Tuesday, July 7, 2009 -
National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting more thunderstorms possible, but my barometer is saying the pressure is rising and showing a sun for the prediction. I have to say that my weather station is frequently predicting the future, not the present, while the NWS is predicting . . . wait, I don’t know what they are predicting. Often they are wrong, at least for my location, while the other half are at least partially correct. All in all, they do a pretty good job, but if you read the Farmer’s Almanac, you will probably come to the same conclusion as NWS.
I can see some thunderheads to the northeast of me and they seem to be moving my way, but who knows? It’s hard to plan your days outside activities when you don’t know if it will storm or not.
I spent my morning as usual, coffee, computer, brunch, more computer and then on with the day. As I did my work, the clouds moved in and it got cold. By one O’clock it was raining, but not thunder and lightning like yesterday. A glance at my outside temperature is indicating it is 69 degrees outside at 2 PM, but it doesn’t feel like it.
Due to the weather . . . AGAIN . . . I will be working inside and try to finish several projects that I haven’t taken the time to work on. One is cutting and pasting a writer’s newsletter that I get each month, into a Word document, separating the different topics so it will be easy to refer to when I want to. That should take a bit of time as I have 6 months of newsletters to deal with, and 6 different topics to separate.
At the rate the weather is producing rain, I may not get the road repaired until August. I can’t work until it is dry or I’ll just be pushing mud around, with most of it sticking to the bulldozer.
It took about 45 minutes to cut and paste all of the Writer’s Newsletters, and with that done, I need to turn my attention to organizing and cleaning the cabin. I’ll play with Zack and then get busy.
Well, it is now 8 PM and I have managed to avoid all work. I found one thing after another to do on the computer, it has consumed my eyesight, which is now blurry, and I am unable to focus on anything close up. I have played with Zack two more times and fed him, so now I’ll put the computer down, fix myself some dinner and then relax for the rest of the night.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009 -
It is overcast this morning, but it looks rather thin and I am not sure if it will produce much in the way of rain. I was feeling lazy this morning, so took my time having my coffee and doing my usual computer stuff.
I had mentally planned to work on the road today, leaving the cleaning until the afternoon or even tomorrow, but it didn’t work out. By the time I had washed and dried two loads of clothes, the day turned to night and the sky opened up. I had never seen it turn so dark and by 2:00 O’clock I had to turn on lights to see what I was doing. Because of the weather, Zack didn’t even ask to go out and play, and just stayed in bed.
The temperature dropped quickly and before I knew it, it was hailing so hard I couldn’t hear myself think. It came down so hard and fast that I thought it might break my weather station. The hail was the size of marbles and it was sliding off the upper roof and crashing onto the sunroom’s metal roof. The lightning and thunder had Zack back upstairs in my bed, as it seems to be the only place he feels safe.
One strike of lightning was so close that before I could even think about counting to see how close it was, the thunder ripped through the cabin shaking everything including my teeth. I didn’t see where it hit, but it was too close for comfort.
The turn of the weather obviously changed my plans and I spent the entire afternoon working on the computer, viewing You Tube videos and researching different things. By 4:30, the sun broke through the clouds and heated up the sunroom. I had built a small fire as the drop in temperature made it uncomfortable, but now it was too hot.
Zack and I went out to play and then the sun disappeared again, making the sunroom cool down quickly. I folded and put the clothes away, made my bed and played one more time with Zack before feeding him. It is 8:30 and I will now shower and fix myself some dinner before watching some television and going to bed.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009 -
It was clear and promising to be a nice day this morning, so we planned on doing some more target practice and just relaxing all day long.
Just before noon, I prepared deli sausage, hash browns, eggs, toast and OJ. We had a leisurely brunch and then laid around relaxing. By afternoon, we did some more target shooting and although the afternoon thundershowers appeared on schedule, we got out the rifles and gave Michele a chance to try her hand.
It turned out she was better than both of us with my pump .22 at 50 yards, hitting more consistently than either of us. We started shooting the metal swinging targets, which are about 70 yards out, and once again Michele proved to be the best at nailing the little targets that are not much bigger than silver dollars.
It rained a little bit most of the afternoon, but we were under the roof on the deck and it didn’t spoil our fun. We finally took a break and played 5 rounds of Yahtzee, with Michele winning 4 of them. It was a good weekend for her.
There were additional steaks from last night, so I barbequed them and cooked some artichokes that I had purchased Thursday. Artichokes are more of a California food, as many people here have no idea how to fix or eat them. I gave Joe and Michele a quick lesson and we had soon devoured them to the heart, dipping them in butter. It being a new food for them, I don’t think they were sure the effort was worth it, but I certainly enjoyed mine. Any time I have artichokes, I think of the Little Rascals episode where Stymie is given one and he carefully peels off each leaf and throws it away, not knowing what it is. When he gets to the heart, he throws it away and says, “It may have choked Artie, but it ain’t going to choke me.”
Soon after clearing the table, they needed to load their things into the car and head back to town. They have to been in Great Falls to open the store in the morning, so had to get back.
I watched some television and looked at the mess I need to clean up, knowing it will be there tomorrow. I need to clean the weapons, put them in their place, as well as vacuum and straighten things up. I went to bed around 11:15 for a good nights sleep.
Saturday, July 4, 2009 - Happy 4th of July
Saturday, July 4, 2009 - Happy 4th of July
The morning weather was looking good and I actually got up at 8 O’clock. Joe had already been up and Michele followed.
We visited and then by noon I fixed us bacon, hash browns, eggs, toast and orange juice. After “breakunch” (breakfast/brunch/lunch), we visited and then set up targets to have our own little fireworks display. We started by firing the new crossbow and taking turns, doing pretty well with it. None of us had ever fired one before, but there are very much like shooting a rifle, so it wasn’t too difficult. Michele had never fired a rifle before, so it was a new experience for her, and wouldn’t you know it, she out shot both Joe and myself.
This crossbow has a 175 lb. Pull and it was really hard to cock it without straining a bit. The bolts passed half way through the target at 50 yards, so it has some power. The target is a self-healing archery target that I have had for several years. I bought it to use while learning how to throw knives and it was with the things that I had in storage.
We moved on to trying to sight the scope on the Mini-14 at 100 yards. After about a hundred rounds, it started to rain and I never did get it sighted correctly. When it stopped raining, we moved on to other weapons and took turns shooting to practice our skills.
Although it rained off and on most of the afternoon, we were on the deck and protected by the overhang of the roof, so it didn’t bother us. As the day was ending and the intermittent sun had gone behind the mountain, I fixed the steaks that Joe and Michele had brought up, along with baked potatoes and a green salad. We all sat down and enjoyed a 4th of July dinner.
More visiting and a little television and we were all ready for bed by about 10 O’clock.
The morning weather was looking good and I actually got up at 8 O’clock. Joe had already been up and Michele followed.
We visited and then by noon I fixed us bacon, hash browns, eggs, toast and orange juice. After “breakunch” (breakfast/brunch/lunch), we visited and then set up targets to have our own little fireworks display. We started by firing the new crossbow and taking turns, doing pretty well with it. None of us had ever fired one before, but there are very much like shooting a rifle, so it wasn’t too difficult. Michele had never fired a rifle before, so it was a new experience for her, and wouldn’t you know it, she out shot both Joe and myself.
This crossbow has a 175 lb. Pull and it was really hard to cock it without straining a bit. The bolts passed half way through the target at 50 yards, so it has some power. The target is a self-healing archery target that I have had for several years. I bought it to use while learning how to throw knives and it was with the things that I had in storage.
We moved on to trying to sight the scope on the Mini-14 at 100 yards. After about a hundred rounds, it started to rain and I never did get it sighted correctly. When it stopped raining, we moved on to other weapons and took turns shooting to practice our skills.
Although it rained off and on most of the afternoon, we were on the deck and protected by the overhang of the roof, so it didn’t bother us. As the day was ending and the intermittent sun had gone behind the mountain, I fixed the steaks that Joe and Michele had brought up, along with baked potatoes and a green salad. We all sat down and enjoyed a 4th of July dinner.
More visiting and a little television and we were all ready for bed by about 10 O’clock.
Friday, July 2, 2009
Friday, July 2, 2009 -
It was raining when I woke up this morning and then stopped for about an hour before sprinkling for another couple of hours. It is supposed to clear this afternoon and be nice all weekend, so I am hoping it will be.
I did a lot of last minute cleaning and then decided I needed to mop the tile floors before Joe and Michele showed up. I managed to get everything done, shower and relax before they showed up at 8:45.
We visited until after one O’clock in the morning and then retired.
It was raining when I woke up this morning and then stopped for about an hour before sprinkling for another couple of hours. It is supposed to clear this afternoon and be nice all weekend, so I am hoping it will be.
I did a lot of last minute cleaning and then decided I needed to mop the tile floors before Joe and Michele showed up. I managed to get everything done, shower and relax before they showed up at 8:45.
We visited until after one O’clock in the morning and then retired.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009 -
The sky looks uncertain this morning, but I don’t expect much, if any, rain from an afternoon thunderstorm. I’ll be in town this afternoon, so I’ll have to see what happens when I return.
I have been tracking another delivery and UPS says it was delivered to my mail drop, so I’ll make the trip to town and pick it up. It is a couple of extra, stainless steel magazines for my Mini-14 and some shot gun shells. I also need to fill up the gas cans and Jeep, pick up a couple of prescriptions and one or two items for this weekend.
While in town, I collected my phone messages and had one from my doctor letting me know that the labs came back on the spot she removed from my arm. It was cancerous but she had removed enough of it that the margins were clear, meaning she got all of it. It is at the itching stage and healing just fine.
We made it back from town, after completing all of the errands, and as we climbed to the Divide, Zack and I stopped to watch a mother deer licking her newly born fawn clean, having just given birth. They weren’t more than 15 feet off the road and evidently didn’t see us as a threat, because they stayed right there. And wouldn’t you know that I didn’t have my camera with me. We drove on and found that it had rained at the cabin. Everything was really wet and the depressions in the road had filled with water. I unloaded the car and then played with Zack before feeding him dinner. I showered and then fixed myself some dinner before relaxing in front of the television, going through my mail and the items that were delivered. Bedtime followed early tonight as I was still catching up after running out of sleep the night before.
The sky looks uncertain this morning, but I don’t expect much, if any, rain from an afternoon thunderstorm. I’ll be in town this afternoon, so I’ll have to see what happens when I return.
I have been tracking another delivery and UPS says it was delivered to my mail drop, so I’ll make the trip to town and pick it up. It is a couple of extra, stainless steel magazines for my Mini-14 and some shot gun shells. I also need to fill up the gas cans and Jeep, pick up a couple of prescriptions and one or two items for this weekend.
While in town, I collected my phone messages and had one from my doctor letting me know that the labs came back on the spot she removed from my arm. It was cancerous but she had removed enough of it that the margins were clear, meaning she got all of it. It is at the itching stage and healing just fine.
We made it back from town, after completing all of the errands, and as we climbed to the Divide, Zack and I stopped to watch a mother deer licking her newly born fawn clean, having just given birth. They weren’t more than 15 feet off the road and evidently didn’t see us as a threat, because they stayed right there. And wouldn’t you know that I didn’t have my camera with me. We drove on and found that it had rained at the cabin. Everything was really wet and the depressions in the road had filled with water. I unloaded the car and then played with Zack before feeding him dinner. I showered and then fixed myself some dinner before relaxing in front of the television, going through my mail and the items that were delivered. Bedtime followed early tonight as I was still catching up after running out of sleep the night before.
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