13

Thirteen Things I've Learned From Gardening This Year:

1. Take off rings before gardening, or my fingers swell and I can't get them off.
2. Don't wear slip-on shoes, you just have to shake them out every few minutes.
3. My sis likes to argue with garden equipment. Potty mouth!
4. The cats are very helpful and like to lie in the spot you just tilled and prepared for planting.
5. No matter how many times you pick up pinecones, more just keep falling.
6. I want lawn machines to start with a key, this pulling cords is a pain.
7. 7yr olds are really NO help at all.
8. Believe it or not, you CAN'T hear a bear walk up.
9. Eighty degree Montana sun is hotter than you think.
10. I don't like pulling weeds.
11. As I'm typing this at 6:20 pm, after being out all day, I realize my body is very unhappy and doesn't want to finish.
12. I need to quit rubbing my dirty-gloved hands through my hair to get it out of my face.
13. And... at the end of the day as I'm covered in dirt, sunburned face, sweaty hair, blisters on my fingers, and beer in one hand... I'm hoping nobody stops by to visit.

No Help

You would think I could attach something to these guys to help with gardening and lawn care.

Instead... they just watch me suffer.

Yard Traffic

Young Buck


Prego

TomBoy

More gardening done today, including one flowerbed. We were in town most of the morning, so gardening time was cut short. It was almost 80 today, and this sun just beats down on you. I had to laugh at Ms.Texas complaining how hot it is here. It was kind of nice to have confirmation that 80 can be hot :)

As you can see, we had our bear visitor. This is a regular visitor, he's been around here for at least the 4 years I've lived here, the neighborhood calls him Tom. He kept his distance and stayed at the perimiter of the property most of the time we were outside. We made sure of course that Cody stayed on the porch or in the house and we just kept an eye out for him. We could hear him, but he only actually showed his face a few times.

We still have a bit of gardening to finish up before they leave on Friday, so we'll be up early to do that. The elk head down at sunset to eat grass, so we'll head out tonight and check that out. If I could get Amy to remember her camera, she might actually have photos to take home.

I see a buck in the yard...I.MUST.PHOTOGRAPH.

While Gardening.....

Beer-Thirty

Well 9 boxes is the limit today I think, unless I decide to head back out later. Nine boxes weeded, tilled, and planted today. So far we have Tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes, Squash, Onions, Cucumbers, Pickling Cucumbers and Asparagus planted. Oh and the usual strawberries, rasberries, and blueberries growing.
I couldn't find zucchini or onions today. And no jalepeno's yet. More work to come.

My youngest day labor didn't last long, but Amy held out. Oh and I've never seen two people eat SO much in my life. My grocery bill was huge!
I've decided they are now Piglet, and Piglet Jr. :)

Okay now... where's my beer?

The Hoe Squad

Four beds done so far :)

Day Labor

One sister, One Nephew, and One Young Buck.

Springy

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. With the rain, and it being under 50 degrees all day, there just wasn't much to be done.
We have pregnant deer showing up now, and several young bucks. No sighting of bear last night, but I did have several raccoons.

The sun is out this morning, so there is gardening to be done. I will put these two to work today :) I'm ready to have flowers and veggies growing again.
Cody has taken over the 4wheeler, which he now calls an ATV. I'm glad it's too far for them to drive back to Texas, or I'm pretty sure I wouldn't own one anymore.

I know I'm forgetting many things, but nothings coming to me. I'll be back in Seattle pretty soon.
The drive back from Seattle this last time was awful. Took almost two hours longer than it should have because of traffic and accidents.
I was "tagged" by Anne and ~d~, 8 weird things about me.. but I told them both, I just don't think I'm weird enough for a whole list of eight :) (shaddap)... I'll get to it soon.

Well.. I've got animals to feed and dirt to move around.
If I forgot anything, I'm sure you'll let me know :)

Warning.....

My sis started a Blog...lordy help us :)

**one rule though... you can't make fun of me over there :P**

Ten

Goodnight....

Very full day today.

I now have everything I need to start the garden. We are finally over the freeze warning, so I purchased flowers,veggies, compost etc... all ready to go.

We worked out some in the yard today getting ready. While my sis was mowing the lawn (her choice), a buck decided to just hang around and watch. They thought that was pretty cool.
They have now seen two moose, three elk, several deer, two turkeys, a llama, sheep, donkeys, ducks, geese and two bear. One bear visited tonight, but pretty much just hung out on the lawn.

Unfortunately, the two moose sightings were too dark for photos, but oh so cool. Both were in water, one actually swimming. Sigh....
We ventured into a neighboring town today, found many geese and babies, big horn sheep, hawks and eagles.

Still a full week ahead, hopefully gardening tomorrow if no rain. TONS of photos.. but still working through them.

And.. I'm tired now :)

Today

Morning

Scavenger Hunt : Colorful

So Close

*tonights sunset

Interesting arrival tonight...

I picked my sis up in Seattle today, we made a few detours and then headed for Montana. With holiday traffic and a few accidents backing up traffic, it was a long day. We finally pulled into the driveway about 9:30pm.

As we were carrying a few things in, I was standing on the porch alone, and calling out to my sis and nephew that a bear had recently been here. I had seen his wet body print on the porch, which meant he had been lying on the porch pretty recently, probably cleaning up any remnants of cat food left behind.
I then headed inside. They were both still standing out by the truck.

I then heard this loud bump, and immediately thought bear, and headed outside. There stood my sis and nephew, frozen, next to my truck. "What happened?"....

The bear had been under the porch, and as I went inside, he, terrified, took off from under the porch and into the woods. They were both scared and excited at seeing what they had seen, but thinking back... I'm still amazed I was standing right there on the steps, he below me and I never knew it. Whew.

Wakes ya up :)

Took a little convincing to my nephew to even step outdoors again, but he's okay.
I have more stories from the week.. but this is it for now.
I'm pooped :)

They Keep Fallin'

Nothing really blogworthy this weekend.
It rained all weekend, which was actually nice but I didn't get out much. I did get a lot of waterdrop photos :)

I head back to Seattle tomorrow for a few days, then I'll meet my sis there and she'll come back to Montana for a week. Should be fun since she hasn't been here during non-snow months. Plus.. I'd like to see her reaction to my bear buddy. I remember my first reaction, one of awe and nervousness. I remember I didn't sleep well that night.
Actually that's not abnormal :)

We actually have snow warnings for the day. It's above us quite a bit, but usually when the warning is for that altitude, we see some of the effects. We'll see.

Pitcher,Pitcher

Bear like pitchers.
I have a pitcher that I use to scoop feed, and I admit I leave it out sometimes.
Every time I do that, the bear takes it. I've had to go search the property and find it. And I do, and it's not destroyed.
Wonder what he does with it?

And.. why is Pitcher (above) and Pitcher (baseball) spelled the same way? Kind of odd, eh?
It's not like they have anything in common.

Who made that decision?

Terror

I had a dream (nightmare) that I was going through an airport and had to put my cameras on a conveyor belt to go through inspection. When they were supposed to come out the other side, they didn't. They were missing.
I spent most of this dream going through the airport trying to find them.

When I awoke, my heartbeat was so fast.

Terrifying I tell ya :)

Cool Catch

I was walking outside today to hang a refilled hummingbird feeder up and as I was holding it, two hummingbirds just landed on it and started feeding :)
So of course I put it down, went back for the camera and tried again. They again came to feed on it while I was holding it.

Here's the best capture from that...

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

My Adventures

Seven geese have been here all morning. They chose to awake around 5am. Any movement will surely send them flying away, so getting photos of them isn't easy.



I was headed out to my pond this morning just to check things out and there they were. Of course, I didn't have my 500mm lens, so I had to make due with what I had with me. These aren't the best shots I could have gotten, but I did love the scene.



I tried several attempts to get closer, but this was the best before they decided to fly into the pond.

In other news, Leesa's Law spared me last night.
Yesterday morning I had run several errands in town, picked up groceries and feed. I bought two salt blocks and 4 50# bags of horse feed.
When I got home, I moved one salt block out for the horses and thought I was going to keel over. My gosh those things are heavy. I decided no more lifting after that for awhile :) Had to take a break.

Well..I completely forgot about moving the 50# bags of feed. They sat in the back of the pickup all night. I woke up and skeerily walked out to the truck just expecting to see horse feed all.over.the.place.

But.. I was spared. Either he didn't show up last night, or he didn't wander over to the truck. He's been in the back of the truck before, so it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing. So, I'm happy.

Of course, I still have to move those bags..ugh.

Me needs me spinach :)

Curious

The smallest feline is a masterpiece. - Leonardo Da Vinci

My Alarm Clock

Tale of Two Kitties

So..I posted this photo here and over a Flickr and asked for captions. The responses was awesome :).. I've been loving the entries and thought I'd share here.

"Wait...wait...you've got a little something right...there...OK, got it."

"Talk to The Paw"

"You had me at Meow"

"You're it"

"Sure.. it's always fun till someone loses an eye!"

"Can you scratch my eye, please? Ahhh that feels wonderful!"

"Got Your Nose"

"I swear there was a bug on your face"

"The power of Christ compels you!!"

"Heil Trout!"

"OK, now try to read the third row on the chart."

"In the name of the Lord, you are now healed!"

'Shaddup already, I talk now!'

"I dub thee... Sir Sleeps A Lot."

"Why do YOU get all the sunshine?! Take that!"

"Smell this."

"In the name of the Father and the Son..."

"No, your nose feels fine, you don't have a fever"

"You're It"

These are classic......thanks :)

Look At Me, Look At Me!

Look Close

SSDD

**All bear photos are from last season until I get new ones :)


Same ol' happenings around here.

The bear has been here everynight, which is expected. Once they find a treat, they usually come back. And then, they'll tell their friends.
Sunday night, he got back into the horse feed area, he turned the container into pieces again. Good thing it goes together like legos :)... funny thing, the lock hubs put on, is still on it and locked.
I had to move all the feed into the garage office. Yeah, that was easy, I love carrying 50# bags.

He was here last night again, milling around the yard. I keep an eye on him during awake hours, just to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. At one point, he decided to come up onto the porch, so I just opened the door and shooshed him away. He ran. Imagine that, this 400#something bear scared of me :)
Of course, he didn't stay away long.

I can usually tell by the cats behavior on the porch whether the bear is around or not, so I knew soon he came back. He had found something and was laying out in the yard just chewing away. It was really buggin' me too, trying to figure out what he had. I know I've put everything I can imagine away.
So I got out the cameras and binoculars, but of course It was too dark to see what he had, and trying to look through a window didn't help. I could hear the crunching from the porch though, it was kinda creepy.

So, this morning I went to survey the damage. He didn't cause much trouble. I didn't bother putting the container back together, he didn't eat any bird feeders, BUT...
The crunching??
He managed to find a small bag of corn cobs and munched on those. He always leaves me his mess too. His mamma didn't teach him well.

Silly Bear :)

Caption Me :)

"You faker.. you don't have a fever"

The Lookout

RainDay

It's raining today.
I don't know if it's because it's the first rain of spring or what, but the smell is amazing. It smells wonderful outside.
I opened all the windows, ignoring the fact that it's 50 degrees and windy, just to enjoy the rain.

It started last night with thunder and lightening, which is odd for here. We rarely get good ol' thunderstorms and I miss them. So it was nice to sit and watch the storm.
While sitting in the window watching the lightening, the bear showed up. (that is NOT him above).
I know I've said this before, but it really is a wonder, even after 4 years, to watch a bear. The way he walked around investigating everything. Sometimes he would just sit and relax. I started feeling like I was on his property instead of the other way around. Well.. actually, I am.

This bear was huge. Just huge. I was intimidated by him, even behind locked doors. I swear his footprints were bigger than a salad plate.
He barely had to lift himself to eat out of the standing bird feeder. This bird feeder is over my head (shaddap) and I have to stand on something to fill it.
I do bring in my feeders and clean up feed at night, but he usually finds something to snack on anyway.
He sat there on the ground and just snacked. Quietly and gracefully. A wild scene. If I can ever video for you, I will.

One thing he did last night though that surprised me was he took one of my hummingbird feeders. In 4 years they have never touched the hummingbird feeders. And, last night, he took one. The biggest, brand new one I had. I had just gotten it in the mail the day before, it was glass and had 6 feeding spots for them. :(

We also fenced in an area for the horse feed, and even though he didn't make it in, he did try. He also went for the cat door again on the garage. You might remember from last year that the bear pawed at the cat door. They made it a little wider, but never actually got in.

Oh and one other interesting bear story...
We have an area of our property that is surrounded by panels for the horses. Sometimes we let them out into this area to graze,etc. The door was left open to this pen and I watched the bear wander into this pen. He obviously is familiar with the area and knew his way around, so the paneling was confusing. He kept walking around trying to get out. I started to wonder if he'd get upset or knock some of it down. He did at one point think about climbing over but changed his mind. He eventually found his way back to the open door and left.

It's starts getting dark now around 10pm, so I'm sure I'll have another story for you tomorrow...stay tuned.

Happy Mother's Day

Had To Stop...

I went down into town today and passed these two. I tried so hard to get the little one to look at me, but no luck :(
Seeing as I was on the side of the road, and this was someone else's property, I didn't stay too long.

Make A Wish

Scavenger Hunt : Five

FIVE-layer sandwich:
Mayo
Tomato
Egg
Bacon
Cheese

*Yeah..kinda lame, but it's all I could come up with this morning :)

At The Watering Hole

Captions?

Patience