Snow, Everyday Stuff and the Start of Another Holiday Season

We're getting up and going this morning to a temp of 32° and snow coming down heavily.  Forecast is for wet snow all day . . . which is not good news for travelers in the area.  We have friends who are leaving this morning for a long drive to Iowa to spend the holiday weekend with family.  It's the busiest traveling time of the year, it's said, so we're sending good wishes for safe travels for everyone traversing roads to be with family and friends.  We will be staying snug and cozy here at home.

For many years when we were still living in Illinois, we would leave Wednesday night after Papa Pea got done with his work day, and drive all night to get up here to northern Minnesota.  This was a time before we purchased property in the area, so would stay with a bachelor friend who had a resort on an inland lake.  I would spend two or three days at home before we left preparing a full turkey, sometimes goose, dinner with all the trimmings which we brought along for the Thanksgiving meal.  (Gak, what a whole lot of work that was!)

I leave my fall decorations in our window boxes until they are replaced with the Christmas/New Year ones after this coming weekend.  After our first blowsy snow last Friday, they were totally encrusted in ice and snow.  In this picture taken yesterday, you can still see a smidge bit of crusty snow on the sides of the pumpkins.  Now with this new snow today, I may have to chisel them out when I want to redecorate in a couple of days! 

Although the tall, tall asparagus ferns had lost their vibrant green color and turned yellow, they were still standing upright . . . until this wet snow this morning.  Actually, I had hoped the snows would bend the ferns over on the patch to act as a natural mulch/insulation for the roots in the soil.  Mission accomplished, I'd say.

Our driveway is currently a skating rink in certain parts which makes for some exciting turns driving out on the slight downhill.  Coming back in can be exciting, too, because one has to keep up a certain amount of speed to get up the incline . . . without ending up sideways in the woods.  All part of the fun and challenge of winter time in the north woods.

Yesterday afternoon Papa Pea and I unloaded thirty-five fifty pound bags of feed from our flatbed trailer to get them under cover.  (That would be 1,750 pounds if anyone's counting.)  We order our organic feed from a company about 200 miles from here and it's delivered by Fed Ex.  Usually they bring it on a truck that can get in and out of our place with no problem, but this time the driver had a semi and called to ask if we could meet him out on the highway.  Papa Pea did so where the driver loaded the whole pallet of feed onto our trailer which then was driven in.  Hubby and I formed our own little chain brigade and got all the bags safely stored inside in preparation of the wet weather today.  (Does moving 1,750 pounds of feed count as weight bearing exercise?)  Now they just need to be moved another 15 or so feet into the feed room.

Well, our oatmeal is ready for breakfast.  Would you like homegrown blueberries on yours?  Make mine with some sliced banana, too, please.  Then I'll be doing what make-ahead preparations I can for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.  And I may even get out the ol' vac and chase some dust bunnies around.  Couldn't hurt.