Bet You Didn't Know It

Sit for a moment

And listen to my tale

I have a bear around my house

We'll just call her Gail

She's decided this is her home

Her and baby often roam

It used to be cute

Got photos galore

But what do you do

When she eats through your door?

Is it trash that she seeks

Or the animal feed

There's also some hay

And some sunflower seeds

I guess if you look at it

In a comical way

I'm technically running

A 24 hour bear buffet

But winter is close

And soon she will sleep

She will not be missed

We will not weep

Three doors we've gone through

It hasn't been fun

But I've given up

It's over, I'm done

Her food supply is gone

And it's for the best

And so ends this poem

Aren't you impressed?

Third Time's A... Charm??

Yep.. 3rd door. Reinforced on two sides with bolts and wood. She still tore the bottom off. Not sure what to do now.
I think we'll just empty the room and wait until she hibernates to repair it. It's a hard decision what to do. If they put a real door in, my outside cats don't have a safe warm place to sleep at night.
Trapping has been mentioned, but I can't imagine how they can catch momma and baby.. and man I hate that idea anyway.
She hasn't caused any other problems around the house or property, I think it's just she knows there's trash in there. Sigh.

We did freeze last night, the bird bath was a little ice skating rink. I've had a fire going during the day, but haven't started the wood stove yet. Once you do that, it's a chore.

Not much else to tell ya I guess. Shopping day tomorrow, and hubs will be here for a few days next week.

It's Friday...

You know what to do... :)

Door #2

That momma bear, she's a feisty one.

p.s. The baby bear fits right-through-that-hole.

Toasty

33 degrees this morning. At 6am I was building a fire. I do love the cold weather, but stepping outside for wood at 6am with a momma and baby bear outside is not as fun. The bear never really worry me, but when dealing with momma and cub, I'm a little more nervous.
I've had this nagging headache since Saturday. I've never had one this long, and not that it's been painful the entire time, but it's been there. It was at it's worst Saturday and it increases and decreases. It's led to some really crummy feeling. Wouldn't you know it too, when I start feeling crummy, I'm home alone for a couple days. The law :)
Not that I'm complaining about having a couple days to myself, but it's just funny that it's when I don't feel well.
Luckily the house is quiet and now it's warm.

We've had quite the interesting things going on in town, not that I can blog about them at the moment.. but let's just say, it's something you could possibly see on American Justice one day. This little ole' town has drama.
Believe it or not.. we've had to lock our doors lately! Yeah.. I know.

When it shows itself in the local paper.. then I can tell you.
Ahh.... the suspense kills ya doesn't it?

Containing Excitement

I get to go to New York City in November...
Can you even begin to imagine how excited I am?

Nope.. I bet you can't :)

Pack It Up

Headed back to Montana this morning. I hear there's already snow on the mountains and freezing at night. I'm ready :)
Not sure when I'll make it back this way, could be as soon as next couple of weeks, or could be longer.
I also hear the bear are out of control... should be interesting.

Animal Photo Day in Seattle

The Troll

Mike and Marianna and I did another Seattle tour yesterday. We headed to Pike's Market, The Ballard Locks, and The Troll. The troll was pretty cool and really huge. That volkswagon you see is a real volkswagon.
We also checked out Kerry Park which shows some great views of downtown, I'll get a couple of those posted in a bit. We hit right at sunset, so it's very pretty. One day I'll get back there at night. I know now I need to invest in a good tripod.

I'm here for one more day and then head home tomorrow morning. Somehow each time I'm here, the date going back to MT gets pushed back and back... I guess though I need to squeeze in what I can before winter hits. More photos to come :)

Driveby in Seattle

Rock Beach

Alki Beach ~ Seattle

Marianna and I went to Alki Beach yesterday. The weather was so iffy we never really knew if we'd have a good photo day but we took our chances. As you can see, the sun did appear for us a few times :)

Dog Walker

Very Cool

Whether you're a banjo fan, a bluegrass fan, or a Steve Martin fan.. you will love this. I do :)

P.S. the hubs plays fiddle and banjo.. another reason I really like this.

It's Friday...

Feet up in the new car :)

Evidence

Here's a couple photos from this morning. Yeah.. so I'm in the car for the next 4 hours or so. I had time to load them :)
If you didn't know this story before, we have a room off our garage that the hubs used to use as a veterinary clinic. It's heated and it also keeps all our feed etc. I also have a cat door for the outside cats to have a protected heated place to sleep.

Well, for the past year or so, the bear have been messing with that cat door, but never have gotten very far, the outside of the door is a tin veneer so it's sharp.

Well, this morning I guess momma was able open it just enough for baby to get through:)
In the bottom one you can make out the paw print.. it's small so I'm guessing it's the baby's print.

Bear-ly There

I'm headed back to Redmond right now, I barely spent 24 hours at home, it feels weird. I kind of wish I had driven myself, I might have stayed.. but, oh well.
It's so nice right now, very cool (36 this morning), and you can smell the wood stoves burning. I love that smell.
This is just about my fave time of the year there next to winter. And of course, you know, I'd have a story after my short visit, right?

So anyway...
I wake up about 6 this morning, and as usual I peek outside to see what wildlife might be lurking about and sure enough a big BIG black bear was in the front yard. Not sure what he was really doing, but just snooping about.
I peeked out the side windows and saw another bear. This bear was just hanging around at the bottom of a tree. I assumed she had seen the other bear and was just waiting her turn. I got the camera out, but unfortunately the skies were just dark enough that everything was blurry.

The odd thing though was how still the bear by the tree was. She even laid down on her side for awhile. So.. I went inside for a bit hoping it might get a little lighter.
I came back out later to the same two bear in the yard, but.. as I was looking at the one by the tree, all of a sudden all this stuff starting falling on her from the tree.
I looked up, and I mean UP.. this was one tall tree, and there was her baby! I guess when she saw the other bear in the yard, she told her baby ( or however they communicate) to skootch up the tree. It was the cutest thing watching the baby inch herself down the tree. I realized then that she was protecting her baby.

Well... the BIG bear decided to start walking over that way. Momma bear was not happy. She stood up and just stood there growling at him as he walked by. He didn't seem to care or was he interested in her or her baby, but nonetheless, she let him know how she felt.
He got a little too close so she climbed up the tree with the baby and they both just hung there until he was gone.

It was too cool, and I'm SO SO bummed I couldn't get photos. I was almost frozen there watching, not even thinking to try to get a flash or anything. So.. you just have to imagine how cool it was.

Oh and it doesn't end there...

Headed out to the garage to feed the herds when I saw that the momma bear must have opened the cat door just enough for the baby to get in.
YES.. do you remember that cat door to the garage that the bear have slowly been digging at? I know I have pics in a previous post somewhere..but too lazy to go look right now. Anyway.. she got it open just enough for the baby to get in.

Yeah.. trash scattered everywhere, and lucky for us, the baby wasn't smart enough to get to the feed or pet food. At least not yet anyway.
I do have pics of the door and the claw/paw marks. There's even blood on the door, so I guess momma must have cut herself some prying at the door.

I'm in the car right now, so can't post pics until tonight. But.. besides the damage, it was cool being home, and I'll be back soon enough with more fun stories I'm sure :)

Silly Cat

More Shopping

Marianna and I went to Whole Foods Market today. I'd forgotten what a neat store this was. I could spend awhile in there, which was funny since they only have 1hour parking.
I was a little nervous about taking photos in there, especially since I had the monster camera with me, but I had to take photos of the peppers. There was a guy next to me taking photos too, so I wasn't too weird :)














I've been shopping a few times with Marianna in the last week or so, and she is indeed a strange shopper. She must have hidden this from me the first few times we went, but she let it all out yesterday.
Apparently, she arranges her items in her cart on how she wants them to go down the belt. And, they have to be in a certain order to go down the belt too. I, on the other hand, just throw everything in there. I told her if she didn't like it, she could change it. And she did.














We've frequented Fred Meyer quite often, but I decided that's not that weird since we're both trying to adjust to a new place and not having everything you need. But, as I shop with her more and more, I realize just how strange she is. If you thought she was a bit strange from her blog.. well.. you were right.
But.. I shouldn't complain. It's nice to have someone to run around town with. Even if her car doesn't like Seattle, or any kind of hill.














I head back to Montana on Tuesday, but it will be a short trip as I head right back here on Wednesday night. I will bring a couple more little kitlets with me and probably hang out for the weekend and the greek festival. After that, I'm afraid, my trips will lessen since winter weather will be approaching pretty soon and driving back and forth so frequently won't be an option.














It's a cool and rainy day here today, really nice. The kittens and I have been pretty lazy. Maybe I'll have some sun tomorrow and head out somewhere. I need some new photos.
Or maybe I'll just head back to the grocery store :)

Yeah... Lazy Like This

So, I went shopping....

Yikes.. haven't been here in awhile. I guess I could lie and say I've been busy, but that's not true. Lazy is more like it. And, I'm ok with that.
We went car shopping, and yes the mustang is gone.
I now have this CAR, and actually it looks just like the pic. It's a great car, it's loaded and all for a great price. I have the navigation system in it, which I love. Me likey :)
It's actually called a crossover SUV, so it's still practical in Montana too. I'll have to take pics for you when I pick it up.. yeah.. I was particular on what car I wanted, so it has to be delivered.

Otherwise..hmmm. I'm still in Redmond, hopefully head out on Saturday.. my poor animals must wonder what happened to me.
I hear it's already fireplace time, and frost on the windows. My favorite time of year :)
I'll have lunch with the Microgroup tomorrow and then probably be lazy a little more then head home.

The kittens are just getting huge and they are so much fun, I will really miss them. Hopefully I'll be back soon enough.
I also have plans to drive to Oregon in October to meet another blogger, well exblogger :). Should be a fun week.

Kickin' Back on Sunday

I'm Too Sexy

Saturday

So Saturday was a full day.
We (microchickie and I) headed out first thing in the morning to the Japanese Gardens. Fed a few ducks first, then saw this beautiful heron in the pond. The closest I've ever been to one. Yeah, I was excited.

We then headed to the Cougar Mountain Zoo for a birthday party. Had the tour, watched baby tigers, had cake and ice cream.. the usual.

Then, headed on over to the Woodland Park Zoo to check out the butterfly gardens. It wasn't quite like it was the first time I went, most of the butterflies stuck to the sides and you couldn't really get near them.
We saw a few fun gorillas and bear.. then, headed home.

Picked up dinner and vegged while watching Chickie unload about 1000 photos off her camera. She likes to take pictures from moving cars I've noticed :)
I then went home and molded into the couch and didn't move the rest of the evening.

Good day :)

Safari

We went to the Arboretum yesterday. Mike, MicroChickie, and myself. Besides the obvious rush hour traffic we hit, it was nice. I was impressed how the ducks just walk right up to you.
I can imagine each season holds a different view, so it will be fun to see each one.

I think my fave photo has to be the last one... but darnit.. he wouldn't push her in.