Dec 3, 2012 Weather



Valley fog creeping up and burning off


On Friday the sun struggled bravely all morning to burn off the fog, finally succeeding for the most part around noon, at least Up Here.  The fog continued to drift up now and then from the canyons and valleys, only to dissipate in the mountain sunshine.  The rime and snow melted off the branches, creating a shower beneath the trees.  But by mid afternoon the sky was overcast and the fog remained Down There, however the panels managed to capture alot of the sun's power.

I am still getting the firewood from the back row in the wood shed.  That row is almost three years old and about 1/3 junk wood.  During the day we use the branch and junk wood for the fire, while we are around to feed it, saving the best for night.

Mission Ridge ski area opened Black Friday, and for the past three mornings their avalance control cannons have been roaring, causing Jesse to stay outside only for the time it took to do his business, and then rush back inside.

It was my turn to get outside in the sun, while JB sat at his computer working on the timber project.  I took out the garbage and recycle, brought in firewood, and then the dogs and I went on a short hike.

Saturday, December 1 and no fog.  I had hoped that November would take the fog with it as it left.  So far, so good.  Not sure why, but I really enjoy keeping track of the weather and writing about it.  Probably because I can actually see what's going on from Up Here.  No other houses or tall buildings to block the view.  Don't have to peak between the rooftops to see the sky.  I can see the fog and clouds coming and going.  I can follow the sun on its daily journey.

I was addressing the Christmas cards and realized that somehow my card list grew from the time I started making them to when I started addressing them.  Hmmm.  JB continued working on the maps for his timber project.

Larry and Elsie drove up in the early evening for a visit, and we played marbles.  The dice were completely against me, and so the girls lost.  Just wait til next time guys. . .  Forgot to mention the third ingredient in Elsie's skunk odor removal solution - baking soda.  Dawn soap, sodium peroxide and baking soda.

Sunday dawned clear and windy.  The sun shown, but the mountains remained hidden within a snow storm that threatened but never quite reached us.  We both worked on our projects.  Next year I am going to start making Christmas cards in July!  Finally got them all made and addressed, and JB has all but finished the timber paperwork.  Hopefully I can submit it when I go Down There on Tuesday to mail our Christmas cards and packages.

JB made a banana/burbon/cream cheese pound cake that is absolutely scrumptious, but very rich!  I failed to get any decorations put up, but maybe tomorrow or Wednesday. . . or sometime this week. . .

And speaking of delicious, exploring the world of Dutch babies, German pancakes and frittatas is a delicious adventure.  Of course German pancakes have been one of our favorite meals for years, and we just discovered frittatas a few months ago.  Then last week, JB made a ham and cheese Dutch Baby for dinner.  Excellent!  They are all very similar, but just a little different.  JB has another recipe for a cranberry and marmalade Dutch baby that I can't wait to try.

Thought for the day: The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.  Michelangelo

Nov 30, 2012 Eggnog, snow & skunks



Sun peaking through the fog
and clouds


Wednesday breakfast.  Newspapers, and eggnog in my coffee.  I just love the holidays!  One thing I do miss is having the morning newspaper delivered, but so many other things make up for it that I can easily live with just having it every week or two. 

It was cloudy all day and the predicted snow began falling about 1:30 pm.  Within minutes the ground matched the trees and bushes.  I went out early to get the fire wood and Dinga stayed out rejoicing.  She would love living in Alaska.

Laundry day.  I wasn't sure about my new washer at first.  I haven't had a top loading machine in almost twenty years.  But it holds larger loads, uses only the water needed for each specific load, and spins it all dryer.  I can live with that.  We'll have the electrician up in the Spring to determine why it won't work without the generator. 

Talked to Elsie Tuesday evening.  Larry took the dogs for a run with their ATV Monday night and encountered a skunk who obviously wasn't aware that it was supposed to have gone into hibernation on the 19th.  So Elsie got to spend a few hours bathing both dogs, especially their little beagle who really got sprayed, in hydrogen peroxide and Dawn soap.  She certainly was thorough because I didn't smell anything when I visited on Tuesday afternoon.

It was early evening when the clouds parted to reveal a full Beaver Moon that lit up the white landscape.  The nights have been so dark lately with no snow on the ground and so much fog that this was a very welcome change.

Thursday.  Fog, again.  It's not so much the type of weather, but rather the lack of power.  No sun, no power.  Except for the generator.  And that uses propane.  And that costs money.  Well, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it except adapt and use as little electricity as possible.  Since we had to use the generator anyway, I did another load of laundry.

Not sure exactly what I did for two days, but I was very busy.  Cleaning here, re-arranging shelves, puttering there, washing dishes, hanging and folding laundry, defrosting the refrigerator and freezer, getting firewood, shoveling off the deck of 2" of snow, reading, napping. . . 

And speaking of napping, it's always so much cozier when it's snowing.  After a cup of cocoa.  With a fire in the stove.  On the couch with a blanket and the pillows placed just so.  Mmmmm.

Tis the last day of November and it's about time.  With Thanksgiving so early this year, it seems as though December is late.  Am having a hard time getting into decorating the house for Christmas.  Maybe this weekend, although ol' Bah-Humbug JB would be just as happy if I never did. . .

A footnote on the timber project that JB is working on.  The property taxes do decrease dramatically, however if it is ever decided to take the land out of timber, then all the back taxes have to be paid.  Doubt we would ever want to do that.  Can't have more than one house per 20 acres anyway.

Thought for the day: Happiness is like a cat, if you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come.  But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.  William Bennett

Nov 28,2012 Sleep & Rime



A line of rime
(not the poetic kind)





Rime on my Jeep's antenna
















Despite the sun on Monday, it never warmed up to more than the mid-twenties.  Was an inside morning for chores: dishes, laundry, cleaning, running well water; and a lazy afternoon.

JB has been working on quite an extensive computer project for the past couple of months.  Now that the Chelan County Assessor knows we are living Up Here, we want to designate 38 of our 40 acres as timber, which will greatly reduce our property taxes.  Elsie gave him copies of their report and he is adapting it to our land.  We could pay $300 or more for the county to do it or trudge through it ourselves.  Amazing the paperwork it involves.  You must own enough land to put a minimum of 20 acres into timber and have a least one acre in addition to that for your home if you are living there.  Basically it means that you plan to manage that timber acreage to keep it healthy and will not build anything on it.  We have to have it filed by 12/31 along with a fee of $250, but that fee will be more than covered by the amount we save in taxes.

Watched Midnight in Paris and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Four books down and 24 to go in The Cat Who. . . series.  So light and fun to read.

With all the walls done in the great room, we don't have to set the alarm on exceptionally cold nights to get up and tend to the wood stove.  It is still in the low 60's at 5:30 am.  However, I will need to replace all the seals in the stove next summer.  And my bladder did wake me up at 5:30 am on Tuesday.  The stove was dark, so I put in a new fire.  I snuggled back into bed and almost immediately the dogs wanted out.  Great timing, guys!  Something  was out there and Jesse spent the next 1-1/2 hours barking along the south ridge.  Dinga always comes back in fairly quickly, but if Jesse is barking, he will not come when called.  I laid down on the couch to await his arrival, knowing that he would scratch on the door to announce himself.

I am definitely going to have to start using the small, hand-held recorder that JB gave me a couple years ago.  Ideas flit through my mind like fireflies and many of them blink out before I can get them down on paper.

A thick fog crept in during Monday night and everything was white with rime, as if a light snow had fallen everywhere but the ground.  It was a cold 16 degrees when I left for Down There, and not much warmer when I arrived.  Ran errands, picked up the mail (we hit the jackpot what with catalogs and packages) and grocery shopped.  Stopped in at Larry and Elsie's to pick up a Christmas gift that Santa Elsie helped me with.  Let the dogs out and gave them treats.  And stayed to pet and converse with my four-legged friends.  When I finally got home, unpacked and put most of the groceries away, I just collapsed on the couch while JB cooked dinner.  Almost like Christmas to open the four packaged we received.  One was a gift for someone on our list.  One was 40 books of sudoku I had ordered from Dell for only $16!  Another was from JB's Mom with lots of books and goodies.  And the other was from JB's youngest brother, full of gluten-free food.  How nice!

It is overcast and cold this morning.  Still white with rime as yesterday's high was only 20 and the rime didn't have a chance to melt.

Thought for the day:  The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald Reagan

Nov 26, 2012 Cards, Books & Sunshine



Our white board


Fog, fog go away!  I haven't seen this much fog since we lived in the San Francisco Bay area, excpt that Down There it often cleared up by mid-afternoon.  But Friday rather than go away, we had rain most of the day also, which, according to the weather report, was supposed to be snow.  Stayed indoors and worked on my Christmas cards while JB made a pumpkin pie with a crust made of almond flour.  Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house usually means no leftovers, but in this case we had already bought a turkey breast and yams, and we had leftover cornbread and sausage dressing.  Once again we got to enjoy a houseful of scents that only this dinner can create, and a second such dinner in as many days.

I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Incredible!  Just as the first two books were.  Now I am in the mood to read Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who . . . series of books.  All 28 of them.  I usually do this ever two or three years.  They are most entertaining in a very relaxing way.  Perfect for the holiday season.

Well, maybe just writing the words  for the fog to go away is the key to it actually happening.  Saturday morning brought a cloudy sky with patches of blue.  JB fixed two fence rails that had fallen down at one end, then took the dogs on a run with MAX up to the property east of us.  I worked on our Christmas cards, again.  The clouds dispersed for the most part and we had lots of sun.  Next year I am going to have to come up with a much simpler design for our cards.  Am not sure all the effort going into this one is worth the result.

We keep a small white board on the side of our refrigerator right where the door opens and onn it I keep track of everything in the freezer.  We have forced ourselves into the habit of also noting all the leftovers as we put them in the refrigerator and erasing them when they are gone.  It sure has saved a lot of food from going bad.  But beginning the evening of Black Friday it was full and we drooled every time we looked at it.  By noon Saturday we ended up having our third Thanksgiving dinner in as many days, switching the potato/broccoli soup to supper.  I think we'll have ham for Christmas. . .  But I have come to the conclusion that turkey gravy and cranberry sauce are like bacon.  Put enough of them on anything and it will taste good.

Sunday was cloudless with brilliant sunshine all day.  I stayed in to finish my Christmas card project.  Got the adult cards all done.  It's the children's cards that take the most time individually as each one is different, made to fit each child's age and personality as much as I can.  My muse was really with it and I was able to make them all.  Thank goodness that project is done.  It's not that I don't enjoy making them, but . . .

Our game cam died about a week ago and JB had been working on it ever since but with no luck.  He put it together once again and it finally came back to life.  Then he drove MAX down our frozen driveway to put it back on the tree and give the dogs a run.  When he got back home, he realized that he had forgotten to turn it on.  So our afternoon walk was down to the camera to activate it.  Very little ice or snow, just frozen dirt.  I needed that exercise after more than a week of sitting at my craft table.

It's a brisk 16 this morning.  There is a little cloud cover, but the sun is shining and so are the mountains in their mantle of white.  The road should be just fine for my trip Down There tomorrow for groceries and mail.

Thought for the day: No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan

Nov 23, 2012 A Wonderful Thanksgiving



Deer eating rose hips just
across our driveway



Finally read my e-mail when I blogged Wednesday morning.  Elsie had sent me one inviting us to Thanksgiving dinner.  I called her at work and fortunately, it wasn't too late to accept her invitation.  Other than that, it was a lazy day reading books and puttering around.  Did a load of wash.  Worked on Christmas cards.  We had lots of sun in the morning, but by mid-afternoon the edge of the snow storm that was dumping on the mountains had reached us.  The wind was blowing so hard that very little snow hit the ground.

I have discovered that my firewood sled works almost as well on mud and frozen ground as it does on snow.  And thank goodness for that!

Thursday.  Mmmmm, Thanksgiving!  We began the day with German pancakes heaped with peaches and brown sugar.  Then JB made cornbread and sausage dressing to take to dinner with us.  And we actually got to take a real shower before we went!  One of the best parts of having our water back. . .  Anyway, as the dressing smelled so good and I had to hold it on my lap while JB drove down to Larry and Elsie's, I'm surprised it made it there without any bites out of it.  Was the first time in four years that we spent this holiday with anyone but ourselves and we completely enjoyed ourselves.

Thought for the day:  Friends are family we get to choose.

Nov 21, 2012 Sun and Washer



Rain barrel we have inside so it
won't freeze.  Not finished with the
water we put in it before broken
pipes were discovered.


Monday brought rain for the day, so we ran the generator while I blogged and then we did the dishes.  The service man for the washing machine called about 10:30, so JB drove my Jeep down to meet them at the pavement.  He had a four-wheel drive pickup and was able to drive up to where our road turns off the main canyon road.  JB drove him the rest of the way in the Jeep as the hair-pin turn below our driveway is a muddy mess.  He was able to figure out what is wrong with the washer, but said we could use it until he comes back to put the parts in.  Great!  And that's just what I did on Tuesday, since we had already used the generator Monday.

I worked on Christmas cards and gifts while JB was driving up and down the mountain.  We played cards at the kitchen table after dinner using just one light as we didn't want to use much electricity.  Used a candle lantern in the bathroom.

In looking around Tuesday morning, it seems like we are just 100 ft or so short of having received snow instead of rain on Monday.  All the mountains and ridges nearby are white, but Rose Camp is brown.  Almost all of our snow disappeared with the rain.  Throughout the day we had just about every kind of weather: wind, fog, pouring rain, and even moments of sunshine and blue sky when the wind blew the clouds and fog away.  This morning we have sunshine and lots of blue sky, but we did receive a heavy dusting of snow during the night.  Very windy, with more snow predicted.

JB drove MAX down the road aways to try and smooth out a couple ruts, and dig a drain for the water.  I wrapped gifts for a few hours.  It's not that I have a lot of gifts to wrap, but I tend to get obsessive about having whatever is printed on the wrapping paper centered just right on the front of the package.  I know I waste more paper than I should, however. . .

Talked to Nene and she said they had 5-1/2" of rain on Monday!  Lots of streets are closed due to flooding, and the rain has similarly affected many other small towns on the Olympic Penninsula.  She also told me that the weather people are predicting a Pineapple Express for this winter.  Oh, goodie!  More mud.  I much prefer snow to mud.

And speaking of our road, it is funny how our attitude towards driving on it has changed over the years.  When we were camping Up Here, we would always joke that if it rained we would have to call in sick to work because we couldn't get out.  After living at Rose Camp for more than four years now, our attitude is more, "Oh, it's only been raining for three days.  Should be no problem." Or: "It's only 10" of new snow.  The Jeep will do just fine."

I've also been thinking about how being constantly involved in activities that have to do with our daily needs is so very satisfying.  Very grounding.  Not just turning the tap on and taking it for granted that the water will flow, but having to fill the cistern and maintain access to our water supply.  Not just turning on the furnace and assume the necessary fuel is there, but gathering, cutting, stacking and bringing in firewood for the stove.  Maintaining a supply of food so we don't have to drive Down There so often, or just in case. . .  It's all part of the life that I believe people these days have become too removed from.  Everthing is too easy.  For many it seems that any part of life that requires work seems very irritating and unwanted.  Even down to taking time to understand how our government works.  So many people blame the wrong office holder for what goes wrong, and give credit to the wrong ones when things go right.  People just don't realize that we have to work at democracy, or we will lose it.  And it seems that we may be well on our way to losing it.

Thought for the day:  To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will. Ronald Reagan  

Nov 19, 2012 Where is the Sun?



"Thank goodness deer season is over!"




JB bringing a rain barrel up on MAX
















Friday we were once again engulfed by fog with a high for the day of only 25.  An indoor day spent relaxing with new magazines, catalogues and our books.  Did the dishes and ran the well pump.  Another couple times and our cistern should be full again.  Hopefully our new washing machine will be working by then.  The service appointment is for 1:00 pm today.

I have finally started the third Lisbeth Salander book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, that I bought months ago.  I waited until our here-for-the-season snow, knowing that it would be a hard book to put down, and I wanted more than just snippets of time during which to read it. 

Saturday we had light fog with a frozen rain falling most of the day.  JB dug out the creek bed that had been driven over.  I dug a trench from the north side of the house through the grove so the water would drain down the mountain.  The whole area needs to be graded with the rake next summer.  I wasn't sore that evening, but I definitely needed ibuprofen Sunday morning!  That was quite a chore.

I also worked on Christmas cards as I finally got this year's card designed.  We had to run the generator since we have had a complete lack of sun for a few days.  I can only use my embossing heater when the generator is running as it sucks too much power for not having any sun.  Actually now we have to run the generator every day.  So much for saving money on propane this year.

We had a nice lazy start to Sunday with our big breakfast and crossword puzzles.  There was no fog, but it was cloudy all day.  I worked on my Christmas cards again.  JB drove MAX down to get the card from the game cam as we haven't checked it in a couple weeks.  It was just too icy in the morning to walk down our steep driveway.  Even the dogs had problems.  We did have some good pictures though, especially the one of the deer I have posted above.

RJ called around noon to say he was Up Here for a few days.  So I quickly wrapped his and Mike's Christmas presents; stuffed them in my back pack; and headed on down to his cabin.  By then most of the icy snow had softened and I had no problems walking down the short cut.  We had a nice visit and RJ showed me everything he's been working on.  Just amazing!  He is tending to all the little details, now that most of the big projects have been taken care of.  He even built two sofa's in his living room and will put futon mattresses on them.  He hopes to make it up once more before Christmas.  It took me and the dogs about 40 minutes to make the mile climb back up to Rose Camp, whereas we had made it down in about half that time.  No gentle slope that short cut.

And speaking of catalogues, one of my favorites that I receive this time of the year is from the Victorian Trading Co.  It has items priced from $10 to $2000.  If I had the money, I could easily order something from every page and thoroughly enjoy them all.  Of course I'd need a much larger house and a completely different attitude towards "things."  Nevertheless, in another life. . .

Thought for the day: Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. Mark Twain