Yesterday we had a visit from Mr. Don Decker, NRCS District Conservationist and Malpie Borderlands Project Coordinator. That is one huge title to be toting around. I didn’t have the opportunity to spend any time with him because he came while I was at work, but he spent over four hours with Sue; walking the land, talking soils, vegetation, and best practices for conservation and working the land. NRCS stands for National Resources Conservation Services and is a service from within the United States Department of Agriculture. “NRCS provides America’s farmers and ranchers with financial and technical assistance to voluntarily put conservation on the ground, not only helping the environment but agriculture operations, too.” Continue reading
the conservationist
18 Friday Jan 2019
Posted in Fun Stuff, Special Report
Sometimes we have issues with tumbleweeds. Not necessarily as bad as this house in the high desert of California, but they are a nuisance none the less. From a distance, they remind me of Tribbles and they seem to multiply with the same ferocity. We get them tangled in the electric fence all the time – they can do
Every once in a while there are days where things just take a turn down the wrong lane. I’m not exactly sure, but I think our Monday may have started way back on Saturday… in the technical difficulties arena anyway. Several things kinda didn’t quite work out, culminating in a total Monday type of day today. 
As a somewhat taller female, I understand what it’s like to feel too big. I’m 5’9″ and I rarely, if ever, wear heels because I always feel like I tower over people. Yes, something can be too big. Right now, we have a rooster who is way too big, and he just doesn’t realize it. I think they may be a bit like dogs and they don’t really understand size so much as attitude. Olaf, the rooster, is pretty gentle, he doesn’t fight much with the other roosters, he just tries to get his time with the ladies at the most opportune moments for him, which aren’t always to the liking of the ladies, or the other roosters for that matter. We’re not sure what to do with him, and we may be running into some difficulties. 
One of our long term goals is to give the oldies more free run of the “yard”. That area right around the house that is fenced in. Yes, it’s fenced in, but the fencing is 4×4 wire, which is fine for dogs, but the chickens could get through it if they tried hard enough. Before we start introducing them to a larger area, Sue has been adding this smaller squared pvc fencing to the original fence. We use is a lot when we first let littles outside of the brooder in a small outside area. It holds up really well, and it doesn’t look bad either. As a matter of fact, I had to do the close-up shot because it virtually disappears when you get a few feet away. In the next couple of days we’ll move their existing fence so it goes across the upper north west corner of the property, giving them a large triangle of open space to roam. They should like it. If they handle that well, we’ll make it bigger and bigger. Then, maybe by grasshopper season, they can be completely free! That would be amazing. 
We’ve just come through Advent and Christmas-tide… a time when you hear a great deal from the angels. Generally beginning with, “Fear not!” Nothing like a heavenly body suddenly appearing and admonishing you to “fear not” to get your heart racing. Not from fear, obviously. It’s something that we try to practice though, not fearing. Trusting that things will go the way they should/need to. “Things” are not always in our hands and we have learned to not be so concerned with the outcome. Fear can paralyze you, that I know first hand. So, we’re actively stepping out in faith on a regular basis. Yes, we step out in faith, but – honestly – we still worry. The worry isn’t necessarily huge, but even a snigglette of worry can have you questioning yourself. This weekend we were successful in tackling the fear in a couple of accounts, and not so much in another. That’s right, trying to stay true here. 
I have family in Alaska. Mostly they live on the Kenai Peninsula – in or around Soldotna area. Each Christmas, I look forward to receiving an Alaska themed calendar from my cousin Michael and his wife Alison. I don’t know why I love it so much, I think it’s all the photos of the Aurora Borealis; they truly fascinate me. I’ve never seen them the couple of times I’ve been in the northern regions, but it’s one of my bucket list things. Anyway – this year’s calendar also includes the names of the months in different First Nations’ languages. January is Irallull’er, it translates to ‘the bad month’ in Yup’ik but only in the Bristol Bay region. I find it interesting that tribes in different areas can use the 
same name, with the same meaning, for differing months. It is completely dependent upon the weather; some months could come before others. I suppose, as we look at our weather this month – compared to others – this could be our Irallull’er. Or perhaps our month is more Kanruyauciq, meaning “frost”, like those of the Canineq area (lower coastal). No matter what its correct name is, we’ve been calling it “cold.” 
This morning, my folks walked into the house at the same time I walked out of my bedroom- that doesn’t generally happen when they visit; it was the morning they were planning to leave. Unfortunately, we woke up to another 3 inches of snow. Dad was a bit nervous about hitting the road during a pretty good snow storm, but we cleaned off my car and his truck and they followed me into town – at 25 mph. The roads were so icy. Mom and Dad had already elected to leave the 5th wheel with us and come back in the spring to tow it home. So glad they made that decision! Have you had enough of snow photos from us??? Too bad, we’re gonna show you some more. 
She has dropped her blanket of white over the hills and left her fleece behind in the draws where the sun never quite shows his face. Spent pomegranates hang from the trees like so many forgotten Christmas ornaments. The little dinos leave their tracks behind in the snow where only perspective can show how large or small the threat may be. Winter has come. 