Trail Cam excitement!

So, for Father's Day, Bruce got a Bushnell Trail camera! He and Cade set it out before Cade left to go back to Spokane.  We waited a week, before collecting the camera.  You can imagine our excitement.

We got a lot of photos of deer- Mule deer and Whitetail.

Even some lovely, big bucks.

and a FAWN! :)  

The does are still keeping the fawns hidden this time of year, so we hadn't seen a fawn yet!

Isn't he sweet?

Well, of course, we could hardly wait to put the camera out again!  (I have trouble waiting an entire week to see what we got).

We'll keep you posted!

My heroes!

Here are my two constant companions!

Our 14 1/2 inch tall, female, bi-black Sheltie,

Selkie

(aka BEAR! alarm dog :)

and her younger brother,

17 inch, Piper.

Small but mighty!

(or so THEY think).

Together, they rule the inside AND outside of Wind's Echo- keeping everyone and everything in line, and running smoothly.

My heroes!

BEAR! again!

It was about 6:20am when Selkie sounded the alarm.  Bruce sat up in bed, and said, 'What's the matter with her?' and I said, 'That's her BEAR! bark'.  Selkie was lying on the trunk, nose pressed to the window screen, when she suddenly sat up, and sounded the alarm again.  It's a very distinctive howl followed by yips and short barks. She sniffed at the window again, turned, ran and jumped on the bed, obviously scared.  Bruce looked out the window, and said, 'I don't see... Wait! There! It IS the bear!' It was over by the garden, and coming closer to the house!  Piper joined in the barking. Hobbes started growling. Itty hid under the bed.  You can imagine what the house sounded like!  It's no surprise the bear dove off into the woods.

but Selkie stayed nervous.

When I took her out to go potty, (because she wouldn't leave the door stoop unless I was outside with her) she kept sniffing, and sounding her bear howl.  I couldn't see anything, but I didn't waste a lot of time trying, either. 

We came back into the house, and Piper walked into the bedroom (which overlooks the front lawn) and started barking. I walked in to see what was going on, and saw it just about the time Bruce yelled, 'BEAR!'

It was right ON THE FRONT LAWN! right by the Canadian Red tree (for those of you who have been here).  I ran to get my camera, and by the time I got back, I had missed all the good photos. :(

Our bear was meandering into the woods between the house and our garden.

Bruce missed seeing the bear the first time she came around.  He had only my description to go by, so imagine my surprise when he tells me I UNDER estimated the size! He says the bear is fully grown- probably 4-5 yrs. old.  He's not sure if it's a Boar or a Sow.... but it likely weighs in around 150 lbs. which is about the standard size of our Black bears around here.  Not especially large, but not small either. 

Once again, it proved to be a very GOOD bear.  It overturned rocks and ate ants and bugs, and munched on some clover.  It didn't even get near the chickens, which is our main concern.

I took the Shelties with me when I went to feed the mares and chickens.

They didn't bark, or show any fear, so I knew the bear had left.  I did tell Journey that she was allowed to chase the animal if it came near our hens.  I just hope she listened to me.

Faux Father's Day

Cade came home Friday night, and because he had to leave Sunday afternoon on REAL Father's Day, we decided to celebrate FAUX Father's Day on Saturday.

I'm fairly certain Bruce saves up work he wants Cade to do when he visits.  Undoubtedly, Cade is a hard worker, and accomplishes so much in these short weekend jaunts.

He mowed the lawn, and trimmed, put up the screen doors, and washed them, washed inside the gazebo AND the front porch (railings and all!).  He helped plant the garden, dig out the weeds from several more trees and shrubs, helped cover some of the baby aspen we found (to protect them from hungry deer and elk), put out the patio furniture AND

helped Bruce finish the flower bed edging.

Apparently, a potentially risky business! LOL!

It's a HUGE improvement!

Meanwhile, I was inside cooking.

I made the marinade for the meat and vegetables, cut them, and put them in to soak. I made this WONDERFUL (man! it was good!) layered salad, as well as

this creamy coconut custard pie AND

French Silk pie! Mmmmm!

All this was AFTER a breakfast of popovers and scrambled eggs.

Bruce and Cade took a well-deserved rest, while I set the table, and put out Bruce's gifts.

It all looked very nice, although my choice of wrapping paper leaves MUCH to be desired. :)

But the table was pretty.

Bruce got busy grilling.

Shish Kabob, of course! :)

 I think we've always had Shish Kabob on Father's Day.  It used to be my Dad's favorite dinner.  He would rave about it! 

We all remembered, and wished he were with us to enjoy it once again.

 Dinner was amazing! 

After dinner, Bruce got to open gifts.

 We got a kick out of this card from Cass- The return address was: Cass Sterling PhD, and it was addressed to Bruce Sterling, MS.  :)

The funniest part was when Bruce opened it, it was a BIRTHDAY card! instead of a Father's Day card! LOL!  Cass said he had a hard time finding a decent funny card...

 

 The kids had all gone in together to get something really cool for Bruce- something they thought he'd really be excited to get.  He didn't have a clue what it was!

Even when he got the box opened, he didn't know what it was! :)

Finally! he found a piece of paper describing his new GREENHOUSE!

He was VERY excited!

I gave him some Hawaiian finishing salts, and a Bushnell trail camera.

I think he was a very happy man!

The next day, before Cade had to leave, Bruce had a NEW job for the two of them.

Assembling the Greenhouse!

It's the perfect size! 4 shelves on each side, and big enough to walk into.

Bruce plans on playing with it this summer- maybe trying pumpkin, brussel sprouts... things that we usually can't grow here because of our short growing season- but it's going to REALLY get a workout next Spring! when he'll start his seeds in March or April! He's excited!

I think our Faux Father's Day was a huge success!

BEAR!

I was talking to Cade on the phone when the cat (Hobbes) started to growl, and tore, lightening speed, up the stairs to hide under the bed. Bewildered I glanced outside and saw.....

BEAR!

It was CLOSE! like RIGHT next to the house!

(I'm aware this is a terrible photo- too fuzzy- but it's the ONLY one that shows the side of the house. See? on the left? That's the house!)

It walked over to the bunny enclosure, and pawed at that for a few seconds

then, came back around to the side of the house

where it tossed a tree stump aside (easily- without effort! Amazing!)

and started eating bugs, or grubs, or whatever....

Remember, I was telling you about my bucket list?  I'm pretty sure seeing a bear in my backyard was on it, too.

INCREDIBLE experience! I am SO blessed!