Coyotes In Christmas Attire?

The motto in our household is "If it's not moving, it gets decorated for Christmas." That goes for EVERYTHING, including our two coyote mounts.



I don't think I can be arrested for cruelty to animals since they were already dead before Sue "decorated" them.

Of course there were a few more stationary items that received their Christmas adornment as well.




The plan of attack over the next few days includes spending some time with both of our families and of course...lots of food!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Stop in again real soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

BDOB...Big Day Of Baking

Even though the windchill outside was -30+, it was toasty warm in the house as the ladies baked away for Christmas.

Anna wanted to make Kolochies....so she did....at last count she had made 60 of them.



They made two different kinds and I understand they were delicious!

Of course we have to have cutout cookies complete with intricate decorations. Ben rolled up his sleeves and put his artistic talents to work.



While Sue, Anna and Ben were busy in the kitchen, I was busy outside on the tractor re-arranging the snow. When I came back inside, the dogs barked for some strange reason.


The bite marks should be healed in a few weeks.

Once the dogs were pulled off of me and I transformed my attire back into my weekend bib overalls, Ben and I (Ben) concentrated on updating the maps on my GPS unit. The maps were two years old so I thought it wise to update the roads, streets and points of interest.

It was another great day in spite of the weather with everyone having a wonderful time.

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

The Clean Up

The latest round of snow has left the area leaving behind wind and some drifts.

It is slowly warming up now with a temp of -2 as I write this blog. With the wind, the temp is running about -30. Now that it is almost nice out, we have re-arranged the snow so we can get in and out of the property. This evening we will have to re-blow the lane due to drifting. There is always something to do.

Our daughter-in-law, Anna is out here today and she and Sue are doing more Christmas baking.

Of course, I have a few snow pictures for you. I would have some baking pictures for you, but they won't let me in the kitchen!

I was in town picking up Anna and shot a few pictures of their street.



And a few shots of snow covered Coyote Ridge.







We hope to be done with the snow for a few days anyway. So far this month we have received 22 inches. Once we get the snow moved around, it sure is nice to look at.

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Is It Winter Yet?

I would say it is. Officially it arrives December 21st but we have been getting some pretty good blasts for the past month or so.

As I write this we are in a blizzard warning until 6:00 PM Sunday. With temps below zero and very high winds, our windchill is between 37 and 47 below zero.

I had the tractor out just after noon today and slowly made my way up our country lane to the county road. I turned around and started back only to find that my path was already drifted in. On to plan "B".

The wind wasn't so bad up near the house so I blew that out. I will just have to wait for the winds to die down before going back out.

This was a good day to get some Christmas baking done, so we did.




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The Biggest Plant and Panic in Seattle

Sue had a very pleasant surprise this week at her office. The florists delivered a plant to her from her folks, the famous Molly and Harv. The plant was the size of a medium oak tree!

To get the beast home, we have hired a moving van to transport it. It will look beautiful here at Coyote Ridge.

If you watched the news this week you probably saw the snow in Seattle, WA. Our son's partner, Sarah sent Sue these pictures this week. This is the most snow Seattle has ever received in one dumping in history.

This caused a large panic with some venturing out only to find that they were totally ill-equipped to handle the snow.






Thanks for the pictures Sarah! Remember what the snow looks like because I imagine it will be gone by Christmas.

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Santa Pays a Visit

Sue's office has been a hotbed of Christmas activity. Every day it is some new activity and of course lots of food.

Just the other night we cooked up two turkeys and enough gravy to float a cruise liner.

Anyway, Santa paid a visit to her office this week and handed out candy canes to all those who were nice. Those who have been naughty....well Santa asked them for dates.

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Sue with Santa:


Did you ever see the movie "Office Space"?

Please return my stapler!



And finally....Her departments IT crew:


Ho-Ho-Ho

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Cold and Snow

OK now. For those of you not from Minnesota I sure hope you understand today's column. I am not poking fun at you, in fact I may be a bit envious because us Minnesotans understand this stuff way too much.

The last few days have been interesting. That is like saying that -10 degrees is chilly.

Wind chills were -35 degrees Sunday night and Monday. This morning it was -16 here and -35 North of us a bit. Right now it is snowing and the roads a very slippery. In fact many of the hills in town were closed because they were so slick.

But, we are a hardy people with an attitude that allows us to conquer any season. But, we may not be the smartest people on earth as we repeatedly put up with this stuff.

Of course I have some pictures for you. Again, us natives see nothing unusual about them.




Of course, many people take shots at Minnesota. Here are a few wise guy comments we have learned to live with.

You measure distance in minutes.
Down south to you means Iowa.
Snow tires came standard on your car.
75% of your graduating class went to the University of Minnesota.
People from other states love to hear you say words with O's in them.
You hate Fargo but realize that a lot of your family has that accent.
You assume when you say "Twin Cities" people know to where you're referring.
You know what uff-da means and how to use it properly.
You own an icehouse, snowmobile, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
You know that when it comes to AM, there is only WCCO; besides, what else do you need?
Everyone you know has a cabin.
You consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping the food will swim by.
You are proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation.
You have refused to buy something because it's too "spendy."
You're a card-carrying member of both the NRA and the ACLU.
Your local Dairy Queen is closed from December through February.
You have no concept of public transportation.
You instinctively walk like a penguin for three months out of the year.
Someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there.
You know more than one person that has hit a deer.
Your dad's sun tan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead.
You have apologized to a telemarketer.
You may not have actually eaten it, but you have heard of Lutefisk.
You know what Mille Lacs is and how to spell it.
Nothing gets you madder than seeing a Green Bay sticker on a Minnesota car.
You have worn shorts and a parka at the same time.
You have either a pet or a child named "Kirby."
Your town has an equal number of bars and churches.
You have had an entire telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number.
The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks, to fish, or to buy beer on Sunday.
You know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, and Shakopee.
You grew up thinking rice was only for dessert.
You think that ketchup is a little too spicy.
You drink POP, not SODA.
You always believed that vacation meant "going up north."
Every January, from age 2 to l3, you let your older siblings talk you into putting your tongue on a steel post.
You consider Lime Jell-O a highly versatile food: a breakfast dish when filled with fruit, a salad when it has shredded carrots and a dab of mayonnaise, and a dessert when topped with Dreamwhip.
You never had to rewind any part of "Fargo" because you missed some of the dialogue.
You call highways freeways.
Your town has an annual festival honoring a fruit, vegetable, or ethnic food.
The first time you saw "Grumpy Old Men," you thought it was a documentary.
You can recite, from memory, more than a half-dozen "Ole and Lena" jokes.
Every time you see moonlight on a lake, you think of a dancing bear, and sing, gently, "From the land of sky-blue waters.....Hamm's the beer that's so refreshing..."
Your dog dies, your spouse leaves you, you lose your job, and your car breaks down, all on the same day, and your first thought is, "It could be worse."
You've gone trick-or-treating in 3 feet of snow.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog as it was fun writing about this wonderful place we live.

Tune in again real soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"