#1501

Good morning! I just noticed that this is my 1,501st post! Cool!


Mother Nature and Jack Frost collaborated on the beautiful scene that dawn presented today. I took all these shots off the deck looking south and west. I can get a really nice vantage point of the valley from the upstairs window above my side of the bed, so I think I'm going to ask Tom to haul the big, cumbersome extension ladder around to that side of the house to climb up and pop that screen out for the winter. A bother, I know, but I think it will be worth it in the shots I'll get.


Can you see the white pine rising out of the fog? While you can't tell here, that tree isn't nearly as glorious as it once was . . . having been struck by lightning during that one big storm a couple of years ago (and now dead).


So, how do you relocate a porcupine? Easy, you just try to catch it! Even when that fails, the little guy or gal will be concerned enough that these new digs might not be the BEST ones . . . and moves on of his/her own free will! (Or so it would seem! I haven't seen our little friend since last Friday when I did try to git 'im.)


The holiday season stress has begun. I lay in bed last night trying to think if it would be the best plan of action (or not) to map out my days between now and Christmas, assigning a particular holiday-related job to each one. I think it's a good idea, in theory, but I'm not sure if it would just cause more stress, in practice. (By, inevitably, seeing some days pass and that particular day's duty go unfinished but yet still needing to be accomplished.) Each year I am determined to make the holiday season a more enjoyable one than the last because it IS my favorite season of the year, but already I'm worried. Do YOU have any tried-and-true methods that work? If I end up going this route, I'll post it and let you help keep me accountable and on track! (In theory.) ;)

You may have noticed the new live feed widget I installed here on the blog. I know it's a bit "busy", but I think it will help me keep up with posting. Oftentimes, I sit at my desk, looking at my blog (as though I'm looking to see if anyone, i.e. ME, has written anything new and interesting!) and wonder, "Is ANYONE reading this? Does anyone ever CHECK my blog?" But now . . . I know! YES, people ARE checking it out! And, if I wrote more frequently, they'd probably check even MORE often! So, I know it's all psychological, but I think it will help.

Frost & Fog

It is a frosty, foggy morning today. We got down to 22 degrees last night, but we're up on top of the ridge. I know that lower-lying areas had colder temps.

This morning when I stepped onto the front porch / entrance to grab an apple for Tom's lunch (freshly picked from my folks' orchard), I came in with my nose wrinkled and exclaimed, "Pee-uuuw! Low pressure today, and I smell the paper mill!" Tom asked, "Are you sure it's not the septic tank again?" No, given the thick fog, I was pretty sure it was the result of the air pressure. But, there was no smell outside when Tom pulled the car out of the garage, so now I'm not so sure. And, BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY (ah-hem!), my second guessing is going to make me unscrew the top of the tank today to take a peek. Keep your fingers crossed!

My broody hen is still sitting, BUT she was off the eggs long enough the other day for them to feel pretty cool to the touch. So, I'm worried that they've gone bad. And, I think it was my fault that she was gone so long: I was holding out for Tom to drive the 3 1/2 hours south to pick up more feed last Friday, and so, aside from scratch, she didn't have anything handy to eat. So, I think she went out foraging. If this is the case, it's my bad and the loss of 11 eggs. :( But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she knows what she's doing, and that there's at least one viable chick in there that's causing her to keep setting.

Along the same line, I FINALLY found an egg yesterday! Yes, AN (as in, singular) egg. Aside from the eggs in Mrs. Broody's box, the chickens have been going thru the WORST molt I've ever seen them have, and I haven't seen an egg in over 2 weeks, I'll bet. (I wish I'd kept track.) Maybe it's just that they have really good hearing, though, and needed some incentive: it was just yesterday morning when I said to Tom, "If those chickens don't start laying, we're gonna do a massive butchering right after the busyness of the holidays! I ain't feedin' all winter if they're not layin'!" ;)

I need to take pictures of my latest batch of hats. I have the 5 hats for that set of grandchildren 90% done. I finally got all their measurements, so now I can finish the bottoms, make & add tassels / pompoms, and sew up all the loose ends (no pun intended). In between my work on those, Tom asked for a black hat with purple accents, so I whipped that up. As it was progressing, he said that it needed some zip and requested the addition of a bright, spring green. I asked, "Are you SURE?"

I'll have to post a picture of that one. Personally, I don't care for it. I think it looks too immature for a 55 year old man to wear. And, he's only worn it once. And that was here, at home. So, I think he agrees with me. It may just disappear one of these days and reinvent itself as just a black & purple hat!

And, I'm finishing a floppy red-with-red/pink-accents hat right now. It's sitting here on the chair arm right next to me. I really love it, but I don't think they are "my" colors. So, it will go into the Gift or To Sell pile.


I got 19 pints of Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Applesauce processed yesterday, and that felt good to get done. I really enjoy "putting up". There's such a sense of satisfaction that comes from it. ESPECIALLY when the food is free, save your time. I can't imagine NOT doing something with it! Now I'm on to an attempt at hard cider . . . but I don't have a cider press (nor a juicer). I'm going to put it thru a meat grinder in the hopes of squeezing enough liquid out that way. And, if that fails, no worries: more applesauce! :) (I put the applesauce in such small containers because they will be Christmas presents for the babies / parents-of-babies I know. And, the last thing you want is for something to spoil before it gets used up!)

Sunny Sunday

It's a sunny Sunday morning here in northeastern Minnesota, and the sun is something we haven't seen in quite a few days! It's been grey, grey, grey and dreary. True to it's name, it's been a Bleak November so far. It's also been unseasonably WARM. Based on the early snowfalls of last month, I would have made a high-dollar bet on there being snow for deer opener (last weekend) . . . but I would have l-o-s-t! Temperatures have been in the high 40s, and we didn't see freezing temps at night until, finally, last night again. Weird.

Although, Tom and I did have a conversation about how the two weeks & three weekends of deer season almost always map a huge shift in the weather: the beginning being mild and the end finally feeling like winter has arrived.

Numbers for the deer harvest seem to be down this year, and many are saying that that's due TO the weather. In milder weather, deer tend to curl up under a large tree and nap. Or so I'm told. Tom went out both days last weekend, 1 here on our property and 1 on a friend's. We have nearly NO deer in our area, but Tom really enjoys the time outside having a good "excuse" to get to know our 40 acres better and better. He spent a rain-soaked yesterday walking miles and miles around here and didn't see any deer sign until he got to the road at one point and saw a set of tracks walking down the middle of it! Go figure. Today he's heading down to the friend's property again where the deer are thick. Whether or not they'll be moving, though, is another story entirely.

I was really hoping to have at least 2 deer in the freezer this year for the dogs and Annie Blue, alone (good dog food is getting SO expensive), but perhaps that plan "jinxed" things, huh? But, there's still time: this is just the 2nd of 3 weekends, and there's all next week, too.

Little Mr./Ms. Porcupine is still a resident of Swamp River Ridge but also one resident whose time has come to be relocated, I think.

Tucker discovered his "other", his when-he's-not-in-the-corner-of-the-woodshed, sleeping spot on Friday. We have the canoe turned over and leaning against the far side of the woodshed, and that provided a dry little haven for the little guy . . . until Tucker scooted underneath to shout, "Play with me! Play with me! Play with me!" That's when our little friend gave a light little warning slap at Tucker's schnoz, embedding just three quills. I was able to pull them out with my hands - didn't need a pair of pliers - so it wasn't bad. But, for both his safety and the dogs, I think it's time.

I tried to get him in a face-forward (in relation to me) position so that I could grab him on the soft end, but, of course, he'd have none of that and kept whipping his little tail and backside around when he saw what I was up to. I ended up with three quills in my heavy, insulated leather glove, too, but only 1 went all the way through. Before long, he'd scuttled around the woodshed and up into his little "spot" there with his face wedged in the corner and a backside of sharper-than-needles quills the only thing showing.

I hate having to stress him out until I've come up with a plan that I'm sure will work, so I let him be for the rest of the day. He wasn't in the spot yesterday, though, nor was he under the canoe, so maybe Friday's antics were enough to send him on his way? If not, I think I'll first try to scoop him up in the metal-mesh long-handled dip net (for smelting) and then, as a last resort, use the live trap. I would have tried the live trap long ago, but my concern is that if it happens at night or some time when we're not around, he'll struggle and really injure himself in his efforts to get out. At any rate, I'll keep you posted.

With the holidays fast approaching + two art festivals & the expectancy of a baby whose arrival I have been asked to attend and assist with (I cannot tell you HOW over-the-moon I am about that one!!!!), I am considering putting the blog on hold for a while. I'd probably still post pictures and videos now and again, but I don't want to feel the added pressure of writing during such a busy time . . . particularly when no one is reading. I've only received 3 comments in my last five posts, and two of those were from my mother. So, I can only surmise that due to reader busyness (or my lack of writing anything of interest?) . . . there ain't nobody out there reading. Let me know if I'm wrong . . . or don't be bummed if it's quiet around 'This Is Our Life' for a while.

No Ambition

Even with my second cup of coffee nearly gone, I just have NO oomph this morning. No mo-jo. No nothin'. So, as a deterrent from the work that awaits me both here at my desk and in the messy house, here I am!

I haven't had a chance to write about our little visiting porcupine yet, but, if you've been watching the videos I post here, you know what I'm talking about. (And, if you need to get caught up on our mini movies, go to our YouTube page at www.youtube.com/swampriverridge. Anyway, he (she?) reappeared yesterday, snuggled down in a corner of the woodshed. Tom checked on his way out to work this morning and reported no sign of him, but I'll look again today when I'm out and about. So far, he's been resting where the dogs won't bother him. I HOPE it stays that way!

Based on my 'Mammals of Minnesota Field Guide', porcupines are solitary creatures, and this one is this year's - a juvenile. And, he's just the sweetest thing and not a bit threatening. Still, of course, I want to give him his space. It sure is neat, though, to see a seldom-seen critter so up-close-and-personal . . . yet with him still in his natural, wild habitat (vs. a zoo).

* * * * *

And then, with 7 little words, I am yanked out of my I'm sleepy, I don't wanna do anything, ridiculous reverie. "Mom passed last night at 8:10 PM." Aunt Jeanette is gone. She would have been 86 years old in 24 days.


Aunt Jeanette was, technically, my mom's aunt and my great aunt, but all of those sisters of my maternal grandma were always "Aunt Ione", "Aunt Shirley", "Aunt Jeanette".


Tom and I were down to Illinois to visit her exactly three years ago tomorrow (Happy 3rd Anniversary TODAY, Matt & Jamie!). How time flies. Since we found out she was sick (not even a month ago), I'd been setting aside mental notes and had already printed off some of the pictures (including these two) that I wanted to send her in a long note. Is my lesson (don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today . . . for tomorrow may never come) finally learned?

Aunt Jeanette was my long-distance replacement for Grandma once she passed away 12 years & 8 months ago (to the day) at the young age (but in poor health) of 77. Aunt Jeanette and Grandma were the most similar of the 6 Siebert girls (+ Uncle Frank). They and Uncle Don and Grandpa, respectively, lived across the street from each other during retirement.

Mama Pea (my mom) with Grandma (her mom).

When my mom was born, she and Grandma lived back "at home" with Grandma's parents and younger siblings (Aunt Jeanette included) because Grandpa was in Europe fighting in The War. Because of that, my mom's first memories are filled with young aunts and loving grandparents and the constant hustle-and-bustle of an old house overflowing with energy and love.

When I was little, Grandma and Grandpa came up twice every single year to visit, but Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Don were the only others who also came. And, it was a long haul: driving from northeastern Illinois to the backwoods of northeastern Minnesota! I remember one visit particularly well when Aunt Jeaneatte and Uncle Don were taking me to Canada (I think) for the day. Any any rate, the point is that, during our drive, Aunt Jeanette saw a cute little painted turtle trying to cross the highway. Worried about its safety, and knowing we had three ponds at home, one of them jumped out to save the little guy from impending death by squashing.

Knowing I'd been raised in the bush, my aunt and uncle knew that surely nothing as placid as this turtle could possibly bother me, so they plopped him on the floor in the back of the car . . . right under my feet.

So began my stress for the rest of that car ride from being TERRIFIED by that crawling thing that was GONNA GET ME! You would think it had legs like a tarantula, I perceived it moving SO FAST! I couldn't understand WHY Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Don were so CALM about the thing! But, after all, they weren't trapped in the back seat of the car with it, either!

I have no recollection of whether or not the turtle made it home to one of our ponds or if the squealing little girl in the back seat required that it be removed before we ended our journey. (Mom, do you remember?)

What I do remember, though, is that my great aunt and uncle loved me and my mom (and my dad!) enough to come the whole way to visit. And THAT'S what's important.

Rest in peace, Aunt Jeanette. I love you.

Howdoo . . . .

Good morning and howdoo! (As in, "how DO ya do?")

My laptop's been in the shop for a couple of weeks - more due to convenience of simply leaving it there in between small jobs than any single large repair - and so I haven't been able to enjoy the convenience of writing from a comfortable, lazy spot in the house (vs. my office). Until right now! Yayy!

I'm in the sunroom with a little fire cracklin' in the stove in front of me (which needs more wood, I see), my coffee next to me (which could also stand a refill), three dogs at my feet (yes, THREE), and a light dusting of snow visible on the big deck to my left. Now, if only all our bills were paid and there was an unlimited stash acruuing interest in the savings account . . . life would be perfect! ;)

We're dog-sitting the four-legged kid (soon to be "demoted" by a two-legged baby girl arriving in December) of our dear friends for the week. Tom picked her up on his way home from work last Thursday night, and she'll probably go home Friday morning. Aside from a set-to between Tucker & her (over a bone) the first day and the hatred that Annie Blue has for this interloper, all is well. She's a pleasure to have around: SUCH a well-behaved, well-trained dog! AND she's still a puppy at just over 1 year old! I think we'll send our future dogs to her parents for training. ;)

Yesterday, being Election Day, marked the end of a fairly intense lobby by a solid group of locals to vote 'yes' in a county-wide Broadband Initiative. As the name suggests, it was an effort at bringing broadband Internet access to EVERYONE in our large county who was on the (electrical) grid. Of 3,583 registered voters (in the county), a 68% turn-out was garnered with 2,425 people voting . . . which seems pretty good to me for a non-election (president, governor, etc.) year. This is in thanks, I firmly believe, to our mail-in voting system. See, in a county of such a wide-spread physical area,

- Didja miss me? Tucker just threw up. Twice. Have you ever tried to get one dog out the front door before the heaves turn into upchucks . . . with two other dogs "helping"? Yeah. I doesn't work. But, yes, Tucker is fine. He's gotta get that gravel out somehow. Yes, he eats rocks. Fortunately, small ones. Yes, we've tried to stop him. But, as you dog owners out there know, you can't be watching them 24/7. Anyway! -

Starting where I left off . . . .

In a county of such a wide-spread physical area, voter turn-out would be V-E-R-Y low if everyone was required to drive to a polling station. Then, there would also be the added hassles of STAFFING that polling station. And, blah, blah, blah. Long story short, ballots are mailed to all citizens who live outside the city limits for all elections. And, for special elections such as this one was, they are mailed to in-city residents, too . . . to generate that higher voter response.

The broadband issue, due to some special funding attached (which is how I understand it), required 65% of the 'ayes' to pass. It received 55.9%. Doh! While the proponents were, naturally, touting all the good that such infrastructure would do, they were glossing over the reality that a) it would only benefit those folks on-grid (and there ARE a decent # of us who are off-grid) and b) the utility would be run down a, say, county road . . . but it would NOT be brought in a person's 1/4 mile driveway! And, I think a lot of people weren't aware of that.

When they heard that it would "be available to all those who live on the grid", they assumed the wiring would come right to their house . . . alongside their electricity. Nuh-uh. Nope. Sorry! Sure, it'll be out at the ROAD, at the end of your driveway (EVENTUALLY, and the farther you live from town and highest population concentration, the longer that will be), but YOU have to pay the $15,000 or so it would cost to get it run down your long driveway. And, a "long" driveway is the only kind that most folks have up here!

So, all in all and even though I did vote for it (although it would have had NO effect on us out here at Swamp River Ridge), I think it's a good thing it didn't pass. I think a lot of folks who had voted 'Yes' would have been reeeeeeally upset when they learned the reality of it. Yeah, it sounded great on paper, but, in order to benefit from it, you would have had to pay a LOT out-of-pocket . . . an expense I think few realized. So, there ya have it. Election over. Let's get back to Real Life.

Tom had an incredibly productive, successful past weekend. A couple of weeks ago, while wood-working, he accidentally ran over his best chainsaw with the 1-ton . . . something that we've since discovered MANY men have done! Anyway, after the appropriate replacement parts arrived at the local Stihl distributor's, he had an innumerable number of chainsaw parts spread across his office workbench and one HECK of a job in front of him! I really wish I had taken a picture of it all. Without the telltale chainsaw blade visible, you would have been hard-pressed to guess what all the handles, levers, chains, and screws were supposed to amount to. But, after a few evenings last week given to cleaning each of the disassembled parts, he was ready to build a chainsaw Saturday morning.

I'll admit that I had my doubts. NOT because of his skill but because he was working WITHOUT A MANUAL! He had nothing to "go by", no guide, no illustrations! But, a couple of hours later and with "only one screw left over!", the chainsaw was fully assembled . . . and RUNNING! That afternoon, after a couple of hours of wood cutting, he proclaimed that it was better than ever. (And you thought he came by his moniker of 'Chainsaw Tommy' 'cause he almost cut his left leg off with it . . . . Silly!!)

The chainsaw success wasn't Tom's only that day, though. (I tell ya, if he could only experience days like this more often . . . !)

Before he started his afternoon of wood-working, I was roused from my work at my office desk by a loud muffler and a honking horn. I looked out the window to see Tom driving the back-up plow truck, the '77 Chevy Suburban, into the front yard! The very same truck that we were going to tow the 20 miles down to our mechanic's on Sunday!

He had been up by the Trapper Cabin working away on it and finally got the frozen gas line freed up so that the truck could start after sitting all summer AS WELL AS the plow working, too! (The hydraulics have a nasty habit of refusing to lift the plow up off the ground at the most inopportune of times!) Wow! My dear husband has always had the bad luck of 'if something's gonna go wrong, it probably will'. So, two HUGE sucesses in one day was really something to celebrate! As I said earlier, if these kinda things would only happen with even just a little more frequency . . . say, once every month or so instead of once every YEAR . . . life would be SO mucher kinder to him! :)

Anyway, that's the latest. As you can tell from the new header photo, Bleak November is here. And, since turning the clocks back on Sunday, 5:30 PM now feels like 10:30 PM. UGH. But, I heard yesterday that it's something like only 55 days until Christmas, so there's no doubt that the holiday frenzy is juuuuuust around the corner. Double ugh. ;p

Slowly but Surely . . . .

Slowly but surely, I think my anxiety is moderating. But it's still there, most definitely!

So, why (or, more to the point, "how") the progress?

Well, figurative compartmentalized boxes 1 - 3 + an unscheduled #4 are complete. No, make that 5!

1. Chicken chores are done.
2. The outdoor wood furnace has been tended to, and I also burned all the remaining toilet-water-soaked boxes from the disaster that were still sitting on the front entrance.
3. See the latter in the above plus the rest of the piled-up STUFF that was out there has been taken care of (rugs to shake, towels to go into the washing machine, compost to be taken out, etc.).
4. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, got "ready" for the day.
5. And, my unscheduled 'box'? Since I was already in the bathroom, I swept the floor and put the area back together where the water had been bubbling up during the disaster. Then, I put away the nearly 96 (!!!) rolls of septic/environmentally-healthy toilet paper (Seventh Generation) that my folks donated to us! We're set for a while, now!

Now onto the next thing most stressing me out: ordering stand-by parts for our Onan generator. It's a job that I started doing over a week ago. And got side-tracked away from each time. THIS TIME, it's gettin' done! But maybe I should get another cup of coffee, first.

Anxiety

In our little family, anxiety attacks are usually left to my husband to bear. However, today it's my turn. (I didn't feel this bad when the septic tank backed up!)

I think it has a LOT to do with the low pressure. Here at Swamp River Ridge, we have pea-soup fog today. Fog you could "cut with a knife" (oh, wait, that's tension). Anyway, you get the idea. It is SO dark in the house. It's a perfect day for building a fire and then cozying up with a book or handwork . . . which is exactly what Tom recommended that I do. But, when you're suffering a mini-anxiety attack, you just CAN'T relax enough to do that!

Other than meds, about the only thing that gets me through these little bouts is tackling whatever it is that has me stressed. Today that's money (i.e. the lack thereof) and messiness in the house . . . and an unplanned trip to town to rectify the negative balance in our checking account (thank goodness for the emergency stash!). But then, having to "take" from the emergency stash also results in MORE stress because it's less money remaining there . . . and it's always so hard to replace it once it's borrowed. It's a vicious circle.

I know that when I feel like this, I just have to compartmentalize things and take one little step at a time. I WOULD be rendered useless if I let 'The All of It' come at me at once . . . which is what's threatening.

So, that said, I'll take myself outside into the gloom now to do some chores. And, that will be one little box of compartmentalized stress that I'll be able to close the lid on once it's done. And that's a good thing.