Random Answers

1) I have taken care of the mouse problem in the pantry...

2) The deer still visit daily and entertain us with their antics every morning.

3) We have started moving the furniture in..... slowly.....

4) The horses are still down on the Ranch.

5) Jerry is doing remarkably well, but tends to overdo.

6) My mare's leg is healing.

Did I miss anything?

This week has gone by so quickly. I have tried posting a video and pictures but the internet connection is very tempermental up here in the 'hills'. More later this weekend. Going to bed now, yep, in a real honest-to-goodness bed, raised off the floor with box springs and mattress.
Sweet dreams!

Trails

Hiked....
Rode horseback.....
Downhill skiing........

Train.......
Plane........
and Truck...................

Yes, I've traveled and wandered and explored. Starting out at quite a young age, I've been called gypsy, wanderer, hobo, restless, and even sometimes 'homeless'.

But I seem to have found the person and the place to anchor me with contentment.

We both will be out of town for a few days, and we both just 'wanna be home'.

Happy Trails

Slowly but surely....

The contractor has been working on the master bedroom/bath for about two weeks. He finished today. Yea!
When we bought the log house there was one little problem with the bedroom. The bathroom was wide open to the bedroom.... way beyond my comfort zone. Yikes! Is this a common configuration? Is this what is meant by an 'open' marriage?
Just because we're married, and share all sorts of things, doesn't mean I want to be sitting there on the 'pot', pants around my ankles, having conversations with my spouse. And I have this privacy thing with brushing teeth; don't want an audience while I brush mine, and I sure don't want to watch you brush yours. Just a thing......
And note the closet door, you can just make out the open 1/2 door there. Whoever built this house seems to have run out on door building once they reached this room.



Midway through construction of the new wall and 'pocket door', coming along nicely. The door leaning against the wall is from another room and what we'd asked him to build for the closet to replace the classy tavern door hanging there.



The picture below is the finished bathroom wall and door; taken in the evening, it doesn't accurately portray the soft yellow shade we chose to paint the walls. There is a bit of an angle seen on the new wall, as the walls didn't match up on a straight line. I am very pleased to have a bathroom wall. The new closet door is not shown but beautiful, we still have to stain it.
Stain the door, clean the carpets... we should have furniture in here and be sleeping somewhere other than the living room floor by next week. Not that there is anything wrong with sleeping on the ground, I am an avid camper after all. But dang, I miss my bed, and my sheets, and my blankets, and my lovely mattress.....

I am excited to accept my first ever blog award. And I am excited that I was able to get it over here from Courtney's blog, Life with Taylor and Callee. My next lesson needs to be on 'how to link to other's blogs'. I am honored that Courtney feels I spread love around!
Thank you.

Cats

"Every life needs nine cats." author unknown

It was a slow day at the office today.

This guy looks like he behaves. Mr Grumpy!

This kitty in his tuxedo, calm and quite the gentlecat.

and... Ms Just leave me alone, would ya?

4 things meme

We are staying down at the ranch tonight. Had to pick up hay and tend to stuff here. Getting the log house and pasture ready to live in is taking all of our free time. Although I really don't know what free time is anymore. I am back to work this week and Jerry is busy working weekdays also. The days are just not long enough.
We watch does and fawns play in the pasture every morning, while we sit in the kitchen drinking our coffee. I hope they continue to visit once we bring the horses home.

I was tagged by Courtney and this meme sounds easy and fun.
I just keep learning all of these neat 'new' to me blogging things.
She also presented me with a cool award but someone has to explain to me what one does with the cool award.

Here goes;
4 jobs I've had

1-baby sitter
2-waitress
3-farm hand
4-pig research (artificial inseminator)

4 places I've been

1-Luxemburg
2-Black Forest, Germany
3-Stanley, Idaho
4-Hawaii

4 movies I've watched over and over

1-Bambi
2-Dances With Wolves
3-City Slickers
4-Wizard of Oz

4 shows I watch

None....

4 places I'd rather be right now

1-at home in our log cabin
2-on my horse
3-Hawaii
4-ski vacation in Colorado

4 people who e-mail me regularly

1-Mom
2-Jenn
3-Deb
4-Di



4 favorite things to eat

1-chocolate/peanutbuttercup ice cream
2-salmon
3-Jerry's bbq ribs
4-fresh berries

4 places I've lived

1-Baumholder, Germany
2-Skiddy, Kansas
3-Manitou Springs, Colorado
4-Clinton Twp, Michigan

4 things I look forward to this new year

1-Trail Riding and camping
2-settling in our new home
3-seeing my grandkids
4-having family visitors

4 people I tag

1-Jenn
2-Amy
3-KellyJean
4-and how about Jane?

Construction and Destruction

When I married Jerry, I got a new husband and a bunch of cool new friends. Today 4 of those friends came up from the city to spend the day at our new house. They came to enjoy some hard work in the country. Chain saws, fire, demolition and a fence raising. A good time was had by all.



A weird thing happened soon after they arrived. Jerry and G. were already running the chain saw in the pasture. I was preparing to show the others around when we were aware of a fawn caught in the fence. It was 'Little Buck-a-roo'. He was struggling and crying and making his situation worse. If you have never heard a fawn crying, all I can say is that it is heart breaking.
We ran up to help him out, I grabbed his head and neck, M. grabbed the hind quarters, we got him free of fence, lifted him out, set him down, and he sped away to find his mamma; who had apparently abandoned her frantic youngster. About 10 minutes later, the weirdness began; my throat was constricting, I began wheezing, my face ran with tears and snot, my corneas filled like water balloons, and my face was red hot. Suddenly I recalled the fall incident (read Oct. 15, 2007) when I handled a fawn and had an awful allergic reaction. Immediately I headed in to find drugs, take a shower and change clothes. I suffered for several hours. Odd. Fawns are the only animal I have this severe allergy to. The friends were thrilled to have participated in a real life and death fawn rescue!




The plan for the day was to horse-proof the pasture. Horses, having tiny pea-size brains, tend to injure themselves easily and escape the safety of their confines. We needed to repair and rebuild fence, remove brush and lower tree limbs, and rid the pasture of a couple of ricketty old pens and junk.






The weather was perfect for working out of doors. Every one pitched in, worked hard and we accomplished a bunch. The chain saw provided several large burn piles and lots of good wood for the wood shed. The fence lines are clear of brush. This property is so beautiful and looks even better cleaned up.



The fence posts are straightened and strengthened. The wire is raised and tightened. We want to be wildlife friendly (mice NOT included). Jerry and I came up with a soution to the deer delemma. At the established deer trails through the fences, we will remove the woven wire and have wooden post and rails, we want to prevent the deer getting caught in the higher-stronger fences and getting hurt.









In the middle of the pasture area is a pig pen. An old rotten wood shelter covering a deep pig wallow hole, fence posts rotting out, patched together fencing, piles of assorted junk & wood, and what pig home would be complete without the old bathtub as a water tank. M. was glad to be on the tearing down and burning detail. He did a fine job. It's a guy thing.
T. was a careful fire watcher and made sure all was well. There was no wind and the earth was damp, a good burn day.




The pig sty is gone. All that remains is a pile of ashes, a hole to be filled and a piece of sheet metal to haul away.

This building is Jerry's vision, he sees a Bunkhouse fit for visitors. I see..... well probably the same thing you do.

The end of a satisfying day. Great weather, hard work, and super-duper friends.

SKI 2008

I skiied today. It was sunny and warm, with lovely snow.

I enjoyed the peaceful stillness and winter quiet of the mountain forests.

How perfect this is.

A glimpse of Lake Tahoe from the mountain top.

I am south west of the lake, so the furthest mountains across the lake are in Nevada.

The left side of the photo is the north.

I feel refreshed and blessed to have had this day to enjoy.

Wish you were here.

Non-important Facts MeMe

I was tagged by Courtney for a non-important fact meme. Here are the rules:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.and here are my facts...

#1. Cats are my favorite animals. ( But, I am currently catless)

#2. I have a permanent crease across my nose, from a life-time of doing the 'allergy salute'. I didn't realize it was so noticeable until a few months ago when the Cowboy asked, "sooo, what kind of surgery did you have done on your nose?" He thought it was a surgery scar.

#3. I am addicted to caffeine. Once I suffered days of agonizing headaches while visiting my parents...... Until we realized they were serving me DECAF only.

#4. A few years ago, in Michigan, I successfully performed a surgical procedure on a camel.

#5. I don't watch much TV, a bit of news occassionally. I am totally out of the loop when small talk at get-togethers centers around TV programs, movie stars, and the latest commercials.

#6. I LOVE roller coasters, horseback riding in the mountains, hiking along cliffs, mountain drives: but I am very afraid of heights, 'sweaty palm' afraid.

Now a 7th; I don't know how to link to other bloggers, and I don't know 6 random bloggers to tag, so if you read this, and are a blogger, and want to do this tag-thingie, just tell us in comments. Thank you for broadening my blogging horizons Courtney!

Deer and Mice

I almost went skiing today. Almost.... I planned to go for a half-day afternoon, there's less ice on Hwy 50 later in the day. I invited Jerry along but he is working on some big transformer deal. I put my chains in the car, checked my oil, filled my windshield washer reservoir, filled up with gas, and then headed to my storage unit where the majority of my material goods are, and have been for almost a year now. I was confident that I would find everything I needed for a day on the slopes. I found my bag of gloves, hats and goggles; I found my bag of ski pants and coats; I found my skiis and poles....I found hiking boots, mud boots, cowboy boots and shoes... NO SKI BOOTS though. They are probably in a box at the bottom of a stack of stuff in the far corner I can't get to. I was bummed, I looked long enough that I didn't have time to just go up and rent boots, the ski resort closes at 4 p.m. I loaded up a few assorted boxes of kitchen goods and headed home.



The rest of the day was spent scrubbing the huge pantry that came with this place. I love a big pantry. I washed walls, disinfected shelves, cut and laid shelf paper. Looks good. After dinner I went back to admire the clean pantry and found little mouse deposits on my clean shelves. I haven't had mice in a few years. I hate mouse poop, alot. The mice will have to go. Everything not in a can or glass jar will be put in tupperware. I still have not finished cleaning all of the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, it is overwhelming. So far no mouse droppings in the kitchen.



I made a yummy pot of chili today. I am enjoying this big open kitchen. The painter is almost done with the bedrooms. Then we will clean carpets and start moving in our furniture. We are still sleeping on the floor in front of the wood stove. Rustic and primitive... I want a bed!



So, as I am scrubbing in the pantry, Jerry is at the kitchen table working, wheeling-dealing, with 2 computers and his phone going. I catch him turned around watching out the window an awful lot! We live in a deer playground! He calls me into the kitchen as he takes a picture of this little guy who just walked up to the window and peeked in.





He is just peeking in, checking out his new 2-legged neighbors.








"LITTLE BUCK-A-ROO"



Little Buck-A-Roo and his mama decided to skip out to the pasture and since I'd had my fill of scrubbing shelves for the day, I followed. Our upper pasture is wooded and there were deer all over the place, I played hide & seek with them until late dusk when they scattered. Several of the deer are a bit lame, I wonder if they are snagging where we are repairing fences they've torn down, I hope not.



So that's my day here in the country, where deer play in the woods and mice play in the pantry.

Driving

The log cabin is below 'the snow line'; the imaginary line or altitude which usually does not get snow when the rest of the Sierra Mountains are being dumped on.


I found out today why the highway going from the valley to our new town, has this sign.

There are several of these too, I don't like that these two warning signs are so close together, on a steep highway, which lacks adequate guard rails.

Notice how steep the hill "up" is??? Well, the hill "down" is just as steep.

And just for kicks you need a few "Rock Slide Area" signs.

I stayed safe at home today, until noon, when I thought all was melted. It was.

Deer Tales

" SOUR-DOUGH"

She is the big one, the fattest, and meanest. She doesn't have her own fawns to pick on, so she does a good job of pushing and butting the other's babies if they come to close. If another doe seems to be feeding on a morsel of desired greens, old 'sour' just bullys her way in.

Fun Fun Fun

Thanks Mom and Dad!
This is what you got us for Christmas, the BitterRoot Mts. in Montana (Jerry has been there, I haven't yet). We both fell in love with this picture at the Home Show a few weeks ago, so you bought it for us. It looks great on the logs, the picture is over 3 feet long, perfect on a nice big wall in our great room. Thanks again!


The Bitterroot Mountains, in Montana -on our wall- in the Sierras, in California.

Next: I am going to share with you a most exciting day in our lives as new home owners.
Get ready!


There are 45 cabinets and drawers in the kitchen.... plenty of space for his,hers,and ours.
The wood is all greasy, grimy, dirty and gross.
The above is a BEFORE picture.

Look how shiny and clean and how it just gleams in this AFTER photo. I only have 30 more to go. I have recruited friends to come over for a 'party' Monday. heh-heh-heh......

After working outdoors in the cold and rain all day, fixing fence with Gene, Jerry comes in and decides to climb 20 feet to the ceiling and do some cleaning too. The top row of wood is dirty and sooty from the wood stove. We convinced Jerry to come back down after a bit. He forgets he had a heart attack only 2 months ago.

No day is complete at the Log Cabin without a bit of deer watching. We can sit at the kitchen table and watch the deer browse; here a doe and her twins feed next to the pasture that they will soon be sharing with a few horses.

I stood (no wooden rocking chairs yet) on the front porch at dusk watching these five. They appear to be permanent residents and don't seem to mind us moving in. There are 3 more we often see and today the guys saw a few big bucks in the back corner of the upper pasture. I hope you don't get tired of my 'wild-life' photography, I'm just getting started. Maybe a few bear or cougar later......

Dinner is finished, darkness has fallen-along with buckets of rain-, and the fire is blazing.

I'm thinking we should put on some music and practice my two-step while we have this wide open dance hall floor with no furniture. My close friends and family are shocked to read that previous sentence. Yes it is true. That cowboy has somehow, somewhere along the way, got me two-stepping.

Week One

Going between the ranch in the valley and the cabin up in the woods has made for one crazy week.

We don't have the pasture fence secure enough to bring the horses up to their new home. It has been just cold and rainy enough to slow that process. We had high hopes for a 'fence building' weekend but more big storms are predicted. I have to tend to my mare daily with antibiotics, pain meds and bandage changes. The wire cut leg is coming along as expected.... slowly.... The round trip is 3 hours, lots of time and fuel, so we are planning our days and nights carefully.

I am cleaning, scrubbing actually, and I haven't made it any further than the kitchen. Grime and grease rule, but not for long.

The builder is installing a really nice wall with a pocket door between the master bath and bedroom. How odd to have the bathroom built wide open into the bedroom. Looking good but not finished.

The painter has worked for two days, looking good, but not finished.

We brought a load of fire wood up here and the nights we stay, we sleep on a big bed we've made up on the floor, in front of the fire, of course. Cozy and warm.

My new (2006) truck wouldn't start early in the week. It drove the 200 miles home from work last week without a problem. Then just wouldn't start one morning and had to be towed to the dealer. Two days at the dealership before I get a call; the starter isn't working and the coil deal that warms the diesel fuel isn't working either. It is under warranty which is the good news, the bad news is that the parts are on back order. This is the third defect issue on this vehicle. "LEMON" is the word I am starting to assign to my dear pick-up truck. Jerry just says, "shoud'a got a Ford......"

Last night we went to Sacramento for a George Strait concert. The traffic was bad, the weather was worse, the concert was awesome! We had a really really good time. George Strait 'rocks'!

It is snowing in the Sierra again... I hope to ski next week. I am determined to dig through my storage unit until I find my ski stuff and then head up the hills. Even if my leg holds up just for the 'baby hills', so-be-it. I Need To Ski!

And now I need to sleep.