A snowy morning

We had over two feet of snow up at the log cabin. It was so beautiful but we had a lot of digging out to do. First priority was for Greg to dig out a path to my bird feeders! Don't want to make those birdys angry....





The sun is just starting to peek out. The lake has a light covering of snow on it. It's going to be a beautiful day.








I don't see any of my neighbors out on their decks. Too bad. I was going to wave to them while wearing my silly cat pajamas....







Well here's a nice visitor....the downy woodpecker. Let's invite him in for a nice cup of hot chocolate. We won't mention the fight he had earlier with the nuthatch....

Snow - here I come!

We've had no snow in the southern part of Michigan. This morning as I write this it is raining! But alas, up north at the cabin, they've already received 10 inches of snow! And there's more coming!

I'm already driving Greg crazy with the 101 things I want to do at the cabin this weekend. (Snow shoeing, baking, more decorating, taking photos of Scout in the snow and of course - waving to the neighbors from the deck of my cabin as I wear my kitty pajamas! Last year it was sheep ones.)

And to those kids in my classes that wear pajama pants to class and think they are the "cat's meow" - they have nothing on me! Ha!

My snowplow man is going to be rich!

The snowplow man is making good money off us at the log cabin! We've had our driveway plowed 2 times already this week and it looks like after Sunday's predicted storm, he will be getting our business a 3rd time. It does look so beautiful out here with blankets of clean white snow on the trees and ground. Today it is 10 degrees and partly sunny. There are already ice fisherman out on our lake. I'm still a little hesitant to walk on it with my snow shoes. I have visions of going through the ice. I'll wait till January and then I think it'll be really frozen!



A Christmas wreath to greet you! Watch out for the icicles!


















I put garland and red ribbons all around our deck. The chickadees love perching themselves on it until it's their turn at the birdfeeder.

It's going to be a white Christmas!

Our log cabin is located in Gaylord which is known as a snowbelt in northern Michigan. Usually our area winter snowfall totals average about 151 inches for the whole season. Well it's not even mid-December yet and we've already had 70 inches of snowfall! Well, I did always say I wanted a cozy log cabin in the snowy woods. I got my wish!

How's the snowfall in your area?



This was Saturday night when we arrived.















Log cabin in the snowy woods!
















Hubby's job - shovel the deck!















Here is downtown Gaylord where I like to shop! Check out those snowbanks.












Here is an image from Otsego Lake State Park where we like to go snow shoeing. Look at all that fresh snow!













It's going to be a white Christmas my friends!

More Snow!

Here is what the snow looked like last week in Gaylord. This is on the snowmobile path. Now check out the Snowman Cam and see how much snow there is now! The Snowman Cam is really neat - shows you real time views of the snow accumulation in our area and often times you can catch glimpses of deer, bear and wild turkey.

Approximately 4 inches have fallen today and another 2-4 inches is expected tomorrow. I imagine it will be slow driving once we get closer to our destination. We might do some downhill skiing this weekend as well as finish decorating the log cabin. I picked up a couple more Christmas trees.....Marvin the cat is excited at this development.

Let's go snow shoeing!

You and I are going to leave the confines of the log cabin today and go snow shoeing in this lovely powdered snow that we have! Are you ready? (Psst - not only is snow shoeing considered one of the fastest growing winter sports, but did you know that you can burn more than 600 calories per hour snow shoeing? Let's work off those cookies I made the other day.)


Dress warmly. Let's go drive over to my in-law's cabin which sits on 20 acres. It will be nice to see the tall green pines. Plus my mother-in-law might feed us later. :-)











Okay, we're on the road. Did you know snow shoes are relatively inexpensive? You can usually pick up a decent pair for under $100. I bought mine from REI.










Time to snap on the snow shoes. It's relatively easy to tighten the bindings. I forgot my poles but I shouldn't need them today because I won't be walking over that many hills.


















Let's step into that virgin white snow and make some tracks.
















Isn't that a beautiful sight? Let's not trip over that stump up ahead....























The air is crisp and clean. I can hear a Blue Jay off in the distance.












Let's walk a little further. See how the snow is clinging to the pine trees? Can you hear winter's silence?






















I'm getting a little hungry and I think you need some hot chocolate. Let's head back down this path. I hope you enjoyed our snow shoeing adventure today - I know I did.

A lot of snow at the log cabin!

It's 30 degrees and the snow has been falling all night! It's beautiful but I must admit when the snow came up to my mid-calves as I was headed to the car - it can be an obstacle too! Thanksgiving with just the 3 of us (oh - and Marvin the crazy cat) was very nice. I ended up making a ham and we had plenty of food for all. Even Marvin got a bite! Today we are going to try to go sledding (I'll be the one screaming all the way down) and then later we are going to watch some more movies. Hope all of you have a nice weekend!

Brr!!

Here's our cozy Thanksgiving table. We all went around the table and listed what we were grateful for. It made me smile when my stepson said "our log cabin."

It's so hard to get a decent picture of the Christmas tree, but I'll try again. It's 9 1/2 feet tall, has strands of cranberry beads and rustic ornaments on it. Marvin snatched one of my stuffed moose ornaments and took it under the bed to lick it to death. But so far - nothing broken!

Last night we watched a classic movie - Irving Berlin's White Chrismas w/ Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Klooney. My stepson wasn't sure he liked the movie but he did like the Christmas cookies I made!

First Snow at the Log Cabin!

I woke up to our first snow at our log cabin! It was so beautiful with the snow flakes dusting down. The birds were all a flutter around our feeders - Juncos, Chickadees, Blue Jays, Finches, Woodpeckers and more. This is what I've always envisioned - have a cozy log cabin in the snow covered woods! Time for some hot chocolate and Christmas music! (I am allowed to play Christmas music right now...right?)