Still Got Em

The picture pretty much says it all. There are still skunks living in that hole. I covered it yesterday and I set a trap last night. The hotdogs around the trap were gone as well as one just inside the trap. But the hotdog all the way inside the trap and past the tripping mechanism had not been eaten. The little bastards are learning...Dammit!

It's the end of Summer and the big Labor Day weekend. There is a lot going on. I shall attempt to detail it over the next couple of days but I have not got the new DSL running at home yet. I'm still off line at home. I'm closing in on it. I have determined that I have a problem with the phone line I'm using. I hooked up the modem to other phone lines in the house and got a positive signal. I'm going to attempt to re-wire the line and see if that helps.

Got Me ANOTHER Skunk

I would love to say that I have them all now, but experience is teaching me to temper my bluster with some reality.

Experience is also teaching me to do this without setting the skunk off. No smell today! This guy was a bit smaller than the other skunk and a bit more freaked out. I moved very slowly as I placed the tarp over the cage and that seemed to make the difference.

Susan came to bed late last night and told me we already had prisoner. I set two traps last night because I really had no idea how many more skunks we are dealing with. I still won't know for sure until tomorrow when I check the hole I filled in and see if it has been uncovered.

If it remains uncovered, I shall then assume that we are home free from Skunkal disturbances and continue with our weekend project of bricking in the back passageway next to the Carriage House.

I will set another trap tonight just to make sure that I have gotten all the skunks. Of course, setting a trap is no guarantee of catching a skunk. Lord knows I've been trying to do this off and on for over a year. I had no luck until last week.

Annual Camping Trip

First, I shall start by saying "Happy Birthday" to my son, Scott. He is twenty-Se7en today, which is good news for him because he is no longer eligible for the draft. For other news on Scott, see June 9th, 2008 entry.

Susan and I like to camp but we don't get the opportunity very often...perhaps once a year. This past weekend was that "once".

We left work early on Friday and headed north to Sullivan lake. It's a small mountain lake located about 100 miles from home, near the towns of Ione and Metaline Falls.

We loaded the car and left town by 5:30. I had not made reservations for a camp site because I figured this was not going to be a busy weekend. Next weekend, Labor Day, would be the big weekend. Also, I could not find any information anywhere, phonebook, on-line anywhere, to make a reservation. That turned out to be a bad thing for us.

We arrived at the campground and they were full. They told us that there were some openings down the road at Millpond Campground. We skedaddled to Millpond but we apparently didn't get good enough directions. We ended up deep in the woods on a narrow gravel road as we passed several primitive campsites. By primitive, I mean they were just a clearing in the woods. No water, no bathroom. We came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that we are too old for that much rusticity in our camping lives.

By now it was getting dark and we had to find a spot, rustic or not. We found a site that was open and hurriedly put up the tent in the helpful beams of the headlights. That's a lot of fun when it's been over a year since the last ime you set up the tent. It was getting very very cold as it got darker.

I got a fire going and we cooked some burgers and commenced to drink heavily.

We got up early the next day and broke camp. We returned to the first campground and learned that there would be some openings in a couple of hours. We made arrangements for Camp Site #18 and then drove to Metaline Falls for breakfast.

As we drove down the road towards Metaline, we passed the Millpond Campground. We weren't even close to finding it the night before.

Anyway, we had breakfast at Cathy's Cafe and got some coffee for the next morning. Neither of us thought to pack coffee. We returned to our new camp and set everything up and then we let the camping experience begin.

It was very nice weekend once the drama of securing a camp site was behind us. We napped, read, ate, drank, hiked and canoed.

Upon our return, we stopped at the Pend Orielle County Fair. We spent about an hour and a half there, looking at animals and displays and then continued home

Ah, Home. It's great to be back.

By the way, we still have skunks!

Got Me a Skunk

I am victorious and slightly odoriferous. But I got her!
Look at her. She's a monster. I am guessing she weighed 40 pounds.

We have been trying to attract her to the cage for a week. I set the cage out but did not have it engaged. We put cat food out but she didn't seem interested in that.

I threw out some hotdogs and they were gone every morning.

Finally, I set the trap last night and threw hotdogs all around her hole and leading up to the trap. I got up at 6 this morning and...Ta Daaaaa.

I called my friend Jerry last night and told him to prepare. He has a truck.I placed giant plastic garbage bags over the trap to protect us from her venom. She had been pretty calm until I placed the bag over the cage. That set her off and she sprayed the bag. I didn't get hit at all but the smell was pretty damn strong. I was in the blast zone and I guess that's enough.

Jerry showed up and he just threw an old tarp over the cage and carried it to the truck.He was surprised when he first lifted the cage because it was so heavy. He thought it was staked down or caught on something. I said, "No, she's just a big skunk."

We drove her out to Seven Mile. It's a good ways out of town AND on the other side of the river. That is important. If this thing has some kind of homing device built into her, I want her walk back to be very difficult. Crossing a river is very difficult for a skunk.

We got out to a little area near the ORV Park and opened the door. Jerry used this pole saw to hold the door open once I got it up. She sat in the cage for about a minute. We couldn't really see what she was doing because she was all the way to the other end by Jerry's foot.Finally she waddled out and off into the woods. She was most ungracious. She did not stop to wave good-bye or spray us or anything. Well, if she is going to be that discourtious, then to hell with her. I'm glad she's gone. Susan is very glad she's gone. Soon, the whole neighborhood will be glad she's gone.

The Expenses Mount

Paint for Carriage House - $638.00
Labor - ? yet
Daily Feeding of Skunk to lure towards Trap - .75
The Satisfaction of Not Having To Do Any of the Work - Priceless

Annual Vine Assessment

I was sitting at my stump fire last night, contemplating all the things that run through my head, and I decided that August 20th will be my annual day to assess the growth of my viney plants. Yeah, I have some pretty deep and profound thoughts.

Starting from North to South, this is my Concorde Grape plant. It appears strong and healthy, but it is not growing at all. I am assumming it is gathering all it's strength to focus on a mighty growth spurt coming up really soon. Or it's saving itself for next year. Or I'm a really crappy gardener.













This is my Hallertau Hops plant. After a very slow start, it is growing along quite well. However, I believe it is a stupid plant because it doesn't seem to know that I am a crappy gardener.

I mean, Come on! How could you not know that?!

The third Viney plant is this Clamatis. It too started out great and even bloomed. Then, it reached the level of the deck and stopped growing. I'm not taking the blame for this one.

Next, the Sterling Hops plant. This one almost died at the start but is doing okay now. I don't think I'm going to get much more out of this plant.

The final vine in this year Annual Vine Assessment is the Gerwurtztraminer Grape vine. It is behaving very much like the Concord Vine. It appears healthy and green but it is not growing much.

It will be fun to look forward to next year when we see how much progress we have...or the final determination that I am a crappy gardener.

Finally, I would like to apologize for the sloppy layout here. I seem to have very little control over how this blog get presented. It all comes with being a crappy gardener.

Summer Storm

There was a very cool but short lightning show last night. With the sudden pressure change came high winds with a scent of forest fire. The cool air was a welcome change from the heavy mugginess of the last few days.

There were a couple of cracks of lightning that shook the house. Very Cool!

Good & Bad Weekend

Yesterday's record breaking temperature was 103 degrees. I spent the first part of the day working on a few items around the house. In the late afternoon, I went to the Little Spokane River and enjoyed the heat.

Susan had to work, which really made it a sucky day for her.

I got new lights installed on the Carriage House. I found them at Home Depot and they were about $8.00 a piece. That works for me.
I installed a dimmer switch on that circuit so I can adjust the light level. I still have a couple of outdoor outlets I want to install before the painting begins.

As seen in the picture above, it still looks like crap. I'm saving this as one of my "Before" pictures.

A Run on Glasses

No work was done on the house last night. Instead, we went to a neighborhood meeting. There was a potluck dinner before the meeting and we brought a Five Bean Salad that Susan made the night before.

We rode our bikes over I carried the salad in my backpack.

After the meeting, we decided to take a little extended bike ride around the park. I want to dump the backpack so we stopped in front of the house and I hid it behind a shrub.

Do you suppose I remembered to retrieve it after the ride? You would be right! I did not!

When I remembered it this morning as I grabbed the morning paper, it was gone.

My main suspect is the paper delivery person. That's the only person who would walk right past it as they delivered the paper. I think I'll leave a note.

What pisses me off is all the stuff I have now lost. For starters, there was the tupperware bowl and the salad, which only Susan and I ate. My new radio was in there as well as my bike headlight...and my SUN GLASSES.

That is like, my fifth pair I've lost this summer.

Skunk Wars - - Thrust and Parry

I block a hole, she digs a new one! I block that hole, she makes another.

I have decided that it is time to remove the skunk. We have had a fairly mutual avoidance relationship for a few years now. She hasn't really been a problem, and the kittens she produces are always cute and fun to watch.

This year, with the work we are doing on building under which she has made her home, it is time to evict her. I see no evidence of kittens this year so I won't feel bad about trapping her and leaving the young ones to fend for themselves.

My plan is as simple as it is diabolical. Bwaa HAA HAA Haa!

I am putting out a bunch of humane traps this weekend. When she is snared, I will slide a garbage can over the trap, place the trap in a friends pick up, and drive to the country.

Even though I already been visited by the Stumpfire Girls, I am still working on this stump. I think it would be faster to rent a stump grinder but not nearly as ascetically pleasing as having a little fire every night. Plus, I get a pretty good workout swinging the ax against the little fellow. It won't be fast, but I'll get it out.

In the meantime, Susan has started priming the eves on the deck. We have also found a couple of places around the railing where the paint was not really sticking. We used Sherwin & Williams Duration paint, which is supposed to be very good. I cannot remember if we primed the wood first when we painted last year. Perhaps I could refer back on this blog! What a concept!

Okay, in the time it took to change paragraphs, I have consulted old blog entries and found that I made no reference to priming before painting. I'm not saying we did or didn't. I simply don't know cuz I didn't say. I was surprised to see that we did our deck painting back in the first wek of September 2007. For some reason, I thought we had painted before that.

Stumpfire Girls and our Albatross

I am aware of the Cub Scouts, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and even the Campfire Girls. But are there Stumpfire Girls?

I imagine an band of roving damsels searching the urban landscape for trees that have been cut down with a stump left behind to fester in the yard. Calling upon their intense training skills, they drill several large holes into the stump and then sprinkle the stump gently with gasoline.

After a brief period of seasoning, the Stumpfire Girls light the stump ablaze. They gather round and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and sing traditional stumpfire songs. The next morning, the home-owner comes out to see that he was visited in the night by the elusive troupe of marauding "Stumpers" and is grateful for their work. He easily removes the charred stump and sends a donation to the Inland Northwest Chapter of Stumpfire Girls.

At least, that's how I imagine it.

Susan and I have a major conflict in our lives that we will never be able to reconcile. It is hard to believe that our marriage has survived as long as it has but then, they do say that opposites attract. You see, I am a PC person and she is a Mac person. I don't understand Macs and she hates PCs.

She has rarely visited this blog while at work because she has told me she can't see it when she logs on. "It's too dark" she says. I tell her that it's her damn Mac and they Suck! Today, I used the Mac at work to try and log on and...I am right! Mac's Suck!

This site is un-readable on the Mac. It is waaaay to dark and it doesn't even have the same format. I'll e-mail Susan soon and tell her that I is right and Mac's Suck!

Front Yard Blight

I had a chance to examine the area of the front lawn where I did some re-seeding last week. Usually, it's too dark by the time I remember. I do not see any sign that the seeds went to Germany...you know, to Germinate. (My misunderstanding of Horticultural terminology might be a huge part of my problem with the yard)

I guess I'll lay down some more seed and try again.

Ronnie started priming and still has some boards to replace...so the Carriage House project is rolling along. I consulted with a neighbor who knows of which he speaks, and he thinks that re-enforcing the structural integrity of the roof is not that big of a deal. He says i need to add some new cross supports to the joists and that should pretty much take care of it.

I can tell you this. That roof had no problems support 11 inches of snow last winter. I don't know if that is relevant to anything but it's a lovely fact to add to the discussion.

So...discuss!

UnVerdantsy

With all we are doing around the Carriage House, it has upset the daily routine of the indigenous Carpenter Ants. Last night, I upset them further by spraying toxic Ant Poison all over the place. There were ants running for cover and then staggering to an untimely death.

Great Sport!

I am seeing very little progress in my front lawn where I recently re-seeded. I think I may need to re-re-seed. I'm blaming the Ants!

A Look at Hops

I haven't shown off the hops plants lately so here we go.Pictured is my Sterling Hops Plant. You can see it is slowly wrapping around the post and it is quite lush down below. None of the climbing plants are growing at the pace they should be. I just have to console myself with the prospect that this is a growing year. It's similar to the concept of a struggling team just trying to get through this season in hopes that next season they will go for the Pennant, Championship, Brass Ring or All-You-Can-Eat Nachos.

Ronnie got to work on power washing the Carriage House. She said it went surprising well and she hauled away six gallons of paint chips. That is just off two sides. As I stated in an earlier post, the old paint is hanging on by the last, tiniest old paint molecule.

Now the whole building has that wonderful wet sock smell to it. That is of course subtly blended with hints of moth balls and semi-truculent skunk.

I was hoping to enter homemade beer and wine in the fair this year to try and match last years third place finishes. The deadline for entry was yesterday and we missed it. So, I will plan my recipe for next year (I have a good beer recipe in mind) and give the other people who entered a chance at the Blue Ribbon, Championship, Brass Ring or All-You-Can-Eat Elephant Ears.

Yeah, that's the ticket!

Next Phase

Okay, the main reconstruction phase of the Carriage House is complete. Next comes the power washing and subsequent destruction of old untreated wood. Because of limited time and desire, Susan and I are not doing the power washing or the painting ourselves. We have hired a friend who does this sort of thing and knows what she is doing. Ronnie is the handyman I hope to be some day.

Carriage House

A picture being worth a thousand words, here's what we did with our weekend.
Before After

I would love to say that the picture is distorted and that is why the roof looks like it's sagging. The picture is not distorted.

Lawn Wars & Obe Wan Carriage House

My last rant gave me the impetus I needed to do something about the crappy yard. I made one small step forward. I tried seeding this bombed out area of the lawn. I shall watch it closely over the next few days to see what happens. As for the rest of it, I'll keep pouring on the water. We are all set to put a new door in the Carriage House this weekend. This all started when we decided we really needed to get the Carriage House painted. The alley side of it is in bad shape. When we hit it with the pressure washer, the paint will just disintegrate off the wood. So, as a prelude to painting, we started looking at some of the things we want to do with the building, and one of those things is to put a nice set of French Doors in the middle and move the windows to where the doors were. If we are going to paint, we should do that work now.

And so, here we go!