It was one of those days that you look outside and think, “Man, I HAVE to go skiing today”.  It looked like a cold and miserable day.  It looked overcast and foggy.  It did not look like a nice day to be skiing.  But today was one of my scheduled days, so dutifully, I got the kids going, and we headed up to the ski hill.

The parking lot was relatively empty, not uncommon for a Tuesday, so we were able to park close on the upper level.  We each carried our skis or boards and methodically parked them in our usual places in front of the lodge.  I went down to sign in while the kids settled at a table, and the day began.  I spent my first 30 minutes working the parking lot, saying hello to people, answering a few questions, but mostly just standing there, shielding my face from the snow that was falling somewhat diagonally from the gentle wind.

By 9:30 a.m., I was ready to put my skis on, so left the parking lot, knowing that the stragglers would find their way to the chair lift just fine without my help!  I knew a fellow Host would be waiting at 10a.m. for a possible tour, so I made an effort to be there myself so we could ski together.  We rode the chair lift together up the hill, passing the time with small talk, commenting on the falling snow and what the conditions would be like today.  It wasn’t too cold, and besides being a bit foggy, the snow looked good and the day seemed to have some promise.

At the top of the hill, we exited the chair and slid down to the Family Ski Zone sign.  The other two Hosts were already there, and we made plans for where we wanted to ski first.  Then, a couple older men skied up and wanted a tour, one of the easy ways down.  I volunteered to give the tour, so left my group, and took him down the hill.

The snow was amazing!  I kept looking behind me to be sure he wasn’t too far behind, and finally stopped to take a rest.  When he stopped he exclaimed “I wondered when you’d ever stop.  My legs are burning!!”  My legs were burning too, so we both gladly stood there resting, watching the snow gently fall, and we discussed whether this run would be appropriate for his friend.  Since the friend had recently injured his wrist, this gentleman decided this run was a little too steep, so we skied down the rest of the way to Chair 1, and went our separate ways.

I headed up the hill again, this time riding alone, and spending most of the time shielding my face from the blowing snow.  Once at the top, I met up again with my fellow Hosts, only to be approached again by a woman also wanting a tour.  She wanted the easy way down, so I volunteered again, leaving my colleagues, and taking advantage of her slow speed to work on my form!  We took a leisurely ride down the hill, cutting across Beaver Slide to head back to midway, taking Chair 1 to the top again.  This time she wanted to go all the way to the bottom, so we again took the easy run down the mountain, this time going down a green run I had never been down myself.

It was fun, stopping to wait for her, chatting a little, then continuing down the mountain.  The snow was soft and light, and skiing was effortless, like being on cruise control while driving the car!  I found myself singing as I skied, putting my arms out like a bird, feeling like I was flying lightly down the hill, the light powder spraying up behind each turn like a water skier on the water.  I had visions of Warren Miller ski movies, and wondered if I looked anything like those in his films!!

Once at the bottom, we took a quick, break at the lodge, and I took my skis to the ski shop to get them waxed.  I had noticed on the flat that my skis seemed very slow, and wondered if they needed some TLC since I know nothing about ski maintenance.  They did need waxing, and it was fascinating to go into the back room and watch the process.  Being a Host has some unexpected perks, and this was one of them!

Once my skis were done, we hit the chair again, this time heading for Lost Dutchman, the green run on the other side of the mountain.  By this time of the day, my legs were warmed up and ready to do some serious skiing, but I was still with this older woman, and as we passed run after run, all of them black diamonds, I found myself longing to be freed of my tour giving responsibilities so I could fly through the trees in the deep powder.

Lost Dutchman was just beautiful, almost like cross country skiing, since there were so few people on the mountain.  There was simply nobody else around, and the snow was mostly untouched in the east Basin.  it was difficult to be content skiing with an almost beginner, but I tried to just see the beauty that was all around me.  There were many spots of completely untouched snow, and I took every opportunity to glide through those areas, watching the snow cascade over the tips of my skis like water flowing over the rocks in a river.  It was silky smooth, like satin ribbon waving in the wind, and it felt so light and airy, like walking on clouds.  I had never seen snow do that before, and it was just incredible to see!

We made our way to the top of the mountain one last time, but this time my “tour’ person went down the mountain on her own, and I was able to head down with my colleagues, down the double black diamond runs, through the deep powder in the trees.  It was such a fun day, and turned out to be one of the best days ever!!

 We spent about an hour today cleaning out the chicken coop.  We loaded all the pine shavings mixed with chicken manure into the trailer and Daryl drove it up to the garden.  Once the snow melts, we’ll add it to our 40 ft long compost pile and start turning it.  It was actually very easy to move because it was all super dry, airy, and lightweight.  We tidied up the horse barn, cleaned off the porch, and Kaelyn hung her horseshoe chime that she got for Christmas. 

Tomorrow’s project is getting electricity down there so I can plug in the heat lamp and the platform for the water jug.  We can’t let the water freeze, and it’s still cold enough that I think it could freeze.  I *hope* it isn’t too cold to put them out there, in spite of the heat lamp.  I may read up on that to be sure they can survive.  But the clock is ticking, and I want them OUT of my house!  They’re in the way, they stink, and that’s that!!

Daryl took it upon himself to re-do the shelves in our cold storage.  He designed it specifically to hold canning jars, and it’s so nice to be able to see what we have!  There is also plenty of space for empty jars, and a bin on the floor for rings and lids, so now there is a specific place for empty jars and all the parts that go with them.  So nice!!

There’s also lots of extra space now, and I love having some empty areas on the shelves.  It really is a huge improvement on how it looked before, and there is a LOT more space!  Thanks Daryl!

We moved to WA in May of 2007.  The following spring, we were delighted to see all the baby chicks at the feed store and the kids and I instantly fell in love!  We wanted chicks right then, but Daryl thought it would be best to wait a year since we had other more pressing projects that needed his attention.  So, the following year, we took the plunge.  That was spring, 2009. 

I think I got a little over excited about chicks.  I researched and learned and placed my order at the feed store.  I wanted to be sure we had plenty of chickens, so in case some of the babies died, I added a couple of each type onto the order, just in case.  When I arrived to pick up my chick order, there were a couple more in the chick bins that I couldn’t go home without, and when it was all said and done, I think I came home with about 32 chicks. 

We also were quite ambitious and borrowed a friend’s incubator, and hatched out 14 banty chicks, so we had well over 40 chickens once all the excitement was over.  We didn’t have a real place to keep them all yet, and finally, we actually ended up giving away all the banties.  That still left us with close to 30 chickens, 2 of which ended up being roosters.

Well, to make a long story short, we enjoyed a plentiful amount of eggs, enough to sell to friends and neighbors, with excess left over, and the fun little hobby/project was more work than any of us wanted to do.  Then, over the summer and fall of last year, something began to kill the chickens, and we weren’t sure what it was.

We ended up giving way our last chickens to a friend this past fall, and have had no chickens at all over the winter.  Until now.

I guess March begins springtime, even though around here, things are still under 2 ft of snow, but the feed store had their little and big bins full of cute, fluffy, peeping chicks, and I was sucked in again, and yesterday, we brought home 16 fluffy little birds.

I feel I did much better this time, not getting too overly extended, and having just enough to keep fresh eggs in our fridge, and perhaps a dozen here or there to sell.  We got 3 Buff Orphingtons, 3 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Rock, 3 Araucanas, 2 puff heads (I don’t remember their names, but they are black with a white puff of feathers on their head), and 2 adorable little yellow ducks (that should be white as adults). 

Kaelyn has promised to be the caretaker of the chickens, since she has to go out to the barn anyway to take care of her horses.  We have a beautiful 10 x 12 ft chicken coop, complete with 12 nesting boxes, a flap door, little ramp, and a chain linked yard for them to scratch around in, so the infrastructure is already in place.  For now though, they are IN.THE.HOUSE. 

Believe me, they are NOT going to be in here very long, maybe a week, and then they are going out to the coop.  Chickens are the dustiest things, and our entire downstairs was covered in a fine layer of dust last time, and it was horrible.  We have a nice warming light, and once they get a few more real feathers, out they go. 

They are the cutest little things, peeping, scratching, drinking with their tiny little beaks, and generally staying busy in their little container.  I can’t wait for the eggs.  We won’t have any white eggs this time, but should have a variety of red/brownish eggs as well as some blue/green eggs.  I’m not sure what the ducks are going to contribute!

March is my most difficult month living in the northwest.  Winter should be over, but it’s not.  The sun should be shining, but it isn’t.  The temperature should be in the 70’s, but it’s still below freezing.  Shorts should be tantalizing my wardrobe, but snow boots are still a main staple.  Winter seems to drag on, and on, and on here. 

While I love having 4 seasons, they are not distributed evenly.  Winter is about 4-5 months, and summer is a mere 2 months max.  It’s out of balance and I don’t like it.  Spring, where are you??  Please hurry up and get here so I can smile again.