Super quiet day around here… Mostly did some planning for the new year… Around 130 we hiked up towards duck Brook. we were both feeling a little No energy… So we took a short hike… Just up to the hills near our house. It was fun looking back over our valley

For dinner tonight we decided to make spaetzel. .. It’s a German and Austrian noodle dish that you make using a very wet though that you cut right into boiling water. Couple years ago we got the maker… And it reminded me of the times that my Hauser frau (landlady) and dear friend Helga Erol Made spaetzel for me when i lived in Vienna over 40 years ago

It was fun and easy to do… The cleaning that device was not much fun



It was so delicious and brought back great memories

Nite all, nite sam

-me

Nice start to the year.… We slept late and then headed up Bamforth Ridge. Our goal was to get to the band fourth cabin which we hadn’t visited.… It was a beautiful day… Not too cold. Not much snow

We saw a bald eagle On our way to the hike… That was a pretty cool thing

We took a fast pace… And we’re glad we had our crampons on as the ground was covered with ice

The Bamforth say was really impressive. They were three tenting platforms and lean to shelter… And a table with bear boxes because the site is always getting visited by bear

I couldn’t resist making an anatomically correct snow angel

On one of the platforms… A bit cold but worth it

Dianne made a fully clothedsnow heart… Didn’t require her to get as cold 🙂

There were some beautiful vistas on the trail up and down

And we ran into some people at the Duxbury window and I promise to post this picture for them

We got down and as we were driving away we realized that the car that was pulling into ours but in the parking lot where our friends Nick and Katie…

We spent the rest of the day talking about plans and projects for the new year… Good prep… Now off to bed

Nite all, nite sam

-me

I always say that hindsight is 2020… And that seems particularly Germaine tonight. I know a lot of things happened this year… But I I don’t think it’s right to call it a “good” or a “bad” year… It was a year like any other Where good things and bad things happened. Like everyone we had our share of both this year… And no one can deny that there were more extreme things than I can remember in one year…

So let’s see what happens in the next one… I’m optimistic… But I generally tend to be

Like nearly everyone else Diane and I are having a quiet evening at home ushering out The old year and bringing in the new.

We decided to make ourselves a feast with whatever we had around the house… We made two Pizzas

Then we went to a zoom dance party For the end of Dianne’s virtual yoga retreat… It was really good fun

Then we came back in and had a zoom call with Max, Becky and Gay,… We used it as a chance to open the last two Christmas gifts… Including a very cool three layers stone with GabÉ had cut and polished for us. It’s really amazing because you can actually see three distinct types of Stone within inches of each other on the same polished face

I’m really proud of those boys for their craft and skill In making things…. It’s a family tradition



Dianne and I then made ricotta ginger ice cream and fresh Dulce de leche. A pretty exotic and to our feast. We also just had a nice call with my mom…

I guess that wraps it up for the year

Happy new year everyone… Let’s make 2021 a good one

Nite all, nite sam

-me

Ps you might like this version of auld lang syne… It’s my favorite

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_pgj353x0ompKniKyg1pdIBzICI_Z9pu



Diane and I got out for a few hours of Hiking today .. we’ve been exploring the backcountry south of bamforth ridge .. we’re now using a better gps and can make our way anywhere trails or not . Today we were on the north side of Gleason brook and aimed to explore an old logging or farming path we call “upper Gleason ” we got to the end of that pretty high on the ridge when we noticed another set of tracks in the snow . It was a single person .. most likely a man because the size of the prints . They were just going up.. no return path so we were intrigued.. it is really unusual to find signs of others that far from a trail or road .

We followed the lone hikers tracks for a couple of hours .. way up on a ridge a couple of miles north of camels hump. It was a beautiful route .. it took us to a very cool couple of ice falls and eventually looped ya Mack close enough to where we left our car that we could bushwhack down a steep ruse to find it

We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.… Great way to end out a crazy tough and interesting year

Nite all, nite sam

-me