Spring things....

 March 7, 2026

Well, that was quick. We hustled through ice season, long enough for Hubby to spread shavings over the ice where we needed to walk, and only long enough for the ice cleats to be on our boots for about two days.

Now, we are in mud season, and almost all of that visible ice has melted. 

Last week started out cold, the minus temperatures conducive to defrosting the freezer by just setting all the contents outside. It didn't take long before the freezer was clean, back on, and all the contents re-inventoried and back in. The very next day, the temperature rose and things started to melt. 

I shovelled the snow off of the hot frame in preparation for use.

The soil inside was unfrozen. The sun soon melted the residual frost and snow away,

and the path to the root cellar melted off, bare ground surrounded by snow. That spring sunshine sure has some power in it!

This was the snow depth on the last cold morning, March 3,

and after a couple of mild days, and then a day and night of rain, here is where we were at on March 7.

The rainy day was a good day to make another batch of soap...jasmine scented this time.

Today I planted some seeds!! I have geraniums on an heat mat inside, and broccoli, cabbage and onion seeds in cell packs sunk into the soil of the hot frame where the temperature of the soil within is reading 50F.

All will be well in there unless we get some very cold nights, of which there are a few in the forecast, when I'll add some extra insulation over the top. We are back to keeping a sharp eye on the temperature fluctuations. I had to clear out some weeds in there that were showing signs of growth before setting in the little pots. 

Figgy has been brought out of his hibernation in the root cellar, and is up in a south facing window. 

 This morning, the usual flock of Chickadees that swarm us when we go outside, were not in evidence. They seem to hear the inside door opening, and are waiting on the railing outside when we open the outer door. We looked around....and spotted a Northern Shrike up in the crab-apple tree. There are hungry critters everywhere. These wild canine tracks were along the edge of the road last weekend, heading down to the winter deer yards to the south.

Resurfacing.....

March 1, 2026

This past week has been a bit of a slog. From somewhere, and I think it must have been while doing a bit of grocery shopping in Pembroke over a week ago, I picked up a virus, and have been laid low. Other than only me catching Covid a few years back, we haven't even had a cold since we moved here, so this is a bit of a shock. It has been a rough week, but think I am seeing daylight now! Hubby kept things humming along for the past week, and now it is my turn, as he is succumbing now.

Daylight is lasting much longer, and days with the temperature creeping up into positive territory is causing the snow pack to settle and compact, and mud to show up on the roads. There is a big change in the intensity of the sunlight.

I did manage to get out the garden plans pre-virus,

and ordered all the seeds I need. The last order arrived on Friday, so...good to go! This year's experiment will be growing celery. I use a lot of it, and I've never grown it before. 

The only wildlife around seems to be Foxy, who we've seen patrolling the perimeter of the house and buildings for vermin, in daylight hours. Pickings must be thin for him now, as there is a hard crust on the snow, making it difficult for him to pounce through onto mice or voles he hears beneath the snow.

Messages in the snow, spinning and cutting.....

 February 15, 2026

The cold weather we have been experiencing of late, has moderated to minus single digits.

Tuesday blew in with a snow storm that lasted most of the day. The trip home from my spinning class was a bit of a white knuckler, as there had been no ploughing done, the snow was coming down so hard and fast that visibility was very limited and I felt like there was a fog in front of my eyes. Following the vague brownish snow up the middle of the highway was how I made sure I was still on the road!  Since then there have been lovely clear starry nights and sunny days. 

Friday overnight, a pack of wolves/coyotes came in across the back property line, coming right up around the barn and up toward the house a bit.

Apparently they all had to leave a message on the base of the apple tree behind the barn, and play king of the castle on the mound over the root cellar.
The driveway to the barn was just littered with tracks. Out by the garden beds was a big upheaval in the snow,

and on closer inspection, I found that the critters had dug right down to soil level in the end of my garlic bed. 

That line in the snow is the top edge of the caged garden bed. There is about two feet of snow on the level. Lots of lovely moisture to melt and get absorbed come spring. 

On our tramp around the trails this morning, we saw more canid tracks and many detours for territory marking. It is breeding season for them now. 

Other than Chickadees and Blue Jays, the only other bird to pose in front of Bird Cam was an Hairy Woodpecker.

Yesterday was Flannel Fest in Barry's Bay, and a group of spinners took up the corner of the Legion Hall with a spinning circle. 

There were other craft exhibits and demonstrations, including Kashub embroidery, quilting and weaving. 

 The cold weather has put a bigger dent in our wood supplies than usual, so today we rectified that by cutting and hauling in a birch tree from along the road that goes across the front corner of the property. The tree was a bit gnarly and some branches were dying, so an easy choice. Yesterday, Hubby took the tractor and cleared the snow away in a clearing beside the road in preparation, and today dropped the tree there, so we could find it!

We do have enough wood, but the hole in the woodshed from this winter's useage, is bigger than usual, and we would like to make sure to have enough to totally refill it.
 

This is just the first step. Come spring, we will be splitting and piling all of this into the woodshed.

We want to get the additional wood harvested before the sap starts rising in the trees. 

Soup, wind, snow, and critters

 February 8, 2026

Early this morning, around 4:30ish, the half moon hanging in the southern sky, was shining its light through the frieze of icicles hanging along the edge of the verandah roof. Gravity is making the glacier of snow on the roof slide ever so slowly down off of the roof, and its edge has melted a bit on sunny days, so looking out the window one can see the moonlight shining through the icicles, a glinting crystal filigree against the darkness. 

When it is this cold, (-27 C -17F), we like to pop downstairs and feed the fire once during the night. That is enough to keep a good bed of glowing red coals in the stove. The house is banked up well with snow, but we really detest going down into the crawl space below decks to un-thaw pipes, so it is well worth the little jaunt down the stairs to feed the fire.

Today was a good day to get a pot of Split Pea and Ham Pork Hock soup going. The veg and herbs are all out of my garden, except the split peas and celery. When celery was in season, I froze a lot, so I'd always have it for soup making throughout the winter.

The aroma of the soup simmering on the wood stove, greeted us when we returned from our morning snowshoe around the perimeter.  We are certainly having a wonderful, more traditional winter. This week has been pretty consistently cold, with random snowy days, and others of blue skies and sunshine. 

Friday was a snowy-blowy day, and particularly at night, the wind buffeted the house, it's banshee-like screams across the edge of the slightly open bedroom window, had me crawling out of my warm nest to shut and lock the window in order to have peace. One could still feel and hear the wind gusts hitting the house. 

The aftermath of that was a still, crisp and sunny day, and a lot of digging out, particularly where the wind had drifted the snow. Thankfully, Nellie Belle has her transmission back in place, her wheel back on, and is in service, the big blower making short work of the driveway. 

Some of my daily welcoming committee...how many can you count?

What is this Blue Jay doing??....snow bathing?

One of the resident ravens has snagged a piece of chicken skin off of the 'treat rock' snowbank, and is just getting airborne. 

A dusk-light picture of Foxy checking out the 'treat rock'.

                           

Suddenly, one realizes that it is still daylight well past 5 PM. It is getting to crunch time to get the garden plans finalized and seed orders sent. 

Lost whistle, spinning homework, and critters.....

 February 1, 2026

This past week has had temperatures consistently cold, with some skiffs of new snow falling, and some bright, blue-sky days. I know there are a lot of folk who do not enjoy winter, but I love, love, love it! There is so much beauty in a white landscape, even at night with that full Snow Moon shining bluish-white light across the snow. The days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, and today we are half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. 

Cold mornings are a good time for whole grain banana pancakes on the cast iron griddle. It's a good way to use up those bananas that get past their best.

Recently, our kettle lost it's whistle, so we splurged and bought a new Paderno one. It is nice and hefty, feeling almost like it is double-walled. 

I am currently attending spinning classes. We started with learning how to use a drop spindle, making these rough looking singles,

then moved on to spinning on a wheel, which I find much easier.

This week's homework was to spin two bobbins so we can learn to ply them at our next class.
 

It is breeding season for the canids, and often on our hikes we get a strong whiff of fox. Here is Foxy investigating the 'treat rock'.

The wolves and coyotes have been travelling through, and it is easy to distinguish their tracks from the fox, as their tracks are bigger, they detour many times to lift their leg on any protruding thing sticking up out of the snow, and they don't use our trails much. 

A fox tends to just carry on, more or less in a straight line. Our local foxes consistently use our snowshoe trails. We surmise that it is more energy efficient for them to use the trails, instead of plunging through the deepening snow. 

Some smaller critter was out and about...a mouse, hopping along,  dragging it's tail behind.

The usual winter birds are here, an Hairy woodpecker and 

a White-breasted Nuthatch took a time-out in front of Bird Cam.

So tomorrow the rodent weather prognosticator does his thing. I know what I'm hoping for!

Soap, eggs and Aurora Borealis....

 January 25, 2026

Saturday morning, -33C (-27F), couldn't resist doing this....throwing a cup of hot water into the air....and watching it immediately sublimate.

The smoke from the chimney, drifting off to the east, heralding a lovely warm, cozy indoor space, the sun just cracking the treeline to the southeast.

I love a crisp, cold morning and could not wait to get dressed in outside layers and head out to breath deeply of that fresh, fresh air. My chickadees mobbed me. I noticed that they had tiny frosted eyebrows, their breath blowing back from their nostrils was freezing into strips across the black feathers above their eyes, like tiny old men with bushy eyebrows. They also were sitting on my hand with their breast feathers fluffing down around their little legs and feet. It is amazing that such tiny balls of fluff can weather the cold temperatures, but apparently like hummingbirds, they go into a torpor overnight, their body temperatures lowering to conserve energy.

Thankfully there was no wind, so our morning snowshoe around the perimeter of our property was very enjoyable, although there was no fresh sign of any creature, big or small, moving about.

This morning is warmer, only -26C (-15F), and the sky is not clear. We are expecting more snow, starting this afternoon.

One night earlier in the week, we were out on the back step watching the northern lights. At first there was just a greenish band across the horizon,

then as we watched, streaks of light started wavering up, and then the red colour appeared.

It has been a while since we have actually seen the Aurora. It seems that every time one was forecast, the skies would be clouded over. 

A friend has been supplying me with lovely brown eggs. She spoils her chickens with a warm mash she preps every morning for them, and she says that some of the birds almost immerse their heads in the treat.

Over the last two springs, my craft group has made soap on our last meeting before the summer break. After doing it in a group, I felt confident to try it on my own. I asked a friend who hunts and butchers her own deer if she'd save me the tallow. It took a couple of sessions of cooking the bits and bobs of fatty meat with some water in the bottom of a big stainless steel pot over the BBQ side burner, and straining it to remove the meat particles. Foxy and the Blue Jays sure enjoyed that treat! Each time, I let the fat solidify, then repeated the procedure, finally straining it through cheesecloth. I ended up with a lovely 'plate' of venison tallow.

I have made one batch of soap, and have enough remaining for another. A couple of silicone bread pans picked up at the thrift store make perfect soap moulds.

Just a short video of my Dees on a warmer day.