Colville tripping....:-)

Just running around town and the house, doing winter type things.

One of our favorite stops is this German bakery for big pretzels. My Aunt Marie would turn in her grave if she knew I go to a German bakery, (we are Dutch and the Germans weren't that nice in the 1940's) but hey, they have a windmill on the front window...thats got to count for something.

This is what Main street in downtown Colville looks like after a small winter storm. Within a day or two they have large front-end loaders that remove the center piles.

Believe or not, under the snow is our street (Corbett Creek Rd.) before the snowplow came through. We are lucky that there are a few young children that take the bus to school...that is the only reason our dirt road is maintained by the county.

A few hours later after the plow came through our street looks great.

Donna is out helping me clear the driveway before we get another storm.

My father was very fond of saying "always do things in moderation"... this is me moderating!

Two days later we had a heavier wet snowfall and I gave up. We had a guy who was clearing a neighbors drive do ours too, for a nominal fee that is.

Even after four months I am still amazed at the view from our back patio in the morning...specially when the sun's shining, no small miracle. :-)

I can't imagine what caused this well packed trail in our backyard.

Okay, now I know who made the trail. Here they see me walking back from the mailbox and are hoping I'll toss a few apples. I'm down to one half box of deer apples and there are no more available...hence the alfalfa. 

We used to keep the backyard flood lights on in the evening but I couldn't get up from the couch without seeing a few sad faces hanging over the fence...begging. I shut the backyard lights off so I don't see them but every time I let the dogs out on the driveway there is one or two trying this new tactic...funny thing is, it works! They are so quiet that there have been many times I'm standing with the dogs only to turn around an have a doe surprise me by walking within 5 feet of me, staring pitifully with those huge sad "doe eyes".

I decided to apply myself to a new hobby... like gardening and the weather station wasn't enough. I picked a hobby that I knew would frustrate me to no end, but on with it anyhow. How hard could building birdhouses be, huh?

This is my very first birdhouse that really didn't come out as horrible as I thought it would...that would come later. This house is for "screech owls" and it needs a very specific place, about 150 feet from the house, to be successfully filled.

Not too noticeable from a distance, right angle to our storms and 12 feet up the pine.

I was up on a ladder talking to Donna on a cell phone to get just the right view from our living room. Donna used binoculars, adjusting me up a few, down some and which branches to break just so we might see some progress this spring. My second, third and fourth attempt at different designs brutally showcased my failings in woodworking...I suck! I would love to just keep making screech owl houses but they are loners, which I can relate.

In the small pan is a veggie soup, which is a leftover from a few nights ago. Donna thinks I'm goofy for using the stove but it is such a consistent heat, usually about 400 degrees (that's a small temperature gage in front of the pan) and this causes the soup to slowly warm without getting too hot. The large cast iron pot is filled with water...sort of a humidifier. I'll fill the pot three times a day which equals about 4 gallons of water.

Until next time....