Thanksgiving in Leetonia

Well, no relatives close and it is pretty quiet in the woods. A lull between bear and deer seasons. We have so much to be thankful for this year, not the least being both of us still living. Also special thanks to all the people who supported us during my accident this summer. There are so many great, giving people in this world and the news we look at everyday doesn't represent that.

We have enough food for 10 people so I will be eating leftovers through next week. The cleanup crew also enjoyed the special day of food. Leo gulps all the big pieces fast. Scooter is more meticulous cleaning up anything left behind.

Although, Scooter is a good cleaner, Lee still insists on washing the dishes afterward. Can you imagine?

I think now we will all collapse in a Turkey haze, sleep, and read a little before going back to work tomorrow. With all the snow up here it has been a little more like Christmas than Thanksgiving, but I know winter hasn't even started in Leetonia. Have a great Thanksgiving! Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

6" of Wet snow

We had another couple inches of wet snow last night bringing the total to six inches. Just enough for this snow bear to take shape. We have a new watcher to the blog from Arizona, hence the bear welcome.

Snow plow is going down to Theresa house and back, but no further. Lee went out to Cedar Run today and said the snow drops off considerably at Mine Hole. With warm temperatures for the next few days, hopefully it won't interfere with buck season.

I am hoping this early snow is not a predictor of snow to come this year. I am not looking forward to snow challenges at all. Today I am making yeast rolls for tomorrow's dinner so I am out of the kitchen when the main chef is busy.

I am not sure how long the snow bear will last. Scooter has been eying him with evil intentions and I am sure he can tear the bear down much faster than I built it. Its always fun building snow things makes you feel like a little kid again. Hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

More snow fell last night, about 4 inches of very wet snow. It was easy traveling early, but as the trucks packed the road it became slippery and dangerous. It was day 2 of bear season. I saw three bears taken in the Leetonia area yesterday. Lee saw one shot next to Brad's in Cedar Run today and I heard several late shots. The bears don't seem to be fairing too well this year.

After a hard day looking for bears these three hunters spent a quiet evening at Cedar Run Inn. The hunter with his arms crossed, boasts of 43 years of bear hunting without a single bear being harmed. The Inn departs from its regular
menu during hunting season and serves one thing to everyone. It is very causal style dining. Lee and I were invited to dinner and enjoyed the mashed potatoes, corn, and stuff chicken breast followed by "fruits of the forest pie", a multiberry delight.

It appears we are to continue having this early snow through Friday, which is the beginning of buck season. This will make travel up here difficult for most flatlanders. I am hoping none of them meet the creek up close. So if you are coming be prepared, bring chains and your 4-wheel drive vehicles. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Cold and Snow

This morning it was 56 degrees, not outside, inside. The temperature outside was a brisk 17 degrees warmer than the last couple days which have been at single digits. It seems we have gone from Indian Summer days of 60 to Artic Cold overnight. The dogs, especially Leo, are quick to wake us up to put more wood in the fire. We got about an inch or two of snow last night giving us a very wintery look.


Lee isn't going to be able to pull the trailer with the lawn tractor as it will slip, so she is stuck splitting the wood and leaving it in a pile where it is at. It always seems like winter is quick to come and slow to leave. I will have to admit I am a little shaky driving since the accident and the truck always slips a little in the snow even in 4-wheel drive. This has never bothered me before, but I have found my heart in my throat a couple times and the roads aren't that bad. I hope this uneasiness fades from my memory quickly.

Normally this time of year is a time to slow down and take a breath from the fast paced summer. This is not the case for me this year as I must make up for having the summer off. Although, I am not working up to full speed yet, I am doing about 75%, which isn't too bad after 5 months. I think of how many people pulled together to help us this summer and I am truly grateful. I know it is the way of the Valley to be so supportive of each other. Something the rest of the country may be learning as we move into harder times. This Thanksgiving I have much to be thankful for. Just the fact I am here and doing well is more than enough. But the most important thing I am thankful for this year is all of you out there who have shown your love and caring for both Lee and I during my accident and recovery. It is something this mountain girl will never forget. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Weather and Bear Season

Monday is the first day of bear season and a day my dogs dislike. The reason for this is how the hunters hunt. They often form large driving groups yelling and making noise to drive the bears towards the shooters. The dogs aren't used to so much noise in the woods and will growl and bark at the racket. There is something about it that makes even me a little on edge.

As you can see we don't have much snow to the east of us they got hammered with two snows of a foot each. Personally I am glad not to have that kind of snow this early. We still have some work to do. I have to fix the fence in our back yard for an injured dog coming to stay with us in about a week. His name is Thor and is recovering from an amputated rear leg.

I am still doing PT, and feel about 80%, my hardest thing is to get into small spaces, like under cabinets, crawl spaces or like I did yesterday work inside a fireplace box installing a glass door. The twisting irritates the back quickly. We are definitely into the gray short days now and it is difficult to get much done while the sun shines. Hope all of you have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Fall and wood

Just thought I would give you an update on the firewood. Lee is down to the last batch of firewood to be split before winter. We sawed the rest of it yesterday and she has a week's worth of spliting and stacking ahead of her. I was able to run the chain saw while she lifted the logs, but I must admit I paid for it by the end of the day. My mind is well ahead of my back on healing.

Our seasoned firewood came up about a cord short so I will be looking for some more before snow. Last week we didn't use a stick of firewood as the weather stayed unseasonably warm. It changed
last night to cooler weather so it is back to log burning.

The trees have mostly lost their leaves in preparation for the snow and the gray days of winter will be upon us soon. I have one additional thing to report as to the voting. It appears only 25 of the 31 eligible voters voted. For President it was McCain 15, Obama 6, and write-ins 4.

I thought it was curious that 4 people didn't like any of the available candidates for President. That is almost 20 percent of our voters. Do any of you remember a time you could cast your vote in Leetonia? If you do let me know what you remember about past elections. I hope we see some programs like the CCC with the new administration. All of the work done in this forest was done during that period and not much but maintenance since. I would love to see the trails, bridges and tree plantings done again and part of our national treasure, "Leetonia" revived. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Voting Day in The Mountains

Today we voted at the old schoolhouse about 10 miles from our house. It was a very nice day as far as voting weather with the temperature near 51 at 10:30 am. We have often gone in the snow or ice so not having to battle the elements was great.

As we heard of long lines and waiting across the country we laughed to ourselves knowing the possibility of having more than one person in front of us was slim. With only 31 eligible voters in our township,we are one of the most sparsely populated townships in Pennsylvania

Our polling place is modest and I am sure is one of the few polling place with an outhouse(I guess that is where the secret ballots are cast). Many times the officials have card games and all day food buffets while they wait all day for the occasional voter.


As old fashioned as the building is we do have automated voting machines that you place a magnetized card into. They are touch screen and come in large or small print for us hard to read voters. There are two machines, but only one was turned on today and was more than adequate to handle the crowd. LOL. We have 100% turnout most of the time so we are few but dedicated voters. The township is predominately Republican in makeup. However, I don't know how they are all voting this year.
So for all you people with long lines, I can only suggest one thing move to Elk Township in Tioga County, Pa for fast easy service and a fully functioning outhouse. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.