Happy New Year!

Here's wishing everyone a safe, healthy and happy new year. 8" of snow on the ground so far and still coming down lightly. First significant snowstorm we've had this winter. 20F this morning. Really high winds have stopped now which is good. I did manual shoveling this morning to clear some pathways. Also cleared the bird area. We've had about 40 wild turkeys coming by daily in the morning and afternoon for a free meal. Wind and snow don't seem to bother them. They like cracked corn, chicken scratch and dark oil seeds. They also eat dead mice in one gulp. Which they get when we pull them out of the Victor traps.

Hoping snow stops in the next couple of hours at which time the tractor comes out for plowing. The snow is very light and low in moisture. But there is a lot of it! Cold snap on the way to single digits, then warming back up to above freezing. Avalanche danger is extreme high right now.

Jeannie and I did nothing special last night other than watch media products. Hard to believe another year is shot. I'm in the salt mine working on some training videos waiting for the snow to stop. What say you?


Wild turkeys like a free meal. It's been several years since we've see a flock of these birds. Front yard heading west on 12/11/2021.

Surprised you've so little snow in Colorado. We've been inundated here in Nevada - 5.7" of precipitation since October at my location according to the National Weather Service. That's about what we get for a whole year, most years. And I'm sure you've seen the news reports about the Sierras...231" of snow in December alone on Donner Summit. Interstate 80 was closed for 4 days.

Sunrise from my deck this morning, with the thermometer at -3 degrees:


Clearing the snow off my driveway with the Kubota a couple weeks ago:


No wild turkeys roaming around here - nearest ones are about 50 miles north in a ranching area. I have hundreds of quail and other birds at my place, here waiting for me to fill the bird feeders:

Beautiful scenery. Very warm here, neat record high of 75 today before the temp drops 50 degrees in 24 hrs, back to normal.

I saw some pictures of a wild fire in Colorado that turned a big subdivision to ash. A guy I know on another forum, his brother lost his house. Thankfully they were warned and are safe.

Thank's Muniac, Happy New Year to you too.

I'm back here from quite a hiatus from the forum. I traded in my trusty 2009 xt250 for a BMW G650, didn't care for it...Traded that in on a cr250l...didn't care for it. Now I'm in the process of ordering a new xt250 again.

I'm glad to be back, and glad things haven't changed too much.

Beautiful pics by the way, thnx for sharing.

Deserteagle56 - Well the snow scene has changed. Storm came in New Year's Eve and snowed all night, finally letting up mid afternoon on New Year's day. Left 10"-12" behind and 0F this morning. Sunny now @ 15F. Takes us about 4 hours to plow with the tractor and hand shovel delicate spots. We also have a walking path we shovel which adds time. I'm temped to bitch but I'm glad (at 66) to be able to do that level of physical work at 7K feet elevation. This storm is the most significant so far this season. Our winter has been funky and pretty light prior. Your photos are nice too. I have a Kubota tractor too and am very happy with it. The mechanic at the dealer used to work for Dear John and says, "hands down" Kubota makes a much better tractor in the smaller models. About 370 hours on mine now. I get parts from Coleman Equipment and have been very happy with their online service.


Does everything we need and more.


Backhoe option is good for trenching. And as a counter weight.

peejman - The fire between Denver and Boulder was a very bad scene. Apparently started as a grass fire by downed power lines that succumbed to high winds. Dry conditions and 100 MPH gusts didn't help with containing the fire. I was told this fire started in multiple spots and hasn't fully been investigated yet. Last count was 600 homes destroyed to include many vehicles. When the time is right, I'd hope people ask some questions about fire reporting, response and equipment. What needs to be done to prevent this? High winds and tinder dry conditions aren't a new phenomenon up there. A house burned down about 2 miles south of us a month ago. Who knows why?? Three fire districts responded and put it out in short order. No trees burned, no one hurt and no winds that day, luckily. These disasters make me feel really badly for those affected. Especially Mayfield, KY. I hope some emergency aid is available to help them all. That is if Uncle Sham hasn't pissed it away somewhere else like Build Back Better.

Benny - Thanks for the kind words. Accounts remain open here. Sometimes people go dark for years. They sell their bikes, get bogged down with other priorities, have a family, get sick, etc. I think come Jan 18th we'll have completed 18 years with this blog. We have a friendly intimate group here which is nice. Anyway glad you remembered us, returned and have a new XT250 to enjoy. So welcome back, ride safely and post on!

As I said... it was 76 on Jan 1 and today we've got 3" of snow.



We had a good time sledding and a big snowball fight this morning. It'll all be gone by tomorrow.

We're warming up a bit, 22F this morning. All cloudy with a 20% chance of more snow. Not likely we'll see what's already on the ground melt anytime soon. It is winter and the snow pack helps fill the reservoirs come Spring. As I've heard, the pacific NW got slammed. Watch the News Clip. Be safe and stay well.

As expected, all the above snow was gone within 36 hrs. Another round of snow is supposed to come tomorrow.... more milk sandwiches!!!

It's good that those areas are getting lots of snow to replenish the ground water. Hopefully it doesn't result in spring mud slides with all the burned areas.

We've got a 50% change for snow showers overnight tonight. We'll see what happens as weather is spotty. Temps have warmed up a bit. Next couple of days they say we'll see 50s. As for mud slides, I-70 through Glenwood Canyon is always problematic. Terrain is just unstable. Some Dron Footage from Aug 2021 will show the details. We had to travel to/from Vail (through Glenwood Canyon) when I was dealing with the knee replacement during winter months. We got very lucky and never had any delays. It's a 4 hour drive one way from our place. The only delay we did have was when some idiot threw a cigarette out the window and set the median on fire. This added 2 hours to a 4 hour trip. All in all, I'd say we got off pretty easy.

We got a sleety, slushy, mess today. Its forecast to get down to 14F tonite. I suspect an icy disaster in the morning. 62 deg temperature drop in 5 days, yay for winter in the south.

We hit 50F yesterday afternoon and I'm guessing a bit warmer today. Feels more like a Spring thaw than winter. Ice patches are around which makes skidding on your ass very easy. A couple of days ago dank weather didn't bring any new snow which was fine by me. I'd just say this winter has been funky. Haven't been up in the mountains yet to check out the snow scene there. Mostly clear yesterday and today. With no wind you can walk around comfortably in a T shirt. That won't last long, however. Be careful on ice as unexpected falls can lead to bad places.