Saturday June 13 2009

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This is a photo I took from the house of Joe putting up that horizontal log above the big front gate. That's him up on the ladder on the left side. The distance from the house to the gate is 1/2 a mile. I probably need to explain what's happening. He has both the Chevy PU and the tractor down there. All the tools and things he needs are in the truck, and he rests in the cab every so often. You can see by the brush obscuring about 3 or 4 feet up the pu bed that there is that more height to the poles than you can see.

He balances the log on the tractor bucket and raises that as high as it will go. That is still about 6 feet short of the top of the poles, so he brings first one end and then the other up to the top of the vertical pole with a rope .... while he's about 20? feet up the ladder braced on the upright pole. Then goes to the other end and raises it. It's held in place with a large spike nail which he drives in with a 3# maul. I don't know how many trips up and down the ladder it takes, or moving the huge ladder from one pole to the other and back. The horizontal pole laid on the ground out there for over a year - drying it out. You may remember how I told you the story last summer or the summer before of how he went up to Irish Canyon to bring the pole down and it was too big/heavy, but he went back later after it dried out some and got it. All of this he does by himself. So this has been going on for parts of three summers.

I'm experimenting with the camera zoom. The other day I found I wasn't even beginning to get the full zoom. It goes up to 10X with the lens extended. Then somehow, digitally I guess, since I haven't read the technical parts in the manual, it can then be pushed again and go to 40X. YES I KNOW!! very big. So I've been trying it out to see what I get. It's hard to do that much zoom and hand hold the camera and keep it stead or focused.

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Eastern Kingbird - not common here. Not too bad a picture at 40X on something you can hold in the palm of your hand, although I've noticed how sharpness is lost with most of the zoomed in photos.

This is Norm's place from our house. It's about 3/4 of a mile away from here. This is probably higher than 10X but don't know how much, between there and 40X. It is still quite sharp.

This is zoomed in on just the house, and still not up to 40X - kept it below 40X just to get it all in. Those guys are going to have to be careful what they do there in the yard! This is the only other place in our valley, and they only come there to work these days. They have two other ranches and live closer to Boulder.

There is a small bunk house cabin in the other direction near to our mailbox, with a set of corrals, an outhouse and a well, but no one has ever lived there. This is the one we call the Honeymoon Cabin. A sheepherder stayed there with his dogs and a wagon a few summers while the land was leased to a sheep rancher. That was fun - keeping a herd sheep out of our pasture while the sheepherder napped. They ran and knocked down about a quarter mile of fence once. Apparently nothing was hurt but the fence. Welll..... there's more to it than that ..... I went out with the dogs to herd them out after they'd been in here several times, and then the sheep ran. And the fence was in wet ground and old anyway.
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Friday the 13th comes on Saturday this month. For a month which had only one thing on my datebook calendar pages on June the 1st, it is already more than half full of one or more things to do this month. June has turned into being very busy. Nothing on the schedule for today though. I'm still just getting going this morning.

Just reporting - I took an oxycontin pain pill (which is more powerful and lasts for 12 hours) night before last. I just do not like them. I was headachy and anxious all day and the next night, still a little woozy feeling this morning. I know it's that pill. So will not do that again unless there is enough pain to make the side effects worth taking it. The small four hour hydrocodon or an alleve arthritis will do fine for most of the time. I'm actually taking fewer pills than since I first got sick. Some days only one or two.

Curtis did get here on his Gold Wing about 2:30 or so yesterday. I assumed he was staying overnight, but he was already getting anxious to be back home and wanted to keep on going - to Helena and back down Hwy 93, he said. It will be interesting to hear where he ended up. It could be anywhere. So he stayed and visited for an hour or so. It was good to see him and thoughtful of him to stop by. Curtis is a good son in law. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet.

We had more rain and today is cloudy, was very gray this morning. The weather report is calling for scattered clouds, but there is only hazy sun and not much blue sky to be seen. Still cool. The hay and grass on the desert pastures is sure benefiting from the rain, but it also needs some warm weather to really grow.

Joe mowed the front yard and part of the back yesterday. The "lawn" is sure looking nice. I'm going to get the weed eater out and running and cut down some of the tall stuff by working in stages, as usual where the mower doesn't reach the grass is very tall. I've been thinking of transplanting some Great Basin rye grass from here to the Arrowhead yard. It grows about 6 feet tall and gets a nice seed head on it. And is native so shouldn't need to water it. It would give a variety to the plants there and look good with those boulders. Maybe I could get Joe to think of the boulders as our pieces of the Wind Rivers so they would be more meaningful.

Talked to both the kids yesterday, and other phone calls. Got the yellow bedroom cleaned so all of a sudden it seems like progress is being made toward having this whole house cleaned. It's a relief. Bonnie inspired me. I made some banana pea can bread yesterday. The pea cans are a gift from Kathy who brought them from her family's pea can farm in Georgia. Ordinary puh cons must come from California. This is what you get from an idle mind.

Sunny Delights Dandelions -love them this way and also their puffballs. You need to try dandelion salad sometime. Very simple, dandelion leaves (washed of course), your favorite vinaigrette, sprinkle with sunflower seeds, maybe garnish with grape tomatoes, but only if you must. It's such a wonderful connection to being in or part of the mountains. I used to serve that at the lodge when we sometimes ran out of fresh produce before the next run to town. A bonus is being outside, with the scenery and all the beauty of spring around you as you gather the leaves.