Archive for ‘June 28th, 2015’

Bear saves us again

Thankfully, we needed none of the above.

BUT, they are the only photo, albeit after the fact, that I have of the “adventure”.

Sunday morning…6:15 a.m….we all blasted out the front door to enjoy a bit of cool before the forecast record breaking 101F day! It was 67F at the time, which is still a bit warmish for morning, but in “all is relative” world, felt grand.

Bear and Auggie went their respective ways and I headed for the well head and sprinkler duty. I got water going and then I noticed that Bear was standing at the edge of the turnaround, looking intently to the northeast. When a beardog looks intently, a beardog’s person MUST also look intently!

I walked to Bear and looked in the direction that he was focused on. I saw Auggie leap. And I saw a fluffy black and white tail about 3 feet from Auggie.

And since the only fluffy black and white tail that I knew was “safe” was on alert next to me… GAH!! Skunk. And Auggie was stalking the skunk.

I roared to Bear to go inside which he did immediately and I think, happily. I ran in and grabbed the 2 bottles of Skunk-Off, the pepper spray and a large towel. Back outside Auggie and the Skunk were doing a kind of dance of face to face with the skunk stamping, then turning with tail high. Auggie was cautious but giving chase when the skunk turned away. When he got a bit close, the skunk turned to face Auggie and stamped the ground.

They did this dance thing with me on the chase and calling to Auggie and throwing sticks between Auggie and the skunk to startle and stop Auggie. Seriously, I absolutely NEED !!! to buy a GoPro video cam !!!

We did the run, dance, stomp, tail in the air thing ALL THE WAY out onto the state land with me all the time thinking that Auggie was going to get sprayed. Finally, the skunk went one way and Auggie the other way and then Auggie rolled over for a stomach rub and I threw the towel over him…

At one point, I thought I detected a spritz of skunk, but Auggie had no smell on him. He snuggled into the towel and dripping sweat, I walked back to the house.

Inside, still no skunk smell – hoo… I say HOO-RAH!!

Bear was waiting and I gave him high praise and extra breakfast and an extra Greenie and told him that he saved the day! Without Bear’s alertness, I never would have seen that Auggie was challenging the skunk. And I do not for a moment think that would have turned out well.

Beardog SAVES THE DAY!

“I could have taken that stinky ole skunk….”

EDIT: Sunday Evening:

We broke the all time record of over 100F in June in Montana. First time, I’ve seen 100F since I moved to Montana in February 1994.

Staying home

I work from a home office. Except for groceries, I do most of my shopping online. I do not belong to any organizations.

I am home a LOT! And I love it. My little house is not perfect and there are things I’d like to do inside and out, but it is comfortable and the few things I have, I love.

And I love being here with Bear and Auggie. Bear loves Jeep rides and I am so happy to take him along with me. We have our spots for walks. But, we are both happy to return to the house and to Auggie, who is often waiting and watching from a window spot.

Anyone who has read this blog for any time, knows that I really do NOT like hot weather and hot for me is 80F. Still, I hate “wishing away” days and I don’t like to waste energy being too grumpy … especially about the weather! I’ve tried various tricks through the years to reduce the amount of whining and complaining.

Last week, when the weather folks started talking about the record breaking heat this weekend, I decided to approach this like I’d approach a Winter storm. I made sure the pantry was full and the frig and freezer were stocked with good things to eat. I’m used to being home so the idea of staying inside, which I enjoy during a Winter storm … not a problem.

The main difference is instead of sitting in front of the woodstove, I’m sitting in front of the fan!

Mornings are still beautiful, even if not quite as cool as usual.

We take a long morning walk while the sun is low and there is a lot of shade.

Then some time in the yard together while I run sprinklers, check the motorhome and water the fuschia.

And while fushia might not be typical “cut flowers”, I trimmed the plants to hopefully make it easier on them through the heat and brought the cuttings inside to enjoy during our heat wave hibernation.

As usual, it is often about attitude and perspective: making the best of a situation, looking at the bright side, counting my many blessings – all of that!

I don’t know that I can honestly say I’m enjoying the heat wave. I worry about the animals, both wild and especially livestock like the angus (black) cattle. BUT – I can only take care of me and mine and so I do that. And I enjoy being in my cool and comfortable house … relaxing, reading, doing a bit of work and being excused by weather from even thinking about outside chores :) !!

AND … having homemade peach ice cream for breakfast!

Staying home.