Sunday in May, ID

When we got up on Sunday morning, Mark pointed out elk in the area between the fields. Using binoculars, it was easy to see the elk grazing.

We had banana bread and mini bagels before taking the dogs for a long walk to the irrigation ditch. We picked up glass fragments and rocks to polish in the tumbler.

After returning to the house, Cindy made biscuits and sausage gravy for a late breakfast.

Mark and Steve finished cutting up, hauling off and cleaning up the last downed cottonwood tree. They put the tractor implements back along the fence around the chicken lot and made sure that there were no places in the fence for chickens to get out or predators to get in.

Jade posing at the pond

Earlier in the summer, Mark had a problem with trout dying in the pond. The water is over 30 feet deep which should be deep enough to keep the water cool enough for trout. A few weeks ago, he added additional aeration to the pond which should help. We used Vernier probes to assess dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH, all of which came well within the requirements for rainbow trout. Mark bought a water temperature sensor for his Ambient Weather Station. This probe measures the temperature of the water at a depth of ten feet and sends the data to the weather station’s app.

Wolf skin in Whittington's living room

Mark bought several Wyze security cameras for the Idaho property, and we placed them in and out of the house to monitor the property when they are away. The security camera on the back of the house has a solar panel to power the camera even if the electricity is out.

We had an afternoon snack of tortilla strips then Cindy paid bills and took care of paperwork while Mary worked on notes for this journal and watched Sunday church service.

Mark cooked a tri-tip and grilled asparagus for dinner, and Cindy fixed bruschetta.

After dinner we watched two episodes of Good Karma Hospital on Acorn TV then turned in for the night. It was nice to have a more relaxing day after travel and taking trees down.

Clearing out trees

View from Whittington's front deck

After sleeping well, we had a full day ahead. The cool nights and warm days are perfect for sleeping. We had a quick snack of banana bread or mini bagels before taking the dogs out for a long walk in the desert. As we walked, we continued to look for interesting rocks that might polish well in the rock tumbler. We also found an old mortice lock that had been in a door of a house or possibly hotel. Mark thought he could clean up the lock.

After the walk, we had a good breakfast of waffles and planned the day. Mark and Steve took down a section of fence around the chicken coop. Cindy and Carren Morgan wrangled the chickens into the chicken house and locked them in.

Mary talked to Doreen, Carron’s mother, while the chickens were dusted for insects and parasites. Mark and Steve were able to take the six-foot tall fence loose at a seam to create an opening in the fence about ten feet wide. This was the window through which the trees inside the chicken lot would have to be felled to avoid damage to the fence, house, barn or other structures.

Back of Whittington's house from the pong

Mark notched and cut the large cottonwood trees, while Steve connected ropes to assure that the trees fell in the correct spots. Steve helped Cindy position the tractor attached to the trees with the ropes, and Cindy drove the tractor pulling the trees. Steve cut the downed trees into manageable lengths, then everyone loaded tractor bucket with the tops and logs. Cindy drove the tractor to the burn piles along the edge of the alfalfa field where they would be burned during a wet period of weather.

During a lunch break we enjoyed cold cut sandwiches, watermelon and Ruffles chips while we rested.

Mark's trout pond

After lunch, Mark and Steve finished taking down trees inside the chicken yard. Mary and Cindy put the fence back together after Mark and Steve stretched the fence back in place with the tractor. They cut down the final large cottonwood tree outside fence, but left most of that tree for Sunday clean up. Since the tree fell into the dried-up irrigation ditch, it could easily be cut into sections and loaded into the tractor bucket. The chickens were happy to be back out in the fenced chicken yard and pecked among the piles of sawdust scattered about.

Cindy made broccoli elk stir fry with rice. Mark’s homemade dark chocolate chip ice cream was dessert. As always, everything was very good.

We watched two episodes of Kingdom on Acorn although Cindy and Steve slept through a good bit of the shows. We were all tired.

May, Idaho

We slept well last night but heard the coyotes singing in the distance. Sound travels well in this flat land, so it is difficult for us to tell how far away something is. We had banana bread for breakfast before taking a long walk in the desert through BLM land. The dogs were happy to go out for a walk with us. As we walked we looked for interesting rocks in the desert that might be good for polishing.

Front of Whittington's Idaho home

Steve and Mark worked on Mark’s Kioti tractor, changing the oil and filters. It didn’t take long since Mark had all of the materials and supplies that we needed. Cindy and Mary did laundry, cleaned the house and worked on updating Cindy’s computer.

Mary and Cindy drove to the Ellis post office to mail estimated taxes and postcards. They saw pronghorn antelope further down Hooper Lane near Custer County.

After lunch, Mark and Steve cut down some dead cottonwood trees in a canal that had been previously used for irrigation. Since the canal is long dry, the trees have died. Before we could start cutting, we had to move the tractor implements out of the path of falling trees. Mark keeps the implements along the fence to the chicken yard, so we moved them over near the driveway.

Tractor implements beside chick pen

Mark was able to notch the trees perfectly to get them to fall along the ditch and avoid hitting the chicken house, fence or the irrigation pivot across the ditch. Just to be sure that the trees fell in the right place, we hitched the tractor to the trees to pull them in the right direction.

Mary and Cindy weeded, deadheaded and started a cacti garden near the house. By dinnertime we were all tired and ready to shower and call it a day. We still had a lot of trees to take down, but they were inside the chicken yard, and we would need to take the fence down before we started sawing. We wanted to be fresh another day and be able to get the job finished in one day so the hens wouldn’t have to be confined to the chickenhouse any longer than necessary.

Mark fixed halibut tacos for dinner with some of the fish that his friend, Rich, brought back from Sitka. Afterwards we finished watching the last episodes of Dark Winds, season 2. Season 1 of the series was based on Tony Hillerman’s book, Listening Woman, and season 2 was his People of Darkness book. We enjoyed both seasons and look forward to additional seasons.

Cindy and Mary sat outside stargazing under blankets. They saw 6 satellites and 1 asteroid as well as clear views of the Milky Way and many stars that we never see in the East. Mark went to the hot tub to relax and stargaze.