The Lot – August 10th

There is no major new theme in this post, just an update of some lot-related stories. But, first of all, a shout-out to B-I-L (Brother-in-Law) Craig who received word that his union contract was renewed. This means Craig can retire next April. Good for him! Craig and Dianne are going to go ahead and begin building a house on their lakeside lot and retire to it next spring. Great news.  We are very happy their plans will work out this way.

I mentioned last time that the burn pit had been flooded out in the mountain subdivision. It was closed again this past weekend, so Pam and I spent our time clearing areas and putting the slash into “burn pit piles” or “save-for-firewood” piles. We hope to be able to use the ATV to pull the aluminum trailer close to these piles, some of which are a good distance (i.e. to far to haul by hand) from the driveway.

It’s satisfying, though, to see what some hours of hard work can do to improve the lot. We ended up with 3 large piles of burn-pit slash and a couple of firewood piles. In the event the burn pit is closed again next week – more rain is forecast –  we will bring home firewood in the back of the truck. Some of the slash piles may be on the ground until next spring if things don’t dry out  over the next few weeks. The burn pit gate is manned by volunteers and normally closes around October 1st, so there’s not a lot of time left to get slash hauled off the lot this year.

We saw quite a variety of wildlife this time out, including chipmonks, squirrels, a deer, a couple antelope, humming birds, a raptor (probably a hawk), Stellar’s Jays and some other birds, We have seen a few of these each trip but rarely all in the same trip. It’s definitely high Summer in the high country.  Nice to know these animals are there; they give us something to remember when we come home.

Below are a couple photos of the more-or-less-done dog run. This is a temporary set-up; a more permanent version will be installed when we pick the final location for a house and adjoining dog run. However, permanent or not, the dogs seems to enjoy it just fine.

Dog run gate swings into pen. Log fills a gap.

Shade cover keeps the dogs cool on sunny days

In Pam’s last “Two Cent’s Worth” she mentioned the old recliner I had hauled up on a previous trip. Here I am taking a break while under the RV’s awning.

Jerry taking a break

(The brown bottle behind the GatorAid is Pam’s root beer, not an adult beverage.) You may ask, “What is he taking a break from?” and the answer would be:

Firewood (foreground) and a pile of burn-pit wood (background)

I had cut up a very old and large — but still pretty solid — pine tree and the aroma of the fresh-cut pine was wonderful. We were working in the area of this pine most of the day (it’s on the ground and angling from left to right downhill in the back of the above picture) and our olfactory senses thanked us.

By around 2:30 on Sunday the summer showers were moving in so we called it a day, enjoyed a late lunch, showered, and packed up for the trip home. Unlike previous work weekends, Pam and I had taken Monday off so there was no need to hustle back and get ready for work the next day.

Even operating on Plan B, the weekend went very well. While it would have been nice if the burn pit had been open (Plan A on a normal mountain work weekend), we did get a lot of area cleared, saw quite a bit of wildlife, quietly celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary, and returned home knowing we had an additional day to de-stress, get a few chores done, and not have to rush off to work. I call that a good weekend!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Take-aways from the anniversary weekend — the joy in my brother’s voice when he telephoned to confirm he can retire next April after 40 years with Trane Company.  And, second, watching the joy of a chipmunk take a dust bath in a beam of sunlight.  Both different types of joy, granted, both memorable.

The dogs are now only giving off a faint whiff of Eau de Skunk when wet (a family of seven skunks was living under the neighbor’s garage in De Beque, we had several encounters).  However, Eau de Skunk is totally drowned out in the RV by a mouse-inhibiting product we’re trying.  It contains Peppermint and Spearmint.  Whoo-ee, that product’s odor is really strong.  Hope it puts off the mice as much as it puts off humans.

Happy Trails.

Jerry’s P.S.

I have a new gallery consisting of photos I took on the Swan River Loop ATV trip I mentioned in my last post. The link is Swan River Loop. You can also access this new collection from my Galleries page.