Wildfire Defensible Space...

8:29 am - 39 degrees out - clouds are moving in...

The last several days we have had sunshine! The nice weather was needed after several weeks of rain and snow. With this gorgeous weather, we have taken full advantage and have been busy outside working.

Tony cut down some more trees to help improve our defensible space around our home. A few years back we had a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Fire Forester guy come out to look at our place and let us know how we would fare if a wildfire came through. The outcome of that visit was the knowledge that we would be on our own. We were told that ground fire crews would not be sent out due to the steepness and inaccessibility of the mountain ridge we live on. They may send out an aircraft to drop some fire retardant on our house but that’s about it. On the positive side, the DNR guy did say that we had a great start on the defensible space around our home and had the right to stay and protect it. {Click Here} to read more about that visit.

Down came six small Alder trees and one large Douglas Fir tree, and it took us two days to get it all cleaned up... 

...well almost all cleaned up.  We still have the large rounds in the driveway that need to be cut up and split into firewood.

Even though we are tired and sore from working nonstop for the past several days to get the trees down and cleaned up... progress feels good!

Meat. It’s What’s For Dinner...

9:09 am - 52 degrees outside - overcast, low clouds...

It’s that time of year again... hunting season. 

Hunting wild animals for food used to be a part of everyday life – for some it still is.  Hunting may not be for everyone, but it’s a part of our lives.  Hunting is simply harvesting wild food, and we only harvest what our family will eat.

my great-grandmother in the early 1900s

Tony hunts for deer and elk every year – one deer and one elk will put enough meat in the freezer to feed our family for a whole year and be able to share some with family and friends. 

A few years ago, our daughter took and passed a hunters education class to get her hunting license.  Last year she got her first buck (male deer), and this year she got her first bull (male elk).  We are very proud of her, and she is helping to provide for our family.  We are also very proud that our children know and understand where their food comes from.

Caitlyn's first bull elk. Shot 2nd day of rifle elk season.

Hunting for our own food also gives us peace of mind that the meat in our freezer has not been tainted by antibiotics, artificial hormones, pesticides, herbicides, or unnatural feeds that are not needed and are possibly harmful.

Elk tastes similar to beef (no gamey flavor).
Compared to beef, elk meat is lower in fat and higher in protein.

There are a lot of shocking things about meat.  Sometimes I find that the most shocking thing about meat to some people, is that meat is actually made of dead animals!  Crazy right?  Sorry for my sarcasm, but I do seriously think we maintain a cognitive dissonance between the animals we see and the meat we eat.

One of the problems with our current food system is that there is this real disconnect with where our food comes from.  The same person who would squeal if they saw a farmer shoot a cow can easily buy packages of ground beef at the grocery store...or a package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts...or fish fillets.  While we understand what meat is in a cerebral way, we don’t really understand what that means.  We don’t equate a dead, bleeding animal with this delicious looking meal on our plate.  We literally and figuratively remove the life from our food.

To hunt and butcher an animal is to recognize that meat is not some abstract form of protein that springs into existence at the grocery store tightly wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam.  Meat is life.  It still astounds me how many people actually believe that the meat they buy at the grocery store...is just meat at the grocery store.  They forget or choose to forget where it really came from – a living breathing animal.  In order to appreciate that slice of steak on your plate, I think you need to also know and appreciate where it came from.

Spring Is Here...

1012 am - 38 degrees - overcast, windy, raining... 

...even if it’s only symbolically.  Yesterday marked the spring equinox, it signaled the end of the astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere.  Yet the signs of winter are still hanging on.  This morning it was 36 degrees outside and we still have very large patches of dirty snow all over the place.

On a dreary, cold, windy, rainy day like today, I find myself longing for any sign that spring, and warmer temperatures, may be nearing.  I’ve already started day dreaming about the warmer days, the start of everything turning green, the fading of the winter, what we’re going to plant in our garden, firing up the grill, hanging out with family and friends around a roaring bonfire and 9pm sunsets!

Even with the chilly temperatures and the slowly melting snow, there are a few small signs that spring is truly on its way, from the new huckleberry buds to the tiny green onion sprouts in our mini herb garden.

The wildlife are also coming out of hiding.  I haven't heard the little drummers yet (aka Ruffed Grouse) but we're starting to see them more and more.  Soon enough we should start hearing that unusual mating call; the courting ritual of the forest birds, that strangely enough you feel more than hear.  It's an unmistakable "thump...... thump...... thump... whir-r-r-r-r-r!" of a male ruffed grouse "drumming".

Lonely Elk...

4:54 pm - 26 degrees - overcast...

We saw the lonely cow again.  Think she may have lost her herd or is sick. :(

A Close Call...

5:16 pm - 39 degrees - raining...

Last week Tony had a very close call.  Just even thinking about it makes me shutter.

While Tony was out elk hunting, he came to an area where there were signs of elk all over.  He sat down on a log and did a few cow calls.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement.  A big head pop up about 30 feet away, and a cougar continued towards him with its mouth wide open.  The cougar was so close when he shot it, that the bullet went straight in the mouth, entering in the back of the throat without even nicking a tooth, leaving no visible entry/exit wound.  Yikes!

This happened about 3/4 of a mile from our house.  I don't even want to think about what would have happened if he didn't turn in time to see the cougar coming at him.   I know we live in the mountains, and there are predators around, but that was just way too close for comfort!  

Catch and Release...

5:48 pm - 76 degrees - scattered clouds, light breeze...

Two of our cats caught a little chipmunk and when our 11-year-old daughter realized what they were playing with, she freaked out a bit.   

After rescuing this cute little critter, we let him go in a huge slash pile.  Hopefully he'll hide out for a while and stay away from the cats. 

It's never dull when you live in the mountains.

Winter Wildlife...

9:34 am - 38 degrees - raining...

Why hello there!  Good morning!

Cat curiosity.

Winter Storms...

2:11 pm - 33 degrees - heavy fog, 1.5" of snow...

We had some welcomed snow over the weekend, the result of one final storm in a parade of storms that has been going on for over a week. 

This last round of storms has caused severe flooding, landslides, power outages, and even a rare tornado that touched down.

Thankfully, besides a few sections of the driveway washing out, the only damage that we sustained was to a few solar panels that got blown around by the 80+ mph wind gusts.

Water was pouring out of the hillside all along the driveway.

Sections of the county road were flooded.

This is the highest the river has been at the bridge on the driveway.
Over 16 inches of rain in one week!

The 80+ mph wind gusts blew around a few solar panels.

Unfortunately there was some damage to a few of the solar panels.

While all this crazy weather was going on, we had an unwelcome visitor - a first in five years.  Thankfully we caught the woodrat before any damage was done.  

The woodrat made nests in the engine compartments of all our rigs.  Apparently some of their favorite nesting materials include wire insulation and rubber fuel lines.

What a crazy week.

Saturday Evening Post…

8:19 pm - 48 degrees - clear night...

A small glimpse into our lives as we live off-grid… sort of like eves dropping.  It may be a thought, quote or a conversation; funny, sweet or sad; but it will always be true.  We will see if it resonates with you...

{messaging back and forth}

Me:  “Bear just ran across the road in front of my car, 20-25 feet!”

Me:  “Saw 7 deer, 3 elk, 1 bear, and a ton of grouse all in one day!  Love living in the mountains!!”

Mom:  “Did you get any photos?”

Me:  “No.  When I'm outside I usually don't have a camera on me.  When I'm in my rig, most of the animals are so quick I don’t have time to grab a camera before they disappear into the brush.  Need to hook up a dash cam on my rig and constantly keep a camera on me.”

View From The Window...

12:57 pm - 79 degrees - light breeze...

Do you see it?  That big black dot on the next ridge over?

It's a large black bear walking along the rock slide!

There were actually two bears over on the rock slide and even at that distance, the very large moving black dots were hard not to notice!

The smaller one headed up into the trees while the large one headed down.

Elk Crossing...

8:45 pm - 38 degrees - drizzling...

Stopped to watch the elk cross the road.  I love off-grid mountain living!

Living In Bear Country...

1:53 pm - 80 degrees - blue sky...

We live in bear country.  We know and understand the fact that we moved into their territory.  We are living in their natural environment, and we respect that.

Seeing a black bear is an exciting experience, one that happens often up here in the mountains.  We watch them walk through the yard, or walk along the driveway, or hear them crashing through the thick brush.  Once they see us watching them, they turn around and walk or run away.  The awe inspiring experience is over and we all go on about our own business.

The presence of bears has never been a problem or a threat in the eight and a half years that we have owned our property.  They have never tried to get into our trash cans, gotten into our compost bin, bothered our bird feeder, or come sniffing around the barbeque – all of which can attract bears.  The vast majority of bears want to avoid humans.  Encounters with aggressive bears or predatory attacks by bears are very rare, but do occur.

Saturday night we had our first negative encounter with a black bear...and it didn’t end well.

 

Right around 9 pm I heard noises downstairs.  Tony and the kids were asleep so I thought it was our cats or our neighbor’s dog.  I walked downstairs to see what all the ruckus was about and that’s when I came upon a large black bear standing about 10’ feet away.  It took a second for it to register that there was an actual bear right in front of me, then the bear and I took off running in opposite directions – me into the house yelling for Tony and the bear running to the firepit area.  I thought that would have been the end of it, it usually would have been – we both had scared each other off.

As Tony and I were looking out the window in the direction the bear had run off, we were both very surprised to see the him walking in a zig zag pattern back towards the house.  This had never happened before.  We’ve never had a bear so close to house, and we’ve never had a bear run off only to immediately return.  When a bear gets scared off it leaves – it doesn’t come back!

Tony went back downstairs and tried to scare the bear off several more times by trying to run him off, yell at him and fire a warning shot with the loudest gun we own.  Each time the bear would retreat up behind the firepit area, only to turn around and start stalking back towards the house.  This is not normal bear behavior.  The bear was showing aggressive behavior, he kept trying to come back to the house while being hazed off, pacing side to side, the bear had no fear.  Neither of us has ever encountered a bear like this before.  Even though he didn’t want to, in the end, Tony ended up shooting the bear. 

Male black bear, 5'8", about 200 lbs.

Tony called the Department of Fish & Wildlife to report the incident and they came out Sunday morning to pick up the bear.  The DFW officer took a look around, snapped a few pictures of the bear, filled out a report, loaded the bear into the back of their pickup truck and told us that given where we live and the behavior the bear was displaying that we made the right choice.

Spring Projects...

1:17 pm - 48 degrees - windy and drizzling...

It is a cold, raining, windy, overcast, dreary day...and that means that we have to stay inside for a change and it gives me a chance to write a blog post. 

The past three or four weeks have been gorgeous out, and that means we have been spending a lot of time outside.

We've been going on hikes and
Caitlyn found some extra love on this hike.

Jack and I have been cutting down the small Alder trees
that are within 10 feet of the driveway.

Jack found a snail while I was weed whacking and was mesmerized for
about half an hour before he was off and running again.

These adorable babies are now out and about
and oh so cute and fun to watch.

Jack keeps catching and releasing Northern Alligator Lizards.

The area around our house is still too rocky to use an actual lawn mower so Tony and I spent several days weed whacking the grass, raking up the clippings and hauling them to the compost bin.

Tony has also been working on concrete footings so we can start to frame and enclose the space under the stairwell.  This will be the control room for the whole house where the inverter will be kept.

I acquired a free table (I love free stuff!) that was the perfect size for our firepit area.  I wanted it to blend in, so I spray painted it.  I love our firepit area, it is the perfect spot to sit back and relax after a long day.

Wildlife On The Mountain...

8:06 pm - 42 degrees - windy and raining...

It’s hard to believe that I’m writing about the holiday season in past tense already, where did 2013 go?  It feels like each year goes by faster than the year before.

Both kids are back in school, the holiday dust has settled, and life on the mountain has returned to our version of normal...which includes wildlife watching and we are in the perfect spot for it.

Living in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain range there is an abundance of wildlife which we love to watch.  Some animals we see all the time; some we don't see other than the tracks and markings left behind; and some we only hear, somewhere off in the distance.

Here are some of the cute little critters and feathered friends on the mountain.

Mountain Wildlife...

8:45 am - 62 degrees - cloudy...

"Mom! He's looking at me!"