Saw a bull moose on the road about two miles from the cabin. He took off into the woods before we could snap his picture.

Me and Andrew

Me and Anna (our youngest grandchild).

I have the top sewed to the bottom.

Sewing the sole to the upper.

David and Jonathan

I tree in a tree.

Two nights in a row when the temperature got down in the low 30's so we've been covering most of the garden with old blankets, sheets and plastic.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Good thing we covered the garden last night. It was down to 36 degrees this morning. The covers need to be removed before it gets too warm out. After breakfast, feeding the dog and chickens and making sure the goat had water it was time to wash dishes. Our oldest daughter and her husband and four little ones are coming to day to look at land to buy. It was a long day with five hours in the car looking at different properties. Susan and I bugged out with the boys on the last place. By then we were only about five miles from home (on the road, one mile as the crow flies). Prices have come down on land in the last year. I barbequed some hamburgers for supper. Susan made chocolate cake for desert. Kevin and Tristan went out to shoot some gophers but they were all in bed by then. I set three traps for gophers before they got here in the morning. Didn’t catch any. Amy and I made patterns for a set of moccasins for her. I cut the leather out and I showed her how to stitch them up. She’ll have to take them home to finish them up. We ran out of time in the evening. Susan covered part of the garden before bedtime.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010
It was 34 degrees this morning. Susan got up during the night and covered more of the garden. We fired p the woodstove to take the chill off. After breakfast and feeding critters I measured patterns for a pair of moccasins for Susan and worked on them for a couple of hours. I got the tops sewed to the sole of the first one. I broke two needles doing it. I have one left. We’ll see if I get the next one finished before I run out of needles. I started on a raised bed for planting Jerusalem Artichokes. I got three logs cut down (two 10 footers and one 8 footer that will be cut in half to make two 4 footers. They’re green logs and too heavy for me to carry without risking injury so I rigged up a cart I started on (but haven’t finished yet) awhile back to carry the logs. It worked very well but needed two people in some of the rougher places in the woods. I just got them over to the right place when Susan found where gopher (Columbian Ground Squirrel is the correct name) had tunneled under the fence and into the garden. I stopped work on the raised bed to set some more traps. As soon as I finished that we headed into Fortine to mail a package and check the mail. From there we went to the Fortine Merchantile and bought some ice cream and sausage. Both were on sale. When we got home Tristan and I went walking and capped off two more gophers. By then it was time to eat. After supper we watched a movie on the DVD/TV. Afterwards I checked my traps and had two gophers to dispatch. One was at the tunnel under the fence but I saw another one near there duck down a hole so I reset the trap after dispatching the first one. Now it’s getting late. After I finish this blog I’m going to bed.