Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Guess What? It's Still Snowing!

Yesterday afternoon we braved the snowy roads, trying to get to Joe's deer hunting spot. We soon realized it was far worse than expected. It took us twice as much time traveling on relatively major roads, which meant secondary roads were impassable, unless you're on a sled! Snowshoeing was out of question, since we had 4-5 more miles of the road to go yet. Joe is a bit doubtful if he can get into his spot by the end of this week for the opening day. He is depressed about that. He can only remember one other year in the past when the snow prevented them from hunting in the woods.
The wind was blowing hard, as well as snowing, all the while we were out and about. The big lake appeared almost white with so many big whitecaps. As we predicted, when we got home Joe had to blow as much snow as he did several hours ago. It was just crazy to think all this snow from one winter storm and wonder how much more snow before this is over. Nothing we could do about it, so we turned our snow day together into a gyoza pot sticker making day. We even made our own wrappers- Joe rolled the dough into circles, and I shaped them with fillings. The best batch ever!!
And this morning, the sun is coming out and the storm subsided. Even so, it's STILL snowing. These fluffy snow flakes dancing slowly down from the sky. A very magical picture. Once again Joe blew just as much snow, his third time in less than 24 hours. In the below picture is our neighbor's snow bank across from us. Just compare the size of the bank with his full size pickup truck, that is the black spots!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

What Month Is This?

Good morning from this winter wonderland. It started snowing yesterday early afternoon and has not stopped yet. They are predicting snow all day for the rest of today, maybe till tomorrow late a.m. The crazy thing is to know this monstrous winter storm originated as a typhoon over Japan. What a surprise package to receive by Air! Now, this is a bit too much for this early in season. Before deer season. So glad it was my day off; Joe got a snow day.
Joe just finished his first round of snow blowing for today. He needs to go out to his deer blind in woods to bait this afternoon... more like to see if our vehicle can get in to the road, let alone to his blind. I'm going to tag along with snowshoes. We'll post some more crazy snow pictures soon.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

White Halloween

Well, we actually had a WHITE Halloween this year. It was no surprise to see snow on Halloween up this north, but it was the first time Joe could remember that he had to shovel snow. Not until we cleared our driveway and sidewalk, could our trick-or-treaters walk up to our door for their candies! Surprisingly we had more trick-or-treaters this year even in this frigid cold.
Our Halloween dinner was not something I pre-planned or thought picture worthy... a teriyaki chicken dinner turned into egg omelet covered chicken fried rice. It was actually very tasty. Trust me. We both scarfed it down. Boo!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Halloween Pumpkins

It was only yesterday that we finally got our pumpkins. By then most places were close to being sold out, if not already out. Joe's uncle didn't have any pumpkins from his garden this year, and lots of other people had very few. We decided it was the Great Pumpkin Shortage of 2014! And Joe and I each ended up with a very different pumpkin. Mine was very tough-- the toughest pumpkin I ever carved!! But here they are: Joe's pumpkin is the one on left with lots of tooth, and mine on right with warts.
Happy Halloween to everyone!
As predicted it just started snowing here. I have a feeling that it's going to be a cold trick-or-treating tomorrow.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Rocky Horror

Even though we still haven't picked our pumpkins yet this year, we are getting into the Halloween mode. This Saturday we went to see our local Vista Theatre's annual production of the Rocky Horror Show. Our second time, just as crazy. But fun. Maybe next year I'll work a bit harder on my costume.... 
Joe put his old motorcycle leather jacket and a scar drawn on his forehead as Eddie from the show... well, his distant cousin Jake happened to play that character on stage this year. Unfortunately by the time we could snap this below picture, the real "Eddie" took his costume and make-ups off. Oh well.
Our rare wild night-out in town was complete with a quick stop at our new favorite "the Pit" to have a pint, or two. Too bad our friend Sarah couldn't join us because of her 5 a.m. shift in the morning. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Friday, October 24, 2014

After Trout Season...

The end of fishing season meant the beginning of another season. Once again this year Joe picked our grapes in the back yard, though we didn't have nearly as much as last year.
As always most of the grapes were turned into jelly. The fun thing about making our own jelly is that it tastes slightly different every year.
Besides squeezing grape juice and getting ready for deer season, Joe worked on two of our vehicles. He ended up spending a whole weekend just tackling much needed break/strut jobs on our Honda SUV.   
And I just offered a basic printing class for a small group of people. It was fun and inspiring.

We just wanted to let you know we're still alive!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Last Day of Trout Season

Yesterday was the last day of trout season. Both Joe and I took a day off and went to Apple Creek one last time for the year. Sad... but relieved to know that I can now relax without a case of trout fever. Maybe I can get some housework done!
It was also pretty exciting that a couple of salmon actually hit a spinner right off... though both went for Joe's instead of mine. I tried and tried to cast for another salmon under Joe's instructions, but no luck. Till the end it proved that catching a fish is not an easy act! Still it was definitely good fishing at our favorite spot.
Oh yeah, and I did not lose a lure-- a very good day fishing for me. Below is the second salmon Joe caught after a bit of fight.
Both salmon were male, which made Joe happy that he didn't have to clean and separate salmon roe for me. Tonight we are having a couple of fish lovers over for a salmon feast, including the salmon roe that have been packed in sweet soy sauce. Happy autumn for everyone!