We photographed the lion for 6 nights.  We have about 2500 gross, time-lapse, pictures of him eating his dinner right outside the fence!  He showed up as early as 5pm.  One of the neighbors had seen the mountain lion cross in front of her car the night the deer was killed.  News spread and people were actually stopping alongside the road pointing at the deer.  Ranchers want him killed because he may kill livestock.  Hunters want him killed because he kills the deer.  We called Fish and Wildlife.  They said that we live in cougar country and we need to take precautions.  If we saw him during the day or he was after me and Osker, then they would come and shoot him.  They do not   trap and relocate because it's too dangerous.  We made sure we were inside by 4pm.

After a few days, Dad put a rope around the deer and pulled it away from the road.  He said it must have weighed 100 lbs.  That night the cat came and picked up (didn't drag) the deer and took it to another spot that me and Osker found!!  The night after that he hauled it further away and we finally said game over.  


However, the icky stomach fell out and Dad tried to bury it, but didn't go deep enough and me and Osker had a good roll in it!!  I just dabbed it behind my ears.  Osker covered his chest and back in it.  We smelled really fine and were quite proud of ourselves!!  It took 3 showers to get Osker clean!

Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne MA

Gosh, I have to admit I've been lazy lately.  We've had some rain and it's so nice to snuggle in my chair near the fire!  Time to catch up:

Mom went back east to see Grandma and Grandpa for 2 weeks. Then our friend Jim came to visit.  Then Dad went to Reno to visit his buddies, and mom's girlfriend Karla came here to visit!!!  Lots of fun for all of us. 

A few weeks back one of the neighbors saw a mountain lion crossing the road at 8pm right below our barn.  That prompted Dad to buy a game camera.  While Karla was visiting, she and mom discovered a dead deer down by the creek at the north end of the property; one of my favorite swimming holes.   Without going too close to examine the deer for fear the mountain lion was watching, they assumed the cat had killed it and scampered back to the house.  To validate their theory, they took the game camera down to the creek armed with a pitchfork and hunting knife for protection.  The next morning the camera had not been triggered, and upon further inspection there was no damage to the deer.  He was a familiar 4 point buck with a very white nose and face.  After googling all about the life span and graying of deer, and how mountain lions eat their kill, they decided the deer died of old age.  We've also heard that a virus is going around killing deer.  He needed to be buried quickly because he was beginning to smell, and since Dad wasn't due home for a few days the girls knew they had to take care of it.  They like to think of themselves as farm girls who can do most things so they had a cocktail for courage, drove the tractor down to dig the grave, and used the winch to pull the old guy out from the creek to his final resting spot.  They also sawed off the antlers so he would fit better in his grave. Then they had a somber toast to show respect for the deer's life. 

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend with lots of yummy food, friends and family!!!

Now we're back to projects. The guys installed a different radiator in the chipper, tuned it up, and it's purring!  This is the last of the crust bucket, rotting porch boards being chipped for mulch around the yard!

Our big excitement started a couple days ago when me and Osker noticed another dead deer right outside our front gate fence.  This one was a 3 point and since his gut was ripped open we felt certain that this was a mountain lion kill.  The game camera was set up again; the first night no pictures.  Last night we got great (but graphic) pictures of the lion visiting his prey.  He was there from 10:30 to 11:15 pm, then came back from 6:00 to 7:00 am!!  Wow!!  We went out to tinkle at 9:30, then had Dad take us out at 5:30 am.  He takes us on a little walk at that time!!    Maybe we should try harder to sleep through the night!!!!

Our vineyard didn't do so well this year because of the -5 deg temps we had last winter.  So we traded 2 six-packs of beer for 40 lbs of chardonnay from a guy in the Applegate!!  We pulled the grapes off the stems...

 Then Mom stomped them!  Then we pressed them with the cider press, put the juice in a bottle, added the yeast, now we wait!

 Dad moved a bunch of pvc pipe from the back of the garage which exposed the Styrofoam block.  The chickens started eating the Styrofoam so Mom had to stop what she was doing and finish putting rock around the base of the garage.  Don't ya love it when chickens decide what you should be doing??!!

This is the rock border and flower bed that Mom has been working on.  The boulders are from the basement excavation!

Dad got all the gutters sloping the right way and replaced the broken screws. 

This is the area where the double-wide sat!  It has been graded, raked, and seeded with grass.  There's a spot for a "memorial" bench!











We got all these pumpkins from one plant!

Let's see...  We picked 15 lbs. of elderberries and have them fermenting in the basement to make wine!!!

Dad has trapped 21 digger squirrels!  They continue to make Osker crazy.  Now we have 4 gray squirrels in the walnut tree each morning.  They take a walnut and bury it in the holes that the digger squirrels make!

This Great Egret stopped by to play in the sprinkler!  We had to watch from inside.  Once it took off flying, we were let out and Osker chased it all the way down the field!

 There has been quite a bit of bear activity on our path through the woods as evidenced by giant piles of blackberry poo.  Looks like a mom and at least one cub!

 Mom is playing in the rock piles working on a couple of walls.


Dad is readjusting the slope of the rain gutters.  Some of the screws have already broken off, probably from ice build-up.


Me and Osker keep Mom busy by laying in the dirt then coming in the house!! It's fine pumi like flour.  We heard her say that farm dogs stay outside all the time.  Dad said we're not farm dogs, we're family members!  Whew!

Well!  August flew by!  Mom and Dad traveled to Croatia for 2 weeks leaving us behind. Luckily our brother Matt stayed with us.  He's great fun!

Now we're settling in:  picking blackberries, canning a few garden vegies, doing yard work.  Trying to motivate for some bigger projects.

We've had a population explosion of digger squirrels.  They're in the wood piles and sheds.  So far Dad has caught 11 and relocated them.  There are still so many.  They don't really bother me, but they get Osker very excited.  He checks the trap throughout the day and barks when we catch one!  Dad keeps them comfy in a temporary cage until he has a load

We've been having a bit of a tough time here.  My human sister got married and we weren't invited.  We went to a KENNEL!  It was crazy in there.  Full of barking dogs, lots of smells.  We were ready to get out of there.

Then we took some friends on a walk down Old Elk Creek Road and Osker got covered in burrs.  His ears were stiff with burrs.  It took hours to get him cleaned up and he lost a lot of hair.

Then Dad decided we smelled like the kennel so we had to get baths!  Geez!

Now things are getting back to normal and we have some time to relax.

Mostly watering and mowing going on around here.  Folks are taking a break.

The guy who usually cuts and bales the hay got sick so our neighbor and Dad ended up baling for him.  120 bales this year that we give to a couple different ranchers.

 First mow on the new cover crop!  Looks like a hayfield, but it is helping keep the dust down!

FINALLY!!! Crusty is off the property!  We don't care where it goes or what happens now!  Mom got to sing her double-wide song:

Chorus:
Double-wide, double-wide
She waves goodbye with Dave inside

Party house for the last 8 years
Don't worry she sheds no tears

Musty & moldy deep inside
But all this time kept us warm and dry

Off to a new life, wishing it well
She's happy in her new house and out of that hell!

 My friends from Dad's college came to visit!  Eight of us went into the woods.  Two chain saws going, people hauling, bucking, clearing brush, and loading the truck!  One and a half truck loads in record time!  It was a beautiful thing!  The guys even unloaded, stacked, and split it!







Then we found out our friend Nancy LIKES to weed-whack!  She took Dad's heavy whacker and went at it!

Osker was showing off while they were here and caught a gopher.  


The half-a-wide is still here, but guess what??  The new owner called tonight and guess what he said???  He said he'll come get it TOMORROW!!!!

Yang, our naughty chicken had been laying her eggs in a secret hiding spot.  Mom kept asking me and Osker to "find it"!!!  We knew where she was hiding, but do you think we were going to tell when we could watch a bunch of humans walking all over the place clucking like chickens???  It was very funny!  Mom finally found the stash in a corner of the greenhouse!

I recently turned 4 and I must admit that Life is Good!!  I get 3 meals a day, still have my chair, and go to the creek each day.  So what's up with this new "out of the kitchen" command??  I'm a gourmet!  I love food!  I can smell what's going on better than humans.  I spend a lot of time keeping this floor clean and if you know anything about my parents, you know it's a constant job!  This is what I get in return?  Geez!

In other news...  The seedlings are coming up!! We started spreading straw to help keep the moisture in.  Nice yard; sewer pipe, rock pile and wait... what's that in the background??  Yes! It's Crusty!  Still here.  We talked to the guy today--first time he answered his phone in weeks and he said he'll come get it Friday!!!

My brother Matt used the box cutter to scrape and smooth the front yard dirt mound.  The chickens jog behind the tractor looking for fresh bugs!

Gee!  Crusty is still here!  "Tomorrow" it will be hauled away!

Then Matt dug the trench with the ditch witch for the new telephone line.  It goes right across where crusty was.  He and Dad got the conduit installed and the phone guy came today to put the new line in!  Wish we could say it's the last ditch we need to dig...

 My buddy Billy came to visit and he knocked down the pile in the back yard!!!!  The chickens loved that one! 

Then he ran the disc attachment around the whole area to break up the compacted soil.

Mom bought a nitrogen fixing cover crop to seed all the exposed soil.  This will hold the dust down and provide organic matter as we mow or till it in.  She spread the seeds and was fortunate enough to have a mule-boy to follow along pulling a board to lightly cover the seeds.  Now a couple weeks of watering!

 There were no dead bodies under the double-wide, and no cache of Indian artifacts.  What we did find was 4, 66 ft long concrete footers that concrete blocks stood on to hold up the house.  Dad and Matt were breaking them with our tractor and sledge hammers, when an Elk Creek miracle occurred and Jim drove by on the backhoe and dug them out and broke them up for us!!!

We were left with a very heavy pile of concrete debris and had no idea what to do with it.  

Then, the miracle continued when our excavator from up the road offered to take the pieces to widen a section of his road, and sent his dump truck down.

 It was challenging loading the heavy pieces into the bucket of the tractor and getting them into the truck.  The dump truck was 8' high and the tractor bucket goes up 9'.  Slow and steady we got 'er done!

Mom has been attacking the 3 year old pile of compacted topsoil and now finds herself in a precarious predicament!!


Also, still looking at half of crusty!  It's going to be moved "tomorrow"!!!

After many "tomorrow's" the new owner finally wired money to the trucker, and the crew showed up yesterday.  They pushed half of the house back (with the help of our tractor pulling).

 To avoid hitting trees they then pulled one end of the house around to get it aimed down the road. 

 They parked the first half in the field so we can look at it until more money is wired to the trucker.  Then they pulled the second half down and parked it while they cut the roof overhang back 6" (with our saw).

After all the lights and signs were attached half of crusty headed out the front gate narrowly missing the barn roof.

Mom and Dad celebrated!!

How do you like our new lawn ornament??!!!  It has funny smells when you walk in between the two sections!

The guy who wants "crusty" is having a hard time finding someone to move it.  His regular guy may be having truck trouble.  The guy in Medford might be able to do it for him, but not sure on the cost.  The metal roof overhang is 6" too long!  The roof has to come off, be trimmed off, or it will be a "superload" and need flag trucks front and back.  The Dept of Transportation tells them what route to take, and when.  They don't want it on the road Easter weekend--don't want to run over any bunnies!

Oh well, keeping busy mowing, maintaining mowers and tractors, and moving dirt!

Well, the guy who was going to haul Crusty away didn't have a buyer.  So we put it on Craigslist.  We also had to spend a few hundred dollars at the county getting it retitled and recorded.  We had a few callers from Craigslist, but as they say, "it only takes one"!  We got a call from "2nd Chance for Mobile Homes" outside of Portland.  They looked at it on Sunday, knocked out the cinder blocks on Tues and...

cracked it open so the light shined through on Wed!!!
Oh yeah!  One half should be on road tomorrow!

First, I want to let you know that I did get the salmon flu.  One morning I hesitated for just a moment before eating my breakfast.  The folks noticed that, took my temperature (it was high), took me to the doctor's, I got a shot and some pills, went home and never missed a meal!!

My brother Matt is visiting.  He's helping with a bunch of chores.  He and Dad took the power line down which provided power to the double-wide.  Yea!!

 Dad found a guy to haul the rusty, crusty away!!  We pay him $2500.  If he gets someone to buy it he'll reimburse us.  Even if we don't get reimbursed, we figure we can't salvage if for that price.  We have just a couple weeks to prep it.  Matt and Mom dismantled the back porch.  Plants have to be moved; the chain link fence will have to be partially taken down. 

 Mom has been taking the front porch apart

Meanwhile the ditch witch rides again!  The guys are digging the down-spout collection system (trench, pipe, etc).  Once that is done, the rest of the dirt pile can be moved and the landscaping can start!

Did you know that I love shoes?!  I love to steal them and leave them throughout the house!  Every morning me and Osker steal Mom's slippers from beside the bed.  Every morning she gets up and has no slippers and has to walk out barefoot and say "where are my slippers?!!"  We wiggle and wag!  It's great fun!  So for Christmas we bought her new slippers with my likeness on them!

 Since there are no more inspectors stopping by, we started working on turning the "unfinished attic/storage" into living and guest room space!  Mom sanded and varnished the beam, has primed, and is painting the one room.

Weather is nice so we decided to trench in the last water line from the storage tank to the new house!


A guy is coming today to see if he can haul the old double-wide away!