The screw gun crew- John, Katie, Jamie- saluting the completion of the roof We have a roof!!! On the 19th, Sunday evening at dusk, the last roofing panel was installed, just in the nick of time as it turns out. Monday morning it started raining and has hardly stopped since. But, we are nice and dry underneath and it's kind of pleasant to hear the drops falling on the metal roof, knowing that there isn't even a single drip coming through. (The old barn was built with salvaged roofing and there were tons of holes. No matter how much we tried to patch them up, there were always drips that made for a squishy mess on the dirt floor). The crew was Bill and myself, plus Jamie, Polly, Jeff H. and John. Once again, they have our eternal gratitude.
Debbie and Mary building feeders On the very next day, my friends Debbie and Mary arrived from Bellingham to help out for a couple of days. I gave them the plans for the feeder bunks, told them I needed 4 of them, and they went right to work. They are both handy with tools- Debbie having helped build a Habitat for Humanity home, and Mary having built her own log cabin in Alaska with no experience, but an instruction book and a heart full of enthusiasm and determination. They brought all those things to the Lamb Ranch and even stayed one extra day to get the job done. When they left we had 3 completed feeders and one almost done- all I had to do was put a few pieces together. I can't thank them enough for their help and support. It is so gratifying to know that our friends are rooting for us!
confused flower As usual, I haven't been doing much of anything other than barn building. Bill has been very busy with moving his office and his surveying work. We have both been appreciating the change of seasons, though, with the Fall colors appearing in the few trees that are left. We lit the first fire of the season last week, when it finally got too cold in the house. We are really missing all that nice split firewood that burned up. We have stacked a new pile, but it's not under cover, so we are doing the blue tarp hillbilly thing, plus it's not split and it's green. We just look at each other and say, "at least we have wood", which is something. And I continue to be amazed at how persistent Nature is in wanting to grow back. I have seen lupine and other plants that normally grow in the Spring sprouting up all over the place. Seeing Spring flowers at the end of October is just weird, but I am happy they are there..
The dogs are so patient with us- they don't have a nice dry barn, and have been pretty wet lately, but are not complaining at all. And they continue to do their job amazingly well. One day I heard them bark, and then heard some rocks falling on the burned hillside. I looked among the trees and saw a big bear. It wandered slowly up the side of the hill and disappeared over the ridge into the neighbor's hay field. I was on my way to check the water supply screens, but since the bear was headed that direction I decided to wait until the next day when Bill could come with me. We normally see bears around late September- this one was a little later than usual, but probably just had it's fill of fruit from the orchards and was heading to the hills to find a nice cozy spot to sleep for the winter. Callie was the first to sound the alert that time- she's really coming along. And just a few days ago, she barked all night long. We couldn't figure out what was wrong- couldn't see any sign of predators or other problems. Then the next morning, I was outside and heard the unmistakable sound of a coyote yelping, very close by. All 3 dogs were barking like crazy, and it all went on for about 5 minutes. Then the coyote stopped, and all went back to normal. I never did see it- the bare hillside has lots of echoes now that the trees are gone, so it's hard to tell where sounds are actually coming from any more.
The dogs are so patient with us- they don't have a nice dry barn, and have been pretty wet lately, but are not complaining at all. And they continue to do their job amazingly well. One day I heard them bark, and then heard some rocks falling on the burned hillside. I looked among the trees and saw a big bear. It wandered slowly up the side of the hill and disappeared over the ridge into the neighbor's hay field. I was on my way to check the water supply screens, but since the bear was headed that direction I decided to wait until the next day when Bill could come with me. We normally see bears around late September- this one was a little later than usual, but probably just had it's fill of fruit from the orchards and was heading to the hills to find a nice cozy spot to sleep for the winter. Callie was the first to sound the alert that time- she's really coming along. And just a few days ago, she barked all night long. We couldn't figure out what was wrong- couldn't see any sign of predators or other problems. Then the next morning, I was outside and heard the unmistakable sound of a coyote yelping, very close by. All 3 dogs were barking like crazy, and it all went on for about 5 minutes. Then the coyote stopped, and all went back to normal. I never did see it- the bare hillside has lots of echoes now that the trees are gone, so it's hard to tell where sounds are actually coming from any more.
Bill is on his own this weekend, and is going to work on getting the barn ready for siding. I am spending the weekend attending a class on fiber sorting and grading. It promises to be full of information and I am very excited to learn more about how to produce high quality fiber products. The class is at the old Grange Hall in Molson, WA. When I googled it to get directions, I found that Molson is listed as a ghost town. Appropriate for a class that starts on Halloween! I just returned from the dinner and orientation, and it seems that there are actually a few people still living there. The Grange Hall is a wonderful old building with lots of history on the walls and a big kitchen that has a still-functioning old wood stove. Stay tuned for more news in a couple of weeks.
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