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.