Before I start on the farm, a word about the Altadena fire and the Viehl family living there: still all safe on this Monday morning. The house not burned, but the property under blockade re the fire, so no access. No electricity, no natural gas, timing for return uncertain. Peter and Co. living in the little Palm Desert cottage co-owned with Allison’s mom, but without a change of clothes, shoes, and etc. Fortunately they do have two cars, so they can shop for food and daily necessities like food and new underwear (not in that order, of course.) To repeat: all profoundly grateful that their home was spared.

Now, back at The Wood: yes, time for a farmer’s seasonal chores. Like cleaning out the barn, tending the garden, cleaning the fireplace. It seemed a good idea to make a new access point in the fence to allow the ATV to enter without crossing the lawn. We have a relationship with Mitch (you’ve met him earlier) in which we call him for jobs outside Larry’s mandate, and he calls us when he needs some extra income outside his regular job. Works both directions, and he was on hand to manage the break in the fence.

The point was to haul the downed wood stacked about the pastures to storage in the barn. This would facilitate mowing next year, as well as prevent the blackberries from building thickets on top of the stacks. These stacks are now safely in the barn, filling 6 bays of split firewood. You want any? Let us know. We’ll even add a dozen eggs when you come to get it. Ha.

But work goes on inside the farmhouse as well. Did I tell you about the TV in the living room? That we had a cabinet built, a TV screen installed, the furniture rearranged? The device to enable satellite coverage was attached, trials executed, all seemed to be well. Then. Larry wanted to watch a football game, as per the plan. Used the remote to open the cabinet, and that’s when I arrived on the scene to hear him exclaiming “No! Stop! Stop!” The TV screen slowly emerged from the cabinet, and stalled, bent, cracked, broke. Well, for now, at any setback, we say aloud: at least our house didn’t burn down. Perspective gained, right?

Later today: mission accomplished. New TV, purchased yesterday. Phone call to Dish, and this techie arrived to install. Bravo!

Next subject: phones. For my birthday, Larry offered to purchase a new phone for me. Nice! My old one is an 11 Pro, which is actually fine, though a a bit short on storage. Missing some tricks, chipped, very old century. So, missing any Apple store in Corvallis, we went off to the Verizon shop. While there, Larry thought he’d update as well. Both got 16 Pros, not top of the line, but good enough. Then the fun began.

The tech guy there would move the info from old phone to new phone. Except he couldn’t. Missing some passcodes. After an hour in the shop we left, Larry having turned in his old phone, apparently all good. Me? Yeah, no. Took both old and new phones home, phoned Apple Care. Spent an hour and a half with some very patient soul in Someplace, Texas, and this morning I’m no further along. Seems that according to some security protocols, I won’t be able to send or receive email on the new phone until January 18. WTF? What is so secure about January 18?

And. The old charging cords won’t fit the new phones. My earbuds won’t fit the new phone. (Yes, I know you can get the kind that just stick in your ear and bluetooth or someone does the rest. These devices do not stay put in my ears. Apparently my ear canals are sub-standard and too narrow to accommodate bluetooth.) So, I’ll have to buy new buds with cords attached. Why do they change the sizes of the charging cords? They’re more efficient? They’re better looking? No, sorry. The point is, they can sell all new merch. Right?

But our house didn’t burn down.

What’s new (again) is the commitment to addressing the oak copse on the slope just east of the house. This will require lots of input from agencies, so that’s the first step. See what Fish and Wildlife and Benton County and Nature Conservancy can offer by way of expert evaluation. We’ve had crews here just this fall, and the main observation is that the parcel is too small to be worth agency financial cooperation. Well, fine. But we need someone to tell us exactly what can be done. We’ll hire someone (no, not Mitch) to execute when we can get a plan in place.

Ryan Cheeke, ranch guy, plans to plant clover in the western-most pasture, which should continue the improvement of the soils — and, sidebar, will look beautiful for the season.

The creek-bed areas need rehabilitation. Benton County planted an assortment of trees and shrubs with the intention of aiding riparian creatures–frogs, salamanders, maybe fish? However, many of the trees failed, and the bushes, particularly the spirea (unfortunately), grasses, and blackberries have thrived. They are, of course fenced off, making access by machine difficult. Jerod Jebousek, Fish and Wildlife guy, says that the natural landscape is not always beautiful. There you go.

The days are getting longer now, and the bulbs have broken ground. The chickens are fine, thanks for asking, and we’re just watching spring arrive.