A Couple of Busy Days ...

June 21, 2016

We decided to have BBQ salmon for dinner today ...

the salmon was put into the FoodSaver marinating dish ...

in a combination of soya sauce ... brown sugar ... lemon pepper ... garlic powder ...

oil and water ... for a couple hours ...

then grilled on the BBQ ...

It was so flaky and delicious ...

This recipe is a keeper ... !!!

We had quite the storm this afternoon ...

and once it had passed ... the sun shone behind us and displayed this beautiful rainbow ...

Mike had a resident Robin ...

that was insistent on building its nest on top of the light fixture by the shop ...

After I took a few pictures ... these young birds had flown the coop ...

Now Mike can clean up the nest and build a cover over the light fixture ...

We also received the picture of Ella at her dance recital ...

then it wasn't a few days later that Ella had a spill ...

from riding her scooter to pick up the mail ...

Nathan ended up spending the evening at the hospital ...

while Ella received a few stitches ...

June 25 & 28, 2016

Mike was busy sprucing up the quads ... fixing a few minor issues ...

except for Ella's quad had a motor mount broken ...

so Grandpa had to weld it up and put it back together ...

as the grandchildren were planning on coming for a visit ...

On June 28 ... already summer ...

Nathan drove home from work in a snowstorm ...

the roads were covered ... wet and a mess ...

and Grandpa was swimming in to pool at the same time ...

It's strange how different the weather can be from one place to another ...

 

 

Leaving Arizona ...

March 22, 2016

We left Arizona in the afternoon ...

it was a beautiful warm day ...

We landed in Salt Lake City in a snowstorm ... it took us an extra 30 minutes ...

for the airlines to de-ice the plane ...

before we flew to Kalispel ...

It was a beautiful day for our drive home ... we were talking about our great trip ...

and then about 40 mins from home ...

a deer leapt out of the ditch and ran into our vehicle ...

as another deer came from the other side of the road ...

Mike did a great job of driving and not too much damage was done ...

Unfortunately the deer did not survive ... we did contact the authorities ...

to let them know where the deer was laying ...

We did have a lovely time visiting with Dave and Linda ... !!!

 

Early Season Firewood ...

Tuesday was a beautiful ... warm ... sunny day ...

We were informed about some firewood that had already been bucked up ...

and stock piled ... ready to be picked up ...

Hard to believe that it was T-shirt weather in February ... !!!

We decided to take the trailer down to the woodpile ...

instead of hauling the log splitter to split the wood ...

There were quite a few very large pieces ... we were able to drop the ramp ...

and roll these logs onto the trailer ...

to be dealt with when we had more time to split them ...

We had decided we should pile the wood by the woodshed ...

I had asked Mike to check and make sure that we could drive up the back driveway ...

as it was snow covered ... hard packed and icy ...

Mike thought we should be able to make it ...

WELL ...

we didn't ... the truck kept sliding sideways on the ice ... into the snow ...

Mike was stuck ... the load was too heavy on the trailer ...

to gain any traction ... hence digging himself deeper in the snow ...

"Let me out" ... I did not want to slide down the road ... !!!

Mike then set off the trailer ...

and was going to get the tractor ....

Mike started rocking the truck and was able to drive thru the backyard ...

around the pool and down by the outdoor wood furnace ...

to the driveway ...

What a mess in the yard ...

This momma was not happy ... !!!

Mike cleared some snow and was able to lift the trailer up with the bucket ...

to push it back so that he could latch onto it and drive it to the parking area by the shop ...

to unload the logs there ... and be dealt with another day ...

Thank goodness for the ramp ...

we rolled these huge pieces down off the trailer ...

Then Mike scooped up the runaways ...

and dumped them on the pile ...

That was enough for today ... the sun was disappearing and it was getting cold ...

for me ... it was time to hit the hot tub ... !!!

 

 

More Snow ...

January 20, 2016

Mike and I had cleared all the snow the day before ...

it started to snow that evening ...

and when we awoke the next morning ... another 6-7 inches of snow had fallen ...

Here we go again ... we're sure getting our exercise these last few days ...

It had also warmed up a bit and now the snow was sliding down off the roof ...

I was sitting by the window sipping on my coffee ...

watching a little Nuthatch gathering seeds ...

It took me a few hours to shovel off the deck ...

I toss it over the railings onto the driveway below ... so that Mike it plow it away ...

I couldn't believe how much snow there was ...

the stairs were pretty well buried ...

My job was finally completed ... so I decided to take a few pictures ...

for my photography course ...

I was learning so much about my cameras and the different settings to use ...

Mike was busy now clearing the snow away ...

After I had taken some pictures ... I knocked down the snow hanging over ...

on this part of the deck ...

and shovelled it over the railings again ...

 

January 22 & 23, 2016

I took two pictures on the 22nd ... of the back and front deck ...

with snow that had fallen off the roof ... around 6:00 pm ...

I decided not to work that evening ... I would clear the snow in the morning ...

Mike had gone into town on the 23rd ...

I went out to shovel the snow off the decks ... it didn't take me too long with this little bit ...

I had just gone inside to make myself some lunch ... and relax ...

then around 2:30 ... I heard a loud noise ... and like a crack of icing breaking ...

down came the last slab of snow from the top of the roof ...

down onto the front deck...

and the weight and pressure from the snow ... blew out three panes of glass from the railings ...

one of them slid down the snow onto the driveway ...

and the one closest to the stairs was just hanging there ...

the other one just had a corner that popped out ...

As I heard the snow sliding down ... I prayed that it wouldn't break the glass panels ...

and thank goodness it didn't ...

I waited until Mike came home ... to help with the glass panels...

he was able to tap it back into place ...

Mike took the other two glass panels up to the shop to store them ...

we will replace them in the spring ...

Our plan was to have snow brakes put on the metal roof ...

but the snow came early last year ... plus there were no roofers to do the job ...

Installing snow brakes are definitely on the top of our to-do list this year ...

to prevent this from happening again in the years to come

 

From Sun to Blizzard …

Sunday … February 16, 2014

Another fabulous day skiing in the back country …

When I left the house the sun was shining …

when I arrived at our meeting place … we were in a blizzard …

we drove up to km 11 and were in the sunshine again …

It was a beautiful day for skiing … until the end of the day ….

then we were back in the blizzard … all the way home …

As we made our way down the mountain … almost to the 1 km mark …

we came upon the first couple that had left from the 11 km mark …

apparently he had moved over to let another truck pass by …

when his front tire was drawn into the deep snow bank …

trying to drive out of it …

his truck headed for the other side of the road and slid into the ditch …

they felt like they were floating in the deep snow …

and because of the angle it had gone in … it toppled over on its side …

Grateful that no one was injured …

The tow truck came and they were able to drive home …

Hope we do not have an ending like this again …

after a wonderful day of skiing  … !!!

Clash of Heads ….

This is what happens when you are having fun …

in a bouncy castle …

and you clash heads with your brother …

ouch … quite the shiner James … !!!