The O-Zone

Finally a decent amount of snow fell overnight and this morning, a good six inches of dry fluffy snow.

It takes a lot of snowflakes to bend the sturdy pine and fir branches.

The tree branches hold snow until there is just one snowflake too many, and then they bend a bit more and release a cloud of snow.  Dan got to experience that first hand today when he was plowing the driveway.  I was snug inside the house and didn’t get to laugh, err watch him when he became inundated.  I could just imagine it because many is the time I’ve helped a branch release a fluffy cloud of flakes on Dan’s head.

The tallest and darkest tree down the hill from our house, about the middle of the picture, has been a popular perching tree.

Yesterday we had an adult Golden Eagle perching at the top of the tree described above.  And today an adult Goshawk occupied the same branch.  Opal has a birds-eye view of that tree from her windows and she told us about both birds.  She chased Mishkin from the living room yesterday when the eagle was around.  She can get very loud.  He left the room with both ears folded back and a funny look on his face.

Our outside bird flock was very happy to have seeds and suet today, and it was a regular party in our front yard.

Dan shoveled the sidewalks and ran the snowplow. It was supposed to get warmer today than it actually reached. He took care of the important things first, refilling the feeders and putting up a block of suet, or he'd have never made it to the snowplow.

Once the Goshawk made its appearance, the ravenous flock of Clark’s Nutcrackers all left the vicinity.  And as a result, this afternoon as the sun is going down there is still suet on the suet tree.   All the birds take the presence of this top predator very seriously.  Tomorrow they will have forgotten and there will be plenty to eat as soon as the sun comes up.

Hard at work dreaming of catching something, anything. A toy, a mouse, a toy mouse. He spent all morning looking out of the windows and wishing he could get outside and play. He wouldn't actually like the snow but he has never set paw in the snow so he remains clueless about it.

The Winter Equinox came and went, cloudy weather and intermittent snow storms.  Finally this morning the skies cleared and the temperatures fell.

Winter has arrived.

The sun is barely creeping over the horizon to the east as the moon sets.

The first rays kiss the top of the far mountains, turning them pink.

We are still in the shadows, but inexorably the sun climbs as the moon falls, and the brightness creeps ever closer, across the world.

Sunlight catches the edge of ice melting off the snows that accumulated on the roof. I just liked the colors of blue.

It’s the end of the year and 2013 is off to a much better start than last year.   We have been here almost 7 years now, and it feels like we just got here and never lived anywhere else.

Happy New Year.

Yesterday the temperatures were well above freezing and there was no snow and ice on the roads unless they were in very shaded canyons or way above our elevation.  And Johnny’s Seeds sent us a catalog.  I told Dan this meant we need to go plant something.  He suggested a drive instead.

We were both very much in need of cheering up and some distraction.  We lost a very dear friend on Friday to leukemia.

On the way down the mountain, we came across what looked like a small snake in the road, soaking up the sun, possibly a Garter Snake.  The middle of the road is not a safe place to be, so Dan stopped the car and I got out to see if the snake was OK, and if so to move it along off the side of the road.  The snake took exception to being moved and was pretending to be a rattlesnake, feinting strikes at my foot, coiling up and hissing as I tried to herd him across and into the grass.  Since he was a very small Great Basin Gopher Snake, and not a rattler, I wasn’t impressed.  He was being such a snot about it, I got a little twig instead of using my foot, and when he curled into a ball I would flip him over, and his head would pop up on top and glare at me.   Eventually I got him into the grass.  Dan was impressed that I had trained him so well.

A pair of Tundra Swans on a mountain lake, with Common Mergansers.

The mergansers are so much smaller than the swans. They were running around on the water, making waves.

About fifteen miles from us are a group of recreational lakes, a good place to see lingering waterfowl in any open water.  Everywhere there was shade, ice covered the lakes.  And you could tell just by looking at the color that the ice was anything but solid.  It might support your weight for a while, just long enough perhaps to get you far enough from shore into deep water.  But where the sun could reach the water, it was open and occupied by birds, and rising fish, all enjoying the false spring.

In fact the weather was so mild we took the GT out for our drive, instead of the Outback. This will be the last drive of the year for this car. It will be cooped up in the garage until the roads are ice free again in the spring. Maybe next year we will get some snow tires for this car.

On the curve of the road right behind our parking area, the freeze and thaw and heavy rains of the recent weeks were causing rocks to slide down the cut bank and into the road way.  It was a spooky sound, rocks sliding down the hillside and skittering across the road, echoing off the mountain sides in an otherwise silent landscape.  It was eerily quiet, no bird sounds except the slap of running Merganser feet at the far end of the lake.  No other vehicles were on the road.

The rocks scattered on the roadway made continuing on that particular road too dangerous and we took a side road as soon as we could, heading for higher ground and less shade.   By going up and over we could make a loop and return home.

Sitzmark is a ski area for downhill skiing. Nearby is another area for cross-country ski enthusiasts.

The chair lift does actually get up to where snow lingers. Short ride down, though. I imagine coming to an abrupt stop when the snow ends, about 10 feet past the upper end of the chair lift.

Sitzmark does have a chair lift, and a ski shop (sorta), and a place with tables to sit down inside and have a cup of hot cocoa.  Normally by this time of year it is open for business, usually around Thanksgiving.  If the temperatures for the past week or so had been a bit lower, they’d have had many feet of snow to play with and this place would have been buzzing with activity.

We continued driving along, looking for birds, in particular Snow Buntings and Common Redpolls.  We didn’t see any of those, but did see a flock of Mourning Doves, a Raven, and a couple of Butteos.  These Butteos, to be precise.

The high grasslands are a perfect place to find soaring Rough-legged Hawks.

These northern latitude birds come down into this area during the winter months. It's always a treat to see them.

Hard to say if this was a pair, one was soaring and this one on top of the telephone pole was definitely admiring the display of mastery of the art of flying.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, just nice scenery and gorgeous clear skies, and warm spring-like temperatures.

Back home, our invisible bunny friend who lives by the carport was in residence.

This little guy, or one just like him, has been living by the carport for a couple of years.

Last night I think he did a weather dance, as this morning there is snow all over the place.  When it is white he completely disappears from view until he moves, and sitting still is what he does best to become invisible.  The thing is, sometimes he just sticks out.  Global warming sucks.

Ruffed Grouse in the Service Berry bush by the house. I took this picture through the window, that's why it's so fuzzy.

Yesterday it started snowing, lightly most of the day, and then it got serious about the project.

Five inches of snow changes the world.

Pine trees catch and hold millions of snowflakes.

Even thin branches of a Service Berry can hold a surprising amount of snow. This bush is right next to our living-room windows, and it looks like heavy white lace from the warmth of our room.

So, shoveling sidewalks in my immediate future and we need to put the blade on our Ranger to be able to plow the driveway.  The weather forecast is for partly sunny skies today, but the skies look pretty gray and could be planning otherwise.

We bought ourselves a present, a surround-sound system – it took five hours to re-arrange things and figure out all the wires (we didn’t have a 10-year old handy), but it does make a tremendous difference in how a DVD sounds – we tested it out on “Fellowship of The Ring” – wow how much of a difference it makes.

What got us started on this was Dan wanted a Roku but none of our equipment was compatible, and I wanted to be able to hook up a turntable to our sound system to listen to some of the 500+ record albums we have, and none of our equipment could handle that either.  So Dan and his brother Kerry started researching and figured out what we needed to change to accomplish both tasks.

Fun stuff.  Just in time for Winter.

Yesterday was the start of the fall rains which are fire-season ending. Hurray! Once it stops raining in a few days, the air will be back to all clean.  And then the next time it rains, it will probably be chubby and white rain drops.

It’s also the start of hunting season around here.  Yo-yos with guns.  For example, yesterday we drove to town and on the road about a mile from our house was a man with his florescent orange vest, driving a car, stopping every few feet to peer off the side of the road.  And he was looking to shoot something on private property with no hunting allowed.   I wanted to stop and chat with him and ask, “Seriously??  You are planning on putting a dead deer in the backseat of your compact Kia sedan?  Does your wife know you took her car?”  But Dan wouldn’t let me.  The fact the guy was armed might have had something to do with that.

The aspen grove has peaked in color this last week. We were also getting a lot of solar gain for our panels to absorb.

Hopefully everybody appreciates no "aspen watch" this year. All the grass is dead and was just crispy dry before the rains started last night. Now it's all nice and soggy.

The world is dipped in color right now. My favorite time of year.

Pear tree next to the sunroom was very popular again this year with the small chocolate brown bear we have hanging around the neighborhood. The pears are all gone and he's wandering around looking for something else to eat before winter hibernation. He's getting very round.

Aspens peeking over the roof. And the grass is all brown.

Yesterday I filled the wood rack on the front porch since the cool weather means we need a fire or two in the stoves each day.  While I was splitting firewood, a small Weasel was doing his own hunting in and among the cord wood stacked  in the wood shed.  We could hear his little feet scrabbling around on the bark, and then he would poke his head out and look at us, whiskers quivering.  He started off at the far end of the wood shed, and worked his way all the way to the other side, coming closer to us each time.  I would wiggle my fingers at him and offer greetings each time he peeked out.  He thought we were interesting but not particularly scary, and he was out there the whole time we were outside working.  So cute!!!  He is still in his summer coat of brown, but will be turning to white in the near future.

Everything has been harvested from the garden, and I’ve spent a lot of time putting things away from the garden.

One batch of roasted beets ready to be put into freezer bags for winter eating.

Swiss chard washed and ready to get blanched for freezing.

Such a pretty plant, and so great an addition to fritattas.

A batch of tomatoes turning color on the dining table. These have subsequently turned all red and today I'm going to roast them to make into a tomato paste.

The last batch of tomatoes were made into sauce and I think the roasted tomatoes makes a much richer tasting sauce. And it actually takes less time, ultimately. Reducing the sauce in a sauce pan takes hours!

I have a whole case of Pluots to do something with.  Jam and fruit syrup for pancakes are on the agenda for the Pluots (a cross between plums and apricots.)

While I’m amusing myself with cooking things,   Mishkin in amusing himself with various toys, mostly his toy mice which he has strewn all over the house. He has a couple that are favorites and they are falling apart, they’ve been thrown and caught and thrashed so often.

This is his other favorite toy, and his favorite part is the plastic stick which holds the string. He knows that is the important part, and so he wants control. He always grabs it out of my hands, then gets wrapped up with the string while he carries the stick around the house. He looks intent and ridiculous, at the same time.

In other words, everything is just pretty much normal state of affairs around here, and winter is coming.

Clouds coming, a change in the weather.

The tree colors reflected in the skies overhead.

Best thing to do on the last day of the month is… besides making breakfast using the cook stove.  It sure warms up the house nicely and makes the kitchen the best room to be in until the rest of the house is warmed up.

Freshly baked peach pie, still bubbling peach juice out of the slits in the top crust.

It will take hours to cool enough to have the filling set up, so I made good use of the leftover pie crust dough to have with a cup of tea.

Cinnamon pinwheel cookies.

When we are fortified with cookies and tea, we’re going out to the garden to pick beets and other things.

The end of September, and a full moon sets in a smoky sky.  We really need some rain, and none in the forecast.

Intense color along the horizon.

Fall colors are just starting in the high country.

It wasn’t very light outside when I took these pictures this morning.  As the sun rose, the smoke seems to have dissipated to some degree, and it will be a good day for playing in the garden.  A very hard frost is predicted for Tuesday, low 20’s, and so we need to go pick the rest of the things that are sensitive to such things as very low temperatures.  The rest of the beets will get roasted today, and then frozen for winter meals.

Always wondered what those were called.

No wonder kids these days are confused about where some foods come from!

Some plants just can’t take a joke.  And Mother Nature has a sense of humor.   A hard frost was predicted for the middle of last week, and frost it did, not super hard but below 30F was enough of a frost to make some plants wilt and the leaves turned black.  So, a harvesting we did go.

Overnight the tomato plants died down to half their original height. Sigh. And some of the Romas were just starting to turn color, too.

But on the good side it was a bright clear sunny day, perfect for picking things.

The squash plants were particularly upset by the low overnight temperatures.

Amazingly enough some plants that we thought would be very upset didn’t seem to notice.  There must have been a pocket of warmish air swirling around the corn plants, for instance.  Those didn’t care at all, and it is beginning to look like we are going to see ripe corn out of the garden.  Even some of the smallest plants are setting ears of corn.  Wow.  The melon plants lost over half of their leaves but enough stayed good that we left the plants in the ground and we’ll see what they do.  Those were an experiment anyway, we didn’t expect to get anything out of them.

The pepper plants which never looked good at all, the whole time, looked even worse after the frost.

The largest pepper is called a Gourmet, and we have no idea if it is hot, or mild. Three Anaheim peppers joined the queue, and a little pile of baby Bell peppers are in a row behind them. And then there are the hotter peppers. We don't know which was which, but they add a nice kick to anything I've put them in. And that's it for peppers out of 16 plants. Next year will be better.

Learning about growing peppers we have been enlightened that they don’t like it too hot, they don’t like it too cold, they like it just right.  Goldilocks plants!

These wrapping paper boxes are perfect for storing the multitudes of green tomatoes we have, 40 pounds of them. We have four boxes of tomatoes just like this.

Theoretically they will ripen.  Once they start to show a little color I will take them out of the box and put them on windowsill to finish ripening.  Because the boxes are shallow it is going to be easy to see who needs to be moved out.  Just think of all the sauce I could have made, and still can, actually, if enough of them ripen at one time.  So I’m not giving up hope.

Zucchini to be made into bread today, and then I'll freeze some for later. The only Spaghetti squash that got big enough needs to be baked, and that is high on the agenda.

Some of the cherry tomatoes are turning, and the rest have been put into a drawer in the kitchen to keep an eye on them for ripening.  They will go on the windowsill like the other tomatoes when they start to show color.

And I made nine jars of pickles, four of them this week from the cucumbers which had to be picked along with the rest of the produce.  Today I need to do something with beets, they are getting large and need to be harvested.

Not bad for a first year garden 🙂  We still have lots of things that weren’t the least bit fazed by cold overnight temperatures and they are still growing happily.  Next year we are going to have hoops over the raised beds to help extend the season and prevent early fall frosts from interrupting the vine ripening we were hoping for.  Fun!!!

Yesterday we picked all the cucumbers we could find on our four plants, and brought them up to the house to wash and then put into a large bowl with cold water, and then into the pantry.  Today was pickle day, but first we had to go play in the garden.  While Dan was watering plants, I was walking around talking to them and taking pictures.  A good division of labor!

The hills are finally brown in the distance. This is the dry time of year, where we are just waiting for the fall rains to come.

Amazingly enough, our corn plants have set two ears of corn, with tassels and everything! Whether or not they get large enough to eat remains to be seen. But they exist and that's amazing.

Deep in the center of the cauliflower plant is a cauliflower head a couple of inches in diameter. We only planted the one cauliflower plant, not knowing if it would grow here. A successful experiment.

Deep in the tomato jungle we created lurk tomatoes. They are starting to turn a sort of pale greenish yellow, a good sign they are heading towards red. Now we just have to escape a killing frost for just a while longer.

The two surviving grape plants are growing well on the back of the grape arbor, not tall enough quite yet, but nobody has munched them, and they look quite happy.

A spaghetti squash is growing larger each time we look at it. We keep moving it back into the raised bed, and it keeps push out towards the edge. A very slow motion escape is in process.

On the side of one of the raised beds, in between the boards, wild pansies are blooming. Very cute, small flowers clinging to the vertical wall.

Tiny (still!) onions next to the Kale plant that is trying to take over the world, but the Swiss Chard is holding its own, so far.

I just love the color of the Clematis, so I'm including a picture of it. This one is growing on the inside of the grape arbor.

Roses are still blooming. Next year we'll need to start tying them up so they can begin climbing.

The freshly opened flowers are a vibrant orange-red color, fading to pale as the flower ages.

Fragrant, it will be so nice to be able to smell them without sitting on the ground. Grow, little roses, grow!

This deep burgundy colored rose is the tallest of the four plants. It can already reach the lattice. Lots of buds on this plant.

Lunch-to-be. Swiss Chard, a zucchini, a cherry tomato (it will join others picked a couple of days ago), and a Garden Salsa pepper. Fritatta! The Garden Salsa pepper was a lot hotter than we thought it would be, but had a really nice flavor.

We also picked another cucumber that got missed yesterday.  Are we going to have any pickles on our pickle saga?

Peeled garlic cloves, dill seeds - alas no fresh dill because we forgot to plant any, and hot pepper flakes because we didn't plant any of those pepper plants either.

Various sizes of cucumbers, the idea will be to slice them so they are similar sizes. These were soaking in cold water overnight, waiting for today.

The water/vinegar/salt brine is starting to get hot; the small pan in the back was cooking jar lids, and the large canning kettle was boiling quart jars.

See? Washed jars in very hot boiling water. We ended up with five jars in the water after we had the cucumbers sliced. Since we have never done this before, it was all a learning experience and a lot of guessing on quantities was involved.

Once the jars were cooked and the brine was boiling, it was time to slice the cucumbers and assemble the jars. Then the filled jars go back into the boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

We put one or two cloves of garlic in the bottom of a hot jar just removed from the kettle, added one teaspoon of red pepper flakes, one tablespoon of dill seeds, and then stuffed as many cucumber slices in the jar as would hold.  Next, fill the jar with boiling hot brine, put a lid and ring on the jar, and pop it back into the boiling water.

Fifteen minutes later….

Five quart jars of pickles cooling on the kitchen cabinet. It will be 3 to 6 weeks before they are ready to be eaten.

Waiting for the jars lids to make this ‘pink’ sound as they seal is always the hardest part.  And these are big jars so it will take longer than my little jam jars take.