Winter Lake Break

With a nice break in the weather, The Fuzz thought it might be nice to get out in the boat.  So he checked to see if he could crank the motor…

And was amazed that it started on the 2nd pull!

And a hasty plan was made for the next day.

The trip up to the lake went fine, and the launch was good…

And the motor started again!

(It's a kinda old thing)

There were a lot of "seagulls" out on the lake.

You don't see them around here* in the summer…

But they do hang out this far inland in the winter.

The Fuzz did get to fish a bit, but alas…

Lost the only bite he had!

But regardless, it was a good day.

*The Fuzz has posted on this in the past

More Snowy Morn

Here's another shot

from one of those recent snowy mornings.

But The fuzz is glad to see things warming up a bit now.

Yet…

It is still a long ways till Spring!

A Breezy Afternoon

After his Sunrise Morning Excursion, The Fuzz pretty much holed up back at the Hotel.

It was cold out there.

But by the evening he was ready to give it another go.  So he bundled up, and headed back to the beach.

With all the wind, the sea was kinda rough.

But that wasn't stopping the birdies.

The Fuzz has a thing for trying to catch those guys in flight.

And they were out there right in the surf.

While he was out, he decided to check out the other side of town.

For those who might be unfamiliar with Topsail Beach...

There's not really that much to it.

Of course, that is part of the attraction - at least for The Fuzz.

The "other side of town" is the "Sound" side of the island.

It's a whole different thing.

More birdies, but less flying.

But by now it was getting late and more rain was moving in.

So it was back to the Hotel for The Fuzz.

Snowmageddon ?

Snowmageddon?

That's what the BBC was calling it.

Looks like those Yankees were catching it.

It wasn't so bad here in the Woods.

But The Fuzz didn't feel much like riding anywhere.

In fact, neither The Fuzz or His Sweetie have gone anywhere-

other than a walk-

Since Thursday.

There was a bit of winter happening here in the Woods.

And hungry birdies in the morning.

Won't be sitting out here today.

Hope them fishies are okay down there!

The Fuzz did get out in the woods for a bit and here's a few pix.

The Fuzz does like to see at least one snow in a winter.  It reminds him of the Old Country*.  Around here we can enjoy the novelty of a good snow.  It gives us an excuse to stay home- the stores have been cleaned out anyway.

We were lucky here and the power never went out.

The Fuzz hopes those folks up north make out okay, it looks pretty rough up there.

*The shameful truth is that The Fuzz actually has a bit of a yankee background himself.

Pre-Storm Snow

Winter hasn't been too bad yet out here in the woods.  But they claim we'll have a better taste of it this weekend-

Well actually, tonight.

But The first installment seems to have kinda passed us by.

When The Fuzz went out this morning

This was about it.

Pretty, but not that impressive.

Of course it hasn't been all that warm lately.

(It is January remember)

So the woodpile isn't looking all that impressive.

Especially with the Weather Service predicting this!

Of course they have been wrong at times.

But then....

The Old Fuzz's back has been acting up a bit the last couple of days, but it looks like he'll need to get the old chainsaw out for a little bit.

And he is doing a bit better today.

He has been saving this guy for just this sort of situation.

It was just about dead last year.

So The Fuzz gave it the "Green Spot" which is kinda like the "Kiss of Death".

And it is nice and close, so hauling it out of the woods is no problem.

Well...

It looks like it's time to get to work!

Looking Back Some More

The Fuzz has already reviewed some of the projects of last year.

Let's just say it was an unusually busy year for The Fuzz and His Sweetie.

Besides the projects, there was a bit of travel-

Quite a bit!

In April The Fuzz figured it had warmed up enough to get the old Motorcycle out for a bit of touring.
He spent some time out on the coast and then rode up into 

Virginia to visit his sister

.
He did have to deal with a bit of rain, but all in all it was a pretty good trip.

Then it was time for The Fuzz and His Sweetie to hit the road to visit family in Oklahoma & Texas.
But since they were going that far, they decided on a round-a-bout route so they could take in some of the sights along the way.
The first stop was Cheaha State Park in Alabama.

That was pretty nice, although the facilities could have used a bit of 

maintenance

.
Next- still in Alabama- they headed for the Gulf Coast and Gulf State Park.

It was quite a change from the mountains-

And a bit interesting!

Then they headed west toward the Luisiana 

Bayous

.

That was a bit of a "Washout".
With all the rain, the whole world was flooded down there.  Their 

scheduled

 camp site was a tiny pad of paving, surrounded by water.
They decided to pass on that one and- with a hotel stop- started north toward 

Arkansas

 and their next campground-
Lake Ouachita State Park.

That was a nice enough place.
The Fuzz and His Sweetie got settled in okay.

There was more rain in the forecast, but they are relatively 

experienced

 campers and were quite cozy for the 1st night.

The rain itself wasn't an issue.

But the wind turned out to be!
The campground was on a high ridge, and their tent was about ready to blow away.
The Fuzz was inclined to try and stick it out, but His Sweetie had a better assessment of the situation-
The worst was still on the way!
 So they broke camp during a lull and started toward Oklahoma City.

We'll continue this tale soon.

First Frost

The Fuzz had to make a trip out of the woods over the weekend.  The weather has been a bit cooler lately.

When he got home he found that His Sweetie had the fire going.  Of course this was no surprise, no one enjoys freezing their tush off.

When he checked out the garden he found this.

It seems there was a bit of frost this morning out here in the woods.

Well, it looks like tomato season is over.

Again ?

Oh no

Oh no

More ice and snow

Yet it is winter's time to go

The sun shined bright a day ago

But clouds are back the temp is low

It's true it's so

This tale of woe

Again it's time for ice and snow

Snow? (22:20)

So, here is the update.

Around 16:45

The birds were working the feeder pretty good.

At 19:00

Snow was still falling.

The Fuzz was wondering if the tarps would hold.

But by 21:00 it had pretty much stopped.

It is supposed to stay cold however, so what little we have will probably still be here in the morning.

Will there be school?

Apparently not.

Ice Age?

Here's one for y'all.

So, what do we have here?

With the Weather Service calling for more cold weather, The Fuzz got out a pix he made a few days ago.

It happens that Wednesday morning, The Fuzz and His Sweetie have a Cat Related Expedition scheduled to the Big City.  The Fuzz with his OCD tendencies has been looking ahead at the weather predictions. (as if they meant anything)

But this 13˚ business reminded him of this shot of the frost on the window.  So he decided to play with it a little, which is always fun.

But, perhaps things won't be as bad as they expect that morning.

And Y'all Yankees can sneer all you want.

The Fuzz's Excellent Motorcycle Adventure 11

When we left Our Fuzz, he was puzzling over whether to take a chance on the weather.

The original window for this trip had been pretty optimistic.  But of course the trip had been extended several times, and now there was talk about some sort of "tropical" situation moving in his direction.

It was not a long ride back to Charlottesville, but things could get a bit wet.

Of course it has been said that "If you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride!"

And this was supposed to be an Adventure, wasn't it?

There had been plenty of times when rain had been forecast and in the end, nothing much came of it.

So The Fuzz decided to go for it.

A light drizzle began shortly after he left, and gradually increased.  And there was traffic.

At this point The Fuzz figured it was time to break out some rain gear and stopped to pull his rain pants over his leather.

The rain increased in intensity forcing him to wipe his glasses frequently now so he could see.  This was important with all the traffic.

Next, he realized that his jacket would not be able to turn  as much rain as he was now getting.  So it was time to stop and put on the rest of his rain suit.

It wasn't long until the rain required him to put the goggles on as well.  But even with them on, he could barely see the road.

More Adventure!

But he was making progress, if in slow stages.

Finally he stopped at a gas station for a break and hot coffee.  The women there checked the weather on a iPhone and told him that the worst was just then passing.  Things should be a little better the rest of the way.

So after getting warmed up a bit, the Intrepid Fuzz got back on the road.

And the rain had lightened - just a bit.

And that was just enough.

The rain continued to decrease as he was getting closer to his destination.  But it had taken it's toll.  He was wet, but could have been much wetter is not for the rain gear.

He was also hungry.

So he pulled into a KFC for some greasy chicken.  For some reason, they didn't serve coffee here, which seemed a bit strange to The Wet and Hungry Fuzz.  But the greasy food did help, in it's way.

As he approached Charlottesville, the rain actually stopped, and he found his way to his sister's house, and a chance to get dried out.

The Fuzz's Excellent Motorcycle Adventure 10

Continuing the tale-

With all the political shinanigans going on there wasn't a whole lot going on in the area.  But The Fuzz was content to just hang out with the Newlyweds.

There was good food, and the amazing Puzzler.

Whoever thought of making a 1000 piece puzzle out of Stary Stary Night, was a sadist.

The Fuzz wonders if this thing is even finished yet?

But later, it did inspire The Fuzz's Sweetie to break out their own 1000 piece puzzle!

It took a week, but finally, one morning things all came together for them.

It wasn't as easy as it looks!

The Fuzz had a nice quiet visit with the Newlyweds, but it was time to move on again.  The weather forecast however, was not promising.  The was rain moving into the area.  The Fuzz was hoping to make it back to Charlottesville to spend the night with His Sister again.  

It was decision time, would he play it safe and stay here, all warm and dry?  Or go for the Adventure?