Brrrrr!!!

OK, so it's nowhere near record cold for Wisconsin*, but it's still cold! -16.5 degrees F (-27 C)

* Coldest December temp in WI.... December 19, 1983 -52 Couderay, in Sawyer County... Not far from here.

The Winter of 2013-2014 Arrives!

We've had a couple of snowfalls this winter season, but most of it melted a few days later. I think that trend is over. On Monday afternoon is started snowing. I figured we got 6 or 7 inches before it stopped on Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday, It started up again as sleet. When the temps started to drop off it turned to snow again. It quit sometime over night. Last night, before it quit completely, I snow blowed the driveway. I wanted to get the heavy sleet soaked snow off before it got any colder and set up like snow concrete!

I went out this morning and cleaned up the end of the driveway and removed the slow that the county plow left behind. I brought out the 4' ruler and found a protected patch of snow. I measured a bit over 12 inches.

The forecast for our area has cooler temps for the next couple of days...

A few shots of Winter bliss in the woods....

A Little Daytime Visitor...

It's been somewhat warm the last couple of days with highs near 40. Today, it was overcast with a very light rain. Before noon, we had a cute little visitor in the back yard. A tiny, young, black bear... We didn't see Mama and we weren't about to go outside to find her! I hope he's not an orphan, Wisconsin's bear season ended last month.

He was nosing around the bird feeders. He eventually knocked down a suet feeder and stole the blocks of suet...

The cats sat and quietly watched him. If Little Boy Kitty were still alive, he'd have been growling like a dog!



It's been a couple of days since the bear was around, but today I looked outside and there he was... Eyeing up the feeders...again!

The sun was shining so the pics are better. This one gives you an idea of just how tiny he is...

A few more in the sunshine...

Moving the Rocks...

Today was a great day to finish up some late season outdoor projects. There really wasn't much landscaping done in the front of our house other than a some oddly placed and misshapen Yews that the prior owners had planted. They must have dumped a few bags of mulch between the sidewalk and the house. Over time, most of the mulch disappeared, then weeds took over. The run off from the roof was making large puddles next to the house.
That area was built up with some with some dirt from the garden. I leveled it out and sloped away from the foundation, covered it with plastic to keep out the weeds, and topped it with the rock that had been dumped in our driveway last week. It's hard to see the true colors in these pictures, but it's "river rock" so it will be all different colors, but mostly browns, grays, reds, and black.

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

I brought out the snow blower and got it ready for winter. I had changed the oil in it this spring and also ran it out of fuel. All I had to do was fill the gas tank, hit the primer a couple of times and it fired off on the second pull. I put the lawn mower away too.

The Second Snowfall...

I wish I could post something motorcycle related, like photos from a ride through the woods, but I've got nothing. The weather's been very cool lately and this morning we woke up to find this winter's second dusting of snow.... Beautiful!

The deer were on the patio looking for for some bird food and maybe a pumpkin. This is a mom and her little boy...

While I was typing this, Rick Gruel Landscaping showed up to do some work. Nancy wants a garden next year, and I needed to do something with the space between the sidewalk and the house. An hour later I have the start of a garden spot, a yard of rock, and some fill next to the house. Now the heavy work begins. I hope the weather improves!

I built another rack for wood. It's been too cold to stain it so it's still raw wood. I've been working on filling it with some ready to burn oak that had found it's way out of the woods and has been piling up on my driveway...

The First Snow of 2013-2014

The sky has been gray the last couple of days with off and on rain. This afternoon, the temps must of dropped just enough for the rain to turn to snow.

The Squirrels, Chipmunks, and Juncos are busy gathering up seed as fast as they can...

The Deer have come up to nibble on some spilled bird seed too...

I know this snow wont last long, and better weather is a head, but it's a cold reminder that winter is not far away.

I was really looking forward to a dry spell. I still have to get the bikes to town to top off the gas tanks and get the Sta-bil added. The lawn needs another cutting/leaf mulching, and I still have one more log rack to build.

I did manage to gather a nice load last week. I need to cut it to 16" logs, split and stack it! Those are mostly 4' lengths of dry Oak.

A few pictures from 10-21-13.... before the temps warm up and the snow goes away!

Fall Color Photos #3

It's amazing how fast the colors change! It seems like I was just saying how slow and unorganized the change was this year. Well I'd have to say that in my neighborhood, the colors may have hit their peak a few days ago. There are still lots of great colors, but some trees are bare or almost bare. A lot depends on where you are, and what variety of trees you're looking at.

A few Maple leaves from some of the different varieties of Maples in the yard.

This is from this morning. It's just a few feet into the woods on the south side of our home...
There's a neighbor over there somewhere. Their place is about 600' away through the woods.

Looking towards the west... This is a cluster of trees that's kind of a buffer between the house and the road.

Towards the north. This was a bright red Maple tree a few days ago...

I found some aerial shots of the area around our home. It's easy to differentiate the Oaks and Maples... The 2 houses across the street from us are used a "cabins" and only occupied a few weeks a year.

Being retired has it's advantages. I've been able to spend a couple hours in the woods behind the house. Without having to cut down any of the dozen or so standing dead Oaks, I was able to find plenty of downed stuff that was off the ground and dry. It looks like I'll have to build another wood rack in the garage for more dry stuff.