Let the snow begin!

Leetonia Road today

Although winter does not officially begin until December 21st, snow has fallen in Tioga Forest and has decorated the forest with a nice white gown. It is interesting how every year the first significant snow fall is always so pretty. By the end of February, the comments about snow will turn to dismay as people will start being tired of the white somewhat colorless winter and start wishing for the end of the winter white. Last year we seemed to skip winter and not much snowmobiling or other winter sports were possible. This could be why last night I saw a snowmobile running across Ridge Rd on the tiny 2 to 3 inches of snow we have gotten. One good bit of news for those of you who like to visit Leetonia in a car, the township is plowing the road from Parker Hollow to just past the Pioneer Camp. For some reason they decided to turn around at Melvin's driveway and not do the last 300 yds to Painter Leetonia Rd. They are doing this because of someone living full time across from Mick's old place. This is good news for me as it means I can get up and do some skiing or hiking this winter. 

This coming week has promised to start giving us some of the cold temperatures we usually get earlier. By the middle of the week we will see single digits. So if you go out dress warm.

I never like leaving my home in the woods even though I live a short distance away my city home lacks the quiet and solitude of the woods. This time as I was leaving I noticed a UPS sticker on my old UPS collection box I built at Parker Hollow. UPS will not deliver back in the woods. At first I thought someone used my old address and I might find frozen fruit. But when I looked inside it was a flat envelope addressed to 5990 Leetonia Rd., This is a camp as you head South on Leetonia Rd is right before you get to the pipeline on the left. I am not sure who owns this camp, but no one is there right now. If you know tell them their envelope is in the big green box at Parker Hollow. Mountain girl, Paula, back to work and missing Leetonia.

The Never Ending Winter

Snowmobiles finding plowed road

Multiple snowmobile turn arounds

last of front porch wood

Well today is the last of February and the wood on the front porch has made it through the cold weather as Lee predicated. We still have wood on the back porch for what should be the down side of winter the next few months. Although, the official end of Winter is March 21st the end of using firewood often does not come until May. We have had many below zero temperatures this winter and are hoping this morning's -12 is the last of them. Unlike the winter of 2012 when winter never showed this winter and last has had cold temperatures driving the depth of frost deep.  Last year there was still ice on the ground in April and I had a hard time getting water to start in two of the camps I take care of. This year is more of the same. We are very much hoping for the above freezing temperatures promised for next week although that will lead to the dreaded melting March combo's of mud, ice, rain, snow and whatever mother nature can think of.

For those of you thinking of driving your regular vehicle through the State Forest I would advise against it for now. No one will pull you out and it will be April before the road is plowed again. When the weather gets above freezing the nice packed snow you might have driven on will become a deep wet snow trap. One winter Lee and I spent 4 hours making the trip from Cedar Run up to the house and I walked the last 3 miles to get the snowmobile so I could pick up the groceries and Lee. Once the road refroze over night driving out again became possible. Best to wait a couple months, or plan on skiing, hiking, or snowmobling into camp for now.

We have more snow in the forecast for Sunday then a nice warm up next week.  Today we are enjoying the comfort of a good fire listening to the snow come off the roof and the snowmobilers turning around at the sight of plowed road from our house up. Enjoy the weekend in the woods safely. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

January Blues

Speck staying warm.

The return to the cold snap has sent everyone into the winter blues. Below zero temperatures have once again caused us to have to drip the faucet to keep pipes from freezing. The last couple feet down to the floor feels cold when the wind blows and the temperatures are this low. We are still holding fairly well on the firewood and it looks like we will make it through January with the wood stacked on the front porch. The next few months will be fueled by the back porch.

It is cold, snowing and the wind is blowing outside today. It isn't one of those days I feel like going out for much except getting more firewood. The dogs stay close to the fire. Speck practically sits on top the fire in this weather. 

On a good note, I may have found a home for Felix, the cat. He has been staying at a man's house who has a female cat about his age since Friday. I am hoping things work out, since Lee's allergies to him were making it harder and harder for her to have him indoors. I have to admit it was very hard to haul him to a new place as he cried in his crate the whole way(1 hour). I felt extremely guilty. Then coming home to a house without him made me realize how much a part of the family he has become. 

He would always come running down from upstairs to greet me as I came home and constantly purred and talking to me. He would go in and out the door when I let the dogs out. I think he thought he was a dog. He tried desperately to get them to play with him. They mostly ignored him or growled and snapped at him when he grabbed at their tails. Felix was quick to run if they made any move towards him. I think he thought it a fun game to tease them.I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I heard him meow and wondering when I would hear him jumping over the barrier gate or reaching his paws under the door when I closed it to keep him out. Although I would never have intentionally added a cat to our family, I have to admit he was very entertaining and loving. He was a tough cat to have survived as many months as he did outside with bobcats and foxes anxious to turn him into a snack. I  hope over time he will adjust to his new home and make friends with the other cat who can play cat games with him.

Looks like we will have light snow the next four days then we are in for a couple more days of below zero weather. Not much action up here as the snow isn't that good for snowmobiling on top of the icy layer underneath it. My car is struggling in the morning to warm up and sounds a little like squirrels screaming for about five minutes. Planning on kicking back and enjoying not going anywhere this weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Frozen in Leetonia

Home sweet home

Approaching home

Leetonia Rd.

Pine tree Hooke camp

I threw in a little video that you will have to view at the blog site to enjoy. We awoke to -8 this morning and the sun rising to warm it up to the low 20's today. When it gets below zero I have to let the faucet drip all night to keep the water lines from freezing. My grandfather buried the water line to the well a bit too shallow for full time living up here and dripping is the only way to keep it from freezing.

We got about 6-8 inches of new snow on Thursday and Friday bringing the snowmobilers back to the mountains. Although our road is plowed they didn't scrap it down to the grave so a few snowmobilers have been buzzing by the house this morning. Most of the snowmobiling is on the pipeline and other unplowed roads. You can hear them buzzing like bees in the trees as the sound bounces through the mountains.

The sun made the mountain like a postcard today with the blue sky above and the fresh white snow below. I put on my snow pants and just laid on the side of the mountain for a while looking up at the few white wisps of clouds passing over. The sun doesn't rise far over the mountain to the South of us during this time of year. In fact, it just comes up in the valley and follows the top of the mountain until it sets, casting a long shadow in front of the mountain. Fortunately, our house is high enough to get sun most of the day and that really helps warm it up and brighten things a bit during the short days of winter. 

We did two puzzles over the holidays. The first was a 1000 piece one on Christmas and the second a 750 piece one on New Years Eve. I got down to the last piece to put in at 2 min before midnight and it was missing. My searching didn't find it before midnight and I had to settle with finding it under the recliner the next day. Thanks I believe to a mischievous cat pushing it there. There is a lesson about goals and how they don't always go on your time schedule. 

I have never had a indoor cat before and I can tell you they are much more mischievous than the dogs. He is however catching the mice which has eliminated my need for poison or traps. Of course he likes to bat them around the house for a lot longer time than I will tolerate before I throw them outside. Speck investigated the one he had this morning and after sniffing it and seeing it wasn't moving didn't seem to understand why the cat was still interested in it at all.

Tomorrow it is supposed to get above freezing and possibly rain before again turning to snow Sunday through Monday morning. The possibility of rain in between the snow never thrills us. The ground is so cold it will instantly turn to ice and make driving very dangerous.Then it is supposed to go so cold the first few days of the week it will make last night seem like the Bahamas. Chains and four-wheel drive are still a must if you are to travel anywhere up here this time of year. Have a great 2014 from the Mountain girls and boys. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

What a difference a day makes

Staying warm

First Tracks

Rooted in

We went from fog and the 40's yesterday to wind gusts of 50 mph and the 20's today. Overnight a heavy rain with thunder changed to snow and we had about 2" on the ground this morning. At Cedar Run the creek levels rose quickly to nearly 8' from a 2' level yesterday. The levels are heading back down with the snow instead of rain.

I took a mile walk today as the sun peaked in an out and I didn't want to miss it having not seen the sun for days. I don't care for wind in my face so my picture looks like it is sub-zero. A couple Chickadees were all that braved the weather besides me. As I walked up the hill a mile several little snow devils popped up here and there to remind me of the wind's ability to swirl in marvelous ways. 

Doesn't look like we are in for much of an improvement in temperature for a while, but the snow did cover the ice up and I would imagine there will be a few people snowmobiling on the upper parts of the mountain. The snow came just in time to keep the south side of the hill facing our house from being uncovered as it had lost the majority of its snow yesterday.

Speck, the Chihuahua, is basically hiding out from the change of weather and Leo isn't all that crazy about it either. Seems most of the animals agree with them and are bedded down somewhere until the wind stops. Have a great Leetonia day and stay warm. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

FRIGID -12

Well, there is only one word for the weather...COLD. The faucet is on permanent drip to keep the lines from freezing the dogs are plastered to the fire and the wood is burning fast. In below zero weather, I will easily go through two plus carts of wood. It is a struggle to keep the cabin in the 60's you must constantly put wood in the fire. We got about 6 inches of snow yesterday and then the temperatures went down fast. Thor started barking at 4 am...the fire ran low. I came down and stoked it back up and he seemed happy. Days like this make it hard to want to do anything but sit close to the fire and read a book. Looks like at least 3 days of below zero weather is upon us.

The snowmobilers are out running the new snow and I am betting wishing it wasn't quite so cold. Although the heaters in the handle bars do help. I know in weather like this you don't want to be a passenger on a snowmobile. I rode behind Lee on a -10 night coming back from Cedar Run, it was so cold my facegaurd froze over. The air is blocked for the first person, but flows up over them and hits you in the face and down the back.

For those of you that live in warm climates a word to the wise. Don't call and tell me it is a bit cold today at 65 degrees. It doesn't warm us up anymore to know that. Mountain girl, Paula, loading firewood and logging out.

Winter is here!

Well last night it got down to 10 degrees. I woke up to a 53 degree house. When it is cold inside you don't want to get out of a warm bed. Of course the fire has to be started to get the house warmed back up. We had some wind last night that seemed to go right through things and cool them off fast. Even the dogs didn't want to get up this morning.
The eight inches of snow we got a couple days ago went from a heavy wet snow to a hard mass of snow. The plow put down some salt on the road to our house, but anywhere it is not plowed it has frozen ruts that jerk you around. Best to have some studded snow tire or chain if you are running around much. Well got a few outdoor things to finish up today. I will be putting on the heavy winter clothes today. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

An icy touch of winter

I got the feeling of winter settling in to stay; first yesterday it snowed about 2", then the temperatures dropped to 14 degrees last night. There is only a couple days in the next ten days it is forecast to be above freezing. So seeing the wood stacked on both front and back porches gives you a nice safe warm feeling for the winter months.
Lee is getting her studded snow tires on today as it looks like ice and snow are also in the ten day forecast. I am still finishing up some outside work, but "no roofs" thank goodness. I have winterized two camps for the season and will do another one this week. Two more camps stay open a bit longer hoping to come up over the holidays if the weather holds. Lee's sister, Diane headed South for the winter just in time to avoid the cold. She is spending the winter in Florida looking for work down there and enjoying her kids and grandchild. Lee will be driving a vehicle to Arizona for some friends and I may be alone for Christmas unless I can talk my brother into coming up. Well, at least I know I will be warm and the company of three dogs keeps a person from being too lonely. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

-23 Sets record for Leetonia

I spent the night sleeping near the fireplace keeping it stoked with wood. We have never seen temperatures this low since we have been here. The puppy appreciated the company all night and huddled close to me under the covers adding a sort of doggie heated blanket effect. I ran the faucet on low last night and thankfully had no frozen pipes to deal with this morning. It was so cold the back door was frozen to the frame and had to be popped open. The truck grudgingly turned over acting like it had ice for pistons. I had to let it warm up for fifteen minutes just to drive it a quarter mile down the road. Such is the harshness of an Arctic Blast in the mountains.

What amazed me was the number of people who braved the cold to snowmobile. They all looked like human marshmallows bundled up with so many layers. Tomorrow promises to get into the mid twenties and I can tell you it will feel like a heat wave to go up forty degrees from our current temperatures. The dogs missed their walk today since this kind of cold makes their feet bleed if they walk to far on the icy ground. They went out only long enough to do their business and were happy to come back in to the fire.

I finished some work in a heated area today and was glad to have something to do other than outdoors. Since my work was close I walked the quarter mile home for lunch and that was enough outdoor activity to satisfy me. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and staying warm.

Frigid Blast covers area

It's hard to take a picture of really cold, but it got down to -13 last night, a new record for us since we have been up here. It is the kind of cold that makes the snow squeak and your nose burn when you breathe in the air. For the two pit bulls it is pure hell, they got out long enough to do their business and run back in limping from paw to paw. Scooter seems less affected by the cold and shows much more willingness to venture out for a time.

Since it snowed the snowmobilers are up in full force for the weekend, but I have to say it doesn't look like fun raising the wind chill on your body in this bone chilling weather. I prefer to stick to the fireplace for my fun. We will use twice the firewood at this temperature then when it is at 30. I am hoping this weather doesn't last long as I watch our firewood stock quickly deplete on days like this. Mountain girl, Paula, trying to stay warm in Leetonia.

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.

Cooooold!

This morning when I got up it was 55 degrees INSIDE and about 6 outside. Temperatures are not promising to do anything but go down for a while so its, "sit close to the fireplace weather". For all you snowmobilers forget it! We have had very little snow and what we do have is mostly ice.

I managed to get a bad head cold this week and now Lee is sick. Fortunately, I am now feeling good enough to fetch the firewood or we would both freeze. Leo the pit bull does not like the cold and his preferred location is covered up near the fire today.

Sometimes I wish I could be a dog at least one that has it as good as he does. The new pup Scooter seems to be having a hard time keeping his teeth. He broke one permanent molar about 2 weeks ago that needed to be pulled then turned around and broke another one two days ago. To be loosing your teeth at nine months old does not predict your long term dental health as very promising.




A special thanks to Joe Sulikoski, who dropped off a nice grouse he shot yesterday he said the grouse had about twelve miles of walking into it. I know his dog was happy he shot one that it flushed....those grouse can be tricky to hit, but a dog will give you a dirty look after you miss a dozen times or so. I have that grouse marinating and it will be supper tonight. Thanks Joe.

Mountain Girl, Paula, sticking near the fire and logging out.