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   Yesterday, I was in the Homestead House reglueing the legs of the table.  As I applied the glue, and attached the clamps, I heard rustling in the cook stove.  I assumed it was a mouse.  The building has so many loose boards and cracks that rodents can come and go as they please.  However, as I inspected more closely, I noticed a beak sticking out one of the vents of the stove.  After removing one of the circular plates on the cooktop, a new friend hopped out.  After a couple of minutes of getting his bearings he flew out the open door.  How long he had been in the stove, he never told me.

Sunday Morning

Today dawned with a red sun.  A front moved in last night with some wind and clouds but no thunder and no rain.  It moved on in an hour or two and the rest of the night was quiet.  The weather this week is going to be good, at least that is what I can get from about five different websites.  They all differ, but the general consensis is sunny and 85 for the week.  Great weather but, as I look out to the north, I can see only a few miles because of smoke.  Evidently, there are brush fires in the area causing our air problems.  It is a problem that southern Oregon has been having for a week or so, but it is new to this area and not very welcome at all.  One of the things I like about eastern Oregon is the distant views.  The miles and miles of miles and miles..
Not today.

Loud !

There are four of these parked here at the refuge.  Malheur Lake is shallow so a normal boat will not work here.  These boats go in instead.  But there is no way that these "sneak up" on the wildlife

Look at the V-8 engines and the nearby exhaust headers.  Quiet, no way.  Exciting, you bet!

Week one

   The first week of work at the Sodhouse Ranch.  Three buildings have been cleaned extensively.  Ten months sitting empty is not a good thing for a building.  Add to that the rush to get the buildings closed in October meant that the contents were poorly protected.  We will be here for the closing this Oct and will do a more thorough closing procedure.
    The three buildings; the office, the bunkhouse, and the original homestead house are cleaned and nearly ready for the first day which is Saturday, August 15th.  Most of the "props" are in the buildngs and are just waiting to be staged.  The grounds have been mowed and the tall grass, cut and bailed.  Some additional "weed wacking" is needed around buildings and fences, but we are getting close.  We will definitely be ready.

 On the left is the ice house constructed in 1900 with blocks of limestone brought from nearby hills.  The two story bunkhouse is one the buildings that is getting ready for visitors. The fabulous long barn is on the right.  

 This complex includes several animal buildings and harness shed.

Monday morning

   It's 7am Monday morning.  Quammy and I are back from our walk.  He has been fed.  I'm sitting outside in the cool air.  It is cloudy today with a chance of showers today.  We'll see.  It is the desert, you know.
    Had about 14 sprinkles on our morning stroll.  Disturbed a owl who was perched in the equipment shed housing the air boats.  Several cotton tails also scattered when we passed.  Several yellow wildflowers lined the gravel road that enters the headquarters from Sodhouse Lane.

This is called Blazing Star

Aeroflite

Our last Monday night at the Flight Deck restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. This cool aircraft landed and took on fuel.  Most the the guys in the place stood on the outside deck when it taxied up and watched until it shut down it's twin turbo props.  Then there was a flurry of us looking up Aeroflite, a Canandian company that leases firefighting aircraft.  This particular one can scoop up 1600 gallons of water off a lake or resevoir in 12 seconds while skimming along the surface.  I would LOVE to see that!  I can't imagine the drag from the contact with the water plus the rapid increase in weight and how the pilots must compensate for that while "in flight".  No wonder it has two powerful engines and an

enormous tail section.

Burns, Oregon

    Drove the 30 miles into Burns yesterday.  Didn't need anything but it had been 4 years since we had been there and we wanted to see what had changed.  Well the answer is, "Not Much".  Actually there are two towns; Burns and the logging company town that abutts it called Hines.  For practical porposes they are one community, an isolated community, an land island.   Bend is 120 to the west, John Day is 75 miles north, Ontario is 100 east and nothing is south until Winnemucca 200+ miles SE or Reno nearly 400 miles.  So those who live in Burns/Hines are an independent and hardy folk.  Summers are hot and dry ( 92 right now but 57 tonight) winters are cold and dry ( 10 below is not uncommon).  Notice I said dry for both seasons.  This is a desert, a high desert (Burns is at 4200 ft elevation) but still part of the Great Basin Desert.
      Getting back to yesterday, the town did not look much different.  One less car dealer.  The Dodge dealer closed after 30+ years.  Only Burns Ford is left.  Still only two stop lights in town.  Two grocery stores.  No industry remains.  Ranching and tourists traveling through on Hwy 20 or 395 keep it alive.
     Unlike Tahoe, there is no conspicious display of wealth.  No display of prosperity, just common folks getting by, living in plain, inexpensive houses, in a quiet, small town.  The climate allows the growing of hay and alfalfa ( with irrigation) and the raising of cattle.  So ranches dot the countryside.  The Harney County Fair and Rodeo, in September is the highlight of this ranching area.  I will definitely attend this year, though I doubt that it will be much changed from the one we attended four years ago, but still, something to look forward to.  Stay tuned for that.

This was taken this morning on my walk with Quammy.  We are on the hill above the refuge headquarters, looking northeast toward Malheaur Lake in the distance.  The lake (actually a swamp) is suffering from the four year drought that the west is going through right now.