In putting together two pages on Godfrey Stephen’s little sailboat for Tiny Homes On the Move, I came across this photo (in the 600+ photos he has sent me over the years), and asked him about it. This happened in the ’80s, when he was sailing down the Pacific Coast for Mexico.
Lloyd, after leaving Avalon, Santa Catalina…I anchored for the night off Dana Point.… Under way early in the madrugada (way way more beautiful a word for dawn), this little Merbeing, after several attempts, came bashing with a huge splat right under the safety pipe rails onto the steel deck. I raced below looking for the camera, wood stove going, coffee on the make, self steering set, (my sailboat) s/v Mungo sliding toward San Diego. In the noise of looking for the camera, this creature (later told is a stellar sea lion by its ears )
found her way to the top of the hard dodger.
On stepping into the cockpit, what greeted me was a growl and very bad breath! After a while shooing her away because, if the boat jibed, the mains’l boom would have clocked her. Chasing her flopping up the deck to the starboard bow. She started sleeping. I stroked her incredibly soft fur. Nothing to feed her.
In the quiet of sailing, I could could feel her heart beat (faintly echoing) in the metal deck. She slipped silently over the side just off the Scripps Institute—amazing. Suddenly I felt so incredibly alone.
Been swimming in the river each day. Yesterday Louie helped me in making a fur coat out of my animal skins: 2 bobcats, 3 foxes, a raccoon, we’re still undecided about the skunk. His grandfather had been a tailor, so he knew what to do. I put on an old vest, we got the skins in place, then pinned to the vest. Next we’ll get Lesley’s experienced input. It really looks good. Fur (and heads) on the outside. Going to take a while. I’ll only wear it at home.
Pic is my hideout at Louie’s.
Wonderful photos of 96 snakes meticulously photographed against black backgrounds.
We got it out of the library.
Hi Lloyd, thought you might enjoy this link…
https://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/live-osprey-cam
Peace
Gill
***
A lot of great things here for us fans of the natural world. For ex., https://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/jellyfish-cam
Just now: https://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/tern-cam
Gotta get back to work!
-LK
And I do mean boys. The Plichta brothers, ages 9 and 11, are my youngest friends. Going on a hike with them, as I did last night, is like having radar and sonar for anything on the ground, in the air, or in the water. Like a heightened sense of perception. They notice everything, last night a beetle, a termite, a snake “Shall I catch it?” “No.” “Look how the sunlight lights up this pine tree bud.” What’s this?” about innumerable objects. They’re into bones and feathers and anything that moves (or used to move). Once they called me over excitedly in the parking lot to see a dried and squashed gopher. They joke a lot. Last night they noticed how the frogs stopped singing when we got close. Here they are inspecting the driftwood sauna structure built by Dylan on the beach.
They picked right up on this minimalist rock/wood project someone had left on the beach. On the way back we stared at the just-sinking sun on the horizon, hoping for the green flash, but it didn’t happen.
Animal encounters in the last week:
-Dead skunk on road. Nice shiny winter pelt, no smell (it happens every once in a while). I left it there since I skinned a beautiful skunk a few weeks ago.
-Freshly killed deer. Passed this up if for no other reason than my shoulder is still in recovery period — all the more so because I tweaked it picking up oak firewood off road — dumb shit! So am taking a step backward and giving those tendons time to heal. Rly.
-2-3 foxes this week. Bushy tails. Stepping smartly. Foxes are back. About 20 years ago we had tons of small animals around, including many foxes, and some kind of disease got most of them: raccoons, skunks, foxes, possums — populations severely diminished. But now they’re on the rise. I love watching foxes — elegance of the Candidae family.
-A coyote who ran away, then stopped and looked back at me. Mischief in eyes.
–Salamanders ambling mindlessly across trails and fire roads — as soon as there’s moisture.
-Line of about 20 pelicans single-file, flying about a foot above the waves. They often get into the updraft of waves and fly without moving wings. Watched them from above, and they flew around a cove and circled a few times before settling.
After doing the symposium at the Art Institute (Wednesday, 3/13), I took off for points north. I haven’t been up to my pal Louie’s for some time, but now with shouder recovered (partly) and new Honda Fit, I headed up Hwy. 101, then cut across to the Russian River, to Jenner, and up the coast. This vehicle is a wonder. Drives like a dream; nimble. Even good on country roads. And it’s like a clown car; you can get amazing amount of stuff in it. (You’re just going to have to bear with me when I rave about this car.)
Now the next part of this story is for country people, OK?
Read More …
“Hello 🙂
I’m passionate about sustainable land design/management and live a low impact lifestyle with my partner Leo, in a yurt on an incredible Exmoor smallholding that is a mosaic of diverse habitats.…
We care for Shetland, Hebridean & Castlemilk moorit sheep, dairy goats, Cuckoo Maran hens and ex-battery hens, black indian runner ducks and a collie called Willow.
I’m co-founder and run www.saveourwoods.co.uk. Save Our Woods was central in stopping the public forest estate sell-off in 2011 and continues to work closely with government and organisations to achieve the best outcome for the woods and forests of England, public or private.
-hen”
Click here.
Sent us by Alan Whittle
I got some great comments on my post (below) on trapping rats. I just remembered an article I wrote for Mother Earth News a few years ago on how I deal with rats and other homestead invaders: https://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/Protect-Your-Home-From-Critters.aspx#axzz2LvooOokH
In putting together two pages on Godfrey Stephen’s little sailboat for Tiny Homes On the Move, I came across this photo (in the 600+ photos he has sent me over the years), and asked him about it. This happened in the ’80s, when he was sailing down the Pacific Coast for Mexico.
