November 29, 2017 More Snow & A Trip Down There

A sample of the Christmas trees
I am making with pine cones.

Monday 11/27. I made a big pot of dog broth from the turkey carcass that Elsie sent home with me.  That and crafting were my projects for the day.  A few days ago I began reading Origins by Dan Brown.  It's good, but all his Langdon books have pretty much the same plot line.

The clouds cleared a bit and the sun shone most of the day.  There are still some large patches of snow around, but most of it is gone.  Our high for the day was 37 with an icy wind.

Tuesday 11/28. It was 31 and overcast this morning.  Snow began falling about 8:30 as I went out to bring in firewood before going Down There.  I was on my way before 9:00 to pick up packages and buy a few groceries.  Also found time to wander through Hobby Lobby again.  Christmas music playing, still 50% off Christmas decorations and crafting supplies - how nice!

The predicted storm moved in while I was Down there.  It was snowing all around on the hills, but raining in town.  Halfway up the paved canyon road I encountered the snow and there was more than an inch already at Larry and Elsie's.  Got all the packages and groceries moved into Miss Kitty, then about 1/2 mile up the road, my bladder decided it was full.  No way I was going to get out and make yellow snow.

I was home by 1:30 where we had received almost 2" of snow.  By the time the snow stopped falling around 4:00 pm, we had 2-1/2".  Our high for the day was 31.

Wednesday 11/29. It is 30 and breezy this morning with thin clouds hiding most of the sky.  I really have to get going on making our Christmas cards today.

Thought for the day: Sometimes I look in the mirror and think - Oh that can't be right!

November 27, 2017 Leftovers & Another Visit

One of the reasons we
live Up Here.

Friday 11/24. For a day that started out so bright and sunny, it ended up being rather dark and drab.  A thick overcast moved in and there was no snow left to brighten the landscape. The sun did manage to break through just before it set, turning the woods golden.  Our high for the day was 39.

We spent a quiet indoor day reading and checking out the Black Friday specials.  Got some great deals on TV series' DVDs, and of course the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

Yesterday at Larry and Elsie's, they gave us a show of 60 of the 720 videos they had taken off their game cam.  So much fun to watch!  They had many deer, mama bears and cubs, cougars, bobcats, skunks and one raccoon.

I cooked a turkey breast with all the trimmings for dinner, including gluten-free dressing that Elsie had made and sent home with us.  "Leftovers" - the second best part of Thanksgiving dinner.

Saturday 11/25. It was 32 and overcast this morning with fog in the Wenatchee River valley.  As the cloud cover began to thin, the valley fog grew, creeping up and into the canyons. By the time JB took the dogs on their morning walk, it had crept into Rose Camp and spent the rest of the day wafting in and out.  By 3:00 pm, snowflakes were drifting down and very quickly the ground turned white again.

It was another inside day with a nice, slow morning.  After lunch JB bakes scones and I worked on crafts.  Am using pine cones in most of my creations, and enjoying every minute of it.

Over the past few years I have been trying alternatives to cow's milk.  Up til this weekend, my favorite had been vanilla almond milk.  Last time Down There I bought some vanilla rice milk and now that is definitely my favorite.

As the dogs and I left on our afternoon walk, there was a deer on the south slope.  The dogs went after it in sort of a "Oh no, not another one" fashion and the deer didn't move very fast either.  Then they all stopped.  The dogs came back and we went on our walk while the deer just stood and watched us.  There have been so many deer Up Here in the past few weeks that the dogs have been running and sleeping a lot.

We ended up with a little more than 1/4" of snow and our high for the day was 34.

Sunday 11/26. It was 31 this morning and we were encased in fog.  The sun started teasing us with glimpses of blue sky.  We were invited down to the Gridder's for coffee, pie and wine beginning at noon.  By the time we left at 11:30, the fog was beginning to sink into the canyon.

We had such a wonderful visit with them and her parents, filling up on apple, pecan, strawberry-rhubarb and oreo cookie pies.  We waddled out to Miss Kitty to leave about 3:30 and were home by 4:00, bringing more pie with us.

By then the wind had cleared out all of the fog.  Our high for the day was 34.

Monday 11/27. It is 30 and mostly cloudy this morning with a wind gusting to 18 mph.  Won't be out too much in that icy wind, and tomorrow I plan to go Down There, mainly to pick up packages at the post office.

Thought for the day: A good conversation is like a mini skirt - short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.

November 24, 2017 Sun, Baking & Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving rainbow.

Wednesday 11/22. Dark clouds gathered in the west most of the day, but they split to the north and south so we received none of the rain that was predicted for today.  It was a beautiful day with valley fog and an unseasonable high of 54.

I moved my Jeep and Max a little so the tires weren't sitting on the same spot.  Also tried to get most of the ice off the tarp over the girls' run, but there is one huge and very heavy piece that I have to let melt a bit more.

I baked more peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies.  I seem to have quite a craving for them right now.  JB had baked two large loaves of pumpkin bread on Monday.

Thursday 11/23. Thanksgiving Day began with a temperature of 44, overcast skies and light rain.  All but a few small patches of snow vanished with last night's rain and wind.

JB saw a herd of six deer just wander up the drive and onto the east slope.  By the time I got up at 7:45, I got to see the last one just grazing in the woods.

The sky began to clear mid morning and there was a huge rainbow to the north and west.  What a delightful sight for a Thanksgiving Day.

I baked an apple coffee cake to take with us and a plate of JB's pumpkin bread.  We were on our way in Miss Kitty to Larry and Elsie's at 1:30 pm.  Still lots of snow and ice on the road for more than two miles down.  We enjoyed a delicious meal and relaxing afternoon with them and their family.  What better way to spend this special day.

I picked up the mail before we headed home under the starlit sky.  Our high for the day at Rose Camp had been 40, but it was in the low 50's at Larry and Elsie's.

Friday 11/24.  It is 32 with mostly clear skies and a breeze this morning.  Going to do some Black Friday shopping on line.

Thought for the day: Be the change you wish to see in the world.

November 22, 2017 Rain & Coyotes

Circles in the sky on Saturday.

Clouds on Sunday.

Monday 11/20. There were rain showers with intermittent downpours til just before noon.  Then suddenly there was blue sky and sunshine, and we were above the fog.  The wind soon picked up and cleared out all the canyons and valleys.  It was gusty for the rest of the day and our high was 40.

We designed and printed our sample Christmas card, then I did more crafting.  Finished a couple more gifts.  My crafting table was covered in glue gun threads, as usual.  In my opinion the glue gun ranks high on the list of most important inventions.

Tuesday 11/21. It was 32 and overcast this morning with a light rain.  About 5:00 am we woke up to the most eerie, horrific sound.  It was coyotes on the south ridge, but it sounded like some large critter was meeting a horrible death.  We have only heard it once before, several years ago, but I never want to hear it again.  Poor Jesse was shaking.  Neither of us got much sleep after that.  When we finally got up at 7:00 am, we got dressed and put the dogs on leashes, then walked up to the ridge (with a gun).  The snow was too hard for any new tracks and all we saw was one small spot of blood halfway up to the point.  I had expected a big, bloody carcass.

Back at the house, we got ready to go Down There for JB's doctor's appointment and a couple errands.  We were on our way in Miss Kitty by 9:30.  The bumpy ride down didn't do JB's back any good and he was in need of a Tylenol by the time we got to his Jeep at Larry & Elsie's. But it was a good visit with the doctor, and he is cleared for more activities.  He just has to take it easy for a few more weeks and listen to his body.

There are still some brilliant, Fall colors in town, but a late October wind storm blew away all the color in the canyon.  Rain fell all day and it was really a miserable, wet, Seattle day.  Our only consolation is that it is raining over there, too.

We arrived home about 3:00 pm, in the rain, and the dogs were so pleased to see us.  It had been a long day all around.  Our high for the day was 32.  Just a degree or two colder, and we would have had the snow which Mission Ridge was getting.

Wednesday 11/22. It is 44 and overcast this morning with rain in the forecast for the rest of the week.  We are going down to Larry and Elsie's for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and so looking forward to it.  So very thankful for friends like them.

Thought for the day: Notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."  Kurt Vonnegut

November 20, 2017 An Elk (?), Circles In The Sky, Crafting & Rain

Sorry, but Google won't let me post any photos today.


Friday 11/17. We read the rest of the newspapers and magazines I brought up yesterday with our morning coffee.  One of the perks about going Down There.

JB took the dogs on the morning walk in the icy wind, but I declined.  Stayed inside and crafted most of the day.  However, I did take them on an afternoon walk, as I needed the exercise.

There have been a lot of deer around lately, and not just during the night.  We often see their white rears bouncing away as the dogs run after them.

The wind blew large clouds overhead during the day and our high was 36.

Saturday 11/18. It was 30 and mostly overcast this morning.  In the wee hours, I awoke to a musky, skunky smell.  Dinga was going nuts, but Jesse seemed to sleep through it.  Must have been an elk, or a very smelly herd of deer.

The cloud cover soon disappeared and we took our morning walk surrounded by sunshine and glittering snow.  On the south ridge we watched three military jets seemingly chasing each other and drawing huge circles in the sky, as opposed to the penis one pilot drew yesterday (check your newsfeed).

During the night, the deer cleaned the last of the leaves off my lilac bush, ate the iris leaves and all the rose hips off the bushes to the west of the propane tank.  I don't think there is anything left for them in the yard!

After lunch I drove the tractor from behind the house, down by the other vehicles.  Started the snow thrower and drove it around a bit.  I also gave the girls more pine shavings in their nesting boxes.  That's where most of them sleep on these cold nights.

The snow on three sides of the house is completely trampled by the deer, but not so much on the south side and that is where I found elk tracks.  The opposite side from our bedroom, but that must have been what we smelled early this morning.

Our high for the day was 36.

Sunday 11/19. It was 30 and partly cloudy this morning and remained so all day, with a lot of sun peeks.  Our high for the day was 38.

I worked most of the day on crafts.  Finished two Christmas gifts and started some more.  So much fun!

JB is anxious to see the doctor on Tuesday, hoping that he will allow him to bend and move around a bit more.

Monday 11/20. It is 32 this morning and the fog is drifting in and out.  Snow was supposed fall above 2500 feet during the night, but we got rain instead.  Doesn't look like any of the snow melted though.

Thought for the day: You call it a box of chocolates.  I call it a support group.

November 17, 2017 A Trip Down There

Dawn on the mountains
this morning.

Wednesday 11/15. We were on the southeastern edge of today's snowstorm, so during the morning we just got fits and starts.  During the afternoon three flurries moved through, each one about an hour apart and lasting about thirty minutes.  Nothing measurable stuck.

We did long-term storage food inventory today.  Somehow our records were way off on several items.

It was breezy with a high of 38.

Thursday 11/16. It was 32 and mostly clear this morning, and the wind was calm.  I left for Down There in Miss Kitty just before 9:00 am.  It was a beautiful but uneventful drive down to Larry and Elsie's, where I let the dogs out (theirs and their son's) as they had left early to drive west of the mountains to attend a memorial service for Elsie's stepmother.

It was a lovely day and I had to take my time in order not to be back too early for the dogs again.  So I had lots of time to look through the books at the Dollar Store; look for zippered turtlenecks at the thrift store (found a beautiful one); wander through Hobby Lobby for Christmas craft items (they were having their 50% off all Christmas crafts and decos!).  Also got some grocery shopping done.

I let the dogs out again about 2:00 pm, put a fire in their downstairs stove, got everything transferred from the Jeep to Miss Kitty, and was home by 3:00 pm, where JB had a big pot of split pea and ham soup simmering on the stove.  Such a beautiful day to be out and about.  It was in the high 40's in town and our high for the day was 38.

Friday 11/17. It is 30 and mostly clear this morning, with the wind gusting to 18 mph, as it did all night.  I started using our fleece sheets a couple weeks ago.  They are so very soft and cozy to slide into at night, but very difficult to climb out of on a cold, winter morning.

Thought for the day: Women are angels.  When someone breaks our wings, we continue to fly on a broomstick.  We're flexible like that.

November 15, 2017 Blue Sky & Crafting

Snow slipping off the roof of
the wood shed.

Monday 11/13. Patches of blue sky began appearing this morning.  Such a welcome sight!  The snow was getting quite slushy, but not disappearing much.

Other than outside chores, I spent the day inside finally getting to do some crafting.  It's been a while and felt so good.

Our high for the day was 40.

Tuesday 11/14. It was 34 with blue skies this morning.  A small herd of deer wandered through our yard during the night.  They dug through the snow and feasted on what was left of my zinnias.  They also ate most of the rose hips off the nearby bushes.

After the dishes and laundry, I did a perfunctory vacuuming before the clouds moved in.  I have to wait for the sun to do that as the vacuum and generator don't seem to get along.

I spent more time in the loft crafting and JB made a pound cake.  That always fills the house with such an incredible aroma.  Makes it hard not to drool.

By noon a light overcast covered the sky and our high for the day was 42.  These two days have been fairly warm, but that is about to come to an end.

Wednesday 11/15. It is 30 and overcast this morning.  Looks like the forecast snow for last night is finally moving in from the west.

Thought for the day: May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.  Nelson Mandela