We've had a good sized bear hanging around for a few weeks now. He's fat and healthy and leaves plenty of scat around to let us know he's still here. He made it through hunting season. Between him and the turkeys, the poor crabapple tree is looking pretty ravaged. It'll need a hard pruning in the spring. I make a lot of noise when I go outside.
We got our first snow over a week ago and then temps down in the teens. Seems way early for that nonsense! We're going to get the hell out of Dodge.
Well I learned something this morning about eagles. Yesterday around dinner time, I went out to the garage to grab a bottle of wine. I could hear a strange piercing cry coming from the woods down by the river. I went to investigate and found 2 bald eagles tangled up in the brush on the ground. When I approached a bit to see if they were OK, one of them went full spread-eagle (literally) and clearly in protective mode. I backed off and went to the house.
I called the game department, who were closed for the day; but I was able to speak with the State Patrol dispatcher who took my information. I went back out there later, just before dark, and they were still on the ground, but didn't really react to my presence. They looked exhausted, and I was able to approach to within 10 feet of them to make sure they weren't bleeding or anything. I let them be. I was worried about predators messing with them - especially the bad dogs from the other side of the river that have been running deer down this year.
Early this morning, Fish and Game got back to me and after listening to my story, told me that eagles, when mating, will sometimes get hooked up like a dog and have a 'rough descent', which can leave them injured. She told me to see if they were still out there or not, and if they were, I would need to get ahold of a wildlife rehabilitator to come out. Luckily they were gone, with no sign of them other than a scattering of down feathers in the wild roses they were tangled up in.
I was so relieved! That's the closest I've ever been to an eagle and they are majestically intimidating up close. I'm so glad it ended well - I love to watch them soaring over the river at all times of the year. Sadly, we lost our 'eagle tree' this year to the river, where they would hang out and survey their territory. It was perfect for watching them interact and hunt, and hearing them call to each other. I'm sure they'll pick another tree that will work just as well.
It's been a pretty miserable winter this year. 21" of snow on November 6th that never went away, and then it just kept coming. Sub zero temps in November as well. Our blower went gunnysack, which I guess is to be expected after 20+ years of use. We got so tired of shoveling snow. We had to get a big front end loader out to widen the driveway at one point because the pickup plow couldn't throw it high enough to get it over the banks. We wouldn't have stayed home for the winter, but Ruby just wasn't up for a road trip. We didn't think she'd make it through the winter, but thankfully she's still slowly walking around. We dug a hole out in the pasture in case, but we would never have been able to get her out there and bury her with 2 feet of snow on the ground. It's finally starting to melt now and mud season is in full swing. We've still got a foot on the ground though.
I am enjoying my days out in the greenhouse at last now! I've got several flats planted and the basil and a couple flower seeds have sprouted already. It's so warm out there when the sun is shining - I love to just sit with the sun on my face, pretending I'm on a beach somewhere. It looks a lot better out there now then it did here:
We're a week into July now and it's still looking a lot like June - cool temperatures and lots of rain. I don't like it! The mosquitoes are absolutely unbearable this year, and I'm afraid they'll still be here in August if the weather doesn't ever warm up. One plus side of the yucky weather is that we have spinach and chard coming out of our ears! They are both really lush and especially tasty this year. I don't have real high hopes for a giant tomato or pepper harvest though, at this rate.
Larry sold his house this winter while we were traveling, so that's a huge thing for us. Thirty years since we built these two houses here, and now we have new neighbors. They are a couple of really nice women and they have put in a big garden in the old corral. I wanted to have them over for a BBQ, but they're vegans and I wouldn't know where to begin... I can do vegetarian, but vegan is outside my wheelhouse, crotchety old thing that I am. We all get along and no one seems to be worried about boundaries or dogs so far. I like them and met one of their moms, who was here to help out for a week or so, and planted a nice garden at the front of their house that really makes it look nice.
We lost a lot of bank this winter while we were gone. It was a little scary this spring, but so far the river is behaving itself, more or less. I think we might get some rip-rap placed when it's way down and at that point in time, we wouldn't be putting rock in the river, so I don't think you need a hydraulic permit perhaps. We'll have to research it, though there doesn't seem to be much help for homeowners in this sphere. We've got to do something.
I've been trying to reclaim some flower beds that have gone wild, but between the mosquitoes and my bum knees, it's been a challenge. I need to hire a worker bee for a spring clean up next year, or possibly this summer. I do what I can and embrace the wild look as much as possible. The flowers are still pretty. My rock garden looks pretty shabby though, so I might focus on that for now since you see it every time you walk in the house.
We haven't seen the bear since early one morning when it was checking out the garbage cans again. It was a young black bear, maybe two years old? Kind of cute, really. I just make a lot of noise if I have to go outside after dark, and Ruby barks her lungs out. No worries, although the night it was on the porch while we were trying to figure out what the racket was gave us some pause. (It was shoving the large gas BBQ around.) Bears will be bears.
OK, I just learned a lesson - if you accidentally close the wrong tab on your browser, this blog doesn't save a draft apparently. 
I will continue with an abbreviated version.
Last year the fires were bad. We made a lot of hot sauce. We got the garden planted yesterday finally. We're having a nasty, cold spring. There's a bear hanging around. (Replaces 4 or 5 paragraphs. Might as well keep life simple I guess.)
