..snow day..

About a foot of snow fell on us yesterday. Possibly more. So gorgeous although in some ways, a pain too. Thankfully I don't have to leave the house often, so it was nice to watch.
Today the sun is out which makes it even more beautiful.

Eclipse

I was lucky enough to get a quick break in the clouds for a couple of shots . . .

Bluster

Not as much snow recently. Warmer temps, freezing rain, rare sunshine. I recently purchased a second set of cross-country skis for my sis, waiting for that next new snow. ..tick-tock..

Yesterday was an odd day, very foggy but every now and then a patch of blue sky. I actually ventured out to take a few photos .....

No Interest in Snow

Storm Warning

Winter storm warning for tonight and tomorrow. The estimate is anywhere from 8 inches to 16 inches. We'll see.

Maybe I will get those snowy Christmas photos taken :)


**photo above from Winter 2008.

Gettin' There

So I'm almost done with the outside lights. Wouldn't ya know it.. short one strand to finish the fence.
We've had such yucky roads lately, including today, that I haven't made it into the big city to get that last strand.

I have most of the Christmas shopping done..thank you Ebay and Amazon :) G will be working, but sis and family will come here for Christmas dinner. I might actually try to cook, although I have been perusing the Honeybaked Ham catalog. Dessert I got down...as you know.

The snow has died down some, and with some icy rain lately it's all mostly slush. I don't remember when I saw the sun last. I was hoping to take some Christmas photos for friends and family, but the weather just hasn't cooperated.

I do have my Christmas cards in, early for once, and will have them out soon :)

It's Beginning to Look . . .

It's that time... snow falling all day and time to decorate for Christmas. Quite a bit of snow in the last week or so. We dropped to single digits and zero for a couple of days which I could totally do without. Zero and negative temps are no fun, especially when you have horses to feed.

It's also not easy to keep the house warm with wood only. I burned fires on both floors and still couldn't keep the house warm. Thankfully we're back up into the 20's. It's amazing how warm it feels after such low temps.

This year I've decided to do lights outside also, so it should be fun :)

No Turkey for Me?

Peaceful snowy Thanksgiving here today. G is in CA, sis and family enjoyed their day, and the critters and I enjoyed the snow and football :)

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Morning Visitor

It's a Hoot.

The winter weather has begun. It's been snowing for two days. 18 degrees today, I don't even want to know what the wind chill is. I'm so thankful these days that I don't have to get out and drive anywhere.

Crash loves it, plays outside like it's summertime. I had this owl visitor this morning, caught just by chance because he hit my window first. Guess it didn't phase him.

We got our Christmas tree a few days ago. I like to get out and pick one before the weather hits and G heads out of town. They laughed when I wanted my tree so early, but I bet they wouldn't be laughing if they had to go out in this weather to cut one down.
No decorations on it yet, I'll wait until after Thursday. Cats haven't bothered it too much, but Crash seems to think it's okay to chew on. He better get over that.

I might even put lights on the outside of the house this year, if it would just warm up a tiny bit.

I love this time of year.

...and so it begins...

Morning Views

Great Start

After being up all night with a sick dog, I got to see the sunrise :) One positive thing out of it all.

The nights come earlier these days, sunset around 7:30, sunrise just about the same time. It's time to pull in the tomatoes as the nights get colder, most are green as usual..but we can still put them to good use.

Very little sign of bear these days, except some nights. No sign of the mountain lion in awhile, thank goodness. We do have some nice Fall colors appearing, I'm hoping to get out and get some photos soon. With all the pine trees, we don't get as many yellows and reds as some, but we have a few around. I'll find them :)

Changing Scenes

I love Foggy mornings

I wait patiently each month...

Stubborn

I keep pushing it every year on starting the wood stove. Being clear skies and full moon tonight it's already 40 degrees. With the recent windy rainy weather, my house has been pretty cool.
All the ol'timers around town are claiming we're going to have a big long Winter. They mention the 'signs'.... hummingbirds left early, squirrels are going nuts stocking for Winter, bear are being troublesome earlier than normal..etc etc. I guess we'll see. They certainly didn't warm me a few years ago when I had 5 feet of snow in my front yard. heh.

I'm glad weather is cooler, I love this time of year. Next will be the snow and the holidays. Come February I'll be bitching about too much snow. Although.. last Winter was so lame and almost boring, I kinda welcome a nice snowy Winter.

You don't need to remind me of that when I'm snowed in and complaining..thank you.

Car -vs- Deer

They both lost.



Old news for some, but catching up. I haven't replaced my car yet, so I get to drive the Dodge mega-cab now. Nice truck but feels like a tank. I practically need a step-stool.

Hush.

The 'not-so-fun' Part of Living in the Forest

A few months ago, this guy showed up.

It was a warning at first. A sad one. A neighbors cat had been killed, and after investigating the evidence, they knew it was a mountain lion. Or, guessed anyway.

We were all warned.

A couple mornings later, I heard awful commotion on the front porch. It was a definite 'chasing' scene. Otis' bed was all messed up and no sign of Otis. I had a very bad feeling. Being it was 4am and still dark, not much I could do or venture out to look.
The next morning I searched. It was eerily quiet outside that morning and not a cat to be seen. No shop cats, nothing. Everyone was gone. It was a horrible feeling. I haven't seen Otis since :(

I brought everyone inside ( that could be brought in ) and just waited it out.

The next morning, I was woken up by cats screeching into the bedroom and under the bed. I flew out of bed expecting the worst. I turned on the porch lights and there he was. Believe it or not, the camera was not the first thing on my mind. I kind of just stared at him for a few minutes, I was in awe. A MOUNTAIN LION was sitting at my door. And.... he didn't seem to care that I was looking right at him. It was scary.

I woke up hubby to let him know. As much as I hate killing animals and hunting, I knew this cat couldn't stick around. Fish & Game had been notified of this cat and they said he was too dangerous. He wound up taking off and not caught at that moment.

I slowly had a cat show up here and there. They were terrified. My one kitty, Pudge, had disappeard for ten days. I thought for sure I'd never see her again. Jonesie and Tweet were also missing.
I do realize that when you let cats outside in an environment like this, these things can happen, doesn't change how heartbreaking it is.

A cat hunter was called in with his dogs. They hunted the forest behind us. They'd get a scent and off they'd go. He'd run through the creek and they'd lose him. This went on for days and every night was so scary. Every time you went outside you were aware he could be around. It was really a sucky couple of months.

Believe me, bear weren't so scary anymore after this.

They wound up catching one cat, but not the one you see in the photo. If you notice, he as spots on his back. He was young, which meant his mother was most likely around too, just not visible. Three sets of prints were seen around my house.

It has been a few months, as I said before. The shop/barn cats started showing up again, minus Tweet and Otis. Jonesie never came home either :(
The deer came back, the bear came back. All seemed kind of normal again. We'd hear the occasional report of a lion on the backroad, or in the trees, but that was it. We always knew they were there, just not SO close.

Well.. he's back. He's been seen several times lately, he and his big ol' Momma. The deer, cats, and bear are still around, so I assume they haven't approached the houses yet. YET.

I hate this feeling.

Best Shot Monday---Stolen Moments

how's it goin?

Always Impressed

..all out of huckleberries..

Back down for a visit.... I have no berries.

.in the garden.

Well..it's almost over. The days are cooler and the nights even cooler than before. I've found myself even closing the windows the last couple of nights. A lot of my tomatoes are still green, as usual, so they'll be hung upside-down in the shop until they're ready.

I've only seen a couple of hummingbirds lately and the bear are back around. It's almost time to pull out the warm fuzzy clothes and start a fire :)