Pictures off of the porch

[Tkleather1]

Well I thought that I would start this topic after a few people commented on the view behind a pair of chinks that I built so here you go and I hope that all of you will follow up so we can all see what you get to see when you wake up in the morning.

I live about 30 minutes northwest of Spokane Washington and this is what I get to wake up to every morning. These pics are looking to whe west . I dont have a veiw to the east as I live on a big Hillside so all you see is my pasture.

I hope you enjoy.

Tim.

[yaklady]

Tim, I wish I had a view like yours. I don't see any sign of civilization. I'm stuck in the middle of it here, but at least I can enjoy the mountains and what comes with them. The first two pictures are what I see off the front deck. It's not much of a veiw, but it will do. The third one was taken off the back deck. That's one of our frequent visitors.

These pictures were not taken from the deck, but rather in the back yard, looking into the neighbor's yard. They were interesting visitors, but they chose not to stay. Just as well, really. It makes me more nervous about walking around in the forest behind the house.

Kathy

[MADMAX22]

Very nice pictures yaklady,

I wouldnt worry as much about them cute little black bears as long as you dont get between mama and baby, its the darn mountain lions that will scare the .... out of ya. Theres only one time a animal has made the hair on the back of my neck stand up before I saw it and that was a mountain lion.

[ArtS]

Both of you have awesome views!!

Art

[Denise]

We live 25 minutes northwest of Valleyview, Alberta, and this is what we get to wake up to every morning - in the summer. In the winter, there are no leaves and everything is white... The dirt will be lawn again, once we get everything around the house finished and the dirt all moved to where it will permanently live. The garden is coming well because we can water it. We are getting pretty desperate for rain for pastures and crops up here. The greenhouse we move around on the garden every year so we can rotate crops. And behind the garden is our small horse pasture, and then about 2 miles of bush before you get to the next road, which is the first sign of civilization in that direction barring our fence at the south end of our land. Not as spectacular as some, but pretty enough, and very, very quiet. I like that...

PS. The picture was taken at 10:20 pm, ten minutes or so before sundown. But it is overcast so it is a bit darker than normal right now.

[yaklady]

Denise, I'm surprised you're not getting rain. That's all it's doing here lately. That's fine by me because a few months ago it was dry as a yak bone. It looks very pretty up there. What kind of crops do you grow? It's very dark here at 10:20!

Max, we have the cute kitties here, too, we just haven't seen them. Sometimes walking through the forest, we get the feeling you described, and I'm sure we're being watched. One day, walking through the woods, my daughter and I decided to pull a fast one on ClayB and take a picture of a hole in the side of a big rock and tell him it was a lion den. When we got close to the "hole", we noticed that something had been in and out of it, as the grass was worn a bit. We stuck our heads inside, noticing that it was more than just a hole. Upon doing that, we got quite a whiff of lion. It smelled just like the mountain lion's pen at the zoo. We didn't stick around, but rather moved off quickly with the hair on the backs of our necks standing up!

Kathy

[rickybobby]

I have always loved Hawaii (the Big Island) I bought this house in 2006, 3 acres on the East side of the Island (Pahoa). From my bedroom window you could see the "glow" from the volcano, and from the front porch at night you could see the cruise ships go by. They would circle the area south of my house to show visitors the lava pouring into the ocean. I was there for 2 years. The cost of living was very high. I worked for Big Island Honda as a service writer and it was still hard to earn a decent living. I went to ropings and rodeos in the north part of the Island (where all the ranches are) testing the waters for repair work or seeing if there was a need for tack. Everyone I talked to ordered equipment online and paid shipping. Everyone just "got by" with what they had. The years I was there, I did a few pieces of work for friends on the mainland and shipped it to them.

I have had to move from Hawaii to Arizona, I am now at least doing leather work for customers and looking to expand my leather business. I miss the Island but don't miss the financial stress of just living day to day. Living in Hawaii was a wonderful expierience but also made me realize how much I liked working with leather, I missed it !!! I can now focus on my work with leather and not need 2 jobs just to pay for living expenses.

Rick J.

[hiloboy]

howzit, Rick

I seen those pictures and said thats Hawaii.. to bad your not here any more. sure would have like to have talk some leather with you..i have been engraving and stripping cars here on the island for almost 35 years..i did a job about a year ago that i ended up getting payed in leather tool.. wife wasn't to happy i do engraved silver belt buckles for the rodeos and cowboys ..and engraving on motorcycle part..and all the urns for the mortuaries here on the island..with the leather tools i got i'm trying to learn and add that to my buckle and motorcycle work ..by doing the same designs on the leather as i do on the buckles and the same think when doing work on the cycles.. i hope you make it back here one day..

Aloha no my friend Curt

[rickybobby]

howzit, Rick

I seen those pictures and said thats Hawaii.. to bad your not here any more. sure would have like to have talk some leather with you..i have been engraving and stripping cars here on the island for almost 35 years..i did a job about a year ago that i ended up getting payed in leather tool.. wife wasn't to happy i do engraved silver belt buckles for the rodeos and cowboys ..and engraving on motorcycle part..and all the urns for the mortuaries here on the island..with the leather tools i got i'm trying to learn and add that to my buckle and motorcycle work ..by doing the same designs on the leather as i do on the buckles and the same think when doing work on the cycles.. i hope you make it back here one day..

Aloha no my friend Curt

Aloha Curt,

I wish we could of got together, when I was going to trade school (auto body & paint) in Orange Co. Ca. I worked with "Big Daddy" Ed Roth. He worked a Knotts Berry Farm as a sign painter then, at night, when I was out of school and he was off work, I would go with him on stripping & lettering jobs. I was getting pretty good at lettering but could never practice enough to stripe.

He was a great guy and taught me alot.

I was going to display some things in the Hilo Art Museum, down town Hilo. I spoke with someone there and was lining it up to display some pieces but I did not get them there before I left, sometimes life gets in the way. I would like to see some of your work. I have done some Bike stuff, saddlebags, tool bags, chaps.

My property was about 7 miles south of Pahoa going towards Kalapana on the mauka side. I really loved it there, it was quiet and peacefull. I miss poke on Friday nights!!! Pau Hana (after work) I would stop and get a couple containers and a 6 pack and we would get together and enjoy Island tunes, Island food, Island friends.

Yea, I miss Hawaii!!

I will get back there!!! If only for a visit, I still have friends and a cousin there.

Rick

[Denise]

Denise, I'm surprised you're not getting rain. That's all it's doing here lately. That's fine by me because a few months ago it was dry as a yak bone. It looks very pretty up there. What kind of crops do you grow? It's very dark here at 10:20!

Kathy,

It seems people are either in flood or drought this year. Alberta is drought, with some areas having record low rainfall - like nothing at all! Right now, the sun rises and sets in the north east and north west, and there is a rim of dim light along the northern sky all night. The sky never gets black at this time of year, just dark grey. We live fairly far north - about 10 hours drive north of the Canada US border, but there is still farmland another 5-6 hours north of us yet (which is still in Alberta). The growing season is very short, but the daylight we get being this far north means that pretty much anything grown further south in Alberta can be grown here. We rotate "crops" in our garden, and grow peas, carrots, beans, potatos, beets, radish, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower (the last three under the white row cover you see to protect them from pests). We get zuchinni, pumpkins (they have to ripen in the house after the frost comes) and spagetti squash, and grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in greenhouse. Some years you can get them in the garden, some years not, and since Rod likes salsa, we have the greenhouse. We even have found one variety of corn that we can grow in the garden that ripens before it freezes. Farming wise, canola does very well, plus wheat, barley, oats, field peas. Grass seed (fescue, timothy). It is great cattle country too. We don't farm ourselves, but do graze some cattle in the summer, both on grass and in our bush.

Nothing like your mountain lion story as far as wildlife goes, but black bears are common up here. We see more sign than sight of them though. So long as they stay in the bush, they are good bears. Wolves are in the area, and coyotes are super common. Deer (white tails and mulies) we see year round. Moose trim my bushes in the yard every winter (mutter, mutter, mutter) and we don't want the herd of elk that has been hanging around the area to find our hay for the horses. They would clean us out in one night. But they are beautiful animals to see. Yup, this is a GREAT place to live.

[bruce johnson]

Usually not much wildlife to see off my porch other than the parade of quail that come about every morning. Attaching a picture of a tremendous day, must have been a quail revival or something. I counted well over 100 parading through the calf pasture out the front. Usually just 4-5 pairs, and now some babies. Once in a while I'll see a coyote early mornings by the bonepile in the back pasture, but haven't seen a fox before at this place. This morning Rundi thought she saw a fox go into the blackberry bushes close to the house that separate us from a less than scenic neighbor place. Tonight it was a for sure deal, a decent sized gray fox out enjoying a breeze. I got a few pics, and then two pups came out also. I never could get all three in the same frame. Since we have had a ground squirrel problem, I am live and let live with my vulpine pals. Must be getting old, Joel Nelson wrote a poem about that kind of deal. I might start setting out some water for them to wash the squirrels down with.

[Go2Tex]

Here's my favorite back porch pic taken a couple years ago. They were right behind my shop one morning. My wife snapped these shots out the breakfast nook window.

[Regis]

Well, some of us even in the city have a really interesting view on occasion. Land was cleared for a new shopping center a few blocks from my house and there happens to be a vacant wooded lot next to me (1/3 acre). This is just in front of my bird bath!

Mother was out of sight on this pic.

[Hilly]

Here's my favorite back porch pic taken a couple years ago. They were right behind my shop one morning. My wife snapped these shots out the breakfast nook window.

Mmmmmm. Those look delishious!