10-14 May, 2011 Buff'ler Hunt and Making New Friends

It's been a busy and eventful week!  We got to meet a fellow Dirttimer living north of us who introduced himself as "gonfishn" a couple of months ago.  He and his family are a good group of people.  I've enclosed a few pictures from when we saw them.

The dog, "Dicey" was energetic and entertaining.  He reminds us of our dog, Odie.  The only time he isn't moving is when he's sleeping.

A nice PVC pipe greenhouse.  We're going to copy their design as soon as we get into Kalispell to buy the fittings and pipe.

Their son is into rock collecting (and hunting and shooting and a bunch of other things as well).  He showed us some of his stash.  The colors are beautiful.

The view from their land.  Sorry no pictures of the family without their permission.

Susan taking a break during the day.  The sun's been shining nicely and we've been soaking up as much of it as we can.  Yard swings are common in our yard.  We have one on the porch and two in the yard with plans for a couple of more in the yard.  With lots of them you have the choice of sun/no sun, wind/nowind, and rain/no rain.

Ahhh...breakfast. Pancakes cooking in the skillet.  We turn the lid upside down on the water kettle and put the plate on it.  We then put the skillet lid over the plates to pre-warm them.  As the pancakes are done we stack them on the plates under the lid so they stay moist and hot until served.

Susan enjoying the morning sunshine and a cup of coffee after breakfast.  The bird cage in the background is over the rhubarb to keep the chickens from scratching around the plants.  When the leaves are still small they can dig the whole plant up.  The cage won't be needed when the plants get bigger. 

Taking down the hoop house frame so we can add compost and till up this spot.

Leftover pancakes from the previous day.  We store uneaten pancakes in plastic bags to keep them moist.  When we re-heat them we put them on plates on the water kettle lid like we did in the previous picture.  It takes about fifteen minutes and they'll be hot, moist and ready to eat.

The goat gets tethered out in the mornings.  I feed him a can of alfalfa pellets a day this time of year because there isn't much grass yet.

The chickens dusting themselves.  We got five eggs yesterday so they're all laying at least part of the time.

Susan's digging up raspberry plants.  Some of these are going to be given away locally and she'll mail some to other friends.

Two packages of raspberry plants ready to mail.

I needed to do some wood cutting so I had to get the Dodge, 1 ton pickup started for the first time since last fall.  The carburetors are always dry so I prime the engine by pouring about a quarter cup of gasoline down the carb.  In this case the engine backfired and caught the gas on top of the carb. on fire.  I smothered it out with a pair of leather gloves.  Sorry, no pics of the fire (I was a little too busy at the time!).  When I got the fire out the truck started right up.  You can crank on them awhile and they'll eventually pump enough fuel into the carb. to start but that just wears out the starter and drains the battery.  If you prime it the motor starts immediately and quickly pumps the carb. full of gasoline.  The backfire and fire in the carb. happen occassionally.  It's not a big deal if you're ready for it.  I had a fire extinguisher handy but they make a huge mess so I don't use it unless the fire gets out of hand.  Things like that keep life from getting boring!

The left front tire was flat so I got out the portable compressor and put some air in it.

It's a 110 volt compressor so I had to hook an inverter to the truck's battery to power it.  I left the truck running during this time.  It takes awhile for a small compressor like this to put 60 lbs. of pressure into a 16 inch truck tire.

We had three small trees to take down and some others left over from thinning last year that needed cut into firewood.  We needed to finish this job up that day because we have some kids bringing their motorhome up to park it there on Saturday (it was Friday).

This was the last one to cut up.  I had to drop it between two trees which meant the top was going to be laying in a batch of small trees.  Kind of a pain to work around but better than having it hung up in a lrger tree.

Friday the 13th was a busy day.  We needed to go into Eureka to get a water pump for the Cherokee.  The road is dry now so I rode the motorcycle.  Susan stayed home and got a bunch of work finished up here.  I wrote from about 6:00 to 10:00 am then got the truck ready to go.  I took the raspberries to mail them and went on to Eureka for the water pump.   When I got back our son called (he's on the fire department and county search and rescue) to tell us the buffalo had been spotted on a road about five miles from here.  The bull was charging cars on the road.  The county dispatcher couldn't find anyone to deal with the problem.  The sheriff's dept. said it wasn't their problem as did the game warden and the forest service so they called the fire department.  He's on the fire department so that's how they found out who to contact regarding the buffalo.  He called us.  We called the dispatcher then the owner to appraise him of the new development.  The buffalo finally settled into a hay meadow.  The owner was on his way in the morning and asked me to meet him at 7:00 am at the Fortine Merchantile so that was the plan Friday night.  Unfortunately, I needed the truck for Saturday and it had a load of wood on it so I had to unload it.  By the time I finished that it was past 9:00 pm and getting dark outside.  I noticed a rear tire was low and thought maybe I ran over a nail.  We checked but couldn't find a hole in the tire so I got the air compressor out and got it pumped up to 60 lbs. all the time hoping it would still be full of air at 6:00 the next morning (it was).  The truck was low on gas also so I put three gallons in from cans we had on hand here.  That was plenty to get me to the gas station to add some more.  I set the alarm for 6:00 am just in case I overslept.

This is looking over the hay meadow near where the buffalo were.

Now, the rest of the story...  Thursday evening our neighbor stopped by with his 223.  It had a stuck cartridge in the chamber so we worked about an hour to get it out.  He also brought news that the buffalo were out of the pen and down at the neighbors below us.  When we finished up with his rifle Susan emailed the buffalo's owner and he said he'd be there to take care of it on Monday.  I told him I'd go looking for them in the morning (Friday).  Which I did after breakfast but I couldn't find them. I got the Dodge running and you know how the rest of Friday went! 

When we found the buffalo and talked to the landowner the buffalo had been in the area since 9:30 Thursday night so between 5:30 and 9:30 they travelled 5.63 miles (as the crow flies ... don't you just love GPS's?).  My guess is that they had some mountain lions or wolves to keep them moving.  They had to go through one of the heaviest concentrations of mountain lions in the area to get where they were.

The nearby landowner wasn't happy with the idea of shooting the buffalo on his property.  He wanted us to round them up and take them back alive but finally realized that you don't "round up" buffalo without a large pen to drive them into and then keep channeling them into smaller areas until you have them corraled.  That wasn't going to happen in this case.  In an open meadow like that they'd either charge the trucks or take off into the woods (most likely).  While we were talking the buffalo got nervous and started to wander off so we went searching for them.  He had some friends from home as well so there were seven of us with three trucks.  The beasts were found and put down then the real work began.  Three buffalo to skin and quarter.  One large bull and two cows.  The buffalo in the picture above is the oldest cow (4 or 5 years old I think).

The bull was in the sun so we dragged him into the shade along with the younger (3y.o.) cow.

The work begins on the bull.  There were two of us on each of the two cows.

The bull being skinned with one hind-quarter cut.

The gut pile from the bull.

We used a chainsaw to cut through the back-bone.  This is the bull.

These are the knives I brought.  I used only the butcher knife and only had to sharpen it twice.  It actually performed better than the more expensive knives brought by the others.  It cut better and stayed sharp longer.  The curved cutting surface at the front was perfect for skinning.

Half a cow buffalo under the plastic (to protect it from dust) and two hides.  They weren't very careful with the skinning so one hide has many, many cuts.  The chainsaw did some damage too.

When I got home I was beat.  I was either going to lay down and rest or go shoot gophers a bit.  I covered the truck's bed and got the meat airing out and cooling down and grapped the rifle and a box of ammo.  I figured I could lay down and rest behind the rifle as easily as anywhere else.

Twenty shots later I had about a dozen gophers.  I had a stiff crosswind so the shooting was a bit of a challenge.  I missed one gopher about five times.  I started calling him the "ghost gopher" because I was sure the bullets were going right through him with no effect.  (He's still out there too!)  Most shots were in the 125 to 175 yard range.

After about an hour I was out of ammo and needed to cut up the meat so it was back to the house.  I got the meat cut up and cooling in the fridge (there's no room left for anything else now).  The dog is very happy.  I just saw her walking through the woods with a huge bone, looking for someplace to hide it from the chickens.  We had tenderlion buffalo steaks on the barbecue grill.  They were delicious. 

Tomorrow (Sunday) it will be time to stretch the hides and work on them then get out the meat grinder and canning jars.  Two of our kids are now parked on the flat below us in their motorhome.  There'll be more details about that on future blogs.

The sad part of the saga is that I will miss having the buffalo next door.

5-9 May, 2011 Grouse, Grouches and Salamanders

We're still doing a lot of spring cleaning.  I cleared off my workbench and radial arm saw.  The biggest problem was finding places to put the stuff.  Lots of odd-n-ends that need to be stored properly or I'll never find them again.  Besides her regular duties, Susan's been putting in long days doing yard work, primarily tree trimming and raking leaves and pine cones.  The pine cones, especially are a nuisance because they get in the reels on the mower and stop it.  We've taken some things out and moved other things to new areas.  The yard looks much better this year but mostly we just need to get rid of some junk, er ... I mean stuff. 

The grouse are drumming up a storm this year.  The dog caught one and carried it around for three days before eating it.  (Must like her meat "seasoned.")  Susan was moving some stuff and disturbed a bunch of salamanders.  We've had turkeys near the house doing their mating rituals (no license for me this year).  Ducks have been doing low fly-overs and we can hear the loons on the lake 1 1/2 miles away.  It's gotta be spring! 

I've been shooting ground squirrels as fast as I can find them (which is getting more difficult because the survivors are getting smarter).  We walked through the western section of our property and there are dozens of gopher burrows leftover from last year.  I need to get the numbers whittled down before they cause some real damage to the things we want to keep growing. 

I've also averaged about five hours a day writing which makes getting things done outside more difficult.     

It's still cold in the mornings so we're using the woodstove to make breakfast.  The coffee pot is on the back left corner on a trivet.  The tea-kettle is on a trivet in the back right corner.  When I get up in the mornings I get the fire going in the stove and begin heating water in the tea kettle.  When Susan gets up the water is usually hot so we have our morning brew of cocoa and French Vanilla coffee mix.  On days we have coffee I make a pot using the rest of the hot water from the tea kettle.  Our coffee pot can be used like a drip coffee maker by pouring water in the top or used as a percolator type.  We usually do the drip method.  After it's made I set the pot on the back corner of the stove to keep it hot.  Any we don't drink in the first hour is saved in a thermos bottle for later use.  On the right front corner is the skillet.  For breakfast the last week we've been making a "modified" omelette.  I mix peppers and onions with a couple of eggs then pour it in the skillet to cook. That's how Susan likes them.  Mine are made the same except  I add bread crumbs and a tablespoon of milk.  Sometimes I'll add cheese and/or sausage.  It is also cooked flat in the skillet.  It tastes like a breakfast casserole without the hassle of using the oven or making large batches.  I'm the breakfast cook.  On the left front is the water kettle.  We keep it there to have hot water available during the day.  We usually keep a lid over it.

The goatling survived the winter.  He's a little larger than last year but not much else has changed.  He likes to butt his head into the corner of his shed.  All day long we hear this "thump, thump, thump" from the goat literally beating his head against the wall.  I tether him out during the day to eat grass and whatever else is available.  He does like to eat ... and eat and eat and eat and eat.

The chickens are doing well.  Two died during the winter so we're down to five.  We get four eggs a day so I don't know if they're taking turns not laying or we've got a shirker in their midst.  We let them free range during the day so they're showing little interest in their food.

I'm in the process of putting up the chicken fencing.  I'm using poles cut on a neighbor's property (the one where we fed the buffalo) to nail the chicken wire to.  He's got some dense stands of lodgepole pine that need thinning so it benefits us and him.

Speaking of the buffalo ... The owner butchered his old cow (two years in a row of not having a calf will cause things like that to happen) so he's down to three now.   They're shedding and look really ragged.

The potato plant Susan started in Nevada is doing well.  It survived the trip home and has led a sheltered existence in the cabin since then.  Probably a good things since it's still going down to the 20's at night.

Susan's been startings some seeds this week.  Hopefully they'll grow into large, productive parents bearing much fruit.

Last year one of the grandkids found the old, cracked, rifle stock from my 338 and started playing with it.  I took it to the shop while I was cleaning and screwed on a "barrel" from and old broom and an "action" from a piece of scrap wood.  We'll see if they like the improvements next time they come to visit. 

Our first domestic flowers of the spring ... well, it might be a few days yet!

30 April - 4 May, 2011 House moving, tire swapping.

The last few days have been spent in spring cleaning.  Mostly piling and burning brush, leaves and trash plus we've had some other projects going too.  It's been raining off and on so garden work is out for now.  The night time temperatures have been in the 20's almost every night so if anything does come up it will get frosted back the next night. 

We've both been enjoying the internet.  Susan gets a lot of emails and is active on a couple of boards.  I stay up on a couple of boards and have ben doing a lot of writing.  I usually write from the time I get up (usually about 5:45 until around noon unless the weathe is unusually clear and warm or we have an outside project we need to rush on.  Susan uses some of that time to get caught up on emails, etc. and do housework.  By noon it's usually comfortable outside so we move outdoors to get things done.  When I finish my current writing project in a couple of weeks (hopefully!)  I'll have more time to work outside as well.

It's the time of year to clean the chicken house so I did that one afternoon.  One of the chickens though she should check out my work before I dumped it.

I'm getting down toward the end of the job now.  Chickens are like horses, they make ten pounds of poop for every pound of food you give them.

It would probably surprise people to know that one of the perks of home we were looking forward to is our "washing machine."  Most of our laundry in Nevada was done in a five-gallon bucket without a wringer.  This is easy compared to that.

Speaking of "easy,"  the cat has been busy taking up it's former positions around the cabin.

Couches aren't much fun unless you can change positions frequently.  And the farther you can stretch yourself out the less room it leaves for anyone else.

And it just wouldn't be home if the cat didn't give me a hand solving my Sudoku puzzles.

One advantage of the rain is that we're rapidly filling our big water tank.  This barrel will be siphoned into the larger tank to make room for more rain water.

Susan had a couple of burn piles going.  She began with sticks and branches then graduated to leaves as she raked the yard.

Most of our trees are evergreens so we don't have a lot of leaves to rake but the aspen and birch still leave a bit of a mess to clean up.  There are usually pine cones mixed in with the leaves and we need to rake them up to make mowing easier with the reel mowers.  The pine cones stick in the reel and you have to stop and remove them by hand.

We're moving the chicken house to a new location.  I pulled the fence loose and we picked it up high enough to get the hi-lift jack under it.

This picture is out of order and should be after the next one.  After jacking it up I slid a couple of planks under it, wrapped a tow strap and chain around it and winched it up on the snowmobile trailer so we could move it.  I used a large come-along for a winch.

This is the second photo in the process.  I jacked the building up and put a couple of birch logs under it to make it easier to move.  I let it back down and slid it sideways on the logs to put it in line with the direction we'd come with the trailer.  Once I had it lined up I jacked it back up and put some planks under it.

I hooked the cherokee to the trailer and went forward and backward until I had it where we were going to unload it.  Before I could do that Susan and I had to move a pile of railroad ties and cut out a coupld of small stumps.  We tilted the bed on the trailer and pushed it off to it's new location.  We had to use planks and landscape timbers to get it into position once it was back on the ground.

Tristan's tires were worn out and he wanted to put some different ones on so we swapped the front tires on his pickup.  The lug nuts were so tight he used a cheater to loosen them.

He's using my $40.00 tire machine to break the bead loose.

Now he rolls the old one over the rim off and we reverse the procedure to install the new tires.  We ended up only doing the front tires because it was getting late and the rims on the rear axles were tight enough it was going to take some real effort to get them off.