Still winter, dispite the date.....

 March 22, 2026

The taste of Spring we got sure didn't hang around long, and I think the Robin and Red-wing blackbirds did an about-face, and headed back south, as there has been no sight or sound of them after the first day they were noted, a few weeks back. 

Perhaps you've heard of 'Sheila's Brush', a Newfoundland weather superstition? Well she arrived here a touch early, and here we are shovelling out on the morning of the 17th. That was also the last day of full sunshine. It has been a little dreary and grey since.

We've had more dribs and drabs of snow since as well, the latest being overnight last night. It is heavy, wet snow, and there is a sort of mist in the air, so we got out the plastic snowshoes for our hike this morning, because the snow would stick badly on our regular ones.

One of the trail cameras took a nice shot of the quiet, softly sunlit bush after the 17th snowfall. (disregard the date and time.)

We've seen more of Foxy of late, lots of night shots, but here he/she is in a rare daylight shot. We previously have had pictures with two foxes in the same frame, so pretty sure there is a den somewhere with kits.

The heavy, wet snow is sticking to all the branches and drooping them over the trails.

The grey days of late, have been more conducive to inside stuff. Recently I was reading about how beeswax bags would keep bread fresher, longer. I sewed a couple of 100% cotton bags with French seams and drawstring closures, then melted beeswax into them in the oven,

and hung them to dry. 

Looking forward to seeing how well they work when I bake the next batch of bread. 

On this morning's walk, I harvested some chaga, quite handily growing at shoulder height, on a white birch along one of the trails. 

I've broken up some for drying, and also put some pieces in a pot to simmer on the stove. 

It is a pleasant tasting tea, especially with a swirl of honey stirred in.