Here We Go Again

It's a quintessential Sunday around here.  The snow is piling up in perfect silence outside, we just came back in from sledding shenanigans, the fire is crackling, and all is calm on the Eastern Washington front.  And so has been the ebb and flow of life the last few days....

The snow began sometime this morning.  We have been waiting somewhat patiently!  As I've mentioned before El Nino has somewhat destroyed our hopes of getting snowed in (and using the snow mobiles), so we watch closely to the weather report when any snow is predicted.  After testing out a new coffee cake recipe (not super impressed) we bundled up and headed out for some extreme sledding behind the quad.  Cam pulled us up, down, and all around the property.  We recently bought an "otter sled," which is supposed to be the toughest sled out there... perfect for homestead activities: hauling wood, supplies, animals, kids, moms, etc.  I have to say it has probably already earned it's keep.  Kendyl has started to enjoy the snow a bit more than she did at first, but still is not a glove lover, so naturally hates that burning cold feeling that happens when she takes them off..Ouch


One of the most exciting property developments that has occurred this week was Rigg's discovery of a predator skull near our gravel pile behind the shop.  Cam came in and showed me the ripe smelling remains and we immediately went to work identifying it.  This is the website ( http://thieroutdoors.com/black-bear-vs-mountain-lion/) http://thieroutdoors.com/black-bear-vs-mountain-lion/ found that helped us determine that is was in fact a..............................................COUGAR!!!  Based on the teeth, shape size, eye sockets, we ruled out bear.  Talk about home schooling, what a better way to learn than by having something in your hands.  We hypothesized that maybe a bird dropped it, or possibly a coyote drug it there.  Our area definitely has bear, cougar, and bobcat, so we know they are around us.

We've hardly made a dent in our log pile, and finally we have gotten the kids interested in helping (child labor at it's finest)!  Like Cam says wood warms you more than once (splitting, stacking, moving, burning); so we have yet to be cold.







My days of freedom are coming to an end tomorrow when I start back to school in the morning.  I am feeling much more equipped for success this quarter, and although I know it's a challenge, at least I have some space and technology on my side.  We are already talking about spring and the chores we'd like to get accomplished.  I can smell the pine trees and sage already.