Sunday, July 12, 2015

Settling In

Tomorrow we will have been here three weeks.
We have almost dug ourselves out from under the enormous pile of possessions we moved from our former home. Not quite, but close enough that we have slowed down a little.
The Jensen Healey is in the garage, and with maybe another days work, I think I will be able to ease the Z into the other slot. But who knows which day. I am in no hurry.
We took the day off today. We jumped in the truck and went down to the Dungeness Spit for a hike. It has been several weeks since we hiked. Amazing how quickly things go soft. The hike from the trail head to the tip of the spit is a litle over five miles, so that would have made it eleven miles round trip.
A little too ambitious for first time out.
So we walked about half the way out and then back.
We saw a lot of shore birds. We saw an eagle perched on a piling eating a fish, and we saw several harbor seals. It was partly cloudy, temperature in the upper 60s, so perfect for a hike.
As a reward we stopped at the Black Bear Cafe for lunch. They were all out of Pie! So I was forced to eat a generous portion of huckleberry ice cream. O the Humanity!
Several people have told me that in the fall, our area is frequented by cougar and bear coming down out of the hills, so I went in search of a gun. I had pretty much settled on a lever action 30 - 30, but not on which model. When we went into town, there was a Winchester model 94 on consignment. It was a 1981 build, before Winchester farmed out all the manufacturing to subcontractors. Book value $300 - 500. It was in near perfect condition, with one bad spot in the bluing about the size of a pin head. Marked down to $375. I bought it on the spot. I still need to get out and sight it in, something I will probably do next week.
We still have lots of exploring to do.
I have been picking wild trailing blackberries every night. I noticed a couple of runners next to the mailbox, and once I started looking for then, a few more here and there. I generally get a couple of ounces every day. By the time the season is over, I should have enough to make a nice big batch of sugar free blackberry jam.
Speaking of which, it is time to go pick berries