Mother Moose in Love.....with my pine tree!!!!!

Yesterday while watching the news I glanced over to see a very large animal staring at me through the front room window. Neil was napping on the couch and I grabbed his leg and very quietly told him to look out the window. We both scrambled for our cameras thinking the moment would quickly pass.

Little did we know!!!

We took pictures out of the window for awhile and then decide to sneak very carefully out on the front porch hoping we would not scare them off. No way!!!

This mother moose was so in love with my little pine tree that she seemed oblivious to us. She rubbed and rubbed up and down that poor little tree until she started to break the branches.
Her calf was kind of nervous that we were standing so close but pretty soon she was following the mother's lead and scratching and rubbing too.

Now I don't know a lot about moose but this momma was in an euphoric state either from a good scratching or the smell of the pine. She definitely was loving my poor little pine tree to death. Literally!!!! After awhile we just started talking out loud to each other thinking they would stop and leave. We were within twenty feet of these two!!! As we stood on the front porch I wouldn't let Neil shut the front door in case this momma decided to come after us because we were intruding on her make out sesson with that tree. Click on this picture above and see the expression on her face. So funny!

I thought these pictures showed just how clean and healthy they looked. And what an unbelievable opportunity to see these beautiful animals up so close.

We watched them for about fifteen minutes but finally had to shoo them away because I really feared for the life of my tree. They just took their time and headed on down through the pasture and on to the river.

So much for those stories about mother moose being really mean if they have a calf with them. We wondered if she could even see us or hear us she was so enthralled with that little tree. What an experience!

I had just published this post tonight and Neil said, "Here they come again to see you." We watched them come down the canyon and they went straight to the little tree. They didn't stay as long tonight but the momma spent some time drinking from the pond. Then they went and laid down just below the house for the night. I wonder if they will stay for the winter and we will see them alot? We will see. They certainly don't seem afraid of us.

FALL, FUN AND FIREWOOD

When the leaves start to turn we begin to think of firewood needing to be split and stored for the winter. Bret loves to have his family help with this job and this year Meg's parents, Mike and Sharon came to help.

After a hearty breakfast we all got ready.

The kids found their gloves and we headed for the hills.

The weather was absolutely perfect.

Everyone pitched right in and began to work.

From the youngest.......Hans

to the next to the youngest.....Finn

Anna and Elli grumbled a little but were really hard
workers and I think deep inside they really had fun!

Anders and Bret manned the splitter and

Tait never quit working until they were all finished. Anders

even took Tait on "an adventure" after the work was complete.

And many hands do make light work!

Mean Cows Become Hamburger

We had this 'dude' idea of grazing five steers this summer. Because the grass in the pasture we had them in ran out too quickly a neighbor told us we could move them to his pasture. Upon trying to load them in a trailer three broke through the fence and ran up in the mountains behind our house. We figured they were lost to us. The remaining two were moved.

Because we needed to move the two steers somewhere where we could fatten them up for slaughter we tried moving them again a couple weeks ago. Well by now these two cows were just wild and mean, mean, mean. During this moving process they charged Neil and the guy helping him and finally the above steer jumped the steel rail corral fencing and almost made it over the top but fell back and broke it's back leg. That meant the butchering process had to take place that day.

The moral of this story is: mean cows become hamburger at the Star 6 and Neil is seriously reconsidering grazing cattle next year. He said he is going to write this experience in a diary and read it next year when he thinks about doing this again. When Neil called me to see if I wanted to come and watch the process I thought it might make me turn vegetarian but it wasn't as gory or bloody as I was anticipating. In fact it was quite educational.

Oh, the other three? They showed up about ten miles away in the National Forest open range with someones herd of cattle. But we understand they are also mean, mean, mean and wild. Now there is talk of tranquilizer guns once it snows and they come down off the mountain to feed. Only time will tell if getting them to market will be as exciting!! I know this.....we have no more freezer space.

Moose on the Loose and Toddlers Too

One can never plan an animal sighting around here. They are just 'all of a sudden' there. Neil called the house and said, "Grab your camera...there is a huge moose in the meadow." I was able to click a few pictures before it meandered toward the river. We think he is looking for a girlfriend because usually they don't show themselves in broad daylight. We have seen his tracks for days by the barn.

Our little toddlers love to be on the loose up here too. While driving home from the ranch Jett realized after awhile where he was going and he said over and over again, "No, home. grandmas, poppas. No home!" We also love them on the loose at the ranch!!

A Daughter Has A Daughter

On September 23, 2009 I had the priviledge of watching Mikan give birth to her new daughter, Lila Mae Kinder. What a gift from heaven!! Both mother and daughter are doing fine. Because Zach had to go to Nebraska to look at a job site, we brought Lila up to the ranch for her first visit. Lila is our twelfth grandchild. At first I thought she was going to look like her brother Ben but a day later she is looking more like her sister, Katie. We are so happy to have this little sweetheart to help soften the effects of the "Fearsome Fivesome" (our five grandsons under the age of five)

It seems just like yesterday that I had Mikan lying next to me!!!!!

THE FOX AND THE FAWN

We are so excited to finally have a fox around the yard again. We haven't seen one for about five years and they are so fun to watch. We heard him/her (?) barking the other night and now we see it almost every morning and evening at dusk romping, literally, with one of the fawns that comes to the lawn in the evening. Neil said the other day he saw them down in the meadow just below our house playing and romping and chasing one another. The mother deer just watches the antics and keeps eating.