McElmurray's Mountain Retreat!

World Wide View

2012-01-28T10:03:00.003-07:00

It is with great humility and happiness that I see so many visiting our blog site. We had a counter and live traffic feed installed on our blog site so we could see how many and from where people are that visit our site. We are aware that our lifestyle is different from most people in these modern times but we never expected people from all over the world to be visiting our site to read about how and where we live, like has happened. Other blog sites are cross referencing our site and as a result we are getting viewers from just about every point of the world and across N. America from Maine to California, and Florida to Wisconsin. Numerous places from Canada. When we started this site it was to keep friends updated on how we live and cope with the fairly harsh environment. It has grown beyond our wildest expectations thanks to all of you who visit regularly.

As I sit here being warmed by the wood stove someone from Russia, British Columbia, England, Iceland, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Croatia, Portugal, Australia, Thailand, Belgium, Abu Dhabi, Sweden, Romania, Hungary, Nova Scotia, Albania, Tobago, Korea, Jordan, Korea, Bulgaria, Philippines, Taipei, and a host of other countries that I have not been able to keep up with come to visit our site. If you visit our blog site and I missed your country I apologize as it has been difficult to keep up with everyone who looks at our site. Several places I have put into my search engine to see your area. I find it fascinating when I look at your areas too.

We now have, thanks to being a participant in Mother Earth News blog site, between 500 - 600 viewers a week checking out our site. It is very humbling for us because what we accept as routine others find interesting. As I look at those sites that visit us I ponder what life is like for them in their country, how they view our lifestyle, and are we making a good or bad impression on visitors from other countries. Thousands of questions run through my head as I see how many are following our blog site and from where they visit from.

So to all our viewers from other countries and domestic I want to humbly thank you for taking an interest in how we live here in our little mountain cabin and thank you from the bottom of my heart for visiting our site. I am deeply grateful for everyone who takes the time to visit our site to see how and where we live. I will try to post things that will reflect our area and lifestyle for you. If you have cross posted our blog site on your site I thank you for considering it worthy enough to make mention of. This has been an exciting experience for us and the thanks go to all those who visit our blog site. Thank you and I hope you will keep coming back for more visits.

Land Use Choices

2012-01-26T08:52:00.004-07:00

In my newest blog for Mother Earth News I recruited a good friend of mine to act as a co- contributor. My friend Sakoieta' has been inspiring and educating people for years where he teaches at Brock University in Canada. He has inspired me and so many others outside his University environment that I asked him if he would contribute to this blog.

I believe that this topic is essential to living with nature as opposed to trying to work against nature. On one of my other topics I received a comment from a gentleman who thought he was living rural with his nearest neighbor a mile away. He soon found himself with his dirt road paved and chock full of neighbors with all the noise a group of people bring with them. Therefore wise use of our land can be instrumental in our lifestyles and happiness.

We too experienced the noise factor two years ago when a neighbor 3/4's of a mile away had the sound from his generator amplified up the side of the mountain. If you stood next to the generator it was fairly quiet. The sound however became more amplified as it went up the terrain and when it reached us it sounded like a semi truck going through gears driving past our house. A reasonable neighbor would have understood the situation and not run it at night but this particular neighbor became very belligerent over the matter. It was finally resolved but left a polarized community and hurt feelings. So when the gentleman wrote me to tell me of his remote living suddenly turned congested and complete with the noise I could sure sympathize with him.

If you want to read our most recent collaborative effort on land use, go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/choices-wise-land-use.aspx

My purpose for writing it is maybe it will inspire someone to make good choices about land use and not think that they need to build a home, strip the land and plant non-native grass, exotic trees and shrubs to make the homestead look better. If you ask me when our wildflowers bloom there is no more beautiful place around and it is all natural and native.

So don't just rush in with a back hoe and push everything aside and strip the land because it is more convenient for you to build, but think about what you are doing; don't fight nature, but consider working with nature instead. It is just common sense to do so.

Living Remote

2012-01-24T13:22:00.002-07:00

I just posted a blog for Mother Earth News about living remote and the things that need to be considered. Some just barge in and don't think it through and others give it a lot of thought beforehand. We gave it much thought and prepared. The blog article explains some of the thought process we went through.

You may view the blog at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/choices-remote-living.aspx

Hope it will give those planning to move out into the boonies something to think about and make good decisions. To those who are unsure, maybe it will help you too. Enjoy.

Story Of The Tuxedo

2012-01-22T10:19:00.004-07:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an amateur story teller. My wife is a saint as she has listened to my stories over the years and still acts interested. I tell true stories that I have personally experienced myself and this is one I do not believe she has ever heard before.

When I was in the U.S. Air Force my first overseas assignment was on the Island of Bermuda. It was tough duty but someone had to do it. I was an Airman Third Class, the lowest rank on the rung of the military ladder. While stationed in Bermuda we had a visit from a tailor from Alexanders of London a high class clothing company taking custom orders at a reasonable rate. He came to the base and would measure you, then go back to London and make a custom made tailored suit made to fit you and you would then receive it a few months later. It took me two months pay but I got measured for a Tuxedo thinking it would be cool just to own one. Previously all my sport coats or suits were from a thrift store or off the rack at a discount clothing store. I decided that to own a Tux was a good step in life, so why not buy one.

One of my USAF buddies was dating the social editor for the island newspaper. As it turned out she had two features to cover in the same night and she and my friend decided to cover one and she asked me if I would go to the other with her press invitation. It was a formal black tie event and since I had a Tux it would give me a chance to wear it for the first time officially. She told me to take notes on subjects and I agreed to cover it for her as it sure beat sitting in the barracks listening to a bunch of drunks or playing poker. The one she asked me to cover for her was a formal social dinner party given by the Governor of Bermuda. (It would be equal to a State dinner at the White House in Washington DC) So at the appropriate time I donned my Tux, took a cab to the Governor's Mansion to attend the dinner with her press invitation.

As I circulated with some of the most powerful people on the Island including industry leaders, dutifully taking notes, it came time for dinner. I was shown into the dining room and who was I seated next to - the Base Commander from my base. As he was sipping his wine and turned to me he introduced himself, and I in turn introduced myself to him. He said he was the base commander of Kindley AFB (as if I couldn't tell as he was in full dress uniform) and asked me who I was...the dreaded question. I decided to go with the truth and I told him I was also from Kindley AFB. He asked what I did and I told him I was with the Air Police Unit and I guarded KC-97 aircraft. He about choked on his wine and the look on his face was absolute shock.

He was the base commander and had thousands of men under him and I was the lowest ranking enlisted man on his base. He wanted to know how I got invited and I told him I was covering for a friend who worked for the local newspaper. He made me promise not to tell anyone what I really did and I assured him I would not embarrass him by doing that and we spent the rest of the night in enjoyable if not aloof fashion.

I believe this would be equal to being invited to a State Dinner with the President of the United States and be seated next to his chief of staff and being asked what I did and to tell him I cut the grass at the White House.

I don't believe I have ever seen a more stunned/shocked look on a person's face than I observed on the Colonel's face when I told him what I did. I do admire his ability to recover quickly and we had an enjoyable evening at the Governor's Mansion that evening. I got indirect word that he appreciated being mentioned in the newspaper as a guest of the Governor of Bermuda. Probably not really funny except for the fact that Officers were not allowed then to socialize in any way with enlisted men under any circumstances. This was not only an officer but the highest ranking one seated next to the lowest ranking man under his command at the Governor's mansion. It was probably the highest honor he could have had bestowed upon him as base commander on a foreign island to be invited to the Governor's once a year elite dinner with a host of high ranking guests - and me. There was a definite social order in the military that we not not allowed to cross and when the highest ranking officer on the base sat next to the lowest ranking member of his base it was a real hoot, I think both of us enjoyed as best we could. He returned to the base in his staff car with the flags flying on each fender along with his driver who out ranked me by several levels and he only talked to in order to give him orders. I took a cab back to the base. I guess expecting a lift would be asking too much. My guess is that this is the very first time this story has been told because I know the Colonel would never repeat it. So enjoy...

Choices - Planning A Home

2012-01-21T16:01:00.002-07:00

Imagine our surprise when we drove all the way from Pennsylvania to see our new house and this is what we found. I just posted our third in a series on Choices: You can see the entire blog at:http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/choices-deciding-on-a-home.aspx

Maybe some of our choices will help anyone planning the same type of homesteading we did avoid mistakes.

Mid-Night Revelation

2012-01-21T08:08:00.003-07:00

Sometimes when the wind is howling through the mountains it is hard to sleep at night. I woke up around mid-night and had a cup of sleepy time tea. That clearly does it for me. As I sat here sipping my tea I thought about a report on Denver TV I had heard last week. It related to all the sugar we consume in about everything we eat, especially processed foods. They said 4 grams of sugar is the equivalent of a tea spoon of raw sugar.

Then as we were watching that report Carol looked at the 'fruit on the bottom yogurt' I had just eaten and it had 32 grams of sugar. That sugar is all hollow calories that end up being fat. So after my cup of tea I went in and weighed myself. OMG, I'm 20 pounds over my normal weight which is 180 lbs. I must have fallen asleep at the wheel to let that happen. That means every time I get up from my chair, out of bed, walk anywhere, I'm carrying an extra 20 pounds along. I can't get away from it!

That led to the acknowledgement I am not lifting weights now and had my weight bench and weights up for sale. Maybe it is time I used them instead of waiting for a buyer. I had stopped last year when I had hernia surgery. I have been lifting weights all my life and need to get back into the habit. Instead of bench pressing 245 lbs. I need to do less weight and more repetitions so I don't bulk up which would totally defeat my wanting to lose weight. Muscle weighs more than fat so I don't want to exercise and gain weight.

So I'm going to cut out as much sugar as I realistically can which means no deserts, no evening snacks unless it is trans fat and sugar free and resume my weight lifting routine. At my age I don't need to go for the heavy lifting as much as the fat burning reps. So I figure if I get back on my life long routine of lifting weights, cut back on sugar and trans fats (excluding an occasional chocolate drop) then in four months I should be back to my normal weight.

The photo above is not me but one I borrowed however it sure could be me. 20 pounds in 4 months is 5 pounds per month, and not drastic reduction, but gradual at 1.25 pounds per week. I will let readers know if that works or not. I realize that there are diets that people use that work but I hope my approach is a common sense one that takes an extra 20 pounds off my hips, knees, and feet so they hurt less. With the regular walks, shoveling snow, cutting/splitting firewood that is all good exercise but more needs to be done.

So stay tuned for monthly progress updates. I know better than to get on the scales to often as weight fluctuats and I don't want to become disappointed. I will do it once a month. I've never had 6 pack abs as I think that is not normal, and even though I lift weights and work out, that is the extreme. I'm not a body builder, but do enjoy working out with weights. It would be more fun if I didn't live remote and had someone to work out with like in the old days. I have always been fortunate to work out with those who were professionally trained on weights because if you end up doing it wrong you can hurt yourself very easily which would defeat my goals to lose weight. I do hope to work on specific muscle groups however and replace some of that unwanted 20 lbs, with more muscle. So I will try to post my success or not once a month.

Interesting Local Attraction - Great Sand Dunes

2012-01-20T14:04:00.003-07:00

One of our favorite places to visit is the Great Sand Dunes. It is now a National Park but a few years ago it was a National Preserve. The above photo shows Medano Creek which flows in spurts or has a rhythmic flow. Much of the year it doesn't flow at all but when the spring melt occurs high up in the mountains and it starts flowing and it has this sporadic surge to it that makes it unique in my estimation.

There is also a beetle called the Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle that is found no where else in the world. You rarely see them as they are allusive but you can see their distinct tracks in the sand if you can get to the dunes before people start walking all over. In all the years we have visited the Great Sand Dunes it never ceases to amaze me that the dunes are constantly changing formation. The wind will change them around and if you have not paid close attention you probably wouldn't even notice.

It is a great place to take a picnic lunch, walk the dunes, do a little exploration, and relax. It is a one hour drive from our house and we like to visit frequently. They also have a very nice campground. If you go onto the dunes, be sure to take sun screen and lots of water and carry your trash out with you.

The Great Sand Dunes now has Park Rangers and structured activities. It used to be more informal when it was just a preserve. The Rangers are nice and polite but you get the feeling they are watching you to make sure you comply with all the rules. Reminds me of a place I used to love to visit and take our kids just outside Gainesville, Fla. called the Devil's Millhopper. It was an easy bike ride from out home in Gainesville, Fla. - a deep pit in the ground where the kids could root around and find shark's teeth from when Florida was once under water. Shark teeth in the middle of the State and so far from each coast was unusual but there were tons of them. Then it became a State Park and you couldn't do that any more. It was a local attraction, like Ichntucknee River was in North Florida. A great place to take a truck tube and float down the river stopping where you wanted, swing from a rope swing or take a swim. Once the State took it over making it a State Park, you were restricted where you could go in and get out. The rope swing was removed for safety, and the time the park was open was limited as was the number of visitors. They provided transportation, but those of us who knew it before the State took it over enjoyed it more with out the restrictions and limitations.

The Sand Dunes now seems to have more restrictions than previously but I guess when you have so many people visiting it there needs to be measures taken to preserve it. It is still a nice place to visit for a hike, exploring (stay on trails) or a picnic. I know the rangers are protecting our safety and the natural beauty but it would be nicer if they were less of a presence and you felt less watched.

Part one - selecting and buying land

2012-01-19T09:44:00.002-07:00

Here is the first in a series of starting a homestead. The first is purchase of land and getting that land ready for development. The link to the Mother Earth News blog is as follows: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/choices-starting-with-buying-land.aspx

Next will be choosing a home.

Decisions - How They Impact Your Future

2012-01-17T10:58:00.002-07:00

I have posted a blog to Mother Earth News on making choices and decisions and how they impact your life down the road. Choosing to live remote as we do. To view the introduction go to:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/lifestyle-choices-need-to-be-decided-carefully.aspx

I hope to post future blog topics on matters such as purchasing raw acreage, choosing a home, medical and dental care living remote, clearing and lot improvement, location of well and septic tank, building a house, clear property and wood lot maintenance, purchase of tractor, chain saws, time alone and how to cope, and volunteering.

There may be other remote living choices and decisions both good and bad ones that I hope to help others to improve on those decisions that worked for us and to avoid making bad decisions. It appears to be a fun series of blog topics and will explain some of the do's and don't's of remote mountain living and I hope it will benefit readers.

So if you enjoy the topics or want amplification on any of them - please ask questions.

Memories Made/Carol

2012-01-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

Bruce was looking through an old CD of downloaded and pictures and sent me a few of them....of memories made. This photo was taken back in 2003 while camping and here is the story.

Back in 1994 Bruce and I had driven from Harrisburg to Colorado in the beginning of November to work a bit on our cabin. However, the old wood stove that the contractor had put in the cabin leaked smoke (it is now the one we use for the cowboy breakfasts) so after two days and nights, we headed back home. We got there on Thursday and Bruce still had Friday off as a vacation day so we headed for the Humane Society. We liked to go down there just to visit the dogs. And there we saw Ben. He had just arrived the day before and was a beautiful long-haired German Shepherd...a stray. He came to the inside gate of the kennel and started chewing on it. Bruce told him NO...and he stopped. Our hearts were stolen. He wasn't going to be available for adoption until Monday so we left. As we looked back, he was the only dog that had come out side of his kennel to watch us leave! On Monday I loaded Clarence, our golden retriever/basset hound mix into the truck with me and we went to meet Ben...and the rest is history.

Gypsy moved in with us after we moved here in 1997...I am thinking in 2001...and she has been with us ever since! Ben passed on in 2007; he was the best of dogs. He sold us on having a German Shepherd with us until we can no longer have any pets.

Making memories................

Seed Catalogs - Dreaming Of Spring

2012-01-15T11:21:00.002-07:00

Personally I think it is cruel for garden companies and especially those that sell seeds to gardeners to send their catalogs out the first week of January. Their covers depict these pictures of nice plump blueberries, nice healthy looking squash, and flowers of every type and description. Living here our ground is frozen solid down to 4' deep, and it has several feet of snow on top of frozen ground. That in itself is cruel to do to someone who wouldn't be able to get a seed into the ground for the next several months with anything short of a jack hammer.

But then to show all those beautiful fruits and vegetables without a blemish on them just rubs salt into the wounds created by sending their deceptive catalogs out in January. Sure it gets the gardener thinking well ahead but as you get older and your memory isn't what it once was, your memory wasn't what it once was, I just know I'll forget that some of these seeds are drought resistant and fast growers when it gets around to planting time.

As I gaze at those beautiful fruits and vegetables that don't have a visible flaw on them I give myself a reality check. My fruit never seems to be as big or perfect as those in the pictures. Mine has little nibbles out of it from voles, birds and field mice. The harshness of our climates makes them wilt in the afternoon and look almost semi normal in the morning. If I grew a garden for 100 years I couldn't get my produce to look as good at those seed catalog photos show.

I also have to deal with ground squirrels and chipmunks. When my garden starts to come in we go from seeing a few greedy rodents to having thousands. It is like the call goes out for miles that Bruce's garden is ready. The ones we do have end up so fat they drag their bellies on the ground as they gorge themselves on our vegetables. They don't run across the ground, they sort of swim with their little legs protruding out the side of their plump bodies - kind of rocking from side to side while they inch forward. Even at my age I could out run them if I had the desire to do so. I plant distractions like gooseberry bushes and current bushes, but that only holds them back for a short while until they work their way to my raspberries. They probably die from serious infections from dragging their raw bellies through the same ground the dogs peed on. Has to be a lot of bacteria in that dirt or at least I hope so. They sure don't die from starvation at least as long as I'm foolish enough to keep planting a garden they can prey upon.

So as I sit here drooling over those perfect fruits and vegetables pictured in the seed catalogs it is with ongoing irritation that I remember that none of my produce ever looks quite like that in the pictures. I tried corn one year and discovered where they get those little ears of corn you find in canned Chow Mien Chinese food. They have dopes like me trying to grow real corn and end up with ears of corn less than an inch long. We sell cheap which gives the Chow Mien people larger profits.

Nope, my result always seems slightly different than what is advertised. I keep year after year striving for a garden that will look like the photos in the catalog but apparently that just isn't to be. So when I gaze at all those perfect fruits and vegetables I sometimes forget what my previous result actually looked like, that being a miniature version of their perfect garden photos. I get lost in my dream world thinking that maybe, just maybe - this year my garden will really look like those pictures.

I go from one vegetable seed to another vegetable seed and can't decide what to grow this year. That has always been one of my problems in looking at seed catalogs though: I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure. Just trying to figure out what might grow this time is a yearly challenge. All this is giving me a headache so I think I'll just lay those catalogs aside for now and take a nap. Personally I think to have fruit and vegetables the size of the pictured ones in the seed catalog I would have to start with a three pound seed.

Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well/Billy Graham

2012-01-14T13:52:00.001-07:00

Billy Graham will turn 94 years of age this coming November and I have been privileged to read his latest book through www.booksneeze.com. As with all of Mr. Graham's writings, he is very easy to understand and is well versed in scripture. He has ministered in over 185 countries around the world! As he is "nearing home" he tells us how to be prepared for this adventure.

A well known phrase is "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." Billy's phrases? "Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life" and "life, indeed, is full of surprises." It is his thought that "the days when the aged were admired, looked up to, and respected are gone."

During an interview in 2006 with Newsweek magazine, he realized that he had been taught all of his live how to die but no one had ever taught him how to grow old. The idea for this book was born!

Mr. Graham's book gives us tips on how to view retirement: what to do and what to consider before taking the giant leap. He reminds us that our attitudes play a major role in the closing scene on life stages; that life itself stands between the bookends of birth and death.

I would recommend this book to anyone of any age since at some point in our lives, we will all be nearing home.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through BookSneeze.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Wolves - Where Do You Come Down On Them?

2012-01-13T11:06:00.003-07:00

If you are like us and love wolves check out my latest blog on Mother Earth News at:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/wolves.aspx

We find these amazing animals interesting and feel they are viewed radically by proponents and opponents of the species.

I am particularly opinionated about those who force breed them with domesticated dogs. The resulting poor animal doesn't know whether it is wolf or dog. It is cruel to do this in my opinion.

Food Aggressive Dogs - Not Us

2012-01-09T07:57:00.003-07:00

As I process applications and talk with potential adopters I have many tell me one of the things they "do not" want is food aggression. The dog does not just suddenly decide to be food aggressive and a lot has to do with how (or if) you train your dog/s. Dogs from birth lay right next to each other and share teat's of the mother. If they get possessive mom will do an immediate correction. Our dogs are not food aggressive and they eat right next to each other just like when they were pups. Some people just dump kibble in 'their' dog bowl and walk away. Then months or years later they go to reach for that bowl and the dog growls at them and they wonder why their dog has suddenly become food aggressive. What is wrong with that dog anyway? The fact is it has claimed that bowl and food all along but the dog owner simply has not paid close enough attention to realize it. The dog owner also has neglected their responsibility in properly training the dog.

Resident dogs who are kept outside have the owner come out once a day and pour kibble in their bowl and leave. That bowl becomes theirs alone and they defend and protect it. Not much different with inside feeding, people do the very same thing. We train every aspect of our dogs lives including eating time. They are fed three times a day and it is an orderly process. Here is how we handle the feeding. They eat side by side, all at the same time and there is no problem allowed in the process. If there is it is corrected by myself or Carol instantly.

They are made to sit far enough back from the preparation of their food and bowls to know that I am the one doing the preparation and don't want to be crowded or disturbed while I get their bowls ready. Each dog gets its food measured out, supplements depending on need added, and I'm given the freedom to do it without being crowded. I then take the bowls of dog food to the shelf they eat on and sit them down one at a time. Should a dog start forward before being told they are made to go back and all dogs then wait until I can tell they have calmed down. I stand between them and the food and do not tell them to come until each dog has made full eye contact with me. I then stay with them while they eat. Sometimes I will reach down and move (not take away) their bowl or hold it while they eat so it doesn't move around. I'll also reach into their bowl on occasion take out some food and feed them that food by hand. What this tells them is that it is my bowl, my food and as their pack leader I'm sharing it with them.

On the rare occasion one may sample someone else;s bowl I am right there to make it understood that too is my bowl, my food and I don't want them to do that. I don't scold, only give a pssst, and if needed a finger poke in the shoulder to distract. I have never had one dog growl at another one - instead they will look to me to see if I have permitted that. After they eat they are expected to leave the bowl, leave the room and let the others finish in peace. Sarah is a slow and particular eater so she is always the last one to leave. I learned this technique from Cesar Milan the dog whisperer, in one of his books. I have modified it somewhat but the basic principal is the same. Our room is narrow and I will not tolerate pandemonium when it is eating time. They fully understand that.

So how do you tell an applicant the dog is not normally food aggressive but it is their lack of understanding and laziness to find out how to properly feed the dog that is the problem. It never ceases to amaze me that people comment about how our dogs are so well behaved, don't bark, get along so well, are gentle and how they wish their dog could be like that. Our dogs haven't gotten that way without a lot of work. Theirs have never been worked with in most instances. dump some food in their bowl and walk away or go to the other side of the room. Really what do you expect anyway? People now want a fully trained, obedient and well behaved family member without having to put out the effort themselves. Perhaps that is why designer dogs are now so popular where traits are blended.

The dog comes hard wired to be a good companion and pack member. The problem rests with the people who are to lazy to learn training techniques, or expend the effort to get that obedient dog that they desire so much. They are so used to being able to order exactly what they want and they fail to understand that with dogs it takes training, skill, and patience and lots of love. Don't ever try to out love a dog, you will come up short every time but you do have to demonstrate to they you do love them. That can be done by being a good responsible pack leader. Maybe that is why I'm reading now that those 'gift' dogs that people bought for Christmas are being dumped at shelters. So many good dogs, so many idiots, with so little patience and love. So if you have a food aggressive dog consider it may be your fault, not the dogs. The longer they are allowed to be food aggressive the harder it is to break that behavior. Our dogs also do not get fed from the table. They may carefully come over and sniff but never touch or lick our food. Incidentally those who want to adopt a dog to give it a good 'loving' home but then have a list of attributes they want in a dog do not get my approval. Those who claim to be good trainers but then want a non food aggressive dog get even less consideration. Some people actually would do better with one of those robot dogs made in Japan or an internet virtual dog in my opinion. So maybe that behavioral problem your dog has is not the dog after all, but you instead. Some people are just not suited to adopt, and don't understand why they don't get a dog. If you tell them they fight and argue and don't listen. So if you are the center of the universe enjoy your time there because it is unlikely that I would approve you to adopt a dog.

2012-01-07T08:08:00.003-07:00

I imagine most people are much like we are and that is you stay busy doing various things and assume in the process that certain things are a given. One of those givens is that premium dog food you feed your beloved pooch. Or in our case our pooches. For many years I have fed our dogs a highly rated well known domestic commercial brand of dog food. It is available in most if not all grocery stores. It proclaims that it is high in nutrition for dogs and has all the supplements to support their digestive, skeletal, skin and general health.

It wasn't until our vet told us that one of our dogs had allergies which could be environmental or food borne allergies that we started to really read labels. Those labels can be difficult to read and understand but patience will get you on the right path - usually. Instead of putting him through the expensive tests to determine what his specific allergies were and then having to give him shots ourselves to hopefully over come those allergies we decided to do a little experimentation first. We started to look at dog food labels a little closer. What he had been eating (premium dog food), we discovered had as fillers, corn, oats, wheat, soy, animal fat, crude fat, poultry by-products and required 5 cups per day.

What we found was the more expensive food did not have any grain fillers, crude animal fat, chicken (ground up bones beak and all) and looked to be far more healthy. It required 3 1/4 cups a day as opposed to the 5 he was getting or roughly 3/5 of the volume per day. It had ingredients such as roasted lamb, sweet potatoes, peas and other natural products. The price was higher but when we finished the arithmetic it came out about the same. By checking ingredients carefully we discovered that he was allergic to corn, wheat, chicken and tree pollen. All done through the process of elimination. Since he has been on a grain free food his allergies have improved greatly. We left the other two dogs on the premium food as they did not suffer allergies. We later decided that it cost about the same irrespective of the fact the premium food was 44 pound bags and the new food was only a 30 pound bag. One was .95 a pound and the better food was $1.80 a pound but less was required. It pretty much balanced out even though the cost was different the volume they received was also different.

Dogs when they get over weight tend to put fat on under the rib cage too so that effects their organ function. I do not like to see over or under weight dogs but apparently our vet gets to see a lot of both as when we take our dogs in he always comments on how their weight is just perfect.

Our senior dog eats Chicken Lovers for the Soul senior food which is balanced for a less active dog. She seems to thrive on it and she is well onto the up side of her life expectancy and has an active and productive life. It appears that she is 2-3 years beyond what her charts say is a normal life and at her last check the vet told us she should have another couple years easily due to her nutrition and care. Our dogs now eat Taste of Wild as pictured above. Some people advocate feeding raw and prepare their own food. That may be okay if you live close to a grocery store and it may work for them but when we considered doing that it clearly did not work for us. In reading all the pro and cons (and there are cons) of feeding raw we determined there was just to much risk involved and when you live remote as we do it was not practical. We therefore feed our dogs perhaps one of the most expensive foods available but also one of the best foods for their general health.

If you have not considered what you are feeding your best friend maybe it is time to do some research in that area. If you put your thumbs on your dogs spine and run your hands down their back you should be able to feel their ribs with your fingers. If not, maybe they are getting fat. Our dogs get plenty of exercise but lately with our road being an icy mess they have gotten less but still have maintained their correct weight. Soon, (maybe today) we will get more snow to make the road less hazardous and we can get them back on their long walk routine again.

I did check with the manufacturer of the premium food that they were getting to see how much came from China and found out 99.4% was made in the USA but that .06, which was the supplements, came from China. I believe now all the food they eat comes from the USA or Countries with known quality control that can be relied upon. I believe that feeding the dogs a proper food lengthens their life and gives them a much healthier condition. Just something for you to think about when you proceed through your busy day.

booksneeze.com

2012-01-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Because there is no church nearby we worship on line at www.northlandchurch.net . During the service on January 1, Dr. Joel Hunter mentioned Billy Graham's latest book NEARING HOME. I thought it sounded good so went on Amazon.com to see how much it is....and read a few reviews. One of the reviewers mentioned www.booksneeze.com. I went to that site and long story short, signed up and my application was accepted. They are sending me books at my request that I download onto my Kindle. Then I write a review for this blog and also at Amazon or another site that carries that particular book. I am excited to be part of this program. So keep an eye out for some book reviews!

Deja Vu All Over Again/Carol

2012-01-04T09:45:00.001-07:00

Those of you who have been following our blog know that one of the most labor intensive activities we have here is that of getting the wood ready for the winter...downing dead trees, using the chain saw to cut them to length and then the tedious job of stacking...either inside the woodshed or in long rows. This year, for the first time, we realized that having some rows on the deck OUTSIDE the woodshed would be a good idea...and good idea it is! We have already used the three rows that were originally stacked there but haven't had to use any wood out of the woodshed. The break in the weather has given us an opportunity to put three more rows on the deck! The woodshed is to the left of these piles.

You can see where the piles were in the photo below...and how much snow can accumulate on top of them. One and one half rows are still there to be used if need be. We are thinking that the new/efficient wood stove is going to make our "wood gathering" this coming summer a lot less "labor intensive"!

2012-01-01T12:18:00.002-07:00

Shark In The Mountains - A Man's Best Friend

2011-12-30T12:03:00.003-07:00

Okay guys, how many of you know a woman that actually loves her vacuum cleaner? When you have 4 dogs you spend a lot of time walking behind a vacuum cleaner. When they are German Shepherd Dogs which only shed twice a year - which just happens to be six months at a time - you end up with a lot of dog hair. So having a functional and easy to use vacuum cleaner is a tool that is hard to do without. We bought a new vacuum called a Shark and is often seen advertised on television. It works just like demonstrated and Carol absolutely loves our (her) new Shark. It is easy to push around, the wheels don't squeal, it doesn't knock over tables and doesn't sound like a jet plane warming up in your living room. In short it is worth every penny you pay for it.

Let me share something personal with you guys. When you buy your best gal one of those fancy good looking vacuum's that push like a tank and are hard to use after the first month of ownership you are not doing yourself any favor. For her to use that is is like pushing around a shopping cart with a locked wheel, filled with bricks. Buy one like the Shark and she will enjoy it so much she won't let you touch it for fear you will damage it, modify it or use it to vacuum up sawdust or nails in your shop. I'm not even allowed to read the owners manual. Buy her one of these beauties and then just sit back in your recliner and watch her make that sweet investment work properly while you sip a beer and sit on the side lines. I'm sure it would vacuum up bent nails, metal filings and sawdust, but why expend the effort as long as she thinks you might try do it.

A dropped comment about maybe that motor could have the power increased a little bit or I may get myself one of those for the shop/garage if it will suck up metal filings and bent nails is all you need. You go get it out (if you can find where she hid it) and chances are you won't get 6 feet before your hand is forcibly removed. Try to use it and you risk a body cast. So guys be smart, get one of these little gems and if you spill potato chips while watching those bowl games, no sweat, that little beauty will in action before you can watch the replay. Come on guys, be smart....

Mountain Chickadee

2011-12-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Six Hours Of Hard Shoveling

2011-12-26T14:15:00.002-07:00

Here is what the after version looks like after about 5 hours of hard shoveling. The ice under that snow in the previous blog was 3" thick on the roof. Whew! Only one side to go.

Fair Weather Ahead

2011-12-26T09:38:00.002-07:00

Checked the national weather forecast this morning and there is no more snow forecast through the next seven days. Instead of sitting back on our heels and waiting it is now time to relocate some snow that we do have. According to my conservative measurement to date we have received 156" if accumulated snow this snow season. At 9,750' elevation we only have two seasons here, snow season and no.t snow season. 13 feet of snow so far with us only being 5 days into the winter season is a good start. We are half way to our average snowfall this year. If it keeps up at this rate we will make up for the 100" short of average we did not get last year. Since our entire area depends on the snow for our water it looks like we may have a really good year.

Living in an A-Frame the snow accumulates on the side of the house and so our first priority is to move that snow. As the photo depicts the snow is piled up 10 feet high and we need to shovel it out to the driveway and push it down the mountain. The door to under the house gets covered up and the snow builds up on the ground and makes it difficult to get under the house. That area is not finished off and it is a dirt floor but it stays a nice 40-42 degrees all year long. That is where we keep our yard tools and some canned goods as well as other foods that are mice proof. Therefore we do need to get under the house on occasion to get out shovels and other implements or bring food upstairs. It makes a perfect wine cellar but when you buy your wine in a box keeping it a certain temperature to preserve it is not necessary. It will take two days to shovel out each side of the house and move that snow out of the way.

By Request, Photos Of The Dogs Romping.

2011-12-22T12:24:00.005-07:00

Here are photos of the dogs playing in the snow and one of our back window which normally we can see out. What would the City do with 3 1/2 feet of fresh snow? To see the photo more clearly click on it and it will enlarge.

December 22, 2011... and still coming down!

2011-12-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Looking down the boardwalk outside the back door..........

looking up towards the gate going out to the woodshed on the left........

standing at the gate............looking at the back of the house..........

back of the house...

A Labor Of Love

2011-12-21T09:06:00.003-07:00

A balmy 15 degrees outside, wind blowing 30+ MPH, wind chill -5 degrees and I decided to shovel out the 16" of fresh snow we got two days ago. That is where the dogs go potty and it is frustrating for them to find a place with deep snow to do their business. With 133" of snowfall total so far this year and it just turned to the winter season today it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a place for the snow.

As the photo depicts there are pathways throughout the back yard. I toss as much as I can over the fence but that is getting pretty deep outside the fence too. The piles inside the yard are now around 6' deep, and the hard pack snow on the ground is a foot thick. And today is just the first day of winter!

Need to get that snow out of here today as tonight another storm is coming through and the forecast is for another 11". Usually when they forecast one foot we end up with two feet, so who knows how much more is in store for us.

2011-12-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

How about becoming a follower of this blog? It is easy and at no cost! That way we can see who is visiting our blog! Just click on the link in the right column.

Thanks!!

Life Lesson

2011-12-16T07:15:00.003-07:00

When you heat with a wood stove there are some things you will not find in books or remember from year to year. Probably no one will tell you either because it should be obvious but then if it were so obvious why do I forget from year to year? It is all those 2-3" logs you cut for firewood last summer should be stacked where they are quickly and easily accessible. Totally separate from the larger pieces. Oh, I remember now, those pieces that were so easy to toss up the mountain where I could get to them with the trailer.

Now that it is 8 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 40 to nothing, isn't the time to have to sort through mixed sizes of firewood to find the larger pieces. When you need heat in the house and don't want to jump up every 15 minutes to feed 2" pieces into the wood stove you need more substantial firewood. What you really need are larger pieces that will be more dense and burn longer. Those 2" pieces burn pretty fast and make a good bed of coals. You also need them to get the fire started each morning. You don't need them after you get the wood stove stoked up though. Then they go from being an asset to a liability. You can also freeze to death sorting through them looking for more substantial pieces.

So if you stack the small 2-3" diameter pieces in a pile by themselves you will know right where they are and be able to bring in the right amount each day. Otherwise if you mix them in with your regular firewood you will be pushing through hurricane force winds in 8 degree temperatures to get the pieces of firewood you need. On the other hand when you have to get up every 15 minutes to feed the wood stove you get exercise which serves to warm you up a little.

Now if I can just remember that for next firewood season all will be good. Probably next summer though I'll end up doing the same thing as I have forgotten now for 14 years running. Now that it is written down, I may remember it for next year. Then again......

Dirt Road Life.

2011-12-14T14:14:00.002-07:00

Go to www.motherearthnews.com and on the left side of the page is a list of blog sites. Scroll down to the Happy Homesteader and click on it and there you will find my blog on dirt roads.

Log in or sign in and if you have a memory on dirt roads, take a moment or two to post a comment under that topic. There are a lot of people who may have traveled at one time or another on a dirt road or even lived on a dirt road. I hope this blog will jog a memory or two.

You can comment here if you like but it would really be great if you could put a comment there where 30,000 other people can see it.

It is suppose to be a fun blog topic, please participate. Thanks, Bruce

Wood Carver

2011-12-09T07:57:00.003-07:00

A little known fact about Carol is that her hobby is carving wood. With her volunteer work she has little time if any for carving anymore. Besides her studio is not heated and carving in the house with 4 dogs that want to be nosing her work is somewhat hazardous. As you can see by the photo's she is really a good carver. She is also an old fashioned carver since she only uses knives and not any power equipment to carve.

These are some of her carving projects from the past. One time on New Years Eve she was carving as we watched the festivities on TV and she cut her hand. We spent the evening at the ER getting stitches. She had her carvings on display at a museum/consignment in Lancaster, PA and some thief broke into the locked case and stole her items. She has attended school with master carvers in the Adirondacks.

I'm somewhat biased but I believe she does a very good job. Perhaps one day she will find the time to do some more carving.

First Sled Run Of The Year:

2011-12-08T10:03:00.005-07:00

Thanks to all the snow we have received we are now finally able to use the sleds. Here is a photo of Carol coming down the driveway and one of her back as she zoomed past. This is great fun but regretfully we only get to do it when conditions are just right.

For a better view click on the picture to enlarge it. Racing down the driveway on a piece of plastic at 25-30 MPH can really get your heart pumping....

Birds???

2011-12-06T10:34:00.003-07:00

The mountain chickadee and nuthatch are feeder friendly eaters. They will fly in and take one single sunflower seed and fly off to eat it. We therefore put out two feeders. One we put hen scratch in for the stellar Jays, and the other for the chickadees and nuthatch with sun flower seeds.

But then there are the greedy birds that flock together. Like the rose finch which come in sometimes in flocks of a couple hundred at a time. Or the gross beaks with large flocks. They will empty the feeders in a few minutes and leave poop all over the deck with all the shells. They also crowd the other birds out and keep them from feeding.

So when we see one of those flocks come in we run out to bring the sunflower feeder inside. I have watched the finches empty that feeder in less than 5 minutes. At $32.00 for a bag of sunflower seeds those guys could bankrupt us in a hurry. The hen scratch for the other feeder is one third the cost of the sunflower seeds. We love to feed the birds but when it comes to feeding gluttons who take advantage of the feed and with it being so expensive we clearly draw the line.

Need A Job?

2011-12-06T09:19:00.002-07:00

Mostly I put topics on our blog site that strictly pertain to our lifestyle and where and how we live. A recent viewer of this site looked the topics over and wrote to tell me how much he loved our site and the topics. Turns out he works for www.jooble.com which is a world wide web site that connects people looking for work to employers. His job is to find blogs to cross post to their web site. Ours doesn't seem appropriate for their needs but I told him I would post this for anyone who might be interested. So if you are looking for a job or know someone who is this is a resource that may help. You will see the link on the right side of the blog home page and if you click on jobs it will direct you to the link.

It is another available resource for finding work.

Enough Said

2011-12-05T06:48:00.002-07:00

Fascination

2011-12-05T06:41:00.002-07:00

Echo was absolutely fascinated with the Christmas Weihnachts Pyramide sent by my son and daughter-in-law when they were stationed in Germany. I'm not sure what the English translation would be. He really studied this for the longest time.

Dress Pants - Slightly Irregular

2011-12-04T13:14:00.003-07:00

While I sit here trying to catch my breath from shoveling snow I will post another story on our blog site.

When I was just starting my career in Jacksonville having come right out of the military after 8 years, I was in need of dress slacks and civvies. Our office was right next door to May Cohens in downtown, so I went over on lunch hour to check out what was on sale. There was a rack of real nice looking dress slacks so I looked them over and found a very nice pair that fit me very well, looked good and I couldn't find a flaw in them. The price was right so I bought them.

I had worn them several times and did not notice anything irregular with them. Then one day we had all walked down to have lunch together at a downtown restaurant. I went to pay my bill and needed some change so reached into my pocket and my co-workers all looked at me funny. I wanted to know what was wrong and they told me I was bent way over to reach my pocket. I put my hand back in my pocket and sure enough my car keys were right at my knee. I had not realized that my pockets were probably a foot and a half deep and didn't realize why I had to twist and bend to reach the bottom of those deep pockets. Now I knew what was irregular but I continued to wear them until they wore out. Every time I did I would get razed by my fellow office workers.

Are You Ready For Snow?

2011-12-04T10:32:00.004-07:00

Are you ready? You are never fully ready for continuous snow but you don't worry or fret about it, you deal with it. Thursday we received 12" of fresh snow, Saturday we received 17" of new snow and today so far we have received 2" of new snow. Our weather forecast tells us that it is suppose to snow heavier as the day wears on and through tomorrow night. So far that is 31" of new snow and most likely today and tomorrow will provide an equal amount. Therefore I will post this now because for the next week I will be pretty busy with a snow shovel. It is over belly deep for the dogs in the back yard and the dogs clearly don't like that aspect. The top photo depicts how it comes off the roof of our home and piles up. All that has to be shoveled as the snow thrower can not reach those area's. The deck, wood shed, walkway, garage, vehicles, and snow thrower all have to be shoveled out. Therefore I will publish this blog now as I know what I'll be doing for the next several days.

Our annual average snow fall is around 264" and according to my rough calculations so far this winter we have received 103" and still have the next couple days to get through before we have a break in the weather. The road crew does not work on weekends so our road will not be plowed until possibly late tomorrow. More than likely late Tuesday because they also don't plow during a storm.

So if you want to join us as neighbors, this is what you can expect. Last year we only received 180" of snow all winter. Looks like we are making up for that deficit this year. Let the fun begin!!

cute as can be...........but destructive

2011-12-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

here is what an ALIVE wood rat aka pack rat looks like:

Rated V For Violent - may offend some viewers

2011-11-30T15:41:00.002-07:00

This morning we noticed that we had more green sprigs of pine tree under our house than dirt for the dirt floor. The more we looked around the more apparent it became that we had an uninvited house guest. So we baited some traps to put out later today as most uninvited house guests are more active at night.

Went down to set them up and lo and behold there was a pack rat (wood rat) that had tried to steal one and ended up with a wry neck. In case you haven't seen a pack rat before with this nearly always fatal injury - this is what one looks like. He and any family that may have burrowed into under the house have been pretty busy. They have chewed up parachute cord in manageable small pieces. They have chewed up our garden hose, pulled out much of the insulation and chewed it up and made a nice cozy nest out of it. They are highly destructive and will chew anything they can get their little teeth into.

So it appears he was pretty tired from chewing up everything under the house and went for a snack - probably thinking he would get away with a little theft. That WNS - wry neck syndrome can really deal out justice to a nasty little critter like this. We should know tomorrow morning if he has any relatives that he brought with him...

Elk Photos

2011-11-30T06:11:00.006-07:00

Photos of a herd of elk that were in our back yard a while back. Now the snow covers their browse so they have left our area in search of food. Sometimes we will have herds of up to 50+ out back. When the snow melts in a few months they will be back again. Presently the elk have moved to greener pastures, the bear are hibernating, and the deer have moved down the mountain. The mountain lions have followed the deer so all we have left are a few rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional hawk or owl. We do have bob cats and coyotes that seem to hang around all year also with the rare siting of a wolf. Not much wildlife remains presently as we get ready for the next storm due tomorrow.

Awesome Story

2011-11-26T11:05:00.002-07:00

This is a great story shared by a regular viewer of the blog. Published with Raylene's permission and a story with a moral. Thanks for sharing. Bruce

Back in 1956, summer evenings in Central New York were often spent in my front yard watching the beginnings of the space program's Sputniks fly among the stars. My Dad was in awe of the program and what it represented in our ability to create/explore. Well, this morning, in front of my lap top in the kitchen, while on the phone to his grandson, we shared the launch to Mars--containing equipment my Dad's Grandson, my son had invented to explore Mars.....needless to say, I had tears and was all choked up.

Back in elementary school, this man/child was labeled as being Learning Disabled and I was pretty much told he would never "amount to anything". Lots of research later, I found information that supported my theory that he just Learned Differently as he was certainly smarter than I was and I function pretty darn well! Let's face it----that is what science is all about--thinking differently. He had great science teacher's and math teachers in middle and high school who understood that he thought differently than the typical kid and was able to do things in different ways to achieve the same outcome or a better result. Thankfully, that same conclusion was reached by several of his teachers at one of Virginia's well known universityies when he came up with new ways to invent the wheel --sometimes with a better wheel. If there is a moral to this story, it is to believe in your beliefs--don't expect that others must share your belief--just encourage them to accept the possiblity that it could be so...and keep the Serenity Prayer as one of the voices in your heart.

Agenda For The Day:

2011-11-26T07:57:00.005-07:00

Our agenda is set for today. Much like yesterday and the day before that. We woke up to 10 degrees outside and the two inches of fresh snow we got yesterday makes for a cold day. It was so nice and warm inside the house we didn't bother to build up the fire in the wood stove last night so it's now down to 49 degrees inside the house. It is warming up but the dogs have had to go out twice already. When one needs to go out the others suddenly realize that they all need to go out for company or just to re-mark the back yard.

The nice thing about 2" of fresh snow is that it covers up all the yellow snow and looks fresh again. So today the agenda is set, just like the sign by the back door says. When the temperature drops like it did last night there is no wasted time outside for the dogs, they attend to business and want to come right back in and stand by the wood stove.

With the exception of the obvious agenda in the sign our only agenda today is to try the sleds down the driveway. With the wet snow from yesterday, the above freezing temperatures after the snow, the hard freeze last night - conditions should be ideal. We will see if today is the day to sled down the driveway with the bobsleds. If so, watch for upcoming photo's....

2011-11-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

Bruce walked down our road this morning. Those are his snowshoe prints and also ski poles to the sides!

2011-11-23T14:40:00.001-07:00

2011-11-20T11:12:00.008-07:00

We have a beautiful blue colored bird than frequents our area called the Stellar Jay. They are illusive and camera shy so I put the trail cam on the front porch to see if I could capture a photo or two of them. They come in and leave so fast I mostly only had photos of the bird feeder alone but I did manage to get a few photos of the bird.

And as an added bonus there are two photos of elk that I found on the trail cam that I didn't know were there until I went to review the Stellar Jay photos.

Before And After Photos

2011-11-19T06:55:00.006-07:00

Here are before and after photo's. One taken just before the snow came and two right after the snow came. The snow still remains on the ground and so far this winter (actually I guess it is fall in most places) we have received 60" of snow. Only two hundred more inches to go and we will be at our yearly average. Weather predictions are good for the next week but we haven't really gotten to our real snow season yet, but have a good start toward meeting our average snow fall.

Next snow fall we get hopefully will be enough to do some sledding down our driveway. That is great fun and good exercise hiking back up the driveway. We searched for years for a good sledding spot without success and finally hit upon our driveway. We can sled down our driveway into the road and then down the road for a couple hundred yards. Now all we need is more snow... when it happens we will post photos here for all viewers to enjoy.

Cross Reference Post

2011-11-17T17:50:00.002-07:00

I posted a blog for Mother Earth News today that is near and dear to my heart. Adopting a rescue dog. Having processed several hundred applicants I find some people are simply born without common sense or they have lost it some where along the way as their life progressed. The idea of adopting a rescue dog is that you can give the dog a loving home and safe and secure future where it will be a significant part of the family. One applicant recently wanted to adopt a German Shepherd Dog (GSD) to keep coyotes and deer out of their yard. Another woman had 7 inside cats, two 5 pound dogs and wanted to adopt a GSD because she liked the look of them. Another one wanted a dog to keep her safe on long distance runs because her 4 year old boxer couldn't keep up. Another one to sit in the car as a deterrent.

These dogs are in rescue because the owner no longer wanted them or couldn't keep them. Many have been tortured, abused, neglected or simply chained in the yard as as a deterrent. In short their life up until they are rescued has not been ideal. This particular breed of dog is equal in intelligence to a 7 year old child. Our last Shepherd (Ben) could tell time, count, knew his left from his right, had an unbelievable vocabulary. Most people humanize them but the fact remains they are highly intelligent (sometimes more so than their owners) and they are viewed by some 'just a dog'.

Then there are the exemplary adopters. They are all about putting the welfare of the rescued dog first and giving them the very best home possible. Those people don't always have the greatest home, biggest bank account but what they do have is an endless love for the dog they rescue. It could be a mutt from the pound or it could be a specific breed of dog like the GSD. It is best to understand first and foremost the characteristics of the breed or mixed breed they plan to adopt. Many choose a breed like they would a new car. They choose the one that looks good to them or that they would look good in, not the one that may because of its characteristics be best suited to them.

Since it is nearing the holidays where people want a dog for a child because it is cute or someone to occupy that child it was time to post this topic. So I posted my blog today and if you want to see it go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/so-you-want-to-adopt-a-dog.aspx

If you are thinking of adoption, consider that the dog will be with you for many years to come and consider if the breed you are interested in suits you or is compatible with your lifestyle. But most of all are you ready to devote the time required to give that dog a balanced, harmonious, loving home. If your reasons are any where near selfish then don't do it. Some people tell me they want the dog to love them, and 'they' want companionship. That is a given with any dog but you get back only what you personally invest. Make it a major investment.

Mule Deer Coping With Winter

2011-11-17T06:24:00.002-07:00

Here are some additional photos from out back that depict the mule deer coping with snow and stormy conditions. We are seeing fewer and fewer mule deer now and that is an indication that they have headed down the mountain for greener pasture. Gets pretty harsh and food becomes pretty scarce at 9,750' this time of the year. It may be officially Fall but Winter is here for sure and it looks like it will be hanging around for the next 5 or 6 months.

If you click on the individual photo it will enlarge for better viewing.

2011-11-14T16:08:00.002-07:00

Telephone not working today, but finally just fixed. When you live where we do it is always a challenge. Saturday night the electric was out until Sunday night. Had to hustle to keep the food from spoiling, but thankfully we have plenty of snow banks.

When we have hurricane type wind it has a tendency to knock the utilities out, sometimes for a few hours - sometimes days. You learn to adjust and roll with the unexpected surprise and thankful when the utility is restored. The high wind also cleans out the trees and removes the weak ones, leaving an on going supply of fire wood or lumber when I get the wood mill out next spring.

Snow Maze

2011-11-10T14:53:00.004-07:00

So what would one do with a back yard of deep snow? The dogs have long legs but not that long. Thus far this fall we have received 60" of snow that has not melted away but thanks to the sun it has compacted some what. We do have an abundance of snow so why not put it to good use?

What we do with it is instead of trying to throw it over a 6' high fence is we shovel it in rows which creates a maze where the dogs love to play chase with each other. Bozwell who has the really long legs can vault over some of the smaller snow rows which gives him an advantage. It is like a snow maze playground for the dogs. Only Gypsy who doesn't run any more (she is 14.5 years old) just ambles around out there and we have to keep a close eye on her so she doesn't get confused and upset or worst, lost. The other dogs love to run around the piles playing doggy tag that only they know the rules for.

This is also the favorite time of the year for them when it comes to ice cycles hanging off the roof. That is doggy candy of the highest grade and those ice cycles are coveted by all four dogs. They also like to roll, burrow, face plow in the fresh snow. This is one of their favorite times of year and lucky for them it can last up to 8 months in duration. Not quite so lucky for us though as if we achieve our average snowfall we only have 204" to go. When we are done with the snow we will have 8-10' high banks along the driveway and 6' high snow rows in the back yard. Lots of work for us and fun for them. As soon as the sun hits those snow piles they will get hard and the dogs can walk along the tops of them. Another fun element to playing dog tag in the back yard in the back yard.

Last Photos Before Taking Trail Cam In.

2011-11-09T08:18:00.004-07:00

Out of all the photos that the trail camera took some are better than others. Here are two of the good ones and more will be shared later. The deer are all gone now - down to lower ground. We have had a total of 60" of snow and most of it remains on the ground.

Had who we thought might be a poacher come down the road a few days ago and had to turn around and go back the way they came. Kept their face hidden so we couldn't see them as I was standing out in the yard watching them. Has to be frustrating for a poacher to not be able to poach on our road due to the deep snow. Awwww breaks my heart that they can't carry out their illegal activity due to the snow.

Mountain Chickadee Up Close

2011-11-06T11:16:00.001-07:00

When I went out to take a couple photos of the snow storm the other day as I turned around with the camera still in my hand this Mountain Chickadee was right in front of me. This was taken with the normal setting at very close range. I thought it was pretty cool and something to share with other bird lovers

Not To Be Put Off Until The Future

2011-11-05T08:59:00.003-06:00

We have learned living where and how we do not to wait for tomorrow for what we can do today. That is especially true for cowboy breakfast. Snow is forecast for later this morning and in fact flurried almost all the while I was cooking breakfast outside. It would nave been nice to cook breakfast outside for Carol's birthday but we have several days of snow forecast between now and then. I don't want to shovel out the cook stove more than once a week.

Therefore we had my special potatoes, fixed just right and fried spam and eggs. Pretty hard to cook outside when the air temperature is freezing, in snow flurries, and the wood stove is cranking out as much heat as it can. It all worked out well though, and breakfast was especially good even with the cold and snow. Hard to tell when we will be able to do this again, maybe if we get a break in the winter weather it is possible, or then again, maybe Spring.

Takes a lot of work to shovel out the heavy snow around the cook stove. It also helps if you don't want an early lunch to get up and get going on preparation around 4:30 AM. Doing breakfast outside this time of year (even though we eat it inside) is a real labor of love. When we had friends recently in order to have it ready I had to get up at 4:00 AM in order to have it ready at 9:00 AM. Wish I had a scratch and sniff feature on this blog so all could at least enjoy the aroma.

Snow - Blizzard Style at 9,750'

2011-11-02T09:26:00.006-06:00

Today is an inside day as long as the blizzard rages on. We woke up to snow this morning and so far have approximately 14-15" of the white fluffy stuff. We have a friend - Deirdre - who can use poetry to string words together to make even the most nasty snow storm sound beautiful and lovely. We love to read her posts with the word beauty as seen through her eyes. Carol commented earlier how beautiful it looks outside too, with the operative word being outside. Sitting inside I have to agree with that observation. I hope the photos will reveal the delicate beauty of this fresh snow.

But then there is the reality! ... the fact it has to be moved/cleared.. Having an A-Frame house means that the snow piles up around the house several feet deep due to the steepness of the roof. Unfortunately the snow thrower won't reach these areas so we have to shovel it away by hand. You don't want to be under the roof when it lets loose either. Snow down your collar is nothing compared to hundreds of pounds of snow knocking you over. So when we get over a foot of fresh snow we can get the bulk of it with a snow thrower but there are days of shoveling involved too. The snow thrower also takes time to warm up - about 3 degrees per hour when the block heater is plugged in. So when it is 14 degrees out like it is presently that means about 8 hours of being plugged in just to get it going. As to the follow up days of shoveling, you just approach it one shovel full at a time until it is done. If that takes 2-3 days; that is just a fact of life in the mountains.

So that leaves us inside today and when it stops snowing and blowing (wind is about 30 MPH - wind chill -7 degrees) we just hunker down inside and wait for it to stop. Everything has a good and bad side and the good side is that we only have 6 more months to go and it will all melt away and we can move freely outside. No more clumpy boots, and bulky coats. The bad side is we only have 6 more months to go. Living at this elevation also means that there are more storms yet to come and we usually get at least one a winter that dumps up to 4' of snow on us all at once. The good is that now there is plenty of room to move it around. The bad news is that as the snow season grows on we will have 10' snow banks along the drive and around the house and it just falls/slides back down into the driveway. We have two seasons here, snow season and no snow season, with the snow season being the longest of the two.

Therefore if you don't like snow and lots of it, plus having to deal with it for months at a time, living in the mountains might not suit you. Much has to do with how you perceive snow and we look at it as providing the needed moisture in a semi arid environment. 25+ feet of snow per season is far better than a wildfire. Also the exercise it provides. Reality at 9,750' elevation can be sobering and harsh, but what extraordinary beauty we have. When the sun comes out again the snow will be blinding bright and sun glasses will be needed. I'll probably be posting several photos of snow over the next 6+ months. As the weeks and months go by I hope I can remain objective and civil about all the snow we get. It can generate a lot of work but it is part of living here too. We will deal with it for as long as we can.

Our primary source of heat is the wood stove so with sufficient supplies of firewood on hand it looks like we are good to go and the snow is only a temporary annoyance. A very long annoyance maybe but when you take it one step at a time - non snow season will be here before we know it.

Christmas Cactus

2011-11-01T09:24:00.003-06:00

This blooming cactus is beautiful enough to share. It is called the Christmas Cactus but here it is November 1, and it is blooming. What is really amazing is that for 11 months of the year it looks every bit the dead plant. No sign of life what so ever. It sits there in the window looking like it should be thrown out. Then suddenly it comes to life again. Dead one minute and then alive and beautiful for a time and then it goes back to dead again.

We have learned over the years that if we give it a few drops of water every once and awhile, it will return to life at some point. Then it will be beautiful for a time and then the cycle starts over. So this is resurrection time for our cactus. The beauty of the flowers makes it worth waiting for. So thought we would share this time in the cactus' life with viewers.

Another Cool Photo

2011-10-29T16:40:00.002-06:00

Is this a really cool photo or not. Looking right at the camera.... more to follow.

Bull Elk Bugling

2011-10-28T16:40:00.003-06:00

Here is the photo of the elk bugling. Note him facing the camera in the background. If you click on the photo's they enlarge. Imagine having this activity in your back yard. The animals seem to know they are safe here and therefore they come right up close to the house.

Back Yard Activity In The Last Week

2011-10-28T16:05:00.005-06:00

It is okay now to post more photo's of the visitors we have in our back yard. We dumped the hay from the hay rides out back and one little bale provided a lot of food for elk and deer. It is safe now to post these photo's because there is a foot of snow on our road, an aspen tree broke off and is laying across the road and the markers that were put up by poachers are scattered and covered with snow.

So enjoy our visitors. There were a total of 205 photos and one of a bull elk bugling. As soon as I can find that one again I will post it.

Is Smaller Actually Better?

2011-10-27T12:24:00.004-06:00

Can smaller be better? When we purchased our replacement wood stove it was about half the size of the Vermont Castings Resolute that we felt was getting to old to use without a full overhaul. We wondered if the new Yotul would be equal to the job. We have now had time to give it a fair test and we have found it measures up in every way so far.

It is much simpler to operate, it seems to put out more heat, easier to clean up, and when we get up in the morning there are still live coals in the firebox. While it is difficult to say with certainty we believe it may use less firewood than the old stove. We have not had those minus 20 degrees yet but so far it sure looks like it will do just fine.

We have noticed that it also seems to heat the house up faster than the old stove. That is definitely a plus when it is a main source of heat. We know in Europe that they downsize frequently and now I can see why. If you can get the same result out of a smaller unit, it doesn't make sense to have one twice the size. This is just an interim report and we will have to wait until it gets down to 20 below and the wind is blowing 60 MPH outside to see how well it will really function. If it stands up to that severe cold it will truly be worth the price. The old stove kept up with the severe cold but never fully. Perhaps this one will do as well as the old one.

Back Yard Visitor

2011-10-26T14:51:00.003-06:00

More photos of back yard visitors taken several days ago.

Back Yard Camera

2011-10-23T20:23:00.003-06:00

I am going to have to either back off or not post current photo's of the animals that visit us. It appears that some poachers may be looking at our site and using it to work our area. I observed who it could be earlier today and if that is the case it wouldn't go anywhere anyway since they are friends of those who are in charge of stopping the poaching. We found evidence on our recent walks that our road which is on the perimeter is getting suspicious activity.

Posting current animal photos where the poachers can access our blog site is giving them a menu to use. I'll post photo's after the hunting season is over.

Just Hanging Out

2011-10-22T17:16:00.005-06:00

This guy has been hanging around since I parked the hay trailer out back. He will stand right there and let me walk up within 20 feet of him. More back yard photos of backyard activity.

Some great findings!/Carol

2011-10-22T14:49:00.000-06:00

I don't write too much on here anymore. Seems as though I am pretty busy with my other blogs and my participation in Global Media Outreach. However, here are some things I found today.

Last night I read an article in GUIDEPOSTS and found a neat blog at thedoggydiary.blogspot.com. The entries are written by dogs! Very clever and enjoyable. While there I found another thing...a place where you can sign up to get an email when Bruce or I post on this blog. It is right over there in the right column. So sign up and you will be notified when a new entry is made.

I can get lots of stuff done on here when watching college football!

Blow, Blow Blow Your Coat..

2011-10-20T07:59:00.003-06:00

As is evident in the photo above we have four dogs/children. Our lives are kept interesting with our family even though 4 are of the canine variety. One of the more interesting aspects is that German Shepherds have a tendency to "blow" their coats twice a year. In regular terms that means an 80 to 100 pound dog will shed its undercoat two times per year.

Now you would think that being the same breed they would do this shedding all about the same time. We won't include our 14.5 year old Border Collie - Australian Cattle dog mix, Gypsy in the routine as she sheds all year long. We measure her by a different standard, how many bushes we have worn out brushing her. But the German Shepherds are considerate enough to all shed at different times.

The German Shepherds only blow their coat twice a year. We can tell whose turn it is by checking the rug in the photo above. If it is light grey and evenly spread over the carpet it is Sarah. If we no longer can see the color of the carpet or its design we know she is at the height of her shed. If we see clumps of white dog hair then we know it is Bozwell and if we see grey clumps of dog hair all over the house we know it is Echo. We wear out vacuum cleaners cleaners (industrial grade) often. If it gets too deep we use a rake or broom to get it into manageable piles.

We therefore have a system worked out during the shedding where we only vacuum the carpet two times a day. We don't have dust balls we have hair balls. BIG hair balls. So why do we do this? Because most of all we love each of our dogs dearly. Second it only happens two times a year, per dog. That means when Sarah is done that Echo will most likely start and then when Echo is done Bozwell will start. Then in between Gypsy will be continually shedding. Her coat is different and we don't know what is really under all that dog hair anyway.

So if anyone has a use for tons of dog hair or how we can market it we are open to suggestions. It is clean dog hair as bath day for 4 dogs is what would be called an event. I guess you can see how much we love our dogs as many people wouldn't put up with having to snow shoe across their living room due to dog hair. The benefits we derive from them far outweigh the minor shedding problems. When all 100 lbs of Bozwell gets up in my lap for some one on one time together - that creates memorable moments. Or when Echo gets part way up in my lap and lays his head on my chest, or when Sarah gets in bed and snuggles tight up against you, or Gypsy who give you a little kiss on the chin. These are tender moments. But the most rewarding is when they give you their complete attention and try to do exactly what you want them to do or how you want them to behave. Like yesterday when we had friends from Vermont for our cowboy breakfast. They conducted themselves excellent and were the perfect well behaved hosts. When you come to our house you don't need to worry about what you will be doing. You will either have a very large dog curled up next to you our you on the sofa or will get carpal tunnel petting four dogs constantly.

So shedding time can be a bother sometimes, but the rewards of having a canine family out weighs the worn out vacuum cleaners and shag carpet by far. I guess you could say we love each of our family members very much. Hmmmm, time for our morning dog walk...more later...Off to another adventure -

More Backyard Photo's

2011-10-17T09:35:00.007-06:00

Here are some photo's captured by the trail camera. After we had taken our hay rides we parked the trailer out back and it seems the deer and elk like the alfalfa grass. They would eat it regardless of where I put it anyway so I set up the trail camera to capture them coming in or leaving the hay.

Internet -( what a unique and wonderful place to go)

2011-10-14T08:05:00.004-06:00

Every once and awhile I Google my name. Seems when you get as old as I am there are more pages than I can even keep up with. This morning I checked myself out on the internet and found an interview that I had done in 1978. I don't even know that the internet was around then but check out my interview in the Daytona Beach Florida newspaper. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19781104&id=dnYpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8tIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2490,1484627

If you have never checked to see what is available on yourself, type your name into the search engine and click on search the web and you may be amazed. One time when I checked I found over 24 pages on myself and it is probably more than that now. I have never had time to go all the way through each of them but like this morning - it will take you down memory lane.

What a unique and interesting way to see things you may have forgotten. I had forgotten this interview but do recall speaking to various groups in Central Florida. I was booked two years in advance and when I would go to speak and eat that rubber chicken dinner I never knew if I would be addressing 5 people or 5,000. Sometimes I would go with Dave Cox the Florida State Biologist and we would do a dog and pony show about the perils of the St. John's River.

Ahhhhh, the memories...

Winter In The Mountains

2011-10-08T17:00:00.005-06:00

The above photo shows how beautiful it can be in the winter with fresh snow.
The above photo shows the corner of the garage and the contrast of trees and color left from autumn.
The above photo shows the stone wall on the side of the house with all the best efforts of winter displayed on it.
And this one is my favorite. Thankfully the birds have already vacated and headed South for the winter.

Aspen Gold on snow!

2011-10-07T09:35:00.003-06:00

Winter In The Sangre De Cristo Mountains

2011-10-06T16:45:00.002-06:00

Winter comes fast and hard at 9,750' in S. Colorado. Earlier today I was working outside in shirt sleeves. In fact it was so nice that the area I cleared off I planted grass seed. I felt the temperature dropping and the wind picked up to 50+ MPH. Then the usual happened and the electricity went out. Then out again, and again and the wind didn't slow down at all and the snow started to fall. So I'm going to post this before the electricity goes out again. Only about an inch so far but it has not slowed up at all.
So this was a short fall season which is why I took so many photos when I had the chance. Earlier today Carol asked me to bring in the trail camera as we have had deer and elk out back for a few days. I'm not sure I can even find it now. I don't feel real bad though because Carol said she was going to pick the rest of the spinach and swiss chard and look at it now. Might be just a little late this year unless she feels like picking it during a blizzard. We do have a short growing season here. We actually have two seasons - one is the season without snow and the other is the snow season. We are quickly back in the snow season.

Counting down - only 8 more months to go until the next season starts..

Gosh, I just put the snow shovels away in June and now 4 months later winter starts all over again. Even when you get old and your memory starts to fade there is little chance of misplacing the snow shovels because they are almost always in use.

2011-10-05T08:40:00.002-06:00

Here are two photo's of Junior our good friend the deer. Junior adopted us and has been around every year since he was a fawn until this last year. These photo's were of Junior sleeping at the edge of the fence about 20' from our back door. He would use our house as his base of operations in his quest for suitable females. He would be gone for a few days and then come dragging back here, get our attention as if to tell us to watch out for him, and then he would sack out where he is located in these photos. He would sleep for a day or sometimes two and then after recovered he would be off again in pursuit of the ladies. He trusted us so completely that he could sleep soundly like he is here.

We could walk right up to him and he wouldn't move. He trusted us that much. Our relationship with Junior over the years was not only unique but very special. I would rub his nose and he would make mewing sounds and he would hang around for long periods of time just to be near us. Junior would come around and hang out in the summer and when the snow got to deep in the winter he would move on down the mountain. He would stand and listen to me as long as I would talk to him and I actually believe he understood much of what was told him. He especially liked the part about being told how special he was and handsome. We would talk about things like how to be safe crossing the road or how to avoid hunters.

Junior we fear is no longer alive. He would be very senior now and while we thought we saw him last fall one time we can't be certain. It is hard to understand why he chose to adopt us but he did. Our lives were changed forever by his willingness to trust us like he did. He would walk right up to us without fear. He liked to eat apples from our hand but preferred the Fuji species over all others. We always kept then on hand for him. If anyone else would come around Junior would vanish instantly. Not sure how he did that but you would look around and he would be gone.

If you have never experienced the trust and love of a wild animal you probably don't know the feeling and bond you have with that animal. Some mornings like this morning when I get up I miss Junior terribly. It is hard to sit here and share his story and not shed a few tears. So if you see a few mistakes it is because the computer screen gets a little blurry at times. He was not only a very unique guy but he had a unique personality as well. I think of him almost every day but sometimes like today I really miss having him drop in for a while. I sometimes see a young buck with his distinct markings and know that his little foray's were highly successful. He had distinct markings different from other deer and I strongly suspect that the young buck's or doe's with those markings are direct decedents from Junior. If you have never been adopted by a wild animal and I suspect most have not, then trying to explain that unique relationship is next to impossible. Junior was consistent, reliable, gentle, and most of all loyal. I learned much about life and wildness from Junior. I have seen him lock horns with other bucks and push them around but with me he was gentle as could be. Needless to say I miss Junior and will never forget him. Writing about him keeps his memory fresh in my mind so I hope you never get bored over hearing about Junior the most remarkable buck deer/loyal friend I have ever had the pleasure to know. You taught me so much about your species and yourself. RIP

Fall And Preparation:

2011-10-01T07:09:00.003-06:00

I don't often cross post on our personal blog site my blogs for Mother Earth News, but thought I would on this occasion. Here is the site to check out how we have to get ready for winter which looks like it may soon be upon us. City and urban homesteaders can call for various services to get pipes drained, sprinkler systems serviced but we are left for the most part to do it ourselves and it is time consuming.

Here is the link to my Mother Earth News site on preparation: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/autumn-is-a-time-of-preparation.aspx

Hope you enjoy the effort it takes to be prepared here in the mountains.

Also, the photo above is from our trail camera out back and we just never know what may pass through its lens. In this case elk...

More Backyard Trail Cam Photo's:

2011-09-30T09:17:00.006-06:00

Juvenile elk licking that stump where there used to be a salt block. It mist have leached into the stump because it has been gone for several years. We never knew that these animals were in the back yard, but thanks to our trail camera we discovered they must come and go without our ever knowing it.

The above photo shows them leaving the area, and we must have startled them without even realizing it. The top photo shows a nice looking buck looking directly at the camera. Pretty amazing how they can come and go and we are not aware of their presence. They like to come and browse on the foliage over the septic tank drain field, adjacent to where the camera is positioned.

2011-09-29T11:03:00.001-06:00

2011-09-28T15:45:00.003-06:00

Photos From Our Front Yard

2011-09-28T07:04:00.005-06:00

Back Yard Photos

2011-09-25T12:15:00.005-06:00

Here are some photos downloaded from our trail cam that is set up in the back yard. We were hoping to see some elk or bear photos, but all we obtained were deer photos which are good photo's. If you click on the photo it will enlarge for better viewing.

First Day Of Fall

2011-09-23T10:30:00.006-06:00

A short bicycle ride down our road reveals that this is indeed the first day of autumn. The leaves are just starting to change and the aspen trees are getting yellow. The air is crisp, smells of fall, and I thought I had better get these photo's now as I recall in years past when I waited it was regretfully late. Either the wind will blow all the leaves off the trees or the snow will cover them up.

So here are some photo's of our road on the first day of fall. The colors are forecast to peak in two or three days. When they do it is breath taking here in the mountains for as long as the snow holds off. Some area's of Colorado mountains has already received snow fall, so you never know what tomorrow will bring. Or for that matter what later this morning will bring. We enjoy the color change while we can because sometimes it is very short.

2011-09-21T06:36:00.003-06:00

Our first cowboy breakfast of the year. Previously it has been so dry that it was less than safe to have an outdoor fire - even one in the cook stove with the super spark arrestor on the chimney. With a little rain recently and the ground wet it was the right time to cook outside. The potatoes were seasoned with spices that came from Syracuse, NY - Dinosaur BBQ company. The eggs were lightly seasoned with Dill which gives them a unique flavor. The Spam, well, spam is spam but cooked outside on the grill adds a flavor that compliments the potatoes and eggs and makes for a good breakfast.

There is just something about eating a breakfast outdoors on our picnic table which was built from lumber milled off our own property that makes the experience special. There was a slight breeze rattling the aspen leaves, a doe with her two fawns browsing in the back yard, the elk bugling up in the woods, and the early morning sunshine coupled with the wood fire carefully built in the stove that makes food taste especially good. When you add Carol and the chance to sit down and eat together it all makes for an excellent start of the day.

So having our cowboy breakfast outside on a beautiful day is truly a very special way to start a day. Sometimes we will have biscuits with honey or sorghum on them, or Texas toast, and a pot of fresh brewed coffee and juice. Add a little fruit and the whole breakfast comes together. Some times Carol will make pinch cake to go with the breakfast. We opted for the basics and slow cooking it on a wood stove adds an element that just gets one to salivating for the delicious flavor and outdoor experience of eating out. So when we say we are eating out it is most likely different than most folks idea of eating out.

Annual McElmurray Hay Ride

2011-09-18T14:08:00.004-06:00

When the air gets crisp, the smell of autumn is in the air it is time to hook up our small utility trailer to our small Kubota tractor and go for our once a year hay ride. We take the dogs with us two at a time and they actually look forward to this adventure. We look forward to it too. So today was the day with the weather cool and clear.

Back Yard Activity

2011-09-17T09:20:00.007-06:00

Some of the back yard activity over the past two days. This does not include the flock of turkeys that walked down the mountain just out of range of the camera. Life is truly exciting living in the mountains with all the abundant wildlife around. This is only a very small area of our back yard, and I'm thinking I'll have to try other areas as well.

Click on the photo and it will enlarge.

I had put a salt lick on this stump several years ago and it must have melted into the stump. The deer and elk seem to really like to lick that stump now.

Oh No, Not a Urinary Tract Infection - AGAIN

2011-09-15T11:34:00.004-06:00

Flash backs: Since I will be leaving shortly to take Echo in for urine sample analysis and a determination whether he has an infection or not I had a flash back to earlier times. The story goes something like this:

When my boys were young they said this young black lab was hanging around our house. I took photo's, made posters and posted them all over the area, put notices in veterinary offices and in all the local newspapers. The dog stayed around and I thought maybe it was going home to eat and then coming back to our place to play with the boys. Little did I know that my boys were feeding it, actually knew the owner who no longer wanted the dog and gave it to them.

The dog was not claimed obviously and since the had bonded with it already I told them they could keep her but should the real owner ever show up they would have to give the dog up - no exceptions. Here starts the saga that probably ruined a marriage. I don't believe in having a dog that stays outdoors. If it can't come in the house with the rest of the family - no dog. Since my ex wife grew up with dogs 'in the house' I assumed she felt the same. Nope, dogs belong outside. So I'd bring the dog in, she would let it out back where I had the back yard fenced in to keep the dog safe.

She had worked long and hard to be able to afford a Persian signature carpet that was room size and white with hues of beige and brown. I admit it was a beautiful carpet. I had let the dog in and it ended up taking a whiz on that special carpet we were not allowed to eat near and walk on. That was when I found out the dog had a urinary tract infection. It left a bloody spot on the carpet. I guess you can see where this went fast.

I tried to get an appointment with a vet but couldn't get the dog in for several days. My hunting/fishing partner and co-conspirator in crime neighbor told me not to worry his brother was a vet and he set up an appointment the next morning. When I took Aspen (the new dog had now been named) in he said I would need to obtain a urine specimen and gave me a large super size paper cup probably 10' high to collect it in. He then told me the next morning when I took the dog out to whiz not to get the first urine but let her go a little and get the sample in the middle. I later found out that cup was used to get urine samples in horses. Looked like maybe it would hold a quart of fluid.

So next morning out we go on leash and quickly Aspen squatted to pee and I let her start and then tried to get that bucket sized cup between that one inch space where she squatted. Aspen turned to look at me like I was a pervert of some kind, stood up moved over a few feet and went to try again. I was crawling around trying to get that huge cup under her for a sample each time. The process was repeated about three times with me on my hands and knees holding a big cup that was empty. That was when I looked up to see my neighbors mini blinds slitted open and them outlined in the window. That would be my good friend and fishing partner neighbor. I knew I had been had but good immediately and this had been set up with his brother. So when I took Aspen inside she promptly peed on the garage floor so I scooped it up and dumped it in the cup.

When I dropped off the sample to Ivan he said with a smirk it had debris in it so he would give her a general antibiotic to clear her up which it did. In the meantime the special carpet still had a pink stain on it. Aspen had managed to pee on the white part of the carpet where it was quite obvious. I had my very good friend Dave who owned a cleaning company and was also a chemist see if he could get the stain out. Nothing worked on that stain after weeks of trying. We finally put it back down and situated a table over the stain. It was shortly after that episode in which I found myself a single person once again. I never did find out if the carpet was a trigger point or if I had finally stepped far enough over the edge to where there was no recovery.

What ever the case, in the divorce I did not get the carpet...or Aspen. Actually I did not get much at all except my personal items....... It did all work out for the best though and I sure hope when I take Echo to the vet today he doesn't hand me a large cup for a sample of his pee.....Our vet doesn't know this previous story and I would hate to see him get hurt. I guess I should mention that I am far happier being married to Carol now and don't want to toy with urine samples again. Once is enough.....

Turkeys

2011-09-15T09:27:00.002-06:00

Looking outside this morning and saw a whole line of turkeys coming down the mountain. There were 11 very large turkeys. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see them much better. Thought it was a good enough event to share with readers.

Youthful Exuberance -VS- CCD

2011-09-13T08:41:00.003-06:00

In my last Mother Earth News blog I commented that I would not be boring readers with repetitive photo's of our dogs and that I would post updates on our personal blog site. So that is what I am doing this morning. To those readers in the US, Canada and Norway, Russia, Croatia, Newfoundland, Iceland and a host of other countries, here is an update on two of our family member dogs.

Youthful Exuberance: The photo below is of Echo our newest addition to our family. Echo is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years old depending on who makes the age guess. Regardless, he is full of youthful exuberance. He will suddenly get a burst of excitement and jump around and do a circle or two with barks just to release that energy. This is the stage of development that alarms some people and they decide that the dog they loved as a puppy has something wrong with it or is out of control and they surrender it to a shelter or turn it loose.

The simple fact is this is a phase in a young dog's life and these sudden bursts of energy come on them and they race through the house as if they are out of control.

Cesar Milan the dog whisperer would say they need more exercise and maybe they do but they will exhaust that energy themselves and settle right back down. To them everything is play excitement and frequent energy bursts. Bozwell simply ignores these in Mr. Echo and if Echo gets to rough he lets him know about it and things calm down. Bozwell being the mature guy that he is, understands this behavior and mostly ignores it unless Echo gets to far out of hand. If Echo starts to get to rough either Carol or I will step in and correct matters which is simple using a distraction - like the bean bag toss. As you can see in the photo below, Echo, is ready for mischief and he had just returned from a long walk.

Now at the other end of the spectrum is Gypsy, age 14.5 years old. In human years that would put her at around 90. Gypsy has what many dogs have over 10 years old, that is CCD. (Canine Cognitive Dysfunction) That is similar to Alzheimer's in humans. She is a true geriatric girl who needs special consideration. Her hearing is diminished, she has cataract's on her eyes, and she also has CCD. She is frequently confused, distant or lost. She get the trembles or shakes even when laying down sleeping - which she does a lot of. She paces and wanders aimlessly at times. She will stare at walls or into space. She seeks less attention now than she used to. Sometimes she is more withdrawn. She has incontinence which is treated with medication. We used to think she had mini strokes but it is more and more apparent that she has CCD.

So while she often now prefers to stay home when we go on walks, some days are really good ones for her and she trucks right along with the other dogs. We usually let her decide on how much activity she wants. We make her life comfortable to accommodate her senior years. There is no cure for CCD and medication only helps a few dogs and not all dogs. At times it can be frustrating when she forgets her leash training, feeding routine or potty habits. She has more than earned the right to some slack in her life to make her senior years more comfortable. We also know one day she will no longer have a quality of life in spite of our efforts. But for now we will cut her as much slack as we can and the other dogs are aware of her failings and are very attentive to her.

So we have one dog at each end of the pole; different qualities of life. One totally enthusiastic over life itself and full of excitement and one slowly withdrawing from a full and happy life. I wonder, as she lays there sleeping, if she is dreaming of the time she jumped from the deck onto the back of a bear. I don't know who was more scared - me or the bear. I can only hope that her dreams are happy dreams...... And then I look at Echo who has had his experiences before he was rescued and still has ahead of him lots of happy memories. One light shining bright, one light getting dimmer. Life goes on but sometimes not without painful loss.

Off Spring of Junior???

2011-09-10T10:19:00.004-06:00

This guy was captured on our trail camera recently. Never knew he was out back. He has the same characteristics that Junior had. For those who don't know about Junior he was a very special guy. The first year after we moved here full time a doe and two fawns came up to me when I was out clearing the brush and limbs next to the house. I was talking to her and she followed me around like my best friend and the two little fawns would run in spurts and bounce around. That went on all day. Two years later we looked out back and there were two big bucks out there and one was eye balling our bird feeder. I went under the house and got an empty ice cream bucket and filled it with some bird seed and as I was carrying it out back he walked right up to me and started to eat from the bucket. They were the two fawns grown up.

Junior came around for 13 years and would come right up to me, let me rub his nose, feed him from hand and had adopted me as his good friend. He came back one time last year late in what I think was to say good bye. He was pretty old and grey around the muzzle and we have many fond memories and stories of Junior. Junior has several unique characteristics. He had a dark bar that was between his eyes, his antlers were close together and not spread out like other deer, he was pretty blocky is size. He was also the most gentle and loving deer I have or probably will ever know. When I would rub his nose or give him an apple he would make mewing sounds and look at me with nothing but warmth and affection in his eyes.

This guy has two of the characteristics that Junior had. Antlers that are sort of pinched together and that dark bar between his eyes. If he is not one of Junior's off spring it is a rare coincidence. It is very difficult to think of Junior without tearing up as we have spent some very special years together. I just hope Juniors off spring son is half the guy he was as he was highly unique and special. I have never been adopted and trusted completely by any deer before but Junior did just that and the experience was truly remarkable. I would like to write more about Junior but it is still pretty hard to do because of the involuntary tears that seem to come when I do try.

So maybe this boy is Junior/Junior, it certainly appears he could be. Junior was a real ladies man and would exhaust himself and then come to us and lay down next to the fence and be totally at peace as he knew we were watching out for him. He would lay there all day, we would walk past him, he would roll an eye toward us and never move, the dogs would go out back and leave him be to regather his strength so he could then grab a bite to eat and go out in a couple days to woe more ladies. Hand me that tissue...

Dialysis And Coming Together

2011-09-08T18:11:00.003-06:00

When you think you have troubles if you just look around you will find others that may look normal but have far more difficulty than you do. As I sit here and listen to Carol talk with a friend of hers whose heart is failing her and has several physical problems I realize just how fortunate we are and what we take for granted - when we should not do so.

Her friends heart, liver and kidneys are failing her and they want to administer dialysis to her. That reminded me of a fishing partner of long ago in Gainesville, Florida when I was claim manager for Hartford Insurance Group. Bill Burwell was a plaintiff attorney that was on the opposite side of the table from what I did as a Claim Manager. By all rights we should not have gotten along as our positions were always opposed to each other. The problem was that I liked Bill and he liked me and we both liked to fish.

So against all odds we were friends away from work. It was the same with another plaintiff attorney named Eric Wagner. In spite of going at it tooth and nail in hearing rooms or court rooms when we walked out the door we were friends again.

One time I went to pick up Bill to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. When I arrived at his house his wife said he wasn't able to go for another hour. So she and I had coffee and I learned that Bill's kidneys were not working and he had to take dialysis every three days. Since Bill was a vet the VA provided him a machine at his house and as we spoke and drank our coffee he was hooked up to that machine having his blood cleaned. Bill was hooked up to the machine 12 hours at a time and during that time he could not go to sleep. So Bill had worked the previous day, been hooked up to his machine for 12 hours and as soon as he got off the machine he would go fishing with me. It still chokes me up to think of what he sacrificed to go fishing with me. Out there on the hot Gulf of Mexico sharing stories, laughing, having fun and catching a few fish; he had to be totally exhausted.

So when I heard Carol talking to her friend I had a flash back to my time with Bill. I also used to go fishing with Eric and again while we were tooth and nail for our respective sides we couldn't be better friends when we were not working.

Then I watched the President talk tonight. I wonder if it is somewhat the same with them. Fishing is one thing and letting the country go down the drain while they argue is another. Even though Bill and Eric and I were friends off work, I have no doubt that if as much was riding on the outcome of our dealings with each other, we could have done the same in our business affairs and that is come to some reasonable solution. Probably in a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. I wonder why our elected officials can't do the same. Maybe they need to go fishing - it worked for me and I had great times with my opponents and also my good friends. We shared good stories, jokes, lunch, beer and had a great time in the process.

Just my thoughts, and maybe trying to out fish each other would break the ice and they could get along when they really need to.

Break In Time

2011-09-08T07:34:00.002-06:00

Amazing how the weather is cooperating to break in our new wood stove. The owner's manual says that we need to build a 200 degree fire and burn it at that temperature for one hour and then let it cool down. Then go to 300 degrees and then 400 degrees and after that we can burn it hot.

Summer is obviously winding down now and we are getting cooler days which makes breaking in the cast iron appropriate at this time of year. We finished stage two break-in yesterday and are ready for stage three. It won't be long now before we can expect snow, and our 8-9 month long winter. We burn our wood stove from September until May so that is a long time and a lot of fire wood. We spend our short summers cutting, splitting by hand, stacking somewhere between 9-11 cords of firewood. A cord is 4'wide, 4' high and 8' long. That constitutes a lot of firewood. We are anxious to see if we burn less with the new stove or not. We have an extra cord un-split just in case its needed. Our last stove was 18 years old and pretty well worn out - even though it was still working well. We just didn't want to take a chance with its continued use and it costs almost as much to refurbish it as purchase a new one.

The new stove has two air control levers on the front to control the firebox temperature. The house itself has a window to control the inside temperature of our home. If it gets hot inside you open a window and let some of the heat out and cooler air in. When it feels comfortable you close the window again. Pretty nifty thermostat if you ask me. Not much to malfunction there and it works consistently well. We can usually tell when it is getting to cold inside as the dogs will all be sleeping next to the wood stove. Time to crank up the heat a little which is why it needs to be properly cured now.

It seems like we just put our snow shovels away and now must get them back out. We average 264" or 22 feet of snow a winter. Since we only got about 164 inches last year that could mean we will get 364' of snow this year to meet our average. That is over 30 feet of snow so I'm not looking forward to that, but we are ready in case it is a hard winter. Every year except two or three times since we have lived here we have gotten at least one hard snow a year that would accumulate to 4-5 feet in a single storm. On days like that when the snow just keeps coming down, the wood stove is a vital asset. When we get 5 feet of snow at one time we will be busy shoveling for several days and often are stranded for several days.

So it is important that we break in that wood stove properly and soon. You just never know this time of year when we will need to rely on it. Did I mention we actually love it here and the snow is just part of living at 9,750'. We have been known to get snow in early July but that is rare. Also we can get snow as early as September but that too is rare. So as we make final preparations for winter we realize that time is marching on and each day we are closer to winter. They have already had a snow storm in the northern part of the State. With the unusual weather we have been having nationwide it does not pay to procrastinate.

So as we make final preparations for that dreaded winter, we can rely on one thing - it will be here soon enough.

Trail Cam Photo To Share

2011-09-05T15:38:00.003-06:00

Mr friends D.J. and Dave have shared their trail camera photo's with me and it made me want one of these super camera's too. Here is a photo of an elk that was shot last night. We didn't know the elk were even out back but that sneaky camera is hard to fool.

I thought with the sun light in the trees and the elk on alert made a nice photo to share. If you click on the photo it will enlarge for a better viewing.

Raw Courage in Echo

2011-09-04T15:22:00.003-06:00

So here we are breaking in our new wood stove and realize we may have a leak around the stove pipe. The booklet about the stove is up the spiral stairs in the loft. I head up to retrieve the material so I can call the installer after labor day and Echo heads up those scary stairs behind me by himself. The above photo is of Echo being very proud of himself up in the loft.

The super scary part for any dog is then coming down. Your head is way lower than the rest of your body but Echo took one look and down he came. Before we could stop him up he went up again. He did that 4 times before he got hung up about half way down. He locked up but we helped him get down safely but what does he do - turns around and goes right back up again. We now have the baby gate across the stairs. It is equal to going down a cork screw upside down.

That took tremendous courage to face those scary stairs on his own. He has studied the spiral staircase for a few days and he decided he wanted to attempt it. His accomplishment is equal to rappelling down a thousand foot cliff for the first time upside down and twisting around. He was all smiles and the other dogs could only look at him with awe. Echo's bravery has won over his brother and sister, not to mention mom and dad.....

We decided to keep the baby gate across the stairs however, we don't want him attempting this feat at night when we may be asleep and getting hung up. We prefer to be available to help him. Our late GSD Ben did the stairs alone and after a few times has confidence to go up and down them with ease. He never had an accident on them and I do not believe Echo will either. However, it is better to be safe than sorry so right now he is restricted downstairs.

IF - All Goes As Plan

2011-08-26T18:48:00.003-06:00

If all goes as planned tomorrow we will have four - yes that is right - four dogs. I will pick up Echo to join our family at the Central Colorado German Shepherd Rescue after a work day.

Echo has an interesting story like most rescue dogs do. I received a telephone call from the local shelter a little over a month ago telling me Echo (they called him Duke - lousy name if you ask me) had been there quite a while and no one was interested in him. Could we take him for the rescue. I made a call and viola there was room at the inn for him so I made arrangements to drive him to the Rescue in Buena Vista. He was major matted, had feces in his tail, unruly and aloof. For the first hour of the three hour drive he totally ignored me which is not easy to do in a Jeep Liberty. Then he started to warm up and before long was giving me kisses, leaning against me, laying his head in my lap and allowing his personality to show through.

I kept checking with Connie if he had been adopted but no one took him - possibly because he was rather aloof. I couldn't stop thinking about him and kept telling Carol we really could handle four dogs since Gypsy was 14.5 and declining rapidly. Echo was a stray and ended up at a farmers house but had a proclivity for his chickens and he took him to the shelter.

Echo was renamed at the Rescue, and it seemed everyone one wanted a younger dog, a more friendly dog, a female dog, a dog who loved cats etc. So here we are to do a work day for the Rescue and he is still here. Connie brought him by the campground to meet Carol and our guys. The dogs got along well even though Bozwell seemed relieved when he went home with Connie.

I had warned Carol that he was aloof. Stupid me, he came right up to her and gave her kisses, socialized with the dogs, and that actually sealed the deal. Echo is a smart very well bred guy who learns fast, will be an excellent younger brother for Bozwell. Given time I believe that they will bond and be best of friends.

Sooooo, if all goes well tomorrow we will be adding Mr. Echo to our family. He is a very good boy, who gets along with other dogs, does not like cats or chickens and it seems that God has preserved him to be with us. It is rare that any dog would be on my mind for this amount of time and take an immediate like to Carol. So what is to be is to be and if all goes well tomorrow Echo will be with his forever home, spoiled rotten and a firmly established member of our family. We will then have four very special family members. Below is Echo so meet Echo...

Sarah's 7th Birthday

2011-08-26T13:45:00.004-06:00

Even though we are camping when a 7th Birthday rolls around it is time to celebrate. Angel food cake for an angel, and vanilla yogurt frosting, and you have the start of a party. Jeff, the owner of the campground came by to participate and Sarah enjoyed her cake as the below photo shows.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH.....May you have many more happy birthdays...

Cycling professionals.

2011-08-24T17:21:00.006-06:00

We get away when we are able to re socialize with other's of our species and were we ever surprised to discover that the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge would be passing right past our campground. We were even more surprised to discover that we had as many police officers and units in our State as we do. As we waited by the side of the road we noticed the tremendous preparation that had to take place to block off a major highway for this event.

As the cyclists went past us we saw the perfection of planning being carried out. Those guys ride very close to each other as they come down the road and the leaders were a minute or two ahead of the remainder of the pack. The Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, was in the main group and not leading as we would have expected. The car in the first photo had loud speakers and came along giving the play by play of the race. These guys will race 131 miles today, cross two mountain passes, and get some rest tonight and repeat the race tomorrow.

Two words come to my mind when watching them go past us today is stamina and endurance. They are well conditioned and this race is not only good for Colorado but is one of the major races in the world that attracts cyclists from all over the world.

Below are photos of the event as it passed us today.

Here is the main body of the riders. They have photographers accompany them all the way, a helicopter covering them from above, supply vehicles, more police than I have ever seen before in one place, ambulances, and vehicles of every description.
The above photo is of the main body of riders.
This last photo is of the leaders as they passed us. I never knew that this type event could be this exciting.

Bear with squeaky toy - better known a a pack rat

2011-08-17T18:39:00.003-06:00

Our friends Doris and D. J. Harter sent us this photo for our blog site. He had a trail camera hooked up outside and while they were inside eating lunch; they had no clue this was going on outside. The camera took this photo of a bear with a pack rat in its mouth. The camera took a series of photos of the bear and all the while they were inside eating lunch totally unaware of what was going on just off their deck. Makes me wonder how much of this activity goes on and we never know about it.

You have to admit this is a unique photo and thanks to D.J. for sharing it with us. I offered to rent the bear to help with our pack rats, but D.J. advised me that he had already put the bear under contract for the remainder of the summer.

Manassa, Colorado

2011-08-12T14:23:00.003-06:00

Jack Dempsey was not only one of the most exciting heavyweight champions in history he was also one of the ring's greatest all time pound for pound fighters. Dempsey has one of the best knockout records in history with an unparalleled winning streak of 32-0 with 28 knockouts, including 17 of them in the first round! His victims included most of the top heavyweight contenders of the period including his title-winning massacre of big Jess Willard.

Dempsey was quick, strong, and a skilled fighter. And we just passed through his home town of Manassa, Colorado, which is just less than one hour from our house. It is now know as the town of Jack Dempsey, and is a very small town that has some of the nicest parks, including the one where these photo's were taken. One would never think that the World Champion Dempsey was raised just over from where we now live. The building in the top photo is Dempsey's museum and this little town in the middle of absolutely no where is proud to be the home of the great Jack Dempsey.

After you leave Manassa the land is desolate and barren for 40 miles until you get to San Luis. There is a small town, San Acacio, just prior to San Luis but it is very small. San Luis is the oldest town in Colorado and our county seat. In fact our County only has 3,700, total residents but is a beautiful area that has high mountain peaks, as well as semi arid to arid desert terrain. Is is also close to where Jack Dempsey was born and raised; just over the line into Conjeos County.

You never know where you will find history and who would ever think that a world champion prize fighter was born near us. It was a nice day for a drive and to visit our adjacent county and see where the world's greatest prize fighter was born and raised. So that is the history lesson for today.

Mountain Top Views

2011-08-10T13:18:00.003-06:00

It was a beautiful day to hike to the top of our mountain. The good part is that all we need to do is walk out our back door and head straight up the mountain. Going up is not so bad but coming down is hard. The below photo is standing perched on top of our mountain, directly back from our house, and looking toward the West. We live at 9,750' and the top of the mountain is 10,500' which doesn't sound like much of a climb but the closer you get to the top the more vertical it becomes.

We hike 40-50 feet and stop and rest. The upward hike takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. It takes one hour to hike down. For someone with bad knees the down part is the worst. I feel like one of those stick figure men on a stick that when you jiggle them the legs go every which way. There are loose rocks, pine cones, and broken and fallen trees to watch out for coming down. But as the photo's below reveal, the hike is well worth it in wonderful views. Click on the photo and it will enlarge.

Carol sitting directly on top of the mountain looking to the East and the expanse of open.
This is looking to the northeast, and the bald mountain is Mt. Mestas which is around 12,000 + feet in elevation. Today it was a little hazy but usually you can have your picnic and look both ways off the top of the mountain and see for endless miles.
So today we went to the top of the mountain, had a picnic, sat and enjoyed the view, and took in all the beautiful sights. Now time for a nap....

Surprise Tonight

2011-08-04T19:12:00.002-06:00

Pleasant surprise tonight with a herd of approximately 50+ elk in the back yard tonight. Lots of little babies included and even saw one still in spots. All appear to be very healthy looking and well nourished. Appeared that they wanted to bed down out back which they have done before, but doggies needed to go potty and they ran off when we let the dogs out. Dogs never barked at them, but they ran off anyway. Click on the photo to get a better view.

Diatom - What Is A Diatom?

2011-07-29T17:22:00.005-06:00

A diatom is a one celled plant so tiny that it must be magnified thousands of times to be visible. I had to borrow the above photo because they are so minute special camera equipment is needed to photo them. They live in such quantiles that they outweigh the total of land plants combined. Diatoms take the minerals out of water and build a protective shell. As they die they build up on the bottom of the water and can be hundreds of feet thick.

The diatom shell is a tiny cylinder that is full of holes. Like a rice chex cereal only microscopic. They have a negative charge and the holes are just the correct size to absorb positive charged matter. So what does this have to do with anything? It has everything to do if you have insect problems. It is so fine that when sprinkled it drifts in the air being smaller and lighter than talcum powder. The positive charge generated by insects like mites, flea's, ants and virtually any other hard body insect collects the negatively charged diatoms, and due to the diatoms construction they cut and lacerate the body of the insect and they die of dehydration.

It is sometimes referred to as DM which is short for Diatomaceous Earth. Be sure to use food grade DM as the untreated DM may have things in it that are not as safe for the health of people and animals. We have used it now for a few years and can safely say it works - we are now believers. Some people who raise chickens dust them with DM for mites. You can dust dogs and cats for fleas or mites. You will not see instant results as in spraying some of those toxic chemicals that attack the nervous system and are harmful to people and animals. They do kill though and completely. I have wondered why DM hasn't been used on bed bug infestations but I have not seen it advertised for that purpose.

So if you have flea, mite, ant or any other insect problem consider food grade DM, not the stuff used in swimming pools as it not as safe to use. It works without exception, it is superior to chemical sprays and much safer. We purchased a huge bag several years ago and have hardly dented the contents. We buy ours from Wolf Creek Ranch in California. Go to

http://www.wolfcreekranch.net/diatomaceous_earth.html. Their web site is loaded with the many uses and safety of the product.

It is a safe and effective way to handle pests and won't damage or destroy the environment in the process. I believe you will also find it is much cheaper than the chemical sprays also.

Exploring For Gold In A Ghost Town

2011-07-24T18:27:00.007-06:00

Today my friend - Armando and I went exploring in the ghost town of Summitville, Colorado for gold and fresh air. The photo below reveals the wild flowers that were in bloom at 11,000 feet elevation. The wild flowers that bloomed at our elevation are now blooming at higher elevations. There was still snow on the mountains we could see from the road in places but it was too dirty to photograph. Same with the creek we were prospecting in, it is right below the EPA super fund clean up of a mine that leached heavy metals into the creek. It was strange not seeing any life at all in the water, including aquatic bugs that are normal in most creeks. The arsenic has killed every living creature in the creek. The clean up has been going on since 1992, and is still far from being completed.

Here is Armando standing outside one of the buildings in the Ghost town. While we didn't see any ghosts - that we were aware of anyway - it is quite a cluster of what used to be homes of miner's and where they lived. It looks like they built some of the homes for family use and with multiple rooms. They have been abandoned for years now and are slowly falling down.
Armando at the creek bank looking for gold in his pan. The day did produce some gold but not that large nugget that we were hoping for. The digging was very difficult as the river rocks were cemented in place and when you would finally get one out to dig you would hit a bigger one under the one you just dug out. After working for over an hour I finally got a hole deep enough to finally start finding some fine gold.
One of the more solid homes that doesn't have a roof but the walls are solid and it was built to last - which it has for many years. Hmmmmm, is that a face looking out from the door on the left. Funny I didn't see that when I shot the photo.
To see the photo's better, click on them and they will enlarge. It has been a full day and we have some gold to show for our efforts and the views and wild flowers are beautiful at that elevation. Visiting a ghost town sure does get the mind to wondering what kind of people lived there on that mountain top, did they get along, would they be happy now looking out at the spoiled mountain side that big mining has destroyed where they just worked with more limited equipment and did not rape the land. Or, maybe they are looking out and seeing this and don't like it any more than we do. Irresponsible conduct in the quest for money and greed takes a terrible price on our land. I purposely did not take photo's of the damage as it was pretty disgusting to see. The best I could describe it would just be 'ugly'.

But the day was fun, we enjoyed the excursion and search for a little gold and we left the area just like we found it, working for gold with a pan and shovel does not damage anything. It was fun, and a chance to explore.

Hey Fred!!! - Go Out Back and Get Some Lettuce

2011-07-21T11:14:00.003-06:00

Many years ago - long before we moved here full time in 1997 - we were coming out to work on our retirement home and flew to Denver, rented a mini van and were driving through the center of the State. It was lunch time so we came into a very tiny town called Villa Grove that had one place that advertised food. We pulled in, went inside and it was a restaurant in the front of the house and the proprietor lived in the back. We both ordered our meal and I ordered a hamburger which is my usual selection. The lady asked if I wanted lettuce on my burger and I said yes.

She yelled out - "Hey Fred! go out back and cut some fresh lettuce". A couple minutes later here comes Fred with a handful of freshly cut lettuce. Can't get any fresher than that so now when we have a salad for lunch we have lettuce right out the back door too. Something about fresh lettuce or spinach that is superior to store bought produce. Thanks Fred we now have fresh lettuce out our back door too.

Rainbow - Double

2011-07-20T18:40:00.002-06:00

As we sit here we look out the front window - a double rainbow. As I write this it is still out there. It reminds me of the time we were actually at the end of the rainbow. We noted that all the rain particles around us were glowing and giving off many colors. It was like millions of glittering multi colored diamonds were surrounding us and blinking on and off. It was a real unique time and experience. All I know is that there was no actual pot of gold at our end of the rainbow. Blimey, and me being Irish too. Maybe the other end. There was just us standing in awe at the marvel that surrounded us. Being at the end of a rainbow and being surrounded by those multi colored sparkles is something that is burned into our minds forever. I don't know what the odds are of actually being at the end of a rainbow but it was as if time just stopped for us to admire God's special treat for us.

One Of The Hottest And Dirtiest Jobs Done

2011-07-17T18:55:00.003-06:00

Finally the most difficult, longest, dirtiest and most sweat producing job is done for the year. Getting the firewood in. We cut it in the woods, haul it home on our small trailer, split the logs, stack it and that took us a full 3 1/2 months this year. Now we are ready for the winter firewood burning season. The photo below depicts an area about 12' wide, 20' long, and about 4' deep.

The second photo depicts a wood shed full of cut, split dry firewood.
This is our major task of the summer and all other jobs pale in comparison. This is a back breaking slow and time consuming job in which we have to deal with carrying those logs out of the woods, swatting at biting flies, stumbling over branches and other debris, but it will keep us nice and cozy this winter. Every one of those logs that are large enough had to be split with a maul and carried to the wood shed. One more year we have the rough job done and glad to have it behind us. Ahhhhhh

2011-07-15T11:29:00.000-06:00

When Bruce retired 14 years ago next month, his fellow employees gave him a cash gift and with it we got a gas grill. After all those years, it was very tired! Although it still worked, it was BIG, rusted, the wheels were cattywompus, etc. So I was in Walmart one day and saw this "patio grill"....the perfect size for our deck. The sides go down and therefore it takes up even less room! Well, I didn't get it that day but thought of it some more and ordered it from Walmart.com. Picked it up on Monday and today it is getting it's first workout!