Da Boyds

Yesterday at dusk I saw a bird's silhouette fly across the field. No biggie; there are lots of crows, ravens, and eagles around. But as soon as I saw it land at the top of a pine tree, I knew it was an owl. As it turned its head, I saw its Great Horns. Couldn't see color or any detail, but who cares?!? I've never seen an owl here at the "Cabin" before. How extraordinarily cool.

And this afternoon, amid huge snowfall and downpour, sun and wind, two good-sized toms came a-wanderin' by. We thought they'd be interested in the new black oil sunflower seed we added to the bird feeder (fondly remembering the pre-logging days of winter when several turkeys would hang out under or on the deck, waiting for bird seed). They passed on the food, but as they walked by the downstairs bedroom windows, the bigger of the two stopped, puffed out, gobbled, and challenged this usurper, this upstart, this... reflection. Needless to say, the brave bird was not in the least bit intimidated by his bad self.As he puffed and posed, he gave the window a few solid whacks with his beak. Then he and his turkey toady sauntered into the field, quite pleased with the big un's show of force and claim staking.

They're lovely birds, and super tasty, but not so smart. Not avian intellectual elites, shall we say.

Lots of robins about, Monique saw a dozen bluejays today, and yesterday I saw a golden eagle get chased up- and downriver by a raven that looked positively puny in comparison.

Birds are so cool!!

sweetmercifulheaven

The fellow currently spending part of his days occupying the Oval Office in the White House, whether you like him or not, is having a rough go.

I SWEAR I'M NOT GOING POLITICAL ON THIS BLOG.

One of the president's tasks is presenting the face of America to the world. Many people thought his "Awesome speech" comment to the Pope was folksy, down-to-earth, and sincere. I don't know, nor do I know what I'd say if I got to meet a pope or comment on his comments. Anyway, yesterday on NBC's prime-time gameshow "Deal or No Deal," Mr. Bush made a cameo via satellite.

The contestant, a soldier back from his third tour in Iraq, was cheered on by the president, and then the president joked about his low approval ratings. Considering why his approval is low, it strikes me as sorta callous to joke about it with a soldier.

Anyway, there's a keen picture on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ The site is constantly updated, so if you go there and don't see the link, I'm sure you can use The Google to locate it.

It snowed today, though not the storm we were expecting over the weekend. Just snow, and wind, and sunshine. Our concrete slab is complete, and now the process of moving the garage can begin.

Our beans and sunflowers quickly grew beyond their initial peat pellet homes, so this weekend we transferred them to 5" peat pots. I do not understand the back of seed packets stating "plant indoors 6-8 weeks before final frost." The bean plants grew three inches over the weekend!!! Six to eight more weeks indoors and they'll be climbing the stairs!

We Got Slab!

Okay, ya know what? Actually posting something should be optional with a clever title like that.

It's true, we're the proud owners of a 24'x32' monoslab! Many thanks to the incredibly efficient, professional, and good guys at Gembala Concrete! (FYI, the little blue box in the lower part of the photo is a 4'x4' garden box under a tarp).

The first cement mixer arrived at 9:00 this morning, they began pouring at 9:15, and were done at 10:00. Luckily it was much nicer than the snow flurries and cold wind we've had the last couple days, and it helps the concrete cure more quickly.

Rod, John, and Shane work well together, and they most definitely know what the heck they're doing. I watched for a while, in between phone calls for work and rewriting an invoice posting routine I've fiddled with on and off for months.

Tomorrow the form boards get removed, and in a couple weeks the slab will be set thoroughly, and the garage can be moved into place! There's also rough plumbing pipe in place so eventually we can have a sink / toilet / shower out there, and we have a line on a couple different wood stoves for heating the building.

I'm learning a lot living here... not so much about how to do things like pour concrete or rough-plumb, but more about how these things are not rocket science. I totally and unreservedly appreciate professionals doing their job, and I accept without hesitation that I could not do what they do with anywhere near the speed accuracy, confidence, or skill. However, PVC pipe is just PVC pipe, and digging a trench only takes skill in avoiding other buried gotchas like the power line and making sure it's graded properly.

Rambling, rambling. My point is, I'm gaining confidence (mostly theoritical) that I, one of the least mechanically-inclined people EVER, can maybe do some stuff around the property. That's exciting.

Plus with the economy tanking and Obama and Clinton having their time wasted by Stephanapoulos Gibson last night on ABC -- most of those questions were not worthy of a candidate in their first pre-primary run for school board -- Maverick McCain might just have a chance this fall. But sorry, I don't talk politics in this blog :)

We're in for a cold, cold, snowy weekend, but that last couple evenings have been beautiful.

Ground Breaking

Today, even during a nice cold blustery Spring snow storm, we had the forms put in and our area prepped to have our slab poured for the garage! Already I find myself dreaming of the landscape after this addition will be welcomed. Where the garden plot goes, where the wood pile can stack...it feels like Christmas in a way! (well ok the snow helped that image along!)

Tomorrow the plumber comes out to do a basic rough in of pipe so that when/if we ever decide to have running water in our new car/toy and workspace sanctuary, we'll be able to do it without concrete being drilled.



(did I also mention that I have now fallen in love with Bobcats?) I'll have to put it on my birthday list :)

It is always enjoyable to watch people do what they do well. Today was no exception. I watched from almost every window of the house as they changed the landscape into a prepped and ready to go surface. Now if the weather will only cooperate! (we have a couple nights that look like they are going to dip below freezing again soon)....not the best for letting a newly poured slab form up properly. And as much as I've been enjoying watching this process....I don't want to have to see it twice because the first one didn't take!

Oh, and in other news....remember that tray that we planted just the other day? Seeds are bounding up all over. I can only imagine just how good the oxygen is in our home lately....we are becoming a beautiful greenhouse!




More to come.

Growth

Spring is on! (even if we're scheduled to some pretty cold weather in the upcoming weeks)
Green is poking up everywhere we look and our living room is full of that lovely neon (doesn't quite look like it could be real) new green on willow sticks and branches that we've been nursing for a few weeks now.

We also have planted our first starter seeds (some vegetables and some flowers) in anticipation of being able to utilize the new planter box that Bob built the other day.


With any luck we'll have the concrete guy out this upcoming week to break ground where we are having our garage put in and then we'll have a place to not only keep our cars but start organizing (and accumulating) some fair weather toys.

Personally, I can't wait to get my bike out, put on my new tires and remember how it feels to ride for an hour or two.

Soon. :)

One of the close-by mountains showing its snowpack and a couple avalanche paths in the evening light.

Meanwhile, down where the birds are singing and the trees are budding... well, birds are singing and trees are budding. Thursday it snowed, and Saturday it was in the 60's.

The convertibles were out, and open jeeps, and lots of Harleys. Note to the moron on the sleek yellow motorcycle: I don't wish harm on anyone, but you do 90mph on our little highway, and then accelerate on the straightaway, you are an idiot and I wish there'd been a cop at the junction to see you whizzin' by. I'd much rather read about your stupidity in the police reports than the obituaries.

It was a glorious day, and I was out in it. I transplanted a tamarack, built a little 4'x4' garden box, and looked longingly at the river. It FELT like swimming weather, but the snow across the river subtly reminded me no, not quite yet.

Today it'll be 70 degrees, a few of our little indoor seeds are sprouting in their peat-pellet mini-greenhouse (after less than two days!!), and it's time for a trip to the Swan River Nursery.

April 2 - First Day of Spring

Forget this March 21 nonsense. On April 2 we saw an osprey for the first time since last fall. Robins, bluejays, chickadees, turkeys, and the first semi-swarm of bugs were prevalent on the 2nd.

And today, while I was walking along the river trying to solve a programming problem, I saw two figures down by the swimming hole. Cousins! Relatives!

It's snowing in the mountains, and raining here. It's superbly wonderful, this changing of seasons. Spring is distinct and wonderful in Seattle, but there really isn't that KAPOW transformation from winter because it's so mild.

Dug up our little Arbor Day trees the other day and put them in pitchers with potting soil. I hope they slept well through the winter. And I gotta say this about the Arbor Day foundation: the idea is a grand one, and everyone should plant as many trees as they can. But since I signed up and sent in my $10 last fall, I've gotten a couple dozen unsolicited mailings from companies OTHER than Arbor Day. The irony of an institution calling for the planting of trees and conservation, while at the same time selling their members' information, ensuring the customers receive lots of mass mailings... well, it's a whopper.

I've said it before, but I'm anxious to get outside and start playing in the dirt. We have lots and lots of seeds to scatter about the land :)

Peace and good weekends!!

Be Careful What You Wish For

In my year-end letter, I said

We have ... sincere hopes for a white Christmas (and a white Valentine's Day
(and frankly, a white April Fool's Day)).

Well, lookie what happened! Woke up this morning to a solid, powdery snowfall. It's snowed most mornings (and more than a few afternoons) the past few weeks, with not too much accumulation. How cool that it snowed today. No foolin'.

I've never liked April Fool's day -- I do not wear practical jokes well. A few years ago I saw a truly heartless and illegal "prank": our then-director of HR, her subordinate, and the facilities manager pulled a couple people into a visible meeting room and told them they were fired.

HA HA HA Now THAT'S comedy! Yep, our corporate director of HR -- the person entrusted with every employee's personal information, the person responsible for lecturing each one of us on "appropriate" office behavior -- participated in this hilarious lark. I've seen a similar scene on "The Office," but even they wouldn't conceive that an HR DIRECTOR would have the 'nads to flip that crap.

Ahh, good times by responsible professionals; I miss them.* Really**

Right now we're listening to The Cambridge Singers, the album "Brother Sun, Sister Moon." One of my all-time favorites. The wood stove is crackling away, it's dark, and we've been at "The Cabin" seven months.

The turkeys are back, deer are feeding less on willow and more on the brave grasses sprouting up, and our driveway is nearly free of snow. Life is grand.


*A big, smelly fib
** Same, only bigger and smellier