“Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” – Unknown
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Cabin Day 1, 2013 - Afternoon
Lunch was a lightly grilled pepper turkey and provolone cheese sandwich on whole grain bread. It wasn't as good as it sounds. The turkey had little flavor. But, it filled an empty spot in my belly and I was satisfied. What's next?
Nap. A nice 1-hour long nap.
When I woke, Lynne was nowhere to be found. But, her camera was gone, so I figured she'd gone out to take photos. I'd give her an hour before the dogs and I set out as a search party. She soon returned, having started a short hike down to Serenity Point, she ended up going "around", which is our term for a hike all the way to the beaver pond in the bottom of the canyon then back up the other side to the road (that is at the "bottom"). Stick with me, you'll figure out all the names for various hikes. (We'll do "poop hill" soon.)
Apparently there are a lot of trees blown down and the trail needs serious maintenance. Sounds like work. And, I did not bring my good chain saw this year. So, we'll see what gets done.
Mostly, the afternoon was lazy. We planned meals for the next week and now need to turn that menu plan into a shopping list for a trip into town on Monday. I read a lot. Am reading a book called Wool which has me captivated. It is the first in a trilogy. And, I am a slow reader. So, I've got my reading commitment for the rest of the year. We watched the news on TV and also a bit of a special on the Colorado floods. Dinner was charcoal grilled hamburgers with a can of pink beans. That was pretty yummy. Somewhere in there I did a few additional chores including replacement of the batteries in the outdoor weather station. Doesn't seem like much. We do spend a lot of time staring out the window in a meditative state--watching a branch of a tree blow in the breeze or chipmunks scurrying along fallen trees or Stellar Jays picking at the meager offerings in the bird feeder.
Watched part of the third Star Trek movie (The Search for Spock), but by about 8:30 we could no longer pay attention to the movie, so it was time for "final pees" (dogs and people) and off to bed.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/21/2013 at 04:24 PM
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Cabin Day 1, 2013 - Morning
This morning was mostly "cleaning" time. We got up early--around 6:00 a.m.--because we'd had plenty of sleep and the dogs were antsy. It was still dark outside. The dogs went out to pee while I prepared coffee. We bought an antique coffee grinder and now we can grind whole beans for our coffee in the belief it makes a difference to the taste. It takes a while, but produces a nice fine grind. Since I'm stingy about electricity, we don't have an electric coffee grinder. Nor do we have an electric coffee maker. Instead, we use a 1950s-era percolator. I prepared it the night before so all I had to do while the dogs were outside was put it on the stove and light the burner.
When the dogs came in, I fed them. Then, Lynne and I had some cereal with our coffee and slowly started winding up for the day. After breakfast, we did a walk to the "bottom" with the dogs. This is a short hike down the road to the bottom of the canyon just east of the cabin. The canyon is filled with pines, spruce and aspen trees and smells wonderful. We also hiked some to the west where we had a huge slash pile of stuff left over from a logging operation on our land a few years ago. The pile of logs and sticks was ugly and we had it buried over the summer. It looks a lot better and the scarred land will recover with sage and wildflowers and grasses soon enough. Right now, it looks like a landing site for a helicopter.
When we got back, we started on the cleaning. I vacuumed while Lynne cleaned up the kitchen and the furniture (covered with dust) on the front screened-in porch. Then, I took the mop bucket and mop and washed down the exposed floors with some good smelling stuff from Mr. Clean. This got all the dust up and also left the cabin smelling a bit better. Lynne cleaned some windows, which made a huge difference to our view of the meadow west of the cabin--a view we often call "cabin TV" since we can sit and just stare out the window for hours.
Then, we cleaned ourselves with a quick shower. I rehung the broken clothes line.
And, that is about it for the morning. I'm feeling hungry although its only 10:45. (Well, it is 12:45 at home, can I use that as an excuse?)
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/21/2013 at 10:33 AM
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Friday, September 20, 2013
Cabin Arrival - 2013
Well, we are here. 1826 miles, 2-1/2 days, an unabridged book on CD, two motels, multiple MacDonalds, dog walks every 4 hours or so, and we are here.
We made good time, arriving in Laramie ahead of schedule. Lynne had prepared a well-ordered shopping list, so our visit to WalMart for food was brief. We always shop for 3-4 days on our way through Laramie so we are provisioned for a few days at the beginning of the visit. Then, we have several days to prepare a plan for the rest of our stay. And, we'll go into town, probably on Monday, to do a more thorough shopping trip.
Already we have a few things on the list: 9V battery (the smoke detector was beeping at us); salt licks (those from last year are gone); a bulb for the flashlight; drill bits... We'll work on the food items this weekend.
My greatest fear upon arrival was an infestation of pack rats in the cabin. This happened last year, and it was a mess. A dear friend opened the cabin for us last year and cleaned up most of the mess. And several days were spent rat-proofing the place last year. I was a bit worried when I saw two piles of pack rat "stuff" -- one on either side of the door on the stoop. It was like they had created some kind of symetrical offering for us--preparing us for the magnificent nest inside.
But, when we opened the cabin, there were no pack-rat nests. They had NOT gotten back in the cabin! I was thrilled.
The usual infestation of cluster flies were everywhere. Thousands of dead flies. Since they are all dried up, they sweep up easily enough and Lynne went to work on cleaning them up.
I got the water on, the water heater running, and the propane refrigerator started. Next came the Internet connection which always requires an hour-long call to HughesNet technical support. And, once we have the satellite Internet working, I can reauthorize the DirecTV service. So, we now have electricity, propane for cooking and heat, Internet service (or I would not be able to post this), TV--all the comforts of home.
We did a walk to the bottom with Bella and Hailey (both of whom are acting weird, probably because Alex is not here to guide them). Then, cooked up some "trailer spaghetti", and old stand by for a quick meal.
Now, we have a fire in the fireplace and are sipping on a whiskey.
I don't think we'll last much longer. It is almost 8:00 here, but that is 10:00 back home and I don't think we've fully adjusted. Plus, we are both road weary.
That's it for tonight. More later, stay tuned for details of our two-week-long vacation.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/20/2013 at 07:26 PM
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Friday, June 29, 2012
Hummingbirds Sparring
Here is some slow motion footage of hummingbirds sparring first thing in the morning.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 06/29/2012 at 09:56 AM
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Leaping Ground Squirrel
Shooting video of nature, especially animals, can be very challenging. One key is the predictability of the subject. In this case, we have a ground squirrel that leaps from a small aspen tree into the bird feeder next to the cabin that is fairly predictable.
So, I set up the Phantom Miro M320S camera on a tripod pointed at the jump path. I set it up to use a triggering scheme that triggers the camera automatically based on motion in the live image. Here is a photo of the setup:
And, here is a short montage of the resulting video. Enjoy!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 06/12/2012 at 04:52 PM
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