December 30, 2015 Groot, MAX & Mail

Jesse napping in our cold bedroom.  Never let
it be said that our dogs are not spoiled.

Monday 12/28. While JB was getting organized to leave, I slogged (and I do mean slogged) up to the solar panels to clear the snow off of them.  Also measured, and we had received another inch in the past 24 hours.

JB was on his way by 9:00 am, and somehow always manages to go Down There on days that the dishes need to be washed.  So I did that and laundry.  Puttered around, sorted photographs, and read my new book.

Clear skies were in the forecast for this afternoon, but it just didn't happen.  This morning's patches of blue disappeared by noon and the sky was overcast for the rest of the day.  But there was no valley fog like there has been for the past several days.  Our high for the day was 22.

With these below-freezing temps, we have to be sure that the girls' water isn't iced over all the time.  So in the morning when I give them their oatmeal, I also pour hot water into their dish to melt the ice.  Then later in the day one of us will flip the ice out or pour more hot water in.  Belinda likes to eat the little chunks of ice and peck at the bigger ones.

JB returned home at 3:30 pm with all his errands and shopping done, but he had forgotten to take the mailbox key so we will go down for the mail tomorrow.  He gave me the rest of my Christmas presents - two more books and a dancing little Groot!  It is so cute!  Puts a big smile on my face!

Tuesday 12/29. It was 20 this morning with a few tiny snowflakes floating down.  We left to get the mail at 10:00 am with me driving MAX.  A very frustrated me driving MAX.  Did I mention that MAX drives like a tank - literally!  He does not have a steering wheel, just two sticks for steering with a hand throttle attached to one.  Now I am pretty efficient at multi-tasking, but this is ridiculous.  Of course it doesn't help that I have a 180-lb weight sitting on the right side (JB). . .  But we made it down to Miss Kitty and I drove us down to the mail box and back up to MAX.  Then back home in MAX, grumbling all the way.  We were only gone an hour and a half, but it seemed much longer.

The girls cheered me up though by giving us an egg.  I am pretty sure it is Belinda and she is using the large nesting box.

Snow continued to fall all day and by 3:30 pm we had another 1-1/2".  Our high for the day was 24.  

We are watching the third season of Longmire in the evenings, which is one of the DVD's that our son gave us for Christmas.  Very entertaining and well done.

Wednesday 12/30. It is 18 this morning and the overcast sky has sliced the top off of the mountains.  We will be celebrating New Year's Eve with Larry, Elsie and the Gridders at Larry and Elsie's home.

Thought for the day: Do not move into 2016 without letting go of something significant from 2015, an old idea, label, habit, fear, concern of ego.  Let go to free up the whitespace for something new to enter.

December 28, 2015 Eggs & An Anniversary

Looking down the main
canyon road, which has been
plowed.

Dinga supervising JB as he tightens
an axle on MAX.

Friday 12/25. A wonder full Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  The last egg the girls gave us was on JB's birthday, 11/1.  Then on Christmas Eve day they gave us another one.  Obviously they have their calendar marked.

We had mostly clear skies, sunshine and a high of 30 today.  Just perfect.

I spent about three hours on Wednesday and Thursday learning how to drive MAX in the snow.  JB makes it look much easier than it actually is. . .

This evening we watched Love Actually which, along with The Holiday, is a perfect Christmas movie.  On Christmas Eve we watched UP, which Gridder had loaned us, and it also is perfect for a holiday of love.

Saturday 12/26. It was 18 and partly cloudy this  morning.  The sun and the fog fought for dominance, with the fog finally winning out in early afternoon.  It was back to daily chores today, but also reading books we got for Christmas.

Larry and Elsie's son is home for Christmas with his German Shepherd.  She came running in last evening and hid in the corner as if something had scared her outside.  This morning Larry found the bobcat lying near their house, obviously mortally wounded.  He put it out of its misery and will probably have a rug made from the pelt.

Sunday 12/27. It was 16 and overcast this morning, with very cold temps in the forecast for the next few days, and we had received another 1/2" of snow overnight along with rime.  An icy start to our 46th wedding anniversary, but, as I said, the girls have their calendar marked, and we received an egg from them today!  Just too amazing!

Had a nice long chat with Sandy this morning.  As we were talking, a few small snowflakes began to drift down.  She hasn't received our gift yet as the USPS, Fed Ex and UPS are overloaded.

We left at 10:30 am in MAX to groom the road and go start Miss Kitty.  She started right up, but we had to dig her out, as the tires were frozen into the snow.  I drove her down to the S-curve and back, then we were on our way home in MAX.  The heavier snow was moving in by then and arrived at Rose Camp about the same time we did, noon.  It only lasted for a couple hours, but we received another 1/2".

Our high for the day was 20, but that was only for about five minutes.

JB plans to go Down There tomorrow for mail, groceries and errands he was going to run last Monday.

Wow - 46 years!  My how the time passes when you're having fun. . .

Monday 12/28. It is 19 and mostly cloudy this morning.  JB plans to leave for Down There by 9:30 am.

Thought for the day: To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow.  So do it.  Kurt Vonnegut

December 25, 2015 Merry Christmas from Rose Camp!

Merry Christmas from Rose Camp!

Thought for the day: If you would find happiness, seek gratitude.

December 23, 2015 A Wild Winter Solstice!

Going. . .

. . . going. . .

. . . gone!

Monday 12/21. Snow began to fall at 8:00 am this Winter Solstice morning, with more in the forecast each day through Christmas.  JB left in Big Red at 9:30 am to go trade her for Miss Kitty.  Ah, the plans of mice and men. . .

He got about a mile down the road and belly panned.  Used the winch to pull Big Red another 50 feet, and then there were no available trees to do so again.  Larry and Gridder came up in Larry's Snow Cat to rescue him and pulled Big Red all the way to the main canyon road.  Gridder drove Big Red down to Mr. Sixes who had brought Miss Kitty to Larry and Elsie's.  While JB was being rescued, Mr. Sixes had driven back to his house and brought his snowmobile to use in the rescue.  Gridder drove Miss Kitty up to the big S-curve, which is about 1/4 mile from our road, and where the Snow Cat had stalled.  Everyone finally made it down to Larry and Elsie's at about 6:00 pm, where JB spent the night.  One simply cannot make it in the mountains without good friends and neighbors.

Snow continued to fall all day and we received 11 more inches, this on top of the more than three feet we already had!  I shoveled the paths mid day and dug MAX out in the hope that JB would make it back up.  Looks like we may have to park Miss Kitty at the junction of our road and the main canyon road, using MAX to get to her.  This is just the kind of "adventure" we usually have once a winter, and usually around Christmas.  

I had used the generator to do laundry & fill the cistern, so I didn't need to run it this evening.  We only have four solar panels, so that is a main factor in deciding when and how to use our electricity.  Larry and Elsie have been off the grid more than twice as long as we have and have been able to add to their number of panels.  They now have 14, I think.  This gives them much more flexibility for the use of their power.

Our high for the day was 24.  Snow stopped falling at about 5:00 pm, but MAX was buried again and the paths did not look like I had done any shoveling.  By 6:00 pm, the sky was clear and the stars were out.  Soon the moon was shining brightly on the snow.  Beautiful!

Our mutant frog under the house was singing his praises for the Winter Solstice.  I call him a mutant because he has to be part warm-blooded to still be awake in these temperatures.

Tuesday 12/22. It was 27, clear and breezy this morning.  JB finally made it to town this morning by 10:00 to do the errands he wanted to do yesterday.  By that time I had shoveled all the paths, dug out MAX (again), and brought in the fire wood.  I would much rather be doing that than sitting inside trying to stay cool in the summer heat.  Plus, it helps me work off the eggnog and cookies. . .

JB was back to Gridder's at 11:30 am.  Gridder followed him in the snowmobile up to Larry and Elsie's, where they loaded our cooler on a sled and filled it with our mail, and JB parked the Jeep.  JB followed him as far as he could in Miss Kitty, which was not quite as far as the S-curve.  He parked Miss Kitty and rode on the snowmobile back home, where they arrived at 1:30 pm.  So good to have him back safe and sound!  He plans to use MAX to groom the road tomorrow and Thursday.

The sky remained mostly clear all day, but more snow is on the way soon again.  We now have received a total of 49" (more than 4 feet), and it is just the first day of winter!  We sure need it, though, so all is well.  And it is almost Christmas!

Wednesday 12/23. It is 26, mostly cloudy and breezy this morning.  Looks like it may have snowed another inch or so during the night.

Regarding the comment about Gridder, he is a 6'2" ex-Marine.  We weren't too concerned. . .

Thought for the day: The one who follows the crowd will get no further than the crowd.  The one who walks alone will find himself in places no one has ever been.

December 21, 2015 More Snow & Our OTG Attitude

JB using the tractor to clear snow.

Friday 12/18. Yesterday our temperature didn't fluctuate at all from 20.  It was our high, our low, and in between.

The snow cannon at Mission Ridge was booming all this morning, and Jesse did not want to be outside because of it.  Pretty sure they must be ecstatic over there with all this powder snow.  Certainly making up for last year.

The girls aren't outside until 8:30 am now.  They were very discomboobilated yesterday when I arrived with their breakfast at 8:15 am.  So now I will wait so I do no get there til 8:30 or later.

We received 7-1/2" of snow in the past 24 hours and it began to snow again a little past 8:00 am.  Now this is how winter is supposed to be!  JB left in MAX at about 1:00 pm to groom the road.  It took him a while to get MAX dug out of the snow first.  I shoveled the pathways while he was gone.  The powder is so light that you can barely feel it on the shovel.

Our son and his family went to the 7:00 pm showing of Star Wars this evening and he sent selfies of them in line and in the theater!

JB made a phenomenal lasagna for dinner this evening.

Saturday 12/19. It was 27 and snowing this morning, with valley fog.  The snowfall didn't last very long and we only got another inch.

JB tried using the tractor to clear some of the snow, but there was just too much powder and we had to shovel some out of the way so he could park it by his Jeep.  Couldn't get it back up by the wood shed.

Earlier this year I purchased some 120-hour candles that we are beginning to use.  Our OTG attitude does not allow for electric lights whenever we want them.  We don't use them in the morning, or in the evening before 7:00 pm unless we have had a lot of sun powering our batteries during the day.  Candles and battery lights are the name of the game.  Or we just do whatever it is we want to do that needs light between sunup and sundown.  We get so spoiled Down There, using electricity whenever we want to.  Electricity and water, the two things that most of the world does not have in abundance and most Americans waste them shamelessly.  Well, what can I say?  The further off the grid you get, the bigger the attitude.  And we are wayyyy off the grid.

Sunday 12/20. It was 20 and snowing this morning til the clouds began to clear around 10:00 am, giving us another 1-1/2" of snow.  We shoveled the paths again.  Good exercise.

Not sure where the rest of the day went.  We both read our books and did chores.

Gridder came up at about 3:30 pm with some books and movies to loan us.  He drove an old snowmobile that he had refurbished.  He's been driving it around quite a bit just fine, until he got up to just below our driveway and it died.  He walked up the rest of the way and figured it would probably start after it cooled down.  If not, he would walk home, after all it is all down hill. . .  We thought we heard the motor start, so hoped he didn't have to walk that four miles.

During our nightly chat with Larry on the radio, we found out that Gridder was unable to get the snowmobile started and had indeed walked back home.

Monday 12/21. It is 22 with valley fog trying to intrude Up Here.  We get Miss Kitty back today.  JB will drive Big Red down to Larry and Elsie's for the exchange.

Thought for the day: When all the angels are busy, God sends a dog.

December 18, 2015 Gasification, Star Wars & More Snow

A view from the woodshed.

Wednesday 12/16. JB left for Down There at 9:30 am in Big Red.  The sky soon cleared and we had another beautiful, sunny day.  I measured the snowfall on our morning walk and we had actually received an inch more of snow during the night.

I kept busy with laundry, cleaning house, baking cookies, and the day whizzed by.  JB didn't get back home until 4:30 pm.  It was his first main run for a while and he is re-learning where everything is in the stores.  He mailed all the last-minute Christmas gifts and cards, well, except for Sandy's.  She opens her gifts as soon as the package arrives, so we will have to wait til next Monday or Tuesday to send hers.  Then I had given him my Christmas list.  There were also groceries to buy and other errands.

We have started watching the third season of Homeland and I am not so sure that I care for it.

Thursday 12/17. It was 20 and snowing lightly this morning.  As the day progressed, so did the snowfall, with more and larger flakes.  By 10:30, when JB and the dogs went on the morning walk, we already had another 2".  By our afternoon walk, we had 4" and it was still coming down.

JB couldn't get the snow blower started today, so he did some shoveling.  Fortunately this snow is all powder and very light.  He will probably groom the road with MAX tomorrow.

The Arctic Cat repair shop called to let us know that Miss Kitty was ready to go!  It seems that the owner himself did the job so we could get her back.  Now it is just up to Mr. Sixes to pick her up at his convenience.  We will meet him down at the pavement and exchange Miss Kitty for Big Red.

Because it was a dark, snowy day, we ran the generator for an hour after dinner to help charge the batteries.  I am looking into the gasification possibilities for running the generator, which seems to be the logical answer to any fuel shortage that may occur.  Gasification uses the gases from a wood fire to run any gas generator.  I mentioned this in my blog more than a year ago.  What can I say - sometimes it takes me a while to get going on a project.  Even an important one like this.

We received the new issue of BackWoods Home magazine yesterday.  It never disappoints.  Some great articles in there, one of which is how to build a very inexpensive greenhouse.

Friday 12/18. It is 20 and mostly overcast this morning.  Looks as though we may have received 6" of snow in the past 24 hours.  JB is getting ready to go clean the solar panels and measure.

Opening day of the new Star Wars movie and I'm not going!!  Our son and his family have tickets for the 7:00 pm showing in Mobile, AL.  I am so envious.  I definitely plan to see it though while it is in the theater.

Thought for the day: Worrying is betting against yourself.  Alex Bova, Guideposts, December 2015

December 16, 2015 Off-the-Grid Attitude & Grief

Trail?  What trail?

Monday 12/14. Had a nice long talk with Randy today.  He thinks I should write more about being off the grid.  He is probably right as I tend to write more about living on a mountain than being off grid.  When I first began writing my blog, I wrote a lot about our solar power set up and living with it, but I guess I have not been too specific lately.  

We really have to adjust more to solar power in the winter, with the shorter days and more cloudy weather.  We use candles or battery-powered lights when the sun goes down until about 7:00 pm when we turn on an electric light and the TV to watch a movie or TV series.  With the introduction of LED lights, there are now several good little battery lights that are very bright and use little power.  We usually have the TV on for about 2 to 2-12 hours.  During the day, we only use electricity to pump in water, run the computer, or run our few electric kitchen tools.  If it is a very cloudy day, we will use the generator to power up the batteries.

Another issue with winter and solar power is that the cold tends to affect the batteries adversely, so the charge, whether from the sun or generator, does not last as long.  With only four solar panels, we really have to watch our use.  We do have a 3000 kwh set-up and the panels are on top of a ridge, but it's not at all like being Down There with unlimited usage.

There is an excellent article in the Jan/Feb issue of Countryside magazine about living off grid.  Truly living off the grid is a matter of getting back to basics.  Keeping it all simple - KISS.  Using solar power instead of grid power to run all your toys and electronics is not what it is all about.  Our attitude is like the author of this article, use electricity as little as possible.  We have lots of candles and oil lanterns.  Unlike the author, we do not have any kerosene lanterns, but I think we're good.  A wood stove is our only source of heat, which means stocking up on fire wood each year and lugging it into the house each winter.  What feels so good about this is that we are helping ourselves and not relying on the "system."  I will be writing more about this in future posts.

It is actually more fun to write about living on a mountain.  Like today when we all went down the road to groom it.  JB and I in MAX with the dogs walking/running.  By grooming it, I mean that JB uses MAX to flatten out the middle ridge.  Without Miss Kitty, we won't be able to plow this winter as our plow will not fit on Big Red.  (Wouldn't want to use it on a borrowed vehicle anyway.)

It was a beautiful day and a great ride.  Has been a while since we used MAX, so I forgot how cold my face gets and forgot to wear a scarf I could wrap over it.  I did remember hand and toe warmers though.

Our high for the day was 34, but even with the bright sunshine, there was no noticeable melting.

Larry and Elsie drove up for a visit this evening in their side-by-side Arctic Cat (same as Miss Kitty).  Larry drove in Big Red's tracks that he could see.  The only problem with using MAX as opposed to plowing is that with his wide tracks, MAX tends to sit up on the snow, whereas the Arctic Cats will sink down with their tires.

Tuesday 12/15. It is 24, partly cloudy and breezy this morning.  That four degrees between 28 and 24 makes a big difference.

I found out this morning that my cousin's stepdaughter had lost her fight with breast cancer on Sunday.  She was only 28, had two little boys, and had put up such a long, hard fight.  This is going to be really rough on everyone.

So our day had a pall to it, as will the whole holiday season.  Got ready for JB to go Down There tomorrow to mail all our Christmas cards & run a few errands.  We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow night, and there is a big storm due in over Christmas.

Our high for the day was 32 and the sky remained partly cloudy.

Wednesday 12/16. It is 23 and overcast this morning and it looks like we received about 1/2" of snow overnight.

Thought for the day: Grief is a privilege - a privilege of having loved so much.  Nancy Roberts, The Circle of Life