Karl and I took our late afternoon walk on snow so cold that it squeaked, with sunshine so bright, the white mountain tops hurt my eyes.
I stocked firewood as the sun set and the alpenglow crept up the mountainside. The mountain tops glowed orange-pink for as long as it took me to walk down the driveway and get the mail.
Remnants of the day.
Afternoon sunshine, Karl on guard.
This morning…VERY cold with brilliant sunshine…on our loop walk.
The forecast from Friday has been accurate. It changed from messy and slushy to cold and now very cold – it is 1F as I write this Monday morning.
But, yesterday, although in the mid-teens with a brisk north wind, it felt good to be out. I drove to Lakeside, on the west side of Flathead Lake stopping at “The Docks” to look across the lake, toward home.
I walked with Karl at our usual spot in Somers, past the Ice House, past where the foxes live, around the rocky cliffs and back. A cold walk seemed less cold as Karl and I made re-acquaintance with a Somers’ resident who we both knew from years ago when we lived in different places…funny, small world :)!
And then, the road home, with the sun still shining and the mountains in the clear.
Yesterday, the rain continued all day. The temperature stayed steady at 36F. The roads were wet but not icy. Karl and I took advantage of conditions due to deteriorate and headed to the lake for a look see.
It was drizzling and I did not have my camera pack. I hoped to drive down to get some photos but the road nearest the lake was a sheet of ice so I parked above and we walked down through the slushy snow with only my phone camera.
For a January day in Montana it was balmy.
Overnight, it finally returned to below freezing temperatures and the slush is turning to ice. My driveway conditions were improved slightly by some wintry mix of precipitation that ended up as a crunchy topping that allowed some grab for walking.
At the end of the driveway, this morning, some blue sky. But, we will not be going anywhere. The road is like the driveway – glare ice with a slightly crunchy toping…a wintry mix.
It’s Friday. It’s raining!
Not a pretty forecast.
So I made Orange Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins.
***My changes to the above recipe: I used 1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour, plain non-fat yogurt for all but 1 T of sour cream, decreased sugar by 1/8 cup.