Altough the moose did not grace us with his presence today, we have no doubt he will be back many times. It has alway been our habit to name the creatures that share our space. In New Jersey we named the bears.

First came Doris who was living under the deck of neighbor Kim's house when they moved in. She named her Doris because that was the name of the previous owner. Then came Ursa with her 3 cubs, named Ursa after the dog star because she tolerated the dogs when they happened to be in the back yard at the same time she was. She came around all the time for the space of one summer. The most memorable bear I named Fertile Myrtle because she had 5 cubs which is pretty much unheard of. They were fun to watch grow up. There were others too, but those were our favorites.

So, with that in mind we have collected a few names that we think would be fitting for moose. Yes indeed, fellow readers, it's POLL TIME! Please vote for your favorite. (Please Note: We left "Bullwinkle" off because it really is too obvious and common.)

My Dad died today. 

Lynne and I went into Laramie to do a whole long list of chores: meet with UPS to see how we might get delivery to (or close to) the cabin, likewise with FedEx. We went to the local ACE hardware store, which I'm likely to discuss more in the future--what a great place (and great people). We got the dogs some buffalo bones, which they love. And, arranged to get puppy food ordered for delivery next Tuesday. (More on that soon, too.) We went to Murdoch's to get some mineral licks for the deer, moose and elk that visit us. We had lunch at Taco Johns, which was great. We went to Frontier Cycles and arranged to purchase a Polaris ATV on which we will put tracks for winter--our emergency egress plan.

We were going to go to the storage facility and pick up some more boxes, but I forgot the keys.

Lynne did laundry while I washed the truck. Finally, we went to Safeway to stock up for the next week.

When we got back to the cabin, I had an email from my Mom. My Dad had died during our trip back from town.

(There are no tags or categories to assign this post to.)

One of the first flowers to appear right after the snow recedes is the beautiful Pasque Flower. It grows in clumps and would brighten anyone's day with its cheery yellow center. When they go to seed they equally as magical, and I will show you when they are done blooming. (Side Note: in the Dutch language "pasque" means Easter.)

Photos taken with my new macro lens! Woohoo!

Also out and about right now is the Sagebrush Buttercup with its very waxy petals. Both are blooming in and amongst the sage.

He just kept coming back all morning. We'd look out at the salt lick and he was there, then gone several times. At one point I went out to the bird feeder to add some craisins to it and I look up and there he is walking out of the forest, straight for the meadow -- and for me! I just walked slowly back to the cabin and he walked into the meadow.

He doesn't seem to be bothered by us at all. Now we are certain that this is the same young bull moose that visited us last year. He thinks of this as his home, obviously, so I guess we've adopted a moose. Names anyone? Should we have a poll?

He wandered over to the stump where we had a mineral block last year and licked it for a while. I guess we need a new one when we go into town tomorrow. 

After checking out the stump and finding nothing much there he walked back over to the salt lick and laid down, still licking. We finally gave up waiting for him to leave and took the girls out on leads in the opposite direction and went for a walk. Once away from the cabin area we let them off for some much needed excercise.

If you've followed this blog for very long, you know that I hate pack rats. For some background read eRATication.

Upon arrival at the cabin last Sunday, we were thrilled to see that no rodent had invaded the cabin interior. However, we were equally disgusted to find a huge pack rat nest on the front deck under our stacks of firewood.

You can see the edges of the nest poking out from under the wood racks in this photo.

There was nothing to do but laboriously move the wood and the racks and clean up underneath. It was unpleasant work, especially with the smell.

A nice warm, but smelly nest.

The pack rat had used some peppers from a ristra we had hanging on the deck to decorate his nest. There was also a cozy sleeping area made out of some kind of insulation--I have not figured out where it came from yet. And, the critter had eaten away at some of the log chinking and got to the foam core between the logs. That made nice bedding, too.

We used shovels and pick axes, along with brooms and mops to clean up. Lynne even took a scaper to the mess to get up what she could. I'll need to rent a power washer to clean up any further.

RIP RAT

At one point we were startled by the rat itself making an appearance. Don't let his cuteness fool you. Pack rats are evil creatures.  I'll let the story end there.