A fine winter's weekend

We headed to III on a Saturday morning, December 29, 2007. We knew that there was more snow there than what we had around Creston, so it was no surprise that there was 6-7 inches of fresh snow on the ground. The only signs of life we're the animal tracks left by unkown creatures of the wild. We had tree branches down blocking the drive in, so had to pull them to the side so we could drive in. III is totally beautiful with snow on the ground, and on the CEDAR trees.

We (I) spent the late morning getting things ready, the fire going, the propane gas turned on, gathered firewood, got the 4-wheeler out and started. As herself had important errands in town, as usual, and also, what is becomming a habit, she will ask me if there is anything I need. I could only think of one thing, d-con. So, what is the one thing she forgot?

We had fun 4-wheeling in the snow. And for you oldsters, I was provoked into doing some Broderick Crawford's. (donuts for you youngsters).

This weekend, the temperatures only rose to mid to upper twenties during the day, and got down to 12 degrees at nite. This is the coldest its been, but the furnace and fireplace kept us snug as snails. The next step is to see just how cold it gets before we, as my first born daughter says, "bolt" and hightail it outta there.

One of my main jobs at III is to listen to the weather. All the radio stations all week-end had been predicting snow flurries on Monday morning, and continued to do so even on Monday morning. After we got up and got coffee going, we noticed it looked a little more seriously than maybe just flurries. So, I turned on the weather radio, and all of a sudden the forcast went from flurries to moderate to heavy snow for all of Northern Mo and Southern Ia. So we just kind of puttered around taking pictures, had breadfast, and still the snow came. Hard. So the decision was made that maybe, just maybe, we better get the heck out of there. So we packed, headed out to the highway, and made our way to Bethany. It was the long way, but we figured the snow plows would keep the road cleared. Wrong. The highway was completely covered. The only good thing is there was not much traffic. Even the interstate was not good, but it didn't slow down the trucks any. After we got past Leon, it started letting up a bit. The next day we found out they had 7 inches of "flurries".
Overall, we had a fine, snowy weekend at III. At least now I know what it looks like, and will look forward to more winter weekends at III.
Boi

Snowstorm

We got up Monday morning and there was a skiff of snow on the ground. About that time the local radio station started talking about some snow in the area. All weekend, the forecast had been "clear". But here it was, the snow. And heavy snow. We thought it would quit so weren't too excited but it kept coming down and now the forecasters are prediciting several inches of the white stuff.

We packed up and headed home.

It was trecherous, the first 30 miles or so, but the further north we got, the better the roads. We have learned since that 7 inches of snow fell in that area. Wouldn't that make for good snowshoeing!

I apologize for the orange cap BUT there are still hunters out there! and it was the only one I had with me. I am such a summer person I am surprised that I had such a good time in the snow.

I woke up Sunday morning with the the word SLED in my head. I should have called in the grandchildren. The pond was frozen over and wouldn't they have had fun sliding (skating) on the pond. The sledding would have been good too and it was warm enough that they could have played outside all day with only the occasional hot chocolate stop in the warm cabin.

I have forewarned my children about future "snow days" . . . hopefully it will still be this year!

Shagbark III

Our #1 Son made the sign, and others. I like the signs. He gave us some last year for Christmas and more this year. Very cool. Can this Nana say that . . . "very cool"????

Blogless in Missouri . . . 'til now!

For gosh sakes. Himself only sits at work every day with his feet on his desk. You would think he could post something in here especially after we just spent two days in a Winter Wonderland this past weekend. Yes! we finally found snow at III. Found snow and frolicked in it. Had nice mild days, 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground and cold, clear nights. The cold clear nights don't bother us anymore, not with the cabin insulated and the propane heater.

Well, I take that back, about the heater. Himself, a throw back to less civilized times, still gets up to feed the woodstove even tho he wouldn't need to but it is habit and that is okay.

We drove down on Saturday morning. I shoved the ol' man out to unpack and put away and I headed back to Princeton to my second favorite consignment shop. I also picked up a few groceries but the one and only thing he wanted me to pick up in town, well, I just plain forgot it. It wasn't an emergency or needed right this minute, but still! you would think I could remember the one thing he wanted!

We experimented this weekend. Himself gave me a pair of snowshoes for Christmas so I experiemented with them. I had done some research but put them on and hiked with relatively little trouble. Sometimes I would forget I had them on and end up with one on top the other which does not allow me to take the next step. A few times I got them tangled in sticks or such and bumbled around a bit but one time I did just plain fall. In my research, I had read that if you fall with them on, in order to get up, well, just do it! So, I just did it and it was pretty ungainly and not graceful at all.

We also experimented with dehydrated foods, self heating foods, etc. The reason we are experimenting with these is we want some food stuff that we can leave at the cabin and not worry about it freezing or expiring. We might bop in sometime on the spur of the moment, or get snowed in an extra day or two and don't want to have to resort to boiling tree bark or eating moss or bugs!

The freeze-dried foods look like they will be the best bet. They have long shelf lives and only need boiling water and someone to read the directions (a story for another day). They are designed for hikers and the like. Himself will order us up some C-rations and we'll try them too. Guess they are called MREs now -- Meals Ready to Eat. Designed for the military, I think.

Another experiment was baking in my cast iron dutch oven. I learned a lot on this one! (That usually means it wasn't as successful as one had hoped.) I baked biscuits and I did get them done but it took an hour and 1 wood stove and 1 propane stove. It will be easier next time and the biscuits will be prettier. Do you remember that when we first found III, I wanted a wood cook stove. Himself discouraged me (I suppose because he likes to eat and was afraid he might miss that if I was cooking on a wood stove?) so that I gave up on the idea but I might just work back around to it some day.

It was a good weekend. Hopefully, Himself will tell the rest of the story . . .

Biscuits? Pancakes?

The biscuits, due to the novice baking them, ended up browning like a pancake. But not too bad for the first time!