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Just couldn't pass up the opportunity to fly today. Winds were light and the valley beckoned me to take to the air. The Radian hasn't flown for quite a while, so it was a real joy to get several flights in this morning. Beautiful plane against that blue sky. 
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The animals said they wanted a few group photos of themselves. So I obliged.   Wow, what a wonderful day today was. Sunny, 60 degrees, light winds. Our animals basked in the sunshine, played, and stuffed themselves on pasture; while we got out the Cyclone Rake and picked up our first batch of fallen leaves. Here are a few photos of that glorious day: 
Lately, Bear and I have been hanging out at Beaver Park, site of next year's bunkhouse and emerging campground area. The project is coming along nicely. In the Spring, we cleared a lot of brush and fallen trees. Then we planted grass which grew wonderfully all summer. This week I removed several of the dead trees along the shore and graded the foundation area for the new bunkhouse. The resultant view is just gorgeous. Here's Bear along the newly cleared shoreline during a particularly beautiful sunset: 
The last few days have been wonderfully warm and the sunsets have been incredible. Here's a shot of our sheep on their last day in the Southern Exposure Paddock. I think this one is going to make it to next year's Bear Valley Farm Calendar: 
Here's a nice development. A feral cat has seen fit to bring her two offspring into our barn. Already they have reduced the mouse population and seem to be enjoying their stay. We've been leaving some food to encourage them to stick around. They're all very shy, but I think over time they'll get used to us. Sharon has already been able to pet the mama cat. Here she is feasting on Meow Mix: 
There's always been this little problem with our leanto pen adjacent to the barn. Due to the ground slope, the area never drained adequately after a heavy rain. Consequently, the pen area would remain soaked with water and mud and yuck. It was just a mess. Our poor animals couldn't enjoy the shelter in that condition. Sometimes it would take weeks before the area was dry enough to be used. Well, we finally took care of that problem and spent a few days of hard toiling sweating back-breaking labor digging a drainage trench and installing drain tile to allow the water to run off into the marshland next to Chester Lake. We're talking over 200 feet of trench, 200 feet of drain tile, over five tons of gravel, and multiple applications of Blue Emu on sore backs and feet. We finished the project yesterday and will be recuperating for the rest of the week. I am so glad that we will never have to do this again for the rest of our lives. 
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