Springtime Flowers:

 

We know it is truly spring when the iris are in full bloom. Small patch of iris and there are more buds yet to open. 

Peace And Quiet:

 The renowned Samual Clemments (Mark Twain) had a habit of going fishing with his pole but no hook on the end of his line. That was the only way he could get any uninterrupted time to himself. It is a long-standing tradition that when you are fishing that it is impolite to disturb the fisherman. Sitting along a riverbank with a fishing pole is not only calming but restful.  The famous Mark Twain did not put a hook on his fishing line to not catch any fish and not to be disturbed. 

Sometimes just being out in the fresh air and sitting along a riverbank or a lake or stream without the matter of catching fish is just pure relaxing. 

It's a Puzzle:

 

Some things just do not make sense to me. One such incident happened recently.  I ordered some tarter cleaner for the dog's teeth, and I got an acknowledgement promptly from the manufacturer which I found out came from China. I was able to track my order as it left the factory, went to a distribution center, where it was put on a transport and arrived in California. Then I was able to track it across the U.S., and we received it promptly and in good condition.  

At the same time, I ordered a hose from the local Walmart store to replace our leaky one. It took a few days to get my order acknowledged and a tracking number. The tracking indicated we should receive the hose tomorrow and now it says maybe by Friday. 

It is all here in the U.S., and it has been at the same location for several days. So, my puzzle is how can I order two items - one from the U.S., and one from China and the one from China comes halfway around the world in half the time and the one in the U.S., comes from within our country and the vast difference between the two. The one from Walmart takes twice as long and we still do not have it. 

Remote Homesteading:

As I have posted before, we moved to N. Carolina from 9,800' elevation in S. Colorado. We received (according to HUD) 264" of snow each year, fortunately not all at the same time. Our winters were sometimes 6-7 months long. Our nearest neighbor was one mile down the road. We lived there for over 26 years full time and heated our cabin with a woodstove. We burned anywhere between 9-12 cords of firewood each winter. 

That being said we worked hard all year long and while it was stuck in the back of our mind that someday we might have to move somewhere else, that was less strenuous. It always remained hidden in the back of our minds none the less. We had seen others move to our community and not be able to handle the weather conditions or the strain of that type of life. Few made it as long as we did. 

Two and a half years ago we came to the conclusion that we couldn't continue with that type of lifestyle any longer. It was necessitated by medical reasons. Prior knee injuries made it so mobility was more and more severe coupled with other unrelated issues. It was hard to leave our homestead that we had put so much labor into, but it was also evident that medical treatment was over a one-hour drive away and we were not getting any younger. 

One had to be self-sufficient to live our chosen lifestyle and there were not adequate services around to take over the responsibility of things we were used to doing ourselves. So now we need to sit by, and watch others do what we are used to doing ourselves.  It was hard to leave our mountain homestead, but I think it is even harder to have others do what we were used to doing ourselves. 

Klaus - 11 Yrs Old:

 Klauss is 11 years old and still gets around well but his back legs tend to tire sometimes, and this was one of those times. Usually when he gets tired, he just sits down but this time he was exploring in the back yard and sat down in a depression and was up against the fence. When that happens, he needs help getting back up. If he had been headed in the other direction, he could have gotten himself up. It is his right rear leg that sometimes gives him trouble like in this case.

Thankful Times - Sad Times:

 This photo was taken after the Spring wildfire of 2018. We were thankful that our property and us survived the horrible wildfire, but it was sad to the snow full of ash. When the sun hit the grey infused snow it would get so hard that you could walk across it without leaving a footprint. The wind would blow the ash off trees that were dead and turn the snow grey. 

We were thankful that no human lives were lost and ours was one a very few homes survived. A total of 124 structures in our community were not so fortunate. Friends and acquaintances moved and left the ashes of their dream behind and those of us remaining had to deal with the mud slides, ashes on everything and a subtle loneliness coupled with many dead trees and the hazard they presented.  

Spring In The Smokey Mountains:

 Dogwoods are in bloom along with the redbud trees. 

Ants:

 I ran across this on Facebook and thought it was very interesting.  I have known of humans that were not this smart. 

What an amazing discovery! Scientists have discovered that ants, after collecting the grains and seeds that they need for winter break those seeds down into halves before storing in their nests because breaking them in half keeps them from germinating even through rain and the most perfect germinating conditions. But scientists were stunned when they discovered that coriander seeds stored in the ant nest were broken down into 4 pieces instead of 2 pieces. After lab research, scientists discovered that a coriander seed will still germinate after being divided into two, but it won’t germinate after it’s divided into four parts. So how do these tiny creatures know all this? Humans know very little, there's a lot to learn from other creatures.

Water Pipe Fixed:

 Water pipe fixed and ready for use in 24 hours. It was not much of a job once I got the box out.  CPVC pipe is pretty easy to work with. Once you have the new pipe, glue and something to measure and cut it with it is just a matter of putting some glue on the joint and put it together with a couple twists to make sure the glue is evenly distributed. It is much easier than sweating copper pipe. 24 hours and it should be solidly glued together and ready for use.

I even bought a section of insulation that should protect it from freezing again unless the temperature gets really cold. Job done!

Broken Water Pipe:

 The photo is hard to understand without some explanation. During the last cold spell, we had this pipe that was our outdoor spigot freeze up. The pipe cracked and when I turned the water on it shot out. I have the repair parts but I am waiting for the CPCV glue to put it back together the right way. 

I don't know who installed this pipe, but the faucet wobbled back and forth, and I was afraid when someone would turn it to hard it would break off at the pipe. The spigot was not attached to anything and was just floating free at the end of the pipe. It was boxed in, but when I took the box out (as seen by the photo - where it is cut out from the deck- it was just a hollow box with zero insulation. 

Not only was it void of any insulation but there were numerous couplings where it had been repaired several times in the past. The small white pipe down below the deck is where the water feed comes out for the outside fixture. I can't believe that someone thought just putting the pipe in a wooden box and not securing the spigot would keep the pipe from freezing or breaking. 

In addition to that there was a drain valve below the box that when you would open the water from inside the basement it would spray all over you when you closed the outside valve. If you could actually reach it to open it. I will extend the drain lower where it is more reachable and put a diverter on it where the water will be directed away from the person who is draining the system and not on them. 

I shouldn't be surprised at the poorly installed plumbing as when we first moved here the pipes froze and when I checked the outdoor shut off valve it was just lying on the ground when normally they are buried below the freeze line. Someone had just piled rocks on top of it to protect it. I made a box of closed cell 2" foam insulation to enclose it and ran a brood lamp to it with a temperature control, and it has not frozen again. 

We are discovering defects one by one and making necessary repairs as needed.  

Fickle Seasons:

 

This may be the shortest time between spring and summer seasons I have ever seen. Yesterday it was the first day of spring and today it is summer. Yesterday was a very pleasant day with temperatures in the low 70's and today it is 84 degrees and getting hotter as I write this. The next two weeks appear to be the same. Thursday, we had the wood stove going for warmth, Friday, was the first day of spring, and today it is full summer. 

Fickle Weather:

 

When Carol ordered the Forsythia bushes the weather was in the 80's during the day and 50's at night.  The local store was out of them, so they had to be mailed to us. When they arrived, we dug the holes and soaked them over night as directed. Now they are under the buckets as it has been going down into the mid to low 20's at night and the 30's during the day. We did not want the fickle weather to kill them before they had a chance to live. 

It is not only this weather in the Carolina's that has turned bad, but I ordered my seeds from Wisconsin, and they have been having record wind and snow, so they have not shipped yet. It may be a while before I see them and I have everything ready to go here. 

The trees were starting to flower, and the grass was green and then this sudden cold weather. It sure can mess up plans for gardening. 

Forsythia Bushes:

 Carol bought two forsythia bushes to go with the other three along the end of the house. We have two holes dug to the right size and the bushes are now soaking in water to put into the holes tomorrow. The hardest part is getting up and down on a hill for me. I forgot the well-established saying that when you get older be sure you can get up before you get down on the ground. 

The three bushes we have are in the red clay native to this area so I expect these will do just as well but digging in red clay mixed with rock is pretty tough to do. The holes are dug and tomorrow we will put them in the ground.  We had to be careful digging as the water feed comes in on that side of the house. Fortunately, we missed it and didn't dig deep enough to hit it. Between weed roots and rocks that was hard digging. 

Never Underestimate A Wildfire or God:

 The above photo was taken by me right after the 2018, Spring wildfire that was started by a careless person just a few miles from us. It was June 2018; we were evacuated for 15 days. It was the third worst wildfire in Colorado history at that time. It has now moved down to 6th worst as there have been worst ones since. There were 140 structures destroyed and 123 of them were in our community alone. The photo was property across the road from us. 

Our home was one of the few that was spared mostly because we had God looking out for it. One of my friend who was a cartographer came by the motel where we were staying to show me a view of our home that she was able to access from a nearby cell tower she had access to. It was our house and it had a fire break bulldozed around our 11 acres. That gave me hope since we had spent a great deal of time doing wildfire mitigation. 

We had cleared and disposed brush and small trees for 50 feet around our house and structures. We cut tree limbs of the trees that were in that area up to 18' high as opposed to the 12' recommended. We had raked the pine needles and leaves out from the house, garage and woodshed. The wildfire burned down both sides of our house, garage and within one foot of our woodshed. That is where it stopped and went no further.

It burned all around our 11 acres, but we did not have any real damage except where embers carried on the air and burned small area's that were no larger that 10 square feet and there were only a handful of those. Everything around us burned to the ground and the U.S. weather service measured the temperature a quarter mile from us at 4,200 degrees. It melted glass and metal in a neighbor's house. It spawned a fire tornado that ripped trees off halfway up the trunk. 

There was no evidence of a water drop, or firefighters working on our home or buildings. We had people praying for us around the world as Carol was involved in missionaries from many countries and all across the USA, including ourselves praying for our home and property. When we were finally allowed to go back, I looked for that fire break and there was none or any evidence of any. It was burned on both sides, across the road (75') and behind our property. That is why I can say with certainty that our property was saved by God. With the intense heat and the flames and heat there is no explanation other than the one above. 

Being Ready:

 

Having lived for 26+ years, remotely in the mountains of S. Colorado we learned how to be self-reliant.  Mostly the hard way. We had a garden and I tried growing different vegetables and soon found out that some vegetables were not to be grown at high elevation (9,800').  The growing season is short and while some vegetables grew well, others did not. We had cauliflower about the size of a golf ball. Carrots and underground veggies were very stunted. 

Lettuce, spinach and rhubarb grew best and occasionally vegetables started inside before the snow melted. Hot houses would collapse under the winter snow which averaged around 264" per year. I tried in ground hot house but after the first heavy snow I had to dig it out.  that proved more work than useful. Beets grew well but we had more beet greens than beets.

Wild strawberries grew well but the delicious berry was about the size of a pea. Raspberries grew well and we enjoyed suitable crops. It took a lot of work and disappointment to be able to produce good vegetables at that elevation, and I did not even mention the difficulty of keeping the critters away. To be self-reliant it is important to be very determined and patient. 

It is helpful also if you know how to fish and are good at it. Where we lived there was a lot of competition in catching fish. I found most of my fishing success came from streams and rivers. There were a couple lakes also that produced good results. 

Being able to build things, repair things and use what you have on hand is quite helpful. We took a small engine repair course plus the advanced course before we moved to the mountains which came in very handy more than a few times. Gas engines break down and if you can't fix it yourself it could be a long wait to get it fixed by anyone else. That was especially useful when it came to our chainsaws.

I did not mention hunting because we lived in harmony with the many wild animals and to me it would be like shooting my neighbor which I simply could not do. Being self-sufficient is labor intensive and must be done with serious dedication. All this comes to mind because I just started my garden for this year. Happy Homesteading!

Pre Occupied:

With all that is going on in the world nowadays I have been preoccupied with the current events and have neglected keeping up with this blog.  I don't want to anger or upset any of our readers because we get people who read this blog site from many different countries. Therefore, I will not post any blogs, politics, opinions or the current events. The purpose of this blog is being self-sufficient and our life in the mountains - both the Rocky Mountains and the Smokey Mountains. Being more self-sufficient may be more needed now than before.

In the midst of all that is going on I have been planning my garden as seeds can be planted between March 15 and the first week of April. I have started six cauliflower plants under a grow light in the basement. I also have plans for beets, wax beans, lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and rhubarb. 

I am going to try my hand with rhubarb once again, as last year I planted three rhubarb plants, and something ate all three and killed the root. This year I plan to grow the plant in a container where it will not be available for the critter who ate them last year. Once it is established, I can transplant it and enclose it with hardware fence so they can't get to it again.  

I am going to try my hand at wax beans as we went to buy a can at the grocery store and one can was over $4.00, which is a ridiculous amount in my opinion. If I can grow them, I will save us quite a bit of money as one of the favorite salads that Carol makes calls for wax beans. 

The Value Of Dog/s: Part three

 

This is the third and final part of the value of dogs: 

Strong sense of hearing and smell: Dog's can smell over 100,000 to one million times better that humans and they can hear far beyond the capability of humans. Hence they can detect things far outside human capacities. For example, when we lived in the mountains of S. Colorado, at 9,800' feet elevation our dogs would alert us to threats from wildlife outside before we would see or hear them. 

When their superior hearing and smell senses are combined with their protective nature for their family it is a protection system that is second to none other. This leads into the next topic that is intelligence.

Intelligence: We tend to favor the German Shepherd Dog breed who are noted for their intelligence. When we have neighbors' friends, workmen or family come to visit our dogs instinctively know friend or foe. When they are friend, they will check them out and go lay down after greetings. When they don't trust the person, they will stay in the room with the people often laying at our feet or in near proximity to us. 

We pay close attention to our fur family for nuances we may not recognize ourselves. They are usually spot on when it comes to evaluating people and it would be totally negligent to not pay attention to them and their instinct. I can't emphasize their intelligence enough. 

Trainability: Dogs are easily trained but only if trained in a proper manner. There are many methods available but over the years and 13 dogs we have developed a method that I have used over the years. Dogs want to please us and we use that trait to train them. Sometimes a  non-threating word administered in love is better than a physical rebuke. I have taught one of our dogs to look right and left before crossing a street or alley. 

I have taught our dogs to tell time by looking at a wall clock. Some dogs can learn up to 250 words or symbols. We talk to our dogs all the time and they have a rather large understanding.  Our neighbors in Colorado referred to our German Shepherd Ben as Dr. Ben. We are very much in tune with our dogs. 

Happiness and Sense of Adventure: Dogs are generally happy and love to play and go on adventures with their family. they love hikes, camping, car trips, boating trips and adventures. When dogs are happy it is easy to see as they not only smile but their entire body reflects their happiness'. In turn they make us happy too. 

The Value Of Dog/s Part 2:

 

Dogs have so many traits and abilities that many of us humans wish for or try to achieve but fall short in. Part two addresses three more of these traits.

Unconditional Forgiveness:  Dogs seem to have the ability to forgive without judgement, or conditions and just want to be our friend again and let the offense go without holding a grudge. They tend to live in the present and not yesterday or tomorrow. They simply just move on from the infraction whatever it may be and not dwell on the past. That ties in with  the first of their values as pointed out in loyalty in the first part of this topic.

Protective Instincts:  Dogs have an ingrained protective instinct that they will protect those who they love. Sometimes some that they don't know as well depending on the risk factor. I don't want to get ahead of myself on this subject, but they are intelligent and can assess dangers ahead of most humans. They will put themselves in harm's way to protect their family or those they love. Sometimes to the point of their own death. It has been said and I believe it that only two people will die for you: Jesus or your dog. 

Intelligence:  Many underestimate the intelligence of dogs. Dogs can learn up to 250 words or symbols. I have always taught our dogs with both words and hand signals. When they get older, they tend (like us humans) to lose some or all of their hearing. That is when the hand signals come in very handy. It all tends to be what you want them to learn. We talk to our dogs all the time and it pays off. 

I have taught one of our dogs his right from his left and to tell basic time. in a very rudimentary way. I would point to a time on the clock to tell him when I would be back and he would be looking for me as Carol would watch to see what he would do. He would be waiting at the door. Not all breeds are of high intelligence but most would surprise people if they would be paying attention. 

Dogs are the consummate friend of their family.  

Klaus:

 Yesterday Klaus had his teeth cleaned and ended up having 10 pulled. He also had a growth near his rectum, and it was removed as well, along with stiches. It was heartbreaking to hear him whine in pain and we stayed up with him last night. He is getting pain meds but they don't seem to handle all his pain.

He is 11 years old and it has been hard on him at that age. It is like having a tooth ache and hemorrhoids all at the same time. Neither of us or Lucy and Rex got over a couple hours sleep last night but his comfort and welfare is more important to us than sleep. Klaus could certainly use prayers now as he struggles with the residual anesthesia and pain.

Not having those bad teeth removed could cause infection go get into his blood system and that could kill him. We want to give him every bit of life possible and while it is tough on him now, but he will at least be healthy in his old age. Soft food and pain pills for a couple of weeks and he should be his normal self once again.

The Value Of Dogs:

 

Unconditional Love: Dogs love without conditions, demands or judgement. They love us just as we are. They love us without expecting anything in return. They like to be with us all the time even when we go into the bathroom. They demonstrate their love by constantly pleasing us which some people fail to recognize. If God so loved us, so we should love one another. 1 John 4:11. Could it be that we see in dogs what we try to do in our lives but often fail to accomplish. 

Loyalty: In a world that is and often uncertain when it comes to loyalty, dogs offer a level of loyalty in a form of true faithfulness that is second to none other. Their loyalty should inspire us to stand by those whom we love by observing our dog's example. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17. Dog's remain loyal regardless of our circumstances whether good or bad. They do not make judgements when it comes to being loyal and their loyalty transcends circumstances. They often are loyal when no one else comes to our side. We have much to learn from our dogs.  

Compassion and Empathy: Dogs are able to tell when we are stressed or anxious and they come to us not to fix our problem but to just be there to give us comfort and reassurance by a gentle paw, leaning against us, laying their head in our lap or just a nuzzle. They let us know that we are not alone and by their presence offer support. We would do well to cultivate as similar method of empathy and compassion toward other. Just being there for others is a way to support them and not trying to solve their problems unless they ask.

Look for further blogs on this topic in the future.