"Whan That Aprile...."

With all apologies to Geoffrey, the April showers are leaving me a bit bummed out.  Pilgrimage?  The only place I want to go to is a warm beach, a sun bathed stretch of sand. That, my friends, is where I long to go on pilgrimage.  But anyway, lit references aside, how has YOUR April been?  Ours has been gray with a few sunny days sprinkled in just to keep our chins up.

Sunny days that make it all worth it

Mae had a birthday at the beginning of the month.  She's 2!  That seems like a milestone because when I got her, the rancher who gave her to me said that she would really settle down and be a much easier dog by the time she's 2.  Let's all laugh at THAT!  Sure, she's a bit easier and she's really filled out and is a SUPER athlete.  But Mae, my beautiful Mae, will never be an easy dog.  She is a damned cute girl though hey?

Birthday girl

Have a lovely spring!  Entertain, experience, accomplish, be deliberate, ENJOY.

February, Season Extender

I haven't posted much lately.  I have no idea why.  NO motivation to do so, honestly. Stuck in a snowdrift perhaps... 

We've had a few breaks in the ice storms, freezing temps and mega snowfall (normal pass weather finally!) and have been out and about around the neighborhood.  Though last week we had over 3 feet of snow in about 4 days, another highway closure, and a small dose of cabin fever. Mae and I have been enjoying our outings.  It's so pretty!! And it will extend the snowboard/ski season!  Hooray!

I finished the '30 day Yoga Challenge with Adriene'...it did take me 43 days, but I did it and am now completely sold on yoga.  What about you??

Two songs on my mp3 player, on repeat:

I am a Rock  Give it a listen...."I have my books, and my poetry to protect me"
I never noticed what a dark song it really is.  But I LOVE it.

And the Jerry Douglas, Mumford & Sons cover of The Boxer .  It's simply fabulous.  

And your February??  How is it?  Possibly no one is enjoying it as much as Mae.

Mountain Life, A Snow Day

You would think, living in the mountains with an average annual snowfall of over 400 inches of snow, that we would get a lot of "snow days", stuck at home, roads closed, no place to go.  Actually, it's fairly rare! But yesterday we had freezing rain in the forecast so I, mentally checked out, spent the day in the house doing laundry, binged watched some Nicholas Cage movies on Netflix (don't judge me man), baked brownies, played with Mae.

Unfortunately, today is a REAL "snow day".  The freezing rain, which came down like a sand, accumulated to about 8 inches or more, and I-90 is closed in both directions for today AND tonight.   Slides and debris have covered parts of the highway and conditions are too dangerous for crews to be out clearing. Trees are across the road and more are falling. It's going to be a long time before they get the highway cleaned up and open!  Locals are saying it's the worst ice storm they can remember in over 40 years of pass living.

What to do?? Well, Netflix is out right?  I mean how many bad movies can you stand?  (A lot actually).  I'm not making any more brownies, cakes or pie.  Maybe I will make an apple crisp though.  I've already done yoga and a weight work out....I've been out walking Mae twice .  I think we should venture up the mountain, do a little skinning, take a few turns.  

What does Mae think?  She might have the right idea....

2017, The Universe, Yoga I Can Stand

Hello and Happy New Year!  It's 2017!  Can you believe it?  When I was a kid I used to calculate how old I would be in THE FUTURE...Well, I don't think I ever went past the year 2000.  And here I am, in 2017.  No hover car, no personal robot, no trips to Mars....But it's close, right?  I have the mars curiosity rover on instagram and that just blows me away!!  Pictures of Mars, the red planet, on my phone?  Way cool!

Ok enough of my ramblings....here's the photo of Mae you've all been waiting for, waiting in the snow for snowballs.

I have a couple of things to share with you....remember the Altras?  The shoe to end all mountain running shoes?  Well sadly, I ended up returning them after about 3 months.  They were perfect, great shoe, scrambling around the mountain, running , hiking.  they kept me comfy and dry through October, the wettest October on record in Seattle.  They were warm and great into November.  And then, one day, my feet were WET!  They were leaking at the seams and also had really broken down after only about 100 miles of use. No cushion, dead shoes.   I spoke to a rep at Altra and he confirmed that because they are new shoes/boots for them they didn't really know what to expect.  The "neoshell" is not actually neoprene but a gortex like material.  Anyway, they went back....I couldn't justify the $160 retail price (I paid $140 thru Road Runner Sports and they have an excellent return policy).  I got a really ugly pair of Asics that are doing the job well enough for half the price.

Ok, The Universe....so I don't mean this in a Carl Sagan way, though I LOVE Mr. Sagan.  I am talking about all that Karmic stuff, you know, things working out in the end?  squaring up the score. settling accounts.... My daughter was complaining about how she didn't get a discount on her rent after a friend said she referred her AND a manager called and told her she would get $300 off rent....a different manager told her NO.  Because the friend didn't fill out the referall form correctly.  What??  As my daughter was telling me the story, the Boston Irish in me came out and I wanted to call said manager and tell her what a *#@! she is, but then....and this is pretty amazing for me....but then I thought "no, the UNIVERSE can handle this".  You know why?  Because the Universe can dole out some really nasty shit!  What can I do?  Swear into the phone?  Use my wit and language to come up with some mean, but to the point, derogatory insults?  sure...But the Universe....the Universe takes care of revenge and getting even in a BIG way. I have seen this first hand .  I have seen some terrible things happen to people that have not been very nice to me.  Really awful, life changing things.  And that's sad.  So, I am letting go of anger (yeah right, at least this month ok?) letting go of righting wrongs.  I'm not using my life energy on that pursuit.  I'm gonna just let Good ol' buddy Universe do it's stuff.  I will stand up for my rights, take matters into my own hands when it's logical.  Ask me how this is going in a few months though!

Yoga.  So I have always tried to do yoga and have literally hated it!  Hated the often false, mumbo jumbo breathing crap (all that breathing!) and the little outfits and mats and the stupidly presented calm.  Plus, physically it kills me!  And I am no slump when it comes to athletics.   But....I have this friend.  He is a really awesome person, the 70 side of 60.  I met him in grad school more than 25 years ago and, well, he's one of my favorite people on the planet.  He's an antsy one.  Always on the move, he runs, works out with weights, swims and DOES YOGA.  So, if your friend, a friend whom you love and trust, tells you something is good?  That's right,  You gotta check it out.  I managed to find YOGA I CAN STAND!!  Yoga, I will admit, I actually LOVE!  It's Yoga With Adriene, and I am 10 days into the 30 day yoga challenge.  She's real!!  She's like "yo, dude, we are gonna DO YOGA".  Well, maybe not quite like that, but the presentation fits me, fits what I look for in any fitness instruction, honest, straight forward, no nonsense guidance.  Fabulous personality,Yoga with Adriene works for me.  If you are thinking of adding yoga to your life, check out her youtube channel .  There are a lot of sessions to choose from and they are short and so do-able!  

Happy 2017!  Hope the year is filled with all good things for you!  We will be out playing in the snow, enjoying this beautiful mountain day~ ciao!

October

October was a busy month!  We bought a new car.  My husband's '04 WRX had over 370,000 miles on it and had to be put out to pasture.  It was on it's second engine, but everything else was worn out!  Within the next year, he will reach the point of having logged a million miles in Subarus!  LOVE them!

our new Subaru Crosstrek

I also went to las Vegas for a weekend with my daughter to celebrate her 21st birthday.  She turned 21 back in September.  We have been through a lot together, especially over the last decade.  She is a type 1 diabetic; life is not always easy.  It's a very challenging disease to live with 24/7.  So, we thought it was a great occasion to get a little over the top and celebrate her birthday!  

We have both tired of telling this story, but....so we got tickets to see Billy Idol.  She has always been a fan since she was a kid.  No idea why....she also bought a Meet and Greet ticket!    Let's just say that didn't go as planned.  Some nit wit (this is the G rated version) a couple of people ahead of my daughter (who was about 6th in line out of 100) decided to try to KISS BILLY!!  That ended with him freaking out, swearing and storming off, cancelling the M&G and threatening to cancel the show!  Some people just can't follow the rules!!  After a lot of waiting and chaos over a couple of hours, we arrived at our table.  The offending fan was eventually taken away by security.  The concert was GREAT.  Excellent venue, super staff and a great show.  It wasn't exactly the experience she had dreamed of, but not many of us get to see a rock star freak out from five feet away!  Now that is a memory!!

October has been rainy...very rainy.  I thought I was being premature complaining about it until I read that this October has been the RAINIEST on record in the Seattle area. (about 10 inches)  We tend to get a bit more rain here in the mountains, so no wonder it's been getting to me!!!  Every day is wet and dark.  Every day is wet and dark.  Did you hear me?  Every day is WET and DARK!!  Gotta think snow....there is some up high.  Hopefully, November will be white!

Mae and I wish you all a very happy month ahead.  Hope your days are dry and bright!  

Blue Sky, Bobcats and UFO's

It's been a busy week or two here.  We've had some beautiful weather and warming temps which have resulted in spring snow conditions.  My husband and I have been able to get up on the mountain, skinning up on our split boards with Mae along of course. 

Just LOVE a blue sky day!

We had two very interesting "sightings" this week.  One was real....I happened to look out the window one morning to see this kitty. It took me a few seconds to realize what I was seeing and when I grabbed my phone to get a photo, well, it wasn't a good shot!  The birdfeeder got in the way, but that is a bobcat!

The other sighting was a bit more dramatic and unreal....ufo's! My husband went out to walk the dog and came back in yelling for me to come outside, there were LIGHTS IN THE SKY!!  Unidentified of course...

a ufo sighting in the mountains

I want to believe!

We watched them for about 15 mins.  There were 5 of them in a line at first, then they changed formation.  We couldn't tell what in the world they were! They were silent, moving together, would disappear and reappear. Other people on the mountain reported seeing them.  Well, it turned out that a group of people staying in a mountain - side residence had let off several Chinese lanterns....I was so disappointed!!  ( Now I know how Mulder feels) It was a lot of fun while it lasted though.

The weather has returned to fog and rain, a bit of snow. It may be awhile before we have another blue sky day.  We are planning on going to a few Seattle Breweries tomorrow for Valentine's beer, I mean Valentine's DAY.  I hope your holiday weekend is a great one!  Did you get outside? Have an adventure?  I hope so!

Green Grass

One of the things I truly love about where I live is that I can be on snow, xc skiing, snowboarding or just running around , maybe sitting on a snowbank....

....and then with a 30 minute drive?  I can be in a completely different place, usually 10-20 degrees warmer and the grass is green!  By February the Seattle area has flowering trees and shrubs in bloom, everything is green, though a bit soggy, and it really feels like spring!  But with the snow pack we have this winter, we will be enjoying "winter" sports well into May.  Not a bad deal really.

It was actually a bit warm for her at 50 degrees!  Used to the snow and cold weather.

Back Track

First, let's get the photos of Mae out of the way....I realize I should possibly change the name of this blog to Mountain Mae instead of Me.  But if you own a dog, especially a young dog, you know that they completely take over your life!

the "I hear a Subaru" face

close up

Snowshoe trail , so perfect for Mae~

Ok, now that that is done...let's back track a bit.  

Remember the book list?  There were a couple I wanted to mention.  The most memorable book I read last year was "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara.  Huge book, over 700 pages, and the Amazon description made it sound like a nice little romp through the lives of a group of college friends.  It was so much more!  And I won't spoil anything for you but I will say the reason it stayed with me and was so memorable is that the story was not what I expected at all.  The other reason was that the writing was VERY good , and in places (little places) even reminded me of Whitman.  However, there were a couple of flaws in the book that really made it  tumble off the GREAT list. One is the fact that you had to read about 500 pages to find out what had happened in the main character's life.  By then did I care??? No.   I pretty much skipped through that part of the book.  The other thing was that in places it started to feel like a script for Law & Order, SVU.   

A nice surprise was James Robertson's , "The Testament of Gideon Mack".  Very enjoyable, fun read about a man, a man of the cloth, who meets the devil!

Biggest disappointment?  Donna Tartt's , "The Goldfinch".  I had heard and read so much about this book and it is a good story, I'll give it that.  But I don't know....again, very lengthy and in places I felt it was just d r a g g i n g.   It wasn't completely satisfying for me. Was it for you?

The most unusual way to find a recommendation? Well it was word of mouth but I can't follow the dots on this one.  Too much music, too much beer perhaps.  I was out one night to see a band and met a professor of biology who was sitting next to me .  We got talking about beer, as he ran a beer club at the college.  Somehow he ended up recommending The Unbearable Lightness of Being....Remember that movie?  Well, it was dreamy right and  it certainly made me have a little crush on Daniel Day-Lewis.... it  was 1988, of course I had a crush on him.  But I had never read the book and of course the book is TOTALLY DIFFERENT.   Author Milan Kundera said later that he would NEVER allow a film from one of his works. I can't say that I blame him.

Running.  I will be honest I haven't had a real run since October!  I felt great then but in early November I got hit by some nasty virus that had me out for 3 weeks and then bad weather bollowed by our current snowpack have made actual running a bit problematic.  That's where snowshoes, xc skis and snowboards come in handy!  

Coffee.  Yup, still drinking it.  In moderation mstly.  I think I have found a balance with the bean.

Not much else to report here.  I got a splitboard for Christmas and hope to get out and use it soon.  A splitboard is a snowboard that essentially has been cut in half!  You can then wear it like skis with "skins" on the bottom to make it sticky and walk up the mountain. When you get to the top you  put it back together to ride down!   

"skinning" up

Happy trails!  Hope the new year has brought good fortune and good times!

Stumps

Mae At The Creek

I know it's been awhile and I need to write about the rest of my book list, but I can't resist sharing this photo of Mae checking out the creek.  The weather has been beautiful here!  October!!

Mae at Gold Creek

Days At The Lake

Our lake days are fading fast as the water recedes further and further.  It is used for irrigation east of the mountains and this year with low snow pack, it hasn't filled up as the water is drained out, so, we are about a month ahead with very low water.  However, that doesn't mean that we aren't still enjoying cooling off and paddling around on these very hot days!  And Mae, our 5 month old pup, is especially enjoying it!

I hope that summer is treating you well!  Keep cool and enjoy!

Mae This Week

Weekend Project: A New Outhouse

We have a recreational property in Central Washington and it's a bit rough, but very very peaceful and wonderful.  When we bought it a decade ago, the previous owners had an outhouse that was one of those Dept of Fish and Wildlife fiberglass models (looks like a fat rocket) which was crudely set up over a hole on some bricks and cement blocks. Over time, the floor started to rot and become a little squishy.  The entire thing sort of rocked on it's base and felt  quite tippy  and, to make matters worse, my husband stored the chainsaw in there which dripped some chain oil and made the floor very slick!  Even more hazardous, the seat was never attached!  So, it was time to replace our "bathroom" facility!  Now, to be honest , we didn't complete this in a weekend!  But I think if you are very organized and remember EVERYTHING you need, you can do it.  In all so far we have spent 3 afternoons working on it.  it is nearly complete, just needs the metal roofing, ventilation and a door!  Then a bit of finish work.  But here are some photos of the work in progress....  

Bottom of old outhouse

Here's the base of the new outhouse framed out with the old rocket shaped one in the background. When we pushed the old one over we were surprised how little effort it took to send it rolling down the hill!  We spent a fair amount of time debating the size of the new one but finally ended up with a 4x4 frame, 8 feet tall.  This eliminated a lot of cutting as it just used standard sizes for lumber.

We will build the door at home and bring it over to attach it.   We found one of the things that slowed us down was just forgetting little items we needed!  We do have electricity on site and used a couple of extension cords to power our tools which was great.  I hope very soon to have a picture of the finished project to show you !  I'm excited to have a great new outhouse!!  Clean, not tippy, and so far, no spiders!!!   

Monday Things, Rain and Chickens

Yes, I know it's Tuesday.  I'm a bit behind.  Maybe it will cycle around and I'll be ahead?

We've been getting some rain in the mountains and it's a good thing.  If we go too long without rain in The Northwest we all get a bit anxious. It's refreshing and relaxing.  Good coffee drinking weather.

(image from Garden Of Words)

Have you noticed that it's becoming more popular to keep chickens?  We have always known a few friends who have had chickens, usually in rural areas. But chickens are showing up in urban settings, the suburbs and yes, even in the mountains.  A neighbor up the road has a pretty nice coop set up, complete with metal roof for snow that matches and is attached to his home.  I ran into another neighbor yesterday who told me they have chickens "in the bathtub".  Their coop is decidedly more basic, $20 worth of materials attached to the porch gives the chickens shelter and keeps them close.  There are a lot of options for your chicken home.  I saw This Place on a recent trip through Ballard.  While I don't think I could keep chickens myself I certainly admire those who are taking it on, especially in the mountains where there's an extra challenge to it.   

Have you noticed chickens in your neighborhood?  Do you have chickens?  I do like the thought of fresh eggs....Happy Spring!

SNOW TODAY

A LITTLE LATE TO THE PARTY, DON'T YOU THINK??

One Sunny Sunday

Groomed

Finally today we had enough snow for the groomer to cut track out on the Iron Horse Trail!  We saw the groomer go by and got out for a quick, early xc ski, the FIRST of the season.   It was a good thing we hit it early because about an hour after this photo was taken some blustery snow turned to freezing rain.... 

So glad we got out on this very gray day and had fresh cut track!  It may be awhile until this happens again!  Have a great weekend....and if you are a football fan, I have one thing to say to you....GO HAWKS!  

Four-Letter Word Thursday?

So as an alternative to "wordless Wednesday", I'm offering up 4-letter word Thursday.  And here is my photo .  Caption it RAIN.  What did you think I was going to say?  That's right, I took that today, December 11th.  The Magic Carpet isn't looking very magical, the chairs are stuck in a wan, weary place. My snowboard sits lonely in the garage.  My new snowboard jacket is hanging itself in the closet.  There is NO snow, no snow in the forecast for the next few days at least.  Got another 4-letter word you want to offer up to me?  

Summit at Snoqualmie, December 11 , 2014

Mid November....

Well, here it is mid-November, where's the snow?  It's not here.   It's not on the ground. It's not in the forecast, not a flake.  Even all the way out through next week.  There's a chance of rain but the freezing level is going up to 9000 feet!  It's mid-November. 9000 feet?  Come on!

This past week the skies have been crystal clear, but temps have been in the teens and a windstorm left us without power for 24 hrs.  We even dragged out the generator so we could watch a movie on the laptop.  Romantic?  No, not really.  The only upside of clear skies is that the crew working on the new chair lift has had some great days to get cracking on that.  It's not every day you see a new chairlift being built and it's been pretty cool!  I wish I could show you the shiny new towers but the day I hiked up I forgot my camera (duh, right?).  That's okay, I will be able to show you them in action this winter.  In the mean time, here's a picture of the Chinook that was helping the crew place the towers and remove logs from the slope.  It was here in the neighborhood for 3 or 4 days and even flew on the day with 40 mph wind gusts.  It was a lot of fun to watch!

As you can see, some of those logs were really, really big!  That one in the bottom picture in particular was probably hundreds of years old.  Coincidentally, we had just watched the X-Files episode about the loggers ....the ones who went missing...the ones hunted down by insects hatched out of old growth timber?  And Scully and Mulder end up trapped in giant cocoons.....??  Remember??   Well, I believe. :)

Think Snow

Yeah, yeah, I know it's only August but it's been HOT and smokey and the neighbors are getting restless.  We are all starting to THINK SNOW!

Too early?