Where the Ladybugs Sleep

Summer has gone by in a blink of an eye for Terran and I.  Between summer school, a trip back to Colorado, family visiting, T. spending 3 weeks in Dallas for school, major overtime hours for T. and all the hiking we could in between, fall is upon us. I can tell that the season of change is happening around us as the flowers lose their color, the little hummers outside fight over who gets to eat, and the evenings shorten. Have you ever wondered where all the bugs, birds and other summer creatures go during the winter? Last January Terran and I had a chance to explore a place ladybugs go sleep for the winter.



The Beginning of Steven's Creek Trail



Ladybugs



The more the merrier.



They covered the bark of the tree and the ground




A Lone Ranger



The river that is still popular for gold panning.



The view from the trail



On our way back

The only down side to a place ladybugs find warm enough to winter is that ticks agree. On the way home, while Terran was driving, I pulled roughly 40 ticks off the dogs. The ride home made the day all the more memorable.

Naomi

2011 Pictures

This weekend is turning out to be one of those unique weekends for me, because I don’t have an over whelming amount of homework there feels to be an abundance of time. In that abundance of time I am accomplishing bunches of things that have been waiting for me, while not feeling rushed or stressed. This post is one of them. I have, since the beginning of the year, wanted to post a picture for each month, but between holiday travel, school starting early and weekend plans plus homework each week there haven't been many spare minutes. The spare minutes I have had I decided to devote to sleep in hopes to beat the first cold I have had in over a year. I did not feel getting sick during the first weeks of this year was an auspicious start, but now that I can breathe again life is looking up.

Now with great pleasure I present for those still checking this abandoned blog a peek into our life in 2011.


Like many people we started 2011 by stuffing ourselves with goodies.

We flew to San Diego in February to pick up a car Terran bought and enjoyed our day in the sun.

Lunch on the pier in the sun.

In March we got to show our property to some very special people. Our nephew Kaiser liked the dogs and water best.

We took a weekend in April to go to Santa Fe, NM to celebrate our up coming 10 year anniversary on May 12. (Tried bird watching for the first time and loved it.)

We also visited the folk art museum while there and saw some beautiful toys.

In May we cheered for our niece Aleah at her gymnastics competition.

I got a new toy in June.

Terran was baptised by our niece Lily when my family visited in August.

September rains doused us at a favorite event the Meeker Sheepdog Trails.

I got to run with our nephew Keagan, when he competed in a triathlon with his brother Kaden and cousin in October.

Terran built a long awaited shed in November (it is already packed with stuff).

Of course we couldn't spend all our time at home working.

In December we spent Christmas with my family and a couple days on the Oregon coast.

Babies can fly!

Oregon was stormy and beautiful.

Catching Up,

Naomi

Growing Memories

I was looking at my garden trying to decide where to start weeding (yes, I have so many weeds I need to pick a spot to start) this past week when I saw a little plant that is not a weed. It was a little watermelon plant tucked in among the onions growing quite happily. I was a little surprised at first, because we didn’t plant any watermelon this summer, but willing to accept the little guy. Then I started looking and watermelon plants were growing everywhere, under the tomato plants, next to the peppers, in the walk way, and with the weeds. How did this happen I wondered, looking around. We’ve never had a watermelon invasion before and I was stumped. Slowly it came back to me…a warm summer afternoon, people’s laughter, good natured teasing, and sweet juicy fruit.

My Mom and brother Ben came to stay at our house while Terran and I were on vacation in May and then stayed the next week with us. We had a lovely time with them and a watermelon seed spitting contest was part of the fun. We all lined up on the patio and spit the seeds into the garden as far as we could. None of us guessed that the seeds would germinate and grow into the baby plants that have claimed our garden as home.

These plants make me wonder what kind of seeds I plant in life. When the seeds I plant start to grow into plants and make themselves known do they bring a smile or frown? What kind of fruit do they bear? Sweet or tart?

Now these little watermelon plants probably won’t bear any physical fruit at all, because it’s late in the season, but they give me a smile every time I see them. Bringing me back the sweet memory of a time shared in laughter with family.

Naomi

PLAN B

I had not planned on waiting so long before I posted and was all geared up to share stories and pictures, but my plan A fell to the wayside. I got sick, had a couple big tests, and then left for a visit with my family. Now here I am a couple weeks later with the last days of my Spring break slipping away under piles of laundry and baths for the dogs.

I know….sounds like lame reasons for not writing more, but we have a time sensitive issue. Kaia when hiking this past week got into some bugs and now has bites. At least we think they are bites and being myself, this means that ALL the bedding must be washed (even though the dogs are not allowed on the beds or furniture), the dogs bathed, and every bit of carpet vacuumed. The thought of bugs in my house is awful to me and the thought of bugs on my cute little dogs is almost as horrifying. I am on the WAR path and no insect shall prevail!




Wish me luck,

Naomi

Hunting

Both Terran and I have always had some kind of hunting in our lives. For me it was trying to explain beaver carcasses in our garage to my friends from my Dad trapping during my early years, and watching him skin grouse from shooting trips later on.
Terran had a completely different experience. His Dad was a hunting guide during Terran's early years with his Mom cooking for the camp. Later on he would walk out his back door to get deer on their property, and enjoyed long trips with his Dad for sheep and elk.
During our second year of marriage we went on our first hunting trip together. It was cold, long, and successful with us getting a cow elk our last day, since then we have gone some years and not others. Some successful and others not depending on the time of year and our hunting luck. This past fall was a successful trip.

This is my view on most of our trips (quite a good one of you ask me). I follow the Master Hunter carrying our supplies and trying to staunch the flow of the 20,000 plus words I speak on a daily basis as a woman. Yep, hunting is hard work for a girl!!

After walking quite a while we see wild life. Not what we are after, but wild life all the same. Look closely, it's hard to spot.

We keep looking, being diligent to walk miles and miles over the three days it took us this season to find the elk we were looking for.

WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

If you are hemophobic, doraphobic, belong to PETA, marched to save the whales, wear a t-shirt claiming the spotted owl is your cousin, or cried when Bambi's mom was killed please do not scroll down.

After our fruitless days of hunting we finally got a cow elk and worked together to get her skinned and ready to go to the butchers.

After moving all 322 lbs of our cow in only two trips using our special sled we were ready to eat.

Elk it's what's for dinner.

Proud to wear orange,

Naomi