evan's ant village log

Day 218

Somers the fluffy dog passed away on this day, which shall henceforth be celebrated as Somers' Day. We took her into town to see a vet but before the vet could do anything it was too late. She was an elderly dog and her passing was not entirely unexpected. We will remember her sunny face and grumpy disposition with fondness.

Sharla wrote a few words in memory of her beloved companion:

"Shall I compare thee to another dog?
Thou art more fluffy and more excellent.
Bent limbs may hide a yet undaunted heart,
And Somers' lease had all too short a date."

Too sad. Sorry to get the news, Sharla. We sure do get attached to those furry little creatures and miss them terribly when they're gone.

Day 219

The larches have almost finished dropping all their needles. The tiny golden splashes of mulch all over the ground is a pleasant sight to behold.

My rad neighbor Jesse is making great progress on his house! I helped him out a bit and had the pleasure of getting a good look at the unusually-shaped structure he's building.

I especially like the angles of the boards on those sidewalls, and the way he tucked a nice big storage area into the space created by the oblique bracing. Nice going, Jesse!

You can support Jesse by becoming one of his Patreon patrons: https://www.patreon.com/jessegrimes

Day 220

One of the things I've been meaning to do for a while is to harvest those giant sunflower heads. When Abe was here he mentioned that since the backs had turned yellow, that meant they were probably ripe. So I finally went on a head-removing spree.

Some of the seeds seemed a bit underdeveloped, but some seemed just fine. We started drying them out so that next year we can plant a ton more!

Sharla had me cut her hair for her. That she allowed me near her head with sharp objects, especially after I had just decapitated a dozen sunflowers, shows an amazing amount of trust. Check out that mohawk!

Gary Huntress wrote:Too sad. Sorry to get the news, Sharla. We sure do get attached to those furry little creatures and miss them terribly when they're gone.

Thanks, Gary. I adopted her when she was already an old lady in order to look after her in her last years, but I sure did get attached to her. The winter nights won't be the same without my fluffy dog, but she won't have to deal with the cold in her arthritis-y bones, either.

She has a little cameo in the next video we just put up. I'm going to make her a more fitting tribute video, as well.

I promised Nicole I would post whenever I upload a new video, so here it is! -
It's about finishing the Duck House aka The Ministry of Quacks aka the MiniQuax.

Sharla Kew wrote:

Gary Huntress wrote:Too sad. Sorry to get the news, Sharla. We sure do get attached to those furry little creatures and miss them terribly when they're gone.

Thanks, Gary. I adopted her when she was already an old lady in order to look after her in her last years, but I sure did get attached to her. The winter nights won't be the same without my fluffy dog, but she won't have to deal with the cold in her arthritis-y bones, either.

She has a little cameo in the next video we just put up. I'm going to make her a more fitting tribute video, as well.

I promised Nicole I would post whenever I upload a new video, so here it is! -

It's about finishing the Duck House aka The Ministry of Quacks aka the MiniQuax.

Yay! Love seeing the progress, and the happy ducks flying out. (And, everyone, check out Sharla's youtube page Survive The Winter--she's got quite a few more fun, informative videos, like one about the compost shower and bathroom.)

Day 221

Got everything squared away for our departure, and then picked up a last minute bounty. There was lots of leftover lumber around the Abbey, and also some windows and other stuff. Towards the goal of decluttering a bit, I moved the windows and such over to the boneyard, and the lumber down into the berm shed.

While we're away from Ava for the next couple weeks, Kai will be looking after the ducks. Thanks Kai! You're the best!

Day 222

Hit the road to northern Idaho today. Sharla and I caravanned in the van behind Jesse in his truck. His truck's been acting up so we were ready to give him a lift if he needed it.

Sharla had her gopro mounted on the dash to capture some of the mountainous scenery, and for a while it was even turned towards us to capture some of our hilarious banter.

We stopped by the side of the road where water was just coming right out of the ground! We need to get one of these things up at the lab.

And we also saw some bighorn sheep! They crossed the road and started climbing up a steep rocky cliff before I could snap a picture, but still, sheep!

Day 223

It was good to see Mike Oehler again, and to visit with all his nice critters!

Mike fed us a hearty breakfast of flapjacks, scrambled eggs, liver, and onions, and then put us right to work hauling and stacking cedar siding.

The road will soon be too slippery to safely traverse, but it was okay today, so we hauled a truckload of firewood up to the ridge house.

I'm glad you are there to help him move firewood and such. It seems like a decent exchange of skills and resources.