Wintry Mountain Weekend

We had a wonderful long weekend in Laurel Springs, North Carolina, at our little one-room cabin. It was snug and warm- but outside, it was bitter cold, especially the first two days. I think our low was -5 F on Saturday morning. We started out with beautiful blue skies and wonderful stars at night. Those little black dots on the hillside are cattle. This is the view that students at Ashe County High School view out their classroom windows.This is a view of the state research farm from our back yard. That tin roof was shining in the sun.

On Saturday, the clouds began to roll in over the mountains.

Saturday night there was a wintry mix. Then, on Sunday night, it snowed about an inch.

The snow stuck to the icy creek and pond, and the dam spillover was very icy.
My nephew and five of his buddies had fun playing on the pond, but not me.

We brought our 12-year old dog, Maggy, along with us. She absolutely lives to run up the mountain. Sometimes there are as many as nine dogs up there when my sister's family and friends are all there. Maggy has to be the lead dog on all excursions up the mountain on Gators, four-wheelers, and other ATV's. Unfortunately, she has taken a turn for the worse this winter with arthritis and hip dysplasia. She is losing strength in those powerful back legs, and her hips give out on her.

We took only one trip together up the mountain on the Gator, since it was turkey hunting season. This may be Maggy's last trip up the mountain. She has a lot of heart. She made it all the way, and even stopped in the icy creek for a drink of water on the way back.
I am going to have a difficult decision to make soon, but so far, she is still enjoying life.

As I have mentioned before, my sister's husband's family is from Laurel Springs, and he has many relatives that live there. Here is his Aunt Carol, holding new baby Devin. It was fun to play pass the baby at Ricky and Mary's house. Their daughter Jennifer was visiting with her cute little guy last week.

We had a safe ride home on Monday despite the snow. It was pretty to see the hills and Christmas tree farms in the snow.

I got lots done while my husband was fruitlessly hunting for turkey in the cold hills. I will show some finished projects, some purchases, and some nice art from West Jefferson later this week.

Ironically, today it is snowing hard here in central North Carolina. We have not had any measurable snow here in years, so this is nice. DH is staying home because the roads are bad, thus extending his four-day weekend to five days. We will watch the inauguration of our new president, and then probably go out and take some pictures of our own lovely woods here at home.