Author Archives: Joel

Monday I had guests at the Secret Lair, which is not a common thing. Big Brother and New SIL stopped over on a long road trip west. This meant that part of Sunday got spent cleaning the Lair – also … Continue reading →

…has always been something of a problem for me. For several years I grumped along on the cheapest margarin, on the assumption that most would be thrown away in summer when it melted into vegetable oil and promptly went rancid. … Continue reading →

On a long road trip west. We agreed we should have planned it better and will next time, because while he was willing and indeed looking for an excuse to stay a couple of days, there’s just no project going … Continue reading →

In the crappy little town nearest where I live, the only drugstore is also the only ammo retailer. In theory. According to the lady I talked to yesterday morning they actually do move some ammo – it’s just that the … Continue reading →

Here’s something I wrote 16 years ago on an old moribund forum, and just rediscovered today… One of the pleasures I used to share with my wife, when she was my wife and when we shared pleasures, was reading aloud … Continue reading →

…right now I have access to an awful lot of driftwood. It washed down from the canyons in those big floods we had in 2017 and 18. Near the cabin the wash takes a big U-turn, and when it overflowed … Continue reading →

Got some visitors at the watering station a few days ago… Even with the few stills the game camera gave me – which prompted me at last to come back yesterday afternoon with the manual to re-adjust the camera settings … Continue reading →

Spring at last! There’s no doubt we’ll get random wintry nights – in fact since the pear tree is in bloom it’s almost guaranteed within the week – and I haven’t done anything as hubristic as putting the woodstove to … Continue reading →

Serendipity! The Lair’s main room is getting a new floor, earlier and with less hassle than feared. Two weeks ago some neighbors asked me, “Hey, can you use some laminated flooring?” To which I did not reply aloud, “This is … Continue reading →

So I scored 300 .44 magnum cases from some guy, as one does. Dumped them in the tumbler. Brought them into the reloading shack and started sizing and depriming them. And stuck inside one of the cases I found one … Continue reading →

On Thursday I took the bike to town, didn’t even wear a jacket. Just a loose shirt for a gun burka. Didn’t feel so hot yesterday, and anyway yesterday it was cloudy all day though quite mild. But today it’s … Continue reading →

…on a tree at the cattle waterer, higher than an elk might find convenient to rearrange. Certainly higher than I find convenient. Been waiting with anticipation to see how they’d react, but unfortunately the elk have made themselves scarce for … Continue reading →

It’s been a pretty cold March overall. This is the first time we’ve hit seventies in the shade. First day this year I’ve opened the cabin windows. And I’m loving it. Warm wind makes me think maybe we’re actually creeping … Continue reading →

…there’s been nothing worth writing about. I took that pic Wednesday morning – it snowed ALL day off and on. The weather was supposed to improve yesterday and drastically improve today – I’m going to find that miserable excuse for … Continue reading →

I just got back to the cabin from taking care of T&S’s dogs and horse, and… …for once my timing was pretty good. This suddenly turned into the sort of morning that makes you wish your Jeep had windshield wipers. … Continue reading →

I left the new game camera at the cattle watering station for most of the week. Mostly just got thousands of pictures of migrating robins… On one occasion a pair of ravens decided to take a bath, not heeding my … Continue reading →

It was only two nights and parts of three days, but being away from my own hermetic routine always seems like it’s taking forever. I’ll still be going up to T&S’s place twice a day at least through Monday but … Continue reading →

It arrived over the weekend as the result of a very generous gift from a friend of the blog. I left it up a few days to see what adjustments needed to be made in the settings – I see … Continue reading →

I have two sets of neighbors going for trips. D&L are going to the city for some surgery that’s been put off due to all the weirdness – between their animals and the peculiar needs of their heating infrastructure, their … Continue reading →