Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful, but the Fire is So Delightful!

The view from my cozy chair

Sitting in my cozy corner in the new house (located in the dining room, of all places) and looking out the window at... well, you can see for yourself! This is not the way I remember Montabna winters being--though that is probably because I have always lived down in the valley instead of up on the hill. Up here at Coyote Song (now officially named for the romping and singing we hear almost daily), we are IN the clouds. All day every day for the past several days it has been white as far as the eye can see (which, to be honest, isn't very far). And it's not snow--it's hoar frost! And it is cold... High 20's every day. But I am still soooo glad we finally moved here!

Part of living in Montana in December is (re)learning a whole new skill set. So far I have mastered the gas fireplace (our small, primary source of heat), and am learning how to use the atv with the plow on the front, and manage garbage until we can drive it down to the bear-proof garbage can at the bottom of the drive (which is to say some enormous, to-be-measured-later distance). e got a cord of wood for the stove downstairs but haven't had a real fire in it yet. The closest I have  come is burning packing material and junk mail. That's mostly because we do not have a sitting area set up down there yet (though we got a small love seat last week to put down in front of the stove for cozy reading. The main room down there will house the games table when I finish repairing it from the move. It was badly packed and lost a leg. Once it's up J and I will do puzzles down there, and Dave and I will play games.

Frost whiskers on our porch raccoon

Jessie rarely leaves the downstairs. We have the radiant floor heat on all the time down there, and she also has a small space heater in her room so it's nice and toasty. The main floor is noticeably cooler as the gas fireplace is really small, and there are high ceilings and openings into the rooms on the upstairs floor--which has no heat at all except for a small space heater in Dave's office. The upstairs--our bedroom, the master bath, Dave's office and my sewing room--are quite chilly. But since we have a Mr Big down comforter from Three Dog Down (big enough no one can steal the covers) on the bed, whenever we are are upstairs we are just fine. In fact I am warmer and more comfy in this house than I ever was in Austin when it was cold. I think it's mostly because it's not damp here, and the house isn't as cavernous as there. 

Enough talk of the cold! Time to bindle up and go pick up another load of stuff at the old house--small trailer and sheets of plywood to put up walls in the shed/new glass studio. Pictures are all from today.

Looking down the front porch steps

The garden in front of the front steps

Poor Austin rose on the back deck

The greenhouse behind the house

Looking up at the hill behind the house

The vast, empty nothingness all around