A Little Birdie Told Me...

 ...we might get a wintery mix tonight...this excites me...

...this is what the sky looks like; I do believe the little birdie might just have something, with those distant dark clouds in the far NW...only time will tell!

Do you like my little birdie?  Our friend and neighbor Charlie gave it to me today, when I delivered their mail.  He made it...I just might have to use this as a model and make some!  I really like it, thanks Charlie!

Speaking of mail...oh my gosh, that walk winded me today!  Each day, while on the river, I walked more than twice the mailbox distance...but it was flat, Florida flat.  My 1 mile hike to and from the mailbox today felt like climbing a mountain...oh, this is a mountain!...I can't believe that being away from this altitude for only 2 weeks makes such a difference!  Oh, I'm confident I'll get my wind back, but I was really surprised!  Funny thing is, the river walk makes my sciatic nerve unhappy, while my mountain walk has no effect that way, which is a good thing since I am here more than the river...they both have their fitness advantages, I guess it's good I get to switch them up now and then!   

Back to today, it's been one of those busy catch-up-after-vacation kind of days.  Mail to sort and respond to.  Putting away the last of the stuff we unpacked yesterday.  Catching up with the business of life and putting a to-do list together.  Tidying the yard (not the woods, those branches can stay where they are) of fallen branches.  Saying hello to our neighbors (so great to spend a couple hours with Bertie, missed you!), welcoming Charlie & Andrea back to the mountains, and seeing our friend Ronnie when he stopped by for a bit.  It's good to be back!

Speaking of fallen branches, check this out...this clump of Hemlock trunks broke during a wind storm while we were gone...

...the trees were dead (I've previously mentioned the Eastern Hemlock Blight that killed them all), so they are easy targets for strong wind, but I was astonished that the tops just seemed to be snapped off the trunks.  It's hard to gauge how big the trees are in the above picture, but when you look below, you can see both the trunks and the toppled tops in relation to the cabin.  Nature can be fierce, I'm just glad they didn't fall into the road, which is where I was standing to take the picture, on on the power lines, which are just over my head. 

Too bad Hemlock doesn't make for great firewood, (too much sap)...but I do believe we will have to collect some of this for future use...makes good starter wood!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise