Here, Bear, and Everywhere

We’ve had a nuisance black bear roaming the neighborhood for a few weeks. Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has a trap set up just down the road. Unfortunately, I don’t think this one is going to be relocated. I think it’s either going to get shot by a homeowner or euthanized. At least we don’t have pigs this year.

And my friend Cathy, who lives north of Kalispell, posted on social media the other day that she heard a commotion on her porch mid-morning. When she opened the door, a little black bear dropped out of a tree right in front of her. Her dog chased it off. I know the bears are hungry; perhaps this cold spring has limited their food supplies more than usual.

Dave is on patrol:

He might not be as good an alarm as the dogs were, but I’ll know something’s up if he starts hustling the hens into the coop.

Speaking of roosters, the husband mentioned yesterday that he thinks we got a rooster chick with the batch of pullets in April. I think he’s right. This guy looks like he’s about to hit puberty:

Now I have a dilemma. I wouldn’t mind having two roosters, but Dave doesn’t like competition. I will have to see if I can find a good home for this one. In the meantime, he’s going to enroll in Janet’s Finishing School for Baby Roosters. Now when I go into the coop, I make a point of touching him or picking him up so that he knows who is in charge. He will learn a lot by watching Dave, too. Dave really is a stellar rooster.

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I got the yardwork done yesterday, which is great because we’re supposed to get more rain for the next couple of days. Seattle is under another one of those atmospheric rivers—unusual for this late in the season—and it is heading our way. I mowed our yard and around the garden and then trimmed with the weedeater. Once that was done, I weeded peas and two rows of potatoes. Things are looking good out there and the extra rain certainly isn’t going to hurt.

My afternoon project was playing with thread. I got half a dozen samples from WonderFil a few weeks ago—threads I haven’t been able to source locally—and I want some kind of record of how each of them looks stitched up. I designed a record sheet that I could use for myself and hand out to my students. It has a place to write down all the pertinent information and attach a sample stitch-out.

Each page will go into a page protector and stored in a notebook. That way, when I want to use a specific thread, I’ll know if I changed or adjusted any settings.

I started with a thread called D-Twist, which is a 20wt rayon. I haven’t tried this one before. It’s a very subtle decorative thread. The 8wt and 12wt threads are great when you want a lot of bling, but this one is in between those and a 40wt and it adds just enough. I’ll have to see what kind of class project I can design with it.