WHAT THE FREAK IS MANZANITA?

I was visiting with a friend of mine this morning, and she asked an interesting question... She asked, "What is Manzanita?"

First of all, Manzanita is the name we have given to our cabin... When we talk about going to Manzanita for the weekend, that means we are going to work on the cabin.

But, manzanita is actually a plant that grows all over the property where our cabin is going to be... everywhere... and I mean, everywhere...  When we were purchasing the property, we saw this beautiful little shrub with tiny little flowers, dark shiny green leaves with a deep, dark red branch structure and we thought it was beautiful.  Little did we know that it had a root system like no other.  And, trying to dig that crap up is almost impossible.  The root system looks sort of like the circulatory system of the human body...1000's of little roots growing off a massive big central root - and I mean massive.  We have been digging these stupid roots up, and some of them are a foot across.  It's incredible.

I did a little research on this stuff this morning - Wikipedia says that it's used for decorating, especially for weddings, but not good for much else.  So, if you have an upcoming wedding, and want to cut down some manazanita and dry it, let us know... we have lots to share.

Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia and Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and throughout Mexico. They are characterized by smooth, orange or red bark and stiff, twisting branches. There are 105 species and subspecies of manzanita,^[1] 95 of which are found in the Mediterranean climate and colder mountainous regions of California, ranging from ground-hugging coastal and mountain species to small trees up to 20 feet (6m) tall. Manzanitas bloom in the winter to early spring and carry berries in spring and summer.^[2] The berries and flowers of most species are edible.

The word manzanita is the Spanish diminutive of manzana (apple). A literal translation would be little apple. The name manzanita is also sometimes used to refer to species in the related genus Arbutus, which is known by that name in the Canadian area of the tree's range, but is more usually known as madroño, or madrone in the United States.

First Video!

This is a short movie Cheri made while I was digging up Manzanita roots.

These are nasty.  They must take years to grow.

2015 - THE BEGINNING OF NEW ADVENTURES!

Well, we made it down to Manzanita this past weekend, and as usual, there were lots of amazing adventures - I think adventures are just waiting for us to happen...

We pulled the RV out of storage, and it fired right up when we tried to start it... there were no mouses or other critters that we needed to evict - there was a little bit of dirt on the floors and kitchen table and appliances, but, over all it was terrific.

We spent the night in an RV park, just because we didn't want to drive the RV up the mountain in the dark...  Don't know why, but we couldn't hook into their WIFI, and the bed is still uncomfortable as all get out, but it was all manageable....and the campground takes PLASTIC!!!  

We got to Panguitch on Saturday about 4, and had to drive to a couple of places to find a hose for the propane - yep, forgot one, and Panguitch didn't seem to have the specific kind of hose we needed - but, we have a wok, an electric fry pan and a microwave in the RV so it was all good.  We thought the little hardware store would have the hose, but they didn't.  They did have fabric, and canning jars and a wide variety of everything else, but no propane hose... (I love that little hardware store - especially for the fabric and patterns section....).

We realized that even though it was sunny and warm in Provo, it was cold and rainy in Panguitch, and guess what... we didn't bring jackets or hoodies or anything with us.   So, we drove around the block to get to a little thrift store that's on the main drag.  On the way there, we saw a horse tied to a tree at the pharmacy..... Jim and I were both.."What?"  But, apparently, everybody knew who the owner of the horse was, and they didn't really mind.  We get to the thrift store, and it's not open until 6 like the guys at the hardware store told us... they close at 5.  And, I find this out by pulling on the door and finding it locked.  BUT, there is this sweet little lady inside that was counting the money, and she let us in... I found a hoodie and Jim found a vest, so we were in good shape...  Seemed a little odd that someone would open the store for complete strangers, but she did, and really saved us.  So, a big thank you shout out to the little lady at Garfield Memorial Hospital Foundation Thrift Store.  You rock!  As with most of the stores in town, they don't take plastic...But we had a little cash.

We had dinner on Saturday night at one our favorite places in town - Cowboy's Smoke House Cafe.

The BBQ beef is amazing, and the sausage is to die for... We ate too much, but had to top it off with peach cobbler...  and no, they don't take plastic either...More cash. . . .

Sunday morning, we woke up reasonably early, because we were so bored to death on Saturday night that we went to bed at 10 pm..... made some breakfast, and headed up the mountain... It always makes me so nervous driving up the mountain with Beluga ..it's so big and clumsy, and the roads are dirt and uneven and steep... It's absolutely beautiful, but that drive really freaks me out...  It's about 20 miles from Panguitch to Bryce Woodlands, and I panic the whole time.

We got to the cabin site, and Jim tells me there was a rabbit in the middle of our driveway that was apparently the welcoming committee!  

Last fall, I planted a couple of 100 flower bulbs around the trees by the driveway.  I was so excited to see the flowers this spring.  I walked down the hill to the driveway, expecting to see this beautiful array of flowers, and there was... nadda single flower.  Half the bulbs grew, but the tops of the leaves and the flowers were totally gone... totally... I was so disappointed.  I looked around and there were deer tracks all over my flower beds - stupid deer ate my flowers!  I picked bulbs that were supposed to be deer resistant - I guess they didn't tell the deer...  There were tracks all over the place, and rocks that had antler scrapings on them.  I think my flowers were a snack for them or something.

Pretty sad.

Jim got the backhoe all ready for work... Last fall, we found a guy that wanted to do some of the backhoe work for us when we weren't there... We gave him the key, and that was the last we heard from him... We thought that the key was gone forever, so we went to the Case dealer and bought a set of keys for it... Well, this spring, we try the keys and they don't fit... So, we got a hold of the guy's wife, and she had left them at the convenience store about 5 miles away... We picked up the keys, and felt we dodged a bullet there!  We were moving dirt from our property up the hill to make a driveway at the middle of the hill..

 

The backhoe started to stall, and Jim did a little evaluation... found that some bowl thing (fuel filter bowl, JS edit) that has gas in it, was all mucky, and the thing that the little glass bowl sits in was all mucky also... so, he had to change it out... He bought a new one last fall.  He's so smart, I swear...  So, after that little distraction, we got the machine to work perfectly...

Jim works the backhoe, and I navigate... I tell him when the bucket us full, or where to dig... We found that I didn't follow the "international hand signals" quite like Jim expected... And, as he told me that my hand signal communication skills were lacking, I gave him one hand signal that he understood perfectly...  Then, I told him that he was supposed to learn my hand signals... Men!  I swear!  I understood my hand signals perfectly!  And when the backhoe is running and I talk he's supposed to read my lips with full comprehension. . .

We got quite a bit of work done this weekend...  It was fun...