March 3rd snow and no power

March 3rd, snow and no power. Snowed all night and most of the morning. Suns coming out now and things are melting. Since I had no power or phone and going outside looked way cold I stayed wrapped up in my down bag looking out the front door. Three male turkeys just arrived and look very hungry. They must have been burning a lot of calories. I’m sure the squirrels and little birds have done the same. I put out seeds under the picnic table so the little birds feed and it’s working out good for them.

I’m going to have to remind the phone people to finish what they started because my phone hasn’t worked for a week now. So far since November I’ve had about 3 weeks of service. What gets me is the phone company thinks I need to pay for service I don’t get. Isn’t that just like a corperation.

March 2 2006 snowed

March 2, 2006 snowed last night. It’s news time and the snows almost melted it’s in patches here and there. I took a cold walk around and found several large branches that broke last night from the weight of the snow. Two willow trees lost three large branches that were budding. The squirrels and little birds were eating all day. I saw some young squirrels I haven’t seen before. They could have sat in the palm of my hand. Life’s hard in the forest. I think I found the rest of the body of the Cooper Hawk. I think the cold weather did him in, I’m going to miss seeing him flying around here. The creek is flowing rather good and so are the hills. I haven’t been down the hill to see where my creek joints the other creek yet but I’m sure it’s really moving. It’s to bad that the snow is coming in spring and not winter. Now the snow pack is melting with the rain so the snow doesn’t get to soak into the ground. From what I’ve heard that this area used to get a couple feet of snow that would stay through the winter. Want to hear a good joke? People are buying $500,000 dollar houses below sea level in the Sacramento delta.

Monday March 6 2006

Monday March 6, 2006. Waiting for the storm. Sun has come in and out over the morning. Lot’s of young squirrels zipping around playing “chase” and “dare ya.” It’s a squirrel version of follow the leader. They keep testing themselves to see what they are possible of doing.

Doesn’t look like I need to worry about snow from this next storm but the weather people don’t read it right some times, you never know.

Saw the “flicker” today again, three days in a row.  Very aggressive when looking for bugs, no loose piece of bark left unturned.

I need to get outside, feed the birds and squirrels, turn the antenna around, get cat food and get ready for tonight “24.” Not before I have more coffee. Just not ready to get in the cold damp air, my bones are telling me not to.

Okay, got a lot done. Dinner??? What to do…  Backs doing it to me having a lot of pain standing. News, the evening break, time to lie down and make it count.

Feeling rather cold in the house. Pledge break on News Hour.

One hour before “24,” deer are feed. skunks are feed.

Chicken tonight; guess who’s getting the scraps. All three guys are here checking out the new cat food. They also look like they better eat because something bad is coming.

Got about an hour of phone service yesterday.

Was looking at the deer yesterday. Two youngsters a dark one and a tan one both male. As I looked out the door at them I was reminded of Hank Hill’s neighbor Lu talking to hank but it was the deer talking to each other. The little brown deer kept saying to the other deer, “You hillbilly deer, look, look it’s human.” Tan deer, “relax dude Bob’s cool.” I found out there is two type of deer, black tail and mule deer.

Skunk fight, break up all sore of wild things. Only rules here no fighting or eating your neighbor.

No snow yet so I don’t think there will be any. I saw an area up the mountain on TV and it had fog. So moistures in the air and it’s about freezing.  

Tuesday March 7 2006

Tuesday March 7, 2006 hale! And a lot of it. No driving today. In the last few minutes it’s been haling and now the place is covered white. One squirrel is avoiding the weather on the porch, just eating seeds like nothings happening. Turkey’s got his head facing into a bush. As fast as it started is done. The sky is looking brighter then it was, still gray but brighter. Hearing rumbles of thunder. I was under the impression that we were going to be drying out for a few days. I think I like when it snows better it’s a more quiet type of event. Yup, it’s cold outside and now everything is dripping. Through out a couple pound of sunflower seeds. There’s a few birds trying to dig out seeds on the picnic table. They can see the color distortion under the hale and that’s where they start digging. The creek looks real nice with the blanket of white meeting the water.

News has past and now for CBS’s new show. Smells like a skunk passed gas and it lit on fire. Sort of smells like burning plastic, the skunks don’t even like it. Had a couple stray skunks coming over along with the cat. Was hoping to see the raccoon.

Oh darn it’s so cold in and out of the house. Just have that low-pressure type feeling and the start of a headache. Weather people said it might snow. I’m in for the night no more going out t o night. Did laundry today nothing like the feel of warm cloths.

Sunday March 5 2006

Sunday March 5, 2006 waiting for the storm. Turkeys and squirrels have been here all morning and afternoon eating and cleaning making sure that everything goes right in this next storm. They look serious about this storm like they did before the last snow, I watched one of the young male practicing his fighting moves like a dancer would test his choreography. The winds been gusting, I heard a warning for Napa earlier. Ground so wet water is running out of every gopher, mole and ground squirrel hole. Ant’s are moving to high ground, my kitchen. I see the male turkeys are under a large ponderosa tree sort of in the shadow of the tree. Can’t see any hens, they’re doing military maneuvers getting to get out of the wind and weather somewhere. I was looking at the direction they have been going and it low shrubs.  Always wondered what they might do in harsh weather. Whether they would still roost in the pine tree at night with these winds.

I’ve noticed that the turkeys are separated by age with the youngest in the center. Then it’s the mothers older young males then the old males. There’s one young squirrels rocketing around the trees, I hope he’s not lost. This little one has just left the nest in the past couple days.

Getting dark now and the deer are coming in along with the storm winds.

Phone just came one. Try e-mail.

The deer were here

The deer were here earlier; I had to sit with them so one of the deer with antlers wouldn’t push them around. There are a couple guys still with antlers and now they think they are top deer on campus. Big Buddy is just the best father and leader of the herd. Even when Buddy had his antlers he was so gentle with the younger deer. I saw one deer creep up to Buddy he was so scared. Buddy locked antlers with the youngster and they began pushing. Buddy started pushing and it was a cakewalk. He stopped and started backing up and let the little deer win. It was his son and looks like a miniature Big Buddy. Little Buddy has the same personality as Big Buddy too. Buddy’s getting old and one day he won’t becoming here. I was worried when the mating season started because he took off for about three months.

Tonight I sat outside with the deer for about an hour. Even challenged the deer with the antlers because he was being a bonehead. One of the little girls seemed to be getting picked on by everyone. I was sitting down and she came over by me, I think she felt safe. She sure looked happy and seems to perk up being there. I don’t mind them eating the forest because I won’t. Summer is great for them I have all sort of fruit for them. I think going out with a deer and getting apple out of the tree for him is the coolest thing ever. Having a deer follow you or you follow them it show me how they can reason. The thing that amazes me the most is the family that they have. I can tell that the herd has three type of main marking. When I first moved here, they were just a deer, I could tell anything about them. Now I can see a foot and tell which deer it is.

I came in when I saw the first skunk sniffing along. I had a couple of George Clinton’s family show up. Not George himself if their tails, it looks like George Clinton hair. Pooh-key the medium sized skunk really was chewed up. He’s got a bald spot and teeth marks. The teeth are spread rather far apart so I know it wasn’t another skunk. Stinkers run off when he sees any other skunks. Seems everyone want to bit on him. The raccoon just butts in and eats the cat food without to much worry.

It still amazes me when your nice to any animal they will be nice to you. Sure I have that alpha male type personality and that doesn’t seem to matter to much. Even the turkey, squirrels, skunks, raccoons all seem to turn out to be very friendly They don’t seem to be wild at all even though they are.

What a day

What a day. I laid down on the heating pad and was watching the snow fall and it made me so tire. I close my eyes for a second and next thing I know it 7PM. Little Buddy was digging through the snow for something to eat. Poor little critters, having to deal with this snow. Well it’s mostly gone now. I’ll know better how the night shift did later this evening. Was sort of nice being out in the falling snow just a bit cold for this not so young body. Not sure if this storm is over yet but it sounded like the storm was going to be here a couple days then nice weather. Then again it changes hourly and you can believe any of the long-term projections.

Well dinner calls. Time to wake up. COFFEE!!! Nice warm coffee.

Snows almost melted

Snows almost melted. It’s 34 degrees at noon today Saturday and my phones out again. It worked for a couple minutes but now it’s dead, no static at all. Have two brave squirrels here eating. It haled here for a few minutes with the sun out. The sky is darkening and looking menacing. Snow level was down to 1500 feet. Radio said it’s going to get up to 50 degrees today but not here.

Had a good down pour of hale while the phone guy was here fixing my phone. Yes it works again. I can’t believe it. There water and I can use the phone. Well it’s raining, no it’s snowing it’s… the sky is falling and the ground is turning white.

Feels good to put on “the boots.”  I can only were these in real cold wet weather or a long distance hick up the side of a big rock. Amazing, I bought these boots in 1972 and still haven’t wore out the soles.

I’m fascinated at the little birds feeding. They look a little rounder and puffed up with the cold. My turkeys took off. I think they are under trees somewhere. Mrs. Squirrel is hunting for seeds on the picnic table. She scraped the snow off to revile the sunflower seeds. There’s another squirrel coming down the tree. It sure takes the squirrels a long time to see if things are safe.

Snowing again too warm to stick right now. Well spoke to fast here come the fluffy chunks of snow. It’s not a white out just soft clumps of snow gently falling.

Started off a cold

Started off a cold dark day and got colder. Snow began around 5pm tonight. Phones out again as soon as the snow started. TV reception is flaky the antenna is gathering snow. Poor critter are hating life, I can see they are fighting over food being to close or the way another deer looks. There’s more than enough for everyone if they just slow down. I can see that they’re cold and confused with the snow. I left the corn bin open on the porch. I know Buddy know how to get on the porch. The white covering over everything looks rather nice to a point. Sure it makes a nice post card but you don’t want to lay in it. I saw one of the skunks and he didn’t look so happy getting around this weather. Sure they have fur but they still get cold and have to look for food in any weather. What a hard life. Seeing the deer in the daytime I get to watch how happy they are to be alive. When I was out earlier it didn’t seem to cold but when I came back in the house my glasses fogged up. This last time I was outside with the deer it was rather cold but then I was in a tee shirt and long johns, which isn’t the brightest thing to do. I heard a large crack, which sounded like a large branch racking from the weight of the snow. I’m glade I parked the car in the road so nothing can fall on it. When I went to the car a couple hours ago there was at least two inches of snow on the car. If I didn’t know better it sort of looks like it’s a little foggy out. Snows still falling but not as much as it was earlier.

Well Rummy’s on Charley Rose. I’m going to have to watch this to see all the lies. Besides my back is killing me and I need to lay down for a bit.

The boys are loosing

The boys are loosing their antlers. Mr. B only lost one and it looks sort of lopsided. He’s still the gentleman deer, always walking so proper and upright. You might even say he’s a bit snobby. There was two new baby girls come through without their mother. Mom must be raising some new bambi’s. Little Buddy didn't want them around here or at the table to eat. I think they were male and never had antlers. It looked like they had bumps but that could have just been their marking. They were very dark brown with a bark face. There was almost no white at the tip of there noise. Little Buddy is light brown with two unique white spots on his neck. Most of the deer that come here have one white spot under their chin. I sure find them amazing. Why they like the new bale verses the old one amazes me. The old one is next to the new one and is half the size of the new one but they don't want it. I think it ha something to do with them tipping their heads. They feel safer at certain level although they will reach to the ground if they have to. Maybe it's about the way they have to spread their front legs to eat on the ground. I found that I could leave the bottom piece of string on the bale so it holds together while they kick on it and it doesn't fall all over. They sort of take bite off like they are biting beef jerky.

The skunks were here until I stepped outside. I think Clinton damaged one of his eyes in that fight the other night. Out of all the stuff they eat sunflower seeds have to be their favorite. Chicken is always good then it’s the cat food. Feeding them by hand had to be the biggest kick. I don’t recommend that to just anyone unless you have a rap or with them. Well Clinton’s back having more cat food.

The raccoon family seems to disappear. Not sure if they’re sleeping the winter away. I wonder where they do go when they are all together. Do they have some sort of home base?

I spoke to soon, one of the kids are here. I don’t see it as them taking food from the raccoon but Clinton did. He had his tail in the air and the gland was puckered. Only a little stink and it was just in the air to scare the raccoon. When I open the door to break up the confrontation both guys ran off. The raccoon just went to the shadows always look to where the food was. I went to the bin of the cat food was and got a can full. Then walk down to the walk where the raccoon was watching me. I poured out the food and walked back on the porch. The little bandit came up the food by the time I was closing the door to go inside.

Cheney blasts lawyer point blank

I was watching the news last night when they showed a doctors drawing of where all the BB's are in the lawyer Chaney shot. To me it looks like the guy was shot point blank, less than 20 feet away. The pattern was around a foot across. Even with a full choke shot gun the pattern wouldn't be that tight unless the guys was real close. The Vice President is coming up with this cover up story just like he said, "I know where the WMD's are." If the lawyer was just peppered he wouldn't be in intensive care and he wouldn't be in intensive care for another week. Chaney turned the lawyers chest into hamburger. The shot that is imbedded in the lawyers heat got there by the closeness of the blast. The lawyer is near death when he was shot. If the lawyer was only peppered he would have been able to walk away from the accident. I'm sure if someone could get into see the lawyer they would see him hooked up to all sorts of tubes and things. This is just another cover-up by Chaney and this administration.

Little Critters

Poor Stinkers has a hurt leg. Little guy is limping. I heard a bit of a fight last night. It really sounded rather fierce. Don't know if it was just the skunks getting into it or something bigger. I did have to air out the house today. I hate to see anyone in pain since I have so much. Seems it doesn't matter if they are big or small or have a nasty smell I like them all. Took care of my big deer when he had a broken leg and it healed up rather good. I wanted to help out the turkeys that were hurt but I couldn't get close enough. They are both still limping but doing a lot better. I think someone tried to shoot the bird with a hunting arrow. I just don't like people shooting on the property. They can do that on there own place if they want to do that. It really amazes me how small skunks eyes are for being out at night. I know they do a lot of smelling. When I went out to feed Stinkers, he started smelling the ground wear I was. I guess to make sure I was gone.

Just because you say

Just because you say it’s true doesn’t mean it’s true. If you claim something that is top secret and know one knows about it you could make up anything to defend your policy. You could say anything and say it’s true because there is no way you can check it out. Bush could say he stopped an earthquake in California. See it didn’t happen and how are you to know he didn’t.

In Iran the Bush white house is now saying they are making nuclear bombs but the Iranians are saying it just power research. Who are we going to believe, Bush who took us to war over weapons that weren’t there, or the Iranians who don’t want to burn oil in power plants to prevent green house gasses?

Is this a republican big business maneuver to invade Iran for their oil? From the impression I’m getting from all the spending on homeland security nothing has really been done to make this country safer. The only people making out are the people making war goods. Iraq has turned into the money pit with no end in sight.

When the president says the economy is doing great then why does he have to cut social services to balance the budget, which isn’t balanced at all. Why is he keep giving the rich tax breaks, saying it’s going to stimulate the economy. He just said the economy was great then why does it need more stimulation at the cost of the poor. Bush said he would repair New Orleans at any cost but now the money has been cut off. He’s a president that couldn’t keep his word if his life depended on it. He said he’s a Christian and wants to protect unborn babies but kills the mothers carrying the babies. It’s okay to kill innocent people in a war but it not okay for a woman to make her own decision. Tom Delay said after the Patriot Act was pasted, “we have been working on this bill for 10 years.”  So that means that the republicans were planning to pass this act to reduce the amount of rights Americans have without the terrorist threat.

Is this terrorist problem a version of McCarthyism? Did the republicans make up the idea that Americans would support this or any administration because of the terrorist threat? Has anyone come up with the conclusion that this administration let the terrorist strike New York just to find a way to invade Iraq? I believe Dr. Rice prevented important information from getting to the president so the terrorist would complete their missions. This would outrage the American public and let the republicans do what every they wanted including starting a war or wars.

There’s nothing like a administration that does anything it wants without checks and balances. It makes this country no better then the tyrants we are fighting. Fascism comes in all forms. After 9/11 everything the republicans have wanted to do has been put into this category of impending doom. If you don’t do this we are doomed. If you don’t fix Social Security the way I want the terrorist are going to get you. If you don’t drill in Alaska the terrorist will get you. There aren’t to many things that the president has said that are true. The people of the United States have been led around like a mob trying to get every terrorist under every rock. Bush inherited the recession caused by his friends and campaign contributors in the stock market that took the American public for a 7.4 trillion dollar ride. Doesn’t that just make you want to invest to save social security?

Hearing a tapping so

Hearing a tapping sound on the porch it perked my interest. I looked out the screen door to see my hens. Two were on the railing one was, “Limpie Girl.” It’s all the girls moms and young Jenny’s. Earlier there was four birds laying in the planters enjoying the sun and nice day. I sat on the back porch while the males were enjoying the day. When they decided to start eating grass I went back inside to put the vacuum cleaner back together. Nice bright sunny warm fresh air day.

The turkeys have separated out to the guys and girls. Mom is protecting the young girls for another year before they can mate. The young males are learning how to be a male turkey. It’s like marshal arts for the turkeys.

Well enough playing with the computer, time to get out in the sun.

What? More Rain?

Rain at night and gloomy days. The cold doesn't help the bones out. Never thought I'd be saying that. I don't feel old, too old. Not ready for a dirt nap just yet. Been feeling funky the last couple days. Haven't been sleeping good so I'm tired during the day. It's this darn weather. once it gets sunny out I'll be more mobile. That's not including on what the back might present. Looks like it's going to be raining on and off this weeks.

Well that was a surprise

Well that was a surprise hearing the rain hit the skylight. Woke me up enough where I looked out the sky light and listened to the rain and wind. I remember I felt relaxed, warm and tired. The pillow was melting to my head. Been cleaning up the place more then usual, wash the dishes or something. It's hard to keep the sunflower seed husks out of the house. Now with it raining and things are muddy that seems to get all over too. The cold seems to jet through your body and do your bones something funky where you do want to move. Things have been greening up. Want to try to grow some grass or something the deer would eat. Need something to hold the moisture in.

Where to find some file dirt with topsoil. I can see the blackberries are coming real good. Want to clean up the north end of the creek so it will grow willow. For now, it’s time to turn this of and go to bed.

On your mark, Set, Eat.

What a cute bunch of boys. Rain stopped for now and the phones working sort of with a lot of static. Phone company said they were going to fix my phone. I've been waiting since Thanks Giving. Well a little phone is better then no phone.

Saturday the 14th an

Saturday the 14th and no phone again, it’s been raining. On top of all that I ran out of propane. My deer are here at least ten of them. The young girls came by earlier. It’s going to be a cold couple days inside and out. Going to have to drag out my down bag. Its rated at –10 to –15 degrees. I went outside with the deer earlier but the ran and cold wasn’t too pleasant. That’s when I found out the pilot light is out. Well, I should go check the tank maybe when the power went out a little it turned off the pilot light. At least that’s what I’m thinking and hoping. Other wise I won’t be able to get gas till Monday. Nope, there’s no gas, no nothing, totally empty. Buddy’s here, he has a piece of grass hanging off one of his antlers. As deer’s go, he’s a good guy. His one son acts just like him along with looking like him. Buddy’s so big he scares the younger deer but he’s so gentle. Wow, rains really coming down now. At least it’s only in the 40’s outside so it won’t get any colder than that in here.

Volcano in Alaska is going off. Augustine, it looks like a Chinese hat with real steep slopes. I like the way the news reports on things like this. The geologists are telling the news people it might be doing this for days. The news guy looked like it was going to be to long but he doesn’t understand that it could keep doing this for years or decade or longer

I was listening to a radio show today that was dealing with the teaching of “Intelligent Design.” Some of the people that they talked to have the brains of a handball and they are telling people they know better. The one group was saying that the only people that believe in Darwin and evolution are smart people in colleges. You know the type, scientist and such. The same ones that put people on the moon and make you microwaves and TV and those MP3 players also those thing that people drive with and talk on the cell phone. One of the ladies said, “I don’t care what they teach as long as it God made man and we didn’t come from monkeys.” Well that was an intelligent statement I bet they put a lot of thought into that. I could tell she was a white woman with little education maybe who would live in a trailer park.

I’ve seen the types before. Right after 9/11 this school put up on their reader board, “God bless American.” The courts made them take it down. She ask me why did they make them take it down. I told her that, “it’s the separation of church and state.” Then she said, “but what’s wrong with saying God bless America.” I said, “it was a public school and public school can’t endorse any religion.” She asked again, “What’s wrong with that, it only says God bless America.” She couldn’t understand the concept. Then again she was from Oklahoma so that told me a lot. What I don’t get is they don’t see themselves as the same as the extreme Muslims.  
Phone is sort of working but with errors and static. Very low connection rate.

A walk in the forest

My Little Buddy has been here before I took my walk. He’s still here hanging out here. He’s just like his father very mellow. I walked up the creek checking out what the water did from the last few storms. It really cut into the ground and washed a lot of stick and rock down. Looks like it’s afternoon feeding time the turkeys have returned and they are a lot mellower. Guess they worked off all that energy this morning. When I got to the end of the property I made a west and went up the hill through the black berries. There’s sort of a path but it’s rather over grown. It’s a real trick to walk through the vines with those nasty thorns. After getting up about 600 feet the area started open up into a meadow. I haven’t been hiking here before since it’s rather hard to get here. When I looked down I could see thousands of little mushrooms. A whole forest on the forest floor, so small you need to get on your hands and knees.

There were other mushrooms along with lots of little plants. As I walked south I could see a lot of oak and manzaneta I almost forget the pines there since they are all over. The ponderosa’s are almost everywhere. There were some ferns, which I don’t know the type.

It always amazes me at the simple things I find every time I walk around here. I used to go to the desert a lot and found there that if you want to see anything you need to look at the ground. Then taking science classes in college I started looking for rock as I walked. These days I look for life.

Just heard something interesting on the radio. A guy was arrested for dealing medical marijuana. He faces forty years for each count. They say he made money doing the medical marijuana thing. He should have made a billion then he would only face a couple years in jail and get some sort of deal. The more you make, steel, con, from people the less time you spend in jail. If you look at Abermoff or Keating they spent a few years in jail and got to keep the money. If we apply the same standard to Abermoff then he’d be spending life in jail. Just shows that, “justice for those who can afford it.”

The Goggle addon

The Goggle add-on works, and now for something serious.

Woke up late today, it was light out when I got out of bed. Didn’t see any critters as I put out the feed. Then again it was just getting light out and it was in the 30’s outside. As I was having my first cup of coffee the squirrels and turkey arrived. As the sun came over the hills and through the trees the turkey became more playful. Don’t know where they are right now but I can’t see them from where I’m sitting. They were chasing each other around almost flying. Even birds just standing around are jumping and practicing their turkey skills. I’ve been watching these guys for a few years no and couldn’t figure out what all they were doing. At first I thought they were just picking on the younger birds but it looks like it’s more like a boot camp for turkey. Soon they will master their turkey skills to become “Turkey Master.”

I was watching the deer last night. Buddy was here and did something real funny. Never thought I’d see the playfulness of these deer. Buddy walked real slowly behind a young female when he turned to me and gave me a wink. He goosed the young female with his nose and she jump. Buddy looked over at me with a smile and gave me another wink.

I noticed that one of mothers adopted a young female deer. She has her own two girls and they all seem to get along together. I watched them grooming each other the other day. Mom was concerned with a scream that came across the hills. The kids heard it too but continued eating and grooming. I could hear a dog barking in the same area. I don’t think it was coyotes they wouldn’t bark on an attack.

It’s sad to see how people take car of dogs and cats. They really don’t know the behaviors of these animals. They don’t under stand the concept of a pack animal. Just because you feed an animal doesn’t make it yours. What gets me is people who let their dogs back for hours without checking why they are backing. Some people get little dogs with don’t have the ability to stay warm in the area that they live. Some dogs are a reflection of their owners and look just like them. If the owner of a pet is fat then the dog or cat is fat. I don’t mean a little over weight but get diabetes and have a heart attack while walking.

Time to get outside and get some things done before it rains again. The local weather people say it’s going to rain for a couple days with snow up top. Right now it couldn’t be a better day. The suns out the birds are flying around. There’s a lot of bright green out.