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!