I had my grand-daughters over the weekend.  What fun we had watching the deer in the yard, giving rides on the new kicksled, x-country skiing and sledding.  The weather was perfect for our outings.  We even had time for an indoor picnic by the woodstove fire in the cookhouse at Blackfoot.  Back at the house the girls were sniffing my coat and telling me that I smelled like smoke.

The weather took a turn for the worse on Monday.  The wind howled and the snowflakes fell.  I watched a magpie attempt to fly across the width of the yard.  The gusts made the flight very challenging.  Branches from the willow tree next door littered the backyard.  At least the tree didn't come down on the fence like the one across the road.  My neighbor has some repairs to do.

The horses that pasture in the open field on my way to work were huddled against the bush for shelter.  Snow drifted off the field and across the road creating drifts from north to south.

Today was windy but at least the sky was blue.  I left for work early and stopped at the mailbox.  I was already back inside my vehicle when I felt my sixth sense.  When this happens, I need to make sure that my camera is on the seat beside me because it means there will be something to take a photo of.

I came up to the stop sign and noticed tracks in the drifts.  They were large and deep which meant that a moose was close by.  I couldn't tell which direction it was traveling in so kept watch as I made my way north on the range road.

It wasn't long before not one, not two but three moose crossed the road in front of me.  What beauties!  I managed to get some distant photos of them.  As I passed by the path that they took across the road, I glanced to the west.  Two elk were feeding on some old hay bales that were abandoned at the edge of the field.  I sure am glad that I pulled the camera out when that sixth sense started tingling.