Jeff and I are in Maine now, visiting his family. Jeff's parents live on an island just off the coastal city of Portland. I am right now looking out the window over the water towards the skyscrapers. Pictures coming soon.

Icy Hikes in Mountains Like No Others

Jeff and I took the dogs to Elk Garden today to go for a hike. It was 18 degrees and windy, probably bringing the wind chill well below zero. The dark clouds were rolling up the mountain from below and passing over just above our heads with breaks of sunshine in between. Ice coated over all the high trees and, despite the fierce wind, snow held onto the branches of the low shrubs for over an inch.....horizontally. It was a beautiful site..more than a camera lens could ever take in. Jeff and I donned hat and gloves although after coming into a pass that protected us from the wind, I shed mine. Dogs, as all good dogs do, enjoyed themselves immensely, running up and down the trails, biting and snapping at the snow and ice(and dog legs). (Ah, life with dogs...nothing compares.) We discovered tracks of squirrels, raccoons, deer, and fellow man on cross county skis. No snowshoes this time, although as we could walk almost on top of the hard crust of snow, the reason for snowshoes in this particular snow is questionable anyways. We had a great time freezing our faces and wearing good dogs out. Now we are back in our warmer highland valley with an even warmer wood stove.

How is that for a description..I forgot my camera :)

Dad and I got a start on the ceiling today. It was slow work....but it was much more enjoyable than putting up drywall on the ceiling. Hopefully Jeff and I will get it done before we leave for ME next week.

I've been tagged by Sara to share some of my bookmarks. OK Sara, you asked for it. Just to be nice (and because this could take all night), I'll limit it to ten.

1) Meadowview weather......because I am a weather guru. Check it first thing every morning and last thing every evening...just in case :)

2) http://www.blackdogwriting.com/ .....well he is my husband. :)

3) Harris Seeds ....one of the seed companies I use for the flower field.

4) A Daily Dose of Spurgeon...used to use this but been slacking

5) Mother Earth News..... what a shock, aye?

6) From Wits End ....sister Rachel's blog...sorry, not open to the public

7) OK..this will be seen as strange but I did say before....I love weather....I was obsessed with this over the summer . You will have to look yourself to see what it is. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php

8) http://www.forestryusa.com/jobs.htm ..... gotta look now and then....once a forester always a forester

9)Irrigation Made Easy... a future project

10) Stone walls....A present project

I tagged Rachel, Taylor, and Jeff.

Possibly an ent?!?!

The bedroom...so far

The work on the bedroom was slow this week. Jeff happened to get alot of work the same time that I discovered I couldn't put the plank paneling on the ceiling by myself. So I stained the planks and worked on repairing some of the drywall. All of the old ceiling is down now...a sooty job. I had to mop the floor three times to get rid of most of the soot that dropped down from the attic.

Meanwhile, this week, I finished my raised beds for my cold frames and worked on glazing the windows for the tops(not fun), made a good start on my seed and plant orders, made some big decisions on what to try this year and what not to, found out I was already behind on my seed planting, and made thousands of more questions for myself. Slow but steady....and so soon it will no longer be slow paced...and I will be wishing for winter again.

We saw at least 8 pairs of cardinals at the feeder today. Here are some of them.