Yup, after months of mild weather, winter unleashed her fury this weekend (and apparently next week) with below zero temps, big wind and  snow (the latter combination of course making lovely drifts to shovel through).   Not complaining, we've had it too easy for too long and when we get cold this late in the season it "usually" is the last bout.   So we are really just sticking to home, feeding the wood stove and working on indoor projects as much as possible.   It has of course limited what I do outside but things like shoveling and moving wood up for the stove still has to be done.   Will add to that starting the cars over the next week to let them run.  

Enough weather news as I know there are other areas in way worse shape. 

The past few weeks have been fairly busy.   My nutritional changes, dare I say, seem to finally be taking hold and I'm feeling better and my energy is slowly coming back.   I also am noticing things that sent me "over the edge" before (like a Costco run) are no longer having the ill affects they did over the past year.   I've got a lot of changes yet to make but am taking baby steps.   The hardest right now is scheduling all these times to eat.   That is really the key to keeping my body happy and my blood sugar stable of course and I'll admit it just proves how horrid I have been at that (as well as what I eat).    

Last weekend my friend came over to help me move the very large and heavy kennels out of the back of the truck and in to the house.   She is such a champ and we got it done without straining too badly.    Girl power!   She then agreed to go for a walk with Epic and I and again, what a champ, we ended up doing 5 miles, up and over the top of the mountain.  It was SUCH  a lovely day, warm (as you can see by our jacket situation).

The neighbor up on the corner has free ranging chickens, thank goodness I saw them before Epic and got him hooked up on leash.   Pretty and plump little buggars.

I have a new route that I walk that is much more quiet and avoids the interactions with the IDIOTS up on top of the hill that will NOT move over or slow down when they go by us.   The other thing is that it is much more shady so snow  hangs out longer.   With the warmer temp, the snow was very sharp so I was glad I stuck booties in my pocket for the poodle.

There is a cistern up there right where the now identified, elk skeleton is.   Made getting his shoes on much easier and he was so much more comfortable with shoes on.

See - hardly any tracks.  The only vehicle I've encountered on this section  is surprisingly, the FedEx guy!

So we ended way up on top, winded but feeling pretty good.   This is an old little knoll that I used to go up to in the summers and sit and look  over the river (you can see it in the left hand corner of this picture) many years ago when there wasn't a driveway there and the trees were very much shorter.

Pretty isn't it?   I actually took last Monday off and was very glad I did.  I got some serious house cleaning done (desperately needed)  and just was nice to have the time.    I have so much vacation  time (also our sick time) to use now that they are changing their policy for carrying it over, that I am just darnit, going to take it.

Work is still insane and extremely busy every single day, but oh well.  Is what it is and the time really flies by.  Nuff said.   This past Friday did my Costco run and yesterday started on another craft project that is on my ever growing list.   Figured since I couldn't be outside I needed to just DO IT!  A friend asked for a couple of these signs and bribed me with fresh macadamia nuts.   I won't be able to seal it though till the weather warms up considerably but the biggest part is done.  I have another in the works today (after doing the artwork for it last night).

I sucked it up and got on the eliptical machine today instead of going for a walk.   Now that the sun is out, I probably could have bundled up and walked (no dogs too cold) but thing I'll call it good for now after being out early this morning.  

Hope everyone stays safe and warm.  I'll admit, working on camping reservations for the summer (which is proving to be extremely difficult) is keeping me going right now.   I've read that finding camping reservations (especially online) were going to be difficult this year but I'm really also wondering more and more about ReserveAmerica being invaded by "bots" that are booking weeks at a time as I'm finding that at least some of the state parks on there are ENTIRELY booked full (not one open spot) as soon as the booking window opens.  Hmmmm.....so it is requiring some creative thinking and I think we will look to boondock more off in the mountains.   We shall see.