Sunday, November 18, 2018

The "EcoFreak" approach is to let nature take its course, which essentially means no forest management whatsoever. The problem is that while that has worked for millennia, it is no longer a viable option in today's California. We have intruded on nature and built towns and communities that are surrounded by natural forests. When we intrude on nature, we either need to be prepared to deal with the forces that nature can dole out, or we need to try to prevent such natural occurrences from being so utterly devastating.

This issue goes way beyond logging old growth forests. It's about actually managing undergrowth and natural forest debris. Prior to human inhabitants forests were "maintained" through natural seasonal fires. Eventually, Asians crossed the land bridge to North America and humankind spread southward and civilized the land. Along with the primitive civilizations came land management. All across North America native people used to regularly burn the forest undergrowth to prevent out of control fires and to make the land more usable for agriculture. It is only in the last 50-100 years that we have become almost overly ecologically conscientious. The result in California has been a lack of proactive management due to lawsuits intended to protect forests so they may return to virgin states, saving endangered habitats, etc... I have no objections to saving endangered habitats at all. We have many men and women well educated and well versed in forest science and management proposing well thought out management plans to the state and federal governments, but the big lobbies on either the extreme conservation side or the lumber industry side get in the way of logic.

So now California burns to a crisp just as it did thousands of years ago before humans inhabited the land. Glorious!

Hope things settle for you soon BB and you get your dining room back together

About a month ago I washed my kitchen bay Windows. I got them so clean, it looked as if I had actually removed the glass entirely. I was so proud, I took pictures and sent them to my children. Then there was a huge, sideways rain. They are dirty again. Really, kind of filthy even.Sigh. At least the sun sets early here, so when I have company, it is dark. I want to put a note on them: These were pristine in October and now it's too cold to wash them. First world problems.

The windows at the back of my house (2 sliding glass doors, a huge picture window with a slider in the master, and the 8 foot window in the living room behind the sofa) all are decorated with Airedale nose prints. We have to wash the windows with much frequency. However, I have noticed that when we get them too clean bird fatality increases, so we leave them covered in dog snot. It's a win win for all. The birds are happy and it's one less chore for me. LOL!

Back down to 243.4, so I guess it's real. I am living in happy land right now. It's kind of like living on a pink cloud in no sugar land... Though, honestly, I'm not 100% sugar free as I have mentioned. I am choosing not to be a zealot about condiments, and sugar low on an ingredient list like on the Go Lean cereal I like to eat with yogurt for some crunch.

I created my own total body workout yesterday. I was able to up my inside chest press weight to 190 pounds. I managed 9 reps before failure on the last set. Felt pretty good about that. Supersetted those presses with lower chest raises. Then I did Romanian Dead Lifts with a fairly low weight of 50 lbs., followed by the sled pushed the length of the gym and back 2 times with 200 lbs., followed by hanging leg raises. Did three sets of that superset and called it a day and went back home to groom another client dog.

I had a hankering for MEAT last night. After grooming 2 dogs, working out, cutting Ron's hair, working on the kitchen faucet, I really didn't want to cook. We went out to a Thai place that does grilled meat. We ordered grilled Chicken Satay, Grilled pork chops and grilled Beef. OMG! DELICIOUS. And we have more than enough for dinner tonight and for a lunch for me tomorrow. YAY! It was exactly what I needed. Tasty, tasty meats! I was so into the meat, I left no room for veggies of any kind. I hope the bathroom gods are kind to me after my meat fest!

I have a client dog around 11:00. Then I'm not sure what is on the docket for the rest of the day. Lounging? Projects? Hmmmm.... decisions, decisions....

It's almost Thanksgiving! My work week begins and ends tomorrow. How AWESOME is that?!?!?!?!?!?!

Go Devon :) Awesome

Greetings Dear People

Thinking of dear Bonnie 150. I have heard that procedure is pretty complex so healing must be hard work. Looking forward to hearing of recovery.

I am down a pound today. Yay. Jee, eating light does work. Who'd a thunk.

Glad you are healing from the tumble Ann. I may have mentioned this before, but a good way to drink water is to put a little splash of tart cherry juice in it. Makes it a pretty color and adds a pleasant taste - sort of like lemon water.

Lol Peps, our slider is also covered with dog snot. Border terriers can jump pretty high and above that, the glass is clean. Sort of. I am far too lazy to wash windows so hats off to those of you who do.

Diane O the wedding sounds great. Authentic Mexican food is double bonus. Glad it went well.

The smoke and fire news is heartbreaking. We could even detect a little smoke way out here on the coast when we went out to shop for a new microwave. Nice dealing with a local business where we could get waited on quickly. I am a surgical stealth shopper - swoop in, get what I want ASAP and escape. Liz enjoy your new kitchen. Good to replace appliances before they die. I found myself admiring new stoves at the store and may be in for one of those soon.

Raking the forest is of course ridiculous. Not sure what's to be done to avoid forrest fires other than the obvious. A small one was started near here by dragging chains sparking. Not sure what started the horrific Camp fire. Some people blame PG&E. I do know that people around here who live in the woods maintain a fire safety barrier free of brush and trees and spend a lot of time weed whacking those areas.

BB I so love all the pictures of Becca on FB. It must be so fun dressing her up for them. There is such cute stuff for little girls these days. Enjoy it while you still get to choose what she wears!

Diamond, stay warm in Minnesota. We watched our Nebraska Cornhuskers play yesterday and it snowed during the game. Beautiful but glad I was not in the stadium. And hey, they won!

Peps is making me want meat. Might splurge on a grass fed rib eye.

Cheers and coffee all. Diane S

Good Morning - Here we are at the beginning of the working week again but Im ok with it (kinda) as we are still up at the farm. DH has just left for work. The puppies are munching on lamb bones happily and Im contemplating a second cup of tea.

Ann - couldnt respond directly to your post but you sound like you had a great day at your place

We had a more relaxed weekend which was lovely. DH made us a pantry so we now have everything in one place. Yay - then mounted the TV on a bracket - We worked over at one of my SIL's watering and cleaning out duck houses etc. Shes home Wed. Sunday I spent 3 hours slashing on the tractor whilst DH did all the brushcutting. Need to keep all areas around the shed super short - both as a fire break and moreso so that we can see any snakes. Havent seen one yet on our place but they are on the move early this year

DH is having 7 of his workmates over for a BBQ tommorrow night. Planning to do Steak, Sausage and marindated chicken. Baked whole potato with bacon, cheese and sour cream, Coleslaw, Spinach and Roast Veg Salad. Will do a platter to start. And fruit platter for dessert. Should be nice. I am contemplating making them fresh scones with jam and cream for morning tea on WED for them all. Still getting used to this new oven. First time I have cooked in a bottle gas oven - its different. Made a roast pork with all the veg yesterday - leftovers for dinner tonight. So super easy

Well I better get my head down and bum up

Have a wonderful evening

Shirley :)

Have I missed an explanation about migrating snakes?

Do you ever take it easy? (Of course, I know farmers don't.....but so amazing to see all you do!)

Hey Shel - your question made me giggle as last weekend was what we term "taking it easy" I even snuck in a 30 min sleep in the afternoon. Being up here is as I have said our happy place so labour of love. We also have a city (well outskirts) house which we work on when there. Its hard sometimes to spread the time and get everything done. Always a long to do list at each place.

Re the snakes - they dont actually hibernate fully but go through a process called torpor. They will spend most of their time in a burrow or log when our weather turns cold but will come out for short periods to sun themself and warm up. This stops as soon as it starts getting warm - we are expecting 86 today - they come out to find a mate and feed after a spell. We have warmed up earlier this year hence they are out & about. We have some nasties - the Brown Snakes are very agressive - the red belly blacks more docile but both we do not want around our house or puppies. My Kelpie x (working dog) has now had 2 encounters with snakes and I keep telling her the next one she may not be as lucky. She bought a baby brown snake into the house several years ago (they are born ready to go with venom)- DH stepped on it but thankfully wasnt bitten) She came over and collapsed at my feet - rushed her to the vet and they sat up with her all night.She was the 14th dog to be brought in that week alone! She had eaten the snake eggs and had a belly full but was ok. The second one was last year - came back into the shed after running the kids to dam for a swim - a baby red belly black had gotten into the shed - they had played tug of war with it - all three dogs rushed to vet and I still to this day dont know how but not one had been bitten. Shes a natural hunter - which I pray wont be her undoing. Hence we keep the grass very short to ensure high visability. Here is a picture of her - the first time we put her on sheep - true happiness as she had her job

Meet Maggie - my shadow and rescue dog - she has taught me patience but I adore her

What a pretty girl! Great action shot!

Thanks for the description of the snakes. "Belly full of snake eggs." Yikes!

One of the advantages of hiking on my side of the mountains is that there are are no venomous snakes. The other side has rattle snakes.