Lower Deadman's Camp part. 2

While we were spending quality stress free time in the woods my hubby turned 43. He and Tanner who is now 21 (gasp!) played a few games of horseshoes with a good friend.

They set up the game in the pumice road between our camps. Super fun.

This photo is just weird. It looks like my son is carring a snake, which he isn't. He never would do such a thing. It is a horseshoe.

Our campfire meals were amazing every night.        

On either side of our camp we had neighbors that told us about how they had been visiting for years and they knew all about our bears and how important it is to keep all of your food locked up in your car as there are no bearboxes at the lower Deadman's Camp. Each one of them left for the day and left coolers of food out! At least I got a photo before he moved on to our other neighbors cooler.

Zoomed in a bit.

Kevin ran him out of one neighbor's camp where he nearly got into some milk and he went around our camp to the next camp where he had some ham. I yelled over to them that a bear was in their cooler but they couldn't hear me over the generators. I ran closer and yelled" There is a bear in your cooler". They were eating dinner and they launched out of the table as if their seats were suddenly electrified.
Then the weekend warrior shot a rifle towards the bear as he was running away. Bait the bear and then shoot at the bear. Ugh!
Til next time.
Part. 3



Lower Deadman's Camp part.1

We have been blessed with a lot of camping time this summer. Our "Summer House" was set up at Lower Deadman's Campground in August and we enjoyed it every day possible for 17 days!

The Camp is only 9 miles from our home so when there was work to be done we came home and cleaned up, worked, cleaned up again and went back out to our vacation house.It was fabulous!

Because we were in such a remote area I felt comfortable letting Rugby be off the leash. I want to train her to stay by me but it is hard to test her in town. She did beautifully. She is such a good camp dog. She stayed right in our camp area and never barked. She met every dog that moved in to the campground and got along with all of them. She made use of the quilt top I made for camp when it blew off the bench. Yes, I took and used a "floppy top" before it was finished... I couldn't wait and I wasn't home long enough to finish it.

Now here is a brief description of the camp. Standing at the...west side of the table looking towards the
campfire. Notice Ruggy's bed? She is a "glamper" to be sure.

Turning counter clockwise and facing North is what we now call "The Pumice Trail". It is an overflow area for Deadman's creek. If you follow the Pumice Trail you will arrive at our friends camp. Very convenient.

Turning a bit more to the west is the "kitchen".

a bit more and we are now looking at my son's room.



Here is the deluxe Master bedroom that we started with, but the zippers started breaking and the poor thing had many holes in it so we bought an even better one. I did not get a good photo though.

Now we are facing west south westish. The bridge to cross the creek is a log through those green bushes. Most of the time we were there someone or another was standing there fishing. Big fish, small pond.

This is facing south towards a campsite that had two different "Moto/Generator type camper families. I felt immense relief when they would leave. The fact that they left food in coolers out for the bears was infuriating as well.This is where we put our new tent up once we bought it.

Our spa. Yep, we even had a solar shower.

We need a better door/towel... longer, and some clothespins. 

The inside of the shower.

a mat that drains.

The view out of the door of the shower.

The view looking up from inside the shower, nice huh? Yep we even had monogrammed washcloths.

Standing at the campfire pit looking west.

We found tablecloths and quilts to be very handy against splinters.

and pine needles. Aww Ruggie.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Aspen Wildfire 2013

California currently has something like 51 major wildfires burning and once again we find ourselves choking on smokey air. Today it is the Windy Peak fire affecting us, I think. The Rim fire is burning to the west of us on the west side of Yosemite National Park but the majority of that smoke is blowing north of us into the Reno Nevada area.

The Rim fire has burned about 220,000 acres so far and it is only 40% contained. It will be weeks before it is fully extinguished. The folks up in Reno are engulfed in smoke just like we were when the Aspen fire was out of control southwest of us. I took the following photos on the way home from the little town just south of us on July 31st.

The smoke settled low in the nooks and crannies of the valley.

We had been living in this crud for weeks but it was a very different thing seeing it from the outside in.

The Aspen fire did make for some "fiery" sunsets.

Coming around the bend...

Wow! Look at the color of the air.

 At this point I was thinking "and we are driving right into that?!"

Our mountains should be just up ahead in that black cloud.

Naturally smoked beef...a specialty of the west. Slow smoked by Mother Nature.

Ok... I'll stop.

Airport to the right...there should be mountains to the left.

Our little town is in that area on the right.

Amazing. The mountains were completely obscured.

Just to give you an idea of what this view usually looks like, the photo above and below were taken from about the same spot. The one below was taken from farther away though.

We couldn't see our pumice mountain until we drove into town. Ugh!

You can see that once you are in the smoke you can't tell how bad it really is...your lungs feel it though! Cough. Gasp.

Memorial Freeze

Our temperatures dropped below freezing again. Ugh! Annoying to be sure but still expected. We were getting off way too easy with all of the great Spring weather we have had. So to combat some of the frost I put jars, glasses and bowls over my tender plants and I am happy to say every plant has survived. My newest little garden house has a thatched roof and it looks even sweeter with a little frosting.

The Lilacs have gone from from a fresh new green...

to a show of white and a gorgeous fragrance.

Those trusty chives have grown quite a bit and are now blooming.They look a little sad here due to the freeze.

My tiny garden on May first...

My tiny garden 25 days later! Growin' right along. My fabulous hubby is making a new fence and gate so Rugby can play in the garden with me.

Speaking of my Hubby...he took a couple great photos while out fishing/freezing at one of our local lakes early Saturday morning.

Brr...

Well today is Memorial Day and it is already turning out to be a wonderful day. I hope you all have a good one.

Thank you service men and women, present and past, for devoting your lives to secure our freedoms. We honor you this day and everyday and we keep you in our prayers.

Warm and Mostly Dry

Last week we went to find a little adventure with Rugby. The sun was shining, it was warm enough to wear only a T-shirt and the terrain was mostly dry. Today we have another foot of snow. The storm that blew through last night was a good one, a gusty one. Last week though... Rugby needed a bit of fresh snow to eat. That's how warm it was.

We came across this small pool of snow melt in a rock.

Warm...so warm under our blue sky.

We even left footprints in the sand.

I hope you find some sun today.