Leaping the Little Chiwawa in a single bound, Jeff forages wildflowers for a Mother’s Day bouquet

We took a bit of a gamble when we bought Osprey Acres this winter.  When we made our offer, we had only seen it when it was under a foot of snow.

So we didn’t know what was going to emerge this spring.  Irrigation pipes? Mine tailings? Dead bodies?

There was this weird empty trench fronting the land, and we were constantly tripping over fallen obstacles half buried in the snow.

So this spring has been like a gift with every visit.  There’s always something new to see when we step out of the car.  The last time we saw it was three weeks ago, and the landscape  was full of rich woody brown.  Now suddenly, everything is slathered in vivid greens – vine maple have burst into full effect, carpets of native grasses and wildflowers litter the ground.

But the most exciting new development is that our irrigation canal is filled with water!

The locals call it “the ditch” and until this weekend, we’d never seen it  filled, so we were worried it might be a muddy, stagnant smelly mosquito lair.  But to our delight, the water runs clear and cold and moving at a fairly decent clip right in front our property.

Trying out a new campsite. This is about where we want our cabin’s front deck

Our new beer fridge!

People in Seattle pay tens of thousands of dollars to install water features on their land, we remarked.  And we have a cool little stream in our front yard for free (summers only) thanks to the good people of the Chiwawa Irrigation District.

We set up camp in a new location this weekend – where we think our dream cabin will go, and cleared out a few new campsites near our  stream (The water is diverted from the Chiwawa River so we’re calling it the Little Chiwawa or “Pequeno Chiwawa”) and imagined Ian learning how to sail toy boats with the help of his older cousins.  We also noticed that the stream had a cooling effect.  Along with the afternoon shade, the canal makes our site a very pleasant place to spend a hot afternoon.

As we sat among the lupine, lolling on blankets we reflected on how our moods had shifted.  We’d both suffered an insane week, working twelve-hour days.  On the drive up we were snapping at one another, complaining about our lives and generally being disagreeable.  But a few minutes after arriving in nature, and our minds were filled with wonder.  “How many different kinds of flowers could we discover?  Did you see the way the bats were zooming down the canal at dusk?  Wouldn’t this be a great place to put a hammock?”

If our land continues to have that kind of effect on us, then it was well worth the price we paid  and more.

Here are some other new developments:

New Solar Shower

Amanda picked up this multi-gallon solar shower online.  We laid it in the field on a warm day – and then forgot to try it.   So the next day we set it in the sun – and forgot to try it, until we were leaving Sunday night.  By then the water was warm but not hot – nowhere near as warm as advertised – but it should be perfect in August.

Pit Toilet Update

Thanks to a generous donation from Casa Layton, we now have a toilet seat!  Jeff replaced the cedar seat area with leftover composite decking from a deck job, so now we are officially “civilized.”

Critter Update

We saw a couple new animals this weekend: a pair of deer were skipping across the field in front of Osprey Acres on Sunday morning.  We also spotted a salamander squirming out of Pequeno Chiwawa.  Our neighbors tell us the coyotes have been feeding on gophers in our front yard.  We haven’t seen either, but saw what we think is coyote scat on our property, and plenty of gopher holes in the field. As mentioned, there are some very small bats that use the canal as a buffet at dusk.  We heard their echolocation before we saw them – a trippy buzzing insect-like noise that sounds like it’s coming from inside your head.

Some kind of small chewing creature (presumably a mouse) broke into our storage locker and made a dry little nest out of our toilet paper, some rope and the bottom of our tent (Grrrr).  Jeff poured several inches of chewed fluffy material out of a camp chair, so we’ll have to do a better job of storing that kind of stuff.

New Hike

We explored as far as we could walk along the canal.  It runs for about ¾ of a mile along ridges that overlook farms and steep wooded areas.  It makes for a great little hike – flat, open, free of trees – it’s a great place to see the flora in the Plain valley and to visit with your neighbors.

Cabin Site Update

We spent a good deal of time clearing brush this weekend and opening up the view for our future home.  This is what it finally looked like at the end of a long weekend of chain saw massacring.  When we arrived, all we could see was a wall of vine maple.  And now we have a nice little window to Saddle Mountain.

Now where should we put the hot tub…

“I LOVE CAMPING!”