Sunday Activities

Today's Post will be a progressive thing. We have lots to do. You might say we have a long way to go and a short time to get there. We're East bound. Oh watch Ole' Bandit run.

9:54AM: First off, I need to get some coffee and go get the truck. We have a least one load of leaves to haul and maybe a little more.

As I was leaving to get the truck, there was a squirrel scurrying around the yard and the little bastard got me in a good mood so I broke out the bag of peanuts and put a few in a tree. I left the bag by the back door and went off to get the truck.

When I returned, the peanuts in the tree hadn't been touched. The varmint went right after the candy store. I really shouldn't be surprised and I am aware that there will be no appreciation coming from the little fellow.


1:04PM: A little more! We just finished with the first load and we're getting ready to head out. We have a really full load as seen in the picture. Unfortunately, we have a couple of piles still on the ground and the whole yard could use a once over with the Suckula Five Thousand Yard Vac.

3:19PM: Well that took waaaaaaay too long. We went North to Diversified Products but they chose to be closed on Sundays. I wish I would have noticed that when I was there on Friday.

So we turned around and went all the way out to Busy Bee. I could have saved some time by going to the City Dump but then, as I have explained so often in the past, I'm paying to dump water. In these tight financial times, it does not make sense to a tight wad like Susan (and me) to pay for a bunch of wet leaves. It cost ten dollars at "the Bee" and we had a really big load.

The problem now is we are burning daylight and we still have some leaves to get up. We have decided to bag them and then throw one in the garbage every week. I'll take a couple of bags to the Valley Transfer Station on my way to work this week and winnow them down that way too.

4:35PM: The day is over as far as the yard is concerned. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. It seems I barely scratched the surface on Friday when I took the morning off. Have I mentioned how much I dislike trees this time of year?

The good news is that the leaves were dry enough to make the Suckula Five Thousand Yard Vac quite effective. The yard looks pretty nice and the leaves are up...or at least bagged. Susan made use of the Leaf Blower and I sucked up her little piles in between passes up and down the yard. We have completed Fall Yard Clean up.

Next, it is time to turn our attention inward and begin the next house project. We want to start pulling up the linoleum in our entry way. That will lead to completing the stairs.

But first, I get my reward...a cold home brew and a hot shower. In that order!!!

5:33PM: We are refreshed. Susan took a bath and I am fresh out of the shower with beer in hand. All is well, including the price of gas.
I really feel like I'm being manipulated but "the Man", whoever that may be. I know this cheap gas thing is a total illusion. It makes no sense that gas is as inexpensive as it is. Considering the state of things, gas should be approaching $5.00 a gallon.

But, I shall go along and pay the cheap price for as long as they will offer it. It could (and most likely will) all go to hell tomorrow.

One Load to the Dump

I took the morning off to dispose of the leaves. I didn't do very well. I only had time to make one load and I tweaked my back in the process. Don't worry, I'll be okay. I'll just be a walking and moving a bit more gingerly for the day.

So I got most of the leaves in the back and half in the front. That means my plans for Sunday are already set. I'll be going to the dump again. And perhaps again. And maybe once after that.

We got a shit load of leaves!

Another Weather Report

I don't have much to report here today other than the weather. You might want to stop reading now and get on with your life.

The wind is supposed to come up today but I'm hoping that yesterday's rainfall will help keep the piles mostly in place.

It was really quite warm when I went out the door this morning. My thermometer said it was 50 degrees.

I struggled with the reindeer again last night. I'm giving up and moving on to re-stringing new light.

We are moving into the Season of Window Painting. I am talking with the people I need to talk to in order to arrange painting the skywalks downtown. We have a meeting tonight. We won't start until the day after Thanksgiving. I am reluctant to even say the "word" before Thanksgiving. All these Holiday Decorations up in the stores before Halloween is over really chap my hide.

I still have lots of people to get in touch with. I better get on it.

Today's Tidbit: Another Haiku from Craigslist titled "How Stoned Am I"

Looking for my belt
searched high low and in between
found it... on my waist

Waverly Place Vinery & Wineyard

We started a new batch of wine last week. We are making a Syrah. We racked it last night. That's the process of transferring the wine (must) from the first bucket (Primary Fermenter) to the second bucket (Secondary Fermenter).

If all goes well, we will be entering this wine in various fairs and exhibitions next summer. We didn't get anything made in time to enter in the fair this year and we were very discouraged and experienced great ennui upon attending the fair and seeing all the wine that we didn't enter.

And hence, our proactive efforts as seen above. It now has to sit for about two weeks and finish fermenting. It tastes highly alcoholic right now. There is a grapey flavor followed by a phenolic bite. It's not award winning yet.
Speaking of proactive, I pulled out the Ole reindeer last night to see if I can get the lights to work. I haven't even hung it the last couple of years because the lights stopped working. I intended to buy new lights and restring the thing, but I came across this nifty little tool to help me find the burned out bulbs. I'm about half way through it and I only have one string working. My nifty tool is helpful but I'm starting to think I need to buy a couple new strings. I wanted to avoid that possibility but I figure if young Chinese children can string the thing, I have a chance of accomplishing it as well.

I haven't been able to get a hold of Rob to borrow his truck so the leaves are still piled up in the yard. The forecast is calling for more rain today and along with it.....wind. Oh boy, we will get to rake alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll over again.

Today's Tidbit: Taken from the Haiku Section of Craig's List.

Thank that Psycho Bitch

She did you both a Favor

Free now to find love

Lots o Little Piles

It was a good productive day here at the ranch.

I started by installing a rain gutter that fell down last year because I wanted to see how long an icicle would get. I learned my lesson and there shall be no more icicle competitions. All the rain we have had (1/2 inch on Friday) necessitated the rain gutter. It's right above the back door and you can't go down the stairs without passing through a curtain of runoff when it's raining.

After that, we went to work on the leaves. Most have fallen and it was time to get them raked up. I didn't have access to my friends truck today so we just raked them into a bunch of piles and I will try to take them to the dump later this week.

The problem of course with dumping rain soaked leaves is the amount of water I am paying to dump. There is a private dump spot I use for things like this because they look at the load and charge according to that rather than by weight.

The problem with using them is that they are a bit farther out in the sticks. But what I spend on gas will be saved at the dump.

I have started doing some research on Horse-Chestnuts. I didn't really know anything about these things other than I have a bunch of them. The chestnuts in the picture were gathered up in about two minutes from one of the leaf piles. They are quite prolific in the front yard. I'm going to take this little pile and see if they burn very well.

I have learned that they contain a toxin called Aesculin. It causes destruction of red blood cells. The interesting thing is that deer and squirrels are resistant to the toxin. I know the squirrels eat them but they don't eat them a lot. I think it is their go-to food when other more tasty morsels are unavailable.

I've also learned you can pulverize the nuts and repeatedly boil them into a wholesome porridge. The continuous boiling leaches out the toxin. They are also used in Homeopathic medicine to relieve pain in the sacroiliac region as well as the rectal region. If we are ever beset with Hemorrhoids, we are golden. I can't find any info with regards to burning them so we'll have to see for ourselves.

And now, I would like to present a new feature of this Blog,

Today's Tidbit:

Today is the 33rd anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitsgerald. Nobody would even care if not for Gordon Lightfoot.

Economics of Gasoline

I feel compelled to write today about the price of gas.

It has been dropping since the end of Summer and it seems to keep going. You can see from the picture what the price I paid today is. I don't think it has been this low in several years. When I stopped working for the Wall Street Journal in May of 2003, the price of gas was about $1.35 a gallon. Back in July when I was riding my bike to work, it was over $4.00 a gallon. It has dropped $2.00 in about three months.

I never thought I would see two dollar gas again. I should be buying up gas cans and getting all I can. Of course, I won't because it isn't practical. But when it starts going back up again, I'll be complaining because I didn't.

Weather Report

Wow! It's really raining. I could hear the rain coming down while laying in bed this morning. I got up and saw that it was a pretty good driving rain. On the freeway, everyone was driving a bit slower in order to be able to see.

I set a coffee cup on top of the car when I got to work in order to see how much rain it collects during the morning. A weather station that I check in with on line says it's coming down at .04 inches per hour right now. I forgot to look at my Weather Station at home to see what info it had to offer.

I'm hoping this will knock the rest of the leaves out of my trees. I would really like to get them raked up this weekend. I won't be taking them to the dump this time. Too much water. I'll take the load out to Busy Bee where it will cost me about $10.00 a load.

The radio is on and they just reported that there are power outages in Seattle and all around the west side of the state due to all this rain. Apparently, an inch of rain fell there yesterday. The forecast is calling for more rain over the next couple of days.

Weather Update: As I drove out of the parking lot to go to lunch, I heard a clunk on the roof that reminded me that I had placed a cup up there. I pulled over and was pleased to see it was still there and upright. It had a bit less than a quarter of an inch of rain water in it.

I have made a couple of changes to the Blog. I changed the template and I added a site counter. As I write this, the counter is at 007 and I am responsible for all se7en hits. Even though this blog is for us to reference improvements on the house, I am still vain enough that I want to know if other people are reading it. Nobody ever leaves comments so a counter is the only tool I have to know if people other than me show up here.

Blog Review

I have spent the last couple of days looking over all the entries I've made to this Blog over the last couple of years. I've tried to be really careful about spelling and punctuation, as well as adhering to my own special grammatical rules. I was astonished to see lots of misspelled words. I tried to correct them as I went but it became rather tedious and time consuming so I didn't get them all. Damn Spell Checker!

The other thing I noticed is that I repeat stuff a LOT! I guess I need to hire an editor. Perhaps I'll wait until it comes out in book form.

Best of all though, it really is a good record of what we have been doing. Not only with the house but with our lives. I read lots of stuff that I had forgotten about. Other things reminded me of things that happened that I didn't even remember that I wrote about. Damn Memory!

All in all, I am happy with this Blog and I shall continue to update it. I think it is time to change the look of it though. I don't know exactly what the change will be but it will be more personalized. Also, it will be something that is readable on a Mac. This template I have chosen doesn't display itself very well when you read it on a Mac. Damn Macs!

As I was walking out the door to work this morning, I noticed a squirrel up on the roof over the back door. That's the area that had been chewed up a couple weeks ago. It must have been Chewie the Chewer that I saw up there because a whole new area of siding had been removed. I pulled out the ladder and the Pepper Spray and got up there and soaked the siding and the roof as best I could. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it for a while and probably treat it again in a few days. Damn Squirrels!

Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

I awoke this morning to a new America.

It's an America were hope is alive and anyone can grow up to become President. An America where the unpopular, failed policies of the past are swept away like yesterday's wet, soggy leaves in order to make way for the transitional coldness of winter where sleeps the buds of new ideas ready to spring forth under the unfamiliar freshness of a new sun and sentences seem to run on and on and on forever without end or any chance of anyone realizing the original point that was trying to be so lamely made.

I am speaking of course, of the new chicken-wire blockade I laid down over the old skunk hole and the whole side of the Carriage House. Here is a picture with Oscar the Chicken-Wire Inspector as he scrutinizes my craftsmanship.

It is temporary measure so it is not very attractive. It is designed to get us Skunk Free through the Winter. We will lay down our new brick breezeway when the Spring time weather allows it.

Rain, Skunks and the Vermin We Elect

It has been raining steadily through the night which means that my leaves will be knocked out of the trees and very very wet. Oh well! Frankly, I'm amazed that we have gotten this far into Autumn without more rain. October was a dry month.

There is no digging. I did a little work next to the Carriage House last night (in the dark) and made it look like a sand trap. The area was undisturbed this morning. That means that I officially declare our house "Skunk Free".

Now I need to see to it that it remains that way. I'm going to get out there tonight and lay down some chicken wire. I'm not going to go through the time and effort to bury it. I'm just going to lay it down against the baseboard of the building and stretch it over the ground and then secure it with stakes and wire. That should be good enough to get us through the winter. Next spring we will put down the paver bricks and seal the thing up really good.

Today is Election Day and there will be a new President tomorrow. I am soooooooo ready for this election season to be over. The political ads are loathsome, repugnant and loaded with half truths designed to sway the mass of stupid people who don't study the issues and cancel out my vote. I find myself hoping for a good old fashioned Hemorrhoid Commercial.

As far as the Presidency goes, I'm not a fan of either candidate. I'm less of a fan of Barack Obama. I take solace in the fact that our system is designed so no one guy can screw it up too badly over eight years. Although, one could make a persuasive argument concerning Lame W.

Skunk Check

There is the possibility that there was some digging going on last night around the Skunk Hole. It was not at the Skunk Hole but further down the wall from the Skunk Hole. And it was just a little digging. It barely looked big enough for a skunk to crawl through. So I am not exactly sure what I have going on there.

I am going to properly prepare the surface tonight and then take before and after pictures in order to confirm or repudiate my contention that there may or may not be more skunkus verminosis under the Carriage House.....which may need to be renamed, Skunk Club.

On the landscaping/yard work side of things, we cleaned up all our Halloween Decorations and got them properly stowed. Plus, I made a run to the dump with $5.00 worth of leaves. That was a full pick up bed. If I don't get to more leaves before the rain comes, that same load will cost me $20.00.

I love paying to dump water.

Skunk # Nine

Standard Time has kicked back into our daily lives and I haven't used my extra hour yet. To me, it's 10:30 right now. I'm not sure when I am going to use it. Perhaps in a couple of weeks.

I am happy to say that we trapped Skunk Number Nine last night. It was an un-eventful catch and release. I buried the skunk hole after taking him to the skunk dump. I will find out in the morning if it was indeed the last skunk. If the skunk hole is disturbed, I still got vermin. If it is undisturbed, I lay down a shit load of Skunk Away Spray and bury chicken wire to keep them from digging their way back under the Carriage House.

815 Trick or Treaters

We have two neighbors who keep a pretty good account of the number of Trick of Treaters we get. We have too much fun handing out candy and trying to scare kids to keep track so we rely on their numbers. I do not believe they are off by much. Halloween was an absolute zoo and one of the best times we've had on the park.

The combination of a wonderful, warm autumn evening and a Friday night made it one of the biggest ever. We had friends come over to help us and they always thought I was full of crap when I told them how many kids we get. The are singing a different tune to whistle Dixie to today.

There were times when the line ran down the steps and out to the sidewalk. It was just nuts. I say this every year but I really mean it this year. I'm going to start buying candy NOW!

We ran through the first 336 full size candy bars by 6:30 and ended up giving out licorice sticks until 8:30 when those dried up.

I even gave out my cans of Spam to some lucky kid!

All in all, a wonderfully fun evening and a great little party in the house afterwards.

Happy Halloween

Hershey Bars..........................36
Three Muskateers.................18
Starburst.................................18
M&M Plain..............................36
M&M Peanut..........................36
Skittles....................................24
Snickers..................................48
Butterfinger...........................40
Nestles Crunch......................40
Baby Ruth..............................40

Total Full Size Candy Bars 336

Fun Size Candy Bars...........338

Twizzlers Licorice Sticks.....360

Money Spent on Candy: Couple Hun
Filling the diapers of some two year old cuz we're soooo scary: Priceless

One Day to Halloween

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I ponder drunk and blurry, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten beer, while I tossed back the results of brewing, suddenly there came a chewing, as of something gently gnawing, gnawing on my chamber door.

Okay, the rhyming is off. Clearly, I'm no E.A. Poe. I thought that writing poetry, however poorly plagiarised, would have a calming effect on me. I just had to calm down from the Damn Squirrel. Yesterday's home remedy treatment of mothballs and cayenne pepper didn't seem to surcease his squirrely whiles. I came home last night and there among more shards of siding, were smashed mothballs on the ground.

So I went out and bought some Squirrel AwayTM...a spray that allows me to soak the area with a very irritating formulation. As I was up on the roof spraying this stuff around, I caught wind of it. It was burning my eyes and making me cough. So at least I know it will keep me off the roof. I'll find out tonight if it is effective on Chewie the Chewer!

If not, we may have a bloodier Halloween display than I thought.

Two Days to Halloween

Today's vituperative subject concerns Squirrels.

Squirrels are the majority population of species living around the Park. They easily out number peoples. The whole neighborhood is a giant Squirrel City. They have Squirrel Malls, Squirrel Office Buildings, Squirrel Apartment Complexes, and of course, Squirrel Starbuck's.

I have been managing one of the Food Courts for the Southwest Squirrel Mall. I spend about five bucks a week on peanuts. At one time, the Food Court had a wonderful Squirrel Feeder. But, the Gansta Squirrels chewed the hell out of it and ruined it for all the other Squirrels. I have yet to replace the Squirrel Feeder.

Then there was the Hoodlum Squirrel that decided to chew into the soffit on the eves of the house and establish some sort of Squirrel Crack House. I had to put up a metal barrier and then replace the trim that got all chewed up. Damn Squirrel chewed right through the new trim the next day but couldn't get past the metal. I have yet to replace the trim.

I came home last night and noticed a bunch of shards of wood all over the back steps. Upon closer investigation, some low life Hooligan Squirrel chewed the hell out of the siding up next to the roof in an attempt to find shelter.

I hope he enjoys his chewing today. The whole area is laced with Cayenne Pepper and Moth Balls. The Food Court is no longer in business. The area is blighted anyway. The tree needs to come down to make way for a larger garage. That's progress in Squirrel Town.

And now, a word about Halloween.

Three Days to Halloween

I spent last night putting together a new Halloween Decoration that we bought. One of the instructions caught my attention. It said to be sure and wash your hands thoroughly after assembly as the decoration is made with lead-based paint. Another fine product from China. I'm getting close to boycotting anything made in China. The only problem with that is I would not be able to buy ANYTHING!

Anyway, the new decoration is a skeleton in a coffin. It moves back and forth and is sort of okay. I don't want our house to look too much like any other house that can go out and buy a bunch of stuff. We've tried to create our own style of scary decorations. When we do buy something, we usually try to add to it or use it in a different way.

On a different note, we saw our one remaining skunk last night. It's definitely a young one and we only saw the one, so I'm pretty sure he's the last. I'm going to set a trap again tonight and see if I can score. I better make arrangement for a truck first.

Four Days to Halloween

Our Fourth Annual Pumpkin Carving Party was a success. We were worried about the turnout but it worked out great; just the right amount of peoples.

With the party behind us and ten new pumpkins to add to our collection, we should have a mellow week leading up to Friday Night. I'm really looking forward to it. We have several people coming to the house to help hand out candy and scare children. Susan is making a big pot o'Chili and there will be plenty of adult beverages available.

I haven't got the actual count yet but I think we have over 700 pieces of candy to dole out. The first three hundred candy bars are full size. I'm going to hold back one box (or maybe just half a box) for later in the night. And I'm going to attempt to enforce the No Costume/No Candy Law. One can get candy if one doesn't have a costume, but one had better have a good dance routine prepared for oneself or no candy for you. And what kind of a name is "One"?!

Five Days to Halloween

Friday night was the annual neighborhood progressive dinner. We do it just before Halloween every year and this year was a great success. I would say we had about 35 people. Susan and I hosted the hors d'oeuvre portion of the dinner. As you can see from the items above, I have married Martha Stewart.

After our house, we went down the street to the Nelson's house. We had not met them before nor had we been in their house. We love it when we get to go into a house we haven't snooped through yet.

I was very jealous of them because they have wonderfully framed, old pictures of their house. They look like they may have been taken in the 20's or there abouts. I would love to see old pictures of our house and the people who lived here. It would be so informative to see how things looked when the house was new.

I got so involved with visiting and checking things out, I forgot to take any pictures. Except for one item at the Nelson's house. They have a beautiful little study/library that they had built. The bookcase was magnificent and I took pictures of it to reference when we build a small bookcase upstairs.

Tonight is our Pumpkin carving party. We have no idea how many people will be here. It could be eight...it could be 25. I guess we shall see. I'll try to remember to take pictures.

Times and Prices a-Changin'

Three months ago, the price of gas was so bad that I decided to ride my bike to work rather than dole out $4.00 a gallon to the Oil Companies. Today, I can buy gas for $2.96 a gallon and it appears that it will continue to go lower. I wish I was able to understand why it fluctuates so. Demand hasn't dropped. It doesn't seem like there is a glut of oil on the market. Oh sure, the economy sucks and the stock market is tanking every day. But nobody knows why.

I should be buying cheap gas cans and stocking up on petrol. Unfortunately, I'm not that forward thinking. Not even now that I'm thinking about it.

I actually considered riding the bicycle this morning. Then I saw it was 27 degrees. Then I remembered that I'm still a pussy. So I drove.

It's a busy weekend of parties coming up. We are hosting the first leg of the neighborhood progressive Halloween dinner on Friday night. Therefore, some people who shall remain Susan, are on a mad cleaning jag...and forcing me to join the jag.

Sunday is our fourth annual Punkin Party. We always put a lot of Jack-o-lanterns in the yard and so we invite friends over to help us carve. We also invite our neighbor Tammy over to serve as Judge for the many exciting prize categories we have.

But I can't write any more now. I have cleaning to do.

Anniversary Trip

We are writing to you LIVE from Walla Walla, Washington. It's the town they liked so much they named it twice.

We have been attending many wineries and sampling their products and then napping A LOT!

We have purchased about five bottles of wine that we will put down in the basement for a later date. Perhaps tomorrow.

We stayed in a private home that is available for rent. It's very cool cuz it's just like having a house. They have everything you would have at home including a computer with high speed Internet.

Time to sign off as we have to get outta here by 11:00. Then it's off to more wineries and then home.

LATER THAT SAME DAY:

We have successfully made it home after a long drive with many stops at wineries. We hit about five more wineries between Walla Walla and Pasco. In total, we bought 11 bottles of wine at an estimated total of around $300.00. Most of those bottles we are going to stick in the basement for a few years and enjoy them when they have aged properly...or we run out of cheap wine.

As I look back on the whole weekend, it was a pretty pretentious activity. Driving around to all the Vineyards, swirling glasses of wine and pretending we can taste the floral bouquets of cinnamon and berries highlighted by the rich tannins and leathery mouth feel that explodes into a cascade of adjectives.

Don't get me wrong. It was fun and we'll do it again. But it was still pretentious.

New Art

We finally added a picture to the wall up on the landing. We have been very picky about what goes up on the walls. As such, we don't have much art to display.

I was going through some of my dad's old stuff that we have stored here and came upon this print. It was in a neat old plaster frame that was pretty beat up. I took it to my local framer and she put this together. It looks fabulous.

The print is an old serigraph from an English artist named Fred Morgan. This picture is pretty typical of his style; idyllic childhood scenes. I don't think it's worth a whole bunch other than the $250.00 it cost for framing.

4th

Yesterday, Susan and I celebrated our fourth anniversary as a married entity. We didn't do anything special as we have plans for the future to celebrate the event properly.

In the meantime, we are progressing to getting the house "Halloweened" up, along with the many events and parties we are participating in for Halloween. The Halloween House (our major decorating competition on the park) is getting their stuff out on the lawn. They have a nice light display that changes to scary music you can hear over your car radio. It's a nice gimmick, and I'm sure it's very impressive to today's attention deficit society. But we believe that the low budget classic display that we are developing will stand the test of time and still look good when the power goes out. And...we're jealous!

Into the Sun

My morning drive to work is a bit difficult this time of year. The sun is just peeking over the mountains as I head east to Liberty Lake. If I drive fast, I can beat it before it comes up and blinds me. The closer I get to Liberty Lake, the closer I get to the mountain that blocks the sun. So even while it is cresting, I can keep it behind the mountain. It's a little competition I have.

Clearly, I have no reason to be making an entry today.

Fabulous Fall Festival of Fun

Sunday was a beautiful Fall day. It was 29 degrees when I got up at 7:00 to check the skunk traps. Had I caught one, I would have felt bad about making it sit out there in the cold. However, no skunk took advantage of my treats and the cages were empty. So I went back to bed.

As the day wore on, the temperature got up into the crisp and comfy 50's. We did a final clean up on the backyard around the Carriage House. We had firewood to move and lots of extraneous boards to toss or put away. I loaded up the truck with a bed full of leaves and chestnuts, plus some other garbage. I worked pretty hard but it was so enjoyable being outside that I just kept on working.

As the sun went down, I fired up the stump fire and burned a few pieces of wood that didn't make the firewood pile or the dump. It's always great to end the day round the traditional stump fire.

Philosophy 101

Today I shall examine some of the more philosophical and existential aspects concerning the state of being. Most specifically, sleeping in.

Truly one of the great pleasures of life, sleeping in also creates one of the great paradoxes of life. Sleeping in on a day you can is never as good as sleeping in on a day you cannot. I don't know what it is exactly that makes sleeping in when you have to get up so much better. You feel more comfortable; you feel more contented, even with the knowledge hanging over you that you have to get up.

We slept in this morning and made it better by creating the false urgency of lots to do today. It was FABULOUS! Now, I have to go and do lots of things.

Autumn Battle

Now that the Furnace Contest is over, we move on to a much more complex and ferocious battleground. The leaves have begun to fall and with them, the little spiky pods that break open and deposit rock hard chestnuts all about the property. Fortunately, we have only two trees in the yard that produce this vermin but they are tall and they are prolific.

I began the offensive last night when I got home from work. With the help of the Tecumseh 2000 leaf sucker vacuum, the Abrams Tank in my Autumn yard care arsenal, I captured a couple bushels of the enemy and established a solid beach head from which to unleash my wrath.

Unfortunately, one limitation to my Abrams Tank is the inability to suck up the chestnuts. It gets the leafs but leaves the nuts. Nonetheless, I got the front yard all cleaned up and looking nice. It should all be back to the way it was by tonight.

The Heat Game Grande Finale

At 5:58 PM on October 8th, the furnace was turned on, shattering the previous record by five days. We probably could have made it one more day, but I just couldn't get excited about it, having already broke, nay; shattered the record by five days.

In honor of turning on the furnace, I shall open my wallet and throw money into it.

Quiescence

It was 29 degrees when I left the house this morning. A couple of temperature signs along the way to work displayed 33 and 37 degrees. Whatever the real temperature may be, I think we can all agree that when you get down below 40, it's okay to turn your furnace on.

And yet, our furnace remains dormant.

Also, our skunk remains free. I shall make efforts to rectify both situations tonight.

Got Skunks!

As I left for work, I went out to the Carriage House to observe the situation with regard to the removal of all skunks. There was digging. I still got em!

I am returning the truck I have been borrowing for the last several weeks so I don't have any way to remove this (hopefully) last little bastard. I'll give whoever is left down there a week or so to forget about the traps. Then I will try again.

I replaced all the boards at the base of the Carriage House yesterday. I put down pressure treated boards so I don't have to worry about them rotting or being attacked by bugs. Until yesterday, that wasn't a concern of mine. Then I started removing the old boards and came upon this.
Ronnie my painter had already told me I had Carpenter Ants. I sprayed around the base of the building and that seemed to have gotten them. But when I started pounding and pulling on this one board, they were dropping out like...well, a hoard of ants.

I grabbed the spray and hosed down the whole side. I counted at least ten queens. Those are the larger, flying ants. They all died painfully and with honor.

So, I finished up replacing the boards. Crawling around on my knees, moving heavy boards into place, replace boards that I didn't get into position properly, doing that again, doing that again, hammering hammering hammering; I developed a new sense of respect for people who do that kind of work everyday. There is no way I could do that in my present condition. I'm not sure I was ever in a condition to do that kind of work. (wimp)

However, I slept really well.

Angry Number Eight

If this were the World Wide Smellernet and you happened to be viewing this blog on an Olfactotron 8000 Smell-a-puter, you would no doubt be noticing the layered fragrances and delicate redolence of Angrous Skunkalicious, more commonly known as your standard Carriage House Skunk.

I got up at 6:30 this morning to check my traps. I knew when I opened the backdoor that I had something. (Refer back to layered fragrances) Sure enough I had a young skunker, perhaps slightly larger than the one I caught yesterday and he was agitated.

If you look closely, you can see the pugnacity of his countenance and general disdain for me in particular. As soon as I held up the tarp, he sprayed at me. This time, the spray was not a glob of skunk juice but more like several smaller globs. I'm sure it hit the tarp, if not with his initial release, then with one of the many that followed.

Our proximity to the spray was enough for it to glom on to my clothes.

I took a shower once we returned and my clothes are in the washer. Hopefully I was contaminated by a mild contact high and nothing more serious than that.

So, that's Number 8 out at the Skunk Dump, rejoined with his breathren. I hope it's the last.

Skunk # Se7en

I checked the traps a little after 5:00AM and was pleased and a tad upset that I had a skunk to deal with. Pleased because I got another and upset because I got another one.

It generally takes about an hour to bundle them up, get them on the truck, drive to Skunk Dump, dump and return.

That's a substantial part of my morning when you consider I had to be at my bartending vocation at 7ish.

Anyway, all went well with this catch and release and that's all I have to say about that.

I would like to mention that we have made it past October Third without benefit of furnace. Everyday now is a record. A record to cherish and revel in and celebrate there upon..of it...
and thereby unto forthwith.

Go to www.lawyer.com for translation.

Driving in Spokane

Somewhere in this town, there is a heavy set, middle-aged Italian looking woman telling everyone in her office about the ASSHOLE that wouldn't let her on the freeway.

Well Madam, I think you should discover the wonderful magic that occurs when one employs the use of ones turn signals. Had you done that, I would happily move over a lane and let you in. Since you did not take advantage of this STANDARD EQUIPMENT found on EVERY CAR EVER MADE, I did not feel obligated or inclined to move for you.

It is unfortunate that she was unable to see the joy on my face from the brief tongue lashing she gave me.

In other driving related matters, the city has just finished installing three Photo-Red intersections around town. A camera snaps a picture of the intersection every time the light turns red. If there is a car in the picture, the owner of the vehicle gets a ticket for $124.00. One of these intersections is one I drive through every morning on my way to work.

Yesterday, the light turned to yellow as I approached the intersection. There was a split second there were I was going to go for it, but then remembered the camera. As I waited for the light to turn green, I remembered hearing on the news that they are giving warning tickets for the first month. The ticket will be for real starting November first.

I want one of these warning tickets. I would like to see the picture. I would like to see my car in the picture. I would display it proudly on my refrigerator.

As I approached the intersection this morning, I knew I was in that zone where the lights are about to change. Unfortunately, they changed on me a block too soon.

I was sooooooooo pissed about missing the opportunity to get a Photo-Red Warning ticket that I blocked this heavy set, middle-aged Italian looking woman from getting on the freeway.

Skunks and Electrical Current

The traps were undisturbed. The hole was not. Therefore, we still have a skunk(s). I'm going to have to switch bait because the hot dogs were undisturbed as well.

The Carriage House painting project is coming along. If the weather holds, it should be completed this weekend. That being said, there is no way the weather will hold.

I have been doing a little project the last few days, installing an outdoor electrical outlet on the front of the Carriage House. As I look back at the evolution of this simple little project, the delays caused by changing my mind and/or not having the right parts has turned a one hour project into a week long comedy of Fubars.

First, I planned to mount a big ol' clunky Weather-Proof box to the outside of the Carriage House. Then it occurred to me that I have total access to the wall and I could mount a recessed outlet with a Weather-Proof face plate; a much less clunky option.

I cut the hole. I ran the wire. I could not find my GFCI outlet. That meant I had to go buy one and that could wait until the next day.

I purchased my outlet and got it wired and screwed into the box. My Weather-Proof face plate did not match the screws on the GFCI outlet. That meant I had to go buy one and that could wait until the next day.

I have now purchased the correct face plate. I will screw that into place before tonight's big Vice-Presidential debate. I will also try to finish up the wiring but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will need to buy something and then that will have to wait until the next day.

Adventures with Skunk Number Six

I knew there was at least one more skunk living under the Carriage House. The telltale signs of digging around the west side of the building were all the evidence I needed.

So, I once again set out two traps. I move them to different spots every night in hopes that the skunk will not recognize the threat if it's not there the next evening.

I took a hotdog and broke it into three pieces. One goes right at the entrance, another just before the trip plate, and the biggest one goes past the trip plate.

And then, I went to bed.

I awake every day at Oh Dark Thirty with only three things on my agenda. Eat Something! Eat Anything! Eat Everything!

Don't take me for pig. I have waaaay too much fur for that. Besides, I'm discriminating. There is a back porch near here where they serve these hard crunchy kibbles. It's not bad when you have a tough night of foraging, but that's usually the last stop. On a good night, I'll come upon a mouse. I looooove to eat dem mousies!

On this particular night, I walked out the door and right away caught a whiff of something that wasn't me. I followed the smell and discovered this cold little mouse shaped thing that tasted like every kind of meat in the world rolled into one. It was soft like a mouse and tasty like a mouse but without the horrible struggle.

I finished that off and saw another just over there. As soon as I finished that one I saw a great big one just a few inches away. I snarfed it down and...what was that loud bang.

The alarm went off at five. I managed a couple of snoozes before getting up and going down to check the traps. At this time of the morning, I hope to find empty traps because that means I can go back to bed for another hour or so.

It's October now so it is still pretty dark at this time of the morning. I turn on the porch lights and check the first trap. It's empty. I'm half way back to bed.

The second trap is around behind a shrub. I stroll over and peek around the bush.

This sucks! It seems like I've been sitting here for hours. I can't dig through anything and I can't find the door I came in. And now there's a bright light coming from over that way. I can hear some noise but I can't see anything.

It sounds like something is coming this way. I can see a shadow. I can see...I can see a .....

Oh, it's one of those annoying hairless pink things. My God, they are a scourge. They walk around above my home all day long making lots of noise and acting like they own the place.

It's making some loud noise and jumping up and down. Jeez that thing is disgusting. I should nail him just for general purposes.

"SCORE!" I yell, hoping I didn't say it too loud. The skunk is a young one. He seems pretty calm. That is always a good sign. I dash upstairs and announce to Susan that I am off to the Skunk Dump. She asks a couple of questions in her sleepy voice and tumbles off back to sleep.

I go out and get the truck ready. I grab my protective tarp and return to the scene of the skunk.

Okay, now this hideous pinky has inflated himself into a giant blue square. He's walking up to the cage and making his stupid noises. I just sat there and watched him as he came closer and closer. I wanted him to be nice and close when i turned my ass towards him and let him have it.

But then, the blueness fell over me and I couldn't see the pink thing. My whole world started shifting and shaking and suddenly I could see the ground below me moving. This went on for a little bit until the ground became metal and stopped moving. I heard a bunch more noises going on all around me outside of the blue.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble like thunder when it rains. There was a bunch more shaking and then it's like I'm swaying back and forth and all over this little blue space.

I got the cage into the back of the pickup truck and moved the tarp around it so it wouldn't blow off during the trip.

I fired up the truck and we drove to an undisclosed location I like to refer to as the Skunk Dump. It's about ten miles away and definitely what one would consider "rural".

For what seemed like a lunchtime, I was swaying all over the cage as the loud rumbling rumbled.

When it finally stopped, I could hear the pink thing walking around. Suddenly, the blue square moves away and there is an opening. I rush towards it but stop just short of going out. Is this another trick? I don't recognize the smells, sights or sounds of this area. Screw it! I'm going!

When we got to the Skunk Dump, I gingerly pulled the cage from the back of the truck and placed it on the ground. I reached for the door and prepared for the skunk to bolt for freedom. This guy was wary of freedom and kind of waited a bit before waddling across the parking lot and into the brush. He clearly had no idea where he was going as he was traversing all over the place.

Having taken care of my part of the deal, I got in the truck and drove away.

Holy Shit! Where am I? None of this looks familiar. What the heck am I going to do now. i've been separated from my family. i'm out here in unfamiliar territory. I'm going to go spray that pink thing.

Hey! Where'd he go!?!

(This post is a work in progress and I reserve the right to add and edit as I see fit)

Skunk Number Six

Unsatisfying Skunk Trapping

It appears that we still have unwelcome smelly guests under the Carriage House. I blocked the entrances pretty darn well last night and it looks like they managed to squeeze through one little opening. It's hard to tell that it was disturbed. There wasn't much movement of the rocks I placed. I'm thinking therefore that it is a young skunk...still pretty small, like the second one I caught yesterday.

Tonight I will construct some major blockage and see what happens.

The traps I set were not touched. All the hot dogs I set out were uneaten. They probably need a day or two to forget the trauma of seeing their family members trapped. Then they will be back for a meal.

Back in the Internet Saddle Again

I am pleased to announce that I am back on-line @ homedotcom. It has been two months since I switched over to DSL and I have not been able to access the internet in that time.

I had to replace the phone line. I had to disconnect some other stuff. But it essentially involved my being a lazy-ass. I finally got around to calling my internet service tonight and they very helpfully and professionally guided back onto the super highway of knowledge and mis-information.

It's great to be back!

Skunks, Punks & Blowing Chunks

Other than skunks, the title has nothing to do with today's subject. I just loved the rhythmic flow.

I trapped two more skunks over the night. These are skunks number four and five but they are the first to both be trapped on the same evening. My guess from the looks of them is that it was a mother and a youngun. That means a whole new family moved in after the last three were removed. I gotta get that thing buttoned up. From here on out, skunks get trapped with hot dogs. That appears to be my best bait.

The catch and release went quite smoothly. I got up at five to check the traps. I was thrilled to gaze through the darkness at sprung traps. It was an awful lot darker today than in the past but that may have worked to my advantage. They couldn't see me as well as so couldn't spray me.

The only question now is, how many more are under there? I will try again tonight and see what we get.

Speaking of under there, I would like to focus on "there". "There", of course is the Carriage House. Great progress was made yesterday as seen in the following photographs.We are quite thrilled with the outcome so far. The doors will eventually be burgundy like the beams above. The trim will be cream and we will accent it here and there with the burgundy. It has taken our painter weeks of prep to get to this point. It took her an hour and a half to paint this side of the building.

She still has some prep work to do on the other three sides but we are getting close to completion with this project. Good thing too because it is cooling off and turning into winter.

Not immediately though. The forecast for the next few days calls for warm and sunny. It's about 75 degrees right now. This means that we have a shot of breaking our Furnace Record. October third is the date to beat. Five days to go!

With just over a month to go, the Halloween Hoarding has begun. We are about half way to our Full Size Candy Bar Quota (300) and about two thirds of the way to our Fun Size Quota. (400 and up)

The picture above does not do justice to our current cache of chocolaty sweetness.

Friday Night in the 50's

Last Friday night, Susan and I went to a Mystery Murder Dinner. It was held at the Corbin Senior Center, an old church down the road from us where much Senior and Neighborhood Activity transpire. Susan was very excited about this event. It was to be about a murder based in the 50's and they offered "Prizes for Costumes". It said that in the flyer. The flyer also led us to believe that it would be a Barbeque in the parking lot and then the murder would take place.

We both enjoy the dress up so we planned our costumes. Susan bought a poodle skirt and even sewed a new blouse with a Peter Pan collar. I wore jeans, biker boots, white t-shirt, leather jacket, sun glasses and a big poophy Elvis wig. We looked like the Cats Meow.

Because it was at a Senior Center, dinner was set for 5:00. We arrived a bit after five and found no barbeque going on in the parking lot. We walked around to the front and into the main hall crowded with people...none of whom chose to dress up.

We ended up winning $25.00 by default.

The Thermostat Game

The days are fast approaching for the start of the new season of "The Thermostat Game"!

As you will recall, "The Thermostat Game" involves the exploration of seeing how long into the season I can go without turning on the furnace, an ancient behemoth nestled deep in the bowels of the house. This gas-fired boiler looks more like a small locomotive than the heart of our overall total warmth & warming plan.

In 2006, the debut season for "The Thermostat Game", we made it to September 16th.

Last year, we got into the third day of October before we caved in.

So right now, we are closing in on midway betwixt the two. You can feel the excitement building.

Out with the Skunks, In with the Hedge Toads

Something else has moved under the Carriage House. I blocked the openings last night and they were opened up this morning. I assume it is a skunk since that's what I had under there before. But, it could be raccoons, rabbits, weasels, weavals, feral cats, or Hedge Toads. Whatever it is, it was not attracted to either of the two traps I set last night. Of course, I don't think Hedge Toads would be interested in cat food.

I'll just keep setting the traps until I get something.

In the meantime, we are proceeding with plans to put down paver bricks in the area of the skunk holes. Whatever is under there has a few days left before we start blocking them in. That should smell flagrantly fragrant, a decomposing family of dead Hedge Toads.

The Death of Ella's

Summer has been sticking around. The weather has been great and it looks to maintain its greatness for a few more days.

We attended a sad memorial on Sunday for a local nightclub we have liked but not gone to enough. They auctioned off everything from CenterStage and Ella's Supper Club. It was a very cool place where they did a lot of dinner theatre. It was never well attended and they finally closed in August.

The Theatre and Jazz Club were located in an old building downtown. They had lots of cool old furniture in the place. Even though we don't need any furniture, we decided to go check out one last time. We ended up buying a fog machine which will be very cool for the yard for Halloween.

A Variety of Items

I have many items to bring up today. Here is the outline.

First, my lawn sucks.

B) I am a Neighborhood Organizer!

Lastly, I am being inundated with unwelcome advertising.

Let's start with the lawn.
This is Hector, my Lawn Boy. Hector doesn't like it when I call him my Lawn Boy but that's tough. Hector mowed yesterday. He's had a pretty easy summer on my lawn because it's in such bad shape that it hardly grows. He'll probably have to mow once more this season and then that will be it.

Hector often complains about how dirty he gets when he mows my lawn. When he dumps the grass, there is a great deal of dust and it wafts over him. There is a great deal of dust because it appears that dust makes up a good portion of my lawn.

There are something like 28 designated neighborhoods in the City of Spokane and each of those neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Council. I started attending the monthly meetings of the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood when we moved in. I wanted to know what was going on in the area.

My participation has blossomed into a position on the Council. I am the Vice-Chairman. I am currently into my second year as Vice Chairman.

The job of the Vice-Chairman as defined by how I have done the job is to do nothing. Attend an occasional meeting. Actually lead one. Beyond that, I haven't really contributed much other than showing up...and that's three quarters of the battle.

Next May, they will be asking me to be Chairman and I might decide to do it. But only for one year. By then, the Mayor's race will be starting up and I'll be ready to run for that. Or Vice President.

I must say that I am embarrassed by our sign. I work for a sign company and we have a council sign that was done by a Fourth Grader. I'm going to wrangle a donation out of my boss.

Finally, the radio in my car has a feature that displays the song being played over certain FM Radio stations. One station, "Bob FM", has gone a step further. In addition to displaying the station and the song playing, it also let's me know that there is a Fall Tire Sale going on NOW at Les Schwab.While I must admit that I find it a very clever way to hit me with another bit of advertising, I also find it unseemly and Orwellean. Soon, they will be beaming stuff right into my head.

Yeah, like they aren't doing that already!

Carriage House Painting Project

Time is running out for this season as far as painting things outside goes. Our painter has had several issues in her life that has kept her from working on the Carriage House. She is now back for the most part and really trying to get things completed.

She is right in the middle of the worst part of the job. She has already power washed the whole building. Now she is scraping and then painting on the primer as she goes.

She made good progress yesterday and since nothing else is happening around the house, I thought I would highlight it here.

We had a small stumpfire last night. Not only did the stump get burned down a little more but we managed to burn some debris in the yard.

We continue in the Skunk Free Zone. I don't notice any big difference without them except that they hole is not appearing every morning. Beyond that, they never really bothered me that much.

That is not to say that I'm sad they are gone or I regret re-locating them. They were never that destructive or much of a nuisance...at least to me. My neighbors may have a different opinion.

Still No Skunk

The skunk hole and the area around it are still undisturbed as of this morning. I am really beginning to believe we got em.

Skunk Free Zone

The evidence tells me that I have removed the last skunk. The hole was not unburied this morning.

We caught what I assume to be the last skunk yesterday...and he was a hand full. Perhaps I should say he was a nose full.

I got up early to check the traps I had set. I set them every night of this Labor Day weekend but I only got lucky on Monday. We had a skunk. He was very active, routing around in the cage and trying to dig out. Good luck with that, bud!

Susan got up to watch the festivities. As I approached the trap with the tarp spread in front of me for protection, he sprayed. I have never actually seen a skunk spray before. It was not like a cat with a focused stream. It was a big glob of yellow goo that didn't go too far. It didn't have to hit me for me to smell it. It was bad.

I got the tarp over the trap and carried it to the truck. That was all pretty uneventful. He might have sprayed again. By then, it didn't really matter as the whole area was enveloped in odious olfactory sensations to bewitch and beguile.

We drove him out to the release spot, opened the door and he was gone. There was no waiting period like with the others. Hopefully, he will reunite with his brethren and the will live long, happy, smelly lives out in the wild.

In the meantime, the trap is sitting in a garbage can full of bleach water. It does not seem to be taking the smell away.

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.