Retired Mountain Lady: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Hunters

7:00 a.m. November 27th - need I say more?

Winter visitor before the snow started falling.

I took some shots of this guy before we got all the snow. Jon and I believe it is a Great Gray Owl. It is the largest owl in North America. The Great Horned Owl is the heaviest. The Gray Owl is rare and uncommon.

Ah, winter has arrived!

Red rosehips still clinging to my rosebush.

View from Old Cougar Creek Road

It's been snowing here now for over a week and it is definitely accumulating. I think we are working on 36 inches on the ground. Snowing again today. It is certainly beautiful. Jon and I put on our snowshoes and walked up to the county road to get our newspapers. I took some shots along the way.

Burkhart Thanksgiving Special

You don't really expect me to walk over there, do you?

Burkhart Thanksgiving Special

The Kalispell Burkharts arrived on Wed. The cousins played games with Ben, read stories, played on the computer and their Nintendos, went sledding, worked on snow forts and ate lots of pie!

Burkhart Thanksgiving Special

Yes, it's snowing again here!

Burkhart Thanksgiving Special

We had a week of fun filled Thanksgiving fun with all of our kids and grandkids! The temps were very cold at the beginning (below zero) and then it warmed up and we had lots of snow! The grandkids all had a great time sledding down the driveway.

Ben gets his first chance out in the snow. He really wasn't sure about what to do out in all that white stuff!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Brian Jon's Birthday

My nephew, Brian Jon, had a birthday on Thanksgiving Day! I bet he got pumpkin pie for a birthday cake. We don't get to see him a lot as he lives in OKC, but we did get to spend some time with him last summer. It turns out he loves both hunting and eating mushrooms. We got a chance to do a little bit of both while he was here.

Happy Birthday, Brian Jon!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Little Brother's Birthday

Yesterday was Don's 61st birthday! My little brother is getting old. It's hard to believe. He was a hell-raising guitar player/cowboy/hippie??? in his twenties. Mom bought him his first guitar with Green Stamps. Remember those? Then you're old too! Once he had that first guitar, the music never stopped. He has passed on his talent to both of his sons. Travis plays guitar and Cody plays the drums. His wife, Linda, has a beautiful voice. When we have a family reunion, we love hearing each of them play/sing.

Donny Nervous and the Breakdowns-1965

1951-He wasn't much trouble then.

1976-visit to Idaho

2005-playing at Travis's wedding

1966

Thursday, November 18, 2010

First Snow of the Season

Here it is! The heavy, wet stuff. The trees are loaded with snow. We now have wind so we will be lucky if we still have power later today.

Wine making day

Yesterday Jon and I siphoned the red wine out of the three primaries into their carboys. It is not difficult to do but takes time as you have to sterilize all the equipment as you move from one batch of wine to the next. The wine stays in a warm place for another month then gets moved to cold stablization for a couple of months. After that I will rack if off, test for acidity, clarity, taste and if needed make adjustments. The white wine should be ready to bottle in April.

Cougar Creek Wine in their blankies

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Jelly and Jam Day

Today I finally got around to making jelly and jam. I ended up with 42 jars of Hot Pepper Jelly, 8 jars of Grape Jelly, 6 jars of Blackberry Freezer Jam and 6 jars of Raspberry Freezer Jam. I think that's enough for this year.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Weather Change

The weather is definitely making a turn now. The snow level has dropped to about 3000'. There's snow on Suzie's Knob which is about 500' above our place. Today is the last day of doe season so the hunters will have a blustery day. Wind, rain, snow, hail, sunshine, fog, you get it all today.

Snow shower on the mountain

A little fun with the photo

Thursday, November 4, 2010

2010 Wine

I started three more batches of wine today. Two Concord Blush and one Cherry Concord Wine. I racked the white wine into a carboy. I think it's going to have a beautiful color.