The Mighty Cowlitz

Boy, the Cowlitz River levels are going straight up today! It will be interesting to see how high she gets this time before levelling out. I would guess that we will have very high flows until the first of next week.
   I recieved a nice statement from moms' attorney today. There are one or 2 little issues that need to be addressed, but other than that it looks real good. My attorney says it could still be many months though until things are all settled and titles are transferred.

Bye, Bye Bunny

I am now no longer in the rabbit business! I sold my rabbit, pen, and all accessories yesterday to a man from Toledo for $40.00. I am so very happy. That is one less thing that I need to worry about. Now as my baby chickens mature I will be able to scale back on that whole operation to the point where I only have 1 pen of birds to feed and that will be the bunch that is right here in my backyard.
   I have the late shift today, the same tomorrow, and then my weekend kicks in. I was looking forward to a dry 60 degree day on Thursday. However, now the weather man is telling me that I will have a very wet 60 degree day. He is also saying that snow levels will be rising to 6000 feet. Combine the increased snowmelt from rising temperatures with the fact that WDFW is going to be flushing small fish downstream from the Cowlitz hatchery this week -- for which they always increase river flows -- the river should be back up to extremely high, muddy, and unfishable by mid-week. This could be the year when we don't have much of a Spring Chinook run and virtually no opportunity to fish them. It would not be the first time.
   I turned in 3 employment application packets yesterday.

A Semi-Dry Day Off

I managed to get both yards mowed today for the first time this year. Now it will be a never-ending job for the rest of summer.
   The river looks absolutely gorgeous today. The level is perfect, so is the color. Unforunately, I just don't have the time to get the boat pressure washed and launched. Maybe next week.

Smelt In The Cowlitz

I have confirmed -- through a reliable eyewitness source -- that a fresh run of smelt had entered the Cowlitz River and gone upstream as far as Lexington. That is what prompted all the seal & sea lion activity  in the lower river earlier in the week.
    Today (Wednesday) is my Friday and I have the next 2 days off.  Naturally, it will be raining constantly until I return to work. I read a weather forecast today that said we are due for another cold, wet spring, much like last year. If that is to be the case, I might just put a whole bunch more manure fertilizer on my garden and cover it with black plastic for a year. If I do that I should have a garden that would be the envy of Ed Hume! Not to mention that it would be one less thing that I feel I need to keep up on this summer. The more I think about it, the better it sounds. At the very least, I would end up with a 50'x50' lot of the best top soil that no amount of money could buy. Then, if I would construct raised beds and use this "super soil" to fill them with I would really have something special to work with.

I May Have Been Wrong

I may have been mistaken about a sudden surge in Spring Chinook entering the Cowlitz River. I heard a rumor last night that a fresh spurt of smelt had entered the river and were upstream as far as Rocky Point. This would account for the seals/sea lions in that stretch of the river. It would also account for the increased seagull feeding activity at Carnival Market. The report for last weeks' fish return to the Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz states that NO salmon were counted, not even one. This news is all just fine & dandy with me because although the water level has dropped, the Cowlitz still is off-color downstream of the mouth of the Toutle and I don't like fishing above the mouth of the Toutle, plain & simple.
    On a different note, I got my last baby chickies yesterday. I got 7 new babies. When these are all raised, I will have 27 chickens. It looks like 3 or 4 will be Roosters. If they will get along, I would like to keep the 3 nicest Roosters, so that the eggs laid by the hens will be fertile and therefore can be hatched. The mix of chickens that I now have will be laying medium brown, dark brown, very dark brown, medium brown with dark brown specks, and olive green eggs. I am thinking that I might have to get a few Americauna chickens that lay blue eggs and light green eggs, just so that the eggs that I share with people look real cool!
   Late next week the pork should be ready to be picked up. I am looking forward to trying some.

Salmon In The Cowlitz!!!

There must be increasing numbers of Spring Chinook in the Cowlitz River. Yesterday I drove by Rocky Point at Lexington and there were at least 6 seals/sea lions fishing there. If the critters are there, then the fish must be.
   Work is long and arduous, and my back and feet are sore. But enough complaining from me, right? After work today I am going out to my friends house in Rose Valley to pick up some more baby chickies. This should be the last baby chicks that I get this year. I have a couple of pullets to move this weekend. I have stopped giving the cows grain for the winter as the grass is beginning to grow. I have a pair of Mallards that are nesting in the Bluegill pond.

This Was My Monday...

Today was my "Monday" at work. Like anybody elses' Monday at work, it sucked! I am over-worked and under appreciated. It was some consolation to find out at the end of my shift that I am making as much as the manager who has worked there for 3 years. That made me feel some better.
    My dog (Tippy) is getting used to me being gone for extended periods of time. She is now greeting me at the door and is genuinely happy to see me come home. Could the fact that I am usually toting a baggie full of Prime Rib trimmings have anything to do with her enthusiasm?
   Tomorrow is another long day at The Masthead (in at 12:00 -- out around 11:45) and then Monday is a little 3 hour stint.
   Tonight...seeing that I was swamped with work, the manager tried to boost my enthusiasm and also my speed. I told her "Look, I have 2 speeds. If this one is not fast enough for you, you sure aren't going to like the other!" At the end of the night she was doing my sweeping and mopping. They love me down there at The Masthead....but then what's not to love?

Reeeelaxin"

I took it easy today. Cleaned up the house real good, all the floors & the kitchen. Took care of "The Critters" and just flat-out enjoyed the day.
   That darn Cowlitz River is still pretty "colored-up" but it is dropping fairly fast. If the present trend continues I would like to have my vessel on the water and be fishing late next week. That is the plan. But, like all my "plans" it is subject to change and more often than not, will go awry.
   Uncle Cliff is preparing to move into new "Digs" next weekend. The place he has found is located on Pleasant Hill Rd., abot 5 miles south of here. I have given him permission to take with him whatever he will need to accomodate his new place. This is exactly what mom would have done for him and anyone who doesn't like it can just go piss up a rope.

T.G.I.F.

Today (Wednesday) is my Friday, thank goodness! This has been a long first week at a new job, doing a type of work that I have never done before. It sure has been raining hard here lately. Torrential downpours, some of it.
   My friend who lives out in Rose Valley has hatched some more baby chickies for me. I think I will be getting about 8 or 10 from her next week and that will be the end of my baby chickies for this year. Next year I might just raise some hatchery broilers and call it good. I have had baby chicks at different stages of growth for the last 3 months and am glad that this will be the last ones for quite some time. I am definitely looking forward to scaling back on all the care and feeding involved in owning such a variety of animals. It is definitely a large responsibility and one that is not to be taken lightly. The animals depend on the human to have their needs met and it is the humans' responsibility to do this to the best of their ability. I am proud to say that all my animals are healthy and happy, sleek and fat. With all these baby chicks that I have had this year not a single one has died. I am quite proud of that.
   One thing about working at The Masthead...my dog gets Prime Rib trimmings for dinner every night. Do ya' think she might be getting just a little bit spoiled? I cut the trimmings into little bite-sized pieces for her and then heat them in the microwave, being very careful not to get them too hot..she eats it until she waddles around like a little Butterball...
   So, for my 2 glorious days off I am going to try to wrap up a few outdoor projects around the place and maybe sharpen the lawn mower blades in anticipation of a day when I can begin mowing lawn. The daffodils are ready to burst into bloom and the tulips will be following shortly. This summer I am planning on toning way back on any landscaping projects and just concentrate on enhancing what I have done over the past few years. My biggest enhancement will be seeding some bare areas of my property. Under the Mighty Fagnolia tree needs re-seeded. So does the area where the Weeping Willow tree used to be, the area where the wood pile used to be, and the area where the big brush pile that I burned was located.

Cowlitz River

That darn Cowlitz River is so blown out.....high & muddy with lots of debris coming down. In checking the fish count at the Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz I see that for the third week in a row, there was only 1 Spring Chinook that had returned. So if you figure that one fish per week is swimming past my place...those are pretty poor odds when it comes to trying to catch one. I completed my first solo shift at work today. After work I picked up employment applications from Cowlitz Clean Sweep and Pacific Fibre Products. I enjoy everyone that I work with at The Masthead, but the split shift thing eats up any profit I would make in the cost of fuel driving to Longview & back twice a day. I'm very tired this afternoon so I'm going to try to catch up on some sleep and work on those apps in the morning.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

The new job keeps me very busy. More so than I thought it would. The whole "fishin' in the morning" thing is totally not going to happen. I probably won't even look at launching my boat until sometime in April. the second part of my shift doesn't end until midnight and by the time I get home, interact with my dog and unwind, it's 2:00 AM or later when I get to sleep.
   We had the pigs butchered today! Soupy & Norm are soon to be bacon, sausage, pork chops, pork steak, pork roast, pork ribs, and braats! I love pork. As long as I have pork and venison -- with occasional fish -- I am a happy camper.
  I downsized my layer flock of chickens last week by getting rid of those mean tempered Welsummer birds that I had. Now I will rebuild with Cuckoo, Splash, Black Copper, and Blue Copper Marans. I might have a few Blue Laced Red Wyandottes too, I'm not quite sure about them.
   I found a section of my fence that is in dire need of repair so that is what I will be doing tomorrow morning before I go to work.

New Job

Today I start my new job at The Masthead in Longview. I have been looking for work for a long time and am very happy to have landed this job. I will be washing dishes, to start, but that is just fine with me! I will get full medical and dental insurance after 90 days. This position offers other benefits too. I will be able to fish in the earliest part of the morning, and I will be able to bring home unlimited table scraps for my pigs. So as long as they behave and stay in their pen, I will raise the 2 pigs that I have to a bit larger size than I did the previous 2 and then when these are butchered I'll need to hurry and get more, as I can raise them for free!
   So....yesterday I went to Workplace Wellness in Longview to submit a urine sample for drug testing. I went back into a small room where the nurse asked me to put my personal belongings in a cupboard. When I opened the cupboard door there was a roll of $100.00 bills in there! Not 4 or 5, but a roll! There had to have been over $1000.00 there. So (of course) I gave them to the nurse and she said "O my God! That guy dropped some $100.00 bills on the floor when he left, too! He must not have gotten all his money out of here!" They had the previous clients' name & phone # so they called him to let him know of his mistake. All I can imagine was that it was someone who deals drugs...nobody else would be so careless with so much money. In the end I felt pretty darn good about yesterday. I landed a job, performed a good deed, oh - and I got some new shoes for working on slippery floors. Next door to the shoe store was a picture framing shop and in their window they had some antique signs for sale. I bought a real cool antique sign that shows a naked lady fishing and it says "Fish Naked -- Show Off Your Bobbers". The other sign, which I haven't purchased yet, shows a naked man fishing and it says "Fish Naked -- Show Off Your Rod".
   One final note: The river has risen over 3 feet in the last 12 hours and is very muddy. I sure am glad that I didn't launch my boat last weekend.

Perfect Conditions

The Cowlitz River looks absolutely PERFECT for fishing right now. Last week at the barrier dam they only had 1 Spring Chinook return, so there aren't very many fish in the river, but there are some. I hope to steam clean my boat this week and launch her. By next week I should be working a job that will have me going to work at 12:00 noon -- leaving me the first hours of morning to fish. This is a good thing, as that is when the best "bite" is.
    The chickens are all doing real good. The baby chicks are all happy and peeping. The pigs tore down part of their pen last night and I had to make repairs this morning. Other than that, they seem to be very happy and are growing fast.

Here are a couple current pictures of Tip

and here are a couple pics of the new chicks we got today.

More Baby Chicks

We are going after 4 more baby chicks today. My friend Dutch Savage brought me down a couple of incubators a short time back, but I haven't gotten any fertile eggs to put in them yet. However, the baby Marans chicks keep rolling in!
   I found this real cool poem on someone elses website this morning and I would like to share it with you here....

When GOD had made the earth and sky
The flowers and the trees
He then made all the animals
And all the birds and bees.
And when His work was finished
Not one was quite the same
He said I’ll walk this earth of mine
And give each one a name.
And so He traveled land and sea
And everywhere He went
A little creature followed Him
Until it’s strength was spent.
When all were named upon the earth
And in the sky and sea
The little creature said “Dear Lord,
there’s not one left for me”.
The Father smiled and softly said,
“I’ve left you to the end…
I’ve turned my own name back to front
And called you DOG, my friend”.

Wet And Cold, Again...

Not much has changed around here in the last 24 hours. It's still wet & cold outside. I was looking at the river last night and as I was watching, a large root wad came down right smack-dab where I would be sitting if were to have been fishing. Having a large log or piece of debris come up your anchor rope can lead to disastrous results before you can even react. The only hope is to have a knife handy and be able to cut your anchor rope before the boat is swamped. Scary stuff, friends!
   I got the camo seat covers the other day that I had ordered for the red Dodge and yesterday I tried to install them. They are too short, too narrow, and don't have any cut-outs for seat adjusters, lumbar support adjuster, or the lever that releases the seat to fold forward. Fortunately, I was dealing with a good company (Max Camo) and they said that I can send them back and they will gladly credit my account. How nice is that?
   Moms' estate is close to closing. As long as the other heir is capable of paying her 50% of the final bills, this should be done in short order.

River Report

I wish I had something good to report about the river. It is high, muddy, has lots of debris floating down, and the wind is so strong it nearly has whitecaps.
   On the positive side, my latest column has been published in The Valley Bugler. Here is a link to it.
http://www.valleybugler.com/category/open_season/ 
http://www.valleybugler.com/category/open_season/

The Worst Thing Possible...

What we have going on with the weather right now is the worst thing possible. I worry about this happening every year and now it looks like we are "getting it" in spades.
   With all this low snow melting, all the tributary streams that dump int the Cowlitz are full and muddy. The Toutle, of course, is high and muddy.
  Tacoma Power and Light -- who controls water releases on the Cowlitz have just increased flows from 13,000 cfm to 18,000 cfm, and they will continue that same high release due to the rapid snow melt that is inevitable in higher elevations. What this all means is that the Cowlitz river is going to be high, muddy, and out of shape for quite some time. Due to the amount of low and upper elevation snow that will have fallen by the end of this week and the fact that Spring thaw HAS to be just around the corner, I don't look for the Cowlitz to be fishable until the middle of March at the earliest -- if even then. It's entirely possible that Spring Chinook fishing on the Cowlitz will not take place this year until April.
   And this is really a shame, since I see that they recovered the first Spring Chinook back at the Barrier Dam last week. That means that they are swimming right past my place every day, and the river is blown.....