October chill

This guy was fascinated with our clothesline. It kind of looks like he was really just posing for pictures. I love the way moose look like they're smiling, with their mouths, and their eyes.
He and mom stopped by for a drink and a snack from the willows. (The white blanket is covering the new flower bed in the foreground.)
The deer come daily, nightly. They've made a mess of my new flower bed. But how can I be mad at them for long with faces like that? One night I heard clicking and clacking outside the bedroom window and looked out to see two young fellas sparring, while a younger one grazed on grass a few feet away. It looked like the teenagers were babysitting, and trying to have some fun on the job. It isn't hard to relate to these creatures and love them.

It isn't hard to hate them either. I have to cover the flowers with the white blanket day and night to protect them from the destructive little beasts. Yeah, that's what I wanted, a view of a white blanket from my kitchen window.

It wasn't me, you can't prove it, nobody saw me do it.

The weather has finally cooled down, after a warm September. First frost wasn't until September 21st. But now it's cold enough to have the fire going. We've got wood from a big Ponderosa that fell, and we're buying some more birch.

Of course now is when I realize I've got to paint the cabinet! That zero voc paint I got from Sherwin Williams seems to absorb odors, or go bad. I think the Bioshield stuff is ok, I should've stuck to using that.

I've been getting my mercury amalgam fillings removed. It's a great relief to me to get that poison out of there. As much as I hate the dentist, it's difficult for me to get all this work done, but way overdue. I'm doing what I can to detox and get the mercury out. I certainly seem to have all the symptoms of someone with poisoning--tremors! Vision problems. And many more. Yikes, why didn't any doctor mention that? I hate doctors, they are beyond stupid! They never, ever help! The only thing you can do to improve your health is to help yourself, be your own doctor.

It's a good time to start walking. It's also a good time for a road trip! I've been watching the National Park show---A Film by Ken Burns (don't you forget it!)---and it has reminded me of all the parks we visited on our big road trips back in 1999-2000, before we moved to Idaho. What an adventure. We went to the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Arches, Yellowstone, Teton, Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, and a bunch of state parks too. Those were the days. What happened to our adventurous spirit? Now we can't get off the couch. We traded it all in for 10 acres and a nice house. Our cars have over 200,000 miles on them, could we even make the trip if we wanted to? There's only one way to find out. So, will it be Glacier? Or Mt. Rainier again? I think the desert sounds good, I love rocks. And sun. Then again, I love big trees too. We'll just have to do another big circuit.

It's 52 degrees, sunny and windy.

Harvest Time

The past week has been wet and cool, with highs only reaching 70 degrees, and lots of thunderstorms. I decided to enclose the greenhouse again, just in case. Wheat farmers are none too happy about the rain, but it was a joy and great relief to me. I'm concentrating on sending it down south to where they really need it now.

The harvest includes some nice yellow potatoes, swiss chard, carrots, beans, onions and zucchini and lo and behold, a bit of lettuce that survived the heat. The fenced garden is much cooler, and better for crops like lettuce, I must remember that next year. Tomatoes in the greenhouse are still green. Having a bit of trouble with the soaker hose watering in the greenhouse. It seems to be bypassing the beans and a few others, leaving them thirsty, while flooding other areas. Very tricky business, watering. No wonder farmers flood their fields, it's the only way to ensure everything gets a good drink.

The sunflowers are about 5 ft. tall in the garden. A few volunteers came up elsewhere, but the deer beheaded them. They must be salivating over those ones behind the fence. I don't know if they'll have time to bloom, we only have a couple of weeks left before the first frost.

The chillier nights have turned some leaves already.

The Echinacea and Rudbeckia are becoming more cone like as summer winds down.

But some of the flowers still look fresh as a daisy:

Calendula

Poppy

Nasturtium

Prairie Mallow (I ordered this from Guerneys and it was supposed to be bright red).

Moje Hammarberg Rose and Heliopsis

This rose is "a more compact and flowerful version of Hansa" and has a strong spicy scent which is heavenly. It's a Rugosa grown on its own root, so it's practically indestructible. My favorite rose, so far. I also love the Heliopsis and picked up a couple more this year. It looks sunflowery but the deer leave it alone.

The hunting party. They followed me around as I took pictures.

Snoodly managed to catch a hummingbird on the bee balm one day, which is now done flowering and cut down. We'll have no more of that, Snoodly.

Safe, up in the hanging baskets.

Grasshoppers are one of Snoodly's favorite snacks, though he seems tired of them now. There are thousands of them. The plants move as you walk by.

The squirrels are getting fat on pine nuts. Another sign that winter approaches. This little lady was nibbling away until the cats approached me, then she became still as a statue. She knows who not to trust.

Beware the panther.

It's 69 degrees and cloudy at 11:45 am.

The Goat House

Many thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, and to J, for turning the old coop de chicken into this beautiful new goat house. Everything used was recycled from the old coop and from other materials lying around the place. Staggering ingenuity went into building it, and the whole project only took about an hour! The eyesore full of junk has become a sweet little shed, where the goats will look out at us and say "feeeeeeeeeed meeeeeeee!" We'll probably put up a fence for an outside yard too, with a wee mountain for them to climb on.

Now, what kind of goats? Pygmies? Milkers? Cashmere? Time for some research...

The weather has been warm and sunny and summery this week. The mosquitos are biting, the crickets are chirping and the butterflies are flying around. I've seen two garter snakes in the garden. A couple of deer have been visiting at night, eating clover and birdseed. One nest box is occupied by western bluebirds, down by the garden.

The chives are blooming, and the blue flax, which only opens in the morning.

It's about 70 degrees, sunny and breezy at 10:30 am.

Knock knock!

Anybody home?  

I had a visitor on Friday.  We've been having a little heat wave, and I guess I'm not the only one who isn't ready for it.  She was panting and very thirsty and tired.  But also curious.

She checked out the pool.
The garage.

She found the water.

And drank it all.
Then she had a little rest in the shade.

Her feet were dainty.

Her tail too.

She headed off into the forest,  and I told her she was welcome to come back...as long as she didn't eat my plants.
She gave me a sly grin, and said, but of course.

Lake Dreams

I took a drive to the end of the lake road a few days ago when the weather was perfect.  I parked the car and walked down the logging road that continues after the paved section ends.  I couldn't see the lake from this road but I knew it was off to the left somewhere.  After a bit of walking, (and a bit of imagining mountain lions lurking in the trees, waiting for me to hobble or look weak), a gravel road appeared on the left with a log across it.  Naturally, I went in.  I discovered a magical place down there.

A marsh!

The moment I came in view of it, there was a cacophony of sound from frogs, toads, ducks, geese, birds, and squirrels.  This place is alive! 

Next to the marsh, was the lake proper.  Stunning!  This is why I must get a little boat this summer.

All around was a forest of cedar, firs and pines that were huge and lush because they get plenty of water.  Some big trees had been cut recently, and there was a site cleared for a house.  I had thought maybe the gravel road was for a new nature preserve, but no.  It's for a millionaire's vacation home.  Single tear.

Here are some of the animals I saw:

Red Squirrel (doesn't look very red, does it?)
Columbian Ground Squirrel, guarding his den.
Canada Geese (these were making a racket and trying to hide from me).
Wood Duck
And mate.

Great Blue Heron
He just stood there.

What a place!  I was probably trespassing, but I didn't care.  The house will go up soon.  What will the animals think of that?  Maybe the geese will poop all over their lawn.  Divine justice.

Name That Kitty!

Slammy is having a bit of trouble naming the kitty.  

Rusty thinks he should be called Shoo Fly (don't bother me).
I KNOW, let's have a contest to name the kitty!  Give us your suggestions in comments and if Slammy picks your name as the winner, you will get an amazing prize.  Slammy will write you a poem.  

Hibernation Ends

More animals are around these days, the birds are singing and it really feels like spring is coming.  The sun even came out for a good stretch today and I started dusting the shelves and opening doors!

The Mountain Chickadees came this morning, they have been faithful visitors all winter.  This one stayed within view of me long enough to take an almost clear picture. One of these days I'm going to set up the tripod and get some better shots.  They move so fast!

We also had a visit from the squirrel. Rusty alerts me to his presence by quickly slinking over to the window like the killer he is.

Who would want to kill a cute little thing like that? So fluffy and adorable.

                                   

That's who.

It's 34 degrees, mostly cloudy at 4:00 pm.

Out for a walk

We have a new friend, her name is Sheba.

She loves to run.
She likes to watch people making snow angels.

She's curious.

But she's not ours!

Sheba's driveway.

Sheba is a neighbor's new dog. Everytime we pass her house she comes out and takes a walk with us. I talked to her owner and it's ok by him. So now we have the best of all worlds in Sheba. A dog to accompany us on walks, but no dog at home to feed, wash, train, clean up after, chase down, or apologize for. Yes!

Besides all the work involved, Rusty wouldn't be very welcoming if Sheba came to stay. Sheba wasn't too keen on him either, she started barking and lunging. I wonder who would win that fight? It would be ugly, no doubt about it.

It's 36 degrees and cloudy at 10:15 am.