Dog days of winter

When the nights get cold and the days a bit brisk the dogs move a bit closer to the fire. Speck the littlest one gets a bit too close sometimes and has to make a quick retreat when he starts to smolder.

Thor prefers a softer and safer location from the heat and constant loading of firewood. All the dogs get much quieter when the stove is stoked and the room is almost uncomfortably warm.

It got down to 22 last night and didn't warm up much above freezing today. I will say I have to agree with the dogs that there is nothing like a warm fire on a cold day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

The annual Christmas card picture

Well, every year after it snows and we put the tree up outside we attempt to get a picture of all three dogs for the card.
None of them are impressed by the process. Scooter doesn't like wearing anything, Thor gets bored, and Leo just sticks his tongue out at the whole process.
It always takes about 50 pictures to get one without one of the dogs doing something unchristmaslike. The snow didn't cooperate this year and melted as we attempted to take the picture. So this year's Christmas will be a little green on the card.
The picture we did use will be in the profile picture during the Holidays for all to see. Hope you all have better luck getting your Christmas pictures. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Visitors and more rain

Yesterday, Thor's sister, Denali, came to visit. She took a while to make up to him, but by the time they left they were good friends. Scot and Sarah who own Denali originally found Thor shot and brought him to us to take care of last November. They rescue Pit Bulls and Rottweilers and have quite a menagerie of animals at their house. They only brought two of their dogs with them Denali and Marley(a very small pit bull). There were five dogs running and playing at camp all afternoon. By the end of the day they all collapsed into a deep happy sleep.
This is going to be remembered as the summer of the rain. We have more rain today and Pine creek is up above 2.5 not common for July. In fact, I might even take the canoe out tomorrow. I haven't been canoeing
for a couple years. Seems like when you move up to paradise you don't do any of the fun things you used to do when you came on vacation. The summer is full of work, and sawing wood.
The hummingbirds are happy with the rain they are always more active during a rain storm. It amazes me that the rain doesn't knock this little guys out of the sky. But during the rain and cool mornings and evenings they are the most active.
Well its off to work for the mountain girl. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Antlers,bear and Laurel Fest

A couple days ago Thor ran after a rabbit by our van. I didn't think much about it until he reappeared carrying a nice antler shed. There was four points on this side of the shed. The tips had been chewed up by mice a little and Thor had it in his mind to finish the chewing job for them. He seemed a bit disappointed when I retrieved his Pit Bull toothpick as a souvenir for me. I am sure he will find another one. He has quite a good nose.

W went to the Laurel Festival in Wellsboro yesterday. As I walked down the street a man stopped me saying he had been reading all the blogs with great fascination. He has a camp up on West Rim and I wish I could remember his name, but alas I have lost it. So you know who you are and it was great to meet you. It is nice to know that people appreciate this little connection to the back woods.
The Laurel Fest was a wet muddy affair, many people were there, but it didn't seem as many as in past years. I made one purchase to add to my Native American flute collection. I bought a higher pitched flute tuned to an A. Now Lee and I both have a flute and we are anxious to play them together on the mountain for the entertainment of the animals.
We returned around 8pm to the cabin and the dogs immediately found a bear close to the house. I should know better then to let them out the front this time of day. They chased it out onto the road; it didn't seem to be running away and was turned towards the dogs as they approached. I yelled at them to stop and come and thank goodness they listened. Perhaps it was the fact the bear was not running that slowed them. The bear was a good 300 lbs and was about 200 yds down the road from the house.
After I got the dogs inside I listened to my phone messages and was glad the dogs had come back. The next cabin up from me(Hookes) had left an urgent message for help with an injured bear. It appears the bear had most of its nose torn off and was near their feeder. I realized this might be the same bear the dogs just chased, since I couldn't see the details of its face from the distance and the amount of light it was standing in.
In talking to them more it sounds like a horrific injury, probably from fighting with another bear. They said the bear isn't moving very fast and just licked up the food with its nose hanging to the side. Brenda from the Hooke Cabin said she was horrified to see the bear get it nose caught on a branch as it moved around. She said the nasal cavity was exposed and it was still pink inside the gash. They contacted the game commission who told them they would try to tranquilize the animal and have it treated if possible. I am not sure how they will get here in time to do this as any call to them is a minimum of an hour or more to respond. This leaves us with a large hurt bear roaming around.
A injured bear is a dangerous bear and the dogs are now in lockdown until the situation can be resolved. If any of you see this bear call the game commission immediately. I will post further updates if there are any. I hate to see an injured animal suffer and it will be difficult not to want to shoot the bear if I see it has a fatal, suffering wound. However, I have been warned by Lee not to intervene so I am also stuck calling the Game Commission. Nature's way is often not pretty or easy and living here in the woods we see the hard tough things as well as the magnificent beautiful things. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off, and looking out for the bear.

Never a dull moment

Thor found a porcupine this morning and not the soft cute one in his mouth. In a flash he came back with quills in his face and foot. It looked like he had pawed at it and then it smacked him. The quilling wasn't too bad so we were able to get them all out. After his experience I gave him the stuffed one as a consolation for the pain he had to endure.
The second picture is a turtle that was crossing the road after we had a good amount of rain yesterday. I took his picture and moved him to a location he had less chance of being run over. One of my
customers said they were fly fishing on Pine Creek yesterday morning. The water was clear and low when they noticed it start to get muddy. They said within a few minutes the creek rose and turned into a muddy river. His wife had to walk a distance to a bridge to get back across the river. Even when it isn't raining here the water can come from up North faster than you think. Guess that is what they mean by flash flood warning.
Lee and I are heading out to the Rattlesnake Festival in Morris today so should have some pictures to share later. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Muddy Mountain

Thor thought he would give everyone a big hi from his big head. He has doubled in size since we got him last November. Three legs doesn't slow him down a bit. He spends as much time as possible trying to catch rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks. So far he has only caught one small baby bunny, which amazingly enough he brought to me. I saw the gray body hanging from his mouth and expected to retrieve a dead animal. To my surprise, the small rabbit was hardly wet and not a mark on it. So Thor may be renamed the gentle giant.

The township has been grading the other side of Cedar Mountain and it has made for a muddy, sliding mess after the recent rain. I had to put
my truck into 4-wheel drive to navigate over the mess. Today it has dried up a bit and is much safer.

Next weekend is the road rally. If the State does not fix the end of the road near 414 there will be lots of screaming. I have called and complained about the size of the holes and so far have not seen any attempt to repair it. You have to go less than two miles per hour over much of the last 2 miles or risk ruining your car or truck. Our township does a stellar job with the rest of the road and it is very disappointing to run from a nice dirt road into moguls.

I have been very busy working this month and it seems I haven't been able to post much in the way of news to the blog. I may just have to start including some of the work I do, since that is where all my time is being spent. Thank goodness I can enjoy the woods even if it is only to drive back and forth to work. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off and working hard.

April showers covers flowers

Well typical of April weather to remind us not to put our coats up yet. Looks like we are getting a dusting of snow for the next couple days. And the warm days of April have been put on hold for another week. The only good thing about April snow is you know it can't hang long. The daffodils had just made it up in time to greet the snow and the crocus are not far behind.

The tom turkeys have been strutting their stuff this last week and today Scooter gave chase to a large tom down by the Hooke camp.
I think he had more fun chasing the bird then the bird had getting away. I also saw a large groundhog hiding under Brad's outbuilding in Cedar Run today. Thor took a look a bit late to see the the groundhog, but tracked it down to under the building. He stuck his nose under hoping to get a better sniff. Luckily the groundhog stayed far away.
We used to have a lot of groundhogs up here, but haven't seen many in the last 15 years. Some people think the coyotes have ate them all. I am sure the bobcat family we have close had a hand in the groundhog's population decline as well.
The creeks are running clean and strong and there is nothing like that soothing sound when I am working. I don't dare sit down and listen long or I would be done working for the day. I feel lucky to have such a pleasant working environment. Have a great Leetonia day! Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Journey into town

Yesterday, Thor and I went into Wellsboro and then down to Slate Run and Cedar Run. The first picture shows the narrows with our recent snow, the second picture was taken going over the bridge at Cedar Run and shows the ice break-up on the banks of Pine Creek.
Although it isn't long until Spring our recent 6 inches of snow and return to single digit overnight temperatures didn't make it feel like Spring. Today it is bright and sunny and in the 20's.
I got caught up with everyone in the Pine Creek Valley and it appears there has been a poaching rash. So far as many as nine deer(that they know of) have been shot illegally around the area.
The fresh snow makes it easy to see the activity of dragging out a fresh kill. This isn't something new to the area, but you have to wonder if the economy slump will make it even more common.
Thor is being trained as a Therapy Dog and is shown in the last picture with one of the residents of Country Terrace, Ester, who is the mother of a friend of mine. He enjoys the attention and the residents seem to love him. On his first trip he wasn't too sure about the walkers, but now is quite comfortable with them. In fact, he is so comfortable with them he noticed some of them had tennis balls on the bottoms of them. I had to let him know he could not play with those balls.
Most people barely notice he is missing a rear leg, but when they do want to know his story. When he is sitting it isn't at all noticeable, but when he walks he has a little hop step. At this point his basic obedience is good. I think I am going to have to come up with a few tricks he can do to entertain people as he adapts well to his challenges.
Right now going up and down more than 3 or 4 stairs is his most difficult challenge. He has to land that rear leg just right when coming down the stairs. Today we will walk down to Leetonia and do a little work. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Good time for a Break

It is snowing again today after a little ice storm the other night. I hadn't seen the plow for a week when I received a call from Lee Stover saying the plow truck's clutch was broken and they were having a hard time getting another one. He only has a regular size truck with a plow to replace it and that doesn't have any way to spread cinders; so the road waits and gets increasingly more snow covered. However sometimes when the snow freezes just right on the ice it gives you a little grip so it is not as slippery. For now I am choosing to stay put since Lee is gone to visit relatives in Erie. Our safety line has always been having at least one person know where we are supposed to be so if
we don't show up people know where to look.

When I had my accident, I had called Lee before I left the cabin to come home, something I don't usually do in the summer months, but now looking back on it realize how knowing that gave me a better chance of being found if I would not have been able to get out myself.

Thor is pretty much healed up after needing two trips to the vet to remove various quills from his original accident almost two months ago. It is amazing how they can move around in a dog's body so long, then abscess and pop up. The last one popped up in his lower eyelid dangerously close to his eye. I think the vet's office is his second home and they all love him.
As you can see he has no problem challenging Scooter to a tug of war. The looser in this game was the toy. Thor is very careful to gradually pull the toy away from Scooter, since Scooter can be a little possessive of his toys. Thor kept a small amount of pressure on the toy and when Scooter forgot about him and let go...he slowly took the toy away. It is the first time I have seen Scooter defeated in this game. I took a picture of Thor holding the prize proudly, but it was too blurry to share.

Thor may have three legs but he is definitely not handicapped. He keeps up with the other dogs on walks and runs up and down the mountain like a goat. Yesterday coming down a steep hill his back leg went into a snow covered ditch. He slid across the road on his belly and not missing a beat got his rear leg under him and caught up with us. He didn't whine or lay down and give up. He acts like he has four legs, but his fourth leg is magical and never gets caught in a snow bank. Much of the time he does act more mature than I would expect a eight month old dog to act, but when he chews things up and roughs up Leo, he is quick to remind me of his age. I don't treat him any differently than my other dogs except for the occasional help he needs getting in and out of the vehicle.

The roads are four-wheel drive only and have chains with you for bad spots. It is around 25 and windy today. The dogs are taking me out for a walk so I stay in shape during this bad weather. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out, and putting spikes on my boots to walk.

Visit from Sister and Kids

I got a call from my sister, Ruth, Saturday announcing that Hunter my nephew wanted to come up for Christmas and they were coming the next day. It is about a 9 hour drive from Indiana so I was very surprised they wanted to make the trip in Winter. So on Sunday the invasion started.

She brought the twin girls, Haley and Abbey and their older brother Hunter leaving the youngest and poorest traveler behind with his dad. As you can tell the twins at age 10 are a handful. Hunter almost 12 is a bit more settled. They all love the outdoors and animals so being up here came pretty natural for them.
This was the girls first trip up since they were little so they didn't have much memory of the place. It was Hunter's first trip up during winter. We played Whitetailopoly and I believe there wasn't much attention to the rules. The game is a bit too long for ten-year olds with lots of energy.

The snow was just good enough for sledding.
I pulled them behind the snowmobile on a truck tire tube for what seemed like a hundred trips back and forth to the pond up about a quarter mile on our back road. They walked, dragged, and were pulled by the dogs all over and by the end of the day the result is shown best by the picture of the twins passed out on couch with Thor passed out on top of them. I guess they make nice human pillows.

On Wednesday morning when they were to leave, a sudden quick snowstorm left 3 inches of snow in the amount of time it took us to pack my sister's van. Lee and I had doubts of getting the van out the now snow-covered and icy road, since a plow or cinders had not been seen for 4 or 5 days. Lee and my sister had picked up cable chains for the van, but when we tried to put them on they were too short. So we were off with a hope and a prayer up Cedar Mountain towards the Galeton side.
I watched my sister's van make it about a mile up the mountain and as the mountain got steeper the van got slower and slower and then just spun to a stop in one place. We had only made it half way up and the steepest part was yet to come.

My sister's Dodge van has no low gears just Drive, Neutral and Reverse. This is not a good thing for up here. Fill it with noisy impatient kids and you have a recipe for stress with a capital "S". I got out of the Subaru and plucked some pine branches to put under the tires which got us another hundred feet into steeper territory. About this time a truck came up behind the whole mess. If her van had not been plastic everywhere the problem would have been solved by pulling her up the mountain. But there was no where to put a chain on that wouldn't rub on the plastic bumpers and break them. Since this was an 2008 van that was not an option.

We decided to send Lee back for some old tire chains even though they didn't fit the van. I have used them to lay flat in front of vehicles to get them unstuck successfully in the past. As we waited my sister gathered loose bark off of the trees and we tried that under the tires unsuccessfully. By this time the kids needed drugs and the only advantage of these new vans is video playing. My sister inserted a movie and started it to keep them quiet and occupied. Lee arrived shortly with the chains and our hope revived.

I got the most pleasant position of driver as my back is still healing. Lee and Ruth put the chains under the front tires and they and the two men pushed. We started moving a whole 3 FEET! As soon as the chains ran through the forward movement stopped. Lee and Ruth retrieved the chains and we repeated the process another THREE FEET. I estimated we had about another 2000 feet to go so this was going to take a while. This process was repeated so many times I lost track. We I got to a flatter area and I went a good 500 feet before it stopped again.

The wind was wicked with this storm and the temperatures were in the teens so I am sure the windchill was negative. The chain movers and pushers were starting to get tired and in my family when you get tired you either get mad or joke about it. I will have to say a little of each occurred although it was mostly joking as my sister slipped on the ice putting the chains under the front tires, sliding under the van getting up quickly announcing, "Just checking under the hood, everything looks good!" and laughed. I'm sure she was wondering if she would be spending another night or two with the kids while we waited for the plow and cinders.

After another twenty or thirty times of moving the chains, sliding this way and that inching our way up the hill I caught another burst of forward movement. The men helping us had moved their truck up far ahead of us thinking I wouldn't get that far, but now as I moved forward without the chain leap frogging, I faced a decision to stop and not make it up to the top of the hill or squeeze past the truck and maybe hit it. I sucked in a breath to make myself smaller(not sure that works) and squeezed past him. Turned out to be the best decisions because the forward movement was just enough to make it to the top of Cedar mountain. I waited for the chain gang to drive up and we slowly went down the mountain at less then 5 mph and got her to our mail boxes a mere 7 miles from the house just as the movie for the kids ended. It had taken us over 2 hours to go the seven miles; most of it spent on the side of the mountain the first 2 miles from the house. We escorted her to the gas station in Galeton where potty breaks abounded as we had not planned on that length of time to take her out. She made it home to Indiana before the New Year taking her about 13 hours instead of the usual nine and collected a few stories to tell about the trip to Leetonia in the Winter. I wonder if they will come back this time of year again? Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Thor comes to live with the Mountain Girls

As you can see Thor has made himself at home. Of course we are already abusing him with reindeer antlers. Such is the price you pay for coming to live with us at Christmas.

Thor is six months old and rescued from the woods after having his rear leg shot up so badly it had to be removed. He also had a face full of quills. He hops around well but is still healing and not able to keep up with the other dogs yet.

As you can tell nothing much bothers him, which is amazing if you figure in his bad experience. I have a feeling this dog will teach me a lot about forgiveness and healing. He is pretty amazing to watch. So Thor and the boys are ready for Christmas. We put a small tree up outside today. My back isn't up to our usual large one. If you are up in the woods stop by and give Thor a hug.. he gives loads of kisses out for them. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Weather and Bear Season

Monday is the first day of bear season and a day my dogs dislike. The reason for this is how the hunters hunt. They often form large driving groups yelling and making noise to drive the bears towards the shooters. The dogs aren't used to so much noise in the woods and will growl and bark at the racket. There is something about it that makes even me a little on edge.

As you can see we don't have much snow to the east of us they got hammered with two snows of a foot each. Personally I am glad not to have that kind of snow this early. We still have some work to do. I have to fix the fence in our back yard for an injured dog coming to stay with us in about a week. His name is Thor and is recovering from an amputated rear leg.

I am still doing PT, and feel about 80%, my hardest thing is to get into small spaces, like under cabinets, crawl spaces or like I did yesterday work inside a fireplace box installing a glass door. The twisting irritates the back quickly. We are definitely into the gray short days now and it is difficult to get much done while the sun shines. Hope all of you have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.