Here Comes Summer.......

House Site 6/6/2015

....and the house is completely under roof.  So much for taking showers in the house when it rains. ;-)
The guys finished all the sheeting and have most of it covered in roofing felt.  They still have some to do on the back.  As you can see they still have a little of the walls up by the eaves on the right wing to close in.  They also have the whole right far in end to close in but we are getting there.

While out walking with the dogs, we came across a very large old box turtle.  The 'child unit' calls them "Steve."  I don't know why, but all turtles get the name of "Steve."  I am pretty sure this one is a girl, so we will call her "Stevie."  I left her with a piece of my clementine.  When we came back a little later, she and clementine were gone.  She may have eaten it, or it may have been snatched up by one orioles that is in the area.

Stevie The Box Turtle

Hopefully next week they will get the house completely buttoned up and the roofers might show up.

Happy Memorial Day

Construction on the house is moving along faster now.  The left wing of the house is completely roughed in.  The decking and felt is completely covering the roof. The side walls are up to the eaves.

Left Wing Ceiling

Southeast End of House

  The concrete was poured for the garage and David and his guys were able to get it completely framed.

Framed in Garage

The significant other and myself finished taping all the seams on the outside of the house and got the baffles put up in the loft room. 

Baffles in Loft Room

Thing One and Two worked at testing suitability of the floor for sleeping.  One felt it was fine and the other felt it needed more padding.

Lazy Thing One & Two

House Site 5/29/2016

The plan for this week is to get the roof on the right wing of the house.  I leave you with some cute pictures of Tree Swallow babies.  By the time you see this, these guys are probably flying around the property with their parents

Five Baby Tree Swallows

Go hug a veteran.  They are the closes we can get to those that paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy.

Next Comes.....

.......the roof.  The guys were able to put the decking on the trusses and got the tar paper put on the front section of the roof.  The back part of the roof still needs some decking and to be papered, which was readily apparent during a downpour this weekend.  They finished the front wall up the trusses on the front.

House Site 5/22/2016

The significant other got the mesh over the J Channels covered with concrete.  We also, made decisions on shingles, stone, and vinyl for covering the outside.  So we can get those things to the house site before the bridge closes.

Staged Materials for Bridge Replacement

 The power company came and put the lines up, so now the guys have electricity instead of having to use a generator.  Makes things a lot quieter at the house site.  Even the turkeys have returned with the quiet.

Turkey Under the Power lines

We have new Tree Swallow families starting life in our nest boxes. 

Tree Swallow Babies in Jeter Box

Tree Swallow Babies in Machine Barn Box

Hope you have a great week and the only vultures you have to deal with are those up in old dead trees.

Sunning Black Vultures in Northwest Scag

Drumroll Please..............

..........we have TRUSSES.  That is right!  We have most of the great room covered and felted, and now we have the left wing of the house trussed.  We also have power poles up to the house.  No wires but the poles are in place and the water line repaired.  Apparently, the power company does check before they dig. ;-)

Trusses Over Left Wing of House

Really feels like great progress was made this week.  Which kind of helps out with the news we got this week.  Remember the little, single lane bridge that we had to work around to get stuff to job site-turns out DOT will be replacing it this summer.  Luckily, we have about thirty days notice before it closes. So we can get things to the job site before the easy way is closed.  Of course once it is closed a trip from town that used to take ten minutes will take at least 45 minutes.  You got to love rural America.

In other property news, we had a death.  The mother Eastern Bluebird from the machine barn nest was killed.  The dad has been doing a great job caring for his brood.  I offered them food to try and help him out, but they are about ready to fledge and have reached that stage where they will have nothing to do with humans.
Also, predator guards don't do anything to protect nest-boxes from bears.  The Eastern Bluebirds in one of the other nest-boxes fledged.  I cleaned the box out several days ago and someone was already starting to rebuild.  When I went to do my rounds today, I found the pole with the box on it bent flat to the ground.  No bird eggs or babies for the bear but it looked like he got a lot of ant larvae from a pile of deteriorating logs that he torn into that was nearby.

House Site 5/15/2016

Toad at Old Cattle Waterier

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

We seem to be stuck in a weather pattern that includes rain at the wrong time.  The guys were able to get some of the SIPs and the framing in to support them.  But not a lot of progress.

House Site 5/8/2016

We do have a new family starting on the property.  The Tree Swallows are starting to nest.  These two little eggs are in the nest box on the machine barn. I have also seen a Phoebe and some Barn Swallows flying around.  I will be interested to see who takes over the other nests in the barn.

Tree Swallow Eggs in Barn Nest Box

As of today, we have a Morning Dove Family, Bluebird Family and a Tree Swallow family in the barn.

The Weather....

...it hasn't does us a lot of favors.  We have had a lot of wind and rain.  I am trying not to complain because we need it but it is slowing down progress at the house site.  Mother Nature, I will make you a deal-you can rain all you want at night if you will be dry and not raining during the day.  I doubt she will take the deal. 

House Site 4/30/2016

The guys spent what time they could work erecting a pretty elaborate scaffolding system so they can start putting up the SIPs when the weather is good.They were able to start putting in some of the SIPs over the great room. SIPs are the things setting in front of the house.  They are a sandwich of 8.5 inches of Styrofoam between two sheets of plywood.

On a happier note, we have babies.  The Eastern Bluebird babies in the machine barn have hatched.  Mom and dad are working hard to keep them fed.  One fell asleep with a bug in his mouth.

Baby Eastern Bluebirds

Someone has a new house.....

....and it isn't us.  They were able to get four major beams placed in the great room and the side walls up this week.  Now that those are up, hopefully we will be able to move forward faster.

House Site 4/23/2016

Now the new homeowners are Eastern Bluebirds.  I had been making bird boxes for the Bluebirds and the Tree Swallows.  I was treating the outside with Tung oil in the machine barn before I put them up.  I left one drying a little longer than usual because I had ran out of mounting posts.  When I went to move it, I found someone had already made it a home.

Nest Box in Machine Barn

Bluebird Eggs

We already have a hatched clutch of five Bluebird babies in one of the nest boxes at the back of the property.  Glad I could provide a new family a home.  There is also a Morning Dove that has decided to nest in the machine barn.  When the Barn Swallows show up, the machine barn is going to be a crowded place.

Gift in the pasture

I was trying to find out where the neighbor's burro came through the fence again this morning. The neighbors also have two horses and one round little pony, but only Mr. Burro likes to come visit.  He isn't a bad guy, no doubt due to his lack of testicles.  Once you find his escape spot, from their pasture, it is pretty easy to move him back to it and help him get back to the other side.  Thing Two is always great help in accomplishing this task.

Once I got Mr. Burro back home, I was walking back to the barn and found a skull in the pasture.  Just the top part of the head of a opossum with several teeth still in place.  There was no mandible or other parts of the body located with it.  It was nicely bleached. Thing One and Two didn't think much of it and were happy to let me have it.

Side View Opossum Skull

 Not a lot of brain room.  I used a dime for size reference.  Couldn't put it over the brain area due to very prominent sagittal crest.

Top View of Opossum Skull

Just never know what you will find when you walk in the pasture.

Apples

I had some apples in the refrigerator that were going bad.  I considered putting them in my worm composter but I had already fed them this week. So, I decided to see what would show up for them at the game camera site.  I was betting on racoons.  Good thing I didn't bet real money.

By day, the crows (may have been the same one) seemed to really like the offering.  Once it got dark, the leftovers were eaten by deer.

This morning the area was ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

Good things for those that come before peak hours

The dogs dispatched a groundhog, and I dropped it off at the watering hole as a little nosh.  The Black vultures seemed happy with my offerings.  The Black Vultures say it pays to frequent establishments during off peak hours.

A day at the water cooler

Several times a day, depending on the weather, our old cattle water trough seems to be the in place to be.  Turkey vultures show up to catch up on the latest gossip; who died, best road kill spots, and to wet their whistle.

Usually there are four or five Turkey vultures but I have seen as many as twelve at one time.  They usually show up between 11:00am and 1:00pm and then again around 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  During off peak time, Black vultures, crows and song birds frequent the trough.  Day or night, the water trough seems to be the place to see and be seen.

There's that little stinker

Spring has turned into summer, and with temperatures in the 50s, it feels like fall is already here.  Babies are leaving their parents and learning to make their way in the world.  I found this guy walking in the pastures.  No other family members were found or smelled.  He was busy digging grubs, eating grasshoppers, and rooting around for anything he could get in his mouth.   When he started to do his little 'stomp dance,' I backed away and left him to it.

Luckily the dogs were off somewhere else.  Thing Two had already had a run in with a skunk the night before.  He must have got caught right in the face, because he was shaking his head and foaming at the mouth like he had gotten hold of a persimmon that hadn't been frosted on yet.  So, at midnight, I was flushing his mouth, face and head with water out of the garden hose.  After about 20 minutes, he stopped foaming and was able to keep his eyes open.  Then, I gave him the peroxide, baking soda, dish soap treatment.  It really does work, but he still smells skunky.  Every time he takes a breath, out comes skunk odor. As much as I would like to wash his mouth out with the recipe, I know that isn't a possibility.

Skunk odor eliminator recipe

1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide

 1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon dish detergent

Mix it all together in a bucket and start sponging it on.

Need to go to the store and get more hydrogen peroxide for the next time.  Because I know there will be a next time.  Thing Two just can't help himself when he sees the 'black and white kitties.'

Circle of life-It isn't a Disney Movie

I found a dead groundhog yesterday.  I wasn't happy with where he had decided to take his final repose, so I chucked him onto the back of the tractor and took him up to the wood's edge.  I put him right where the game camera could get a good view.
I dropped him off around 1:00PM and wondered off to do other things.  Within an hour the crows found him and started dining on the tasty middles.

I guess the Turkey vultures finally got wind of what was going on because they showed up about four hours after I dropped him off.  They fought with the crows and each other over Mr Groundhog's remains.

 For a dead groundhog he sure did move around a lot with a little help of his friends.

a little to the right

a little to the left, cha-cha-cha

Finally, a fat raccoon showed up and returned him close to his starting point.

Then I guess she decided that she didn't won't him to get lonely, so she drug him off into the woods.

I am sure by now he is showing up all over the place as fertilizer.  Recycling at its best.

Hey they do come out in the light

It is nothing to come out and see a herd (4-8 deers) in the orchard and other areas of the property. So, I was really surprised that we had not caught any during the day on the game camera.  Finally got one.  Nice looking doe that is probably looking so good because of browsing in the orchard.

There is a cat in the house

Turns out there is a cat in the thicket-a Bobcat to be exact.  I didn't get any good pictures of it but I do think this is a fine shot of its assets.

Wile E Coyote

The thicket has been very active during the cold weather.  It is apparently within the territory of at least one pair of coyotes.  Between five and seven most evening they come through the thicket in search of a meal.
Even through it doesn't feel like it, spring is on its way and they should den up soon - that means babies and that means a need for more food.  We are in the middle of cattle and sheep county, and spring calving and lambing season is underway, so I know all the farmers are keeping their rifles handy.  If they start bothering livestock, they won't be around long.  Our county doesn't offer a bounty for coyotes but our state pretty much has a year round hunting season on coyotes.  Even with everyone gunning for them, their numbers remain high and they are moving into the urban areas.

Night in the Cedar Thicket

Deer: Thanks for hospitality but I must be going!

 

 

 Me: Why so soon?

Me: Ooh, I see.

Bambi's mom gets out of the cold

They said the polar vortex was making a return trip to our area of world.  I know I am with the majority when I say that I wish it would allow for more time between visits.  Anyway, I decided to move the game camera to a cedar thicket that we have here on the property.  I was rewarded with pictures, like the one below, of does moving into the thicket to escape the wind, snow and cold temperatures.

There was very little snow or wind and it felt warmer in the thicket when I went to get the camera card this morning.  However, outside the thicket there was about three inches of snow, and half foot drifts.  The wind was blowing and the temperature was TWO.  Well, at least this time that was above zero.

Not just a place for Domestic Canines to run

Turns out that in the wee hours of the morning, while all are snug in their beds, other canines are visiting the big dog bowl slash bird bath.

I gave myself a new game camera for Christmas.  It caught this coyote visiting the old cattle water trough in the early morning.  Next, I hope to get the vultures doing their sun bathing routine.  They always fly before I can get close enough for a shot.