Skunk

A few nights ago, after a busy day, I went out to check my gopher traps. This was the first chance I had to check the traps since setting them the day before and I was curious to see if I caught any gophers.

The sun had set and it was dusk and not so easy to see. At the first trap I saw a shape. Success! I caught a gopher already! When I got closer I noticed the shape was larger and the fur had long hair and the hair was dark. Huh?

The animal was curled in a ball and when I approached it lifted its head up to look at me and then I noticed a white strip among the black hair. It was a skunk. It began to lift its tail and I ran like Hell!!! I was tired after a day of hiking and then other physical chores, but that didn't matter, I ran!!!

I didn't get sprayed - see, I told you I ran like Hell - but I could smell it until I got away from being downwind. P-you!

I had caught a skunk in a leg hold trap. Getting close to finish him off wasn't an option. I went to my neighbor, Lyle, as he has a gun. He wasn't home. Darn! While I quickly kill any gopher caught in a leg hold trap as I don't like to see any animal suffer, I sure wasn't going back to handle the skunk. He probably had more spray and in the gathering darkness I couldn't guarantee I would be at the correct end when approaching the skunk. Judging from how active the gophers are when caught in a leg hold trap, the trap seems to hold more than really hurt.

I waited till the next morning.

As I fed my cattle Lyle came outside. I got him to use his gun to kill the skunk. Lyle has a .22 rifle. Even though the skunk was held in the trap Lyle didn't get too close when shooting it. Just close enough. The skunk was still active before Lyle shot it.

It was a big skunk. Okay, maybe I haven't seen another skunk before and can't really compare the size, but this skunk was a pretty good size. What it was doing at the entrance of a gopher hole is a mystery. The skunk was too large to fit into the hole.

There is something about the look of a skunk - I don't care for it's look. Must be the shape of the head and the beady eyes. Those eyes look at you like - "Oh yeah! Have I got a surprise for you!"

The skunk's death from the gunshot was quick. So quick there was no smell. Or that might have been because the skunk had somehow gotten it's rear end into the gopher hole. Lyle and I pulled the skunk out and - oh yeah! - it smelled.

I went to get a shovel to bury the skunk. The smell had dissipated some by the time I returned. I decided to bury the skunk in the gopher hole - that should put an end to gophers moving back into this hole after I cleared it!

Digging the gopher hole to make a grave was a mistake. I stirred up the skunk smell and I almost threw up. I had to dig, run off to get fresh air, then dig again, then run off for air, etc. The hole may not be deep, but I think it is deep enough to get rid of the smell.

Oh! And gophers? Yes, after burying the skunk I checked the rest of my traps and I had caught and killed a gopher in one of my conibear traps. On my blog's sidebar you will now notice I have started a gopher count for 2007. The first of hopefully the rest of them.

A few other traps had been triggered but nothing caught. Hmmm... odd as these traps are pretty good. Naturally, having been triggered, there was no more activity at these holes. I found that at most of the other holes in the north pasture there was no activity over several days. I had trapped all the gophers out of this pasture last year. I think all the holes being reopened this Spring was because the gophers in the middle pasture wanted places to duck when the hawks and other predators return. Else they had prepared the holes for when the youngin's leave the den.

I also learned that Lyle retired from driving a logging truck. He sold his house, shop, and property to another logger. Lyle plans to move east of the mountains. Not uncommon for the old time residents as the Valley has changed and gotten more crowded than what the old timers remember and like. I wonder if the new owners will have a gun in case I case I catch another skunk!

Locksley Hall poem

Locksley Hall

by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Published 1842

Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet ’tis early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle horn.

’Tis the place, and all around it, as of old, the curlews call,
Dreary gleams about the moorland flying over Locksley Hall;

Locksley Hall, that in the distance overlooks the sandy tracts,
And the hollow ocean-ridges roaring into cataracts.

Many a night from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest,
Did I look on great Orion sloping slowly to the West.

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro’ the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

Here about the beach I wander’d, nourishing a youth sublime
With the fairy tales of science, and the long result of Time;

When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed;
When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed:

When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see;
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.—

In the Spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin’s breast;
In the Spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest;

In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove;
In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Then her cheek was pale and thinner than should be for one so young,
And her eyes on all my motions with a mute observance hung.

And I said, “My cousin Amy, speak, and speak the truth to me,
Trust me, cousin, all the current of my being sets to thee.”

On her pallid cheek and forehead came a colour and a light,
As I have seen the rosy red flushing in the northern night.

And she turn’d—her bosom shaken with a sudden storm of sighs—
All the spirit deeply dawning in the dark of hazel eyes—

Saying, “I have hid my feelings, fearing they should do me wrong;”
Saying, “Dost thou love me, cousin?” weeping, “I have loved thee long.”

Love took up the glass of Time, and turn’d it in his glowing hands;
Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden sands.

Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might;
Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass’d in music out of sight.

Many a morning on the moorland did we hear the copses ring,
And her whisper throng’d my pulses with the fullness of the Spring.

Many an evening by the waters did we watch the stately ships,
And our spirits rush’d together at the touching of the lips.

O my cousin, shallow-hearted! O my Amy, mine no more!
O the dreary, dreary moorland! O the barren, barren shore!

Falser than all fancy fathoms, falser than all songs have sung,
Puppet to a father’s threat, and servile to a shrewish tongue!

Is it well to wish thee happy? having known me—to decline
On a range of lower feelings and a narrower heart than mine!

Yet it shall be: thou shalt lower to his level day by day,
What is fine within thee growing coarse to sympathize with clay.

As the husband is, the wife is: thou art mated with a clown,
And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down.

He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its novel force,
Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse.

What is this? his eyes are heavy: think not they are glazed with wine.
Go to him: it is thy duty: kiss him: take his hand in thine.

It may be my lord is weary, that his brain is over-wrought:
Soothe him with thy finer fancies, touch him with thy lighter thought.

He will answer to the purpose, easy things to understand—
Better thou wert dead before me, tho’ I slew thee with my hand!

Better thou and I were lying, hidden from the heart’s disgrace,
Roll’d in one another’s arms, and silent in a last embrace.

Cursed be the social wants that sin against the strength of youth!
Cursed be the social lies that warp us from the living truth!

Cursed be the sickly forms that err from honest Nature’s rule!
Cursed be the gold that gilds the straiten’d forehead of the fool!

Well—’tis well that I should bluster!—Hadst thou less unworthy proved—
Would to God—for I had loved thee more than ever wife was loved.

Am I mad, that I should cherish that which bears but bitter fruit?
I will pluck it from my bosom, tho’ my heart be at the root.

Never, tho’ my mortal summers to such length of years should come
As the many-winter’d crow that leads the clanging rookery home.

Where is comfort? in division of the records of the mind?
Can I part her from herself, and love her, as I knew her, kind?

I remember one that perish’d: sweetly did she speak and move:
Such a one do I remember, whom to look at was to love.

Can I think of her as dead, and love her for the love she bore?
No—she never loved me truly: love is love for evermore.

Comfort? comfort scorn’d of devils! this is truth the poet sings,
That a sorrow’s crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.

Drug thy memories, lest thou learn it, lest thy heart be put to proof,
In the dead unhappy night, and when the rain is on the roof.

Like a dog, he hunts in dreams, and thou art staring at the wall,
Where the dying night-lamp flickers, and the shadows rise and fall.

Then a hand shall pass before thee, pointing to his drunken sleep,
To thy widow’d marriage-pillows, to the tears that thou wilt weep.

Thou shalt hear the “Never, never,” whisper’d by the phantom years,
And a song from out the distance in the ringing of thine ears;

And an eye shall vex thee, looking ancient kindness on thy pain.
Turn thee, turn thee on thy pillow: get thee to thy rest again.

Nay, but Nature brings thee solace; for a tender voice will cry.
’Tis a purer life than thine; a lip to drain thy trouble dry.

Baby lips will laugh me down: my latest rival brings thee rest.
Baby fingers, waxen touches, press me from the mother’s breast.

O, the child too clothes the father with a dearness not his due.
Half is thine and half is his: it will be worthy of the two.

O, I see thee old and formal, fitted to thy petty part,
With a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter’s heart.

“They were dangerous guides the feelings—she herself was not exempt—
Truly, she herself had suffer’d”—Perish in thy self-contempt!

Overlive it—lower yet—be happy! wherefore should I care?
I myself must mix with action, lest I wither by despair.

What is that which I should turn to, lighting upon days like these?
Every door is barr’d with gold, and opens but to golden keys.

Every gate is throng’d with suitors, all the markets overflow.
I have but an angry fancy: what is that which I should do?

I had been content to perish, falling on the foeman’s ground,
When the ranks are roll’d in vapour, and the winds are laid with sound.

But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that Honour feels,
And the nations do but murmur, snarling at each other’s heels.

Can I but relive in sadness? I will turn that earlier page.
Hide me from my deep emotion, O thou wondrous Mother-Age!

Make me feel the wild pulsation that I felt before the strife,
When I heard my days before me, and the tumult of my life;

Yearning for the large excitement that the coming years would yield,
Eager-hearted as a boy when first he leaves his father’s field,

And at night along the dusky highway near and nearer drawn,
Sees in heaven the light of London flaring like a dreary dawn;

And his spirit leaps within him to be gone before him then,
Underneath the light he looks at, in among the throngs of men:

Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new:
That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do:

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;

Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;

Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a ghastly dew
From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue;

Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro’ the thunder-storm;

Till the war-drum throbb’d no longer, and the battle-flags were furl’d
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.

There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.

So I triumph’d ere my passion sweeping thro’ me left me dry,
Left me with the palsied heart, and left me with the jaundiced eye;

Eye, to which all order festers, all things here are out of joint,
Science moves, but slowly slowly, creeping on from point to point:

Slowly comes a hungry people, as a lion creeping nigher,
Glares at one that nods and winks behind a slowly-dying fire.

Yet I doubt not thro’ the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widen’d with the process of the suns.

What is that to him that reaps not harvest of his youthful joys,
Tho’ the deep heart of existence beat for ever like a boy’s?

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and I linger on the shore,
And the individual withers, and the world is more and more.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and he bears a laden breast,
Full of sad experience, moving toward the stillness of his rest.

Hark, my merry comrades call me, sounding on the bugle-horn,
They to whom my foolish passion were a target for their scorn:

Shall it not be scorn to me to harp on such a moulder’d string?
I am shamed thro’ all my nature to have loved so slight a thing.

Weakness to be wroth with weakness! woman’s pleasure, woman’s pain—
Nature made them blinder motions bounded in a shallower brain:

Woman is the lesser man, and all thy passions, match’d with mine,
Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water unto wine—

Here at least, where nature sickens, nothing. Ah, for some retreat
Deep in yonder shining Orient, where my life began to beat;

Where in wild Mahratta-battle fell my father evil-starr’d;
I was left a trampled orphan, and a selfish uncle’s ward.

Or to burst all links of habit—there to wander far away,
On from island unto island at the gateways of the day.

Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies,
Breadths of tropic shade and palms in cluster, knots of Paradise.

Never comes the trader, never floats an European flag;
Slides the bird o’er lustrous woodland, swings the trailer from the crag;

Droops the heavy-blossom’d bower, hangs the heavy-fruited tree—
Summer isles of Eden lying in dark-purple spheres of sea.

There methinks would be enjoyment more than in this march of mind,
In the steamship, in the railway, in the thoughts that shake mankind.

There the passions cramp’d no longer shall have scope and breathing-space;
I will take some savage woman, she shall rear my dusky race.

Iron-jointed, supple-sinew’d, they shall dive, and they shall run,
Catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl their lances in the sun;

Whistle back the parrot’s call, and leap the rainbows of the brooks,
Not with blinded eyesight poring over miserable books—

Fool, again the dream, the fancy! but I know my words are wild,
But I count the gray barbarian lower than the Christian child.

I, to herd with narrow foreheads, vacant of our glorious gains,
Like a beast with lower pleasures, like a beast with lower pains!

Mated with a squalid savage—what to me were sun or clime?
I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time—

I that rather held it better men should perish one by one,
Than that earth should stand at gaze like Joshua’s moon in Ajalon!

Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, forward let us range.
Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.

Thro’ the shadow of the globe we sweep into the younger day:
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.

Mother-Age (for mine I knew not) help me as when life begun:
Rift the hills, and roll the waters, flash the lightnings, weigh the Sun—

O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set.
Ancient founts of inspiration well thro’ all my fancy yet.

Howsoever these things be, a long farewell to Locksley Hall!
Now for me the woods may wither, now for me the roof-tree fall.

Comes a vapour from the margin, blackening over heath and holt,
Cramming all the blast before it, in its breast a thunderbolt.

Let it fall on Locksley Hall, with rain or hail, or fire or snow;
For the mighty wind arises, roaring seaward, and I go.

Hospital Auction

Whitefish, Montana built a brand new hospital. They moved into it this Spring, and on Saturday they held an auction of what they no longer wanted at the old hospital. I haven't been to an auction for a few weeks now so I decided to go.

The auction started at 10 am, so naturally I arrived a few hours late. There were two auctioneers going and later a third one started in another room.

In one room they sold furniture. Tables, sofas, love seats, desks, filing cabinets, TVs, and chairs - lots of chairs. It felt like I was in a furniture store. After a quick look around I went to another room. I have no need of furniture. At least the bidders had a place to sit while waiting.

The second room had doors, lots of bookcases and shelving units, and odds and ends of other stuff. Another quick look around and I left.

The main auctioneer was in the third room. This room had odds and ends of medical equipment. Shortly after I arrived they sold 17 hand held stretchers (gurneys). The top bidder took two at $12.50 each and the second bidder also bought two at the same price. The rest (13) sold for $15 total. There was nothing wrong with them, they looked very good, but who needs a stretcher?

They had other medical equipment that auctioneer had no clue what they were. They sold whirlpool machines for Physical Therapy patients, crutches ($2.50 a pair), walkers, shower seats, portable commodes, a half dozen hospital beds ($50 each), baby warming cribs, handmade baby quilts, neck brace, IV hanger, and on and on.

They had dozens and dozens of hospital tables. You know, the ones to put your food on when you are confined to a hospital bed. I actually thought of buying one. The winning bidder (who looked to be a doctor or in the medical field) had choice, and bought 6 tables at $100 each. The next go round they sold for $50. The next time $25. The next time at $15. Then the rest (ten to twenty) all sold for $40. I didn't buy any. I thought better of it. Yes, one would be handy when watching TV while eating supper, but does one really need one of these tables?

Another item of interest was a padded Physical Therapy table. That sold for only $10. This interested me as it would come in handy as a massage table. But then I have no one to give me a massage or me to give them a massage. So owning the table would just take up space. I didn't bid on it.

They also sold a chair one sits in when giving blood or when having an IV. Nothing too fancy. But when I saw the chair what came to mind were the women who fantasize about having sex in their dentist chair or doctor chair. Hmmmm? What's on my mind? It's Spring you know!

In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
-- Alfred Lord Tennyson (line from the poem, "Locksley Hall")

It hasn't been warm enough for the women to start wearing shorts or light summer dresses, but I have been sure noticing the women lately. Last Thursday when I was taking Bob around to do his shopping I sure noticed lots of attractive women. While the weather is not nice enough for light clothing, it is nice enough that one does not need a coat. That must be it - the women aren't hidden underneath winter coats and all it takes for me to see is some womanly curves and I get distracted. You'd think with all the Spring work I have to do I wouldn't get distracted. But I guess it is Spring and I can't help it.

Oh yeah, I didn't bid on the chair. Now if I knew of some woman who wanted this fantasy fulfilled, I would have bought the chair.

I noticed a few "auction regulars" but most of the people at the auction were new to me. A number of people had a "professional" look to them, though they were in casual clothes on a Saturday. They often would focus in on some of the medical stuff and paid good money for it (though I imagine the price paid was far cheaper than buying it new). A surprise to me was a rolly-polly fellow with a beard and baseball cap. He looked more like a trucker or mechanic or logger than a medical person. He bought a number of medical items, and sometimes paid a bit of money for the item.

I left the auction empty handed. While there was the odd item or two that may be neat to own, I am also in the mood that I have too much stuff (junk) and I need to reduce and simply and get rid of stuff - not get more stuff. That impulse won out this day. Besides, I have no one to "play doctor" with.

Trapping gophers again

Another year, another attempt at getting rid of gophers. When in the pasture the past few days I heard the warning chirps of regular gophers. I also saw a few running across the grass to their holes.

*sigh*

Today I got my traps out and set them in the north pasture.

"But I thought you had eradicated the gophers from the north pasture last year?"

I did, but this year I found many of the old holes are now open again. (I cover the holes with dirt after trapping out the gophers.)

Tomorrow I'll see how many gophers I have trapped.

I looked around briefly for pocket gopher mounds but found none. It is still early yet as the babies have/are being born and the parents are sticking close to home and not making new tunnels.

Map of World happiness

A University of Leicester psychologist has produced the first ever 'world map of happiness.'

"Further analysis showed that a nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels (correlation of .62), followed by wealth (.52), and then provision of education (.51).

Who's happy and who's not? The darker reds are happier and the yellows are unhappy. I noticed the greys have no definition. Then I noticed the greys are Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, among others. All countries (except Greenland?) with nasty wars. I guess they are off the unhappiness scale.



The 20 happiest nations in the World are:

1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. The Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada
11. Ireland
12. Luxembourg
13. Costa Rica
14. Malta
15. The Netherlands
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Malaysia
18. New Zealand
19. Norway
20. The Seychelles

The U.S. comes in at number 23.

For more about this, click here to read the full article.

More branch cutting

I want to get started on other of my big Spring projects but the weather has gotten cooler and mixed (sun, clouds, wind, rain, repeat). I baked another pumpkin pie, then decided to pick up the large pine cones in the NE corner of the pasture. I didn't burn this part of the pasture this year and it doesn't look like I will. The grass is greening up nicely and the burn would be half or more smoke.

I filled the wheelbarrow three times with pine cones.

The very corner tree had a broken branch last year. Lower branches supported the broken branch and all were higher than I could easily reach. So I had left the branch and let its needles fall.

Once I finished picking up the pine cones I decided to get my pole saw and see if I could reach to cut the branch down. (You would think I had enough tree trimming for this year! ) Standing under the branch I was just able to reach it. When the branch fell I ran and ducked and part of the branch fell on my fence along the road. The fence held! The top strands of barb wire were stretched, but the fence held! The branch turned out to be bigger than I had thought it was - but I was able to drag it out of the ditch and over the fence back into the pasture.

So now I have another pile of kindling for starting fires in my wood stove. I had about used up my previous kindling pile as I timed its use to the end of the burning season. Oh well, better more than less?

Driving Orientation

Here is an interesting map showing which countries drive on the left and which on the right side of the road. This comes from a Strange Maps website which also explains the history of the preferences, and which countries switched from one side to the other. Apparently 66% of the people live in countries that drive on the right side of the road.


Dark red: drives on right.
Light red: used to drive on left, now on right.
Purple: used to have mixed system, now drives on right.
Light blue: used to drive on right, now on left (Namibia).
Dark blue: drives on left (mainly British ex-colonies).

You know, the purple countries are what worried me. A mixed system? How did that work? I assume not very well!

Used tire religion

I went uptown to buy a used replacement tire for my stock trailer. Easier said than done. I found this tire is not common anymore. It was common on older (like mine) stock trailers, but the newer trailers have gone to a different type of tire. Not as many old stock trailers around anymore. My tire is a 7.00 x 15 six-ply.

I visited four tire stores before the forth (and smallest) store had one for sale. This store is down the road and is a small shack where the owner only sells used tires.

While the owner changed my tire I waited in the small waiting room. An older man was sitting in a chair reading a magazine. The small TV was on and tuned to the 700 Club religious channel. He asked if I minded that the channel was on the 700 Club and I said I didn't care.

He then asked if I was a Christian.

"Uh, ya."

"Do you mind if I say a little prayer for you. You don't have to pray, just listen. It will only take 20 to 30 seconds."

"If you want, go ahead."

So he said a little prayer for me in 30 seconds.

"You feel the Holy Spirit in your heart while I said the prayer?"

"Uh, ya."

He then went on to explain the prayer and what the words meant and why he said what he said. More information than I was interested but I politely listened. His prayer was like a verbal chain letter and he encouraged me to share it with my friends and loved ones, even if they are far away. I didn't need to be in the same room as them.

Once he was done I asked where he originally was from as he mentioned his broken English. He was from Macedonia, near the borders of Bulgaria and Greece. He originally planned to move to either Germany or Switzerland. But he ended up here in 1995 and likes it here.

"Why Germany or Switzerland?"

"Because that was in my heart."

"Then, why here?"

"That's what God planned for me."

Before I could ask more about Macedonia, the owner (his son?) came and said my tire was done. You know, when he was saying the prayer and explaining it he would glance down the short hallway to the shop area where the owner was changing my tire. He might have been leery at getting caught getting religious with a customer.

I paid the owner and was on my way. The used tire cost me $36.50. New tires cost $80. I saved $1.50 by keeping my tire and not having them dispose of it. I will place the tire around one of my tomato plants to protect it from the cool Montana nights. Maybe this way I will get more ripe tomatoes this year!

Harrow across the field

Over the weekend and today I pulled a harrow over my hayfield and some of my other fields.

First I had to fix my harrows. I hammered some teeth down and straightened other teeth. To the beat up harrow I used other years I chained the two small harrows I bought last year. I placed 4 logs on the beat up harrow to give it some weight, then chained them all to my pickup.

Around and around the hayfield I drove. By the time I was done I drove almost 40 miles at 6 to 7 mph. Last year the cattle ate the hayfield grass so it was taller than when I had hayed the field. Therefore I caught more dead grass in the harrow's spikes.

My main goal was to level the pocket gopher hills. Even though I had trapped many pocket gophers last year there were more left.

One pass around the field seemed to accomplish my goal. I didn't want to do more as the grass is growing now, and as the harrow can be hard on the grass I didn't want to really set back the grass's growth. The spots where the gopher mounds were bad I went over twice.

I finished the hayfield Sunday night. Today I fixed the harrows again as I needed to reattach one of the small harrows and strengthen the connection of the other small harrow. Then I went over the NE pasture to knock down the taller weeds and also almost half of the north pasture to do the same.

Unlike last year, I didn't pull the harrows over all the pastures. It is somewhat late in the season to do that.

The hayfield looks nicer - kind of groomed (though nothing like a golf course!)

Driving in circles on warm sunny days while listening to my favorite radio station. The only thing that could make life better is to have had a woman sitting next to me with a short skirt, warm smile and beautiful eyes. One hand on the steering wheel and my other hand on her leg. Though as bumpy as the field was it would have been hard to keep my hand in one place, which could have gotten me into trouble.

Cattle's first days

The cattle are settling in nicely. They like taking their siesta in the SW corner of the corral. Here they sit together - though usually one will stand on watch. They sit and chew their cud while looking at the view either west or south. The chain link fence allows them to do so.

They have nipped the corral's short grass down. There is still some grass to eat but they are shifting to eating the hay now.

They seem pretty calm, though a time or two a few of them will moo.

They are getting more accustomed to me and only trot off to the far corner when I walk in their direction in the corral. When putting out hay this evening most of the herd came to the feeder and started to eat hay at the other end while I fluffed out another bale. They still watch me when I am out in the yard. They haven't totally figured me out yet.

This evening when I was spreading a hay bale in the feeder a heifer decided to go into the barn and eat the hay in there. I guess she thought it was a self service cafeteria. At least she didn't crap in there before I got her out.

My friend Tina suggested I call the heifer with the black "W" across her face, "Wonder Woman". A great suggestion, and now that is her name.

This morning the temperature didn't get below freezing overnight. Saturday morning the ground was covered in frost as late as 9 am as the overnight low was 25 F. A thin layer of ice was on the cattle's water troughs, but not enough to prevent them from drinking.

Got cattle?

Friday I bought 12 head of cattle: 6 steers and 6 heifers.

The Missoula auction had their feeder cattle sale on Thursday but Dan and I couldn't make it down to Missoula. So I called a local cattle broker, Rich, who I sold my cattle to last Fall. It turns out he had some cattle that met my wants: cattle in the 500 to 600 lb range.

As Dan was in town Friday I asked him to look at the cattle with me. With years of cattle experience Dan can easily tell if the cattle were good quality or not. I don't have years of experience so I have to think and think when looking at the cattle's traits: head, neck, frame length, rear, hair, tail (no rat tailed cattle!), etc.

The cattle are very good quality. Most of the cattle are from the same herd, a few heifers were not.

So I bought them.

Rich told me he wants to buy them back from me in the Fall when I sell them.

6 black steers averaging 553 lbs each.
6 black, and black with white faces, heifers averaging 563 lbs each.

One heifer has mainly a white face, 1 heifer is white faced except for black around its eyes (I think I will call that one "Bandit"), and one white face heifer except for around its eyes and across its nose (like a black "W"). "W" is a girl so I guess "George W. Bush" as a name won't work. One has a narrow white rectangle from the top of its head to its nose. No idea on a name yet.

The steers are all black except I believe one has a small white spot on its forehead.

I also had Rich vaccinate them with 8-way Clostridium and Ivomec shots to keep them healthy and prevent worms. The 8 way clostridial vaccine protects against Blackleg, Malignant Edema, Sudden Death Syndrome, Redwater, Black's Disease, and types B, C and D Enterotoxemia.

According to a web site that sells the vaccine,

New York and Rhode Island residents must hold a Certificate of Need from the State Health Department.

Due to state law, modified-live (avirulent or attenuated) pet vaccines/biologicals can only be sold to residents of Minnesota upon the prescription of a MN-licensed veterinarian.

Good thing I no longer live in Minnesota as some of the ranchers I know around here just do this themselves. And why the need for a prescription, most literature recommends vaccinating cattle with this stuff. This is just another example of how Minnesota doesn't trust its citizens to do the right thing.

Well, now that I bought cattle I needed to get them home. Good thing I had already owned a stock trailer.

The problem is that I dumped a full pickup load of logs in front of the trailer last Fall. I figured a thief would be too lazy to move the logs to steal my trailer over winter when I was in North Dakota. I was right, but I was also lazy as I hadn't moved or split the logs into firewood yet this year.

My excuse is that I was waiting for my uncles visit when I would put them to work.

After moving the logs I hooked up my stock trailer to my pickup. My first stop was to fill the trailer's tires with air as they were low.

When I approached my first stop sign the brakes squealed loudly. A man walking along the road ahead of me quickly turned around at the sound. Guess he may have thought the squealing tires meant an oncoming car crash?

The squealing declined the more I used the brakes. I hadn't used them before as this was the first time I used the trailer since wiring the pickup for lights and brakes.

At Rich's place the steers and heifers were in separate pens. I doubted that I could fit all 12 animals in my trailer. I loaded the heifers first.

The step up into the trailer is a big one so I closed a gate behind them and waited a minute until one decided to step up into the trailer. Once one did, the others also did one by one. The cattle easily fit into the trailer with room for a few more, but not six more.

Even though I took the back roads for the most part there was traffic, traffic, traffic on the roads. Friday afternoon is bad for traffic in the Valley - and the tourist season hasn't even started yet!

At one point I moved well over when passing a bicyclist on the narrow road. As I returned to the right lane the trailer started to sway. Then sway more and more. I don't know if it was just the moving back and forth when passing or if the cattle in the trailer started to mill that caused the swaying, or a combination of the two. I was able to slow down and get everything back under control. Looking in my rear view mirror I noticed the black SUV was no longer tailing me closely. She was now giving me lots of room.

I unloaded the heifers into the loading corral. That was so I later could drive through the main corral to turn around to unload the steers without having a heifer escape through the gate.

During the drive to get the steers I noticed the rear trailer tires locked up once after I used the brakes. Tapping the breaks freed the tires. Hmmmm?

The pen the steers were in had a huge water hole in front of the gate. I had to work my way around it hugging the corral fence at times in order to reach the gate. I slipped in the mud and almost fell into the water. Fortunately I caught myself by grabbing the corral fence. *whew!*

During the drive home the trailer wheels once again locked but came free after tapping the brakes again.

However, when I started from the stoplight and turned onto Hwy 35 the left tire was locked. I had a long line of cars behind me and this was the highway. A busy two lane highway. The tire slid a ways before I could get off the road. I got the wheel moving again. But at the intersection to Hwy 2 they locked again. By the time I could get off the highway I could see the tire was ruined.

The tire was still locked but I was only a few miles from home so I decided to drive on. I had a trailer with cattle and I didn't want to leave them and the trailer. The trailer has 4 tires and the other tires were working correctly. The tire began to smoke from being drug along the road. You wouldn't believe all the cars that pulled up along side me, rolled down their windows, and leaned over to tell me my tire was locked. Many cars.

"Yes. I know. I am almost home."

I was so glad to get off the highway. By now I found going in reverse, then forward, unlocked the tire. It was too late to save the tire but at least I wasn't dragging a smoking tire behind me. Just a thumping flat tire.

I unloaded the "boys" then parked the trailer. The "girls" wanted to be with the boys and were mooing. I let them out of the loading corral and they ran to join the boys. Then they all ran to the opposite corner from me. Another year, another group of cattle to train to relax around me.

Cattle usually like to immediately check out all the boundaries of their new location. These cattle weren't this way as they were content to munch grass in the back corner. As the grass is just beginning to grow I put out a number of hay bales for them to eat, but initially they preferred the grass.

Their one water trough had water in from the winter snow. I got a brush and scrubbed the trough clean and emptied the water. I also found the boards and dirt that had supported the tough and kept it level no longer did so, so I had to fix that before filling the trough with water. I also brought over the second water trough to the corral and filled it with water.

Now to my trailer wheel. I jacked up the trailer and removed the wheel. Next week I will buy a replacement tire.

Since I had the water hose in the area I washed out the stock trailer. I guess my driving and the bad wheel 'encouraged' the cattle to go to the bathroom. All over the place.

Ya know, my aunts and uncles are visiting in a few weeks to see what Montana ranch life is like. I am trying to think of things for them to do. Cleaning out a stock trailer would be a good ranch activity. But I decided I didn't want to wait several weeks before cleaning my trailer. Guess I'll have to find another 'fun' ranch activity for my uncles to perform.

I did think of another use for my stock trailer. With all my uncles and aunts visiting it will be a tight fit with everyone riding in my car. I think I can use the stock trailer to haul them around to see the sights - there will be plenty of room in the trailer and the trailer is very clean now.

The cattle have no brands. Also no ear tags. I'm going to tag them before I release them from the corral next month.

I have a head gate now to make the tagging job easier. I just need to install it. It is big and heavy enough that I need help to install it.

Note to self: email uncles with a request for them to work out before they visit so they have the strength to help install the head gate.

Here is a photo of the head gate laying down against a roll of snow fence. As you can see the gate is not a light little thing.

Sue Ann and corral fence

Today, Thursday, I got up way late as I was up way late last night (even for me). Sue Ann called late morning at a reasonable hour as she knows I am a late person. Our group's hike is canceled for Friday. With all the rain the higher elevations have been hit with snow. Glacier Park got 15 inches of snow and our hiking destination got at least several inches of snow. Guess we shouldn't have put the cross-country skis away.

Since no hike Friday, no potluck dinner. I didn't have to bake any pumpkin muffins.

Sue Ann's other news is that the place she is renting for years has been sold and the new owner said Sue Ann must move out by June 1. So I and other hiking group members will be helping her move once she finds a new place to rent.

By the time I finished talking with Sue Ann it started to rain. *argh!* First this rain wasn't suppose to happen, now it isn't leaving like it should. The rain is becoming a problem.

Why?

Friday morning I will be looking at cattle as Rich said he has 6 black steers and 6 black heifers in the 500-600 lb range. I may not have to go to Missoula to get cattle after all. The problem with the present rain is that my corral fence is a little over half done. No fence, how will I hold any cattle?

The good news is that it stopped raining late afternoon. I immediately went outside to work on the fence.

I strung 5 strands of barb wire. Even though I added chain link fence, I wanted the barb wire to further strengthen the fence. I know how heavy cattle can push their weight around. The 5th strand ran on top of the fence posts above the chain link fence. I know how some cattle can jump fences.

The roll of chain link did not cover the entire west fence. I found I had more odds & ends of short sections of chain link fence. I found two small sections that finished my fence exactly. These two pieces are 6 to 7 ft tall versus the 5 ft height of the rest of the fence. I'm not picky - so what if the height is different? The higher the better - I seriously doubt any cattle will jump the higher section of fence.

Before dark I added several of the old long posts to run along the top of the fence posts. It gives an added visual incentive to not try to jump the fence.

My west fence looks so different now. Before I had an old tattered snow fence and now I have a chain link fence. The snow fence partially blocked the view on the other side of the fence. Now I have to look again as from a distance I doesn't look like a fence is there. I'll get used to it. I had the same initial reaction when I rebuilt the south corral fence.

At least my outer corral fences are good and I can get cattle. I can do the finishing touches to the fence even after getting cattle.

I do want eventually to rebuild the interior corral fence that divides the corral north and south of the barn. My uncles and aunts are coming to visit in a little over two weeks. Hmmm... a project for them to do. I wouldn't want their vacation here to be all play and no work.

My one uncle is concerned I will have him go on long hikes. With the recent snow, maybe he should be more concerned about going on long cross-country ski trips.

Errands with Bob

Wednesday I went uptown with Bob to help him run errands. He can drive and walk short distances but in the store he needs to use those electric mobile carts. For the smaller stores without the carts I went inside to purchase the items for him. At Costco I got the electric cart. A nice thing about the big box stores is that they have electric carts for handicapped people to use. The smaller stores don't have a way for the handicapped to get around.

I felt odd using the electric cart as one must sit on the seat before it will go. There I sat slowly driving it outside to Bob's SUV. I imagine I got the "Why is he riding, he can walk!" looks.

A short time later inside the store the cart ran out of juice and stopped. I had to go to the front of the store and get another cart for Bob to use. This one had a little more power as it seemed to move one mph faster. *zoom zoom?* I still felt odd driving the cart through the store.

The food sample people were out in force and I ate a varied lunch as we shopped.

I am not a Costco member so I had Bob purchase some items I decided to get (who doesn't need a very large container of minced garlic?), then paid him back. I would have used his Costco card and my credit card but I found Costco does not accept Visa or Mastercard.

When we were uptown it started to rain lightly. It rained non-stop late into the night. So much for working on my corral fence Wednesday. And so much for the weather forecast as we were told the rain would pass to our south and we would miss out. We need the rain... but I need to get my fence done. Cattle may be coming.

West corral fence

Yesterday and today I have worked on re-doing my corral's west fence. You may remember last year I took down the corral's south fence and built a new one, and also rebuilt half of the east corral fence. This year I am re-doing the west corral fence before I get cattle.

Yesterday I took down the old battered snow fence, took down the odds and ends of long poles or logs used to make the fence more substantial, took down the strands of barb wire, took out the rotting wood posts, and pulled out the newer steel t-posts used to shore up the fence. It looks different now - it looks so open.

I put in many of the new posts yesterday. This afternoon I finished putting in the rest of the new posts. Every other post is a new wood post or is a steel t-post.

I also worked on the two gates: one for driving through and a smaller one next to it for walking through. The one post I left - the post between the two gates - was leaning and my drive gate latch barely reached the catch. I straightened the post and now the gate's latch reaches to hold the gate shut.

I also strung two strands of new barb wire. The old strands were dark brown with rust. Tomorrow I hope to finish the fence. I am not sure I will be able to do so as I will be driving Bob around town on errands. Jan is out of town helping one of their sons move into his new house, and Bob's mobility is poor.

I also made another pumpkin pie today.

March of the Librarians

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."

Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine novelist & poet (1899 - 1986)

A dryly funny video about librarians. The video is patterned after the documentary, "The March of the Penguins". A little under 5 minutes long.

If you don't see an image below to click on to start the video, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td922l0NoDQ

Work on taxes

A variety of weather today: sun, wind, calm, clouds, rain, sun, calm, wind, rain... over and over. The high temperature was in the mid 50s F so I had a fire going in my wood stove for warmth in the house.

Late afternoon, from the house, I seen Wyatt pulling a plow behind his big green tractor across his sister's field south of my pasture. After doing nothing to the field last year whereby the weeds grew and grew, it appears he may plow them under. I'll wander over for a look tomorrow.

Otherwise today was "work on taxes" day. It is nice we have a couple extra days this year. I make much less money but my taxes are more complicated what with farm forms, depreciation, energy credit, HSA, IRA, and telephone tax rebate forms.

Last week (See, I didn't wait till the last day! ) I've stopped at the local IRS office who then put me on the phone to the central IRS call center. The local office does not answer any depreciation tax form questions. The center call center wasn't much help as they tended to read me the instructions from the IRS booklet (I can do that! ) and then tell me they weren't trained much on that tax form.

Later when I called the 1-800 IRS number the automated phone system hung up after saying the call volumes were high. The system wouldn't even add me to the call waiting queue. When I complained I was told the phone call waiting queue is real short.

With all the forms I need lots of extra postage on my envelope this year. And yes, I owe money to Uncle Sam.

I bought a printer for my computer. I've had this computer over a year and had no printer. But with all my tax forms I needed a way to print them off. I got a Canon MP600 printer. For the last few weeks I have been checking printers out a various stores, then reading up on them on the internet, then checking new printers out, and so on. I avoided HP printers due to my brother and other friends past hassles and expense with their ink cartridges. I wanted an inexpensive printer (as I hardly print anything) but one with individual ink cartridges. I compromised in the middle: individual cartridges and not so cheap (but cheaper as it was on sale this week).

No cattle

Thursday I drove to Missoula to attend their weekly livestock auction. I hadn't heard from Dan so I trusted he was going to be there.

The auction started at 10 am. I was still stiff and sore from yesterday's work hauling hay bales so I was moving a little slow in the morning.

It is 120 miles to Missoula, or a little over two hours due to the mainly two lane road twisting around Flathead Lake and through mountainous areas. The traffic didn't help matters as I got stuck behind a truck hauling a tractor, a truck hauling construction equipment, trucks hauling dirt, trucks hauling a large load of potting soil, and a truck pulling an RV trailer - and other slow pokes. Between the many stretches of 'no passing' zones, and then oncoming traffic that popped up whenever the 'no passing' zone was over, I often had to drive 10 miles under the 65 mph speed limit.

What annoys me though is the people who drive under the speed limit until there is a two lane section where people can pass. Then they speed up to 5 mph over the speed limit only to slow down to less than the speed limit once the passing zone is over. If it were up to me I would ban those people from driving.

At least the weather was nice as the sky was clear and the Swan, then the Mission Mountain Ranges were covered in snow and pretty to look at.

I arrived at the auction a little after 10 am. As the auction usually starts with the slaughter cows and bulls, I took time to go through the holding pens to see what cattle there was. The selection was poor. There were maybe 200 to 300 cattle total, and few feeder cattle. If I were to get some feeder cattle I would have to piece a herd together from ones and twos and fours at a time.

Inside I found Dan. He brought two bulls to sell. It turns out he drove down this morning. The family member who needed a ride Wednesday night changed his mind at the last minute and didn't tell Dan until late. It was a mess and Dan almost didn't come down today because of it. Dan did well selling his bulls.

I never bought any cattle. The feeder cattle that came through were mostly bull calves and I had no desire to band and castrate them. Or they were so-so quality. There were three nice red Angus heifers, but the goal is to get steers. Or if I get heifers (like last year) get them of a very similar weight and look, something hard to do when buying three here, and several there, and four there, etc.

It seems as if the ranchers are holding their cattle back a few more weeks until it is closer to grass growing. Or closer in the Bitterroot (SW Montana) where the grass is ready soon than NW Montana. Another incentive for them to wait to sell is that the market is going higher each week.

Over the lunch break Dan and I walked through the holding pens as Dan hadn't a chance to do so earlier. I met a rancher from the Bitterroot who told me he planned to bring eight 500+ lb black steers in two weeks. Just what I am looking for.

So... it looks like I'll be going down to Missoula again in a few weeks. Hopefully there will be a larger selection of feeder cattle and I can get what I want. And here I worked like a dog the day before to get the hay moved before getting any cattle.

During the drive home I was able to appreciate more the snow covered mountains as I wasn't in such a hurry. The view from Polson across the length of Flathead Lake with the snow capped mountains of the Whitefish Range and Glacier Park was gorgeous.

After I got home I fixed my barn door as I was able to get the wheel back in its track. I also planted some of my nursery trees. This was my replacement order that Four Seasons nursery sent me late last Fall after telling me they would sent the order this Spring. I ended up tossing over half the trees as they did not look like they made it through the winter. *sigh*

Getting hay bales

Wednesday I got hay from Tony. By Wednesday night I was dead tired. I'm getting old, or I got soft and weak over winter, or both.

I didn't start loading the hay bales until after 2 pm. After all, how long would it take? From a distance the stack of bales didn't look big.

I finished moving the bales around 9 pm. It was getting dark. When I went to close the barn door I found the door slipped off one of the wheels. I tried fixing the door but between the dark and how tired I was, I left it for today.

I found the bales to be heavy, heavier than the 50 - 60 lb bales from my hayfield. Tony's bales must have been 75+ lbs. Tossing these bales up on a third layer in my pickup box got harder with each bale.

My first load had 24 bales. My second load had 30 bales - but only because I stood on top of Tony's stack and tossed the bales over to the pickup instead of up.

Tony came home and offered me the use of his flatbed trailer. (I need to get me one!) I loaded 66 bales on his trailer. By now it was late afternoon and tossing the bales on the forth level was hard. I got 6 bales up there before I quit. I counted 20 bales left to move and decided to load them in the pickup after unloading and returning Tony's trailer.

Keep in mind that not only did I load the bales, I unloaded them, carried them in the barn, and stacked them four to five levels high.

I got a workout! I must have moved around 5 tons of hay. Even though the temperature was in the low 50s F, I was soaked in sweat. I got hay all over me. I should have worn heavy denim jeans instead of a light pair of pants as my legs are scratched.

I only took the bales under tarps or in Tony's small shed. The bales outside the tarps I left as they had been rained on and were brown. Even some the bales under the tarps were bad as the tarps leaked in a few spots. Also, the bottom layer sat directly on the ground and were bad for a few inches. The cattle can pick through and ignore that part of those bales. I left them outside the barn to dry off. And wet hay does smell.

There were many fat mice in among the bales. Not only did I see mouse tunnels, I exposed three or four mice every so often when I lifted a bale. Fat mice! They were so fat they could hardly run. I left them be and didn't step on them. I also found two small dead cats between a few bales and later the momma cat, large and fat, came out from between some of the bales and ran off.

When I got in the house I had a phone message from Dan saying he was going to Missoula Wednesday night and not Thursday. I was on my own to get to the Missoula Livestock Auction on Thursday. Here I thought I could rest on the way down as Dan drove.

After a quick supper I went to bed hours earlier than normal. I was so tired and stiff and sore I could hardly move. I'm getting old.

Flathead from Space

If you look real close you can see where I live. Ok... maybe you can't exactly see my house, but you get the idea of the terrain in my neck of the woods.

I live in generally near the center of the photo. I can find close to where I live as I can pick out the Whitefish River that flows from Whitefish Lake to join with the Flathead River before the pronounced meander of the Flathead River above Flathead Lake.

The photo was taken from the space shuttle. It shows the Flathead Valley - which is mainly the brown in the center. The green are mountains with the brown at the outer edges being mountain tops with no trees. Everything looks so flat from outer space.

Hwy 2 can be seen curving from the upper right and almost approaching the lower end of Lake McDonald, Hwy 2 then goes in a curving manner to the lower left, below Little Bitterroot Lake.

For where I have been hiking recently near Joyce's ranch, go NW of the NW part of Flathead Lake. The location is about halfway between Flathead Lake and Hwy 2 (closer to hwy 2), and west/SW of the top of the meander of Flathead River before it enters the lake (and halfway to the clouds).

Not all the area's lakes are listed. For example, Lake Blaine, a smallish lake, can be seen above the Flathead River meander. Echo Lake is to the right of the meander.

This image is courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov)

Here you can find Foys Lake NW of the top of Flathead Lake. Foys Lake is the small light blue/green oval just below the brown valley. Go about an inch SW of Foys Lake (into the darker green) and this is the general area of my recent hiking trips.

From space it is hard to tell that Flathead Lake is 30 miles long, and almost 15 miles across at its widest point.

Click on the images to get larger views.

Nice day, then a change

A gorgeous Easter weekend has ended. I woke up to to rain (.10 inch) and by late afternoon the rain stopped but the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. Brrrr!!!

Yesterday I planted my elderberry bushes. I have more trees and bushes to plant. These are the ones I got late last Fall from the 4 Seasons nursery as replacement for the ones that died. I had stored them in my house's crawl space over winter so they wouldn't freeze solid. They appear to have made it through the winter fine.

Yesterday I was able to hang my wash outside on the clothesline for the first time this year. I like the fresh smell clothes get from drying on a clothesline.

My neighbor, Lyle, burned some of his pasture yesterday. Probably the hay the horse hadn't eaten. This morning's rain washed out some of the ashes from my burning on Saturday. Which is fine as it also got rid of the burnt smell.

I trimmed half the branches from the pine tree that had fallen in the south pasture. I had to leave some branches for my uncle to trim when he visits.

This morning one of the Chinese pheasants wandered through my yard.

Yup, a quiet time here.

Spring Saturday

Our first really warm Spring day. The forecast is for nice weather this weekend then another cold and rain front will arrive by Monday and stay next week.

To take advantage of the nice weather I got busy. To the river I took the small branches that had broken off when I was trimming the willow tree. I found that many live willow branches will grow a root and start a new tree. I took a armful of branches to the river and stuck them in the ground near the river. Hopefully they will grow. Having vegetation along the river bank helps stabilize it so it doesn't erode away.

This is the first time I have been out in the "back 40" since my return to Montana this Spring. The river level is rising as it is now higher than it has been since last July.

I found that a pine tree blew over (snapped off) over the winter. Another tree to cut up for firewood. Good thing my uncle is coming to visit me in May!

Those two dead end branches at the top of the willow tree weighed on my mind. Today I climbed to the peak of my steep garage roof, and with a foot on each side of the peak, I tossed a rope with a weight on it over the dead ends of the branches. It took several attempts to get the rope over the branches as they were still way higher than me and hard to reach. Unfortunately it was easier to toss the rope over the power line between the house and the power pole by the garage. One time the rope missed the branches and the rest of the rope slid off the roof. *sigh* It was a long climb up and down the ladder as the extension ladder was fully extended to reach the roof's peak. The roof is so steep that is the only safe way is to put the ladder to the peak.

The rope was long enough that I could stand on the ground, and holding onto both ends of the rope, I could pull on the branch. *unnnghh...* The branches, while dead, still had strength to them. They would bend but not break. That explains how they tossed the large dead branch I cut last week through the garage roof. With more effort on my part the branches finally snapped off. I ran away and the branches missed me.

See the two branches on the top right? The second photo gives you an idea how high they are from the ground. In the second photo the two branches are on the top left.

Well, that's done. All the dead branches are off the willow tree. Now it can begin to grow again.

I also finished cutting up the dead branch that had fallen through the garage roof. I used a hand saw and got my exercise. I left the cut pieces in a pile for my uncle to split when he visits me. (He said he didn't want to go on long hikes...)

While I planned to do other things today, I decided to take a minute and burn the old hay in the corral the cattle never completely ate. The weather was perfect for burning as the wind was but a light breeze and was variable.

Since the burning went well, I ended up burning much of two of the three sections of the corral. Then I burnt in the northeast pasture along the corral fence. then along the loafing shed, then along the pole shed, then along the garage. Then I burnt the garden and fruit tree area, then the ditch between the road and the fruit tree area, before burning the ditch along the front yard.

The burning took time as I have the fire go against the wind as it is harder to burn and less likely to get out of control. I also don't let large areas burn at once. All this takes time.

I smell of smoke.