BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Remember the unwanted bird seed treats I made at Christmas time?

The ones that elicited the comment that all the birds around here leave when the weather turns cold?

The ones that I hung in the trees in my back yard to see if that was true? 

But the deer and elk ate them so I never really figured out if there were any year round birds.

I decided I could out smart the elk by buying suet blocks and seed blocks that are surrounded by wire mesh- the kind intended to be squirrel proof. I hung 3 of them in the trees right outside my kitchen window so I could keep a close eye on them.

And........SUCCESS!!

There are birds that winter over!  I have seen

 the notorious Magpie

And black-capped chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

and my personal favorite: the northern flicker

I am so happy to have feeding stations that are attracting local birds. I was religious about keeping my feeders full in Bellevue and notating every new species I saw in my bird book. It was a hobby I really enjoyed and I missed it when we moved here. It helps to satisfy my nurturing instinct.

SKI DO!

The thing about learning a new skill is you have to practice! I actually have to DO it! Going to St. George this week meant I only got out one day after we got home. It had to be Friday, because Saturday we were getting a big snow storm which was supposed to come in around 3pm and we had plans to go to the temple that morning.

Unfortunately, in Park City our closest temple is Salt Lake- which is none too close! With the live sessions, the traffic and the parking it all takes soooo much longer than we are used to! We were so spoiled by a 5 minute drive to the temple in Bellevue. To make matters worse, the Salt Lake City temple is closed just now for maintenance, the next closest- Jordan River has been closed for a few months for renovation, so we had to drive to Bountiful.

In general going to the temple from our house takes about 4 hours, Saturday it took even longer.  After a quick stop at Costco to stock up (no Costco in PC) we go back up the hill just as the storm broke.  I can't believe what sissies those east coasters are- 2 feet of snow? We live with that on a daily basis! and ABSOLUTELY love it!

Back to my original train of thought- skiing.....
BTW, don't I look fetching in my cute faux fur wrapped hat?  It's one of those treasures we found at the consignments shop in St. George! I could hardly wait to get home, so I could wear it.  It was 63 degrees in St. George when we were there and we were running around in shirt sleeves, so no hat-wearing there.

But, again, I digress.....
On Friday, the cross-country course in back of our house was groomed differently than I had seen it before- with these grooves.  I had seen this type of grooming at other x-country courses and had even used them once before when Chuck and I took a lesson up in Whistler years ago.

Our course usually is groomed with wider, flat paths to accommodate skate-skis, which of course classic skis can use as well.  95% of the skiiers around here skate ski.  But for classic these grooves are HEAVEN!!  You don't have to worry about controlling your skis (until you come to a corner) , you can just work on balance and lengthening your stride and gliding.  All of which needed a lot of work.

Not having been on my skis for nearly a week, I felt like I was starting over, clumsy and off balance.  See this hill behind me?  I know it doesn't look like much, but it was long and downhill and ended in a bridge over a stream.  I fell down FOUR times coming down that stupid hill!! When your skis are in the grooves it is impossible to snow plow to slow yourself down, and I kept freaking out because I was going so fast and headed toward a narrow bridge.  I just knew I was going to end up in that stream!

Of, course, falling down slows one's forward progress sufficiently, that in the end, I made it safely across.

ST. GEORGE STREET ART

Chuck worked St. George 3 days this week, and I tagged along to 1) keep him company on the long drive and 2) go shopping with Chuck's sister Linda who lives there.

Linda is kind enough to indulge my obsession with thrift stores and consignments shops.  Whenever I am in town the two of us make the rounds of all the second hand stores in town. I am always working on some crafting project or another that requires the upcycling of some forgotten, abandoned object that I can purchase for pennies on the dollar. This trip I was looking for wooden candle holders that I can paint to form a grouping on my living room mantel.

As we were going from store to store we came across art installations on the sidewalks in St. George. I love stumbling upon unexpected treasures! Both in second hand stores and on the street.

Linda and I found another little treasure- a high end clothing consignment store on the same block as a thrift store we had been searching for. It was just luck that I noticed the consignment store at the other end of the block.  It was filled with gorgeous designer clothing and shoes.  We decided to give a few items a new home, and were excited about our purchases.  There is nothing like the thrill you get when you find a real treasure in a second hand store.

SAM'S BIRTHDAY

Saturday was Sam's 23rd birthday, so a party was in order. And Sam is ALWAYS up for a party. He invited 4 friends over for the weekend to celebrate. Pictures of him and his peeps are on his Facebook page. I just took a couple of pictures of chocolate.  Sam LOVES chocolate. Apparently his friends know this.

Someone brought him a valentine.......

and he is brown and has a lot of muscles..... hmmm, who does this remind you of?

Then one of his friends made these.....

Puff pastry squares put in a mini cupcake tin and baked, filled with Nutella and topped with raspberries!  Man, were they good!

Sam's friends are welcome anytime!!

OUT MY BACK DOOR

I am adding cross country skiing to my repertoire!  Since there are groomed trails right out my back door, I figured I needed to try this out.  I went out last week and went to a few used sporting goods stores and pieced together everything I needed in my size. This picture is literally in my back yard! Chuck took it while standing on our back deck.

I chose to go with a classic cross country set up to start with.  There are also "skate" skis as well as combo skis that do both kinds of x-country.  Both those skis need to be waxed, which sounds like a lot of work, and they're not as stable.  The classic skis have slight groves or hatching on the bottom, called fish scales that allow you to glide forward, and but somewhat restricts sliding backwards.  At least in theory!  I can testify it is still possible to slide backwards.  The classic skis have bindings that attach to the boot only at the toe, allowing your heel to come up off the ski.  Skate skis don't have the fish scales, they have a smooth bottom, plus you wax the bottom to get more glide.  Also,  the boot attaches to the binding at both heel and toe, allowing you to raise the ski off the ground to accommodate the skating, side to side motion.

The first day I tried it, I thought I was gonna die! I didn't get very far from the house on the trail and I was confronted with going down what seemed at the time as a pretty steep hill. No way I was gonna do that! But instead of turning back around and heading back they way I came, I left the groomed trail, and tried to cut across deep powder to get on another trail that looked flatter. Big mistake.  I still wasn't confident on the skis and felt I wasn't balancing very well. So, of course, I fell several times in the deep powder.  Getting back up on my feet in deep snow took every ounce of energy I had. Time after time, after time. By the time I got back to the harder packed groomed trail, I could barely put one foot in front of the other!! I was gasping for air, which I partially blame on the 7000 foot elevation, but still!  By the time I made it home I thought I was dying.

I went out the second day and did so much better!  I went 4 times as far and only fell twice. I felt so much more confident and comfortable on the skis. I was going out in the middle of the day during the week, so I pretty much had the whole course to myself. Which was a blessing considering how clumsy I was feeling and my frequent falls. The fact that I would be laying spread eagled on my back in the snow gasping for breath, and then the ridiculous sight of me trying to get back up on my skis, I certainly didn't need an audience.

We see this couple on the course regularly, pulling their kids in the trailer on skis! Notice that it is our house in the background. Whether in the kitchen, dining or living room we have an up close view of the course and can watch all the action.

So I got brave and went out today on a Saturday when the course was busy and gave it a whirl.  Chuck put on snowshoes and went out with me to take some pictures. I did really well today, even going down a couple of hills.  I felt stable and balanced and was having fun.  I know I still look stiff and clumsy compared to the experts racing by me, but again, I feel good and I'm having fun.

That's all that matters, right?

A BALANCED LIFE

For Christmas all the kids got together and bought Chuck a BOSU (both sides up) balance ball. He has been using it every day as part of his knee rehab.  But it is a great adjunct to any exercise routine.  As we get older our core muscles get weaker and as a result our balance diminishes.

When we lived in Washington, we spent a lot of time paddle boarding on Lake Sammamish, which addressed the same two issues- balance and core strength.  This is a good winter time substitute.

You can use the BOSU for all sorts of exercises. When Becca was here for Christmas she gave Chuck instructions for different ways he could use the ball. Chuck mainly uses it for lunges and planks. It is much harder to plank of the ball, than on a solid, hard surface (floor).

So far he is able to hold his plank 2 minutes, 30 seconds. I literally can only do it for 5 seconds. Chucks strength is greater than mine, but I do a little better in the balance department.

This balance work should improve both our winter skiing and our summer paddle boarding. We hope to continue an active lifestyle well into our dotage.

As Chuck reminds me constantly, he isn't aging- he is youthening!

HOME SHOW

This is our home.....

This is our home in winter......

This is Chuck and I at the home show looking for ideas to tweak our home to perfection......

While Chuck is stopping at booths featuring home security systems, water softeners, landscapers, solar panels and all sorts of other practical items, I had a different agenda........

Finding food to eat and a comfy place to get off my feet.

I was also interested in displays of holiday decorating.....

And a cute Valentine garland made from  cupcake liners.......

THE LONG SLOG

It's really called snow shoeing, but it feels like slogging.  Is that really a word or did I just make it up. It is fun to do, and convenient- right out  our back door.  And truly, with this deep fluffy powder its the only way to get around our back yard and visit our neighbors......

After spending some time outdoors with the hubby-

It is wonderful to come home and have homemade soup.  Ham and bean from the leftover Christmas ham.

IT'S FOR THE BIRDS

So you know those bird seed ornaments that I made for Christmas neighbor gifts, that Chuck thought were so lame that I changed my mind about giving them away? I decided to hang them in my own yard, to see if I could coax any local birds out of hiding.  Although I've been told that the only birds that winter over here are the Magpies and the Ravens, I have heard other birds even though I haven't seen them.

Interesting side note: I did give one bird seed ornament to a sister in the ward that I visit teach.  She was the one who told me all the local birds flew to warmer climates for the winter, except for the Magpies- then she exclaimed "I hate Magpies! They are chattering, hateful birds!" The back story is that she was raised in a rural farming community back in the 40's and farmers considered magpies to be destructive to crops. She was too young at the time to know specifically what damage the magpies did, just was aware they were considered a nuisance.  She said she and her brothers grew up hunting magpies with their sling shots. For every dead magpie they brought to the country store they would be given a nickel. 5 cents was plenty of money back then to buy a candy bar or a small toy. I find it interesting how childhood prejudices linger.

Chuck and I put on our snow shoes a couple of days ago and ventured out to hang my bird seed hearts in the pine trees out behind our house.

Well, by the next morning all 5 seed ornaments that I hung were gone!  I think these guys had something to do with it.

These elk are relaxing about 25 yards from my back door. Don't they look well fed?

JANUARY 2ND- A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD DAY!

January 2nd is THE MOST depressing day of the year.  It is the day each year when we take down the Christmas tree and put away all the lights and decorations.

The decorations go up each year the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It is a HUGE job and takes all day. Getting all the decoration boxes down from the rafters, going through everything to remove broken ornaments and lights that no longer work.  Putting up the tree and decorating it is Becca's specialty. We have an artificial 9 foot tree that requires a ladder to decorate, and every year at least one strand of lights has given up the ghost and needs to be replaced. Putting up the outdoor lights is Chuck's domain, although this year I helped by hanging a garland and lights on an outdoor balcony over the garage. I do everything else- mantel, stair banister, table tops, linens, dishes, candles, etc. Stripping the room of the normal decorations to make room for the Christmas things, and then the major cleanup after the decorating is done.

However, the excitement for the coming holiday season is motivating, and then you have the reward of a beautifully decorated house when you are done. I love my house with Christmas decorations- it is so cozy and festive!

On take down day you are going through everything in reverse, but there is no motivation, nothing to look forward to when you are done.  And even though you bring back the normal decorations the house looks stark and barren by comparison.

This year both Chuck and Sam spent most of the day helping me with take down.  The messiest part of all was taking down the live cedar garland on the banister of the stairs and loft that was totally dead and brittle within 48 hours of being hung.

It looked and smelled wonderful for the first 24 hours, after that it was nothing but a fire hazard that hung there for a month.  I am just not used to this dry Utah climate. Washington humidity would have keep it fresh for at least a couple of weeks.

I have since done some research on Pinterest (where else?) and have gotten hints on how to make it last longer. But as it was, all you had to do was breathe on it to make it disintegrate into a shower of green needles.

Sam unwound the lights from around the garland, while Chuck stood below in a hail storm of green, sweeping. Many thanks to my two helpers for taking on the messiest (and itchiest!) job.