A few winter pics from the hike with Oz

Old Tamarac

Last Berry of the Year

Thor

James (Oz) turned 13

The plan had been for sledding and hot coco, but with sleds in hand we discovered that the 6 inches of new snow was too soft.  We sank in and went nowhere.  Discarding that plan idea for another we wandered off to make a new one.

Oz thought it quite fun to try and knock snow off the trees onto his mother, and if not me then the dog.

After a few near misses we decided maybe we should hike up and see if we could find a better spot to sled, something much steeper where soft snow would be a benefit not a game ender.

We both discovered that we had out cell phones in our coat pockets… bad idea when sledding, shame on us both,… and thought it might be fun to see if we hiked all the way up to the top if we picked up any service.

Oz took the led and we headed straight up a very steep slope.  Knee deep and having to hold onto trees to keep from sliding and crashing backwards we hiked, and hiked and … crawled is a better word… up the mountain.

Soaked and starting to feel the strain in the claves Oz decided it was time to head back down besides, cake was waiting! Of course his method, which I advise against especially if you are alone or not in your own back yard, was straight down!

He learned that there is a lot of hidden ‘treasures’ in the snow, and not all of them feel so great when you slide over them.

If you look real close you can spot the Little Cabin

At the bottom snow angels were attempted but of course Thor thought Pounce a more fun.

and of course more snow had to come down.

A change of clothes, dry socks and a bit of standing near the fireplace and the presents and cake came out.  As we are a board game kid of family I had to fill in a few gaps, Clue and Monopoly had too be added to the basics. The games ensued.

For the first time ever I was the first one out, but Oz and Shane played for hours.  Heading to bed Oz flopped down and before falling asleep… almost at once… he said “thanks, mom, that was a fun day.” What a great way to end the day.

Baby its COLD outside

You know its cold when you step outside to take a pic and your nose hair freeze instantly.

Even below 0 the spring is still running.  I cant wait for spring so I can get that water into the cabin.

dec 25th morning walk

With Oz gone to visit his dad for a couple weeks I had planned to sleep in late but woke up before the sun and a new layer of snow.  Thor and I went for a walk.

The temperature was above freezing and there was not a breathe of wind, making for a beautiful morning.

Thor was thrilled to go for the walk down the road.  His delight with the snow is almost infectious.

The transforming of the forest under fresh snow is always magical.

I hope everyone had a morning as peaceful and reaffirming as this morning was for me.

chistmas trees

I am normally not a fan of cutting down trees so when I do it do so only with a lot of consideration and a damn good reason. The need for sun to the house, to the solar panels… (soon to be put up, its a two man job ad I have to as yet managed to get a second set of hands to help hoist them into place on the roof,) sun to the garden sites, and open space for the pond, it is necessary that the yard to be cleared of a number of trees, of all sizes.  To help with this and to put the trees to use I have offered friends to come up and cut their christmas tree at my place.

Yesterday the weather warmed up and it started to rain.  The rain has not let up yet.  Ice and slush make the driveway a bit precarious but the mountain side is simply wet.  Today was a good day to find just the right tree. Still recovering from being sick I couldn’t help but come down to watch.

 Even with a time to debate tree qualities everyone found the one they wanted in short order.  Tonight several families will but setting up their tree.  The younger kids were not so excited about it but the ones old enough to know what a tree means were rather thrilled.

I am not a fan of the large x-mas tree farms, the price that they are sold for or the waste of the trees that go un purchased every year.  Responsible stewardship and care for native and wild areas could provide what is needed while improving the landscape, water sheds and habitat for native animals.

I’m glad I was able to offer native trees that were too thick to grow very large or very healthy.  Even if I had no other need to thin the trees, for their long term health and for fire mitigation a number just have to go.

A couple more trees headed to new homes.

Snow Day

The unreasonable cold of the bearing straight has passed and left us with more typical weather for this time of year.  Misty drizzly rain.  While normally I gear up and hike out, loving the cool weather, the smell of the mountains and the chance for great images of water drops I have been doing very little other than curling up in bed and adding wood to the fire. Yep, its that time of year… I have a cold.

I had a tiny one trying o take hold when I went over the mountains, but a day in the wind and an earache has set it into a level that I hope wont last for month.  Having a sluggish and often confused immune system often means a cold lasts for months.  I remain optimistic though and hope that my heath has improved enough this last year that I will be surprised and wake up all better very soon.

Last night the rain turned to snow for a bit and then to freezing rain.  Its a wet heavy white world out there now.

I made coffee and hiked down to Shane’s.  The booster to get our shared internet up to the cabin is not set up yet so I have to trek down to get online, and due to lack of finding enough copper pipe and refusing to buy new, my hot water system is not set up, so for modern convince aka internet and showers, down the mountain I go.  It gives me a chance to take pictures even when I’m not feeling up to a hike.

The snow is so wet and heavy it was sliding off the trees all around, but most of them just out of camera shot or I was just too slow to catch it.

I think today I will try to find my grid paper and begin the work on the plans for the root cellar and chicken coop that WILL go in next year.

First Snow

Today while the snow holds to the higher ground for one more day, I have been working on the sheet rock on the walls of the Little Cabin.  It will be good to have the insulation covered.  I thought to stop and take a break to post a few pics of the first snow before I work put up the pics of the sheet rock work.

The weather is changing.  November 1st the snow came to the mountain tops. It crept down only so far, almost to the back side of the cabin but I got to fall asleep to the sound of the rain.  Morning was cool but had the crisp smell of frozen leaves and the little stream was frozen over.

The sun peeking in and out of the clouds, smelling of snow but keeping it only the higher places.

snow up high but rain at the cabin

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