anyway, in other news, it looks like somebody took a stroll across the river the other day!
because the ice/snow had been melting for a few days, we can't tell if it is coyote or bobcat tracks. we always walk around our land and down to the river looking for tracks.
we haven't really seen any tracks - a bear cut across our road last winter but we haven't seen him again. and we have have seen a few coyote tracks at our compost but jambaloney scared them off - otherwise known as peeing around the compost regularly. he also pees at the top and bottom of the driveway, the top and bottom of the road and all around the perimeter of our cleared area. for anyone who has coyote problems - this is a nifty trick! because the cats sometimes think they are dogs, they have seen jambaloney do this and follow suit. although cats tend to do that anyway.
and lastly, here is a sight that always makes me happy - laundry blowing in the wind!
With the cold weather, clothes may not flap so much as freeze solid and clank! One of my grandmas used to set up her drying lines in concentric circles around the living room and wood stove (and a fan turned on high and oscillate) while grandpa did the outdoor chores. By the time he was done (usually took about 4.5-5 hours between the dairy cattle, goats, chickens, and pigs), so was the drying laundry.
ReplyDeleteHH - you must be a cousin as i must be related to your grandma - i take the clothes in off the line and then hang them all over the house to complete the drying process - bahahah! our house has electric baseboard heaters and it gets so dry in the winter when we can't open the windows and let delicious, wet fresh air in. needless to say, with a house full of slightly damp clothes it is not so dry anymore. those clothes have now become our humidifiers!!!
DeleteOkay....gotta ask what does a banshee-screeching sound like?
DeleteTango, honey, so glad to see you back on the interwebs. banshee screeching, the proper Scottish kind, is considered to be as heart-wrenching as bagpipes. a banshee screeches when someone is about to die. see wikipedia here:
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
here in cape breton - when anyone who makes a long, long howl, or cry - it is referred to as banshee screeching. when i get in or out of the hottub in super cold weather - i banshee screech times 100 - bahahahahha!
So it was your banshee-screeching that has my 3 tomcats on edge, Wow girl you have lungs. It was near 90 on Friday here now its down to 56. Can you guess why we are sick.
ReplyDeleteWait, what?? sorry I can't hear you over kymbers banshee-screeching. jambaloney, good grief man. (evil grin)
Oh, so that was the screech I heard last night...damn near shot my foot off. Cold with rain here today...I like it. Time for chili.
ReplyDeletedear friend, sorry, my bad. should have warned you sooner! yummeh - chili! i have been making vegetable stock all morning and the house smells divine!
DeleteThat's alot of peeing. Stay warm up there!!!
ReplyDeletePioneerP - it sure is a lot - bahahahahah!
DeleteMen....any excuse not to have to lift the lid! Geesh.... :-)
ReplyDeleteSci gurl - you and me both know that the coyote thing is something that he probably just made up - bahahahah!
DeleteAh just as we are having lovely warm sunny weather here in the UK! Seriously you can keep that snow. Keep warm and try not to scare your neighbours with your screams. ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL Joey - i am glad that you are having nice weather! be careful tho buddy - March hasn't even arrived yet - bahahhaha! ya, about that screaming thing...think i already woke up a few from way down south. my bad!
Deletepick us up at the airport,and my two boys will pee on your property all you want....they think its a big thrill to pee outside...lol...
ReplyDeleteJUGM - you guys come on up for a visit, i will keep those boys in lemonade all day long....and then let 'em run free to pee wherever they want. oh and they don't even have to wear clothes - bahahahah!
DeleteYuck! Nasty white stuff! I'm putting on my shorts to go mow the grass : )
ReplyDeleteCraig - it ain't so bad! but i sure do wish i was mowing the grass in shorts right now!
DeleteBrrr. I wouldn't want to wear those clothes right away!
ReplyDeleteteehee Gracie. nope, when you take them off the line they are usually pretty frozen but really dryish too. a few hours hanging in the house and they are ready to be folded and put away. it would take 6 or 7 hours to dry them in the house if we didn't put them on the outside line first. oh and they smell sooooo good when they hang on the line in the cold.
DeleteGrrrrrrr! Quit yer bragging, woman!
ReplyDeleteCouple days ago my bride actually yelled at me "It's snowing!" When I finally got to a window all I saw was 15 rain drops. Then it was over. We are so screwed this "winter."
On the other hand, the garden is doing very well! Peas headed for the trellis, cabbage looking super, spinach growing nicely and more just came out of the ground.
Winston
so sorry, dear friend...not trying to brag!!! and sorry that all you got was a measly 15 raindrops and still no snow! i am glad (and super jealous) that you got stuff coming up already - i haven't even started any seeds and won't be for several weeks - i am itching to get started!
DeleteThis is just for you and PP.
DeleteMy first wife was riding shotgun with me when we came upon a seven foot gopher snake sunning himself on the road. Being the full bore nature faker that she remains to this day, she insisted I stop the car. She got out, caught the snake, which promptly laid plenty of coils all over both her arms and hissed at her, then tried to bite her just because.
Not deterred by such antics, Reddie carried the huge snake off the road and into the grass and hazed it away from the road. Problem solved...but not quite.
When she got back to the car she stunk pretty bad and complained for 150 miles about the huge snake crapping all over her in revenge for disturbing his little warm-up on the highway. And I had to ride with the windows open, LMHO.
Winston
bahahahahahah! oh Winston - BAHAHAHAHAH! that is just way too funny! and that Reddie must have really been something!
DeleteHmmm, not that I have ever thought about it, but I did not even think about a snake pooping on a person. I do worry that a hen will poop while I carry her under my arm.
DeletePracticalP - me neither - that's why it was so funny!!! hens, however, are a whole 'nuther story!
DeleteThen there was the time third wife and I were out working fenceline around the garden area. I had driven all the fenceposts and we were stretching the sheepwire. I looked over at Sew Ke and saw a five foot gopher snake very close to her. Looked to me he was reaching out to tug on her shirt to say "HI."
DeleteSo being the dutiful has been I called out to her and asked her to come over here. Being the typical unschooled female she took the usual route and instead of moving, she continued to squat where she was and asked the so typical female question..."WHY?"
When I told her she launched like a Saturn V rocket.
All that is funny enough, but the same snake came back not once, not twice, but FOUR times. Each time wanting to say hello to her. Third time I knew it because I saw her streaking for the house looking over her shoulder with "that look" on her face leaving me rolling on the ground laughing uncontrollably.
When I got her (FINALLY) back out to help the snake made one last approach. The air was rather electric by this point so I chose to solve the problem and simply walked up to the snake, picked it up, and walked it well into the woods.
Believe me when I say THAT hand did not get close to her four nearly a week.
And yes, Reddie IS still a piece of work. PP, you can count on wild critters to always do the unexpected, LOL.
Winston
It's torture to my fingers to hang clothes on frigid days!
ReplyDeletePracticalP - using a clothesline in the winter is something that is definitely hard on the hands and fingers and this is not our permanent set-up...just probably going to be our reality for a few years. having the washer to wring the clothes out for you before putting them on the line is a real blessing!
DeleteOh, I agree about the gorgeous washing machine, wonderful invention! I was just cringing for you. Can you string some clothes lines in the house? Have you seen the clothes hanging racks that are moved down for hanging and up for drying? A pulley does the job of moving it up and down. Jamb could probably make one. He seems handy and creative.
DeleteIf your clothing freeze on the line and get moved or bent when frozen, the fabric is weakened and can actually break. Plus, I the cold and damp cause arthritis, I have heard. Anyway, I do like the look of the wash in the breeze.
They make a wringer that stands alone or can be mounted to a old-fashoned, wringer washer. When I was washing and wringing sopping wet pants of mine to hang out after the tornado when I lost power, I realy wanted a hand wringer! I could not get water out, so the pants were hung, dripping wet. Not fun.
yay....winter...the dots represent sarcasrm. hehe Last year there was a dead deer that had fallen and got stuck in the lake..you should have seen the predator action! luckily that coyote did not become a food source! when I first sw the shot I thouhgt..who is crazy enough to walk out on ice like that..then I read it was a wily coyote. I can't wait for spring but some white stuff is better than mud
ReplyDeleteegb - i got the sarcasm - bahahahah! as for walking across the ice - the river must have frozen up enough for a day or two - they normally know when they can and can not walk on it. it looked like it walked from the other side to our land and then turned around and walked back. maybe because it smelled jambaloney's pee - he pees down all along our river's edge as well! mud season is on it's way...and that's one thing that you guys and us have a lot of. ugh. i hate all that mud!
DeleteWhere is the post with the red sink installation. I saw it while on someone's blog but cannot find it on your blog. It seems your blog starts in September, but her blog had a post from earlier than that with the red sink. Helllp! Thanks.
ReplyDeletePracticalP - here is the post you are looking for:
Deletehttp://framboisemanor.blogspot.com/2011/10/finally-my-kitchen-counter.html
can you tell me who's blog mentioned it? i'd like to go in and have a look and say thank you.
I am not sure. I think they commented on their blog about your sink and I followed the link. Now, why could I not find it??? I looked back to the beginning of your blog, I think. Thanks.
DeleteHeh, I have been there before getting out of the hot tub in the shivering cold. It's oh so nice when you're in, but horrific having to get out. It's funny to watch people try to build up the courage to get out. It tacks on a good 15 minutes to the hot tub time. Enjoy the weather! ;)
ReplyDelete45er - it certainly does tack on another 15 mins trying to build up the nerve to get out, grab your robe, put on your shoes, close the hottub lid and put on the cover. and then run screaming all 10ft to the porch! but it is also refreshing...or something...i guess?!?!?! but well worth it every time we do it - bahahahaha!
DeleteLove it!!! Oh stay warm and have lots of snow fights! Make a snowman or two, drink some hot cocoa and enjoy.
ReplyDeletexoxox your chili spicey friend from the south!!
that's exactly what we plan to do spicey! bahahahahah!
DeleteCongrats on winter, please keep it up north as I'm already enjoying the sunshine and 60's every other day.
ReplyDeleteGo make snow angels (or devils if you so desire) and post them up!
Max buddy - i'll keep it up here for you, no prob! the snow right now is hard and packed but we should be getting some more in a day or two - and that should be fresh enough to make snow angels - i'll post pics!
DeleteI've heard that peeing on the compost is very good. I highly recommend it. But seeing as Jambalony already does it I didn't need to say that. The snow didn't stay here for long, but like you say that wind was wicked! I love your photos of the tracks in the snow. Isn't winter wonderful?
ReplyDeleteSue - this is probably the first winter that i have enjoyed in years!!! back in the city the winter was just too cold and gray for too long and there was too much snow. this winter has been normal temps for our area, snow that only stays a few days at a time and just all around pretty. i am actually enjoying this!
DeleteWe're still on track to have our first winter every without a single day below 0 F, not to mention we are way behind our average snowfall with just 6" of snow this year.
ReplyDeleteEd - wow - that sounds kinda crazy?!?!?! you need the snow for the ground water...i sure hope you get some more!!!
DeleteI'm expecting a picture of a hole in the ice with you doing the polar bear swim.
ReplyDeleteDear Duke - no way Jose!!! i did the polar bear dip in the actual Arctic Ocean when i was in Alert...boy is that cold!!! but there is a sauna to run to after you come out of the hole in the ice - thank goodness! we also did the polar bear roll which is rolling around on the frozen ice in a bathing suit if you couldn't quite make yourself get in the hole in the ice. it was a great experience but one that i will NOT ever repeat - bahahahahah!
ReplyDeleteoh and one awesome thing about being up in the Arctic - the char are soooo delicious and the water is absolutely freezing and delicious coming out of the tap!