Hiking Fun and more Valentine Goodness

Yesterday we went on a marvelous hike! There is a geocache Matt has been wanting to finish for some time that we knew took us to the base of Mt. Herman. It was a gorgeous day! Overcast with on and off flurries then progressing into snow in earnest but my favorite kind: big fluffy flakes falling gently down with little or no wind. Ahhh winter. The first leg of the hike took us into the burn area which takes me back to middle school when we sat in the western classrooms of LPMS and watched the fire rage over the mountain waiting to be picked up by our parents and hoping none of our friends that lived near there lost their homes. The picture of the burned fence shows the mountain in the background.
The second leg of the adventure took us up behind the mountain where we hiked down into snow filled meadows and aspen glades. This is also when the snow started falling seriously. But I do have to say that my new felted mittens were doing a bang-up job of keeping my hands warm and without painfully numb fingers from the Raynaud's to distract me I was euphoric over the beauty of winter and how much I love snowy hikes! The second picture is of my honey~
Please be sure and check in at our hiking blog Ode to Ormes as Matt will be posting in more detail about this hike
I also took some small bowls with me in the hopes I would find a nice natural setting to photograph them. I found the prettiest granite boulder covered in lichen and dusted in snow and I think it brings out just about every color I put up against it. Here are some new listings on Etsy some are photographed on the mountain and some are in my front garden today - the light was weak inside so I decided to brave the outdoors for good photos. Cheers~

Thoughts Of Warmer Times of the Year

Today is the second day in a row school has been canceled not for snow but for cold. Part of me thinks "This is silly, we went to school in this weather!" or "Kids in Alaska and North Dakota and Montana would be playing outside for recess in this weather!" But then I remember that although I want to think all parents would make sure their children were properly dressed for these conditions and I would love to believe the kids would wear the gear, well who am I kidding!
Our furnace is running non-stop and our jeep won't turn over (at least it didn't earlier and I am waiting until the temp gets to our whopping high of 1 degree to try again). Matthew walked the mile and a half to work this morning when the windchill was -23. I am really glad he changed his mind a couple months back about taking his mighty beard down and secretly wishing I had one myself. My son is hanging on me like a gorilla baby on his mama literally saying "pay attention to me!" to which I said "I did that all day yesterday, now go play with your Legos!" Actually it is a bit of a miracle because he did!






I know there are a lot of parents going through this all over the country right now and this gives me a tad bit of solace.








So that is what I am up to so far. I will be needle-felting a custom order here as soon as I am done with this blog post but I have one more thing to share that I am quite excited about:

My amazing friend the oh so talented gardener Cheryl Conklin has recently launched both a website and blog to share some of the wisdom she is positively bursting with. I had the great honor of working with Cheryl for a spell last summer and I can tell you that she is magic not only with plants but also with words and that reading her blog will be a real treat. ~*~*~ Check out the section of her site that talks about winter beauty and form. She recently bought her own home with a blank slate of a yard and it is positively inspiring to watch her transform it bit by bit.

First Snowshoeing Excursion of the Winter

So... my birthday is next weekend. No biggie except that I asked my hubby for some warm winter hiking boots that would cause me to be excited at the prospect of, well, Winter hiking. Last night he took me to REI and I found the most amazing and comfortable Keen boots. This means we HAD to go snowshoeing today. The Crags on the backside of Pikes Peak seemed a logical spot to still have snow and we were definitely not disappointed. We also got to help a nice couple dig out their jeep that had gotten stuck. We are both pretty tired and sore from it but it was a fabulous pay-it-forward moment and we sure weren't going to leave them there to dig out by themselves.
It was a good reminder to us though to make sure and be prepared when we head to the high country this winter! We are investing in a tow strap and packing the chains and a shovel next time.
Tomorrow I am back to posting about new items on Etsy. I hope everyone had a marvelous weekend!