Buttonweed Barn

It's a real winter here. 15 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. In these conditions, keeping safe while driving is priority number one. Slow down! Turn off the cell phones. Always allow extra stopping room and keep an eye on the conditions. Keep extra blankets and clothes in the car. A shovel and sand can help get you out of a ditch, if you do slide off the road.

When it gets warm, the best place to find a wildlife shot is around the swamps around here. We drove past a moose the other day, so I have a new moose picture to show off. It's not as clear as I like, but I am going to post it anyway. Then I think I will go outside with a cup of homemade cocoa and enjoy the nice sunset.

We went morel mushroom picking. It's great exercise scrambling around in the woods. We picked most of the afternoon. We came home with enough mushrooms for a few meals. They are so tasty sauted in butter. We eat them in scrambled eggs or with venison steak. The next morning we enjoyed eggs with morels along with huckleberry pancakes. A true mountain breakfast!

Over the weekend we had a visitor meander through the slope above our house. I had just walked around our property with our dog a few minutes before and saw nothing around. We got back to the deck and that's when we spotted it. A decent sized black bear wandering through the area. I like to see them, but we did check to see that the dog food and compost were secure. I don't want him as a regular visitor.

Last weekend we had 90 degree weather. Now it is settling in at 55 degrees. My body had already adjusted to the hot, so now I'm freezing in this chilly weather. The hot weather and some recent rain has caused the crab apples to bloom. The trees are just loaded with the blossoms. I also noticed that the mock orange bushes and service berries are starting to bloom. With the price of gas, I'm really starting to look at ways to save gas while driving into town each day. I've already started to slow down and keep my feet off the gas, like they recommend on hypermilling sites. There are too many deer on my road to use cruise control. Each time I put on the cruise, out pops a deer. Gas is still cheaper than fixing a front end.

Today I received a package from a survey I complete. I get to try a new product. It will be part of my lunch tomorrow. Every dollar I can save is going to getting rid of my school loan.