The weeks news. The babies leave home, and getting ready for the end of summer.
It’s been a quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven in the great northwest.
Our baby birds have flown the nest, and most of the birds that were around this summer have left as well. I don’t know if they have started their migration south already, or if the hawk is back. So far, the hummingbirds are still here, fighting over the feeder. All-to-soon, they will disappear as well.
We had another warning of an impending lightning storm this past week, and set about packing things we didn’t want to lose to fire into the pickup. Fire is a real danger up here, and I track storms when they roll through. This one dissipated before it even got close, which made us breathe a little easier and sleep better knowing we wouldn’t have to bug out. I even had the pop-up camper hooked to the truck, even though it isn’t registered, or even ready for the road yet (the rear lights don’t work). Just in case we had to leave, we would at least have someplace to sleep that wasn’t on the ground or in the pickup.
The fireweed and daises are starting to wilt, either from lack of rain or because it’s near the end of summer. The end of summer – something we don’t like to think about too long up here. We just started getting used to the warm weather, and now are looking at fall, with its rain and cooler temperatures, followed soon after by the snows of winter. It always seems like we won’t be ready when the first snows arrive. Somehow, though, we manage to have most things in order, the yard raked, and all gardening tools, as well as shop tools, put away before it snows.
We have had a black cat show up twice now on our deck. We don’t know where it came from. It’s a long way from town, and if someone dumped it here, it’s a stupid place to do so. Our road is a mass of ruts and washouts that no normal person would traverse. We have left food out for it in hopes of eventually catching it and taking it to our local no-kill animal shelter. It has been eating the food, and drinking the water left out, and has even meowed at us a few times, but refuses to get too close. As for keeping it, that is out of the question. We already have two cats, and my son has five. That’s more than we need, or want up here. So, it will find a new home, if we can catch it before a coyote does, or winter sets in.
The huckleberry pickers have started to peter out, the berries are almost out of season now, and with the lack of rain, most are dying. The lovely wife broke down finally, picking a couple of gallons before she decided her back wasn’t going to allow it any more. I knew she couldn’t resist. Chances are, she will be back in the berry patches again this weekend, even though she claims to have enough now.
Now that it’s August, I will be getting started on the snowmobiles, making sure they will be ready for the coming snow. I will also be buying pellets, five tons this year, and storing them. My son is building a shed this year for his since he doesn’t want to have to come up every couple of days for a few bags. He will now have them right outside his door.
I have been working on a few projects in preparation for the coming winter. One has been our roof, which has needed some work. Ice melt has been getting under the seams of the metal roofing the last two winters, causing icicles to form under the porch roof. I have been up screwing down the seams in hopes of preventing future trouble with ice where it shouldn’t be. I didn’t know what I was doing when I put the roof on. Since then, I have learned and am making the corrections. The other project is the pickup. I changed ball joints and tie rod ends last fall, but it seems the wheel bearings are giving out. We bought new ones and are in the process of changing them. These aren’t the wheel bearings of old that I am most familiar with and easy to change. No, these are quite the opposite, and taking them out is a chore. I, with my son’s assistance, should have everything back together this coming week, despite the difficulties. My time working on my own rig has served me well when it comes to repairing things – that, and a tech manual on this truck.
Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.
