Venus and Jupiter tonight

Venus and Jupiter are farther apart each night. Here is tonight's view. I only took a couple photos tonight due to the cold. It is below zero F. And with a slight breeze it felt even colder. I saw the view out my window and had to take a photo even though I was only wearing slippers on my feet. At least I had the sense to put my coat on before going outside to take the photo. I had my wood stove to warm up my feet when I got back inside.

One thousand

This is my 1,000th post to my blog. And in a little under 3 years. I have been a prolific blogger haven't I?

The reason for the ranch's name

Here is a photo of the ranch's front entrance. Now you can see why the ranch is called Tall Pines Ranch.

The calm before the storm

Clouds came in overnight but not the forecast rain. It was merely an overcast day Friday. With the clouds the temperature struggled from the mid teens to reach the upper 20s, short of the promised 35 F. Thick white frost coated everything but there was no wind.

The forecast this morning still was for Winter to arrive this weekend with a vengeance. If you noticed in my earlier leaves/raked leaves photos I have a pile of small branches in part of my patio. (The pile is smaller now than when I took the photo).

I spent time today putting the rest of the sticks and branches into bags, boxes and other containers. That way I don't have to brush the snow off the material before using it as kindling in my wood stove.

I also took time to cut up for firewood the rotted boards I had removed from the barn floor this summer. I also sawed a thick log into two pieces to be split next year.

I brought a number of split logs and stacked them on my porch for easy access the next day or so.

Afterward I checked my five remaining pocket gopher traps and found I had caught two more gophers. I saw signs of dirt in the remaining three traps and after clearing them of dirt I left the traps in the hayfield. The ground is even harder than yesterday so I brought the other two traps back with me.

I took two five-gallon plastic pails and picked up pine cones from under the trees in the NE part of the NE pasture. I could have easily filled more pails but this was enough fun for today. The pine cones will go into my wood stove.

At 4 pm it began to snow lightly. The forecasters may have gotten the rain part of the forecast wrong but the snow part was correct. The wind is forecast to blow starting around 11 pm and unfortunately they were right about that also. We now have a blizzard warning and no travel advised for Saturday.

THE BLIZZARD WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST SATURDAY.

BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH VISIBILITIES LOWERING TO 1/4 MILE ARE EXPECTED MAINLY NORTH OF FLATHEAD LAKE AND ALONG HIGHWAY 2 THROUGH BAD ROCK CANYON LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BE MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT. IN ADDITION TO ACCUMULATING SNOW...COLD AIR WILL SURGE ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE CREATING NORTHEAST WINDS AT 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE.

STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN 15 AND 20 INCHES IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS WHILE VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL RECEIVE 6 TO 8 INCHES THROUGH SUNDAY.

Since it appears I won't be riding my bicycle for quite a few days due to the weather (the overnight low is forecast Monday night as -24 F) I went for a 9 mile ride today after 4 pm. The snow was falling lightly and was hard enough to occasionally sting my eyes as I rode. With no wind the snow lay as it fell. The passage of vehicles acted as a broom upon the road.

It was dusk when I returned so I spent a little time splitting more logs. Even after dark the white of the snow illuminated things so I continued to split more logs. The snow coated everything reducing the colors. In the night the main colors were the black sky, white snow and dark shapes of the trees and buildings. Beautiful in its own way.

I quit splitting logs when I could no longer reach the top of the pile to stack firewood. Then it was time to go inside to light a fire in my wood stove and warm up the house. Even though it was only 49 F in the house, all the insulating I had done a few years ago paid off as it didn't take too long to warm the house up into the 60s F. It is 71 F inside now but hearing the wind outside makes me feel colder.

Beautiful day

What a gorgeous day! It was severely clear all day and the sun shone bright and warm. Even with a cool start to the morning with frost whitening the grass the sun warmed everything it touched. The temperature even made it up to 38 F at my place. And no wind at all today. Just a fantastic day. I may have enjoyed the day even more than usual as it may be the last of this type of day for quite a while as the weather forecast portends a change to the arrival of Winter (with a capital W). The odd thing is that, even with the day being near perfect, at the end of the day I wished I had someone to share it with. I don't know what brought this on as it is not common for me to think as such.

I rode my bicycle uptown to run a few errands and I took the long way home. I rode 20 miles today and now my yearly total exceeds 1000 miles. *whew* Even though this will go down as one of my lower mileage years, riding less than 1000 miles in a year is embarrassing.

The fresh snow on the mountains shone bright and they were beautiful from all angles. While I could have taken more photos if I had my camera during my bicycle ride, I did take one photo from home.


I still am able to break through the several or more frozen inches of ground in my search for pocket gopher tunnels. Yes, I am still trapping them. I got two more today. One was a pain to get out of the trap as it and some dirt had frozen to the top of the trap. I brought the two traps in for the winter as it is getting difficult to dig for more tunnels. And if the weather forecast is correct in a few days the frozen ground will extend more than a few inches deep. I left the other traps for another day as they showed signs of gopher activity as they had filled the traps with dirt. Oh yeah, I am up to 132 pocket gophers trapped so far this year.

I worked more on my loading corral fence and I think I've done all I can until next Spring when the ground thaws. I had finished the gate a few days ago and will post the photos of that soon. Today I added a few boards to the tie and corral panels tying them together more and making them more solid. The panels now appear to be on the ties solidly. I don't want a 800, 900 lb steer crashing into a panel and the panel popping off the tie.

Ok, so my little boards additions may not look like much but you can at least see how the panels are attached to the railroad ties. By the way, the panel wood is very hard. I don't know what kind of wood it is but I have bent many a good nail trying to drive it through the wood. I had some long screws and found that I had to drill most of the hole in order to get the screws through the wood. I even broke a small drill bit in the wood.

The past few days I have noticed quite a few small pine cones falling from a tree near the corral. They were dropping like leaves. Quite noisy and quite noticeable. Many, many at a time and there was absolutely no wind at the time. What in the world?! I looked and found a flock of small birds in the tree. I am not sure what they are getting from the pine cones but it must be something to go through all that work. And here all these years I thought it was the wind that brought those pine down down from the trees.

Then as the moon began to rise I split a few more logs for firewood. I already have enough wood split to last me the winter but I enjoy splitting logs and it reduces my pile of logs to be split. I need to make room for next year when I retrieve the trees in the pasture that have fallen.

The weather forecast doesn't look good - it looks like Winter will be arriving this weekend. The high temperature early next week is not suppose to get above 0 F and the overnight lows will be in the teens below zero F. Brrr! And maybe 7 inches of snow in the Valley. The ski resorts will be happy about this as one is not open and the Big Mountain resort only has a couple runs open on the backside of the mountain. Sue Ann called tonight and mentioned that she has been cross-country skiing all week as there is plenty of snow at her end of the valley. Anyway, I hope the weather forecasters are wrong again and that the cold temperatures don't make it over the mountains and they miss us.

Full Moon and stars

The clouds left last night. I was out last night and the mountain range with its fresh snow shone brightly in the moon light. With no clouds the air cooled quickly and the frost on the grass sparkled in the moonlight.

Tonight as I was splitting more logs for firewood I stopped and took a few photos of the moon rise. While I like that my camera is very light sensitive to allow photos in low light situations, I need to figure out how to adjust it as you can see the bright moon is a blur.

I also took a photo of Venus and Jupiter. I wasn't able to remain completely still as the stars look like like two little rectangles - but you get the idea.

The rich

Another article I read.... (I'm in that kind of mood tonight )

How to know if you're rich -- in your city

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/how-to-know-if-youre-rich-in-your-city.aspx?GT1=33009

Now the article crunched the numbers on the top 5% and top 20% of households as being rich. That makes sense as the top 20% could be considered rich, the middle class as the 21% through 80%, and the poor are the bottom 20%. Of course if it were me I would put the numbers as the top 25% being rich, the middle class at 26% to 75%, and the poor as the bottom 25%. That would make a nicer bell curve.

According to this article (and the Census Bureau) the average U.S. household income of the top 20% of the population is $173,953. For the top 5% it is $311,427.

If you are a couple with no kids, the top 20% = $136,971. For the top 5% = $245,218

Now Obama during the campaign wanted to target his tax cuts at people making $200,000 or less and his tax increases at those pulling in $250,000 or more. After being elected I believe he has dropped his plan on increasing taxes on who he considers rich.

Still with all the money the politicians are giving out in bailouts, the money needs to come from somewhere - and not just China. Of course raising the taxes on just the top 5% won't be enough to support the remaining 95%. Even 20% of the people supporting the remaining 80% is tough, but it is a start. Obama needs to raise the taxes on households making $175,000 and more, or more likely on those households with no kids making $137,000 or more. Those are the rich people.

Write your politician today. Oh wait... each member of the U.S. House and Senate makes $169,300. Yes, that's right. Each individual member makes almost as much as the top 5% of U.S. households. (http://www.govspot.com/know/congresssalary.htm) No wonder Obama chose $250,000 as the starting point to raise taxes and $200,000 as the point on which to cut taxes.

Musical taste interpretation

Today I read an article from the Sept/Oct 2008 issue of Psychology Today magazine, about what a person's taste in books, movies, music, and art says about them. Here the link to the article, and below is a quick summation on musical tastes.

I like several of the musical styles below, and some musical styles not listed (i.e. Blues, Folk, and Bluegrass). So I don't know what that says about me. Of the styles listed below - if I had to pick one - I would say Country music, even though I have a weakness for electronic/dance music.

Interpreter of Melodies

Decoding taste isn't exact—and exposure and geography matter too. Here's what the research says about how to judge someone based on their musical choices. Keep in mind not everyone fits the mold.

If you love…

• Rock music: You're a social person, but easily stressed out or depressed.
• Country music: You're athletic, reliable, and focused. You're a friendly, cheerful person and don't get stressed out or depressed very often. You're voting McCain.
• Pop music: You are friendly and social, but not verbally gifted.
• Rap, funk, or electronic/dance music: You're an energetic and social Obama supporter.
• Hip-hop or soul music: You're upbeat and conventional.
• Classical music: You are reflective and complex. People describe you as quiet and thoughtful, and you have a gift for language.
• Jazz music: You're outgoing, social, and verbally gifted.

Sunday evening sunset

Here are three slightly different photos I took of Sunday night's sunset.

The weather forecast calls for several inches of snow overnight but I doubt it will snow. Of course I am risking getting teased by my uncles who'll never let me live down my inaccurate forecast of no rain when they visited me a couple years ago.

Trying to slip into Winter

Winter is trying to make an appearance. While there isn't quite enough snow to open the ski resorts, the mountains seem to have a bit more snow each time I can see them.

Last night we had some freezing rain which quickly turned into a crusty crunchy snow that was unsweepable by broom. Even through the temperature got a few degrees above freezing by afternoon it wasn't enough to melt the snow. The road by the ranch turned slushy. I am not sure if it was because, even though it was cloudy/foggy all day with intermittent 'some sort of' precipitation, the pavement's new black surface attracted enough heat to partially melt the snow, Or maybe the County came by and spayed some sort of deicer on the road.

As a consequence I didn't do anything outside today unlike the previous days where I found something to do outside in the afternoons.

The weather forecast has rain/snow showers all next week with several inches of snow in the Valley floor Sunday night. Highs are predicted to be in the mid to upper 30s and overnight lows in the mid to upper 20s. It seems as if the weather will be in a kind of a limbo next week. Neither Winter nor Fall. I guess I should take this time to get caught up on stuff inside the house.

Barn floor done

I haven't just been standing around watching the sunsets... I finished rebuilding the part of my barn floor that had rotted away.

If you remember from mid-July I had removed the rotting boards. Then I had gotten sidetracked with cattle and the start of my loading corral rebuild, etc. Well... now that there is snow on the ground, and ground is freezing up, I returned to finish the barn floor.

A few weeks ago I had built the framework and added the rocks. Later I cut and put down the boards for the first level of the floor. Then on Wednesday I added the second level of the floor and finished it. I was only able to use two of the old boards. The rest are "new" from my scavenge pile - the better to fit in with the old boards.

It is nice to have another project done.

It doesn't take mice long

Below is a photo showing the tunnel a mouse dug in a matter of a couple days.

Earlier when getting some railroad ties from my stack I moved one tie and set it on the ground. A few days later when I went to re-stack the tie I found the new tunnel. When I returned from getting my camera I saw a quick glimpse of the mouse as it hurried back under the ties on the top of the photo.

I don't know where the mouse moved the dirt to make the tunnel.

I guess it is better than the mouse moving into my house. Knock on wood - so far this year I have not had any mice move into my house this Fall.

Another beautiful December sunset

Here is a sequence of photos of Thursday evening's sunset. I am happy to be living in Montana as I never saw sunsets like these when I lived in Minnesota.

Even though it was fairly chilly outside with a temperature in the low 20s F, I stayed and watched the whole sunset.

Here the sunset is reflected in the upper barn window on the right side of the photo. (you may have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see it better)

Start of loading ramp rebuild

Now that I finished the fence on the south side of the loading corral I started on the north side of the loading ramp part of the corral. The south side had used 8 of my 10 wooden 8 foot corral panels. I used the last two panels on the north side of the loading ramp part of the corral starting at the head gate.

While the north side of the loading ramp still had posts in solid condition I decided to rebuild this side because:

• it probably won't be but a few years before the posts deteriorate and I have to rebuild this side,
• the 'newer' look will match the south side,
• I want to make the loading ramp narrower at the end.

To clarify, I call this section a "ramp" as that was what it used to be. In the old days, and even during my father's time, the ranchers often didn't have stock trailers and would haul a few head of cattle in a stock rack in the back of their pickup. This ramp used to have an adjustable board that raised or lowered depending on whether a trailer or pickup was used. When I came on the scene the wooden ramp had rotted out. I removed it as everyone uses a stock trailer these days.

I want to make the ramp narrower at the end as I found over the years that several of the cattle often would try to get through the end gate first. That is what hastened the breaking of the old posts. I made the last 8 ft section the same width as the head gate which is about 26 inches. Yup. Narrow.

The second 8 ft section is wider by a few more inches. Still too narrow for two cattle to be side to side - which is good. Side by side cattle when there is not enough room puts lots of stress on the corral fence.

I know the cattle can get through the head gate so I believe the last 8 ft section is wide enough, though when I stand in it, it feels very narrow. I'll see how it works when I have cattle next year. If it is too narrow I do have the option of removing a few end boards on the section and that will get me a few more inches.

Monday the weather was great as it was in the mid 40s F. Even in the evening after sundown it was warm. But that was to change. A warm weather system arrived during the night from the Pacific. Early Tuesday morning a massive cold front from Canada came down east of the mountains. The cold front was so large the mountains didn't stop it like they usually do. The result was rain, then wind, then snow. Fortunately the rain stopped before it got cold and the snow started so we didn't get ice in my part of the valley.

Monday I started on the north side of the loading ramp. I took part of the fence apart, put in the first post and section of fence, and removed the post for the second section. It was dark by the time I got the second post out of the ground so I covered the hole with boards to protect it from the weather - whether moisture or freezing.

Tuesday afternoon I put in the post for the second section on the north side. The snow had let up though the wind was still blowing strongly. Even though the temperature was around freezing, surprisingly I didn't feel cold. Perhaps it was because I was fixated on getting the hole dug and the second section built before the ground froze.

I don't know why but different railroad ties of the same length weigh differently. For the first section I mistakenly dug the hole a little too deep as I got mixed up on the tie's length. This tie was not one of the heavier ties and I was able to lift it up slightly to allow dirt of get underneath. After several attempts I got the tie raised up 6 or so inches. Tuesday's tie was super heavy and I was barely able to lift it to slide in the hole much less lift it once it was in the hole. I correctly measured the tie length and hole depth so my only adjustment was side to side and keeping the tie straight.

Unlike the holes for the south fence, the two holes I dug on the north fence was entirely soft dirt with no rocks or gravel at all. A matter of less than three feet away from the south fence posts. Go figure.

If the weather forecast is correct, this may be the last of the major corral rebuild for the year. Already Wednesday the ground is starting to freeze again. It is too bad as I really would like to finish at leas the loading ramp part of the corral this year. Six more posts to go. Still, to keep me occupied I have some finishing work on what I have rebuilt so far, and the gate to install.

Photo 1: Damaged corral. I took this photo last year with my old camera (hence the poor quality image). The rope is to hold the two sides upright as I had two steers left to load. The previous cattle almost knocked the left side down.

Photo 2: left (south) side is done. Right (north) side is left to do.

Photo 1: taken after I replaced the first two sections on the right side.
Photo 2: taken from inside the loading corral.

Standing on the head gate, here are views before and after I started on the right side.

I think my corral will be pretty solid after I finish my rebuild.