Animals, Animals Everywhere!

My chocolate lab, Molli, broke into their kennel/coop area and attacked our nicest chicken, Melanie. When we got to her she was still alive but her wings were broken and she couldn't stand up or move. I'm guessing her back was broken, too. The other chickens and the kids were beside themselves! I sent the kiddos inside, and grabbed my leather gloves. I had to put my big girl panties on and do the dirty deed since Mac wasn’t around to do it. The kiddos were so traumatized, as was I! I kept thinking, “These are the hands of a murderer!” We buried her under some trees and they cried and cried. It was pretty sad. They were ready to shoot Molli. Ian helped me fix their coop back up and now all is well at the Cooper Cabin again. Now we’re down to 3 chickens. They aren’t laying as many eggs as they used to. Unfortunately, Melanie was one of our best layers. I’m trying a few new things to see if we can remedy that.

We had a bear break into our pump house. That’s where we keep the horses’ feed and our garbage, too. When I went out that morning to feed the horses there were 6 bags of garbage strewn up and down our road and even up the side of the mountain! That was fun! I don’t think any of us ate much after that! I had hoped our webcams picked him up but the computer went down and didn’t pick up anything that night. So far all we’ve picked up is birds, birds, more birds, and some elk. Our neighbor picked up a mountain lion on his webcam. He walked up on his front porch! Can you believe it?


The DOW officer stopped by last week to let me know we have a mountain lion hanging out in the trees at the top of our pasture! He’s collared and they stop by all the places he hangs out if he spends more than a few hours there. Evidently, he’s been bedding down less than 100 yards from our cabin. YIKES! I’ve been walking a mile or two every morning and most evenings (when it isn’t storming). I have philosophical debates with myself every morning. It goes something like this… ”Is it better to know where your enemy is and be scared of that specific area, or not know specifically where he is but know he is probably somewhere around you?” I still don’t know the answer to that, but l’ll let you know if I come to some conclusion. Often my thoughts are influenced by tracks I see, or Maggie’s countenance, or when she alerts on something up the side of the mountain. Shudder. Regardless, I carry Mac’s awkwardly huge and heavy pistol when I’m out walking. As you can imagine, it goes a long way in making me feel safer. 

Mac and I went looking for me a new pistol once. The salesman asked what I was looking for. I told him a mountain lion gun and possibly one I could carry concealed. He said, “Ma’am, you’re talking about two different guns!” I had to laugh. He thinks I need a .40 for the mountain lion and a .9 or for concealed carry. We never did replace my old one that broke but I think I finally figured out what I want. I really don’t like how awkward I feel carrying a gun around, though. But I don’t think I’d like how awkward I’d feel if I didn’t carry it around and needed it. We both took the concealed carry class but I don’t think I’d ever conceal carry. So much responsibility! I’d just rather open carry! Mac had some guy we didn’t know coming up to the cabin to look at a ladder rack for his truck we were selling. I told him, I didn’t mind as long as he didn’t mind me having a big ‘ole .9 mm sticking out of my jeans! Regardless, when Mac is home I make him walk with me and carry his unusually bulky and heavy gun himself. Things just seem more right with the world that way!

Christmas is a'coming

I got a late start this morning. MacGyver had today off and we didn't have to jump out of bed and attack the world. My morning coffee was about 9:30 in fact. But when I bundled up to go out to feed the horses, I was shocked to find that it was already 52 degrees outside and was instantly surprised and excited. We've been putting off getting our tree for several reasons. We've had a hard time lining up several things...time, lack of snow and freezing temperatures, Mac's days off, time (which seems to be short these days), and no agenda or kids' activities. Today seemed to be that day. I almost pushed Mac out of bed. He didn't seem to want to budge. So this is how much I packed into today from about 9:30-7:00. Got breakfast, cleaned house, did two loads of laundry, made 2 roasted chickens, spent 2 hours putting 5 rim joists about twenty feet into the air, wandered around the property and found 2 Christmas trees (will explain below), spent an hour locating and digging out our Christmas trunks from the storage shed, cut and stacked several trees, finished dinner, made dinner for the next night and spent an hour cleaning up that mess. I just sat down to listen to some Christmas music and eating some of my leftover gluten free pumpkin pie which happens to be delicious. The kiddos are playing with the Christmas train and setting up the track. MacGyver is trying to see which of our lights work so he can string the tree. Whew! What a day.

So, the 2 Christmas trees. Our goal was to cut one tree. Unfortunately, the first tree we cut was perfect except for one fatal flaw...the pine needles were just that...needles. Four of the fingers on my left hand were stabbed trying to hold it while Mac cut it. It wasn't until it was cut and loaded on the truck that I began to question the sanity of such a sharp tree when nobody would want to get within 2 feet of it and I wasn't sure it would ever get decorated. Therefore, we continued the hunt for the perfect tree. This time we set out for the touch test before deciding which one was "the one". True to history, we cut a 40' tree and had to cut it down to a size that would fit in our tiny cabin. We cut the rest of the trunk, and some other brush that was evidently bothering my hubby, and he decided to keep going and spent another hour cutting up some of the other wood in our pile. We're planning on cutting up the razor tree for firewood, as well. The second tree is truly beautiful.  I think it might just be might favorite one so far. Full, round and soft. Very soft. What more could a girl want?

Being so patient waiting to go cut our tree

Both trees and some extra greenery for the front porch

Cut down to size

Izzy all excited to put the tree up

Ike trying to play it cool

So, dinner. I'm trying to go completely gluten free. I'm pretty certain I've got gluten issues. Izzy, too. I picked up 2 whole chickens that were on sale and decided to roast them so I could cook them at the same time. Normally, I would throw them on the rotisserie in our dual function toaster oven. This is my favorite way to cook a whole chicken. But I knew I wouldn't be around to babysit it. I had places to go, things to do. Plus, I love my retro roaster I picked up for something like $13 at a local antique store, The Barn, in Castle Rock. Love that place! I just love the design on the bottom. Isn't it cool?

Anyway, I tried some new gluten free garlic risotto and made some parmesan green beans, cranberry apple jello and sweet tea. Have you ever made that jello? I stole it from my MIL and I crave it this time of the year. It's just lemon jello, cranberry sauce and diced apples. You can throw in pecans or walnuts if you feel crazy. This stuff rocks. I've seen it with strawberry jello, as well. Good, too.

Obviously, we had a bunch of chicken left over (my plan). I pulled the chicken off the bone and put some of it aside for another dinner and finished boiling the bones to make some more broth. And then I looked at all the leftovers I had, the report for snow tomorrow, and all that chicken I just made and that leftover ham from Thanksgiving. And I started thinking about Brunswick Stew. I start craving that, as well, in the fall and winter. Ever had it? I'm a Georgia girl. It was a staple growing up. It is a barbecue based stew that we used to throw in a crockpot with whatever leftovers you have. I'm sure at some point in my childhood squirrel or rabbit found its way into the pot. I personally have never chosen to eat or cook either of said wild game. This is basically what I put in it but can be substituted with whatever leftovers you have (even squirrel or rabbit if that is how you roll).

Chicken
Beef
Pork or Ham
Chicken broth
Potatoes
Okra
Lima beans (not my favorite)
Corn
Green beans
Onions
Celery
Garlic
Canned tomatoes
*Liquid smoke
*Brown sugar
*Worchestershire
*Tobasco
(*or bbq sauce instead of the previous four if this scares you or you don't have)
Salt and pepper to taste

I cook it all day and then blend it up sort of chunky with my submersible blender but that isn't necessary. I make a big pot of it and freeze it for another day. Like chili, it just gets better and better. Add some creamed-corn cornbread and you've got a meal made for a...Georgia Girl. Not many people in Colorado have ever had or even heard of such a dish. They just don't know what they are missing! Yum!

Exhilirating and Terrifying

We had a family stop by after church today. They are trying to decide which puppy they want. They spent an hour or two hanging out, talking, and of course snuggling with all the cute pups. When the family left, we decided to put in an hour or so clearing scrub oak from our over-grown ATV trail. That stuff grows fast, tall and thick right before your eyes. Izzy and I grabbed some loppers, Ike grabbed a hand saw and MacGyver grabbed his trusty chainsaw. I jumped on the ATV and the kids jumped into the back of the truck and we headed into the woods. We cleared about 1/2 mile in about an hour and a half. Not bad. Along the way we spotted several piles of bear scat, some elk scat and some assorted pieces of skeleton. A leg bone here, several back bones there and we even found a piece of the jaw bone with about 12 teeth in it. We think it may be a bear after looking at the teeth! And the kiddos contemplated. What kills a bear? Other bears. What else? Moutain lions. I noticed the kids stayed a little closer after that. A little less adventurous. A little less wandering. We cleared brush, rocks, and even bones out of the way and made it up to the third meadow. Then we decided we were all hot, thirsty and getting hungry. We headed back down the mountain and back out to the road. Izzy jumped on the back of the four-wheeler with me and Ike jumped into the truck with his dad. They went up the road a bit to turn around and decided to take some pictures along the way. Izzy and I didn't wait around; we just headed home. I knew there were hungry pups that needed to be fed before we headed into town for dinner. As we were heading down the hill, I got about 100 feet from the cabin and thought I saw Tank sniffing around by the camper. I slowed down trying to make sense of how Tank had gotten out. Did the kids forget to put him up? About that time I realized it wasn't Tank. This thing was twice Tank's size. It was the mountain lion. And Maggie was headed straight for it! I called Maggie back but it decided we were too close for his comfort (or maybe Mr. Elusive just didn't like being seen) and started mosying right past our cabin into the pasture right in front of our house. Now by this time, my adrenaline was in full swing. I had stopped the ATV but was just sitting there sort of shocked. Izzy was holding on for dear life and hiding her head between my shoulder blades and my strong, protector of a husband was nowhere to be found. Remember? He was taking pictures? Eventually he made it down the hill and pulled up to me sitting in the middle of the road waving my arms like a madman. He had no idea what in the world I was doing, much less saying. I was trying to show him the mountain lion hanging out in the pasture, just standing there. As if. He hops out of the truck, looks and realizes it is still there. He reaches back into his truck to get his gun, right? Nope. The camera. What? Are you going to throw it at him? Who reaches for a camera? And then he takes off after it trying to get a shot, ooh, wrong choice of words...a picture. OH MY GOODNESS! And guess who follows? Maggie, me and both kids. Yes. Insane we are. Insane. All of us. I whispered to the kiddos to grab some rocks and instructed them if we saw him again to stand your ground, yell and scream and throw rocks at him. I think I saw Izzy's lip quiver. Wow! Supermom, I am. It eventually disappeared behind the barn and into the woods, but not before shaking up our nervous systems! Wow! Equal parts terrifying and exhilirating! We called the DOW guys that have been out here researching, tracking, studying their behavior. I couldn't tell if he was "their guy" or even if he had a radio collar on. My senses were on overdrive and I was definitely not taking notes for questioning later. He suggested we might have a fresh kill site, or that he was stalking for the next kill site. He said they will hang around for a day or so if they get a deer or up to four days if they get an elk or llama. Woah. It took us several hours to talk out the "I can't believe it...Ooh, that was scary...Do you think he'll be back...We saw the mountain lion...Do you think we should move the cat food...maybe we shouldn't leave cat food out for the little or big cats" and finally realized that was pretty scary. In broad daylight! And moved onto...I think he is stalking our dogs. They were all out just an hour and a half prior, running around, playing, doing pretty much what dogs do. And I'm sure he was just licking his chops watching and waiting for us to turn our backs. Shiver. Plus, when the puppies get going, they sound just like an injured animal with their high-pitched squeals. We set up outdoor kennels with lids just because of this very reason. It makes me feel justified. It's not out of the realm of possibilities. In fact, I think the stakes just got a little higher. I'll be double checking the gates as we close them up. I'll be more careful before I open the door and walk outside. Or let the dogs out. Or worse, send my kiddos outside on an errand or chore. Shivers. A friend of ours saw one sitting on his barn where he was heading to feed his horses. Another came home to find one asleep in his driveway sunning himself. The ranch behind ours raises cashmere goats. She's seen a mountain lion haul one of her goats over a ten foot fence. No kidding. And after tonight, I realize they are much bigger in person than I ever realized. Our new motto...Noone left behind. Catchy, huh? We stole it. It just isn't worth the risk to leave anyone out there alone or let the kids go and do whatever it is kids go and do in the woods...Freaks me out. And cool, all at the same time.

I want to see if any of the pictures turned out. Unfortunately, we left the camera in the truck and I am NOT about to run outside to get it. Not tonight.

4 Tons

Want to know what 4 tons of firewood looks like?

We recently picked up some mulch for our dog runs and part of our backyard. The Tree Guy became very interested when he learned we heat our house with wood, primarily cottonwood and aspen. Evidently, Tree Guy is a misnomer. A better description would be something like Loggerman. The guy is huge, and runs a one man show. He even has a little crane attached to the trailer he uses to load the beasties. He probably doesn't even use it. I think he could pick up a car by himself. Anyway, he wanted to know if we wanted to take 4 tons of cottonwood off his hands. We jumped at it. Free wood, already bucked...that's a no-brainer. Jackpot! So, MacGyver picked up the trailer on his way home from work. Our truck did pretty good pulling this massive beast, until he hit our road. Evidently, four-wheel drive became a necessity to get it up our road. I have never seen anything like it! The cottonwood tree was three feet in diameter. Each piece must have been 150 pounds...and they were cut in 1-2 foot sections.

I think we are going to have to cut each section into thirds just to get it into the splitter. We spent an hour unloading (or rolling them off the trailer, really), sorting and stacking by size. We have another pile of wood that is waiting to be bucked and then we'll have to rent a splitter and get serious. I think we probably have our necessary 4 chords of wood to get us through the winter. One step closer to being ready for winter! It seems odd that we were having 75-80 degree days and now it is rainy and cold. But I'm not compaining! I'm thankful for delaying the inevitable for as long as possible.

And then Ike decided he wanted to take a stab at breaking up some of the pieces. Check out the concentration! What he doesn't know is as he gets better and stronger it won't be a matter of trying it out...it will actually become one of his chores!

 

He was big man on campus!

My, My! Exciting Week!

My, My! It's been an exciting week around the Cooper Cabin!

This afternoon MacGyver's department was called out to a possible meth lab in a house. They arrived to find a bomb making house, not a meth lab. There were bombs and bomb making supplies everywhere. Then the bomb squad and bomb robot got involved. I'm glad he's "just" a firefighter and not on the bomb squad. I'm not sure I could handle him having that high risk of a job.

This morning, the Forest Ranger called to inform us they were tracking a collared mountain lion that has become a problem. He is getting aggressive and brave and a little too close to people. They wanted to let us know they tracked him to about 20 yards from our house. They asked us to be cautious and not let the kiddos or dogs get too far from us. We are hosting/taking a concealed permit class in a few weeks. It's perfect timing! And the kiddos are not allowed outside without taking Maggie, my overly protective Bernese Mountain Dog.

Yesterday, the dogs were barking. The kiddos went outside to investigate and realized the bear was getting into the trash can. Maggie, the guard dog, took off after it and chased it off. As much as a diva as she is, she makes me feel safer knowing she's around.

Earlier this week, my girl, Izzy, took first place with her 4-H quilt at our county fair. She will be sending it down to the state fair next week. We'll just have to see how that goes! I'm so proud of her! Thank you, Sandra, for all your help! I learned a lot about myself working alongside my girl.

A few days ago I tried to take off the tip of my pinky finger. I managed to keep it mostly intact but cracked my nail in the middle of the nail and bruised it very badly. I think I am going to lose it. I just wish the pain and throbbing would stop! And then the next day I slipped and fell down the mountain and cut my other hand and both of my forearms all up.

Both our laptops were down but we got one of them back with a brand new motherboard installed. Just like new! Now we need to get the other one up and running!

My chocolate lab is 5 weeks pregnant, starting to show and will be delivering in just 3 short weeks. We've been working on setting up a kennel with a top so the mountain lions don't get any of our pups. That would be terrible!

New barn cat

Evidently, we have a new barn cat. I'm guessing she's taken up housing in one of our barns. We've actually been knocking around the idea of finding a barn cat somewhere to keep the mice at bay. You would think with all the fox we see that there would be less mice. Anyway, she's been here a few nights meowing for food, (around midnight). That's just gonna have to stop. Anyway, all we had was dog food, which she didn't seem to mind. I finally told the kids about her this morning. She came back this morning meowing for more food. She is very cute and sweet and loving and is starving for attention. She is also very, very thin. The kiddos are already in love with her. They've named her Maple and I think she is calico with a little Maine Coon.

She's pretty small so I don't think she's very old. My guess is that someone dropped her off on our road hoping someone (like me) would take care of her. She's been hanging around our front steps all morning and the kids can't stand it. They are head over heels in love with her. Evidently, I need to make a trip into town for some cat food! The biggest concern I have right now is keeping my Maggie from shredding her to bits. Oh! That Maggie! She's a little protective and has a pretty big prey drive.

This is Maggie, staring at the squirrel, licking her lips, trying to decide if it is worth leaving her mama, just to give chase...

What a day! (with added pix)

Wow! What a day! We had a nice, quiet, fun family day. We did a new but rather surprising little hike. We were hoping for a longer hike but with our late start, it was just what the doctor ordered. It began and ended at a creek so the dogs and kiddos jumped in, cooled off and played a bit.

We ate our snacky packed lunch and left just as the afternoon rain was moving in. As we were leaving, a bear started to run out in front of our truck and stopped. We pulled over to try and get a picture but he decided to make a break for it behind us, climb a tree so he could get across the barbed wire fence, and took off up the hill. Sadly, these three butt shots are the only shots we got (and from my cell phone)...

After all the fun, we went home and got a short nap. Why is it that rain always makes me so sleepy? The kiddos watched Nancy Drew, we had jimbalaya for dinner with some yummy canteloupe I picked up at the Sunflower Market and then we ran to get the kids' picture IDs for 4H. The day ended with us walking our road tonight picking the brand new wild raspberries growing all over the property. Yum! Tomorrow we'll have to come prepared and bring some buckets! The sunset is beautiful and it was a nice, quiet, peaceful day. I love these kinds of days. They bring a sense of order among our crazy lives. I'll try to post some pix soon!

Traffic

This past week was full of traffic out at our place. The "monkey village", monk retreat center, just south of us finally got electricity run up to their lodge and cabins. The electric company put up a new pole just outside one of our living room windows. I wanted them to move it four feet but they didn't want to spend the $10,000. What? Don't they know it blocks our mountain views? They were very nice guys, though. They let my kiddos go out everyday and watch them trench and set the pole. It was quite the highlight of their week. (We obviously don't get out much)!!!

A couple days later, a guy delivered a truck load of gravel so we could "fix" our road. I use the term "fix" lightly. There really is no hope for it. The very next day it rained so hard it created ruts the size of China in the places we didn't have problems. So much for that! Anyway, MacGyver went out to meet the delivery guy and show them where to dump it. I looked out the window (the same one that now has a huge pole in the middle of it) and saw a tire rolling down the road. Imagine the surprise! I had to laugh. And then they couldn't find it. It has truly become a jungle back here. The kids and MacGyver walked around and looked for it after coming back to call the guys' company to come rescue him. It's nice to know it isn't always our responsibility to save these people! Ike found it down in the creek so MacGyver hooked it up to the winch on the front of the four-wheeler and drug it back up the hill. I made Mac go take a pictures for me. I just had to! There's always a story to be told and it is even better with pictures! I guess I should have gone out and taken some pictures because I missed all the action shots. This is all I ended up with but it was worth the laugh! Evidently, he found one of those rocks in our road and smacked it hard enough to blow the tire and dent the rim. You would think being a delivery driver in the Rocky Mountains, these guys would be more experienced driving on the rocky roads! I was looking at our dirt the other day and realized it looks an awful lot like road base it is so rocky!

More Surprising Visitors

We had surprise visitors last night. Can I just say how shocked I am the census people found me? I filled out my form but not having an actual address throws them off. Not even 911 knows where I live as witnessed by the recent chimney fire incident.

And then this morning, we had another surprise visitor.... He evidently likes the horse grain. It was knocked over, lid off and scattered about this morning when I went out to feed. FYI, my son wears a size 5 mens shoe (or a size 7 womens if he wears my boots). Evidently, this bear is a bigun with big claws to boot (pardon the pun)!

I wasn't sure how well all our little friends ...elk...beaver...fox...coyote...turkey...eagles...got along or that they cohabitated with our big furry friend...the Mountain Lion.

I'm just glad he didn't get into our garbage cans. There's another project...bear boxes!

Nod to the Dedication

I have to give a nod to the dedication of the census people. I think "Through Rain, Sleet or Snow" used to be the motto of the US Postal Service. I believe it has been abandoned and adopted by the dedicated Census Bureau. But it might be a little more like "Through Rain, Sleet, Snow and Mud". And here is the rest of the story...

I spent the afternoon at my girlfriend's house in town and brought her son, who is my son's age, home to spend the night and possibly the weekend. They have big plans to dress in camo and scour the trees and hills for "the enemy" tomorrow and if it dries up enough, get in some shooting practice for 4H. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a "few" things...you know...milk and bread...which turned into a $74 trip with half of it being fresh fruit and vegetables. Can you tell what I've been craving? Oh. And also some yummy ice cream sandwiches at the prodding of some young boys. I know. I'm a pushover. It rained the whole way home aaaannnnndddd... my groceries were in the back of the truck. They got wet. Really wet. In fact, it has been raining for hours. Guess what my road looked like when I got home? Yep. Mud...Mud...everywhere! I actually managed to get the whole way home without getting stuck with only the minimal sliding sideways, downhill. And I had a visitor waiting. Yep. My friendly and very dedicated census worker and brand new friend, Wendy; who was stuck up to her front axle in mud. Her first words to me when I parked and walked down to greet her..."Don't be angry, don't be angry". Apparently she has been greeted by some not so friendly homeowners in her history with the Census Bureau. I surmised she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. So, I invited her in to call her boyfriend and get a cup of hot tea. Isn't that obvious? I'm Southern. Born, bred and raised. Plus, I felt sorry for her. Evidently, she had been trying to dig out for over an hour. She was wet. And muddy. And needed something hot to drink. Ike built us a nice fire. (I'm loving that mountain boy more every day!) It's a good thing we weren't out of town or made a spontaneous decision to stop at the theatre or go bowling. So, she shed her oh so muddy boots at the front door and washed up and we sat down for some Oranged Spiced Green Tea and chatted. She told me that while she was waiting she really had to "go" and couldn't wait any longer and felt bad that she had to tarnish the area near the "Sacred Ground" sign at the Catholic Hermitage (we call it Monkey Village). Cracked me up, it did! And, we called her very lost boyfriend, and guided him to our little island of paradise via the road that is not... and then it happened...HE GOT STUCK! I had to laugh. I lauged a lot. The whole things was a little unbelievable and so funny! He had a truck, with four wheel drive and even a tow chain, but he got high-centered on the logs lining our lower road. There was no hope. I have to give him credit, though...they are big logs. Like 24" in diameter. MacGyver cut them in sections with his 22" blade (the chainsaw blade, let me repeat, the chainsaw blade :-) was not long enough. Moving on. So, he got a little impromptu exercise and ran the rest of the way down the road to the cabin. And had a cup of tea. Really. We had a full-on tea party. Mike and Wendy. My new friends. He owns a big game guide service and a fly-fishing store in town. And has fly-fishing classes on Saturday. We have a date with a fly-fishing pole. It's always been one of my goals in life to learn to fly-fish. It's on my bucket list. It might be in my near future. Yeah! So, we got warm and I outfitted him. Ha! That's pretty ironic...and funny! Anyway, I outfitted them with rain jackets and mucking boots and we jumped into my truck so I could go pull Mike's truck out so he could then pull Wendy's Outback out of the mud. I tried to gently pull him out but the mud was having no part of that so I had to yank him pretty hard and with the first jerk was able to get him off the ginormous log and down the road to some higher ground and traction. And with a couple jerks Mike was then able to get the Outback out and to higher, more stable ground. And with a quick exchange of phone numbers and a quick explanation of where on the map she was, they were off with quite a story of their own to tell. I'm pretty sure he didn't think I had it in me and would just make a bad situation worse. I think he left impressed with this city girl turned mountain girl. MacGyver, you taught me well. And you would have been proud. You know, it's MacGyver's job, normally, to rescue the stranded, helpless, confused strangers, but today it was dropped onto my plate. And I became the hero of the day in Deer Creek Canyon! Sorry...no pictures. I was a little busy. And the truck needs a bath! Sorry.

My boy is growing up

I realized this week how grown up and mature my boy is becoming. He'll be 11 in two months and this week has been a big wake up call for mom. He's almost as tall as me. He can even pick me up. He just crossed over from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. He has one more month in Elementary School and in just a few short months will be starting 6th Grade. How can that be? More than the lapse of time, I see it in other areas, too. He has started feeding and caring for the horses pretty regularly (although I was the one to go out in the freezing rain tonight). He wants more privacy and has learned not to let his sister taunt him into fits of anger (as much as he used to) by pretending it doesn't bother him and eventually she stops. He filled up my flat tire using his dad's air compressor and when that flipped the fuse box he marched inside, opened the box and flipped the power back on like he's done it 'his whole life'. He carries a wallet with his ID, library card and Hunter Safety card. He has his own .22 rifle and is shooting really well and does a great job taking it apart, cleaning it, and then putting it back together. Today he brought in wood, split some wood and started a nice fire. Yesterday the kids were learning about fuses and Tesla's coil in school and one of their assignments was to go out to the truck, find the vehicle's fuse box and report back how many there were and what some of them control. He said, "Oh, I know where some are" and retrieved a few spares from his dad's toolbox so they could study them. He's constantly reading and teaching me things and his autonomy in completing his schoolwork has improved immensely (which has always been a huge goal of mine) and probably the one gauge that I both embrace and mourn at the same time. He's growing up so fast. I've always proclaimed that although I am a mom of young children, I am raising adults. One day they will leave our little nest and enter the world as giving, loving, confident contributors of society. But does it have to happen so fast? I remember having a conversation with him when he was about 4 and I asked him all teary what was I going to do when he was too big for me to hold in my lap? He said, "Don't worry mama, I'll hold you." I cried. That just seems like last year. I would definitely say he and I have a special bond; the kind only a mom and son can have. We are buds and we love to tease and pick on each other and he LOVES to scare me...it's just something we do. He still lets me snuggle with him, read to him and hang with him but I also see him wanting to spend more time with his dad and learn all the tricks of the trade from MacGyver. He's becoming a little man and I am proud to watch him grow and find his own identity. Part of the realization is that we have a lot of things we want to do as a family before he is off doing his own thing spending more time with his friends than with his family. I guess, mostly, it just makes us not want to take it for granted and be a little more purposeful.

Here's a little stroll down memory lane...I just had to dip my toe into some old pictures of my boy!

Forecast: Bleak

I can't believe it! "They" are saying we could get a foot of snow tonight. EEK! We've made the first fire in a week or two and the rain just changed from hail and then to snow in a flash. Ick! The only consolation...A big ole pot of homemade Southern Brunswick Stew, fresh Cornbread from a cast iron skillet and a big glass of sweet tea. Yum!

Oh! What a Beautiful Mornin'

I like to sing to my kids. This is not one of their favorite songs. But seriously, it is absolutely beautiful. I am sitting on my front porch having a cup of coffee and just finished my morning devotions and listening to the music of the creek and birdies. The elk are grazing in the meadows and the sun is shining on my face. The thermometer reads 38 but because my porch faces East, it feels more like 55 and I am basking in the morning sunlight. I say it is just what the doctor ordered...she called me about two weeks ago and told me my vitamin D was low. I'm happy to comply. I'm wearing yoga pants and a matching jacket...thought I should wear something besides my pjs just in case someone dropped by. Not likely but MacGyver is coming off shift today. He would probably rather find me dressed for a change. I love how dry the air is.  The creek provides a bit of moisture but I'm surprised at how loud it is. We haven't had rain in a while. We did have a light dusting of snow yesterday morning but not much else to speak of. Unfortunately, it is time to get my work clothes and boots on. Today we have to work on getting the foaling shed and fence up. I'm glad I had a chance to 'sit a spell' and enjoy all the pretty music outside this morning.

The Simple Life

I've been asked a bunch how I feel about living so far away from civilization. Actually, we are only 20 minutes from the nearest town, but unless you have 4-wheel drive or chains (or both) you can't get to our house about 9 months out of the year, and I couldn't be happier. I love that we don't have a doorbell and all that implies. I love that I wake up to trees and horses and animals (domesticated and wild). I love taking both short and long walks and never seeing a soul. I love how quiet it is, although we do have planes that pass overhead and we always stop and listen to see if someone is coming up our road. I love being able to hear people 1/4 mile away come up our road. We definitely don't have solicitors. We definitely don't get people in the middle of the night that are drunk and looking for their home or their friend's house (yes, this happened to us twice in our last house). The only artificial light that shines through our windows is the one that gets kicked on in the middle of the night if the horses get out, the raccoon is getting into the trash, the elk is muching on the alfalfa, or the wind is blowing the trees. I love our woodstove and waking up to a warm cabin, now that we found out that aspen will burn almost all night and you should burn it when it has just a tinge of green, where cottonwood and pine is spent in an hour or two. I love watching MacGyver, my man, chop firewood and hear it echo through the canyon. I love spending so much time with my family and working side-by-side with my husband. I love the sunrises and all the birds that come out and sing in the middle of winter because the sun is out. I actually saw a bird take a snow bath a few days ago. I love how safe we feel. I love back-up plans that include a generator and an extension cord. I love Carharts, leather gloves and work boots. I love fences made from trees, and the smell of alfalfa. I love my warm comfortable bed and caramel coffee in the morning. I love fresh-baked pumpkin or banana bread. I love homeschooling and all the life-lessons, conversations, and 'rabbit trails' that make homeschooling so cool and rewarding. I love being still and peaceful. I love watching all the life lessons my kiddos are learning by 'living off the grid'. It's a simple life; certainly not for everyone. There are sacrifices but they are easily forgotten in the shadow of these beautiful mountains.

Christmas Morning

We have always loved Christmas morning. It is soooo much fun!

Maggie and I think it is time for naps, though!

We hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas!

    Christmas Eve PJ's!                                                      So exhausted!

New camo backpack and grenade!                    New bitty baby!

Shotgun Annie

So, I have to tell you this story...JD stopped by a few days ago. We had some hot apple cider and sat around the fire and talked while the kiddos were finishing up their schoolwork. JD started telling us about the lady that used to live in our cabin. They called her Shotgun Annie. She lived alone and mostly "kept to herself," he said. Evidently she was a nice lady and lived here most her life until she died but they called her Shotgun Annie because she didn't like strangers coming on her property and always greeted everyone with a shotgun in her hand. Cracked me up! Can't you just see it? Me in a pair of dirty overalls, (oh, wait I'll just wear my insulated muddy coveralls that hang down to my knees? There's a picture!) throw on a straw hat and sling MacGyver's shotgun over my shoulder? Woo doggy! Well, I HAVE been known to carry my handgun, which is a small 380 around for the animals, but people? Only once have I actually grabbed it when I had to go up the hill to meet someone at night. Once we had to go out after dark and spent a couple of hours tromping through the snow and woods to look for the colt after he got out and I wished I had it then; but I've never really thought about toting around a gun for all the world to see. What do you think? New nickname?

"The Best Day EVER"

So, I did it! The warm weather must have gotten to me...I taught the kiddos how to drive the 4-wheeler today. It is a manual transmission so I thought it would take some time (maybe days) for them to get it but they both picked it up in less than 15 minutes! They are changing gears like the pros, now. What was I thinking? Mostly that if I ever needed their help (ie. got hurt), I wanted them to feel comfortable enough to jump on and take over. Izzy said this was the best day of her life EVER! We spent hours running around the mountain and even ran the gas tank bone dry. Luckily, we had just pulled up to the cabin and we didn't have to walk miles back home! Close call!

Tough Day

I had to call G (the owner of the ranch) today and tell him he had a horse down with colic (bowel twist). I knew what is was as soon as I saw it. He had gotten out and wandered down to our place and when I went out to get him and take him back up to G's, he was on the ground, rolling around back and forth and wouldn't get up. I knew it wasn't good...and then I saw he had blood coming out of his mouth and nose and he was struggling to breathe. And when I realized it was Bud, a lump began to form in my throat. We fell in love with Bud the first day we met him. He was skinny and it took some time to get his weight up, but we had him looking better in no time at all. So, today I spent a long, painful hour with him trying to calm and comfort him. I knew he was dying and by the time G and the vet got there, he had to be put down. Wow was that hard! I think, though, that it was harder to see him in so much pain and not being able to help him than being put down. Now he is lying in my driveway and waiting to be buried tomorrow (sort of an odd feeling). Izzy cried and Ike got a little choked up, too. And so, it was a tough day; one I'd never care to repeat. He was only 12 and a sweetheart of a horse!

Mountain Lion Tracks

MacGyver took the Bobcat (see him hard at work play?) out to clean up our road last night. While he was out, he found mountain lion tracks and followed them all around the Clare House (at the Catholic retreat) all the way down the hill towards us and then it turned and went across the road. It was only about 10-15 feet from their front door. I guess he/she has been out hunting! Freaky! We're talking about setting up a webcam so we can monitor what is going on outside! Wouldn't that be cool?

Nuevo Amigos

Check out our Nuevo Amigos (new friends). The kids are learning Spanish in school. Can you tell? Ike saw this elk "lurking" behind our house this morning when he let the dogs out. I just wish he'd leave the hay alone!

And check out this fox; he ran across our street and

turned around and began watching us.

Now THERE'S a turn of events!

We saw these two coyotes hunting in a field together.

Evidently it is not uncommon but I've never seen that before!

Juvenile Bald Eagle