Well, Christmas has passed and all is well. Spent Christmas dinner at the main house... Denise's sister Lisa and her husband Chris, and daughters Quinn & Phoebe were there. Along with Tom, Henry and Wayne, we had a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings... And then afterwards we played a game called 'Apples to Apples' ... I'll spare you the details on that ;-)  All in all it was a good night. A few more day's and we're in a new year... I need to get a haircut... bring in the year properly coiffed. Now that Tom's here for a week or so... I can pull back on a few chores and get focused on me again. Let that slip a little... that and no water for 2 weeks has changed the routine. But I think the snow is taking a break for a week... the weather has actually been warming up for the past couple of days now and it's been raining. We shouldn't see temps under 32 for a while... maybe we'll catch a break with the water situation :-)  We'll see...

This was after our last snow fall a couple of days ago... all that white powdery snow is just starting to turn into slush. I have no idea what to normally expect for WA. weather... so I'll just have to wait and see if it snows periodically for a few months or what... But they haven't had this kind of winter in a very long time... 

And with the warmer temps, the roads were starting to thaw. Actually driving in the slush was more precarious than in the snow... I think you 'hydroplane' with the slush since it's more water than snow. And with slush 3 inches high in some places, it was pushing my front end all over the place... and yes, I had it in 4 high. But I admit that even with living in Boston for 13 years... I rarely had to contend with snow like this... So I'm on that learning curve too...

I woke up Christmas day feeling pretty good... for no particular reason, except maybe to get a little organized... So after washing my hair and shaving... I did laundry. My big socks were running low and I have yet to go out and find a laundry mat. So I decided to wash them in the sink... It's amazing how much snow you have to melt to just fill the sink half way... I must have done this at least 6-7 times for the whole wash process. 

Et Voila!  It wasn't hard... just took a while... But I wasn't in a rush... I think 'It's A Wonderful Life' was on and so I had that playing in the background.... I love that movie! And here you go... just what you wanted to see... my dirty socks in the sink...  Oh well... Merry Christmas ;-)

After doing my indoor stuff, I had to go out and get some water. I had used the last of it to wash up and start the socks... So as I was getting the Jeep ready... everybody from the main house were out starting to build a snowman... Their goal was to build a really big one...

So here's the crew... the fam in front and Wayne in back. It was a good days effort, but alas... this is still what the snowman looks like today... Unfortunate timing has it raining for the next week... I think we'll have a pyramid in the driveway instead...  

But any way... with Tom back home and Wayne picking up some of the slack... I've gotten back into listening to my Abraham material and started reading Castaneda's 'Journey To Ixtlan' again... It's been years since I've read him. It's also time for cutting back on the distractions that I've slipped into and face the man in the mirror. And to really try to explore what it really means to live in the 'moment'. The ever, ongoing 'present'... this is where the power is. Don Juan said that the 'continuity of time has no meaning in this awesome, mysterious world'  and that every action you take should be regarded as your last battle in this life... because death is hunting you. In other words... Treat today as if it were your last.   Easy to say... ;-)

And on a lighter note... My good friend Rick down in So. CA. asked me about the current mouse count since I instituted the 'catch & release' program. Well I had stopped at 30... took a break... but now it seems Mousy's getting more bold... F__ker!  And I've resigned to getting the 'permanent' traps or the 'transition initiating' traps. The gnawing on whatever, in the middle of the night... the sound of little scurrying feet... and the poop... every where. It's time... Last night I had put some pennies on the headboard so that when I heard the little F__ker... I could throw a penny in his direction and scare him off... But these tactics are temporary... It is just a fact of life...   

Christmas Eve... and all is well

Apologies for being away for so long.  It's been a winter wonderland that's for sure, and we're still without water... that makes day 9.  And it seems to have thrown the proverbial 'wrench in the gears'... :-)   But it is Christmas Eve and I figured it was about time to post. The routine up here has remained about the same for the past week or so... keeping the animals watered & warm... bathing has been reduced to bird baths by the wood burning stove... and leaving the dirty dishes outside in the snow to keep the mice dieting.  It's all good... but it'll be nice to have running water again  :-)  The past couple of days, the temperature has gone up above freezing and that takes the edge off... probably not enough to get too excited about the pipes unfreezing though. I'll just have to take that one day at a time I guess.  Other than that... here's the latest...

As you can see... we've got snow. Although so has the rest of the northern part of the country. I have to step back once in a while and really look around... sometimes I get caught up in the "tending to thing's" that I forget to appreciate how beautiful everything really is, and how different my life has become as of late.

The routine trips to the pond still happen every 2 days. Making 2-3 runs for the animals water and 1 for me. This is the little river that feeds the pond... and thank goodness we have that! Life would be very different and much more difficult if we didn't have our own water supply. 

Then I go check on the cows. I brought down yet another bail of old hay to spread around and 'freshen up' their beds... Like I mentioned in a previous post... they poop everywhere. I'm pretty sure they don't get up in the middle of the night to poop outside the 'house' either... so the new hay covers up a lot and just plain ole increases insulation. Of course, here they are eating it while I was laying it out for them... but they don't eat enough to make it a wasted effort.

This was a great shot, though the quality of the pic isn't... I was going to bed down the barn when I looked through the window. The geese were 'hanging out' with Apache (the friendliest) the sheep. It was like a scene from the movie 'Babe'... Quackmire was actually was sticking his little beak through the fence and 'touching' Apache's nose. I didn't want to disrupt the moment so I took the pic through the window... hence the poor quality. But it was truly, a very special moment.

At the pond the other day, was a wild goose. His right wing wasn't 100% and we figured he or she had lost their way in the weather. We laid out some food and straw for bedding a couple of times, in hopes that he or she would eat & rest up. He/she stayed for a few days and then was gone... I'm hoping he/she used the break in the weather to make a run for it...

Today Irish was running around loose. He's a great explorer and unfortunately his propensity for chasing down passing motorcycles usually keeps him on the porch or in the yard. But today he was free to roam all over... and he came by to check on me. He's always moving so it's hard to get a good pic of him...

And although the pic doesn't show it... he's really the size of a small horse. At under a year old, he's still a pup... but he can take you down with no problem if he wanted to. Wait until he fills in... then look out ;-)

Curiosity sated... he ambles off for new adventures... What a world they must experience with that keen sense of smell...

That's what life's been like for the past week +... putting the snow chains on & off/on & off, driving safely, going for food, running for water, getting firewood, staying warm, checking on the menagerie... and repeat. Never a dull moment... And not that one has to 'remind' oneself just how much more inconvenient it could be, to be grateful in any way... it does help to serve as a test... just a little lesson in life... to check on your 'fiber'  ;-)

A Bigger Snow Day...

Well apparently I misread the weather forecast... I thought yesterday's snow fall was something... But last night was the bonanza... and it flurried throughout the day. It was truly a winter wonderland. That means nothing to most people from Iowa to the east coast right now... they're getting hammered. But for my friends in So. CA., who don't see it that much... Voila... ;-)   It's kinda puts everything on hold...  Other than that, there's not to much to report

First chore of the day... Top off the water supply to the animals in the barn... so it's another run to the pond to get some more water. The snow was really coming down early as you can tell, and already there's close to a foot of accumulation... 

Just a shot of the five gal. pails and some gallon jugs all secured in the back... I got away with only 3 trips this time. All along... as I was trudging through the snow with the buckets... I had to smile... I asked myself if there was anywhere else I'd want to be at this moment... :-)

And of course had to post a cool shot of the Jeep... with the pond behind.  Seriously though... Bellingham 'never' gets this much snow... people around here say it happens once in a great while... but so infrequently, that a few years ago or so, they sold all the snow removal equipment because they weren't using them... Oh Well...

Well so much for the geese not liking the snow... I was lucky enough to be right at the door when they  just boldly ventured out... promptly sat down... and actually looked rather pleased with themselves. Then not 2 minutes later... all but one got up to head back inside...

Except this guy... you can just hear him... "heyyyy guyyys... what about me?"   

And Abe has escaped... again. Here's a shot near the barn... Denise & Henry came up to get some treats in order to lure him back down to the pasture. And here with all my worries about getting close to the cows... Henry here is playing with him... well maybe not "playing" with him... But while Abe was nose deep in the bucket, Henry did have a hold of his horns and was trying to pull Abe's head up... it was kind of funny...

Like I said... there wasn't much new to comment on, basically working with the snow and fetching water... 'forecast' for tomorrow calls for snow and fetching water... ;-)

Snow Day...

The forecast called for snow... and I thought I had read 1-4 inches. But this morning the big, fat, fluffy flakes were coming down... not those tiny little frosty ones from before... Nope, today we were getting the genuine particles.  Finally... a real blast of winter... now it feels like the season's kicking in. I haven't 'lived' in snow since leaving Boston almost 14 years ago, and not that I've ever been a proponent for the cold... but I'm definitely digg'n the change. 

 

I needed to get some water... for drinking, bathing, doing dishes, brushing the teeth, and what ever. So off to the local IGA because it's closer than going all the way into Bellingham... TJ's will have to wait. Plus it's like going on a field trip because this is where the real 'locals' come... Kinda like sight seeing except it's people your looking for.  Like the girl today, who came in with her boyfriend, wearing her onesie pajamas, sneakers & no coat. "You gotta remember that these are simple farmers... people of the land... the common clay of the new west..... you know.....   Morons."  (Blaz'n Sadls)

I love seeing all the old barns around here... it's just nostalgic in a way. Whether they're in decent condition or a little past prime... Well actually most of the ones you see around here are a bit dilapidated. I think it's just one of those things... But either way, they still move me for some warm reason.

And this is a one lane bridge a few miles from home. There are a lot of rivers around here, and one in particular where eagles hang out. I haven't seen them yet myself but Denise & Henry see them all the time. I guess I have to get up a little earlier to catch that worm... 

Back home and the snow was still coming down pretty good... No one was around so I figured I might as well check on the animals. Took some grain, and another old bale of hay down to the cows... I wanted to make sure their bedding was holding up. Even though the temps were in the low 30's, it's going to get cold again by tonight, and for the rest of the week... So I wanted them to sleep as well as possible.   

Anna, checking me out... thinking I have some treats (the grain). And she was right... this just so happened to be the camera... "Silly girl"

And big Abe... with the curly hair. Being the 'alpha'... he's never too far away. He had to come over and see what Anna was getting into... he didn't want to be left out of anything... especially treats!  

And did I mention that I love my Jeep  ;-)  Well I do. It has been fulfilling its part in my overall, original vision... It has been indispensable so far... which is so cool!  And the days not even over yet...  You'll see...

This is the view from my porch. This is one of the many 'looks'  I've been waiting for... pines boughs drooping with snow. It reminds me of winter vacations in Bavaria... down hill & cross country skiing... Nostalgic...  

The geese had been penned up all day, basically because they don't really like the snow. So I let them out to stretch their wings and was hoping to get a chance to see them in, what now was about 7 inches of snow. But this is as far as they got... just in the barn doorway where I'd swept. They had no desire to go any further.

About 4-4:30, Denise & Henry came home just as I was just entering my place. I went out to greet them and to inform Denise that the animals were all taken care of for the night. Plus I was curious how their drive was since the plows only came by maybe twice... once in each direction. She had put snow chains on, but lost one on the road some where and the remaining one snapped as she tried to make it up the small incline to the back of the house. To make a long story short.... er... it was yet another opportunity to use the Jeep. Now, it's slippery and the Jeep can make it on its own, no problem... but to tow?!   I wanted to make sure we made it on the first try... Do it right the first time. And it gave me an opportunity to try out my chains. They say that you should always do a 'dry run' with your chains before you actually get stuck some where... in a blizzard... in the dark... with a flashlight. So I broke them out of the box and just put on the rear ones on. I figured that would be enough... and it was... pulled her up without even a burp... Did I mention that I just love my Jeep!

The Water Bearer...

Star Date: 12160811:30...  Day 2 with no water... Woke to find emails from the main house... they too have no water this morn. Thank goodness I was able to get a shower in over there last night... that guaranteed me one good nights sleep anyway... (I have to shower before bed-E-bye, or else I don't sleep well at all ;-)   Denise's 2nd email  had expressed concern for the animals, i.e. water, heat, etc... she even left the geese locked up because... of some reason I forget now. So I went over to the barn to check on things myself. I grabbed some 5 gal buckets and threw them in the Jeep because I figured I could go over to the pond and at least get water for my toilet... Mans got to maintain some conveniences. I bumped into Wayne... he was going to check on the water pump, but I knew it'd be a waste of time... I'd already turned up the little heater in the pump house yesterday... I'm starting to understand how some things get done in real rural areas... my guess is that the water lines aren't below the frost line... But mean while I asked him if he thought the river water running into the pond was good enough for the animals and he concurred on what I thought.  Soooo...

Here I am... on my first run of I think, 6-7 total... scooping buckets of river water and ferrying them back over to the barn. While I was up there I took a walk around the pond to see if there were any signs of Wally the beaver, or any other tracks for that matter. But there were none... my boots were the first to break snow...

 
In the foreground is Wally's entrance... clearly unused for at least the past 3 days, so I guessing he's vacationing else where this winter. Funny thing though... in the end, there were no other tracks any where near the pond. That seemed strange, but what do I know.... 'Sheeet... City Boy'

On the far end where Wally 'used' to hang, is farthest away from the feeding river, so it really got frozen over..... over there. I took a subtle chance and checked out the thickness of the ice. It looked to be at least 3-4 inches thick... strong enough to hold me anyway. So I shuffled around a little... about 12-15 feet out. The bottom around that point was only 3-4 feet deep... but you know... I wasn't going to be too stupid about it... It'd still be very cold and... s__t happens in the wild.

This was an awesome sight... bubbles frozen into the ice... in stages it seems. Some of them are stacked 3-4 high... pretty wild. Most of the ice around there was incredibly clear... but here some other phenomena was happening...

And here is the final resting place for all those buckets of water. Denise & I pulled this big tub that was in the other 'room' to replace the little one which was freezing over every couple of hours. She had gone to the feed store and bought 'coats' for the goats, one for Miracle and some water heaters to stop the ice from forming in the first place. 

The goats with their coats...

And Miracle with hers... She wasn't too thrilled initially to put it on... Have to see how long it lasts...

 

And after some online investigation... I wanted to compare coyote tracks with cougar tracks. In yesterday's post I had a pic of a print from tracks that Denise had spotted, circling the pasture. This pic is of a coyote... notice that it's a little 'pointier' versus the pic below which is a cougar print... and you can see how it is 'rounder' overall... and bigger of course. The pic below shows it to be 4 inches long... the print from yesterday is only about 2 inches. I think it's probably a coyote... but you can decide.

So in the end... it was still a good day.  And even though I was working on some 'monkey chatter'... I stopped every once in a while to look around, and take a 'different inventory'... or as Abraham would say... 'tell a different story'.  After all,  I'm healthy, I'm getting exercise & fresh air, the sun's shining, the view is beautiful and I'm not plugged into a 9-5. I did my best to turn negative thoughts into positive affirmations... to look at things as I want them to be, instead of focusing on what they're not.  These were the steps I took today towards creating my reality. 

They say..... To change something... you have to change it on the inside first, before it can manifest itself on the outside.  I like that one...

Chilllly....

Well... it is cold. This whole week is forcasted to be below freezing, at least until next weekend... but there is practically no wind, so no wind chill, and the suns been out... Thank goodness. The only draw back is that the pipes leading to my 'Apt' are frozen  :-/  no water, no shower, no dishes, nadda... And I can't see any way around it until the temps go back up... it's gonna suck, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.  Mean while, I figured I would go around and see to the animals...

I brought over some of the old bales of hay from the loft to the cows 'house'... they usually sleep on the ground and up until now it's been 'softer'... but now it's frozen and can't be very comfortable, much less warm. 

So I broke up and spread around 4 bales... and when I was done, it did look a lot cozier. Abe was the first one to come over and check things out... and he found it tasty too. I told him not to eat his bed, but I don't think he was listening. Apparently he was up all night, mooing. I think he'll sleep tonight  ;-)

By now Andy found his way around and they both had an impromptu lunch... Anna couldn't figure out what was going on nor did she figure out how to come around herself... I heard cows weren't the brightest ;-)  But around 4:30 this afternoon, when they're usually still out looking for their grain... they were all bedded down... I got to believe they're going to sleep a lot better tonight, even when the temp dips into the teens...

And here's a track that has yet to be identified... Denise thought maybe it was a cougar print because she pretty much ruled out any of the dogs. They look to be a little small but who knows... I'll have to Google that too... 

Sorry for the short post tonight... not terribly excited right now and I have to load up on some water, etc., for tonight...  it's going to be a long week!    more later,    Alexis

Snow Run...

A morning I've been waiting for..... for a long time now. It was 25 degrees by the time I got out and warmed up the Jeep... but there was no wind so it didn't feel half bad. The snow fall at the farm was only about 1-1.5 inches, but I had a feeling it was going to be a bit more up on the hills of the public restoration land... So I cleared the windshield and headed out. The roads were pretty clear, still snow covered, and it seemed about maybe 8-10 cars were out before me... I had aspirations of being the first one out in the park, driving on 'virgin' trails, but it seems hunters and some other games man were out much earlier. In fact I was probably number 5 or 6 to arrive, according to the number of tracks... But no big... it was a beautiful morning and warm in the Jeep.

After driving into the woods for a few miles, I found some of the trails less traveled... Here I am coming back down from an old logging road. The area I was in had been cleared a while ago as you can see some of the remaining trees in the background. There were a lot of little dead ends, but you have to try them all... you never know what you might find.

 
The snow fall up here was closer to 3-4 inches... really dry and powdery. The sun was popping out more here than there... and left me with some great photo opps... Cool thing about being the first one out is, it's difficult to get lost... you just turn around and follow your tracks out.

This trail was amazing... as you can tell. Deciduous trees flank this road for a totally different look than the snow laden pines. I got out to take this pic and something funny happened... I couldn't see my breath... I know it's around 25+ degrees out, and but for the life of me... I couldn't see my breath :-?  Pretty trippy... The thought had quickly crossed my mind that maybe I was dead somehow and didn't know it... but that too evaporated as I was leaving my initials in the snow  ;-)   Gonna have to Google that one... 

The only life out on this road before me was the deer... you can see their tracks in both ruts of the trail. That actually was true for almost every 'virgin' trail I saw today.

Heading back home after an hour or so... A view of part of the Cascade mountain range in the back. I had my fill for today...  and there will be more days to come...

Now... back to Mousy... The last time I wrote about them was after capturing #30. I needed to start getting some sleep, and so I took a break from my 'catch & release' program... And it seemed that they might have slowed their nocturnal forays... but I was wrong. So the past few days, I've been catching and 'releasing' them out the bathroom window, onto the carport roof a few feet below. I figure it's the next step before the traps. So at the window, I would open the back of the trap and shake them loose with a sort of jerky, bowling action. And after the launch... they would 'plop' - regroup in a fraction of a second - then quickly scurry along the roof line and disappear. I had hoped that after 'some' number of times, they'd resign for the night and start fresh the next night. Above is mousy #1 ... he 'ejected' early and landed close to the wall... you can just make out his impression in the snow... His four little feet, his tail off to the right and nose on the left...

And here are the landings sites for mousy's 2-3-4, and of their scurrying little feet, heading back towards the house. The snow was deeper now... and their landings more surprising.  Although not as surprising as mousy #5 ...  His launch was perfect... and the last I saw of him was when he just cleared the carport... legs spread wide, sailing like a tiny little Supermouse... 

And yes... I felt a 'little' guilty... ;-)  and so I went downstairs to see what became of him. I knew the grass is taller over there, and with the snow... I figured his landing would have still been very favorable. I mean, they're practically all fur & cartilage..... But there was no sign of mousy... no hole in the snow that I could find... no tracks... nothing. I even went back up to the window to double check the flight pattern... then back down again... nothing. He must've really been a 'Supermouse'...