First snow!

Gripping the steering wheel and grinding my teeth, we crawled past yet another car in the ditch. No wonder: the road was treacherously slippery so early in the morning. The whole family sat in the car, clinging to their own seats and marvelling at the scene outside: a winter wonderland in very early November. 

That morning, we drove the kids to school, which at its best is a 30 minute car ride, but took us 45 minutes this snowy morning. Eva was about to receive an award at school, so Steve and I had decided to come to school with the kids and witness our daughter's celebration.

I don't think I've ever seen snow so early in the season.  It sure was pretty, though, although it melted in a couple of days.

This is what our icy view looked like out of the car window past Rockport State Park.

The strangest thing about this weather was the fact that two days before, we were hiking on Sauk Mountain in our T-shirts.

Sauk Mountain is one of our local mountains, a popular hike with steep switchbacks, gorgeous scenery - and a deadly history. Several people have died up there, either falling down or shot dead after being mistaken for a bear by a teenage hunter.

Therefore, the hike feels eerie. But look: it's worth it, don't you think?

I'm taking a deep exhale after a busy week of launching my free webinar and paid online cheesemaking course into the world. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.

Also, we celebrated Eva's 8th birthday in the middle of the promotional frenzy, with a best-friend sleepover, roller skating party, and plenty of cupcakes.

I can't believe my baby is so old.

I don't have a whole lot of words left in me after so much writing in the past couple of weeks, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I've been taking the dogs for walks in our woollen handknits. Yes, I said OUR because I knit winter sweaters for my little foofy dog. Don't judge me.

First ice in the river

Racoon tracks

Halloween - my man and I

First snow, grumpy goats, happy children, and lots of dishes!

It's 10 am, and I am sitting in front of the blazing wood stove, enjoying a cup of tea --- ALONE!  There are no kids in the house.  Usually, we home school around this time.  But who needs to add, subtract, multiply or divide when you can play outside in the snow instead.  Yes, SNOW!
This is what I woke up to this morning when I went outside to milk the goats.  The white specks are snowflakes, really, truly, they are!

The goats were a little bit grumpy and hungry when I got to the barn.  They are not particularly fond of snow, since it covers up all the delicious green stuff they like to eat.

In the meantime, Steve brought in more fire wood.  What an excellent provider he is!  He cuts the trees down, splits them, and makes sure the wood box is never empty.  Bring on the cold!!!

And after milking, there are the never ending dishes...  It's not my favorite job.  I'd rather be knitting, to be sure.  But who am I to complain?  Everyone in our family has chores.  Steve brought in fire wood.  Kai fed the chickens and collected their eggs.  Lukas dried the dishes.

And Eva's job?  Make messes and noise.  But honestly, I am so glad she is able to make messes.  She was sick for two days last week, and it was scary: high fever, lethargy, vomiting, and non-stop crying.  She is all better now, full of piss and vinegar, as Steve likes to put it so elegantly.  Here she is, getting ready for playing in the snow.

Lukas got into the snow man making spirit.  I know, you Germans or Minnesotans or Alaskans roll your eyes at this "snow", scoffing, but hey, it's wet, it's white, it's cold, and you can make it into a snow man, even though there is not that much of it!

My father called me this morning from Germany, telling me that they are drowning in snow.  I remember my childhood days in Germany, waking up to a world completely blanketed in white fluffy-ness, walking to school in snow that came up to my thighs, and sledding for hours with my sisters.

Here are two pictures he sent me this morning.  It's the street where I grew up.

So I am used to snow in the winter.  But there is nothing like being snowed in here in Marblemount, tucked right up against the mountains and the mighty Cascades.  We live one mile up a forest service road, which doesn't get plowed at all.  Some winters, we can't get Steve's four wheel drive truck out to the Highway, let alone my mini van.  That means we either hunker down, eat my canned food from the garden, raide my cheese cave, and don't see anyone for days, or we pay someone to plow us out.  Sometimes, the snow gets so heavy that people can't do that, even with a bulldozer.  One year, this happened in conjunction with more than a week of power outage.  You can imagine our cabin fever!

Ohhh boy, the kids are coming in.  Wet snow shoes, hats, mittens, coats, socks, red cheeks, cold noses, hungry appetites.  I guess it's time to feed them - and then sit down for home schooling.