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Now THAT’s COLD. At Sunrise (8:17), I threw on a wool coat, insulated gloves and boots for a one-minute outdoor job of opening the chicken door so my flock could get out to their heated water reservoir and food supply. Whoops. My young back-saving helper yesterday did not close the double gate into / out of the chicken yard after blowing a foot of snow off their scratching yard. So I did that while I was out there – to keep them in and predators out. By the time I was back inside, my legs were cold through their double layers, my back was cold through its triple layers and my cheeks were genuinely frosty in the non-bearded areas. (Interesting […]
While we do not have the gorgeous autumns as those who live in hardwood forests do, it is still worth noting the passing from summer to winter. In this part of Montana, autumn is very, very short. I quip that it is about two weeks from the start of the leaves changing colors to the leafless branches of winter. In the past I have noticed picturesque coloring, thought “I ought to take a picture of that”, and finally remembered to have my camera along after the show was over. I am promising myself I won’t count on weeks of this show. Grab the photos NOW. Here are my neighborhood shots from today. […]
I did not have much of a choice. I was left home alone. I had to practice more with my new-to-me motorcycle. The weather was gorgeous. My neighborhood is perfect. (People come here from all over the world to drink from the fountain of natural beauty in Montana’s Bitterroot) I know of several lightly-traveled, low-speed roads that are just right for a bike that likes to cruise in the 40-50 mile-per-hour range and a returning motorcycle pilot that is right there in his comfort zone. I have to reconnect those biker synapses muscle memories in my crusty old brain. The top right photo looks at the Bitterroot Mountain Range from its foothills. Next on the right is The Bitterroot […]
Our big excitement for the day, and the week was a moose sighting right in our own front yard. We have not seen one in years, let alone one in our area. Magnificent animal.
I have no love for meat bees. They invariably figure out that I am meat. I can share my spaces with honey bees of all stripes and persuasions. If I don’t attack them, they don’t attack me. That is the essence of Libertarian relationships. I have employed various tools to minimize the meat bee populations in my area of operation, including baited traps and hired killers. With the leaves gone from our local trees the very large hornet population around here was explained by a mongo nest high in a tree above the corner of our house. The above photo is after application of birdshot and buckshot which I am confident will minimize the population next spring and summer. I […]
So much of what I see, read, hear, fight against … so much of my world and what I share here is about the evil forces and their assault on everything we appreciate about our world. Once in a while a supremely positive note comes my way. I need those. You probably do as well. As I read the mantra below I was inspired to do as it instructed. But where? Where in my current world is the right place to connect with my spirituality, nature, the cosmos …? Recalling when I was most at peace and in harmony with the natural world took me to the Pacific Coast. Walking, jogging, laying and playing on the sandy beaches with […]
My choices are a little limited because our growing season is so short, but there are plenty of pretty flowers decorating our yard. I don’t pay much attention to what they are officially called. I simply appreciate them for who they are. I’m sure you can guess why I call this first one “hippo”. Most of my other names for them are just as made up and equally irreverent. […]
Epic snowfall for the Darby area with 15 inches on Sunday followed by 6 inches on Monday. A bit much for the equipment we have here to deal with normal snowfalls. In the video at the bottom I show how to read the weather satellite clips and what they tell us. […]
The chickens squawked urgently – a loud and clear threat alarm. I dashed to the window. Holey smokes! Looked like an eagle standing in their yard. I scrambled into the chicken yard to watch him fly away. (Him, her, I have no idea. I’ll just use the generic male terminology for simplicity’s sake.) Yep, BIG … REALLY BIG. Blue flashes on both shoulders and a patch on the tail. He landed in a tree 100 meters away. I took several photos with my Canon camera zoomed in quite a bit. I figured one or more of them would not be blurred beyond recognition. I snapped a few pictures and kept an eye on him until he flew off away […]
Two weeks ago I was photographing Autumn in The Bitterroot. It is typically a short season, but we do not normally, naturally get much snow until Thanksgiving – a month or so from now. The Blizzard of October 23-24, 2020 will stand out for a long time. I can count on a number of light snowfalls my Sportsman plow will push away along with the gravel that worked its way to the surface over the summer. Not this time. Thirteen and a half inches is WAY MORE than my little plow can push anywhere. This season started with the snowblower as my only snow management choice. It had two problems dealing with the overload. One was the gravel beating […]
With four days of rain predicted and reasonable certainty that both the summer and the Indian Summer are history, I saw this morning as my last chance to seed the areas my construction projects this year laid bare. I have been trying to buy or borrow a real harrow to work the seeds under cover, but nothing worked out. So I made my own along the lines of cheap, scrappy farm yard stuff. Old boards. Fence scrap. Screws. Chain. Ingenuity. It worked just fine. It has been almost a decade since I sold off my 20-year business, The Gentleman Farmer with tractors, implements, good-will and customer list. Our Bunkhouse homestead demanded a snow plow so I have a Polaris […]
I wandered around our yard snapping photos of the various flowers blessing our yard. I share here for your visual pleasure. I admit that artfully cropped close-ups do give the impression we live in a super garden. The reality is not quite like that.
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