Hummie has been calling the family Back to the Homestead the last couple days..but more on that in a bit..
Blustery but green
This winter has been extremely mild so far and doesn’t look too bad for the next few days.
We only had a couple weeks this winter that really looked like winter…knock on wood…so far.
A year ago, you couldn’t even see the tops of our fences with feet of snow and still coming down yet. An average of 12-17″ a day made February and the first half and change of March pretty demanding.
Ma was snowed in for six weeks while I would snowshoe in from the main road a mile or so away. No trees made the trek a little iffy when the storms were in. Snow would swirl as we were on the edge of South meets East winds. A fair share of the time we were in teens and lower, plus, of course, that doesn’t count the wind chill.
Snow would cover my tracks behind and in front of me as I made my way through the snow.
“Just go up , or down hill. ” One might say.. Not that easy either. A steep incline for some hundred yards before the hill would be less of a climb and then start slipping down and up in ” V”s then finally a drop into a saddle and the final climb back up again..So, yes, through a snow storm uphill in both directions.
The areas where I would slip out of my path, once it was buried under new snow, I would end up sinking in a good six inches to, in some cases, up to my hips in the white crap made the walk more than I enjoyed. Especially after having to do it in the morning, add the extra drive time, after digging out the jeep..which still has no heater, defrost, cracked windshield, wipers barely moving, lights screwed up so night driving is all but blind, the muffler rusted out dumping Carbon monoxide into the cab whether the window is up or down, front end wanders, and mice have the insides stinking of mouse and mildew . The I get to work bust my rear for eight plus hours and jump in the jeep again to reverse the trip. Bleh…
Soooo.. Not doing that this winter is just fine with me. We have gotten several small snows, some lasting for a week or so , others just over night. Lots of rain actually works as well or better for our well.. When snow melts, it all goes downhill..When it rains, it sinks in to the ground. Although today is, once again, pretty blustery, over all it has been pretty calm up here.
Now, we still COULD get a storm in. It is still February after all and we can get snows easily into April, but for now… The weather is n’t bad.
Sit and Spin
Ma has been spinning , as she always does during the colder months as she works on her shawl of her own design. Getting her spinning down to over 200 yards of two ply from an ounce means she is spinning ever finer. She was averaging closer to 165. She is in the range of around twelve strand thickness of the woolen fiber….Which is pretty decent.
She has gone through over a thousand yards on her shawl making today another spin day for her as she managed to get it off for a change.
The winds keep Ma inside for the most part with the exceptions of going out to visit with the hummingbirds a few times a day.
Ma is knitting the present shawl along with working up a new design for another type wool all the while talking through a third design and test knitting for a few other designers …and of course running the place and working as well.. She is a busy girl.
Out in the shop
While Ma works away, I have been out in the shop working on a couple guitars.
My” Winter Finding”; A reddish semi hollow Tele style guitar took a bad fall last weekend. I can’t remember if I mentioned it..
I am at the finishing stage of her. I decided to go with an oil finish instead of lacquer ..Good thing.. As I reached to pick it up from where it was hanging near the wood stove, the tie came free.
The shop has a rock floor so the guitar dropped onto said rock then sort of bounced up against the wood stove. I just saw what damage there was just this morning as I started in on it again. A very small nick at the bottom is all that it had gotten. When I first saw it, there was a crease across the entire face where it hit the hot stove as well as the base being covered in rock and dust. All in all, not bad. The lacquer would have caught on fire as well as far more damage everywhere being softer as well as longer drying times.
Yesterday and again today, I am just slowly adding layers of oil, letting it dry, buff it and repeat.. It is definitely slower but I think I am fine with that after last week.
The other guitar is actually a bass. I have it modeled after a Fender Jazz bass though there are several obvious differences. I have a lot done on the body and neck though I have all of the hardware to fit before I can do much more. After that then I’ll pull it apart once again and start the staining process. I was looking at the feather that ” Lass” ( one of our hummingbirds) left me for taking care of her when she was sick a few weeks back, thinking that the colors might make a nice looking bass. Greens to blacks. On the order of the coloring I used on ” The Keith”.
It’ll be several weeks before she is done, but it is nice to be able to work in the shop on something I am not simply repairing.
Hummie and clan
Hummie has spent the last couple days rallying the troop. It seems that he has decided that it is time for all the hummers to start making their way back up to Zen from out of the valley.
Hummie, Liam, Mrs., Lass and Saran all decided to stay up here this winter. Seems they had a pretty good idea of how things would go…Plus they are smart enough to head to town if it gets too bad. They know we keep a feeder going for them so that they can get some juice if nothing else up here. I have no idea how long it takes them to head down but can’t be much more than a half hour and I am sure a lot less as they can be pretty quick along with no windy roads to travel.
Each morning ” Lass” still comes in to chat with Ma and I. She makes a point of staying low when she comes in to stare us in the eyes before she hits the feeder and then back to chatting with us until Hummie has enough and sends her off.
It has been nice to have weather decent enough to keep our little hummers around. We always miss them when they run to town for the winter. Of all of the birds and animals that actually come in to visit, the hummingbirds have the most character. Different coloring and temperament makes each individual plainly known. From Lass, the smallest to Hummie; the Biggest and usually most vocal , they keep us smiling through out the day. If we are not out for a while, they’ll come to the windows and look for us. Finding Ma in her office or me in mine, they’ll sit by the window and chatter at us until we talk to them or come out. If we are in the kitchen, they fly to the window, hovering and staring at us until we see them . In the front room, they’ll fly into the porch, looking through each window until they find us.. If Lass doesn’t catch me before I go to work, or if I am sick, she throws a fit all over Ma, flying back and forth from my window to the porch and back . Ma will talk with her, usually saying what’s up..in any case, she’ll finally settle down again. Hummie is just as bad about Ma.
Our deer
The coats are already less poofed out than they were meaning the kids are thinking winter is coming to a close. Only the yearlings still look like marshmallows in their little deer parkas.
The kids have been coming in more and more often lately as the temps have been pretty decent. They don’t want anything to do with the winds we are having right now so they are staying more to the woods and valleys today.
They all look fat and happy which is a great sign. Maybe we might have a few more fawns this year. Last winter’s storms made it rough on the kids so our numbers have been down.
Stinkie
She is back, hanging around but staying out of trouble. I see her early in the mornings when it is still dark and you can smell her in the evenings when she looks through “Lil Eden” to see what’s for dinner before she heads over to the pit for leftovers.
The other night, it sounded like we had gotten a rodent under the house. I got up around 3am to grump at it. Things got quiet after that. Later that morning, Stinkie had left what was left of it as proof that she was on the job.
It has been awhile since we had a whole family of skunks.. Not since we put up the new house so that they can’t live under us. She still takes over some of Bunnie’s homes from time to time.
The Dolittle bit
Yup, we talk to the animals around here. Well, not the rodents, but everyone else..err not the rattle snakes or cougars either….
I don’t need any cougar thinking that it’d be fun to sit on the porch ..or snakes or rodents. From bats to bears yes.
They get use to our voices and it makes them calmer around us. Deer stop and listen. They can be at a full run, hear us and stop to come back in. The coyote kids.. ya never know. I have stopped them more than once from attacking animals as well as cheering them on for others.
Hummies talk to us all the time. The CawCaw birds do too, both raven and crow. They are long lived , seems dumb not to make them friends of sorts.
The elk…wellllll… Best case is , they don’t tear off. They don’t seem to want to chat with us unless I use elk calls.
On and on… We all share Zen Mountain top, the animals and birds can be a lot easier to get along with than the few people.
Final thoughts
Well, Ma is crazy busy spinning and knitting while I am running in and out of the shop. We are, once again, suppose to get snow tonight but then , we were suppose to last night too though with these winds I imagine it could happen. I just hope that the rest of winter holds to what we have been having, we have buds on trees and bushes already.
Working on the guitars again is fun. I have thought about putting out bodies ( GUITAR BODIES) for sale in the future. Wouldn’t get rich but maybe it would pay for the hobby..Maybe not. I keep tossing it around though. I still have a ways to go on the guitars I started years ago and then let them sit until recently. The charm may easily wear off before I am caught up. That or up coming spring chores will leave little time between all that needs to be done plus work for the both of us.
Zen there was a shout
” Everybody get back home !” Hummie called out as he sit on the fence while visiting Ma and I in the pre-dawn light.
” Hey Hums. Whatcha up to? “ I called from my chair.
” It’s time for the family to get out of Gotham and come home . “
” But.. I thought you liked it when it was quiet up here. ” I said, grinning.
” I have been up here all winter with Mrs. bugging the crap out of me. Haul wood, shovel the perch. Check on Ma and Da. Move that couch. Vacuum under the fridge… Gawwhhhhh!!! It’s been a nightmare. Liam just turns around and heads out when she is like that. His wife stayed in town to babysit so he just pretends to go back to town…. Jerk… If I get everyone back up here, she’ll have enough to deal with that maybe she’ll forget about me and I can get some rest. ” Hummie said, nodding to himself.
” Well… Yeah but then you have the kids to babysit.” I reminded him.
” CRAP! I forgot about that.. Crap on a cracker! Here they come…Damn it.. Why didn’t you remind me sooner. “
” Ummm .. Because you didn’t tell me you were going to make the all call.” I grinned.
Hummie stared at me; deadpan. He lick his lips, took a deep breath…and I walked off.
” HEY! I am not done with you. Get back here. Don’t! Don’t you go through that door! Hey! Get back out here! I see you. “ Hummie yelled as he flew to the kitchen window. ” I know you can hear me! Don’t walk away from me!” Hummie flew to the Living room windows then out and around to my office window. ” Hey ! You! Old man! Get out here!”
About that time several of Hummie’s grand kids swarmed him. ” CRAP!”
” Grampa Hummie Grampa Hummie!” The little hummers chorused .
Hummie hunched his shoulders glaring at me..” This is not over.”
” Duh..been going on for like 30 years…Grump.” I muttered, sitting at my desk as I watched Hummie fall under the swarm of humlings .
Lass flew over head, cheering on the yearling hummingbirds as they all chattered at Hummie at the same time. ” Ha! My Da! You don’t pick on him or I send in the troops. “
With a heave, Hummie broke through the wall of hums to take off around the house, the tiny swarm in close pursuit.
Lass sat on the fence by my window, watching me. ” Come out. I have a secret.”
” Ok Lass. I’ll be right there.” I answered.
I step out the door to see Lass come whipping into the porch, over Ma’s head to watch me as I sat down. ” Sup Lass? “
” Nothing. I just wanted to say Hi….Hi.. ok gotta go. “ and with that, she was off.
Ma looked up from her tablet,” Hummers giving you a hard time?
” Meh…. I just enjoy driving Hummie crazy..It’s a hobby. “
Just then Hummie and the swarm came around the porch again, Hummie banking in behind the humlings and chattering his Star Wars laser attack sounds. The little yearlings squealed with pleasure, swinging around at him.
I could hear Hum as he switched gears again, flying off in the other direction. “Crrrrrrrraaaaaappppppppppp!!!!” as he flew back around the house again in an attempt to lose the horde .
Ma sat giggling at the hummingbirds’ antics as they flew by again, Hummie in the lead with all the humlings making the laser attack sounds at him.
” May the Force be with you Hum!” I called out laughing as he passed by again. The chittering mass close behind.
The sun far to the east peaked through a cloud bank to watch the hummies from his cover. Slow to wake, the sun yawned and stretched, grasp the blanket of clouds and closed his eyes once again as the rain began to fall in earnest .
I smiled as I watched the golds reds and oranges slip back into the greys and blues of the rain clouds.
It look to be a good start to
just another day on Zen Mountain.
Zen Mountain's Sunday Post and Short Stories 