A Cozy Weekend - First Snow

Hello, Dear Friends, our beautiful autumn leaves 

were sugar frosted over the weekend - the 

earliest snowfall in over 40 years. 

This was the view before......

And after. 

From technicolor to black and white! 

It wasn't a major storm, just a dusting of snow from

cold air out of Canada, mixed with moisture

off the Pacific ocean. 

Fat flakes floating down. 

Snow makes everything magical. 

Except the roads! 

Luckily we didn't have to drive, 

but if we did, we were ready with studded 

snow tires installed on my 4 wheel drive truck. 

There is no way to drive up our steep road 

without them in the winter. 

Trust me, I've had to walk up that road, 

 and it is not a fun experience. 

Once, many years ago,

 I drove down to drop the kids at the school-bus

as it started to snow,

but I couldn't drive back up.

It was eerily quiet, the way it gets when there is 

 snowfall, and I was totally alone, 

as this was before there were neighbors.....

I started walking up the slippery road,

and was about half-way up,

when I heard something very large come

crashing through the forest towards me. 

My heart nearly stopped, and I could not run, 

as there was no time and the road was much

too slippery. 

So I braced myself, and just when I thought 

this might be my very last moment, 

I heard a very loud, 'Moooooooo'! 

It was a friendly steer! 

He popped his head out of the trees

and I realized there was a barbed wire fence 

that I never noticed before, holding him back. 

I could have kissed him, 

I was so relieved, as I live with 

cougars, bears and massive bull elk. 

He followed my progress up the steep road

from his side of the fence, and I gave him 

a good scratch once I got to the top, 

but made a vow to get proper traction tires 

as soon as possible :)

But we had no place we needed to be 

except home, on this weekend of our first snow, 

so we made ourselves as cozy as we could. 

I baked  Pumpkin-Banana Bread, 

(I made it with half whole-wheat flour this time, 

and it tastes just as moist and delicious)

And made a Broccoli-Cheese Soup, 

while Ramblin' Man kept the wood-box 

full and the fire glowing. 

(click on the links to get the recipes)

In between, I sat by the fire and crocheted 

while Ramblin' Man read the Sunday paper. 

A little something for a special little someone. 

I have a few of these to make and will share 

them when I am done. 

My feather pillow is hand-embroidered linen 

and is the perfect, soft back-rest :)

Nature is beautiful, but can make life 

difficult and I feel so bad for the little birds

living in the elements. 

This little Anna's hummingbird is a year-round 

resident here in Washington State, surprisingly, 

I know, but I have done some research after 

my first time seeing them come to empty feeders 

in winter-time. 

So I  keep the feeders full and worry all winter, 

but they seem hardy and unaffected. 

I even bought a heated feeder for sub-freezing temperatures, 

but thankfully we have rather mild winters

despite the occasional snowfalls. 

They also survive on sap (and the insects that are attracted to it)

 that flows from the holes

drilled by our Red-Breasted Sapsucker. 

Red-breasted sapsucker

These are the most common sapsuckers in

Western Washington State, and I have photographed 

them in my apple trees, eating the pulp, too. 

I also changed out the bedding

 from blue summer flowers

to cozy, plaid flannel. 

My old girl, Maggie camps out here 

during the day on her blankie. 

She is 18 years old, and does a lot of 

complaining these days. 

She mostly eats and sleeps and  

goes outside only occasionally to sit 

in the sunshine on the deck now and again. 

Here she is in younger days on the deck rail

where she tried in vain to hunt the hummingbirds. 

I am trying to keep her comfortable and loved 

until she decides to cross over 

the rainbow bridge to meet up with her friends. 

It hurts my heart. 

Speaking of cats - this happy-ending story 

was in our local newspaper the other day. 

It's a story of Captain, the 12 year old tabby

from Washington State, who was adopted from 

a cat rescue facility run by this woman, Laura Carlson. 

He had been adopted 4 years before by a woman 

who, in September, was moving with him in tow, 

 to Alabama. 

When they stopped at a hotel on Sept. 8th, in Butte, Montana, 

Captain, who is declawed, and strictly a house-cat, escaped. 

After trying in vain to find him, the woman moved 

on, but sent a text message to Laura that he was missing. 

Laura got to work organizing search parties via Facebook, 

having volunteers set up wildlife cameras
 and traps in the nearby woods, 

and sending out press releases, but although there were

multiple sightings, no-one could catch him. 

Finally, with a big snowstorm in the forecast in mid-October

and being on his own for 40 days, Laura herself flew

the 600 miles to Montana to look for him. 

On the last day, when she was tired and discouraged, she 

spotted a cat at the corner of the hotel and with two volunteers,

they finally cornered and caught him. 

Laura said he was weak and a bag of bones, but Captain hasn't 

used up all of his nine lives yet, and is now living 

out his life with Laura, eating what he likes, and sleeping on pillows. 

xoxo

I woke up to this frosty scene, but the snow is 

melting and we are expecting normal daytime temperatures 

in the 50's for the rest of the week. 

A brief glimpse of winter, soon to come. 

Kai dozes in the morning sunshine. 

While Whitey Bear eats snow. 

Sweet companions to share my world. 

xoxo

I hope that you had some lovely moments 

this weekend, dear Friends. 

Thank you for your sweet visits. 

xoxo

"Remember that everyone you meet is 

afraid of something, loves something 

and has lost something. 

- H. Jackson Brown Jr., writer -

xoxo

Saying prayers for the loved ones lost 

to senseless acts of violence this week 

in New York and Texas. 

Especially the children. 

And the children left behind. 

May the Angels always be with them.  

xoxo