Category Archives: Uncategorized

Four elderly batteries turn out not to be enough to run Ian’s system. It would boot up but not stay running for more than a short time, and this morning I finally figured out how to display the error message… … Continue reading →

Sorry. Life kind of came at me from all sides this week but I think I have a good grip on it now. Could be wrong.

Woodcutting season is officially closed. I have put away the power tools, raked up my mess and hauled it to the burn barrel. I’m not entirely comfortable with what I’ve put up, but winters in the high desert are episodic: … Continue reading →

From day one, Tobie decided that my bedroom made him very uncomfortable. Little Bear liked it. Torso Boy liked it – and in fact insisted on sleeping in the bed. Tobie finds it repellent. I expected him to get over … Continue reading →

Our window of September-like weather may be ending. But if so it’s doing it in a rather polite manner. Woke up to high 20’s. Got a lovely view of the late crescent moon and (Venus, I think) while accompanying Tobie … Continue reading →

…and once I got it stacked it didn’t come to nearly enough. So I have a bunch of other juniper chunks stacked elsewhere; it was cut green but has been curing for four years or more and should be fine. … Continue reading →

On November 6, 2006, Uncle Joel first moved fulltime into the Gulch. I don’t really keep anniversaries and this date usually slips by me unnoticed but I did happen to catch it this year. It’s been a helluva ride but … Continue reading →

D is officially out of the hospital – he got moved to a nursing facility yesterday. I’m surprised at the speed of that, because he had a bunch of related problems in addition to all the broken bones. An old … Continue reading →

Neighbor L wanted to go to town today at noon, and that gave me about 3 hours to get a start on one of the juniper stacks laying around the yard. Trouble is… I forgot how dirty that stuff is … Continue reading →

It was a little smoky yesterday. In the middle of the night I had to get up and clear my nose about ten times before I could lay back down again, and this morning when I opened the door for … Continue reading →

I intended to start cutting wood at last yesterday. There was a delay while I figured out what was wrong with the table saw and how to repair it: The gadgetry that raises and lowers the blade and motor had … Continue reading →

Time to get serious. Let me just state for the record that I hate winter. In case I forget later.

Due for a cold snap, I reluctantly lit the pilot on the bedroom heater yesterday. Excellent timing, too – it got down to the low-twenties overnight, and when I woke up the bedroom temperature was … 46o? Oh, for god’s … Continue reading →

Also, Ow my arms. But that actually is the first and hardest part done: I’m officially out of pallets to break up. Now I need to straighten up the woodshed – probably do that today – and then tomorrow or … Continue reading →

Okay, no more fooling around… After walkie and laundry I dragged the generator and Sawzall out of the powershed and proceeded to have at that stack of ten pallets leaning against the corner of the Lair. More or less as … Continue reading →

Tobie is approximately 3 years old now. He came home with me in May 2021 at a very roughly estimated age of six months. We have gone through changes – I won’t quite label him a hell puppy but he … Continue reading →

…asking if she needed anything while D is laid up. L is a strong, smart, proud woman but she’s also in a hummingbird’s weight class and (like D) has had serious illness and injuries in the past couple of years. … Continue reading →

My brother has been sending me monthly care packages for several years now. Mostly gifts of canned meat or other things too expensive or just too non-rural for me, like honey or chili sauce but every now and then the … Continue reading →

Home just now.[Redacted] [D] on chopper to [large city far away.] Left hip broken, 10 ribs on rt side, broken clavical on right. He’s gonna be laid up for at least 8 weeks. So that happened. Y’know, D&L sometimes come … Continue reading →

I was just sitting around when I got a voice call from Neighbor L: D got dumped, he’s laying on the road, broke his hip and collarbone and who knows what else. I got to him while she dealt with … Continue reading →