Another Monday

The weather here in upstate New York is absolutely freezing. But on the bright side, it hasn't been windy, which makes a huge difference. This morning, Pete and I had to stop at a store for some paintbrushes right next to one of our favorite breakfast spots, so of course we indulged. Then for some reason, we took a little drive to the back of the property we just bought. We haven't walked most of it yet because we didn't have the deed until November and it was already cold. About one third of it is cleared and open, and that I have walked all over many times with our beagle, Max. On this freezing morning, for some reason we decided to walk some of the land at the other end, which borders a housing development. That portion of the property is protected freshwater wetlands, and has a nice pond with a cleared area around the edges which looks to get regular use from 4-wheelers. Don't know quite how we'll deal with this. We don't want to or have the capability of being policemen of the property. We have just received a box of no trespassing signs which we have to put up to protect ourselves. And if people walk their dogs through the property we really don't care. But we don't want 4-wheelers riding around ripping up the land or scaring off the deer and other wildlife, and we don't want people dumping their lawn debris or Christmas trees (which I saw a few weeks ago.) We bought this property at a tax sale because the builders who owned it hadn't paid their taxes in 4 years. We got it very cheaply and just wanted to keep it wild and prevent another housing development from being built right behind us. Well, we'll have to figure it out as we move forward. 

Just a cute picture here of our littlest dog, Pixie. She's a very tiny, 5 pound, long-haired chihuahua and likes to tunnel under the blankets at every opportunity. Today is certainly a very good day to tunnel!