snowed most of the day, adding another couple inches.  So it was indoor projects, reading and a nap.  Rufus, the internet weatherman, says this snow is here for the seaason and he is usually right on.  Depending how much we get today, we may take my Jeep down the mountain for the winter.

Sunday morning we woke up to 14 degrees, but no new snow overnight.  Since we have some more water in the cistern, we tried out the new washing machine.  Unfortunately I think we have some electrical problems as the washer wouldn't start without the generator.  In mid-September my phone started going dead within 24 hours of being charged.  I got a new phone and it won't hold a charge either.  JB's still works fine, but his is a different make.  We may have a bad battery or two.  Will check for that today.  If so, I may not be blogging for a while. . .

Larry and Elsie came up to visit last night.  We played "marbles" and the tide has turned.  The girls won!

When Larry was up here last Monday helping to dig for the broken water pipe, he also helped JB with the snow thrower.  JB had used some gasoline additive in the gas he used last year and Larry thinks that's the problem.  The just kept trying to start to snow thrower, trying to work the old gas out.  Larry says he learned his lesson when he used an additive in his generator.  Took him forever to get it going again.

In our new "Home Power" magazine, Kathleen Jarschke-Shultze has written yet another great "Tales of Off-Grid Living".  This one is about three tools that she cannot do without: duct tape (Hippie Chrome), ball bungees, and zip ties.  And I completely agree with her.  We are constantly using all three of these.


Thought for the day: Politics must be the battle of the principles. . .the principle of liberty against the principle of force. Auberon Hubert  (Seems like force is winning right now. . .)

Nov 9, 2012 Fall Colors Remain



Brilliant Fall colors in an orchard I pass
on my way Down There



I spent the last two days going back and forth from Down There.  Lots of shopping and errands on Wednesday.  When I left at 6:45 am yesterday for laundry and two doctor's appointments it was a cold 24 degrees and snowing.  It seems my mamogram was scheduled for the 8th, not the 7th.  Fortunately I had plenty of time between the two. . .

When I arrived home on Wednesday, JB had all the piping done except for the last piece.  So I climbed down into the hole again and glued it in.  We let it set for a while then turned on the water.  JB could see it go through the flexible pipe we had inserted, but nothing got to the cistern.  Okay. . . 

We started digging where we thought the end of the cistern was and, hopefully, the pipe going into it.  This was much easier than the other end, as the cistern isn't nearly as deep.  Less than two feet down we found the pipe.  The broken pipe.  Now we know where most of the water was coming from under the house!  Well, by then it was dinner time and it was starting to get dark.

While I was Down There on Thursday, JB dug a bigger hole, cut the broken ends off the pipe and glued in new connections.  When I finally got home, he was just waiting for the glue to dry.  It had only warmed up to 33 but there was less than 1/4" of snow.  We turned on the water, held our breath and heard a huge rush of water going into the cistern!  Those pipes must have been leaking for a year or two because this is more water than I ever remember coming in at once.  The gusher only lasted for about 20 minutes, so we will try again today.  There may indeed be a low water table still and we may only get a little each day.  But it seems we do have water.

Before I left on Wednesday, we watched a couple deer just across the driveway munching on rose hips for breakfast.  The dogs were going nuts, but we didn't let them out til the deer were gone.

By the time November arrives, all the leaves have usually fallen and left the trees bare.  Not so this year.  The brilliant Fall colors remain everywhere.  The orchards are bright colored spots all over the valleys.  Just gorgeous!

According to the Old Farmers Almanac black bears headed to their winter dens yesterday.  I hope they had that date marked on their calendars.  Skunks are supposed hibernate on the 19th and I certainly hope they do.

Our son had to go to England on business for a week and just got back last weekend.  I had asked him to send me a postcard, which he did, and I received it this week.  I love postcards.  I buy them whenever I travel, and have quite a collection dating back almost 100 years from my Mother's parents.  There is one sent to my Grandfather about 1918 from a friend who visited Washington state.  The photo on it is of the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon just west of Leavenworth!  I actually have a photo of my Mother and me that my Dad took in almost the exact same spot.  No, I do not believe in coincidences. . .

Thought for the day:

Nov 6, 2012 Water!!



Wild Rose working in the hole. . .


In driving Down There on Monday, I discovered that what I could see of the earth scorched by the fire is already greening up with grass.  I expected that in the Spring, but certainly not this early.  The bogo at Albertson's was a little disappointing - it's been a long time since I bought meat at any store except Costco.  But I did get some nice pork chops.  Then it was back up to Elsie's spa for a nice hot shower.  I practically melted in it.  Filled all our water containers & drove back up the mountain.

Over the weekend we had talked to a neighbor who lost water the same time we did and his is back.  So JB called the well-drilling people again on Monday and got some great advice regarding a possible broken pipe.  He found this out after I returned home and just as I was finishing up splitting the rest of the green wood that JB had previously sliced into 16" lengths, which turned out to be three large wheelbarrow loads.  That green stuff is heavy!  I tried very hard not to work up a sweat after that wonderful shower.  And just as I was finishing, Larry drove up in his Jeep with the intention of taking one of our 50 gal rain barrels down and filling it up for us.  However, when he heard the news on the well, he and JB got busy digging.  They had to dig down to the pitless adapter which is where the water comes through the well pipe to the pipe going to the cistern and is almost five feet down.  (Actually Larry did most of the digging, bless him!)  Sure enough, the pvc pipe was broken!  We turned the well pump on and water spilled out.  So we have water.  We probably have had it all along!  We assumed that since others ran out the same time we did, that was the problem.  Well, you know what happens when you assume - it makes an ass out of you and me. . .  Just another example of how much we still have to learn about living off the grid and dealing with equpment we have never had to deal with before.

First thing Tuesday morning, JB left for the drilling company to buy the necessary parts to fix the leak.  While he was gone, I made the hole larger and a little deeper.  At one point I was sure JB would get home to find me head-first in the hole with just my wildly flaling feet sticking out.  Once again I tried not to work up a sweat, but to no avail.  After he got back and had some lunch, we went to work and got everything out that we needed to but couldn't get one piece of brass pipe loose from another.  So it was back to the drilling company again for JB, but he didn't have to buy another of the piece that was stuck, the guy at the drilling company used a vice and got it out for him.  But that was long delay and JB got home just as dark and rain were falling. 

He will try to get it all back together while I am Down There today.  I have to go down for my annual mamagram and bi-annual bone density test, so I will do some grocery shopping also.  Hopefully we will have water by the time I get back, or I will help JB connect everything if he had a problem.  The hole down to the pitless adapter isn't really very wide, so he may have a problem getting down to the bottom to do everything.  Being the smaller one, I get to do all the fun things, like crawl under the house, work in holes, etc. . .

I am not going to comment on the election.  It is what it is and life goes on. . . maybe just not the way we know it. . .

Thought for the day: Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. John Muir

Nov 5, 2012 Deer and Cowboys



Can you see me now?


Friday morning we watched our small herd of deer leisurely walk across the south ridge, nibbling on bushes and grass as they went.  Didn't let the dogs out until the deer at reached the fence on our east slope.  The young ones were very frisky and a joy to watch.

After lunch JB cut the branch wood in the "cradle" with his big chain saw and I stacked it on the east side of the porch.  It was about 2-1/2 cradle loads, which was five wheelbarrow loads.  A good workout for both of us.  Still a lot of fog wafting in and out.

We knew we had to take the garbage Down There before any more bad weather, so we loaded it up Saturday morning and made it down the road without getting stuck.  On our way through the aspen, a small buck crossed the road in front of us.  He watched us watching him and posed for pictures for several minutes before slowing strolling deeper into the trees.  (See photo above.)

While we were Down There we also bought two "rain barrels" at Coastal, which are actually 50-gallon plastic containers that had been previously used for either olives or jalepenos.  They have a wide top with a lid, and a spigot at the bottom.  Will try to get them filled up with water brought from Larry and Elsie's.  Then checked the mail, bought some newspapers and we were on our way home.  The dogs are getting used to being left behind lately, and they haven't gotten into anything for a while.

Going back up the mountain was a little more dicey than going down, even with just the two light barrels in the trailer.  We couldn't make it up the steep beginning of our driveway, so we left the trailer there.  JB made three trips back down with MAX, bringing one barrel up at a time and then the trailer.

I love going back on standard time and gaining that extra hour for the day.  We decided to watch Broken Trail - all three hours of it.  One of the best westerns made and staring the ultimate cowboy, Robert Duvall, with Thomas Haden Church.  I grew up on westerns and several weeks ago while in Costco, I discovered a special collectors edition magazine, "Legends of the West", published by "American Cowboy" magazine.  The cover states, "Celebrate 104 of your favorite stars", and that's exactly what it does.  I learned that the hat which Robert Duvall's character, Gus, in Lonesome Dove was later named "Gus" in honor of him.  Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Sam Elliott and so many more.  I love them all, but Robert Duvall was born to be a cowboy.

Yesterday was really busy for a Sunday.  I split five loads of large branch and small tree wood - three dry and two green.  The dry wood finished off the outside row on the east side of the porch.  The green wood got stacked in the wood pen, but not in the shed.  Getting a good start on next year's fire wood.
JB made two trips with MAX and the small trailer to take straw bales down to the hair-pin corner just down from our driveway.  It is getting really wet and muddy.  Was a really nice day, partly cloudy but no fog, thank goodness.  After all that, JB cooked up a big pot of split-pea soup, and I baked about nine dozen chocolate chip cookies.

Today I am going to visit Elsie's spa for a nice hot shower.  And since I am already that far down, I am going to make a "quick" trip to Albertson's to take advantage of a great bogo they're having on meat.  It was windy most of the night, so hopefully the road dried out a bit.

I always appreciate comments from readers.  Thank you!

Thought for the day:  I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. And I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. John Wayne as John Bernard Books, The Shootist (1976)

Nov 2, 2012 Happy 70th, JB!



Jesse on the path to the
North ridge.



JB turned 70 yesterday!  Of all the cards and gifts, I think the most precious as to be able to receive a card from his Mom.  I sure wish I could. . .  I think in this time of our life, age becomes a badge of honor.  I gave him two items he had asked for, which were tools for his chain saw.  Probably not the average gift for a retiree his age!  He always opens his cards and gifts first thing in the morning, then he made breakfast.  Popovers!  Never had them before and they were so good!  He spent half the day Down There spending his birthday money.  Today he will probably put his gifts to use as we want to get the branch wood cut.  I have loaded the wood cradle and we still have a large pile left. 

The fog cleared out of JB's head early Wednesday morning, but managed to keep the mountain socked in all day, until it finally dissolved at sunset.  Simply disappeared along with the sunlight.  We did the dishes and just had a relaxing day reading.  I tried to get started on Christmas crafts but wasn't too successful.

While JB was Down There yesterday, I cleaned out my very cluttered and neglected crafting area.  (Now maybe I can get started.)  Then did other miscellaneous household chores and read some of my current book, American Assassin by Vince Flynn.  Very hard to put down, like all his others.

When JB returned home, we tried the well pump again but got nothing.  I think the water that got in there was a leak from somewhere (the top again?) because the water coming out of the faucet is pretty murky.  Another of Mother Nature's jokes?!!  Will call our neighbor tomorrow and see if his well is working yet.

Thought for the day (one of my very favorites):  Sometimes no one feels your pain. Sometimes no one sees your tears. Sometimes no one hears your cries. But fart just once. . .