The begining of winter, 2010 - '11

OK, here I am and I haven't even finished my blogging about the winters of '08-'09, or the winter of '09-'10...... and the winter of '10-'11 seems like it is starting already! You may have heard about the big winter storm and blizzard that hit the upper central states and Northern Plains these last couple days (October 26-27, 2010). The low pressure system that came through was the lowest pressure system that ever hit us for the last 70 years. The barometric pressure was so low that the winds were equal to a category three hurricane. With the amount of snow that we received and the winds that accompanied it for two days, the drifts amounted to up to three feet. Here is my driveway as I am "shoveling" through the three foot drift so I can get my Jeep out of the garage.
The forecast for the next couple of days is for warmer temperatures of up to a high of 50 degrees. So most of this should melt away. But I am hoping for more freezing weather soon so the lakes will begin to freeze over and I can get out and do some ice fishing soon. In the mean time, I will resort to posting some photos and stories of my summer adventures for the last couple of years. That will at least make me feel warmer as I anticipate this coming ice fishing season.

True Adventures

I am back, trying to think of what I want to post on the blog next. When I opened the blog this morning I looked at the title: ADVENTURES UP NORTH. Yes, Karen and I started this blog to have a journal of our RV travels. Our intention was to chronicle our travels and describe all the things that excited us about the beauty and history of the places we visited. We had two years of RVing before Karen died and for the past two summers, I have taken the trailer out on my own. I do plan to post more of the travels we had and the ones that I have done on my own.

Then I looked at the right side of the blog in the archive section. Here, my most recent blogs were about things like: Taking care of cats, watching it snow, getting ready for Christmas, making snowmen, out standing in our field, etc. etc. Are these things ADVENTURES??? Well, not in the sense that we originally intended. But as I re-read them, yes they are--at least to me anyway. I want to make these entries as a tribute and a memorial to Karen. We tried to make every day an adventure here in Butte. It didn't matter if it was just a walk around town, a drive out on some prairie trails in the Jeep, a quick fishing trip to the local lake one evening, or watching and talking about the changes we noticed as we drove the 32 miles to church every Sunday.

So if any of you are so inclined, keep checking in and I will continue to post things from the past as well as the things that I have been up to. These stories will not be in any particular order. I will probably be jumping around, forth and back and picking out stories here and there. But they will be a tribute a Karen who brought me back here to her original home. It is home to me now too, for which I thank God everyday.

Winter Cats

It is now New Year's Eve, 2008 and as the snow kept coming, the picnic table has all but disappeared. It is at this time of the year that my thoughts are usually preoccupied with ice fishing. This winter most of the roads to the lakes were drifted in with snow. The county snow plows were kept busy trying to keep the main roads open so access to the lakes was very limited. Besides, even if you could get to the lakes, it was impossible to drive on them because the snow was so deep on top of the ice.


Karen's cats were outdoor cats. Therefore we never had a mouse problem around here. In the winter, the cats had their "well kept" litter box and their insulated house which Karen insulated even more by putting plastic panels around it and packing in an abundance of straw between the house and panels. She also made sure that the snow was banked up around all that too and that their electric water dish was full and plugged in.
But the biggest treat for the cats (and for Karen as well, by the way) was the hot meal they got every evening. Yes, a hot meal! Every evening around dusk, 4:30 or so, Karen made them a hot dish of rice and any left-over meat that we had around. Their dish of dry food got covered with a healthy dose of warm "cat" gravy too. At around 4:30, sometimes even before Karen started cooking their supper, I could look out the window in the door and no matter how bad the weather was out there, the cats were all lined up on the step waiting for their "treat". They knew what was coming and they knew what time it was. So I suppose you can imagine what kind of a stampede we had when the door opened!



After their supper they all got a little -or should I say A LOT- of cuddle and petting time. Oh how Karen loved her cats. And they loved her too.

When it came time for them to go back outside, do you suppose that they knew it? Oh, you betcha they did! Even before Karen would say, "time to go outside", their internal clock went off just like it did when they lined up on the step to come in. So what did they do to keep from going back out into the cold? Well, -----hide under a table of course so no one could see them. Pretty smart cats, eh?

White Sox was always the last one to go outside so she usually didn't have to hide. She did, however, take the time to warm her tootsies (Karen's word) on the register. I've said this many times before, "Karen's cats were not only good cats but smart cats as well"!!! She loved to keep them happy.

Snow, snow, snow

This is how we tried to keep our back steps and walk ways cleared off all winter. Not only for the cats but for us as well. Uffda, that snow bank on each side of the sidewalk makes my arms ache already just thinking about tossing that snow up there one shovel full at a time.



Same for the driveway!!! I am, however, very thankful for my 8 horsepower snow shovel that I use for jobs like this.

This is the path the Karen always kept open so her cats could get behind the garage to use the litter box that she had set up for them. Whenever the winters are less severe than this one, Karen would still use her clothesline, then bring the clothes into the house after they were freeze-dried. This year,,,, not so much. Oh, I suppose I could have brought my 8 hp snow thrower out and opened it up for her but she had to test out the clothes dryer once a year anyway, right? Yes, she really loved being able to hang her clothes out on the line. Well after all, we do have the freshest and cleanest air around!!!!!

Getting that sidewalk cleaned off AGAIN----- (I lost track of how many times).

No, she is not getting ready to hang clothes out. Just checking on her cats. You know, as I am now looking at these pictures of Karen out in the snow, I am reminded about how much she really loved the winters here. Not only did she never complain about the work involved nor being "house-bound", she actually looked forward to getting out and enjoying the weather. I realize that you southern people may not quite understand that so my suggestion to you is to come up here and spend a winter. If we weren't out shoveling snow, we would go for a walk around town,,,provided the streets were plowed of course.

Christmas snow

Between Christmas and New Year we had more snow, storms, and cold. Like I mentioned before, the old timers around here likened the winter of '08-'09 to "the good ol' days of winter weather". I drove the rural mail route for the area for six years as a substitute and this was the first year in that amount of time, and longer, that we could only deliver mail for about half of the customers. Roads were blocked and if the plows had not come yet, we had to turn around. A couple of times I had to take my Jeep on the route and I still couldn't get very far.
Here Karen took a picture of me as I am walking home from the post office one evening. It sure was nice to get home where Karen usually had a big pot of soup on the stove.

One night during this time, the snow came again and the wind blew and drifted it in everywhere. Karen would look out the window and say, "Look, we have more diamonds in the yard!!"

The next morning, when Karen was ready to go out to take care of her cats, we could just get the storm door open. Stepping down to the porch from the house is about an 8 inch drop. Besides the snow filling in the steps, it had of course drifted in all our walk ways that we were so diligent in keeping clean. Oh well, what else do we have to do but shovel more snow?

And by now, the picnic table was getting deeper into the snow too.......

Here the front walkway, which we kept clear all the time, was all drifted in again. But look....it is such a nice day out there that what more fun could we have but to shovel more snow!!!!!

See the cat trail coming up the walk? That is why Karen liked to keep in cleared off. She like to have happy cats!

Christmas Day-2008

Our plan for Christmas Day was to go to McClusky, 30 miles south of Butte, to visit Karen's Aunt Marie and cousin. For the past several years, Karen's cousin and her husband would take their motorhome to Texas to visit family during the winter. So Karen and I made it a point to make a Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas dinner and take it to McClusky and spend those special days with her "Special Auntie".

Before we left town we went for a short walk around the neighbourhood since it was such a nice clear and crispy day.

In town it is difficult sometimes to know just how much the wind is blowing. But once we got out of town and into the open spaces, the wind was more evident as we encountered some ground blizzard activity.

This year, Roger and Marlyn came back early so they put on the Christmas dinner at their place and invited us. That was really a special treat for us. Karen enjoyed so much visiting with her aunt because as she said, "I don't know how many more years she will be with us". In the end, it turned out to be quite the opposite, didn't it? Auntie Marie turned 90 last year.

We left for home a little early because we weren't sure of road conditions and we didn't like traveling after dark for all the deer that are out then. It was a beautiful, clear, and crispy drive home as Karen's camera was clicking away.

Our Last Christmas Together-2008

Our humble abode was especially nice around Christmas time because Karen liked to do a certain measure of decorating even though it became more scaled down every year.

We always said that we were only going to buy each other a small gift or two each year. Usually, however, it ended up being a little more than that. We certainly didn't need anything as far as gifts went, but after all, that is what it is all about, right?

During the winter we played a lot of games together. We had become stuck on playing Rummikub for the longest time so a different game was definitely in order.

Karen always liked reading about her heritage and the pioneers that settled the great Northern Plains. Maybe because she was "Plain Folk" and would very well have fit right in during that era.

And there was always something for the love of her cats.

More winter, 2008

Every day, as the snow kept coming, we saw more and more deer in our yard. We kind of felt sorry for them because they were always scratching around looking for something to eat. But since they are browsers, that's what they do. Besides, there are plenty of apple trees in our neighbourhood with left-over apples on them. I have heard stories too that some people throw corn out for our poor critters.


The snow kept coming and got deeper and deeper.

But a little winter weather doesn't stop us from having our annual Christmas Party at our Mini-Mall. There is always a good turnout and participation. After all...we get free coffee and cookies!

With all the snow, Karen had to resort to taking a lot of her photos from the window of the house. (That camera was always clicking away!)

Getting ready for Christmas - 2008

By the middle of December, I realized that there probably wouldn't be any ice fishing this year. I took my fish house out one time in November when there was a lull in storms and the snow had not piled up too much yet. Since then the snow kept coming, the roads to the lakes were blocked with snow drifts, and the lakes had so much snow on them that it would be impossible to drive on them except with a snowmobile-which I don't have.
So we just tried to keep the driveway and walkways cleared off and start getting ready for Christmas. We did have a special guest show up on our porch one day too!! Marge Simpson!!!!


The snow kept getting deeper....

Karen's almost daily chore was to keep a pathway open for her cats to get to the litter box behind the garage. Cats don't really like to scratch around in the snow so Karen made sure they were kept happy. If you are wondering how her cats survived in the winter like this--she did have them in the house a lot. I also had built them an insulated cat house and we kept an electric water dish in there too. That way they always had (thawed) water and the heat from the dish added some heat to the cat house as well. Not that they needed all that of course, but Karen liked to keep them happy.

Over the years we had toned down our Christmas decorating and eventually ended up with just a small tree. The holiday seasons were always special for Karen as she liked to decorate and make things look festive around the house. Who knows, I may even keep adding to her snowman collection even now.

And it stayed cold all winter too........ (click on this picture for enlargement.)

Thanksgiving Lefse

For Thanksgiving, the Marsh family has had a tradition of providing a Thanksgiving dinner for not only their entire family but the entire community as well. The Thanksgiving of 2008 saw a bit of a change in that they decided to put the dinner on at the American Legion Hall in Butte instead of out at the farm.
Since most of the people involved are of Norwegian descent, one of the main fares for this dinner is lefse. The ladies of Karen's Bible study group got together one day to have a lefse baking party. All I can say is that it is a good thing that I wasn't there because I would have eaten up all the profits.
It looks like they were having a great time of fellowship.....


It looks like they had a great time of hard work too!!!!........

I am inspired now to get our lefse griddle out this year and make some for myself. I don't know if I will be able to do it by myself or not though. Karen and I had a pretty good system down for turning out a pile of lefse.

At the dinner on Thanksgiving, I think I could have taken the prize for eating the most lefse. It's a good thing that no one was counting!

Ice fishing yet?

One day Karen and I went for a drive out to Cottonwood Lake to check the ice thickness in anticipation of a good ice fishing season. (This is still November 2008.) We both just loved the winter season. Actually as I think about it, we loved all the seasons. Each one has its own beauty and each season contrasts with the other. We always talked about how nice it is to live where there are four seasons. That is one of the main reasons we love it here so much and the reason we liked to go for country rides. Also, Karen could sit there and take pictures of clouds and wildlife.
Karen captured on film (data card) this rare North Dakota two headed ring neck pheasant. Isn't he a beauty??
Where ever we go there are deer. This is the time of year too where they start coming into our back yard looking for a handout, left over garden produce and to steal apples off our tree.
Click on this photo to check out his great rack.

Why are deer so shy?.......Except when they run out in front of you when going 60 miles per hour on the highway!! So I suppose we can conclude that deer have two personalities: shy and stupid.

I was able to walk out on the lake just a few feet or so. Maybe in a couple more weeks?

Picnics and Snowmen

Just a few weeks after our first snow in November 2008, I noticed the picnic table again and realized it was going to disappear soon if we kept on getting the snow storms that we had been getting so far.
One day when Karen was outside to take care of her cats, I looked out and saw that she was up to something else.

With the help of her cats, she built a very happy snowman. We usually don't have wet enough snow here to build snowmen but since our snow came early this year, she was able to put together a couple of them. Our snow is generally quite dry and powdery. Remember, it's a dry cold we have here.

Gardening in the snow

There were several things that Karen was passionate about, but for all who knew her there were two that stand out next to her love for God and the study of His Word. Those two interests were gardening and cats.
We always practiced "mulch" gardening and had very good success with it. I know we received strange looks and comments when people drove by and saw two feet of hay, straw, or other mulch on top of our garden. But when you can just pull the mulch back, lay your seed potatoes on top of the ground and cover them back up with the mulch, it sure made things easy. (To harvest the potatoes we just pull the mulch back again and pick up the new crop of potatoes right off the top of the ground.) Also, the mulch conserved soil moisture and weeds could not grow through the thick blanket of mulch.
We could also delay our harvest, especially root crops, because the mulch protected the crops. Sometimes we left some of it in the garden and pulled veggies all winter. On November 7 (2008), we pulled our beets because the snow was starting to pile up and we were getting hungry for them.
I'm getting hungry for some right now so I think I'll go down to the fruit room and see if there is maybe a jar or two of them left. Thank you Kare, for all your hard work.
On December 8, we decided to pull the carrots too because the snow kept coming and more was in the forecast. We knew approximately where they were in the garden but with so much snow on the ground, we had to poke around a little. After she swept away the snow in one spot she started forking off the mulch until the carrot tops were exposed.

And sure enough! Under all that snow and mulch, the carrot tops were still green and the ground was so insulated that it wasn't even frozen yet.

What a treat! Fresh garden carrots in December!

We decided to leave a few in the ground too just to see how far in to the winter we would be able to go out there and pick them. We did that for a while but, as I mentioned earlier, the snow piled up so much we couldn't even find the garden anymore. I haven't planted a garden yet since Karen died but after doing this post now, I am getting inspired to do so.