YESTERDAYS' SNOW !

I was thrilled to take a little walk in new, cold snow on Tuesday morning. The amazing thing is that I went not more than 200 feet in 3 directions: to the end of our road, right to the pasture, and left to the stream. I took a ton of photos! The pasture was in fog, as below.

I took this one of our stream just as the sun began its weak rising.

Laurel leaves with cup of ice
Ice drop from one of our cherry trees. It was about 3/8ths " long.

A neighbor's picket fence and Mt. Si as the sky changed from dark and the fog settled.

YESTERDAY'S SNOWFALL !

Pretty soon the morning got even better because the sun eeked out. Timid though it was, it gave enough brightness to get some natural blue hues. The ice drop (at far right) on top of a limb is only as large as one joint of a pinky finger. I call it "crouching elephant", but it could be a long-nosed hedgehog!

The little limb on the right is not pussywillows! It is definitely not that time of year yet, but the snow caught in the joints sure resembles those.



In the hour, I experienced low snow clouds, rising sun, and moving fog. I was at the pasture in the fog...me and a big smile.

A SNOWY WALK AT RATTLESNAKE LAKE

This morning we had fresh snow! Not much of it, and it was receding fast, so Pat and I agreed to go to higher elevations where we found a few inches more of stick-around snow. We went not far away to Rattlesnake Lake. It was so quiet; cold, yes; but refreshing and actually picturesque with the hundred shades of grey.
Here are a few "finds" through my camera's lens.

Rattlesnake Ridge above the lake:

Part of a trail we took part of the way:

Skirting the edge of the lake:

Reflections in "berry under ice":

Ice caught in thorny limbs overhead on the trail:

A morning well worth getting out and cold!

What to do during a grey and very stormy Saturday?

Today, Saturday was just icky with rain and grey-ness. What to do? First of all, take a photo of one of the trees in our back yard...
Yawn.... b o r i n g...

Okay, a friend is sick, so make a pot of home-made chicken soup; mmmmm....smells good...
... and flee home to deliver the soup while Dick and Jeff are watching football at our house...
Plus, take a photo of a white tulip before having to throw it out. All those years we lived in the mountains and were snow-bound for months, Dick brought me a bouquet of tulips or daffodils at least once a week. What a guy! A few days ago, he brought white and red tulips.

Also today, after delivering soup, I drove to Heidi's where we had a long-over-due planning session. We positioned ourselves at Howell's just like Dick and Jeff did, above, at ours, and brainstormed. One of our in-common goals is to plan our meals ahead of time. It was easier than I thought! I discovered all I needed was a main outline, and the rest was easy. Self-challenges per week: make heart-healthy meals; have 1 citrus among the fruits every day; 1 crock-pot meal; 1 fish meal; more than one meatless meal; 1 homemade soup meal; buy and use 1 pomegranate each week, tossing it into whatever. The actual meal-planning came easily after deciding these things.

Trial post

This is a trial; we would like to keep in touch with family and friends in this way, so I am designing here and we shall see what happens. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is a snap from the place I sit at the computer.