UPDATE 28 DECEMBER 12

We are in a high pressure system here in the Bitterroot.  No new snow to speak of and the valley is filling with a haze.   Have not went skiing because there is no new powder to speak off.  Been doing some nice walks up here above the haze, but it is climbing so we will be in haze in the not to distant future if we don't get some wind. 

Elaina showed up with some apples for the horses yesterday when we fed.  Some of our horses like apples, others don't.  She had a good time feeding them though.

Her favorite horse is Smokey Legs so she was the first to try the apples.

Jack just likes to be petted.

Breeze gets his turn to try an apple.

Zeph watching all this from his perch on a bale in the back of the pickup.

Bill Cody with an apple in his mouth.

Took Zeph for a walk down to the meadow and up around the rocks to get out of the house and get some fresh air.  He is like all of our dogs - you say "go for a walk" and he goes nuts.  

Not much snow around our place.

CHRISTMAS

Christmas 2012 has come and gone.  Today is the 26th and Connie said it was great not having anything that we really had to do today.  That was nice.  We had a good Christmas as we always do.  Christmas Eve saw us down at my brother's place with all his family for their little get together.  It was nice seeing the kids we don't get to see but maybe once a year.  They have a "steal a gift" time that is always fun.  Lots of laughs.  Christmas day Connie and I went skiing and it was one of the coldest days we have ever skied.  Single digits and the wind was really blowing so it was the wind chill that really got us.  Since there was no new powder, we made a few runs then headed home and went for a walk. 

Zeph with his leg bone from a roast we saved for his Christmas present.

Not much snow left down in the valley.

Brother Gary in the calm before the storm.

The storm - lots of presents and lots of people.

Connie and Zeph with a ball throwing device he got for Christmas. 

And the next day they tried it out.  Man can Connie throw a tennis ball with it!

Zeph loves to chase tennis balls and bring them back.

Our crowded resort.  Not much powder left, just little spots like the one behind me.

Grand niece Elaina helping me and Zeph feed the horses.

GETTING CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS

We have been working on getting ready for Christmas.  I can't believe we got so far behind in getting ready for it this year.  I thought we had another week last week, but that was not the case.  On the Pro Leisure Circuit you don't really watch the calendar that much so I will use that as an excuse.

We went skiing yesterday (Thursday) and they had 7 inches of new snow.  But it was windy and cold and the powder had a lot of wind slab built up.  The wind chill factor was -30 degrees on chair 4 at the top so needless to say, they never opened that chair up.  The wind had also blown away a lot of the snow on the ridge line so that would have made it a little dicey getting to some of the runs.  We skied until about noon and then headed home after a little lunch.  Last night we went over to Ike and Brenda's for a little Christmas celebration as they are headed to the Seattle area to see their oldest boy Rustin who is in the Army at Ft. Lewis.  Had a great time and ate a lot of steamed clams - so good.

Puppy Zephyrus is growing and maturing.  He now knows to keep the deer out of the yard. He only takes them to the edge of the lawn so that is good.  He loves to go feed the horses and really gets excited when Gary drives up with his pickup to go feed.

Zeph has two deer headed out of the yard.

ANOTHER "DIFFERENT" CHRISTMAS TREE BY CONNIE

Connie has always been a little bit different, but her Christmas trees have always been something that sets her apart.  This year is no exception.  She has had a large paper birch in our cabin in North Pole that was one of my favorites, a sagebrush over at the ranch, willow trees, a saguaro cactus made out of horseshoes, and a few more odd ones.  This year she has again surprised family and friends with a Christmas Tree made from old barbwire and an old pine tree.  A picture is the best way to convey what she dreamed up.

Some work in the shop.

And the end product.  Zeph wonders what this is doing in his house.

 

SKIING MORE POWDER

We were lucky to have some more powder skiing today at Lost Trail.  Could not believe there was still so much powder up there.  The have added another 300 acres of skiing this year by thinning a bunch of lodge pole pine that came in after the fires of 2000.  The trees used to be so thick you could not walk through them easily.  Now with the thinning, you can ski through them.  The thinning was done to try and keep them from getting the pine beetle infestation that is happening in the west.  But a lot of people do not like to ski in the trees I guess so there was a lot of untracked powder plus an additional 4 or so inches of new snow.  What an incredible week we have had skiing at our little resort.  So much powder and so little time!!  And hardly anyone skiing today.  Ike, Brenda, Connie, and I really had a great day.  I did do a somersault through the air when I hit a hole that caused my skis to come off and I keep going.  Landed on my head so nothing got hurt.  Connie even got a picture of me trying to get my skis back on.

Ike and Brenda getting a coffee and cocoa at the yurt.

Putting back on my skis after my little wreck.  You can see the snow in my helmet that was buried with my head still in it.

This is the new terrain we are skiing.

The trees are spaced pretty good for making turns now.  

Connie making good powder turns.

And so is Ike.

Here we have three of the old guys working on putting a new phone number in their cell phones.  And these cell phones are pretty old, but still work if you only use them once a week.  Average age of these guys is in the mid 70's but they are up skiing all the time and are very good skiers.

SKIING POWDER AND OTHER THINGS

We had a great ski day yesterday at our little resort.  Ten inches of new powder and not very many people at the resort.  We skied until almost closing time and all of us were just plain tired.  I did not make the first chair, but I made the 5th chair and was able to get first tracks down Lightning and Moose Creek runs.  Then lots of untracked powder over on chair 4 when they opened it up.  Just one of those great days.

We have been working on getting our Christmas ready.  Still have to do a lot though.  Can't believe it is the middle of the month already.  Seems like we just ate Thanksgiving turkey last week!!

Cat and dog getting warm by the fire.

Connie cutting hair out of Baylee's tail for braiding.

Zeph says these horses are big animals.

Horses gathered around the pickup.

Fresh bobcat tracks the other day.

Brenda in Moose Creek powder.

Mine and Connie's wild skis.  

 Lots of untracked powder still out there.

A little cool skiing though.  The trees were really pretty.

They have thinned the trees on the right so we have much more area to ski.

Fog down at the lodge, but up here it is a blue bird day.

Just about to ski back down to the lodge into the fog.

 Just drop off into the powder.

WILD KINGDOM

We are lucky to live where we do.  It was pretty neat to go our morning walk today and see fresh racoon tracks, bobcat tracks, mountain lion tracks, wolf tracks, and deer tracks all within an hour.  Then have a bald eagle fly over our car on the way out the driveway, then have to hit the brakes to avoid a couple of rooster pheasants, and a rough legged hawk watching this all from it's perch on the powerline pole in the lane.  (Had to do our weekly town sortie for supplies and a latte.)  Have not seen the elk though in a week.  People are sighting them just to the north of us a couple of miles in the hayfields there.  They are at a lower altitude there than we are and with more houses around.  I think the fact that we are seeing wolf tracks and mountain lion tracks around here has something to do with that. 

We are busy getting ready for Christmas.  Also went skiing on Sunday and it was a pretty good day although pretty cold.  Was 4 below zero when we went through Sula according to Ike and Brenda who we skied with.  Just kind of a social ski day so we did not over work ourselves.  Hardly anyone on the mountain so there were no lift lines and you could really let the skis fly down some of the runs.  I love to make big GS turns going as fast as I can go and still feel in control.  Hope we get more powder for skiing on Thursday. 

Puppy is doing well and growing all the time.  I think he is going to be bigger than we hoped he would be.  He is going with us to town now.  Still a little concerned when we let him stay in the car when we go shopping though.  So far he has not chewed the leather seats or anything up.

FIRST DAY OF SKIING AND UPDATE

Connie and I went up to our local little resort for their opening day.  We tried to get our season's passes but there was a computer glitch so will have to get our pictures taken next time we go up.  The skiing was actually better than we thought it would be given the amount of snow they have.  We also got a little peak into some of the 300 acres of new terrain we will be able to ski when they open the other side of the hill.  And next year there will be even more on the south end of the hill.  The fires this summer/late fall kept them from clearing all the dead beetle killed trees they are trying to get out of there.  This pine beetle infestation in the west is pretty bad.  We skied with one of the "old guys" that we write about quite often.  Jerry is 80 years  old and still skiing very well.  He can get down the mountain pretty fast.  Been doing it for many years.  And he is such a nice guy even if he is from Salmon, ID!!!  He team roped up until just a few years ago.  Had a real bad ski wreck 2 years ago, but has made a great recovery. 

We are both doing well and the puppy is growing very fast.  He still loves to climb and crawl around on the rocks during our walks.  Some of the "puppy" is giving away to an adult dog.  Slow but sure.  Will be glad when the chewing on things is over.

At Como Lake picking up some drift wood for the rock garden a couple weeks ago.  Zeus still likes Connie to hold him.

Como Lake at the low point.

The rock climber.

Our not very crowded resort.

Talked Jerry into taking a picture of us.

Connie and Jerry.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

All is well here in Montana.  Hunting season will be ending soon so we can go for our walks without wearing the orange vests.  Nephew Carl was able to get a bull elk and friends from the coast got a whitetail buck.

The puppy is growing fast, but he is still a puppy and getting into trouble almost everyday.  We did get a pretty good amount of snow in the mountains so our little ski resort will open soon we are hoping.

Carl with his bull.

Brenda with her buck.

Ross and Brenda with the buck hanging in the barn.

Puppy and Catmay hanging out on the bed together.

Brenda and Debra having a an appetizer of elk liver and onions.