Feb 11, 2013 Busy, Busy Weekend



Snowing in the mountains



Friday.  Another clear morning and a brisk 18.  I really dislike having to use the generator on such sunny days, but there is wash to do.  Will be so glad when we can get this electrical situation resolved this summer.

For the first time in weeks, I couldn't sleep Thursday night.  Not for the lack of exercise certainly, but my mind just wouldn't stop and relax.  So I got up and, just when I thought I had polished Uncle Jack's eulogy, I reworked it, again.  Am very satisfied with it now. 

JB bought a bag of almond flour last Tuesday and it was almost $11.00!  We may have to rethink the almond flour pie crusts. . .

Sometimes I look back to the person I was before we moved Up Here, and I am amazed at how up tight I used to be.  Now I can completely understand the frustration of life Down There, being constantly bombarded with electronic detritus.  Humans don't need sedatives and other such medications, they just need Mother Nature.  There is a reason for the title "Mother."  She enfolds and nurtures us.  She opens the majesty of life to us.  She challenges and supports us, but keeps us on our toes, like the angels whose job it is to be sure we do not get too warm, too glad or too comfortable and miss out on life.

The dogs and I went on a hike down the south slope of our south ridge.  This is the perfect time to do it, while there is no snow and the snakes are still asleep.  During the Summer and early Fall, this is their domain.  In fact, last summer, Jesse wouldn't even go on the other side of the fence which runs along the top of the ridge.  But our hike was a great adventure, as I had never been down there very far.  The smell of warm earth was a pleasant surprise in mid winter.  And there were small bunches of new grass, along with tiny wild flower buds.  I definitely plan to do this again several times before Spring.

Saturday dawned clear and 20.  Temperatures have been getting back to normal.  High was 34 and it was still breezy, as it has been all week.

Since I had been promising to make the cinnamon roll recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust mix for the past few months, I finally did.  Oh, my!  They are soooo good.  That'll teach me for putting it off.

We are going to be doing a lot of baking the next few days.  Larry and Elsie invited us to a "fish fry" Sunday evening.  Larry has gone ice fishing the past two Mondays and brought home about 50 perch.  The Westies have come over to their cabin and will be there too.  JB is going to bake a peach cobbler and a blueberry cobbler to take with us.

I promised to bake cookies before I leave on my trip if JB would bake scones for me to take.  I'll bake the cookies on Monday and he will bake the scones on Tuesday.

I am sure that I must have, literally, thousands of pictures of the mountains in all sorts of weather, and yet whenever I am out, I usually take more.  I just cannot help myself.

Despite the fact that we would see them on Sunday, Larry and Elsie drove up for a visit Saturday night.  It's been a while since they were here and the dogs were thrilled to see them.  (We were, too.)

Sunday was clear and 24 with a high of 40.  So much for back to normal temps.  Sure would like some more precipitation.  I'd even take rain at this point, and deal with mud early on, rather than parched earth in the summer.  Certainly don't want a rerun of last September.

It was with a touch of meloncholy that I finished book #28 and the last of The Cat Who series.  Will wait til I am back from my trip to see Aunt Nene before I start another.

We brought in wood and went for our afternoon walk a half hour early so we could let the dogs out after they ate and get to Larry and Elsie's on time.  Didn't even wear a hat or gloves on our walk.

Elsie prepared a delicious meal and we all had a great time, even if JB did imbibe a little too much. . .

Thought for the day:  Giving people a hand up, not a hand out, is a way forward.  Hugh Jackman (who founded Laughing Man Coffee & Tea, which works with individual farmers worldwide to support them and their co-op communities) - From the January issue of "Guideposts" magazine