Valentines delights

These are my lil Valentines this year!  OH what a joy!!

This

This exactly 

I miss

I miss-

Ella- I have to hold her soon or I will go bonkers

Jon and Sarah and Greg and Sarah- :(  I will see them soon I think.  Greg and Sarah will be heading up in a few weeks, and if Jon and Sarah can't get up here, I will be going south at some point in March/April.

Mike-  How can the elusive Mike live 2 miles away from me and I haven't seen his face in weeks either??

MY SISTER!!!!  ARGH  We must plan a sister weekend- I'm thinking that whole downtown Minneapolis scene might be VERY cool.  But I'd be happy with a cheap motel in a small town at this point.

Any sort of warmth in the out of doors........  and my flipflops which are sulking in a corner.......

Teaching only in one school building.  I have so many kiddos every day.  I remember when I used to teach just grade school art, and then for a while, just HS art.  I could commit so much time to prepping for different things and creating new projects and having that enthusiasm every single day.  I am on auto pilot most of the time, and barely keeping ahead of the game.  February is the toughest month in Education, guys.  Trust me on this one.

My optimism.  I want to stay in bed.  I want to run away.  I want to eat chocolate and cupcakes until I can eat no more.  I understand that there are people in this world that have it bad- and I am pretty lucky and undoubtedly spoiled in some way or another.....  however this does not make me feel all that much better.  Because it is February and it is a LONG way before we get our spring break- like not until April.  And every one is getting sick and/or testy and/or tired.

So, I will take myself off of this couch and get myself going today and do the best I can, but I am hoping to solve some of these missing issues.  soon.  please.

and THAT will give me some joy

Quick hits

QUICK hits, because I miss writing this and life has been busy and yeah....  you get it.

1.  I'm over this cold. -27 this morning, that's enough.  (EEEEEEK- I just heard on the weather that it was the 45th day this winter of below zero weather- could be more up here)

2.  I've been doing some daily Instagram pix of Lola!  It is fun, find her story on Facebook or Instagram!

3. I have such dry hands and broken nails from- the dry weather, the clay we have been working with,  winter in general....  and this is obnoxious.  I think a nice trip to a tropical island is called for, but....

4. Things at work are busy and trying and noisy, but still I love my job, but there are parts that could  be eliminated and I would not complain.

5.  I sort of smashed my finger and consequently have an interesting pinch/cut on my middle finger. This put a screeching halt on my lift today- not happy.  Someone goaded me into at least doing cardio, and I did that, plus a few other things.  I sucked it up, but there was a good deal of whining and not a little cursing.

6. We have a half day tomorrow, and of course we have an inservice..... (see number 4)

7.  I am going with my buddy Adam, the Mad- English teacher, to Ashland this Saturday night and will do the Book Across the Bay!!  WOO HOO- 6 miles across Lake Superior from Ashland to Washburn. Oh I am looking forward to that!

8. Within a month or so I will see the far flung children of mine!  One way or another!!

9.  Tax season is winding up to a fever pitch.  The MA is working Saturdays and Sunday morning, won't be long and Sunday afternoon might be on the chopping block as well.  I have been the go to carrier pigeon girl lately.  

10. I have been able to find my joy every day, but wow, somedays it is hard to find something to be joyful about.  I need some color in my life.  Is it too early for daffodil watch?  Too soon??  sigh.

Anyway, along with some cleaning, and cooking and grocery shopping, my life consists of school, gym, eat, sleep - rinse and repeat.  But guess what- Scenery painting begins next week.

And on it goes.  

ALWAYS be a joy giver, y'all!

Dogs and caves and snow and ice

Wow that was a great way to spend a Saturday!  My friends Adam and Laurie: the Mad-English teacher and the Mad-Chemistry teacher, and I journeyed up to Washburn/Bayfield/Cornicopia area of far northern WI.  Which is a somewhat crazy thing to do, seeing it is usually COLDER up there than it is here.  But cool things (and some serious good eats) were needing to be experienced.

Ices, snow, caves and people

Laurie is a HUGE fan of all things dog and heard about the Apostle Islands Dog Sled race that was this weekend.  She wanted someone to come with her, and when the Ice Caves opened up plans were formulated!

I had been to dog sled races many years ago when we had them here in Park Falls.  It is an interesting thing to witness, those dogs are amazing.  Many people think of sled dogs as big puffy Huskies or what have you, but in reality they are smaller and lighter and more "mutt" looking. Of course not all of them are, and I do NOT mean to insult anyone or their dogs, but they do not look like stereotypical sled dogs of the cartoons or legend or what you might imagine they look like.

 What was fun is to see the personality of each of the teams.  Some were very mellow while waiting to be harnessed, and some were just twitching and howling with anticipation.  And when they were all attached, the majority of them were just LEAPING and twisting and barking with joy and energy, and some were more calm. But what you saw were dogs who were LOVING what they were about to do.  Those dogs are bred to run and run they do!  It was so much fun to see.

In the chute ready to go

Take off!

Shy guy

Same boy ready to go!

Before the dogs are harnessed

Waiting their turn to go

The Ice Caves are part of the Apostle Islands National Park system and they are along the shore of Lake Superior on the northern most edge of Wisconsin.  During the summer some hearty souls will sea kayak through those caves, but of course winter time, is a different thing.  The ice is not always of proper conditions to have thousands of people walking over to the cave area, in fact the last time was in 2009 that the caves were available.  It is something that is hard to describe, as the vastness of the lake and the height of the cliffs and even the ice formations are quite awe inspiring.  Worth the trip if you are up for a walk! Be aware that you may end up parking up to 2 miles away from the entrance to the park, and then there is a mile hike to the caves..... and it is VERY easy to wander on and on and on and on.  From what I estimate, we walked a total of almost 8 miles.  The caves may be open up to another 3 or 4 weeks, of course always depending on ice conditions- which can change quickly I hear.

This is near the beginning of the cave area- lots of people walking around

Some of the amazing ice formations

An island way in the distance- I don't remember what one it is

Decorations of ice

Looking up

Adam and Laurie trying for a great shot!

Icicle variation

This reminds of the Boundary Waters landscape 

Crawled into a low cave

Amazing the different sorts of ice, colors, formations

The people at the base of the rocks are a great scale comparison

The amazing changing weather

The weather changed no fewer than four times.  We started with it snowing, then the sun came out, then the wind picked up and the clouds moved in and got distinctly colder, then it got much windier and the sun came out again.  The gloves were off and on, as was the neck warmer and hat.  I was EVER so grateful that I had toe warmers in my boots, though.  If your feet are warm, the rest of you seems to have a fighting chance!!  I also had on a pair of yak traks, which are a gripping system for your boots that works quite well on the ice and snow.  I saw several people fall on the ice, but thankfully were not injured that I know of.  We were all quite exhausted by the end of the day and it was really good to be able to land at the Black Cat for a light dinner and relaxation.

HEY, did I mention that we ate breakfast at Coco's North??  Holy smokes was that good- I had stuffed French Toast, which was so yummy it should be illegal almost.  It was a good grainy bread - 2 pieces- egg coated and had some cream cheese filling in between the pieces and a side of rosemary roasted potatoes. Had to be one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever had.  And of course they SERVE the best coffee ever- North Winds Coffee Roasters Coffee from Bayfield.  YUM

Anyway, it was such a fabulous day, we were outside all day long once we got to the dog sled races.  Just a 10 min drive to the parking road (Lol) of the caves and we were on our feet until 3:30 or 4.  Oh it was glorious to warm up and sit down.

Makes you remember what a good thing it is to find joy in whatever you do- and however winter is treating you.  Until next time, be a joy giver everyone!  Winter can't last forever!!  Lola says so!

And winter is cranky this year!

Sunset

I can just hear winter saying last spring- (you know, the spring that never came) HA!  They have NO IDEA what I have in store for them.......  MUAH HAHAHAHAHAHA.  (Did you notice the nice, icy, blue font I used for that?? )  

I wish you could see the true size of this snow bank! Hard to see the scale.

Anyway, you guys, I don't know about you, but I am trying to hang on to my optimism.  But man it is tough,  It is only the end of January and somehow feels like March, without the long days.  We've had a lot of winter shoved into the past few months.  AND I have never seen so much snow sitting around. The horse's life has gotten smaller, as he is kinda stuck in an area right around his barn.  He can't even get out to his little sunny corner- which is ok, since it looks like he could step right over the fence!  The snow is right up to the bottom of the door of the horse barn, and is almost as high as the window on the new side door!  Good grief!

Tomorrow is a great adventure- some friends and I are heading up to the northern most part of Wisconsin (I know, this is not all that great of an idea, but we have our reasons!) I will post about it tomorrow.  Tonight I went for a snowshoe, as someone in the house left the batteries for the screwdriver/drill doodad back at the cabin last Sunday.  So I volunteered to walk back to get it.  It is astounding how much snow is sitting around - sorry how repetitive this is, but it surprises me all the time.  

This is about 2 ft of snow on the cabin roof

I was recently asked how much we have sitting on the ground, and I said - oh you know a few feet, maybe 18 - 24 inches.....  WELL, we have apparently gotten 54 inches of snow here!!  54!  Color me corrected!  and we got about 5 more inches yesterday, so yay us. The horse's water bucket has disappeared under the snow.  I cleared out some snow from under our furnace vents and the MA chipped some built up snow off the entrance to the garage.  The mail man left a message indicating that there was too much snow in front of the mailbox, which resulted in a rant about junk mail from the MA- apparently tax season is in full swing.  Time to keep the beast soothed with some chocolate chips cookies or something similar.  

Lola is rapidly losing ground here- this was BEFORE the last snowfall

Poor Lola girl is really looking stranded out there!  The snow is only about a foot below her bird bath bowl.  I am hoping the poor girl doesn't get completely covered, she will not be amused.  I am think some sort of decoration on her needs to be done- I just need to get over by her.  This could be a challenge.

Anyway, at least we had some nice sun, even if there isn't much warmth associated with it these days.  Gotta get better- it is staying light past 5 and really looking brighter at 7 when I leave the house in the morning.  WHEW!  Of course you know what this means!  Daffodils (and heck, maybe Valentines flowers - a second year!!  That would be a shocker) are bound to be close behind.

Off we go into February, and I will continue looking for some springy types of joy!

Snowmobile trail walking and the perils within...

Now before you get all worked up, the perils of walking on a snowmobile trail did not in the least involve a snow mobile.  And also, there wasn't much actual peril, but it got YOUR attention, didn't it?! Let me go back.....

Well, it wasn't sunny today, unfortunately!

I headed out for my walk today about 8:30 or so, and I headed to the west to The Outhouse bar on the corner of E and B, which is where I take a right to be able to walk past my beloved Stone House.  The Stone House, by the way, is kinda inaccessible, because the snow is ridiculously deep.  I have learned my lesson from snow shoeing and don't plan on tromping through possible hip deep snow without snow shoes.  And even then it might be a bit dicey.  Anyway, I was trucking along, watching my feet almost the whole time, with full intention of hitting Maple Ridge road, go right and complete the loop and head home on Hwy E.  This would be about 5 miles and easily fill my desire to do some distance walking, in  preparation for this.

As I was walking along, having to be very careful to keep an eye out for cars and an eye out for slippery spots on the road, I did not see, until I heard her shouting, my neighbor Rita.  The ear buds were in and I was enjoying one of my awesome playlists that I got from my friend the Mad-Marathoner Samara.  So I stopped to chat with Rita, who was over on the snowmobile trail about 20 or 30 feet off the road.  She was telling me how fun it was to go on the trail, and the days that the groomer went through (Thursday and/or Friday) , and therefore which days were best for walking on the trails (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).  She told me that I just needed to catch the trail over on Mapleridge (to the left instead of the right) and then walk through the beautiful woods etc.  Of course I know the area and so mapped out in my mind where the rest of the trail was, including the part that runs right through our property. She described in detail the path between where we were standing and my house, and this was DOABLE.  Well this is pretty cool, she assured me that the walking was good and she and I went on our way!  Awesome, right?  I LOVE finding new places to walk.  And of course you-know-who has her cameras with her!!!!!  WA HOO.

Stone house from a different angle

Well I get over to MapleRidge and hit the trail and it is just gorgeous. The trails go through the properties of various people and you get to see things that you don't ordinarily. You go through areas that would be wood tick and mosquito ridden in the spring and summer, and besides, most property, including ours, is not accessible during the rest of the year.  The woods are wonderful, the trail is groomed and I start walking.  My issue at first, as was the entire walk, are the big clunky boots I am wearing for traction.  It is hard to get proper ankle flexion and so it is hard to attain any speed.  Besides my ankles, and hip flexors were a bit fatigued from the snow shoeing yesterday, but wah.  whatever debi.  Anyway, the thing that didn't occur to me and Miss Rita neglected to point out is that the snowmobile trails are HILLY.  I mean HILLY, man. Which ordinarily I would have been all over and celebrating for the extra calorie burn......  oy. And then of course there is the trail which gets ruffled up from the machine tracks- and yeah that makes for interesting walking.  Step step slip step slip.....

I love that there is this little bit of color left from when the house held some life.

So I was following Ritas footsteps, because she was picking through and finding the areas with best traction and all.  This was good, Rita was still in my good graces for getting me on this new route, and then as I crossed the one road and set off for the next section of trail, Rita's footprints (with her dog's tracks as well) are no where to be seen.  Apparently Rita knows what the next section is like and stayed on the road then!  Thanks a LOT!!  LOL. It was HILLY again and I encountered some machines, which was fine, and I strayed off the trail like by a foot's width and wham. Down I went up to my MID THIGH.  The misleading things is that the snow that is soft and the snow that is groomed are the same height, weirdly and cruelly.  So yeah, don't get off trail to text someone or you will find yourself suddenly up to your tushie in snow.  And then you have wet pant legs.  Between the slow gait, the picture-taking, the new route and blah blah blah, I was out there for 2 HOURS and 5 minutes- WHEW!!!!

So, I am in reality grateful to Rita, as this will be a lot of fun.  There are tons of possibilities for routes and variations on that theme, but I need to rethink my footwear.  Tennies might be better with a few pairs of socks.  Idk, I'll try some things out.  I have to remember that this won't be a fast walk, more for endurance and it really does give you a workout with all the little foot slips and balance readjustments.

This is the house that is across from the Stone house

 My day was totally thrown off from what I had stated earlier.  I got home much later than I thought I would, so I decided to hold off on the gym until tomorrow, go upstairs and clean a while (it was a good thing to do!), then go back to the cabin on snowshoes (I question my sanity sometimes) and then whip up a yummy Enchilada Casserole that has black beans and butternut squash.  HOLY SMOKES was that ever good!  I have plenty of goodies to eat this week!  YES!

So, I think I need to go get my stuff ready for tomorrow, as we do not have a day off for MLK day. We have a Records Day this Friday, which amazingly enough means that the school year is half over.  HOLY CRAP.  It is always nice to have things ready to roll in the morning, and I am thinking a skirt or dress might be in order, as the rest of the week is supposed to be getting colder.... surprise surprise.  But that's what winter is in WI, and I will try my best to find some joy.