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July through September, 2009

Landscape Mode

Morning Ritual

A small herd of Whitetail Deer live in the brush at the bottom of our property. In the very early twilight, they often wander east to find food, then wander back as the sun comes up. This puts them in view of the Main House and into the area Pumpkin considers to be her domain. Pumpkin chases them down to the brushy area where they live, never managing to get very close to them. One day, several deer decided there was no reason to run so fast and stopped to take a few bites of grass. Pumpkin stopped well short of the grazing deer and watched for a while, then returned to the South Patio as the deer finished grazing and walked to their daytime hang-out.

Last year, we found 4 point and 5 point sheds from the bucks. Jennie found one near the north fence near Place Creek and Gary found one next to a badger den near the south fence of our quarter section (we did not hang around to see if the badger wanted it). They may not be from the same buck, but they make a nice matched set. Next Spring, we will go hunting for more!

As part our continuing landscaping efforts, we decided to order a load of topsoil and work on the area immediately east of the Main House. These big trucks can deliver 16 cubic yards more quickly and economically than the 5 round trips it would take with our dump trailer.

When it comes to spreading a lot of topsoil, having neighbors with big toys turns days of hard work into a one hour spectator sport event.

Once the topsoil was spread, we seeded the area and set up sprinklers. After two weeks, sprouts of new grass can be seen. The new grass will have at least two months to get established before Winter sets in. At left of the house is the grass we planted last Fall. At right of the house is stone we placed on a slope that drains the front of the house. At far right is the slope we hydroseeded last Fall; it will need more topsoil. The red truck is delivering large boulders to be used to landscape the slope below the South Patio.

Over the Summer, Gary (with a little help from Dan and Jennie) shoveled over 4 cubic yards of soil out of this area to expose and fix a leak. Then he shoveled in 4 cubic yards of gravel to replace the soil, with two layers of plastic to direct water away from the most likely leak areas. Any moisture getting below the plastic will quickly drain through the gravel and below the leak areas. The final layer was covered by one cubic yard of decorative rock. This area gets blasted by wind currents, so we decided to put in something that would not blow away! We will put in more moss rock later.

A major project for this Summer was terracing the steep slope extending down from the South Patio. Here, our landscapers discuss the rough terracing they have done with their heavy equipment.

The terracing will consist of retaining walls built from lichen-covered boulders and timbers left over from construction of the house. This was one of the easier placements; other placements required the heavy equipment to sit at an alarming angle. Of course, the boulder serves as a counter-balance; the interesting part comes when the boulder is unhooked.

We had no delusions landscaping would be finished by the time we hosted the Cork and Fork kick-off party. People like our house for these events because it has a very open architecture inside with easy access outside to the large South Patio, making it easy for people to circulate. The weather was pleasant, so many people chose to sit outside. Around 8:00PM the weather further aided the hosts by issuing sudden gusts and threats of rain that chased everyone home.

The party's over; back to landscaping.... It was perhaps inevitable equipment would get stuck. The operating characteristics of skid steer machines causes them to dig up the terrain. In this case, the slope gave way and the machine slid over sideways, threatening to roll. They had to call in the excavator to rescue it from the brink.


This month, we were visited by Wanda, Wanda Jo and Frances (Gary's mother, cousin and cousin's husband), who passed through on the way to and from Kansas. Jan (Pauline's sister) and husband Mike came to visit at the end of September; they arrived from England very late on the 28th, enjoyed a fine day of mid-70's weather on the 29th and several inches of fresh snow on the 30th. They will be staying to mid-October so may have a chance so see our fine Fall weather.

Sidebars

In Memoriam

We are sad to report that Jennie's Australian Shepherd Zip died of pancreatic cancer. In her younger days, Zip was a state champion in Agility. She enjoyed accompanying us on hikes (especially if there were treats), helping take care of the property, helping in the garden, and coming up to visit Neko and Pumpkin (though there was always contention over who was top dog).

Lower Bridger School

We had the opportunity to scan old photos of the Lower Bridger School, a national historic landmark located just across the highway from us. We also did a little archeology to locate one of the landmarks in a photo. Caretaker Dan has been hired to do some restoration work on the school; here he is sizing up some of the interior work.

Fire in Bridger Canyon

Our late afternoon dinner preparations were interrupted on September 26 (Saturday) with news of a fire in the canyon, about 7 miles north of us. Temperatures were in the 70's, the wind was gusting to over 50MPH and there had been no rain for many weeks, so the danger of spreading was great. Volunteer fire companies from the region were quickly on the scene and by nightfall there were 70 firefighters protecting structures and chasing down small fires started by blowing embers. At least two homes were damaged but were saved by quick action of our own volunteer department. The wind blew the fire toward Bridger Bowl, where it was stopped by the parking lot and by turning on the snow cannons to spray water on the lower slopes. We pitched in by helping gather and distribute food and drink to the firefighters; two parties scheduled for the Bridger Bowl facilities had to be canceled and donated their food, so the firefighters were well fed. The fire was contained to about 380 acres and no buildings were lost, but tensions were high until the wee hours Sunday morning. Bridger Canyon women were on duty at 5:30am making breakfast. By Sunday afternoon, the state took over and there were 100 firefighters, two water dropping helicopters and two skidgions (logging bulldozers adapted to carry water) operating along with the numerous fire engines and water tankers. By Monday, there were 200 firefighters on the scene. On Wednesday, it snowed and operations ceased.

By now, our California readers are wondering why the overwhelming response to a relatively small fire. Two reasons: a) Montana operates with a budget surplus, and b) a light fire season has left many firefighters idle.

Weed Report

We think we are getting Leafy Spurge under control. The bugs we released several years ago have made great progress in reducing the size of all patches except the very large one at the bottom of the drive. With the help of goats, we hope to make significant progress there next year. The bad news is Canada Thistle seems to be thriving throughout the canyon. We found several major infestations in the brush around our property and finally gave up spraying the larger ones. The current plan is to enlist the help of goats on thistle as well as spurge next Spring. Gary has contacted the goat herders and plans to organize a grazing plan for interested property owners in the canyon as part of his work with the Bridger to Bangtail Coalition.

No Hunting!

We discovered a tree stand on our property that clearly was put up for the last hunting season. The default in Montana is “No Hunting Without Permission” and to make sure, we paint the tops of fence posts orange every 100' or so (different states use different colors). Gary replaced the stand with a note saying hunters need permission and gave our phone number. We don't mind people hunting, we just want to know who, when and where so we can take proper precautions. And, we expect some of the meat if the hunt is successful!

Police Reports

The local police reports are often more entertaining than the comics. Check these out.

Parting Shot
Pine Bark Beetle



Pine Bark Beetles have been attacking pine trees throughout North America. This year, evidence of infestation finally showed up on our property. In mid-June, the tree pictured above looked healthy (look for it just left of top center). By late August it was clearly at death's door. We suspect all but the smallest pines have been infected (apparently, the beetles prefer larger trees). This Winter, we will cut down the unsightly ones and leave a couple of the larger ones to become snags. 99% of our trees are Douglas Fir and are unaffected by this beetle, so our forest won't be wiped out. However, the density of pines increases as one goes up the canyon, and there are large areas of dead trees there.

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