Dec 30, 2013 End of a Good Year

Bird's nest I found that is lined
with our dogs' hair.

Dinga checking out her domain to the northwest.

Friday 12/27.  JB left for Down There at 9:30 am.  Shortly afterwards my Aunt Nene called to wish us Happy Anniversary.  With the holidays so close, we usually don't do anything different Up Here.  Down There we would often go out to dinner.  I did the usual things - washed the dishes; did the monthly cleaning of the wood stove, trying not to get too grimy.  Also started another book that JB gave me for Christmas, Lady Catherine, the Earl & the Real Downton Abbey, which is written by the current Countess of Carnarvon who lives at Highclere Castle.  Fascinating and very well written!  

It is so much fun to watch Dinga in the snow (what little we have left).  To her the mountain is just one big snow cone and playground.  And Jesse is clearly enjoying the winter weather more than his first few years Up Here.

JB arrived back home about 2:30 pm.  Turns out there was nothing wrong with the tire.  Seems some dirt had got jammed in between the rim and tire allowing air to leak out.  Dirt?  Up Here??!!  

He brought up the mail, a few groceries and a beautiful bouquet of flowers to me for our anniversary.  We had sausage and onion pizza for dinner and watched Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.  A fun and lively movie.

Saturday 12/28.  It was 24 with valley fog this morning.  Did laundry, but we are taking the weekend off of work.  On Monday we plan to dig out the access to the pipe, which is in the southeast corner of the shop, so we can snake the pipe and hopefully clear whatever is blocking it.  Depending on how that goes, we may be back to work on MAX Tuesday or Wednesday.  Oh wait!  Those are holidays!  Okay, maybe Thursday.  Don't want to rush these things. . .

I finished cleaning and re-organizing my craft corner in the loft.  I want to be able to get a few of the last boxes still stored in our bedroom up to the loft and cleaning up my craft area makes more room for storage.  I really am getting rid of things we haven't used. . .

I made a big pot of turkey burger/sausage soup for dinner and we watched the last two episodes of the first season of Homeland.  Great series!  So many twists and turns.

Sunday 12/29.  It was 26 and overcast with valley fog this morning.  The fog kept creeping up the canyons most of the day til late afternoon when it crept back down again.  The funny thing about the fog is that it does not go all the way down to the ground in Wenatchee.  It is just like a very low cloud.  Our high for the day was 33, causing the ground to be a bit muddy in places.

I used the last of the eggnog in my coffee this morning.  Normally I would have asked JB to buy more when he was down there on Friday, but I really am trying to cut back on rich foods and sugar.  Not going to get drastic and make a New Year's resolution to do that, but I will give it a try.

JB had brought up the game cam card on Friday.  There was a great video of a rabbit and one of a beautiful 4x4 buck.  So after lunch today, we all hiked down to put the card back.  Because the road is so icy, we walked the north ridge down to the end of our driveway.  Not bad going down, but it is a lot steeper than the road, so coming back up was a chore.  There were so many rabbit tracks everywhere!  Got our cardio workout for the day.  That's another thing I am going to have to do - get outside more.  I have been inside more than usual these past couple months.

Santa brought us an interesting book on the history of Wenatchee that I am reading.  I certainly hope we do not experience the kind of winters they had in the last half of the 19th century.  During three different winters chinooks came in after a big snowfall, causing a thaw.  Then extremely cold weather set in and caused a layer of ice more than a foot thick.  One of those years, more than 3/4 of all the cattle in central Washington froze to death.  That was a lot of cattle and many ranchers went out of business.  Brrrrr!

Monday 12/30.  Another overcast morning, with a temperature of 29 and valley fog.  We are going to get started on snaking the pipe right after breakfast.  I can hardly wait. . .

Thought for the day: I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.  Flash Rosenberg