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 '
It’s refreshing to read your blog and know that you embrace winter. So many people kvetch and complain yet do nothing to enjoy the benefits winter conveys. Getting up in the night to feed the fire may not be one of them, but it’s a small price to pay, really. As you say the days are getting longer and in another month or so we’ll be looking for the first migratory birds to arrive. The cycle of the seasons is wonderful. And if you happen to have a bowl of that soup left over, I’ll be around later!
ReplyDeleteThank you David. Always love your insightful comments. One of the things I love about living here, is watching the seasonal changes. Everything has a specific place in the changing of the seasons.
DeleteI can't get near the treat rock right now, but that doesn't stop the fox from coming to check. He's a canny fellow, managing to avoid the trail camera, but his tracks give him away.
ReplyDeleteI chop and freeze celery and peppers during the early fall when they are cheap. The prices of these two essentials is criminal mid winter! I'm surprised lettuce has stayed relatively reasonable this winter. We pulled the last bag of our homegrown mixed veg out of the freezer for dinner yesterday. The leftovers will go into soup today. Home made soup is SO GOOD.
Hi Karen. I made sure to freeze lots of celery, but have enough peppers from the garden, dried and frozen. I refuse to buy anything from 'down there', so have been doing a lot of sprouting, using my Aero garden, and splurging now and then on lovely Canadian greenhouse grown stuff. Still have lots of beans, corn and broccoli in the freezer; squash, spuds, carrots, onions and garlic in cool storage.
DeleteOnce this promised warmer trend starts, we will see lots more activity in the bush.
A good coal bed in the wood stove is a delight to find in a frigid morning. Beautiful blue sky. The Jays in the snow is quite a fun pic. Animals are amazing.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like wood heat. It radiates into one's bones!
DeleteUnd ich dachte, bei uns ist es mit -5 Grad kalt. Schnee haben wir hier in Deutschland auch, aber der Winter ist sehr mild. Ich freue ich, wenn ich draußen im Schnee wandern kann. Ich genieße den Winter mit seinen langen Abenden und dem Feuer im Holzofen, aber ich freue mich auch über den baldigen Frühling
ReplyDeleteDanke für deinen Kommentar, Neuer.
DeleteIch bin froh, dass unsere Winter nicht mild sind! Ich liebe Schnee und Kälte. Ich freue mich schon auf den Frühling, wenn er kommt, aber bitte noch nicht.
Your place always looks so peaceful. Always look forward to reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteIt is, FG. The most we ever hear (except natural sounds) is a faint, far off whine of logging truck tires on the highway, but it has to be a very still morning.
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