"One to three inches..."

Weathermen here in Vermont have an interesting way of forecasting weather for the next 72 hours. Borrowing from Native American culture the idea of a "vision quest", Vermont weathermen go on a "forecast quest". This quest can be quite grueling and involves copious amounts of peyote and the "sacred herb" also known as marijuana. After several continuous days of sacred "stoning", the weatherman or woman will lie naked on the frozen surface of lake Champlain until their forecast vision arrives with enough clarity for them to forecast the weather for the next three days. In the latest example of the effectiveness of this ancient spiritual method of weather forecasting, we were recently told that we would receive "1 to 3 inches of snow over the next 48 hours". You can judge the extraordinary accuracy of this forecast from the photo above. The table and deck were completely clear of snow as the 48 hours in question started. How much snow did we finally get? 16 inches. What's in the forecast for today and tomorrow? 1 to 3 inches.

Winter Workshop Wonders

Part of the future entertainment center.

From another angle.

As the season drags on, I have finally gotten a major furniture project going. It's the entertainment center / library for the T.V. room upstairs. I have to say that the project is coming along pretty well, particularly considering that my shop is usually at about 40 degrees which limits the amount of time I can spend in there at one stretch. The two pieces you see in the pictures are about 40% of the bottom portion of the future built-in. Since this whole thing sits between two walls, I'll have to wait until these two pieces are finished and installed to assemble the last piece. Otherwise you risk getting the exciting "1/4" too long" surprise, something I have already dealt with when I installed the kitchen cabinets. These pieces are 3/4" birch plywood with solid maple facings. Most of the facings aren't installed in these pictures.

New Snow...New Tracks

A mink with fresh fish.

More snowshoe hare tracks.

A ruffed grouse zigs through the forest.

Where our mink went fishing.

Ruffed grouse.

We got another 4 or 5 inches of snow and sleet yesterday and the day before and the new snow left a smooth, pristine surface that proved to be a perfect canvas for animal tracks. We definitely have a mink that likes to visit the river and pond. Much earlier this Winter I saw a hole he had dug in the snow along the bank of the pond. I'm sure he dug down and then went fishing under the ice. This time Catherine and I saw where he had gone swimming under the ice in the deepest hole along the river that's on our property. The mink tracks are spaced about like those of a fox but are much smaller. In this case the mink's tracks lead up to the edge of the water and then disappear, only to reappear on the other side of the ice sheet covering the big fishing hole. This is the hole where Neil caught a couple of decent sized trout this Summer. Maybe the mink had similar luck although we didn't see any signs of that. The dogs scared up a couple of ruffed grouse the other day and then this morning I saw one's tracks. I had seen one this Summer perched on a big log back behind the house. They are large birds, the size of a really big chicken and are generally solitary. And we're starting to see quite a few snowshoe hare tracks which means there's a reasonable population of them in the area. I don't know if I'll ever get to see more than their tracks since the dogs scare them away whenever we're on a walk. So the list of animals we know we have around the house continues to grow. We can now say that we have turkey, deer, bear, moose, grouse, snowshoe hare, barred owls, flying squirrels, mink, fox and coyote. I've left off all of the birds that come to the feeders as well as the reptiles. It kind of makes you feel like you're living in the wilderness

A Superbowl Snack Fit For a King

Mouth watering lard & peanut butter suet

Yes, nothing like a heaping portion of lard and peanut butter suet while you watch the big game! The birds (woodpeckers primarily) have finished off my monster cube of homemade suet, and I whipped up a new one for them yesterday. For those of you who missed the recipe in an earlier blog, here it is. Heat 1 lb of lard and 1 lb of cheap peanut butter together in a sauce pan. When mixture becomes liquid, pour it into an 8x8 in foil pan. Stir in about a cup of mixed bird seed (I use one with peanuts and sunflower hearts). Let congeal at room temperature and then leave it outside overnight so it freezes. Remove the suet from its foil mold and place it in your suet holder. If you plan on eating this with chips during the game, don't place it outside to freeze; just let it congeal to the consistency of a cheese dip and dig in! Yummy!

Coming Home to Roost

Barry's newest favorite branch

Waiting for mice.

Chowing down after a successful grab.

Camouflage works! Where'd he go?

I guess Barry the barred owl always was home here in the woods around the house, but now he has started to choose trees right off of the deck as a preferred roost. And for good reason. After he showed up late this morning, we watched him pounce on and eat two mice. My speculation in an earlier blog appears to be accurate. The mice have tunnels and nests on the steep slope in front of the house so they can benefit from the uneaten bird seed that falls off the deck. Barry just hangs out on a branch about even with the deck, watches the ground below and then swoops down for a meal once he spots a mouse. He has been perched in the birch tree or one of the other trees just a few meters from the deck all day today. Barred owls have several other names of which the most common is "hoot owl". It was in fact a barred owl that started up the Hooters restaurant chain back in the 70s. Their only natural enemy is the Great Horned Owl which preys on barred owls. Talk about irony. We're wondering if Barry didn't polish off Rocky the flying squirrel for dinner one night since we haven't seen Rocky for several weeks. Our five red squirrels were no where to be seen today. Whether Barry got Rocky or not, the red squirrels seem to have a healthy respect for owls as a predators. We're also wondering if Barry isn't really Brenda. The female barred owl is bigger than the male and our bird seems to be a pretty good size. To be continued...we hope.

Moose Tracks!

That's right, Bullwinkle the moose is still in the area. The dogs and I ran onto his tracks this morning way up in the woods on the neighbors property. I'm guessing this is the same moose whose tracks we saw this Summer in the wild flower patch. Then this Fall I saw similarly sized tracks on one of the gravel bars along the river. Now, I'm assuming "our" moose is a bull because we have only seen one set of tracks and they are from a pretty good sized animal. If the tracks were from a cow moose, I think we would have seen a calf's tracks at some point. Tomorrow I'll try and remember to take a ruler and measure the tracks as well as a camera for some pictures. The pictures I've included aren't mine of course, but they show moose in a setting very similar to where I saw the tracks. Bull moose shed their antlers each year after the mating season so Bullwinkle is most likely bald at this time of the year. I just threw in the picture of the moose with his rack because a moose's antlers are so impressive. Who knows, maybe we'll find the discarded antlers on one of our walks. Wouldn't that make a great decoration for the house?

Existentialist Ennui a.k.a. Cabin Fever

Waiting for Spring

An earlier photo of Molly captures the mid-Winter mood

After the tease of 50 degree weather over several days during the "January thaw", Winter is back. It was -5 F this morning and will be pretty cold for the next few days. The landscape is re-frozen and it's back to layer upon layer of clothing for the morning walk. Weather this cold puts the dogs at risk for frostbite which means dog boots which are a real ordeal to put on the dogs prior to venturing out. Bottom line? Abbreviated walks for the last couple of days which means bored dogs and owners. At least the snow is really crusty, so you can get by without snowshoes most of the time. The up side is that I've been getting lots of work done in the shop and should have photos of our new entertainment center within the next couple of weeks. I know everyone is just breathless waiting for that, but you'll just have to be patient.