The annual Christmas card picture

Well, every year after it snows and we put the tree up outside we attempt to get a picture of all three dogs for the card.
None of them are impressed by the process. Scooter doesn't like wearing anything, Thor gets bored, and Leo just sticks his tongue out at the whole process.
It always takes about 50 pictures to get one without one of the dogs doing something unchristmaslike. The snow didn't cooperate this year and melted as we attempted to take the picture. So this year's Christmas will be a little green on the card.
The picture we did use will be in the profile picture during the Holidays for all to see. Hope you all have better luck getting your Christmas pictures. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

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.

Long time camp owner passes

Ruthe Herre passed away Dec 1st you can follow this link to her obituary. Her and her friend Jan Sager have been coming up to camp together since the death of her husband Harold Herre a number of years back.
The Herre camp was a haven for Ruthe as she watched the bears, deers and others animals from the large picture windows on the camp.
I have a feeling she is freer to visit the place now and it wouldn't surprise me to see her sitting in the window by the long white table some day.
I did a lot of remodeling on the camp this year, but I am sure she won't mind sitting in the freshly painted and carpeted place. Something she wanted to do for a long time before her passing. When she and Jan were up they would often go to different places to eat out. It seemed like every time they passed my house they would be surprised by the things I would be doing. I know I will miss seeing her and talking to her. Ruthe had a way with words, she loved a good joke and wasn't afraid to tell you the way things were. I'll be looking for you around the corner. Happy trails from the Mountain girl, Paula.

Deer Season

According to the paper the first day of deer season was slow and not many deer brought in. The camp next to us Sunlite Gun Club, however didn't follow the rule. Michael Curcil shot the ten point buck and coyote on the first day from the same spot. He said he saw the coyote first and then the buck.
The next day Courtney Foose shot the eight point. Both bucks were heavy bodied and promise to be a lot of good eating for the work.
I will have to admit they look a little strange hung in among the Christmas lights. I am not sure Santa's Reindeer would be too happy with this decoration. I know the boys at Sunlite are happy and many a car passing by was jealous as they slowed down to take a look.
Scooter and I walked down to the camp to take this picture and he wasn't too thrilled seeing the coyote. I am not sure if he thought it would bite him or he would be next, but he was very jumpy near the hanging animals.
I have been trying to finish all my roof work before it snows too much and haven't taken the time to blog for quite a while. Now that I am done with roofs for the year, I can slow down a bit and smell the firewood burning. Mountain girl, logging off.

Shamu and the Mountain girl

Went to Sea World today in San Diego and thought I would share some Shamu stuff with you. The first one is of the whale jumping. It is amazing how high such a big animal can go. The trainer even rides up on some of the big jumps and is tossed into the air.
I think you have to be a little crazy to do that since he must be at least 30 feet in the air before he comes down. The second one shows him riding the whale across the pool.
I saw many other animals as well but thought
you might enjoy the whale the most. The funniest thing was the volkswagen painted like a whale in front of the park.
Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and enjoying a few more days of warm weather before coming back to winter.

kayaking in the San Diego Bay

Had some fun kayaking in the San Diego bay with my son Hal today. We got to see a large group of Leopard Sharks, Garibaldi, Sea Lions and numerous small fish. We went on a guided tour of the bay which included going into a cave.
The tide was low and we were only allowed in one cave. The guide took one kayak in at a time. On the second group in a big wave side-swiped them and they took a pretty good beating, but fortunately, the guide controlled the kayak well enough no one got hurt. I went in with pretty much no problems.

You can see the cave in the second picture. The salt water and animal life is a big change from Pennsylvania. It is nice to visit, but my heart is still in the mountains of Pa.

We kayaked about an hour and a half and just as we finished a fog rolled in. It was great planning to be out of the water, since you couldn't see much of anything at that point. Trying to soak up as much sun as possible to make it through a Leetonia winter.
Mountain girl, Paula logging out.

Trip to San Diego

Well, I am in San Diego, but trying to stay in contact with mountains and nature, I took a trip up to Palomar Mountain with my son Hal.
I will have to say the constant Sun in San Diego is good for my rain soaked soul. This summer in Pa has been the rainiest I can remember and it does take its toll on my outlook.
Palomar Mountain is about 5460 ft high at the Observatory, where they have one of the largest telescopes in the world. The lens for it was made a short distance from us in Corning, NY and is
a 200 inch wide lens. The size of the telescope is stunning and the white outline of the observatory looked great against the blue sky.
We also walked a trail in Palomar State Park. We walked through an area of cedars, black oak and many plants I am unfamilar with. A fire had taken a heavy toll on the trees in this area and it was sad to see trees nearly 300 years old blackened and dead on the ground. I am inside one of them in the last picture hollowed out by the fire. These cedars can have a life of up to 500 years and I counted at least 250 rings on one of the downed cut trees. They are trying to log out the downed trees and at least get some use from the disaster.
Tomorrow I will be kayaking in the San Diego bay with seals, a bit different than kayaking down Pine Creek, but I am sure I will adjust. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out, but still thinking of Leetonia.