2017! Off to a Good Start

Because I live in a freaking Christmas card...which is funny because I don't even do Christmas, but "Solstice Card" isn't a "meme."

Here is a recent pic:

Cool!  Those are the trees by the creek.

Here is the homesite from the road where I park:

These are the beehives with my white trash windbreak:















I do love pallets.  They are backed with thrift store window blinds that were meant for a different task (not windows though).
You can see I've dug out the wee doorways in the bottom of the hives.  That way the bees have ventilation.  There is another door under the lid that you can't see.  You can see how much snow.  And honestly, that is two snows ago.  The mounds on top are even taller.  Instructions are to leave the snow on as it insulates the hives.  The bees are eating their way up through honey in the 2nd big box.  The top box, which is smaller, is holding dry sugar for them to eat when they run out of honey.  I hope it lasts! I have more sugar and some "bee candy" (basically sugar made into patties) to put in there as soon as the outdoor temp is 50F or higher.  It just has to hit that for one day and I throw in more sugar as fast as I can.  I have heard them buzzing a bit a few days ago so hopefully they still are hanging in there.


The parking situation.  Even days like this when I cave in and spend the night in town (due to COLD), I try to go buy and shovel.  And shovel.  And shovel.  Thank goodness I've been working out or I would be immobile now.

It was pretty funny yesterday.  I was shoveling a few inches of snow, after I went ahead and parked on it.  A nice young man stopped his truck across the road and ran over.  He asked if I needed help digging my car out of that hole (again...that is a few snows after this pic was taken).  I explained that I actually park in this hole and was just putting on my snowshoes to get up to the homestead.  He looked around for a while...presumably searching for a house.  Here's a hint:  There isn't one!  HA!  I said, "I've made some unique life choices and this is where I live.  Thank you very much for your offer."  I wonder if it was a story he found worth telling...

This is a picture of the highway to work.  That's Plummer Butte in the distance.  It is super pretty here when it snows.  

And finally: A look to the ESE from the shed:
















You can see the bee yard windbreak, the big tree with the shower room and living room under it.  Just to the left of the big tree you can make out the shape of the camper...or as I like to call it, "my 2nd home."   ...two homes and 36 acres owned outright...and yet...I count as "homeless."  Only in America.