Winter is ticking along according to schedule. The days are getting longer. Its still daylight, sort of, at supper time. The dark mornings still seem to be very long though. Perhaps that is because we are up before 5AM. We have had very few days of sunshine, but are presently heading into a nice cold week of more normal winter temperatures and clearer skies. Today started out with the rising sun peeking through the trees, perceptibly further to the north.
We had a good 4 inches of light fluffy snow that started falling yesterday afternoon and continued on into the night, when the sky cleared and the almost full moon, high in the western sky was shining brightly and casting shadows across the unmarked canvas of pristine whiteness.
The deer are all gone from the hill now. We've pulled in quite a few of the cameras, to save on batteries. There is just the odd fisher, the resident foxes, grouse, mice and squirrels, all leaving their tracks in the snow. The wolves go through periodically, to and from the deer yard to the south.
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| Fisher |
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| Wolf |
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| Fox |
We've been hiking our trails everyday, repacking them after the almost daily skiffs of snow that have been accumulating. Its always interesting to see that some of the critters use the packed trails to walk on, particularly the foxes.
My butternut squash and pumpkins are starting to show some sign of going off, so I've been busy baking, steaming, bagging and freezing them. The woodstove is on all the time, so I am cooking them off on it, as well as using it for other cooking whenever I can. It saves on propane.
Butternut squash makes quite a delicious pie. We are debating if we prefer it to pumpkin. It doesn't need as much sugar, that is for sure.
I've been working away at several knitting projects, and finally had enough of my old light which has snapped, the lamp part breaking away from the pole. I bit the bullet and ordered an Ott light.
It is very good. It dims or brightens, if you just hold your finger over the on/off switch. I researched it, and was led to believe it was made in North America....when the box came...bold print declares it is Made in China.....
Love seeing the pictures from your trail cameras. We've been entertained many nights lately by both coyotes and brush wolves singing. At times we feel we must be surrounded as we can hear howling from three different locations.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for keeping your trails packed down. That's always a goal of ours but one we seem to fall short on which means we end up plodding along with our snowshoes sinking down into the unpacked snow. Too far down. :o) Oh well, it's all good exercise, right?
It is thrilling to hear them. Breeding season for the canids is coming very soon, and they will be more vocal.
DeleteWe walk at least some of the trails every day for exercise. On a beautiful day like today was, (there have been so few of late), its hard to come back in...The housework gets put onto the back burner.
That must be so pretty when you have clear skies and can see the moon lighting up all your beautiful winter wonderland at night. Love seeing the trail cam photos too. I hope you have more beautiful days ahead this week :)
ReplyDeleteYes Martha. Very early this morning I bundled up and went for a walk in the full moon's light. Absolutely beautiful. -16C (3F) So crisp and squeaky underfoot. Looks like another clear day today.
DeleteI love the pictures from your trail cam. I've never considered making a pie from butternut squash. I'm assuming you make it the same way as pumpkin? (yes, I know a pumpkin is a squash, but it's pumpkin pie - dare you deviate from tradition?). Good for you getting out there for a walk every day! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteHi Jenn. Yes, same recipe, just a third less sugar. Yes, I dared to deviate! Only because there was so much left over from 1 squash for the two of us, and I had a pie shell handy. Thought, "why not?" It was very good. Just came in from a crispy walk this AM. What a beautiful day it is, a sparkly-snow day.
DeleteGood morning! Just found your blog, and am enjoying your great photos! Love the trail cam photos! I am simply mesmerized by how many critters show up on ours, and live within our daily lives, and if not for the cameras...we’d never know!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wyomingheart. The cameras do reveal another dimension. I am fascinated by all the tracks in the snow as well. Hope you post some of your pics. I'd love to see them.
DeleteWe have a lot of coyote traffic through our back forty, but the wolf hasn't been over here since before Christmas. It is hanging out at the neighbours farm quite a bit. He is over run with feral cats, so????
ReplyDeleteWe love cooking on the woodstove. Our old Fisher Grandpa Bear was the best cooker. Wish we still had that one. One of our clients recently bought an airtight cook stove from Home Hardware in Barry's Bay. We're anxious to see what they have to say about it the end of the heating season.
Just yesterday, fresh big wolf tracks going across our property heading for the deer yard. We are very happy with our Enviro Kodiak which has kept us toasty warm through this bit of -20's temperatures.
DeleteHi Rosalea :) Oh your critter cam photos are great. I should probably bring mine in for the winter too, I'm just so excited about them! :) I LOVE butternut squash, I'd say I like it more than pumpkin!! :)
ReplyDeleteWe only brought in some of them, as the lithium batteries are quite expensive, and there isn't a lot of activity out there now. I may agree with you on the butternut squash!
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