I already wrote about Brian's first day on his visit to Montana and Glacier Park on my Tall Pines hiker blog (http://tallpineshiker.blogspot.com/2014/08/highline-trail-with-brian.html). Here is what we did and saw on their second day here on Tuesday August 12.
A chance of afternoon rain was in the forecast so we got an earlier start. Glacier Park was still crowded. We did a mix of souvenir shopping, car sightseeing, and short walks along the Sun Road. We were unable to stop at Logan Pass. The parking lot was full and a female ranger was blocking vehicles from entering the parking lot.
Later we saw another female ranger pull a vehicle over at the Jackson Glacier overlook. She had pulled up behind the vehicle and her vehicle was blocking the eastbound lane. I spoke with the family later and they told me they got a warning about driving too slow and weaving in their lane while sightseeing. Oh brother. They were nowhere close to being as bad as some sightseers.
In addition to driving the entire length of the Sun Road, we also visited Many Glacier Valley and hotel, and Essex, Montana where Neal had hoped to find the hat he regretted not buying when he was last here four years ago. The store no longer carried that hat.
It was a long day and a tiring day. For Brian and Neal's third day I stayed at the ranch and sprayed weeds while they drove over the Sun Road again and saw more sights.
Here is a link to photos of the sights we saw:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6049901021821173761?authkey=CK3ntNmqzaCwlAE
Here is a video of different parts of Baring Creek coming out of the Sunrift Gorge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAOV_bKE4SQ&feature=youtu.be
Showing posts with label Brian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Brian and Alison on the train
Saturday night around 9 pm I met Brian and Alison at the train station in Whitefish as they passed through on their way from Minnesota to Washington state. They are on their way to help Alison's mom move from Washington state to Minnesota. Why? I don't know! I mean, why is Alison's mom moving from Washington state to Minnesota? I would think it would be the other way around! 
The train stops for just 20 minutes so visits are brief. Our time was even a few minutes shorter as I was late as the train had already arrived. I had a good reason to be late: a busy and long day at a farm auction, then chasing/searching for one of my ninja heifers (more on that later).
This is the first time I met Alison in person and she looks as lovely in person as in the photos Brian has sent me. Brian is a long time friend from my days of living in Minnesota so it was nice to finally meet his wife. Yes! His wife! Brian got married earlier this year. Good for him! It looks good on him.
While I did see Brian first as he was looking for me outside the train station I instantly recognized Alison from the photos and greeted her first. She greeted me with a hug which may not have been ideal as I had spent seven hours sitting/standing outside at a farm auction under a clear sky and in near 90 F temperatures. Then I spent over an hour searching for a heifer through the river, peninsula, small island, several pastures, trees, and the muck and mud. I didn't have time to get cleaned up before the train arrived.
We had a lively though brief conversation outside the train and I also got to meet Alison's brother and cousin. Alison seems really nice so Brian has done well.
Don't they look like a great couple?
The train stops for just 20 minutes so visits are brief. Our time was even a few minutes shorter as I was late as the train had already arrived. I had a good reason to be late: a busy and long day at a farm auction, then chasing/searching for one of my ninja heifers (more on that later).
This is the first time I met Alison in person and she looks as lovely in person as in the photos Brian has sent me. Brian is a long time friend from my days of living in Minnesota so it was nice to finally meet his wife. Yes! His wife! Brian got married earlier this year. Good for him! It looks good on him.
While I did see Brian first as he was looking for me outside the train station I instantly recognized Alison from the photos and greeted her first. She greeted me with a hug which may not have been ideal as I had spent seven hours sitting/standing outside at a farm auction under a clear sky and in near 90 F temperatures. Then I spent over an hour searching for a heifer through the river, peninsula, small island, several pastures, trees, and the muck and mud. I didn't have time to get cleaned up before the train arrived.
We had a lively though brief conversation outside the train and I also got to meet Alison's brother and cousin. Alison seems really nice so Brian has done well.
Don't they look like a great couple?
Sunday, July 22, 2007
After Brian and cattle
Brain left this morning for the West Coast. He has never seen the ocean in person. While visiting Glacier is nice, we have seen lots of the Park these past five days, and it was time for something new. Besides Saturday Brian has seen a bear (two bears: a grizzly and black bear) to keep alive his 'always seeing a bear in Glacier Park' streak.
So this morning around 8:30 am off Brian went.
Now I need to get back into my everyday routine. This morning I watered much of the garden before it got hot. The plants have grown a lot over the past week. They have much more to go before harvest.
This afternoon was partially spent on catching up on sleep. This evening I checked some of my gopher traps, before getting sidetracked by the cattle.
Saturday morning three of the cattle (Dan's) had made a jailbreak into John's pasture. John is Jim's northern neighbor. Earlier in the morning I had heard mooing but seen some of my cattle in the east side of Jim's pasture, and seen the neighbor's cattle across the river walking up and down the ridge. They moo a lot when they do that.
Jim's wife alerted me to the jail breakers and I ran over with a small pail of alfalfa treats. Jim, John, and John's wife were in John's pasture kinda trying to herd the three cattle to the SW corner and the small gate. Most of the rest of my cattle were on Jim's side of the fence. I shoo'd them away from the gate and opened it. I easily herded two of the jail breakers through the gate. The third one, a heifer, was busy eating trying to ignore us.
I herded the third one towards the gate and she ran past the gate to the corner. The distance between the gate and the corner was a fence post length. She ran and slipped through the barb wire fence. Not gracefully as she was in a hurry to get across. Well... now we know how the three cattle got into John's pasture.
The fence was good earlier but apparently when the cattle put their heads through the fence to eat the "greener" grass on the other side some of the staples fastening the wire to the fence posts came out and the loose wire made an opening to let them slip through the fence.
I offered to help Jim fix his fence but he said he would handle it and for me to go on my planned sightseeing day with Brian. Besides, since Jim would be working on the fence, his brother-in-law then offered to wash Jim's logging truck after he washed his logging truck and this made Jim happy.
Jim had some wire but I gave him some extra barb wire I had. Later he told me he and John worked on the fence and added a few posts to the ones that were bad. He hadn't met John before so this was a way to bond with his neighbor as guys like to bond over doing things instead of merely standing around and talking.
I also learned that John was a "horse" person and not fond of cattle. Hmm....
Sometimes I think horse and cattle people are similar to dog and cat people in their preferences of one animal over the other. Of course horse people are wrong, cattle are better. 
Back to today, I noticed that some of the cattle were along the river on Jim's pasture and a few others were across the river. Then I noticed they were and had been across the river across a wider area. That is fine as long as they stay on this side of the fence beyond the trees.
Then I heard mooing on and against the ridge. The cattle hadn't found a way across the fence did they? *sigh* I took my shoes and socks off, rolled up my pants, and waded across the river.
A few cattle were along the river down a bit where the river bank was deeper and looking across to the cattle still on Jim's pasture. Then I heard a loud splash when one jumped into the river and then walked across to Jim's pasture. The other two walked over to their typical shallow wading across spot and crossed the river.
Through and under the trees I followed the trails. I found some cattle and some cattle found me. I walked part of the main fence line and did not see trails in the tall grass across the fence. I also could not see the mooing cattle. I heard a chainsaw on top of the ridge so that sound might have been what was riling the neighbor's cattle.
I circled around and went on the trails to the south. A few cattle heard me and came up the trail to find out who was making the noise. They were nervous as they weren't sure if they were in trouble for being here. The three original cattle had followed me and when they joined up with the new two they all went down another trail.
I went on other trails through the trees and tall grass. I found quite a number of other cattle in a clearing they had found. I couldn't count them as the grass was taller than me and them. It was dusk and I decided to let them be. They knew how to get back home. Or so I thought.
I recrossed the river. The cattle on the part of the land between the two-strand fence and the river were now making their way onto Jim's main pasture as I was there. To do that they had to cross down then up across a muddy spot. They didn't like to do so as they sunk a bit into the mud and had to pull their legs out of the mud as they walked.
One heifer so disliked the mud that she leaped across the muddy section. It was amazing as I never seen cattle do that. It is one thing for a dog, cat, or human to do that, and quite another to see a 700+ lb heifer do that. The other cattle couldn't "fly" like the one heifer but they attempted their mini-leaps.
The other cattle I had seen in the tall grass were now on the river bank across the river - but across from the border between Jim's and my pastures. One (not sure if a steer or heifer) walked across the river to this side but Jim's river bank is steep and it walked around and around in the river looking to get into Jim's pasture. Other cattle stood on the other river bank and watched before following. The river was deep and at one point the initial one turned around. By now several others were walking across the river as they were either getting tired of waiting else thought this one had found a route.
The initial animal then came in my direction where the river bank was shallow but between me and her the water got deep. I couldn't tell if it was swimming or if its feet still barely touched the river bed. It made it to a "mud bar" and climbed on it. By now the other cattle had found a spot on the steep bank where they could pull themselves up and all but two did so. The one on the mud bar did not want to cross the water/mud to get to the shallow bank where I was and turned around and then followed the others up the bank.
Two more were wandering around my river bank as they apparently didn't want to pull themselves up that bank. The problem was my bank was steeper and I had fenced it on top. They crossed back to the other side and re-looked at their options. Then they came across again and pulled themselves up onto Jim's pasture.
That wasn't all the cattle. I walked Jim's river bank looking for the others. Back at the property boundary I saw the others across the river from my north pasture. They could cross over to the shallow river bank on my side but didn't see it as they were focused on Jim's pasture which was "home" and where the other cattle were (though they now left the river area and were in the east end of the pasture). I also didn't want the herd split between my and Jim's pasture and they probably didn't want to be split either.
To get back to the shallow river crossing on Jim's pasture they would have to follow one of their newly created trails back around the bend on the river. That meant going away from where they wanted to be. Darkness was falling. The cattle couldn't figure out what to do.
I went back to the shallow crossing, took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and re-crossed the river. I followed the trail to where the cattle were until they saw me. Then I returned back the way I came calling out every so often so the cattle could follow my voice through the tall grass.
By the time I took my shoes and socks off and rolled up my pants the cattle were there. They followed me across the river and then waited while I put my shoes and socks back on and rolled my wet pants down. The pants had dipped in my four river crossings and were wet from the knee down. And my socks were wet from being used to dry my feet. One shoe was wet as it had rolled down the bank and into the river one time after I had taken it off.
*sigh* So much for keeping dry. 
The cattle followed me back to Jim's pasture. Once they saw the rest of the herd at the far end of the pasture they took off running. Fair weather friends.
So it appears the cattle are all together for the night. It was too dark to count them.
All is well until another day. Jim still has a good amount of grass in his lower areas near the river. But you know cattle! Grass is... what? Yup, greener on the other side of the river.
So this morning around 8:30 am off Brian went.
Now I need to get back into my everyday routine. This morning I watered much of the garden before it got hot. The plants have grown a lot over the past week. They have much more to go before harvest.
This afternoon was partially spent on catching up on sleep. This evening I checked some of my gopher traps, before getting sidetracked by the cattle.
Saturday morning three of the cattle (Dan's) had made a jailbreak into John's pasture. John is Jim's northern neighbor. Earlier in the morning I had heard mooing but seen some of my cattle in the east side of Jim's pasture, and seen the neighbor's cattle across the river walking up and down the ridge. They moo a lot when they do that.
Jim's wife alerted me to the jail breakers and I ran over with a small pail of alfalfa treats. Jim, John, and John's wife were in John's pasture kinda trying to herd the three cattle to the SW corner and the small gate. Most of the rest of my cattle were on Jim's side of the fence. I shoo'd them away from the gate and opened it. I easily herded two of the jail breakers through the gate. The third one, a heifer, was busy eating trying to ignore us.
I herded the third one towards the gate and she ran past the gate to the corner. The distance between the gate and the corner was a fence post length. She ran and slipped through the barb wire fence. Not gracefully as she was in a hurry to get across. Well... now we know how the three cattle got into John's pasture.
The fence was good earlier but apparently when the cattle put their heads through the fence to eat the "greener" grass on the other side some of the staples fastening the wire to the fence posts came out and the loose wire made an opening to let them slip through the fence.
I offered to help Jim fix his fence but he said he would handle it and for me to go on my planned sightseeing day with Brian. Besides, since Jim would be working on the fence, his brother-in-law then offered to wash Jim's logging truck after he washed his logging truck and this made Jim happy.
Jim had some wire but I gave him some extra barb wire I had. Later he told me he and John worked on the fence and added a few posts to the ones that were bad. He hadn't met John before so this was a way to bond with his neighbor as guys like to bond over doing things instead of merely standing around and talking.
I also learned that John was a "horse" person and not fond of cattle. Hmm....
Sometimes I think horse and cattle people are similar to dog and cat people in their preferences of one animal over the other. Of course horse people are wrong, cattle are better. 
Back to today, I noticed that some of the cattle were along the river on Jim's pasture and a few others were across the river. Then I noticed they were and had been across the river across a wider area. That is fine as long as they stay on this side of the fence beyond the trees.
Then I heard mooing on and against the ridge. The cattle hadn't found a way across the fence did they? *sigh* I took my shoes and socks off, rolled up my pants, and waded across the river.
A few cattle were along the river down a bit where the river bank was deeper and looking across to the cattle still on Jim's pasture. Then I heard a loud splash when one jumped into the river and then walked across to Jim's pasture. The other two walked over to their typical shallow wading across spot and crossed the river.
Through and under the trees I followed the trails. I found some cattle and some cattle found me. I walked part of the main fence line and did not see trails in the tall grass across the fence. I also could not see the mooing cattle. I heard a chainsaw on top of the ridge so that sound might have been what was riling the neighbor's cattle.
I circled around and went on the trails to the south. A few cattle heard me and came up the trail to find out who was making the noise. They were nervous as they weren't sure if they were in trouble for being here. The three original cattle had followed me and when they joined up with the new two they all went down another trail.
I went on other trails through the trees and tall grass. I found quite a number of other cattle in a clearing they had found. I couldn't count them as the grass was taller than me and them. It was dusk and I decided to let them be. They knew how to get back home. Or so I thought.
I recrossed the river. The cattle on the part of the land between the two-strand fence and the river were now making their way onto Jim's main pasture as I was there. To do that they had to cross down then up across a muddy spot. They didn't like to do so as they sunk a bit into the mud and had to pull their legs out of the mud as they walked.
One heifer so disliked the mud that she leaped across the muddy section. It was amazing as I never seen cattle do that. It is one thing for a dog, cat, or human to do that, and quite another to see a 700+ lb heifer do that. The other cattle couldn't "fly" like the one heifer but they attempted their mini-leaps.
The other cattle I had seen in the tall grass were now on the river bank across the river - but across from the border between Jim's and my pastures. One (not sure if a steer or heifer) walked across the river to this side but Jim's river bank is steep and it walked around and around in the river looking to get into Jim's pasture. Other cattle stood on the other river bank and watched before following. The river was deep and at one point the initial one turned around. By now several others were walking across the river as they were either getting tired of waiting else thought this one had found a route.
The initial animal then came in my direction where the river bank was shallow but between me and her the water got deep. I couldn't tell if it was swimming or if its feet still barely touched the river bed. It made it to a "mud bar" and climbed on it. By now the other cattle had found a spot on the steep bank where they could pull themselves up and all but two did so. The one on the mud bar did not want to cross the water/mud to get to the shallow bank where I was and turned around and then followed the others up the bank.
Two more were wandering around my river bank as they apparently didn't want to pull themselves up that bank. The problem was my bank was steeper and I had fenced it on top. They crossed back to the other side and re-looked at their options. Then they came across again and pulled themselves up onto Jim's pasture.
That wasn't all the cattle. I walked Jim's river bank looking for the others. Back at the property boundary I saw the others across the river from my north pasture. They could cross over to the shallow river bank on my side but didn't see it as they were focused on Jim's pasture which was "home" and where the other cattle were (though they now left the river area and were in the east end of the pasture). I also didn't want the herd split between my and Jim's pasture and they probably didn't want to be split either.
To get back to the shallow river crossing on Jim's pasture they would have to follow one of their newly created trails back around the bend on the river. That meant going away from where they wanted to be. Darkness was falling. The cattle couldn't figure out what to do.
I went back to the shallow crossing, took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and re-crossed the river. I followed the trail to where the cattle were until they saw me. Then I returned back the way I came calling out every so often so the cattle could follow my voice through the tall grass.
By the time I took my shoes and socks off and rolled up my pants the cattle were there. They followed me across the river and then waited while I put my shoes and socks back on and rolled my wet pants down. The pants had dipped in my four river crossings and were wet from the knee down. And my socks were wet from being used to dry my feet. One shoe was wet as it had rolled down the bank and into the river one time after I had taken it off.
*sigh* So much for keeping dry. 
The cattle followed me back to Jim's pasture. Once they saw the rest of the herd at the far end of the pasture they took off running. Fair weather friends.
So it appears the cattle are all together for the night. It was too dark to count them.
All is well until another day. Jim still has a good amount of grass in his lower areas near the river. But you know cattle! Grass is... what? Yup, greener on the other side of the river.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Cherry picking
A great day today, though another 97 degree day. It is so hot, it is so hazy. The mountains are an outline in the haze. Definitely not the idea time to visit Glacier.
This morning Brian and I went cherry picking. The Flathead cherries are in the middle of harvest now. There is a dispute between neighbors down on Finley Point over a right-of-way road they share, and the cherry orchard owner decided to give his cherries away free as he claims he can't get a semi truck into his orchard to haul the cherries away.
Here is a link to the newspaper article about the dispute.
Today was the first day of picking. Joyce had called and found out the start time was 7 am. She and her daughter planned on going to pick cherries but then changed their mind due to the distance (Finley Point is near the south end of Flathead Lake) and Joyce had hurt her back picking huckleberries the day before.
As you know I am not an early person, and Brian wanted to sleep in to recover from his 650 mile drive from Wyoming the previous day. Therefore we didn't arrive at the orchard until after 10 am. A number of cars were lining the road outside the orchard and people were carrying boxes full of cherries to their cars.
As we walked up the steep gravel road, Brian, the cherry orchard owner was there and introduced himself. He wanted to know first names and said he would be interested in how many pounds of cherries we would harvest. He also asked if we thought the road would allow a semi truck to be driven on it. I don't think I gave the right answer as I initially said the road wasn't in as bad of condition as I imagined as I remembered the photo in the newspaper article. Note: the online version of the newspaper article doesn't have the photo of a tractor mired int he gravel road.
Brian the orchard owner was excited to meet my friend Brian as they shared the same name, and the same spelling of their name.
In the orchard were dozens of people swarming around cherry trees. I don't know how many trees he had, but well over 100 trees. The first thing I noticed were all the people with ladders. Darn! I remembered pails to hold the cherries, but I didn't think of a ladder. Duh!
We noticed the "low hanging" fruit had been picked. Higher up in the trees were lots of cherries. Hmmmm.....
We wandered into the middle of the orchard in hopes of finding trees not picked. We found a few trees where we could reach some cherries as we are 6 ft tall. Soon we climbed into several trees in search of hand fulls of cherries.
I had to be careful in the tree as I heard once a branch start to crack. During our cherry picking we heard several branches break in other trees from people standing on them, and saw several more broken branches. I hope the owner doesn't regret letting "amateurs" in to pick cherries.
I don't know how long it was but when I was near done picking what I could reach in my tree a couple in the next tree told us they planned to leave in 15 minutes and I could have their ladder. Ahhh... the orchard provided the ladders. It wasn't that the other people were smart and I was dumb.
A short time after I began using the ladder another person left and Brian got his ladder to use. Ladders made cherry picking so much easier.
The ladder is an odd ladder but made sense when trying to get "into" a tree. Instead of two support legs in front, it had a single pole in the middle. This worked good, but one had to be careful when leaning sideways to reach cherries.
The people picking were a variety. In the tree nearby were people from South Dakota talking with local friends. This was new to the South Dakota people as cherry trees don't grow in much, if not all, of South Dakota. I also heard Russian accents from other people. A number families were there picking though the parents enjoyed this more than the kids. "Are we done yet?"
I had two small pails to hold when picking the cherries, then we dumped them into 5 gallon plastic pails. I found out Brian doesn't care to eat cherries so he was doing this cherry pickling to humor me. He also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis so when the two 5 gallon pails were near full he stopped as from the heat he was tired. He sat in the shade while I continued to pick cherries.
I love picking berries, cherries, whatever, and could have gone on for many more hours. I decided to pick more berries to give to my neighbors, Bob and Jan, and also to give to Joyce in hope of trading them for a few huckleberries as it looks like I won't be picking huckleberries this year. Joyce and MaryAnn both have visited the secret site where we scored lots of huckleberries last year and both said this year's crop there was light and they picked them already.
After a while Brian suggested we leave as we had lots of berries and he needed food and water as it was after 1 pm. That late?! My how times flies when I pick berries. I shouldn't be surprised as I remembered spending 8 hours non-stop picking black cap raspberries back in Minnesota many years ago when I found a super patch.
I filled the two 5 gallon pails, a two gallon pail, and a 1 gallon pail, and picked a few dozen yellow cherries into a plastic bag.
By the time we left there were only a few cars left on the road. Some teenagers sitting on the tailgate of a pickup with a topper were munching on food. They has made a line of cherries across one lane of the road, and as Brian and I stepped over the cherries shrieked "Don't step on my cherries!" We didn't.
Before we left a few vehicles drove down the road and over the cherries to the amusement of the kids.
Since we were close to Polson we drove around the end of Flathead Lake to search for a restaurant. We found a Wheat Montana bakery and deli in an old McDonalds building. The kind with a two story end for a kids playland? I don't know as I haven't been inside a McDonalds building since who knows, I don't remember.
Wheat Montana is a Montana company having started in Bozemen. I got a "Three Forks" sub sandwich which was very good.
Before we left Polson I got Brain to drive to Kerr Dam at the foot of Flathead Lake. I didn't know how to get there and there were no signs so we drove around the NW side of the lake's end to no avail. Driving on the SE side, and through town, we stumbled on the correct road and a number of left and right turns. We ended up taking the long route to the dam.
The dam is a dam. If you are not into dams, then skip it by. Otherwise it is a small interesting dam. The builders drilled tunnels through the rock to run the water through the turbines. Different because dams usually have the turbines in or next to the dam. Below the dam the river bends from NW to SW and passes where the electricity generating water is discharged. The river is far below the observation deck. the deck is a good hike partway down in the valley.
Below the water discharge is a road and we saw several large rafts being launched for a float downstream.
This area doesn't seem part of the "area" as it is dry and mainly treeless. No wonder the white man let the Indians keep this land as their reservation.
When we reached Kalispell we drove over to Joyce's ranch to give her the 2 gallon pail of cherries. She was surprised to see us but enjoyed receiving the cherries. I was able to trade for some huckleberries for Brian to sample. I go the far better deal, and told Joyce so, as it is hard and time consuming to pick huckleberries. She also gave me two more small jars of the elderberry syrup she made from the elderberries we had picked on the Cobalt lake hike last year. I love this syrup on my pancakes. Joyce is not satisfied with the syrups' taste.
Joyce told me out Siyeh hike that was postponed from last Friday to this Wednesday was canceled because Wednesday's forecast is for a high of 100 degrees.
It rained tonight!!!!! I'll try to write about this night's music concert and the rain another time as I am very tired right now.
This morning Brian and I went cherry picking. The Flathead cherries are in the middle of harvest now. There is a dispute between neighbors down on Finley Point over a right-of-way road they share, and the cherry orchard owner decided to give his cherries away free as he claims he can't get a semi truck into his orchard to haul the cherries away.
Here is a link to the newspaper article about the dispute.
Today was the first day of picking. Joyce had called and found out the start time was 7 am. She and her daughter planned on going to pick cherries but then changed their mind due to the distance (Finley Point is near the south end of Flathead Lake) and Joyce had hurt her back picking huckleberries the day before.
As you know I am not an early person, and Brian wanted to sleep in to recover from his 650 mile drive from Wyoming the previous day. Therefore we didn't arrive at the orchard until after 10 am. A number of cars were lining the road outside the orchard and people were carrying boxes full of cherries to their cars.
As we walked up the steep gravel road, Brian, the cherry orchard owner was there and introduced himself. He wanted to know first names and said he would be interested in how many pounds of cherries we would harvest. He also asked if we thought the road would allow a semi truck to be driven on it. I don't think I gave the right answer as I initially said the road wasn't in as bad of condition as I imagined as I remembered the photo in the newspaper article. Note: the online version of the newspaper article doesn't have the photo of a tractor mired int he gravel road.
Brian the orchard owner was excited to meet my friend Brian as they shared the same name, and the same spelling of their name.
In the orchard were dozens of people swarming around cherry trees. I don't know how many trees he had, but well over 100 trees. The first thing I noticed were all the people with ladders. Darn! I remembered pails to hold the cherries, but I didn't think of a ladder. Duh!
We noticed the "low hanging" fruit had been picked. Higher up in the trees were lots of cherries. Hmmmm.....We wandered into the middle of the orchard in hopes of finding trees not picked. We found a few trees where we could reach some cherries as we are 6 ft tall. Soon we climbed into several trees in search of hand fulls of cherries.
I had to be careful in the tree as I heard once a branch start to crack. During our cherry picking we heard several branches break in other trees from people standing on them, and saw several more broken branches. I hope the owner doesn't regret letting "amateurs" in to pick cherries.
I don't know how long it was but when I was near done picking what I could reach in my tree a couple in the next tree told us they planned to leave in 15 minutes and I could have their ladder. Ahhh... the orchard provided the ladders. It wasn't that the other people were smart and I was dumb.
A short time after I began using the ladder another person left and Brian got his ladder to use. Ladders made cherry picking so much easier.The ladder is an odd ladder but made sense when trying to get "into" a tree. Instead of two support legs in front, it had a single pole in the middle. This worked good, but one had to be careful when leaning sideways to reach cherries.
The people picking were a variety. In the tree nearby were people from South Dakota talking with local friends. This was new to the South Dakota people as cherry trees don't grow in much, if not all, of South Dakota. I also heard Russian accents from other people. A number families were there picking though the parents enjoyed this more than the kids. "Are we done yet?"
I had two small pails to hold when picking the cherries, then we dumped them into 5 gallon plastic pails. I found out Brian doesn't care to eat cherries so he was doing this cherry pickling to humor me. He also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis so when the two 5 gallon pails were near full he stopped as from the heat he was tired. He sat in the shade while I continued to pick cherries.
I love picking berries, cherries, whatever, and could have gone on for many more hours. I decided to pick more berries to give to my neighbors, Bob and Jan, and also to give to Joyce in hope of trading them for a few huckleberries as it looks like I won't be picking huckleberries this year. Joyce and MaryAnn both have visited the secret site where we scored lots of huckleberries last year and both said this year's crop there was light and they picked them already.
After a while Brian suggested we leave as we had lots of berries and he needed food and water as it was after 1 pm. That late?! My how times flies when I pick berries. I shouldn't be surprised as I remembered spending 8 hours non-stop picking black cap raspberries back in Minnesota many years ago when I found a super patch.
I filled the two 5 gallon pails, a two gallon pail, and a 1 gallon pail, and picked a few dozen yellow cherries into a plastic bag.
By the time we left there were only a few cars left on the road. Some teenagers sitting on the tailgate of a pickup with a topper were munching on food. They has made a line of cherries across one lane of the road, and as Brian and I stepped over the cherries shrieked "Don't step on my cherries!" We didn't.
Before we left a few vehicles drove down the road and over the cherries to the amusement of the kids.
Since we were close to Polson we drove around the end of Flathead Lake to search for a restaurant. We found a Wheat Montana bakery and deli in an old McDonalds building. The kind with a two story end for a kids playland? I don't know as I haven't been inside a McDonalds building since who knows, I don't remember.Wheat Montana is a Montana company having started in Bozemen. I got a "Three Forks" sub sandwich which was very good.
Before we left Polson I got Brain to drive to Kerr Dam at the foot of Flathead Lake. I didn't know how to get there and there were no signs so we drove around the NW side of the lake's end to no avail. Driving on the SE side, and through town, we stumbled on the correct road and a number of left and right turns. We ended up taking the long route to the dam.
The dam is a dam. If you are not into dams, then skip it by. Otherwise it is a small interesting dam. The builders drilled tunnels through the rock to run the water through the turbines. Different because dams usually have the turbines in or next to the dam. Below the dam the river bends from NW to SW and passes where the electricity generating water is discharged. The river is far below the observation deck. the deck is a good hike partway down in the valley.
Below the water discharge is a road and we saw several large rafts being launched for a float downstream.
This area doesn't seem part of the "area" as it is dry and mainly treeless. No wonder the white man let the Indians keep this land as their reservation.
When we reached Kalispell we drove over to Joyce's ranch to give her the 2 gallon pail of cherries. She was surprised to see us but enjoyed receiving the cherries. I was able to trade for some huckleberries for Brian to sample. I go the far better deal, and told Joyce so, as it is hard and time consuming to pick huckleberries. She also gave me two more small jars of the elderberry syrup she made from the elderberries we had picked on the Cobalt lake hike last year. I love this syrup on my pancakes. Joyce is not satisfied with the syrups' taste.
Joyce told me out Siyeh hike that was postponed from last Friday to this Wednesday was canceled because Wednesday's forecast is for a high of 100 degrees.
It rained tonight!!!!! I'll try to write about this night's music concert and the rain another time as I am very tired right now.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Brian left
Last Friday Brian went to Glacier Park to take photos of the mountains at sunrise; or as close to sunrise as he could manage on a few hours sleep. I didn't go. Getting up at 5 am is a rare occurrence for me and seeing the mountains at sunrise doesn't count. Besides I have seen them at sunrise - just in the winter when the sun comes up at the reasonable hour of 8 am or later.
The electric company guys who are checking the power poles came back to let me know they would checking the ones along my southern property boundary. He kept his word that he would check in with me before they wandered through the hayfield and pasture.
Me? I didn't do much that day. Checked the gopher and pocket gopher traps and puttered around the place.
Brian returned after 5 pm so he had a long day at Glacier Park and the Hungry Horse Dam.
When we were outside in the evening we found two baby morning doves nestled together in the taller grass by my patio. I am not sure where their nest was, perhaps in one of the large box elder trees shading the patio. The two babies were nestled together just as if they were in a nest. The next day they were gone. Mom and dad must have encouraged them to fly away as I heard them around cooing.
Before Brian left I had to get some work out of him.
Herding a stray steer a time or two doesn't count. I got Brian to help me get the chain link and wire fencing and the harrow that my neighbors gave me. It is far easier for two people to lift and carry these items than for one person.
Poor Brian, the mosquitos were out in force and whenever he had a hand free he was swatting at them. Unlike me his body reacts to their bites.
Saturday Brian left on his long drive back to Minnesota. Over 1300 miles. I got up at 5:30 am to see him off. Like I said earlier, I will get up early for special occasions.
Brian left 6:45 am and I went back to sleep for a few more hours. I did more puttering around that day as I was having trouble re-establishing my old routine. I may spend time pulling weeds, that doesn't mean I look forward to doing so. Also, it felt odd not to have someone else around the place.
At 6 pm we had a big storm. We had strong winds which meant any goat's beard weeds that were open to seed - the seeds were now dispersed. Even the tall grass wouldn't protect the seeds from this wind. Then we had a couple occurrences of small hail. Thankfully small enough and brief enough to not damage my garden. Just when I thought the storm would be all bluster the rain came in ernest.
We had a break in the rain for a few hours before it rained again before midnight. The second occurrence of rain came without the bluster of wind and hail.
All total we got about a half inch of rain. A good amount by Montana standards. We need the rain as it had been hot and dry the prior week. The soil where I am is sandy loam which means it doesn't have any clay to hold the moisture. A day or two of hot weather and it is very dry, no matter how much it rained earlier. July and August are our dry months and the later it rains the longer the grass will stay green and not turn brown.
The electric company guys who are checking the power poles came back to let me know they would checking the ones along my southern property boundary. He kept his word that he would check in with me before they wandered through the hayfield and pasture.
Me? I didn't do much that day. Checked the gopher and pocket gopher traps and puttered around the place.
Brian returned after 5 pm so he had a long day at Glacier Park and the Hungry Horse Dam.
When we were outside in the evening we found two baby morning doves nestled together in the taller grass by my patio. I am not sure where their nest was, perhaps in one of the large box elder trees shading the patio. The two babies were nestled together just as if they were in a nest. The next day they were gone. Mom and dad must have encouraged them to fly away as I heard them around cooing.
Before Brian left I had to get some work out of him.
Herding a stray steer a time or two doesn't count. I got Brian to help me get the chain link and wire fencing and the harrow that my neighbors gave me. It is far easier for two people to lift and carry these items than for one person.Poor Brian, the mosquitos were out in force and whenever he had a hand free he was swatting at them. Unlike me his body reacts to their bites.
Saturday Brian left on his long drive back to Minnesota. Over 1300 miles. I got up at 5:30 am to see him off. Like I said earlier, I will get up early for special occasions.
Brian left 6:45 am and I went back to sleep for a few more hours. I did more puttering around that day as I was having trouble re-establishing my old routine. I may spend time pulling weeds, that doesn't mean I look forward to doing so. Also, it felt odd not to have someone else around the place.
At 6 pm we had a big storm. We had strong winds which meant any goat's beard weeds that were open to seed - the seeds were now dispersed. Even the tall grass wouldn't protect the seeds from this wind. Then we had a couple occurrences of small hail. Thankfully small enough and brief enough to not damage my garden. Just when I thought the storm would be all bluster the rain came in ernest.
We had a break in the rain for a few hours before it rained again before midnight. The second occurrence of rain came without the bluster of wind and hail.
All total we got about a half inch of rain. A good amount by Montana standards. We need the rain as it had been hot and dry the prior week. The soil where I am is sandy loam which means it doesn't have any clay to hold the moisture. A day or two of hot weather and it is very dry, no matter how much it rained earlier. July and August are our dry months and the later it rains the longer the grass will stay green and not turn brown.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Losing weight
Dan returned from his vacation and I spoke with him early Wednesday morning about one of his heifers; a Hereford cross. The previous weekend I had noticed she was thinner as she had lost weight, especially around the hips. All of the other cattle looked good and had gained weight.
While Brian and I were at Waterton Provincial Park Dan came over to look at his cattle. Yup, he agreed she had lost weight. Her eyes were clear; she kept up with the other cattle; no runny nose or diarrhea. No idea as to why the weight loss. Maybe she had eaten something that disagreed with her. So he said to keep an eye on her and see if she improves.
As the middle pasture was almost eaten down I told Dan, after he looked the cattle over, he could let them into the south pasture and its taller grass. Being in the south pasture should stop the Holstein from slipping through the fence.
Thursday morning while Brian was running some errands I moved the salt blocks to the south pasture now that the middle pasture was closed to the cattle. The cattle gathered all around me and the salt blocks after I placed them in their container.
I had brought a few loaves of old bread and several of my cattle would eat it from my hand. In my back pocket I had a plastic bag for later gathering goat's beard seeds. The bag hung out of my pocket and the next I knew another one of the cattle grabbed it and pulled it out of my pocket.
"No! No! No! That's not for eating!"
I grabbed the bag and after a half hearted attempt at a tug-of-war it let go. This time I tucked the bag completely in my pocket.
About this time Brian returned and came out to the pasture. I put him to work helping me carry the last three salt blocks along with their wooden stand from the middle to the south pasture and under a large tree.
The cattle are all set: tall grass, water, and salt.
Yesterday/Sunday the cattle lined up along the fence as I searched the hayfield for goat's beard weeds. Several of them decided the "grass is greener" and stuck their heads through the barb wire fence and into the hayfield. Number 50 (mine) really stretched the wire as the barbs didn't bother her at all. Before she could break the wire I "shoosh'd" her back. Unfortunately she moved back quickly and her ears held the wire and it broke. *sigh*
When I returned to weed searching she walked to the fence to put her head through once again. *grr!* Once again I "shoosh'd" her back. Then I went back home to get wire and pliers for a repair before she could figure out how to slip through the fence.
When I returned to repair the fence I found the herd had moved on. Guess they lost interest once I was gone. Fence is fixed now.
Oh yeah, Dan's Hereford cross appeared to have gained back some of her weight. That's good.
Me? With all my walking and weed pulling I lost a few pounds myself.
While Brian and I were at Waterton Provincial Park Dan came over to look at his cattle. Yup, he agreed she had lost weight. Her eyes were clear; she kept up with the other cattle; no runny nose or diarrhea. No idea as to why the weight loss. Maybe she had eaten something that disagreed with her. So he said to keep an eye on her and see if she improves.
As the middle pasture was almost eaten down I told Dan, after he looked the cattle over, he could let them into the south pasture and its taller grass. Being in the south pasture should stop the Holstein from slipping through the fence.
Thursday morning while Brian was running some errands I moved the salt blocks to the south pasture now that the middle pasture was closed to the cattle. The cattle gathered all around me and the salt blocks after I placed them in their container.
I had brought a few loaves of old bread and several of my cattle would eat it from my hand. In my back pocket I had a plastic bag for later gathering goat's beard seeds. The bag hung out of my pocket and the next I knew another one of the cattle grabbed it and pulled it out of my pocket.
"No! No! No! That's not for eating!"
I grabbed the bag and after a half hearted attempt at a tug-of-war it let go. This time I tucked the bag completely in my pocket.
About this time Brian returned and came out to the pasture. I put him to work helping me carry the last three salt blocks along with their wooden stand from the middle to the south pasture and under a large tree.
The cattle are all set: tall grass, water, and salt.
Yesterday/Sunday the cattle lined up along the fence as I searched the hayfield for goat's beard weeds. Several of them decided the "grass is greener" and stuck their heads through the barb wire fence and into the hayfield. Number 50 (mine) really stretched the wire as the barbs didn't bother her at all. Before she could break the wire I "shoosh'd" her back. Unfortunately she moved back quickly and her ears held the wire and it broke. *sigh*
When I returned to weed searching she walked to the fence to put her head through once again. *grr!* Once again I "shoosh'd" her back. Then I went back home to get wire and pliers for a repair before she could figure out how to slip through the fence.
When I returned to repair the fence I found the herd had moved on. Guess they lost interest once I was gone. Fence is fixed now.
Oh yeah, Dan's Hereford cross appeared to have gained back some of her weight. That's good.
Me? With all my walking and weed pulling I lost a few pounds myself.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Chainsaw work
I was up early this morning. Brian took his car in to have the oil changed and for the mechanic to check out a few noises the car was making.
Before I will let the cattle into the south pasture I wanted to cut up the fallen tree that is sitting off the ground on its branches. It sat from ground level at the top of the tree to six feet or more at the bottom of the tree. Because the cattle like to stand under the tree and scratch against the supporting branches I felt this year - as it has been several years since the tree blew over - I had to cut the tree up so it wouldn't fall on any cattle.
I had to make another batch of 'chainsaw gasoline' (add special oil to gasoline). I had to go to a gas station to get a gallon of gas.
I would cut a few supporting branches, then a section of tree. And so on. All while paying attention that the tree wouldn't suddenly fall over on me.
I thought one tank of gas would be sufficient to cut the tree. I was wrong. I ran out of gas before making the final two cuts. *argh* I had to walk back to the house to get more gasoline.
Brian was back from getting the car's oil changed. The strange car sound was probably a loose heat shield. Difficult to reach to tighten. Labor would be expensive so Brian is thinking it over.
After cutting up the final sections of tree I, and Brian, picked the goat's beard that had gone to seed in the NE part of the south pasture.
Then I had my second shower of the morning - I should have waited till after cutting the tree as I was now covered in sawdust and sweat.
After my shower I noticed the Holstein steer was again in the south pasture while the herd took a siesta along the south/middle pasture fence. How does he get through the fence?!!! Brian held the gate and kept the herd from going through it as I easily herded the Holstein through the gate.
Then we were off to visit Glacier National Park - which I'll write about another day as it is late and we have another full day of adventure in the Park planned for tomorrow.
Before I will let the cattle into the south pasture I wanted to cut up the fallen tree that is sitting off the ground on its branches. It sat from ground level at the top of the tree to six feet or more at the bottom of the tree. Because the cattle like to stand under the tree and scratch against the supporting branches I felt this year - as it has been several years since the tree blew over - I had to cut the tree up so it wouldn't fall on any cattle.
I had to make another batch of 'chainsaw gasoline' (add special oil to gasoline). I had to go to a gas station to get a gallon of gas.
I would cut a few supporting branches, then a section of tree. And so on. All while paying attention that the tree wouldn't suddenly fall over on me.
I thought one tank of gas would be sufficient to cut the tree. I was wrong. I ran out of gas before making the final two cuts. *argh* I had to walk back to the house to get more gasoline.
Brian was back from getting the car's oil changed. The strange car sound was probably a loose heat shield. Difficult to reach to tighten. Labor would be expensive so Brian is thinking it over.
After cutting up the final sections of tree I, and Brian, picked the goat's beard that had gone to seed in the NE part of the south pasture.
Then I had my second shower of the morning - I should have waited till after cutting the tree as I was now covered in sawdust and sweat.
After my shower I noticed the Holstein steer was again in the south pasture while the herd took a siesta along the south/middle pasture fence. How does he get through the fence?!!! Brian held the gate and kept the herd from going through it as I easily herded the Holstein through the gate.
Then we were off to visit Glacier National Park - which I'll write about another day as it is late and we have another full day of adventure in the Park planned for tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Weeds and Brian's arrival
Weeds
I was out again early (for me that is!) to pull goat's beard weeds while the flowers were still open. I went over most of my previously covered hayfield before I got distracted by seeing open seed pods in the south pasture. Granted it has been a few days since I pulled all the weeds I could find there, but scattered around the field there were two to three dozen open seed pods. I had hoped my earlier weed pulling would delay the new plants from growing and going to seed so soon.
I carefully bent each seed pod so it was leaning into my plastic bag before I pulled the pod off the plant. That jarring movement often causes the pod to break apart and the seeds to scatter.
I didn't finish with the south pasture as I seen that Brian had arrived.
Brian
Brian had arrived before 2 pm. Fortunately he wasn't here long before I noticed him. I put him right to work as when I returned towards the house I seen the one Holstein steer was again in the south pasture. I had Brian hold the gate open and keep the herd from passing through it while I herded the Holstein back in the middle pasture. I am not quite ready for the herd to rotate to the south pasture. Any day now.
We walked the fence line and I could not find a break in the fence, nor get an idea how this Holstein gets through the fence. He has some trick only known to him as no other cattle follow him.
After getting situated I took Brian to Lone Pine State park to get an overview of the valley. Seeing as it was a warm day, the view was hazy. I discovered the park's huge old dead tree was gone. Not sure why. It must have fallen over and was removed.
We drove a short ways along the west side of Flathead Lake. We drove through the townsite of Somers, MT. I don't ever remember visiting the area, unless maybe several decades ago on one of my bicycle rides around the valley. It was larger than I expected. The narrow streets among the houses looked to be old walking paths as they were not straight, nor on a grid pattern.
People were out on the lake on this warm-to-hot day. The water felt nice to soak one's feet in. A few women jumped in to swim. The water was cold for swimming.
Down the highway we visited the West Shore state park before returning home. Only a few people were at this state park so it was very quiet and peaceful.
I was out again early (for me that is!) to pull goat's beard weeds while the flowers were still open. I went over most of my previously covered hayfield before I got distracted by seeing open seed pods in the south pasture. Granted it has been a few days since I pulled all the weeds I could find there, but scattered around the field there were two to three dozen open seed pods. I had hoped my earlier weed pulling would delay the new plants from growing and going to seed so soon.
I carefully bent each seed pod so it was leaning into my plastic bag before I pulled the pod off the plant. That jarring movement often causes the pod to break apart and the seeds to scatter.
I didn't finish with the south pasture as I seen that Brian had arrived.
Brian
Brian had arrived before 2 pm. Fortunately he wasn't here long before I noticed him. I put him right to work as when I returned towards the house I seen the one Holstein steer was again in the south pasture. I had Brian hold the gate open and keep the herd from passing through it while I herded the Holstein back in the middle pasture. I am not quite ready for the herd to rotate to the south pasture. Any day now.
We walked the fence line and I could not find a break in the fence, nor get an idea how this Holstein gets through the fence. He has some trick only known to him as no other cattle follow him.
After getting situated I took Brian to Lone Pine State park to get an overview of the valley. Seeing as it was a warm day, the view was hazy. I discovered the park's huge old dead tree was gone. Not sure why. It must have fallen over and was removed.
We drove a short ways along the west side of Flathead Lake. We drove through the townsite of Somers, MT. I don't ever remember visiting the area, unless maybe several decades ago on one of my bicycle rides around the valley. It was larger than I expected. The narrow streets among the houses looked to be old walking paths as they were not straight, nor on a grid pattern.
People were out on the lake on this warm-to-hot day. The water felt nice to soak one's feet in. A few women jumped in to swim. The water was cold for swimming.
Down the highway we visited the West Shore state park before returning home. Only a few people were at this state park so it was very quiet and peaceful.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Weeds, mosquitos, gophers, Brian
Weeds
Yup, still pulling weeds. Filled two more plastic grocery bags with the seed pods. I may only have one full days work of pulling before I have completed one pass of the hayfield. As I only get about 80-90%, that leaves more passes to find the rest of the goat's beard.
I was up earlier than usual and the yellow flowers were open when I started my weed work. For the first time this year I pulled goat's beard from the NE pasture. The grass has recovered from the cattle and is growing again, along with the weeds.
Mosquitos
Man, they are bad this year! When pulling weeds in the evening I have to wear a long sleeve flannel (thick) shirt, cap, gloves, and mosquito repellent on my exposed face, neck,and ears. Even then many mosquitos try to find some place: inside my ears, by my eyes, or a sometimes gap between my shirt and glove.
I have mosquitos even during mid day. It is sunny and in the low 80s F but they still want my blood. I seem to scare them up in certain areas. That is, lower areas with lots of alfalfa for the mosquitos to hide under in shade during the day.
Gophers
It has switched. Now I am catching pocket gophers and the regular gophers are avoiding the holes with the traps. Tonight I seen a gopher at the very first "subdivision" I had cleared gophers from. *sigh*
One of my pocket gopher traps broke. The plastic inside barrier/trip goes through the top of the trap and has two little plastic prongs to hold it in place while allowing the barrier/trip to swivel. The two little prongs broke off. This has happened once before. When I had called the company to get a replacement part, they told me they stopped selling this model and were redesigning it for this very reason. I was able to bend a small wire to hold the barrier/trip and continue to use that trap. I'll have to do the same with this trap.
Brian
Brian didn't make it here today. He decided, since he is on vacation, to take a side trip and drive on the Beartooth Highway. Last year mud and rock slides damaged that highway and it had to be rebuilt, closing the highway for the summer.
The Beartooth Highway was a little out of Brian's way. He called from Helena at 8 pm wondering whether to make the drive to my place tonight. Only if you like driving at night as you won't get here till midnight or later. I stay up late so it is no inconvenience to me. It doesn't get dark till after 10 pm, but he'd still would miss seeing a lot of the scenery along the way. He decided to stay overnight in Helena. He'll be here tomorrow.
Yup, still pulling weeds. Filled two more plastic grocery bags with the seed pods. I may only have one full days work of pulling before I have completed one pass of the hayfield. As I only get about 80-90%, that leaves more passes to find the rest of the goat's beard.
I was up earlier than usual and the yellow flowers were open when I started my weed work. For the first time this year I pulled goat's beard from the NE pasture. The grass has recovered from the cattle and is growing again, along with the weeds.
Mosquitos
Man, they are bad this year! When pulling weeds in the evening I have to wear a long sleeve flannel (thick) shirt, cap, gloves, and mosquito repellent on my exposed face, neck,and ears. Even then many mosquitos try to find some place: inside my ears, by my eyes, or a sometimes gap between my shirt and glove.
I have mosquitos even during mid day. It is sunny and in the low 80s F but they still want my blood. I seem to scare them up in certain areas. That is, lower areas with lots of alfalfa for the mosquitos to hide under in shade during the day.
Gophers
It has switched. Now I am catching pocket gophers and the regular gophers are avoiding the holes with the traps. Tonight I seen a gopher at the very first "subdivision" I had cleared gophers from. *sigh*
One of my pocket gopher traps broke. The plastic inside barrier/trip goes through the top of the trap and has two little plastic prongs to hold it in place while allowing the barrier/trip to swivel. The two little prongs broke off. This has happened once before. When I had called the company to get a replacement part, they told me they stopped selling this model and were redesigning it for this very reason. I was able to bend a small wire to hold the barrier/trip and continue to use that trap. I'll have to do the same with this trap.
Brian
Brian didn't make it here today. He decided, since he is on vacation, to take a side trip and drive on the Beartooth Highway. Last year mud and rock slides damaged that highway and it had to be rebuilt, closing the highway for the summer.
The Beartooth Highway was a little out of Brian's way. He called from Helena at 8 pm wondering whether to make the drive to my place tonight. Only if you like driving at night as you won't get here till midnight or later. I stay up late so it is no inconvenience to me. It doesn't get dark till after 10 pm, but he'd still would miss seeing a lot of the scenery along the way. He decided to stay overnight in Helena. He'll be here tomorrow.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Gonna have a vacation
This morning Brian from Rochester called. He is finally coming to visit. He starts a new permanent job the first week of July and has time now to go on a vacation.
I've told friends I don't need much advance notice, just a day or so. Which is what I am getting. Brian plans to arrive Sunday afternoon. Hmmm... where are my cleaning supplies? I need to make the place livable.
Brian's timing is good as Glacier Nat'l Park's Going-to-the-Sun road opened Friday afternoon.
Where does my vacation fit into all this? The only time I take time off away from the ranch to see the park and the area is when I have company.
Jail break
Hmmm... is this a broken record? Today after mending the fence where the magpie (Holstein) broke it yesterday, I noticed that magpie in the south pasture again!! He saw me by the fence, and since the rest of the herd was along the north fence he wanted back into the middle pasture. I opened the gate and he started to come but then got distracted by eating some grass. *sigh* I had to herd him a bit. This time he knew where the open gate was and went through to rejoin the herd.
I checked the fence and couldn't find any breaks. I did notice the top wires on the gate were sagging a bit. I wonder if he jumped the gate? I tightened up the gate closure to make the top wires sit higher.
When walking along the north/middle pasture fence I found a broken fence wire by the apple tree. None of the cattle went through the fence. I guess they have "been there, done that".
What will tomorrow bring?
Gophers
Only caught one pocket gopher the past few days. What's up with that? They are around. I usually catch one, or have him fill the trap with dirt, within 24 hours. A few days ago, not having caught a gopher, I figured the tunnel had been abandoned. I put the dirt back in the hole and moved the trap. A day after that I saw fresh dirt mounds where I filled the dirt. 24 hours later I trapped the pocket gopher.
I'll give the remaining traps another 24 hours.
Even though I have painted the marking sticks with orange fluorescent paint I still have trouble finding the sticks in the tall grass. Today I had to stand on top of my fence to search for one trap. I have started placing empty milk jugs on top of the sticks (3 so far). That really helps.
Another subdivision has been re-occupied. *sigh* I put a conibear trap over the top of the hole. When I checked an hour later the trap had been pushed to the side of the hole. *argh!* That's a first. These gophers are getting smarter.
Neighbor moving
The couple renting the house to my south have bought a house and are moving in July. It is too bad as they are nice neighbors. They gave me odds and ends of chain link fencing and a roll of wire fencing (not field fence). Also I get their old harrow. The property they bought is a half acre and the harrow is no use to them. Even here I used their harrow more than they did.
Weeds
What's my day without weeds? I pulled weeds for only a little over a half day as I had ridden my bicycle to the main post office to mail my shipping labels back to the nursery for my 1 year guarantee. Even working less than a full day I filled one and a half plastic grocery bags with seed pods.
The deer think they are helping me, but they are not. The deer are eating the younger stalks on the plants with multiple stalks. The oldest, central, stalk's seed pod is all seed and no flower, and therefore of no interest to the deer. With only the oldest seed pod left, the plant must think it is under attack and then opens the seed pod to scatter its seeds. Sometimes all it takes is to step on a plant and the next afternoon the pod opens to disperse its seeds even if it not quite time to do so. Other than a few early openers (always someone who wants to be first), most of the open seeds today were on partially eaten plants. The rest are waiting for whatever is the main trigger before opening.
Today's picking followed where the open seed pods were located. In between I picked large pods that look ready to open any time now. There are many of these. I am starting to feel this year I won't be able to pick all the goat's beard pods before they open. Especially with Brian coming to visit. Remember I said I needed three more days to finish my first pass at clearing the field? Yup, after today's work I still need three more days.
On the brighter side, the plants for the most part misjudged how high they need to grow to be above the grass. Once they open their flower they do not grow higher. New stalks can, and usually do, grow higher before flowering. Many of my plants are not taller than the surrounding grass. Even though this afternoon was breezy, most of the open seed balls were intact when I got to them. Maybe this will keep much of my eastern neighbor's seeds over in his field. I sure hope so!
I've told friends I don't need much advance notice, just a day or so. Which is what I am getting. Brian plans to arrive Sunday afternoon. Hmmm... where are my cleaning supplies? I need to make the place livable.
Brian's timing is good as Glacier Nat'l Park's Going-to-the-Sun road opened Friday afternoon.
Where does my vacation fit into all this? The only time I take time off away from the ranch to see the park and the area is when I have company.
Jail break
Hmmm... is this a broken record? Today after mending the fence where the magpie (Holstein) broke it yesterday, I noticed that magpie in the south pasture again!! He saw me by the fence, and since the rest of the herd was along the north fence he wanted back into the middle pasture. I opened the gate and he started to come but then got distracted by eating some grass. *sigh* I had to herd him a bit. This time he knew where the open gate was and went through to rejoin the herd.
I checked the fence and couldn't find any breaks. I did notice the top wires on the gate were sagging a bit. I wonder if he jumped the gate? I tightened up the gate closure to make the top wires sit higher.
When walking along the north/middle pasture fence I found a broken fence wire by the apple tree. None of the cattle went through the fence. I guess they have "been there, done that".
What will tomorrow bring?
Gophers
Only caught one pocket gopher the past few days. What's up with that? They are around. I usually catch one, or have him fill the trap with dirt, within 24 hours. A few days ago, not having caught a gopher, I figured the tunnel had been abandoned. I put the dirt back in the hole and moved the trap. A day after that I saw fresh dirt mounds where I filled the dirt. 24 hours later I trapped the pocket gopher.
I'll give the remaining traps another 24 hours.
Even though I have painted the marking sticks with orange fluorescent paint I still have trouble finding the sticks in the tall grass. Today I had to stand on top of my fence to search for one trap. I have started placing empty milk jugs on top of the sticks (3 so far). That really helps.
Another subdivision has been re-occupied. *sigh* I put a conibear trap over the top of the hole. When I checked an hour later the trap had been pushed to the side of the hole. *argh!* That's a first. These gophers are getting smarter.
Neighbor moving
The couple renting the house to my south have bought a house and are moving in July. It is too bad as they are nice neighbors. They gave me odds and ends of chain link fencing and a roll of wire fencing (not field fence). Also I get their old harrow. The property they bought is a half acre and the harrow is no use to them. Even here I used their harrow more than they did.
Weeds
What's my day without weeds? I pulled weeds for only a little over a half day as I had ridden my bicycle to the main post office to mail my shipping labels back to the nursery for my 1 year guarantee. Even working less than a full day I filled one and a half plastic grocery bags with seed pods.
The deer think they are helping me, but they are not. The deer are eating the younger stalks on the plants with multiple stalks. The oldest, central, stalk's seed pod is all seed and no flower, and therefore of no interest to the deer. With only the oldest seed pod left, the plant must think it is under attack and then opens the seed pod to scatter its seeds. Sometimes all it takes is to step on a plant and the next afternoon the pod opens to disperse its seeds even if it not quite time to do so. Other than a few early openers (always someone who wants to be first), most of the open seeds today were on partially eaten plants. The rest are waiting for whatever is the main trigger before opening.
Today's picking followed where the open seed pods were located. In between I picked large pods that look ready to open any time now. There are many of these. I am starting to feel this year I won't be able to pick all the goat's beard pods before they open. Especially with Brian coming to visit. Remember I said I needed three more days to finish my first pass at clearing the field? Yup, after today's work I still need three more days.
On the brighter side, the plants for the most part misjudged how high they need to grow to be above the grass. Once they open their flower they do not grow higher. New stalks can, and usually do, grow higher before flowering. Many of my plants are not taller than the surrounding grass. Even though this afternoon was breezy, most of the open seed balls were intact when I got to them. Maybe this will keep much of my eastern neighbor's seeds over in his field. I sure hope so!
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