Author Archives: Myriam

Where have we been?

The Almosta Blog Posted on by

Actually, we’ve been here all the time. We’ve just been too busy! A house and 12 acres sure keep us occupied!

Sometime in July, Gary took Sparky for a long walk. After well behaving for a long while, Sparky smelled something interesting and decided to run after it. Gary didn’t see what it was. But sure enough, Sparky ran in the ditch and crossed in the culvert under the road before responding to Gary’s calls. Well, no need to say that the poor dog was pretty smelly after his escapade (I’ll spare you the details ). However, a bath was in order!

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The wildlife around us never ceases to amaze. On the morning of August 1, around 7 a.m., I walked in our living room and was graced by the sight of a buck right in our front yard. Here’s a little bit of information: Contrary to popular belief that a deer’s age can be guessed by the size of its antlers, the only way to tell for sure is by looking at its teeth. The growth rate of the antlers is influenced by genetics and diet and thus is not a sure way of telling.

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Remember the swallows I mentioned last month? Their second attempt at building a nest was successful and they now have a little family to feed. There are four chicks in the nest. Can you spot all of them?

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The parents are very protective of their young and every time we go by, they start chirping and flying in circles, away from the nest, trying to get our attention. I tried catching a picture of them faking a broken wing in flight, a common practice to attract predators away from their young. I was unsuccessful (geez, they really make sharp turns!) but got a beautiful in-flight shot.

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And speaking of couples, it’s mating season for the dragonflies and damselflies. Caught these two in the act, right on our living room window frame.

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Wildlife and trail ride

The Almosta Blog Posted on by

A few days ago, we spotted a baby ground squirrel right in our driveway. Thankfully, Gary was able to stop Sparky from playing with him before it was too late. It must have been a stressful encounter for the squirrel though because he didn’t move and went to sleep right in front of us. I seized the opportunity and took some pictures of him. Can you spot him in the first picture?

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Here’s a closeup. Sure is a cute little thing.

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A couple of barn swallows have started building their nest right by our front door. At first, we thought that us going through that door would make them move but no, they’re sticking around. Even after a first failed attempt where their nest fell. My guess is that they didn’t let the mud dry long enough and the nest became too heavy.

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Here’s one of them with some building material.

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Yesterday we went on a trail ride. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, a nice breeze and some clouds to cut the heat from the sun.

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Everybody stopped at our place for a rest. It sure was nice to see all these people and horses on our front lawn!

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Then we went on for another 6 miles before stopping for lunch. It was fun and everybody had a great time

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Septic tank update and new wheels

The Almosta Blog Posted on by

Ok, it’s been a while since we posted anything. We’ve been pretty busy and to top it all off, we both got sick last week. I pulled through it not too bad and Gary had to take antibiotics. The doctor said it was a bacterial infection. If you can, stay away from moldy hay. We had to pitch a whole bunch of it that was left sitting in the arena by the previous owner and we believe it’s what started it all. But don’t worry, we’re both out of the woods now and back into the swing of things.

Now, on with the news.

On April 16, we discovered a big hole in our backyard.

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The hole is approximately 3′ x 2′ and roughly 3′ deep. It’s directly above where the main sewer line would be, so we thought “Ok, the pipe caved in so maybe we won’t need a new septic tank.”

Well, the guys came out yesterday afternoon and dug it up.

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There was a septic tank down there and it had collapsed. It was the original tank so it’s well over 50 years old. Weird thing though is that it didn’t have a pipe sticking out of the ground to have it pumped. I’ve been told that’s the way they used to do it.

As you can see in the next picture, it not only collapsed, it was also overfilled. Nobody knows when it was pumped the last time, if ever. Turns out the tank was an old fuel tank which was common practice back then.

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This is what’s left of the old septic tank.

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So after a couple of hours of digging this morning, the new tank was lowered in place.

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We can now do without the porta-potty and we can put the sump pump away. The worse of this ordeal was doing the dishes and periodically emptying the tubs outside. I did improve my water throwing skills though. I can now toss a full 2 gal. tub a good 3′ away! :D

We and the workers did get lucky. A couple of hours after the work was all done, it started raining. It’s been on the cold side pretty much all day and wouldn’t you know it, rain turned to snow!

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I now have my own set of wheels! A nice 1998 Ford F-150, 5.4 litre V8, 4×4, dual exhaust with glass pack (this baby purrs so sweetly!), remote starter, electric windows and locks, electric seat adjustment. It handles the road nicely, even in the mud. I sure love it and it makes me very very happy.

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Spring Thaw 2009

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Finally completed a special section where you can view the pictures I took of our revived creek. Just follow this link.

You might also have noticed a new block titled Special Pages on the right hand side. As new entries are added in our blog, this post will eventually disappear from the main page. I created the Special Pages block so you can always find the gallery easily. As new galleries are created in the future, I will add a link to them in that block. But don’t worry, you don’t need to keep an eye on it as I will always post an entry to let you know of any additions in that block.

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Spring Creek

The Almosta Blog Posted on by

Went outside early to take some pictures of our creek. There used to be a creek running through the pasture but it ran dry many years ago. However, with the spring thaw and the huge amounts of snow we received, the creek has come back to life.

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I also got lucky and took this picture of the horses in the fog.

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