Spring In The Mountains

click photo to enlarge

Spring Afternoon Today

Passed by these lovely blossoming trees 

on the way home. 

We had stopped for pizza 

(and a root beer float for me) 

and then  remembered 

to backtrack through town 

so I could get a photo of these beautiful trees. 

See how wide the street is? 

Back in the gold rush days this town 

made sure the main street 

was this wide because they believed that 

the town would grow into 

an important city. 

But the gold played out... 

people still search and pan for gold 

but there has not been enough 

found to turn this town into a big city. 

I love the wide street 

and 

I love the little town. 

Just my size! 

~:> 

Snow Today!

Morning, April 1, 2014
Nature played a snowy joke.

Really! 

It's not an April Fools...it really snowed. 

And then the power went off. 

Which was a neat thing because I got to make stew 

on the wood stove. 

The stew was really good even if the house had a bit of a scorched smell. 

I filled the dutch oven too full of liquid 

and then built the fire up too high. 

Oops! 

I have great admiration for the women 

who had to cook using wood, coal, etc. 

They were very skilled 

in knowing how to build and judge the fire temperature. 

There are lots of ways people used to test 

the oven temperatures before thermometers.

Well, at least I came up with a few when I Googled.

I like least the idea of putting my hand in the oven 

and counting how long I could stand to leave my hand inside. 

I liked best the idea of sprinkling some flour in the oven 

and counting how long it took to brown. 

Tricky business!

I think I'll stick to my gas cooktop

and/or the top of my wood stove when needed

or for fun.

~:>

Smiles