A good day to stay in...

While the temps dropped, the rain/ice fell, and the winds raged, we managed to stay nice and toasty inside on Mon., Dec. 7th. We had stocked up on firewood and kindling and were able to keep our wood-burning stove fed pretty much continuously since Friday, our trusty little propane heater again serving as dependable supplement. And while our renters apparently had their power go out for 8 hours, we simply turned on our generator when our power panel let us know we were running low. Did some cooking, some reading, some emailing, and some movie-watching. Pretty nice day!

But outside? Well, records were matched or broken for rainfall and winds all over the place! Ponds filled. Trees fell. And people crashed - it was a good day not to have to be on the roads. It was a good day to stay in...

and be in a cozy yurt.

Still Life...

Wow, what a storm we're having right now!! It has been raining all day, and the winds have built up to around 30 mph sustained, gusting to 60+ mph! The fabric covering our little yurt has been flapping all day, and the winds have gotten rough enough to shake our whole dwelling. The gusts have pushed against our walls so hard our desk was moved, they've ripped two of our windows off, and they've relocated a trash can down the hill. We've hardly been able to even hear each other talk! They've made us nervous enough to set-up a cable system designed for high winds just like these. This is only the second time we've erected it in the ten years we've had the yurt! (the yurt's probably lived through high winds without the cables - we just weren't up here to know about it!)
So...what better time to do some indoor photography?! While things are anything but still outside, time for a little experimentation with some pretty flowers inside...

So, during the time most folks were probably preparing to watch some big football game (or stuck in trying-to-get-to-the-snow traffic, poor guys!), I was out trying to catch some snow photos - while the clouds were clearing but before the snow all melted off (which amounted to about a 2-hr window)!

Comfort and Joy

While the winds howled, the temps dropped, and darkness fell, we all snuggled down.

We suffered along, with various candle scents filling the air (thanks Lis!) and the wood-burning stove glowing warm in the background.

As the evening wore on, the laziness reached a fevered pitch. There were shared snacks...

And traded spaces. As the saying goes, "How wonderful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterwards." That was our night. But hey, isn't that one of the things stormy weather's good for?!

First Snow!

Rain! At last!! We listened to the awesome sound of raindrops on our yurt roof all night last night! Finally - water for our thirsty hills and storm relief for my sun-weary mind. And yes, there are more of us rain-lovers in southern Calif. than one might imagine! Later in the morning, the rain turned to hail and then finally to snow. What a beautiful day!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dog Days of Fall

Ouray and Senny in a sunset pose...

A Cat's Life...

You are being watched. Kitty surveillance, at it's finest in our yurt! Scrat and Tractor's newest favorite pastime - watching us all from above. Tractor can jump floor to sink to shower to top of wall. Scratty? Not so much... Our Scratty Fatty needs to be airlifted onto the wall. But once there, they both enjoy the view,

the nap,

the intial descent,

the secondary descent,

and again, the nap...

Rinse, repeat.