Our first "real" snow.  Everyone says we are having a very mild winter.  We have had about 6-8 inches the last few days, and are expecting more tomorrow.  The snow is so beautiful and we don't mind it at all. We were out the other night and the snow looked like diamonds falling from the sky  and spread over the snow.  We purposefully don't have yard lights so we can see the night sky and snow.  So amazing and a powerful reminder of how awesome our God is.

  Mike and "Buck" like plowing, and they team up with Allan and "Chuck" to keep our little valley plowed out.  They like to plow at night as it is easier to see the snow depth in the plow lights.  

The following is a sequence going up our driveway from our gate to the shop....

Looking from our gate to our hill

Starting up the hill from the first corner

Almost to the big corner, halfway up

Just around the big corner and starting up the 2nd section of the hill

Almost to the top

Looking down the hill from the top, facing due north.  House is to the left and shop is behind me. Baxter was keeping me safe!

Almost back down to the big corner from the uphill side.  Driveway is almost 1/2 mile -- 21 stations, or 2100 feet from the gate to the top.

View from the front deck looking southwest towards Sherman Pass and Highway 20 (east end of the North Cascades Highway).  If you look closely you can see a faint hill in the distance.  We watched that burn last summer.  Several homes were lost - the fire started and took off quickly and some people had less than 15 minutes to evacuate.  We are doing "zero-scape" around the house - nothing combustible within 200 feet.  We will do raised beds for gardening and some plants next to the house, but they will be surrounded by landscape rock.  Will be nice, and low maintenance, plus not a lot of watering.

We look forward to lots of visitors.  We will have the glider rockers and porch swing all warmed up for you, and cold drinks in the fridge.  For those of you that like fall and winter, there is lots if good hunting and sightseeing, and skiing at 49° North about 35 minutes away!