Tim has been planning a hike with me for a sunny day and yesterday the conditions, except for my body conditoning, were just right.  Sun, calm wind and moderate temperatures.  I donned my snowshoes and headed for Cascade Mountain, one of the high peaks.  I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery because  the trail was two miles of steady, fair to moderately steep walking.

Before we left, I read the trail information but forgot to calculate that the short distance and a 2,000 foot increase in elevation makes for a steep angle.  At least for me.  And I say I almost made it because I am stubborn and choose not to do that last part scrambling with your hands and knees that gets you to the pinnacle.  So I am almost a moutain climber or I almost climb a mountain.  Porter Mountain was nearby and I was able to get to the top of that without using my hands.

I had plenty of excuses to stop and take photos.  There was one surprise when I got home.  In this first one, I think I see a gremlin in the river, to the left of the snow bank.  It looks like yoda.  I meant to take a picture of the ice crystals overhanging the river but got a bonus.  Or maybe I was just delirious from our walk.

This is an unadulterated photo straight from the camera.

The rest of the scenery was much less scary.  There were snow men, snow ladies and silly trees.

Maybe there is a snow flower here.

Cascade Mountain, the peak I almost climbed.  I did make it to the snow covered, treeless area to the left.

Today’s adventure surrounded food.  It began in search of the popular “local” bakery located fifteen miles away.  Not a bad drive for a snack but when we got there, it was closed for winter vacation.  This was really bad news because we were already salivating.  We couldn’t even find a Stewart’s (7-11 northern style).  The nearest grocery store was converted to a book store and even that was closed.

So we took a walk in the woods and I got to try out my new micro-spikes.  These are mini crampons.  In the middle of the woods we found this washing machine.  Do hunters do their laundry while waiting for prey?  By the end of the walk we were really hungry.   We were directed to a diner with a fried perch special.  I guess I ate about 10 fish.

Next it was off to the butcher because our local store doesn’t carry a lot of variety of meat. We couldn’t find it so we stopped at a gas station to ask directions and lo and behold, the butcher was the gas station store. Nice.  But we went shopping.  There were jars of pickled eggs, pickled sausage and a display with all sorts of jerky that you package yourself.  The butcher shop was in the back and I think we were served by a vegetarian.

All this carnivore activity reminds me that last night I felt like prey.  i went into the hot tub alone, late, and heard some noise in the woods.  I, of course, thought it was a wolf or bear ready to pounce on me.  I was ready to dive into the water if they got close to the tub.  When I told Tim this morning he gave a more logical explanation  and said it was probably a deer.  That’s because he wasn’t there when it was pitch black last night.

Lastly, I learned something new in knitting group.  The best way to cook popcorn is in bear fat!

A snow caterpillar.  This little guy was working his way across the snow near the bird feeder.  Maybe a bird dropped it from the sky like Andre’s mouse, which he spotted draped across a branch on a hike.  I followed the cat’s progress across the snow covered lawn from the safety of my house with the binoculars.  Then I went for a run – and saw a red fox- but when I returned, the snow cat was gone.  The wooly caterpillar’s coat is supposed to predict the severity of the winter but I couldn’t find any information about what it means when you actually see one in winter.  Here’s what the Farmer’s Almanac has to say.

Weather was perfect yesterday and I went skiing at Whiteface with friends, Anne and Tom.  This was my first view of Lake Placid from  a summit.  Tim likes to hike to the top.  I liked the gondola.

My equipment is antiquated, my boots were literally disintegrating but we had a great time.

It’s a winter wonderland.  We went to Saranac Lake to the winter carnival where they build an ice palace every year.  They cut blocks from Lake Flower and you can find all sorts of goodies in the walls.

Imagine people of all ages choosing to stand outside for a 2 hour parade, in sub freezing temperatures.  We were lucky this year because it’s been balmy and the weather was in the 20’s.  I was excited to go to the lumberjack demo but don’t plan to chop wood this way.

The theme was Adirondack cowboy and some spectators traveled in disguise.

After I dug my car out, which was buried by the plow, I enjoyed breakfast at Munday’s with Cooper.

The island got about 16-18 inches of snow, but when I crossed the Long Island Sound by ferry, there were only a few inches in Connecticut.

It has been a struggle to post this picture and it is one of my favorite photos from Australia.  I saw this along the Bondi to Coogee beach walk.  iPhoto had it in the library but I couldn’t do anything with it except to look at it as a thumbnail.  When I highlighted it, poof, it became a black screen and once it was even a black screen with a large exclamation point.  Of course only may favorite photo was inaccessible.  But I perservered and learned a few things along the way.

Apparently I am not alone and this happens to a lot of people.  As usual, many of the discussion forums about this problem were way over my head.  The simplest advice though is to remember to back up your work.  I promise I will, I will, but then I don’t.

iPhoto keeps two copies of all pictures – now I know where my memory went.  The dud picture still displayed the original file name.  All i had to do was right click the iPhoto library to see the package contents. Right click?  I have a touchpad with only one click.  I’m in a hotel in RI and there are no mice.  So another search told me how simple it is to right click my touchpad by holding the ctrl key.  And I’ve only owned this laptop for about 5 years.  It just goes to show you, you can learn something new every day.  Once I found the original, I saved a copy on my desktop and imported it back into iPhoto.  And here it is.

Yesterday I had to change a headlamp on my car, while it was snowing and the wind was howling.  The instructions begin  “if it’s on the driver’s side turn the steering wheel all the way to the right”.  What?!  That’s because you have to shove your arm between the plastic and the metal in the wheel well and “simply” turn the bulb and remove it.  It felt like it was welded tight and the space was so small that if I tried to hold a screwdriver to do it, I could no longer squeeze my hand through the opening.  Not so simple but luckily I had my ski pole with me and was able to use it instead of my hand.

I haven’t collected yet though.

We play for high stakes in this house.

I’m a big fan of the TV show Lost.  I even managed to watch it when we didn’t have a TV.  This season is the last and there was an excellent synopsis that explained the past several, very confusing seasons.  Then they launched the new episode and now I’m lost in a parallel universe.  Here’s one of the Dharma Initiative vehicles which was abandoned near our house.

Yesterday I went for a cross country skiing explore and have the bruises to show for it.  I went to the local golf course and found a trail system that went on and on.  Portions of the trail under the trees were thin and snow barely covered the rocks and dirt where I fell. So I am bruised.   But I’m getting my downhill moxy back.

While I skied, Tim went for a walk up the mountain behind our house in search of a beaver pond and more moose prints.  Here’s a known moose print. I think it looks like the one we saw the other day.

Well not exactly but wolves and coyotes and fishers.   On Tuesday, our neighbor spotted a wolf down the road.  He followed tracks towards our house.  We’ve seen and heard coyotes and Tim saw a fisher.  Despite it’s name, it doesn’t eat fish but does eat cats.  So the cats have become home bodies. I followed coyote tracks a few weeks ago and then wondered how wise it would be to come upon a bunch of coyotes on my own.

We found an old logging trail into town yesterday and imagine  we saw moose tracks.  Whatever they were, they were big and round.  We’ve seen plenty of coyote tracks.

We thought we were on an old logging road, but there was actually someone logging in the woods, one person with a chainsaw and heavy equipment.  His wood pile was bigger than mine.

We had to ford the mighty Boquet where two bridges were washed out when a beaver dam broke this fall.  It looked like the water may have risen 20 feet or so.

Are you interested in raw fleece, spinning, knitting or family values?  This sounds like a Jehovah’s witness intro at the front door.  If you are, keep reading, if not, talk amongst yourselves.

Way back in the summer, I received the generous gift of pounds of fleece, Romney, Corriedale, I’m not sure, from Tim’s brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Pam.  We were living off the grid, with no hot water or bathtub at the time.  For about a week I combed the locks and washed them in a spackle bucket with liquid joy.  Then dried them on a towel, to the cat’s delight because it was the softest place to sleep in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage.  Well now I’ve spun and plied a few hundred yards and have started the first of several great-niece and nephew sweaters to return to the farm.

Spun, plied and wound on niddy noddy

I test knit a few swatches and have plans in mind for an aran cardigan and some kool-aid dyed colorful sweaters.  Now I have a regular production line going. Knit some finished yarn while I keep carding and spinning the washed fleece.  Once I have another large batch, I’ll start dying with Kool-Aid.  Where does the time go?