Snakes and Stuff (old draft, never got posted..it's time to clean this blog up)

Late afternoon the day the well was in I heard the rattler go off and quickly ran up and grabbed Luna off the coiled snake. The next day was a repeat with Rio. The day after that we found Ling Ling. He had been bitten in the neck and we suspect it was a rattlesnake.  His tragic death along with the constant fear for the rest of our animal clan, we felt as vulnerable as either one of us has ever experienced in our lifetime. Here we were, completely out of our element, in an area that we've never been in, and not knowing what the strange night sounds are. Fear is not a part of my life, but when there is a risk to your loved ones, it shakes your very core.

It was in the 100's every day and at least one of us was soooo lethargic! We moved our campsite up on a bluff over looking the pond, clearing our land of brush, weed eating, raking, inspecting for snakes.

I've learned to work in the morning, drink lots of water, and slow down. We have both slowed down, which was hard for us both, but was part of the plan..Work 4 hrs a day during the hot months and 6 months out of the year and spend the rest of the time learning about us.  Co-creating our lives.          The heat has actually helped us ease into the lifestyle, and as painful and unfortunate as Ling's death was for us, it helped us to learn respect for our surroundings and also helped us to remember that nothing is permanent and to love with all our might each and every day...

Labor Day~

We spent most of the day clearing and planning the area for our yurt. The materials for the deck which it will be built upon will be delivered this week and we're excited to get going on it. We're both looking so forward to getting indoors out of the heat and being set up indoors. We've got a lot to do before the rain begins in Oct. Besides, our furniture and belongings are sitting mostly exposed to the elements, under tarps, and plastic. My furniture has already faded from a nice dark green to an irredescent green yellow, and I think there is a bit of wood cracking going on so I desperately need to go over and do some oiling of the wood. Gotta let it go, some things are just the way it oughta be, I guess.

Sept 9^th

Our lumber and piers were delivered this morning so now we can get started with yurt platform. The guy that delivered was actually the manager from this place, Payless Lumber. What a really nice personable man with such a can do attitude. We always worry about deliveries and people coming up here as it's a pretty hairy place to get to, but between this guy and Mike, the well driller, if anyone has a problem, they are just plain weenies...Everyone we have come into contact so far is personable. Everyone trys to save us $, or throws in a deal. I guess it's the way it's done out here..Even Mindy at Pacific Yurt helped me tremendously in putting together our yurt order and although the sale was over threw in a $700 insulation package! I feel confident doing business with folks, knowing they are looking out for our best interest. It's all about doing good business, not just trying to make a sale. That means a lot to us as we navigate our way through our unfamiliar new life.

I spent a few hours at the library and ran errands,  and by the time I got back, John had all the piers laid out and the joices cut and propped up. Now we can both see just how much floor space we will have. Sure looks bigger than we thought so that's good. 30' is an amazing change from what we came from.

The girls returned from their life on the road. They left the day after we got here.  They talked so much about Mt. Shasta and wanted me to join them and their friends for a full moon camping trip and I gladly accepted.  What a wonderful place! Met some interesting folks and spoke of the magic and wonderful sense of well being you feel just being in the presence of the mountain. There's a spring at the edge of town that you can fill your water containers with and the water is soooo cold and delicious.

Met up with a group of young women that Ivy had met the previous year and we did a full moon circle. It's been a long time since I joined a ladies gathering and It was wonderful to spend the time together. The woman leading the group was from Germany and she spent some time in India studying . Then there was another young woman from Berlin with a baby, another young mother, one from Thailand, one that was half south african and spent time there, Ivy, Emma, and Becca.

The moon was amazing! It rained the night before and there was a double rainbow at the base of Mt Shasta. Incredible!! There was a hint of a third one as well and the reds were all pooling in one area and cast a fantastic light. The sun was going down as well so it was extra golden red to begin with.

The girls showed me all around, we saw the most amazing sunset I've ever seen, I think.. They

took me to Crystal Lake and showed me a beautiful spring there and a huge patch of pitcher plants right under the spring. I spent my last day hiking up to Panther Meadows and to the spring that is suposedly the beginning of the Sacramento River. I spent some time talking to an herbalist who talked of the lore of the spring and she shared a bit of her history. She was there gathering floral waters. As a naturopath she was definitely at the perfect place to do it and with the full moon the night before she had a perfectly wonderful batch collected to take back with her. She took be back down to my car and I continued on up to the mountain as far as I could drive and spent a few hours hiking up and enjoying the view. I was particulary drawn to the more southern peak and hear an amazing sound coming from it. Could have been bats screeching I suppose..or the wind, but it was exciting whatever it was...

Spent some time meditating and then felt I needed to head back, pack up and leave asap.

When I returned, I found that the yurt kit had been delivered and John had taken a bad fall from the back of the semi trailer. Apparently he was pulling on the plastic straps and they broke. He fell face down and thought he broke his nose, sturnum and femur. That is still to be decided a week later now as he is still in pain from a probable cracked sturnum.  He spent the whole day ferrying the kit to our homesite all by himself. I still feel horrible that I was not here to help him.  

Sept 23^rd~

Went to an Autumnal Pot luc gathering at our neighbors Chris & Kelly. Delicious and mostly vegan, so wonderful to have conversation with other neighbors and friends. Wish the girls would have been here as they would have enjoyed themselves and met some wonderful young homsteading families and fellow travellers. These younger kids sure have put on some miles in travelling all over the world and have so much to teach us. Medicinal mushrooms, Ringing Pines in Siberia, lots of cool stuff.

Met some sweet young ladies and they are planning a woman's gathering for full moon. I'll look forward to that and hope to hostess a few of them myself at time goes on....This can be a hard life for women up here and sharing ourselves is valuable.

Sept 24^th~ John finished installing the floor today. He had a very frustrating time with warping. I've never heard him carry on so much. Sure didn't help much that he's still not up to par with his rib giving him problems. I began my job sanding the floor and got half way done. Will finish sanding tomorrow and get the finish on.

Tonite I had to kill a rattlesnake. As I lay in bed I was awakened by that telltale hissing/rattle and I jumped up, yelled at whoever was antagonizing it, grabbed a broom and threw it at the antagonizing party who was...Rio again!  Then I began shooing away the others that were quickly gathering to see what was going on while pulling on my rubber bogs it hit me that I was going to have to kill the snake. It was dark and I had no choice as I had no way to contain the bratty cats. The curious kitten paws can be hazardous to one's health as poor LingLing found out. 

John is having a horrible time with pain tonite. He could not move through this whole ordeal and In between pulling the cats off the snake and killing it I ran and got him two aleive and a cup of water.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.......It may rain.

Oct.1^st. The yurt is nearly finished. Halalulia! Putting the top on proved to be tough for two people. We put the liner on the top, the the insulation over the top of that. We ended up needing to go get scaffolding to put on the heavy top cover. What a test of strength for me. We did get it done though with great joy in the end for having that part finished and reveled in it for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we'll get to the wall insulation, cover and the dome skylight. I can't wait to move in and see what it's like living in the round.

I've decided that I would like to get a 38. It'll take care of rattlesnakes, and coyotes, if the need arises. I'm most familiar with a 38 and I like the piece of mind knowing that I won't feel so vulnerable. I think I will keep it to myself though as I know John will not approve and it'll just cause a problem. I'll call it my little piece of mind. Wonder if that's why it's referred to as a 'Piece'.hmmmm, something to ponder.

The girls came home last week for a few days and brought their friend Abi who is such a delightful young lady, and we really enjoyed getting to know her. She's from Ft. Wayne, IN, close to where I once lived and my family is from. Abi's father is from Ciera De Leon, Africa and her mother, Ft. Wayne. They are or were both teachers, but her father is now spending a great deal of time building schools in his birth place now that he is retired. Abi has a degree in political science with a minor in Woman's Sustainability. She plans to join her father in helping out in Cierra De Leone. Emma hopes to travel over with her this winter and spend some time. Hope it works out for her.

It was great to have them home-they cooked for us, gave us a hand with the yurt rafters along with our neighbors Chris & Kelly. We had a nice evening sharing our evening meal, conversing and listening to Shay and Chris sing and play their guitars.

The weather is cooling down substantually now and we are expecting rain in a few days. It'll be great to be moved inside, and give poor john a nice long rest so he can heal his cracked ribs. He's worked so hard despite his pain, to get us safely inside. I look forward to seeing him on the sofa reading the new book, our friend Vito lent him. They seem to have the same book interests and he seriously deserves the rest- it'll be mandatory. I'll also set up the message table and work on that bad lower back pain that's also plaguing him. Got to get him better so we can focus on the next step~solar panels, plumbing and greenhouses.

Greenhouse # 1 is finished and benches are being built-John has a great start on them and did a fantastic job on the ends. Kitty door has to go in soon....the cats are congregating inside-especially Tucker. They absolutely love the yurtspace though. The energy within the shape is soothing and feels good.