small-town July 4th

Lórien had often lamented the loss of small-town celebrations on the Fourth.  Parades, festival atmosphere - and pyrotechnics in many small bursts rather than a continuous overload.   She got most of that this year!

Unfortunately it was a really hot day, and pain kept us from the festival during the heat of the day - but we did manage to find a spot by Lake Sacagawea before the 10PM fireworks, and it was great fun.  We had several families around us, including a child who followed every big light display with "is it over now?" - not sure if he was disappointed, eager to go home to launch his own, or something else!  It was funny though, and the parents were very patient with their explanations as the next flash lit the sky.  And once it ended we were out and home within about a half hour.

 

We once visited the Vancouver WA show and it takes forever to return to Portland; also that year I lost my prescription glasses then lost a hat while returning the next day in search of the glasses!  The next time was also expensive, as we were rear-ended by a drink-hit-run driver after choosing to stay on the Portland side to make the home trip easier.

Nice to leave those memories behind!

lost and found

Early this week the cats vanished.  One evening we were outside and didn't see much of them, then no sign at all.  Mama cat wandered past, and her new friend a bronze tabby! - but the kittens were gone.  I picked up the play toys and food trays and we mourned their brief time with us; I had expected more time to decide if we could make their stay more permanent but it appeared the decision was made.

After a long and exhausting yesterday I saw mama and kits over by the big garage; apparently they had a new home in the wilderness.  Then this morning they sat near the corner of the house watching me as I shot the beautiful sunrise.  Like nothing had changed!  So out came the food which they gratefully devoured.  Curious.

This image covers all the bases nicely.  One adventurous kitten closer to me than to his/her mama, one near mom & one under cover.  'Clyde' has always been the most inquisitive and daring of the three, 'Inky' (brave brave Sir Robin?) the most likely to flee at any hint of danger, and 'Pinky' the in-betweener.  

And so the decision begins.. again.

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Oh yes - that beautiful sunrise?  The solstice has just passed, and it turns out the far-north sunrise is adjacent to Rainier!  That's quite the ogham stone to use, Ireland would be jealous..

St. Helens at dawn

a fortunate turn

One factor to remember when living further out of town is the value of self-reliance.  In the big city one can shout "hey can you help me?" and several neighbors are in earshot.  Out here that's less likely!

Our car battery died over the weekend, but we didn't go anywhere so it was good and dead today.  I don't even have normal jumper cables at hand, far less any other easy options.
Oh wait I sort of do.

Once upon a time I bought a power center with multiple purposes.  For one it could power a items via 12v power plugs; it could also convert to 110v and power telescopes and other items used in remote areas (its primary purpose for us).  It could also inflate tires or air mattresses - for a while, but that broke early on so it was put out of sight and therefore out of mind.  Its fourth purpose was to jump-start a dead battery.  I've never tried that part!

Now to find it in our two garages of mostly-unpacked items...

I went out to our large garage and found the orange box, and plugged it in to get back to its full capacity.  One of the first general-garage boxes I looked into had the jumper-clip cable - amazing since that alone could have taken an hour or two!  Then it was time to wait and let it gain strength, as it probably had not been charged in over a year.

My first attempt went poorly, as the cables must be done in proper order along with switches on the power station.  Once I puzzled those steps out the car brightened up, but insufficient power left it dead.  About a half-hour later I tried again, and was successful!!

This was a valuable lesson, and I'm glad it happened in good weather and when all parts fell to hand at the earliest moment.  This could have been so much tougher.  Hopefully I'm surrounded by neighbors who are familiar with such trials and could have fixed me up -- but so nice not to need help for a problem that anyone in the wild lands should be able to fix!

family of four

Back in November or so I noticed a black cat with an off-center white stripe hanging about.  I later suspected he was under our house for the winter, as I would see him dart around a corner of the house, but when I got there - no cat.  What me worry, we weren't using the area under the house anyway!

Over the last week I began seeing more of him.. well HER in fact.  I learned that when a small mirror-image kitten looked out at me from the corner of the house where a small gap led beneath.  Later two other faces popped in: another white-stripe face and a very dark one.  An occasional view of a black cat in the area causes me to suspect I've met the father!

Since we still had a decent supply of food from Sadie's time with us, I set out a bowl or two and some water.  They clearly weren't going anywhere so why starve them?  My reward has been two mouse bodies in two days, so I guess they weren't exactly starving; mom is clearly quite the hunter!

What's next?  Hmmm we'll see.  We have yet to actually touch one since the kittens have several safe places to hide plus mom as first defense.  Therefore no gender ID - they enjoy solid food though, so they're beyond the nursing stage.  The one white-face (here in the downspout drain) is the most social, the all-black least commonly seen.  All three were having a fine time among the pea-vines this morning though when I came out the door!

A shot of our fuzzy family!

In memory of Pac-Man, here are mama Blinky (eyes often shut in photos),

Clyde (brown spots on nose), Pinky (all-pink nose) and Inky.

taking on the monster

I finally went at the"third yard" with our mower.  The main yard is lumpy but flat and takes most of an hour to now properly.  The second yard is beyond the driveway; it's a bit smaller than the first but well sloped for entertainment.  It's also a fine spot for stargazing, but a few spots need to be leveled & gravelled first.

Last and most cruel is yard three.  Not a level square foot in sight and equal to the first in size, it should be terraced and filled with flowers grapes and..mulch.    Once the tallest grass reached my knees I accepted the inevitable and pulled out the mower.  Over an hour later and I'm relaxing on the deck.  Not bad I'd say.. if I were done I would definitely say that!  The remaining third will happen tomorrow.  Or maybe in June.

Addendum - over the last two days I mowed 80 percent of Yard Two and half of Yard One in addition to completing the Hardest Yard (Three)!  Quite the workout.  I used my dad's cordless-electric mower on Yard One - light, quiet and generally fun but it ran out of juice twice (it hadn't been charged in about a year, after all!).  And now to rest..

Second Addendum: don't do this again!  The pain was exquisite and prolonged and not worth repeating.

Third addendum?  Apparently we have a Yard Four, just off the map to the right.  The property line ends near a second row of trees (pine) while I have yard Two ending at the first row (fir)!  Oh joy..

Aerial view of the Yards; apparently Google flew past during the former residents' Moving Week!

early harvest!

I have devoted my limited yard-time to getting plants in the ground rather than vegetables.  Our wood wall now has heather, dianthus, a greber daisy, a couple of planter-pots and a shoot from my parents' City of Auckland rose lined up.  If the deer leave them alone it will be a nice line-up!

In the meantime, the mini-garden planted against the house has sprouted in spite of my negligence.  The spinach is going wild in this spot, and I surprised Lórien with our first pea-pod yesterday!  Several more await our attention.  The strawberries are flowering and no peppers on the pepper-plant, but once the sun returns after our two-week grey spell things will really start up.  Hopefully I can get the raised beds bolted down and filled with soil, a few other vegetables would be nice to add to our small collection.

My father died a month ago today - the transition has been strange but nearly all of us will go through this part of our parents' life.  He was a constant part of my life for over 58 years, which is nothing compared to Mom's 70+ years of marriage; it's still a shock that he won't be chatting on the phone or sitting in his chair.

cute v. pretty

I recently took the compost out to the future-garden-area, and spooked one of the three DLF (deer little friends) that often come to visit. The other two sauntered into the yard and the third rejoined them pretty soon - and they almost immediately began foraging on the azalea flowers

What does one do when confronted with cute deerlings eating pretty flowers?  Well in my case, I grab a camera :+) the K-r and DA50-200 to be precise.  I was standing about 20 feet away on the deck, and only received an occasional glance as I clicked away --

The flowers will be back next year - who can say about the deer?  Just don't let me catch them in the blueberries, which is where that first one may have been munching!