Saturday - COVID231 and FIRE72

I thought I'd sleep in a bit longer, but the earlier bedtime last night meant up at 8am.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the morning with daylight saving time ending and all.

I did some work this morning, and am still a little behind but not too much.

Then I went to the library to drop off a couple things and pick up a couple books.  After that, a trip to Home Depot to curbside pick up my motion sensing solar outdoor light order.  Now to find a couple spots to put them so they illuminate the chicken coop.

It was exciting to hearing the Ring notification a couple of times tonight.  We saw a fox run from the barn area toward the front of the house, and then back again a few minutes later.  The camera caught a split second flash of another animal in front of the fox on the second run-through, but it's impossible to see what it is.  It's about the size of a raccoon but I'm not sure a raccoon could outrun a fox.

Then again, I've never seen a raccoon run.  Maybe they can run fast when motivated.

I finished the blanket I started on when I was with Tammy during evacuations.  I'll have to take a better photo in the daylight.  I loved the center mandala that I wasn't content with making one and mounting it in a hoop.  So I decided to use a section of another pattern to make it into squares and create the blanket.  It weighs about 5 pounds!

It should be pretty cozy on my bed - I'll give it a try and see.  It was plenty warm while I was sewing the panels together the last couple of days.

I'm looking forward to getting some things done around the house tomorrow.

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Friday - COVID230 and FIRE71

I slept a little late again but not too bad.

It was a work day, somewhat busy but not crazy.

I was able to talk to Mom and Dad this afternoon, but not for as long as we wanted because there were issues with the cell phones.  I meant to call them back later but when I remembered, it was way late. :(  I'll try again tomorrow.  It was good to talk with them.

The trail cams are behaving badly and not recording overnight.  ChickenCoopCam was on today but kept turning itself off.  I reset it again for tonight (thinking maybe it overheated?) and if it doesn't record, I'll dig into customer service to see what's up.

The Ring went off tonight and showed me a fox walking through the coop area again.  Luckily it's just breezing right past the coop and not investigating.

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Thursday - COVID229 and FIRE70

Sleeping in was not as late this morning and I woke up at an okay time to start work.

I forgot to mention that the morning after the bobcat breach, Blue still laid an egg.  Apparently she trusts me enough not to stop production when predators are near.  Or her breeding is showing - high production.

I dreamt that Oliver brought a bobcat cub home.  They both trotted up to the slider.  I only let Oliver inside, though I wanted to bring the bobcat in too.  It was really cute and friendly.

The bobcat seems to have stayed away from the chicken coop.  The trail cameras quit recording yesterday afternoon, so there may be a timer that I need to adjust.  So if the cat did show up last night, I have no way of knowing.  The Ring camera seems to be hit or miss.  It did notify me of movement tonight.  Adrenaline spiked as I pulled up the live image on my phone - to see nothing - while I walked to look out the door - to see nothing.  The recorded video showed a 'possum running through.

I made tortellini soup for dinner which was good.  It's always a winter favorite for me.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Wednesday - COVID228 and FIRE69

I'm going to bed late and sleeping late again but it wasn't as late this morning.

After working for a while, I heard Oliver meowing at Becca's bedroom door.  She later came out to let me know that Ollie had left a dead bird (and feathers) in her bathroom.  I helped her clear it out.  

When reviewing video from last night and this morning, I discovered the bobcat came back again just two hours after I had chased it away.  

Tammy came up this afternoon and we reinforced the chicken coop.  The cameras have been going all day and I set an alarm on the Ring and repositioned it so that if anything shows up, it will hopefully be scared off.  So far there's been no activity on the Ring, though it did miss the return of the bobcat yesterday evening.  It's hard to get it set up in a place where it has a close view without being in the elements.

I made curry for dinner tonight and it's always good, filling, comforting, and with this batch - sinus clearing without being painfully hot.

I've had a hard time settling in to sleep tonight.  I forgot about making tea until I was finally tired enough to go to bed, but I need to remember it earlier so I can get better rest.

We are safe and well and so are the critters.  I hope you are too.

Tuesday - COVID227 and FIRE68

I skipped a couple of days because we lost power Sunday until Monday evening and the blog flew out of my head last night.  

It's hard to remember the last couple of days other than we did some errands and got food to go on the nights we had no power.  Cory and Jess brought up the trailer and it looks GREAT.  I need to paint it and do lots of practice towing.  It's good to have it here in case we need it.

Facebook knows first that there's been a lot of animal activity on the farm the last few days, including a young fox and a bobcat checking out the chicken coop in the early morning hours of yesterday and today. 

Just as the sun was beginning to think about setting, I heard a loud noise I didn't recognize.  By the time I got to the sliding glass door on the side of the house with the chickens, Oliver the cat was staring at the door and the chickens were making a huge ruckus.  I shook the door loudly, opened it and closed it loudly, and saw a bobcat actually making its exit from the chicken coop.  I started yelling at it as I walked (slowly) down the steps toward the coop until it went into the blackberry bushes.  I secured the door with the bent latch and called Bex with shaking hands to talk it through.

The chickens are okay and I got there just in time because the bobcat was halfway through the coop on its way to a tasty meal.  The top of the chicken run was dented out near the door where it likely jumped up when I made my appearance before it found the doorway out.  I've wired everything closed and put a crate and bricks and a 5 gallon bottle of water on the entrance the bobcat used this evening.  We'll be putting the animals in even earlier and will be securing the coop even more tomorrow.  I've ordered some solar motion activated lights to mount on the coop and some alarms for the doors and have plans to make the edges spikey and maybe even create another perimeter around the coop and run.

We're all safe and well tonight.  I hope you are too.

Saturday - COVID224 and FIRE65

Dang, I overslept today.  I kept waking up a little then snuggling back into the warmth.  Oliver didn't bug me and Bella didn't bark.  So I was shocked to see that it was 12:15 pm when I finally rolled out of bed.  I started automatically to feed Bella when Bex popped in and said that she had already fed her, and the cat, and done chores.  Whew!!  She also had coffee ready to go and started heating the water as soon as she saw I was up.  What a great kid.

I spent a lot of time reviewing footage from four cameras this morning and found some gems.  I've got the bobcat and fox videos done and will work on squirrel and 'possum later.  There was a lot of activity this week.

The fox video will need to be uploaded to YouTube because it's too big to share here.

I spent the rest of the shortened day with Bex and then she visited with a friend while I crocheted for a bit.  I went to bed still late but earlier than I have been for a while.

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Friday - COVID223 and FIRE64

I slept much later today but it worked out.  And I worked most of the day.

I've been waking up the sourdough starter from its hibernation in the fridge since the weather turned warmer.  It's starting to wake up a little but it's taking longer than I'd thought.  Bex and I are looking forward to pretzels again.  Someday.

Leftover soup is still going strong for lunch and sometimes dinner and is even better warmed up.  I think I have one more bowl left so I'll need to make another big dish this weekend.  I am thinking curry sounds good again.  If I had a few more tomatoes I could make soup but that takes a substantial amount.  I have some but not enough for that.  So I think salsa is on the menu too.

We are still binge watching a show that is too good to stop but we do stop when one of us starts dozing.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  Though I got notice that the power may be shut off Sunday due to high winds and dry weather.  This notice came on the anniversary of the Kincade fire so the timing sucked.  Evacuation is one thing.  Doing it with no power is another.

We are safe and well with no fires nearby as I finally go to bed.  I hope you are too.

Thursday - COVID222 and FIRE63

I'm still sleeping in.  The good news is that the headache seems to be gone.

When reviewing the Ring camera this morning I noticed Oliver flying across the yard.  Typically I watch each snip in sequence with him walking left to right, then right to left the next time, stopping to look out over the yard.  We slowed it down and looked as closely as we could and Bex and I think he was trying to get a chipmunk.  Those suckers are fast and Oliver didn't sneak up closer and ran from too far away to catch it.

It was a work Thursday and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

I didn't even leave the property to check the mail today - the daily email I get from the post office didn't show anything anyway.

We are worried about the weekend fire danger but trying not to focus too much on it.

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Wednesday - COVID221 and FIRE62

I slept late again and feel like all I want to do is sleep once I hit the bed.  The sun is obnoxious in making sure I get up.

Another busy work day and a bit intense.  It feels like Friday.

When I checked the Ring camera this morning I discovered we'd had a fox visitor at about 2:30 am.  Nothing else on the other cameras and I am trying to be sure to get them out every night now.  

Bex made dinner and we had a good episode of watching Bella play and get stuck under her bed walking around and bumping into things like a blind turtle.  We watched our show until I got tired.

I'm trying to stay positive but today was a test of that effort.  

But we are safe and well.  I hope you are too.

Tuesday - COVID220 and FIRE61

Yes, the FIRE will stay there until it's out.  We still have smoke from flare-ups from time to time.  I am still packed and ready in case one of those flare-ups throws a spark outside of the containment area.  

I slept late again but that's okay.  I still got my work done and made my morning phone appointment on time.

Bex and I headed to Santa Rosa for feed store and Michael's curbside pickup.  I love our drives and conversations and enjoying music together.  The laughs too.  

Bex made dinner and we watched a show.  I enjoy the time with her while I can.

We are safe and well.  I hope you are too.