Snow-ma-geddon!

"It's puking snow!" Mike exclaimed.  He wasn't that thrilled, relocating the white stuff which refused to quit coming.  So it seems, Freedom was the Eye of this Storm.  By the time it finished late this morning, piles of snow two feet high balanced atop fence posts, weighted down roof tops, and blanketed the fields.  A cold front pushed out the clouds around noon and revealed winter in its finest glory!  Now for the bitter cold of January; it is about to arrive.  

Here are some fun winter images.  

November 2022  

December 2022

January 2023

A ski with the dogs this afternoon.  The fields are now so deep, even Rooster is sinking in!  Check out the video at the bottom! 

Our Winter Home

All Things are Piled High - or Buried!

The Barn Quilt

Scenes from our Ski up Tin Cup Junction Road

The Garden Entrance

Gate into the Horse Pasture

Rooster in the Snow! 

A Neat Tool

Our bee club purchased a FLIR, Forward Looking Infared camera, to do just what you see in this picture.  When it arrived, it was just like Christmas!!  I felt like a kid who had opened a gift and just HAD to go use it! With a short charge of the battery, I loaded up the app, and that was it!  Ready to use!!  Technology is incredible!!  These cameras used to cost over $10k!!  Clearly useful for firefighters to find heat, our Hoback station was first in the county to get one.  It was black and white; there was no color rendition at that time.  This tiny camera hooks into an iPhone and displays on the screen.  

So, off I went into the dusky twilight and looked at my hives.  Hot spots means bees are still alive.  The hot spots are the whitest.  We will allow our members to use this tool for a week so they can get a sense of 1) if their bees are still alive 2) where the bees are located within the hive, and 3) do whatever else they think will be fun!!  Of course, you knew I would take a FLIR of Rooster, right??!!  

Here are my Weaver bees.  The hive sits out in the field, down the fence row a bit less than a half mile from the house.  The bottom darker area is where an insulation surround sits.  These are my best bees and they are still alive.  I have no high hopes; this has been a hard, hard winter.  

This is Rooster on the hillside!  He is the white spot in the dark, cold snow.  The area above are pine trees, showing some heat they have retained from the day.  

And Rooster again, because he is a ROCK STAR!!  Looking good in FLIR, buddy!! 

It's Been a Whirl Wind!

New Idaho Citizens!!

Yes, Mike and I have made the big change to becoming Idaho residents!!  The first step was to change our driver's license which, in Idaho, one is required to take the written driving test!  Really????!!  Really!  We studied, reading aloud to each other traveling to Cody to visit Seth, Alden, & Orley for Christmas.  It is a good thing to study.  We know of more than one person who failed because they did not study.  It's a bit of a drive from our house to Soda Springs, ID and we only wanted to make that drive once.  We passed. 

This picture was taken on a celebration xcountry ski afterwards in Idaho!  Yes, the sun was very bright!! 

More smiles!!  This photo, taken on a wonderful Christmas day walk.  Alden in the green jacket and sister Orly in the black jacket.  Seth stayed behind.  He does not walk unless he has to.  The day before we arrived, the temperature sunk to -40F.  This day, it was 40F.  Crazy. 

Two inspirations from the White Girls' amazing Christmas dinner!  Prime rib cooked sous vide (yes, I now have one!) and a pumpkin stuffed with cheese and sourdough bread and mushrooms.  We ate well, we ate well!  The liver pate was an inspiration too!

Here is my rendition of a stuffed pumpkin.  I used sausage, mushrooms, sourdough bread cubes, guyre cheese, and wild rice as stuffing.  Highly recommend this effort!! 

Meanwhile on the ranch, we have hit the jackpot!!  Our hens are laying eggs which suddenly have become in great demand!  I bet kids aren't egging peoples' houses anymore!!  22 of these orbs are incubating in friend Stephanie's incubator and daughter Amilia impatiently watches over them, by the hour, I'm sure!  We plan to keep that incubator working this spring! 

And one final note on how great it has been to have a dog who needs a daily walk.  Rooster drives me to get outside.  I am happier and healthier and so so in love with this giant neanderthal-headed beast.  So much joy, so much joy!!  

I hope you too have had this wonderful of a start to your year!!  Happy 2023!