4 inches of new snow.
And here comes my neighbor.
Not only does my drive get cleared…
…but the turn around…
In case of emergency…
I will be able to get Wild Thing out…
I had tears in my eyes watching today.
My driveway and turnaround is my responsibility.
But, these past years of “stuff”…
And my neighbors have been there for me.
It is overwhelming that they do this for me.
Happy and Blessed Christmas, Neighbors!
Happy Solstice all.
A Midwinter’s night dream.
Several emailed me with variations on the question “Did he go higher ?”/”Did you have to get him down?”
No.
BUT.
I have retrieved (rescued! ) him from some smaller trees…before the snow and cold.
By ladder..
He has since learned… I think/hope – how to come down and to not go further up than he is ok with coming down.
We’ll see.
My ladder goes to about 20 feet.
After that it will be calling the FD or renting a “cherry picker”. Auggie and I have discussed this. I hope he listened.
Onward.
So… that thing at the end of the pointy arrow???
An External Battery Charger: 10000mAh Pocket Friendly Portable Dual USB Port External Battery Charger/Power Pack
By luck and by Amazon’s lightning deal thing, I got one and I love it and I think everyone should have one. It is a wonderful EMERGENCY charger…you know, like if you were stuck in a blizzard, or an ice storm or something like that.
Look it up.
It is a good thing!
Fruit cake.
Do those words strike fear in your heart???
Hee.
I loved fruitcake as a child. I remember being allowed to have a slice a day with a cup of tea.
AND…I liked it!
I can’t remember if it was last Christmas-time or the year before, but I tried making a fruit cake.
The candied fruit was awful.
I threw it all away.
So.
Try this recipe: Homesick Texan’s Pecan Date Fruitcake
Wonderful.
A great fruit and nut cake.
Go higher!
Sunshine, cold (1F when this photo was taken), warm fire…
3:30 p.m.
Sun on an almost Winter afternoon: low southern arc.
Smoke from a woodstove fire.
Dear boys.
Lights on the little tree. (Auggie’s enthusiasm for the Christmas décor has waned. I decided to try the lights…I snuck them on and so far, so good!)
Another warm and happy night at home.
Soup assembly line!
I’ve continued making soup 1 bowl at a time (Zuppa for One)
It works for me to use whatever is available and have a wonderful bowl of fresh soup.
I found I preferred having 1 bowl of soup with what sounded good vs making a giant pot of something that I had to eat again and again or freeze.
Today, I started with some beef and lentil meatballs in a tomato chipotle sauce***, chicken broth, corn and…
…sautéed kale. I added just a splash of white balsamic vinegar to the kale before adding to the soup.
Let it all simmer just a bit…
Then the chunky croutons with cheddar under the broiler until brown and bubbly…
And a dollop of greek yogurt to cool it all. (my beverage is Hibiscus Blueberry refrigerator tea – so pretty!)
Soup for lunch.
The additional bonus – for me, since I LOVE to cook! – is that the process of doing this is a wonderful and relaxing break in my day.
So.
Yep, it is cold here. The high today was 6F at my house. The morning started at -1F. The good news – for me, Bear and Auggie – is that we are shadowed from the NNE wind by the Jewell Basin wrap of mountains. I can sometimes hear and see the wind high in the treetops but it is calm on the ground and little wind chill effect. Other places the wind chill has been in the -20 to -30 range and forecast to maybe be in the -40 range tonight. By noon tomorrow, although we will stay very cold, the winds are to be done.
By late next week, we will hopefully be at normal December temperatures of 20’s daytime, low teens overnight. And maybe some snow.
The good news is, this prolonged cold SHOULD put the kibosh on a LOT of bugs and things like yellow jackets and wasps. I’ll still put pheromone traps out this Spring, but I think/hope we will NOT have a repeat of last Summer.
Bear is LOVING the cold and it is a joy to see him enjoying. I have all necessary clothing for going out and about and I’m enjoying also…maybe a little less than Bear :) !!
Auggie went out yesterday when it was 7F. I set my phone alarm for 5 minutes and then got him in. He wanted to go out today when it was about 2. I took him in my arms to the front porch. He gasped slightly and hung to my arm. We came in and he seemed resigned to play inside! It was blue sky and sunny so I expect difficult to reconcile that it WAS indeed VERY cold outside.
It is after 6:30 p.m. as I write.
I’m done with work for the day.
A fire in the woodstove.
Time for supper for all of us and then some time in front of the fire.
I have things to read.
Bear and Auggie will find their spots near me.
All is well in my home tonight and I am grateful.
I pray that livestock and wildlife will find places to survive this very cold night.
*** Homesick Texan’s Tex-Mex Meatballs in Chipotle Tomato Sauce is the inspiration for the meatballs and sauce. The sauce I make exactly to the linked recipe. The meatballs, I subbed 1/2 lentils (1 cup cooked) for 1/2 of the ground beef, did not use any zucchini and I used 1/8 cup of Masa Harina and 1/8 cup of my own saved bread crumbs in place of cracker crumbs for a binder.
Thanksgiving Day started foggy.
I raked part of the yard while the turkey was in the oven and some after I indulged.
Small scale turkey dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy (one of the BEST gravies ever!!!), roasted green beans, cranberry-orange-meyer lemon sauce with coconut-popsicle for desert!
Lovely dinner. Bear had some turkey also. Auggie was not interested in the turkey.
I think my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey-potatoes-gravy part … with a tart cranberry sauce alongside.
BUT, this year…running a close second was a mashed potato-broccoli pancake with sausage and more of the turkey gravy: day after T-Day breakfast.
And this morning, in honor of Hanukkah, I had sweet potato latkes with sausage and gravy.
Amen and Oy Vey!!
And then Bear did this…
…Auggie, too…
…and me, three!
Friday night, it snowed…a little bit:
Where is Auggie?
Incoming!
Keep 2 feet on the ground at all times!
It doesn’t matter which 2 feet!
PAX
Phew…all that playing in the snow…time for a nap.
Later…
On the front porch, with a glass of wine…rosemary-walnut-parmesan shortbread crackers. I am a total shortbread convert courtesy of Sue of The View from Great Island (search shortbread). These “wine crackers” – kind of a savory, buttery biscotti. Utter-YUM!
Meanwhile…we have been issued a winter storm warning for Sunday through Wednesday: 1-8 inches of snow, wind, COLD as in below 10F during the day and below 0F overnight. If NOAA is correct, December is going to start with a Winter bang!
Bear and I went to town this morning (Saturday) and replenished supplies. The forecast is for a winter storm, not a “storm of the century” kind of thing…but, I prefer to stay home and off the roads if things are even the least dicey…let those that must go be out there. So – the pantry is stocked with all manner of food and treats for Bear, Auggie and me and we will let the storm happen, if it does and be happy and warm in our own little house, in our own little woods.
NOAA finally gave up on the freezing fog icons…
And so…
Not the prettiest, but my mail carrier person disclosed that in town it WAS Freezing Fog.
The roads are a bit slick and it is a sneaky kind of slick as they just look wet. But it is 26F and the fog/humidity/moisture has descended and so the roads are slick. Bear and I made a late morning trip to the dump and the vacant subdivision for a walk… a SLIPPERY walk!
And then we came home and I started a fire in the woodstove and am very thankful that I do not need to go anywhere…for days or even a week !
We missed the storm that the rest of the U.S. had/is experiencing, but freezing fog is sneaky…it drops down, looks wet, but is frozen and slippery.
Take care, all!