Catching Up

When Johnny and I finally stopped coughing and wiping our noses after our three week cold/virus, there was a whole lot of catching up to do. Making Christmas wreaths for me, the dam concrete project for Johnny, to mention two of many.

A buck deer did a number on one of my Alaska Yellow Cedar trees. I had not renewed the dog hair I hang in bags from the cedar trees to discourage deer from rubbing the velvet off their antlers on those sweet smelling cedars. Now I have replaced them, better late than never. I have lots of yellow cedar boughs to use in my wreaths.

While still sick (...but doing farm chores, of course, as the goats and horses really don't care to hear about my problems... they just want fed...) I spotted the Yellow-breasted Sapsucker that had first visited us in February as a subadult bird. Now it had its full plumage and from the red throat I could tell it was a male.

A few days later, before I was probably well enough, I did my beached bird survey and found a huge dead lump in the sand that I thought was a dead marine mammal. Wrong. The experts told me it was a Mola Mola, giant sunfish, which I had never heard of. But now I know they are in every ocean and large body of water, just usually in warmer waters than ours, at least than ours used to be. They get as big as buses but this one was a mere 6 feet or so long.

I was so late finishing my survey that day that I was there for a beautiful sunset over the beach.

 And then it was wreath making for me, working on the dam for Johnny. The dam finally got poured on Friday, Nov. 22. Johnny had been trying to get concrete there since August. I'm still making wreaths but most have now been mailed or delivered.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and fun with our usual guests, the Millikans and Irv, plus new guest Mary. We always do it the day after Thanksgiving, giving us a day to finish cleaning house and doing the planning and some of the cooking. And so that our guests can avoid TDay traffic.

December looks to be as busy as November, hopefully without any illnesses to slow us down.