Approaching the New Year

While it's nice to imagine us cozied up in our little cabin, surrounded by deep snow, with glowing Christmas decorations inside, and festive lights outside, I will have to admit that the "decorations and lights" part was becoming a bit of a stretch of imagination. Of course, like most of our stuff, the lights and decorations are “in a box somewhere”. Still we managed to pull a few things together, hung some stars, found our Christmas elves, and tucked a couple of pottery Santas here and there. Rob had set aside a set of outdoor lights, but they had frozen into a complex mass, so he did the best he could to tuck them around an outside tree and plug them in.  I thought they looked beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Part of my new mantra is "to just be", and to drop worry and doubt from my thoughts, so I thought it was important to let this Christmas pan out the way it was going, and just enjoy it all.

However that didn't stop us from making some special efforts and the first on our list was to make biscochitos. Biscochitos are a New Mexico cookie (the official state cookie!) We used our favourite recipe from Just North of the Border that called for flour, butter, sugar, brandy and anisette. They are traditionally made with lard, but this butter version usually works out fine.  We have coyote and cactus shape cookie cutters "in a box somewhere" so had to use a glass to cut them, and they were a tad thicker than they should have been, but no matter. They came out great and are delicious! I read that they should freeze well, so we froze some afterwards to enjoy later on.

By the time the Sunday before Christmas arrived, the roads looked good enough to venture out, but by then we had decided not to try to make the trek to Ottawa. They do not plough these roads much, and they lay a single layer of sand only down the center, so we drove slowly and made our way to the nearest small town instead. Our two lane roads are more like one and a half lanes in the winter it seems, so it gets interesting when there is someone coming the other way.

We have learned to be cautious about moving over too far as you can soon find yourself off of the road and narrow shoulder. However the main highways are usually good and clear.

Unfortunately the local store had also lost power the day before, and when we asked for a roasting chicken for our Christmas dinner, learned they had had to dispose of all the chickens due to the power outage. Fortunately I had picked up a frozen duck the week before as a backup plan!  We picked up a few items and returned home. The next day we heard there was another storm coming on Boxing Day so we went out once more to stock up on diesel fuel for the tractor, and to pick up a few more food supplies, just in case. Then we drove out to visit our friend Bob, who lives in a very lovely and cozy log cabin in the Opeongo hills, and to chat over a lovely cup of tea.

Christmas Eve evening Rob and I set out for a walk at dusk. It was cold and crisp out and very lovely. We were somewhat surprised to see car lights on our road, and as we approached discovered our neighbour was well and truly stuck. He had seen that Rob had kept his place plowed ready for his arrival for Christmas, and I guess decided to return the favour somewhat and tidy up a section of our road. Unfortunately he ran right off the edge and couldn't reverse out. So Rob went off to get his tractor and managed to eventually pull him out. 

By then it was pretty dark so Rob drove home and I walked along behind. When Rob turned a corner and his tractor lights so longer lit the way,  I was surprised to see that because of the snow it wasn't totally dark out in our woods!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both very peaceful days, filled with long walks, good food, a warm cabin, and lots of telephone calls to friends and family. We even managed to skype our friends Mike and Eva from our old neighbourhood thanks to their daughters setting up the connection in advance. As we always visited them on Christmas Day for the past 25 years or so, it was nice to be able to sort of carry on that tradition! We also skyped our friends Gary and Liz in Florida which was great. We don't Skype very often, but when we do it always feels more like we are together in the same room. And of course, we opened some gifts. And enjoyed some sweet, sweet grapefruit sent all the way here by Gary and Liz.

On Boxing Day we thought about going out to do a little bargain shopping. Rob really needs warmer and more waterproof gear for plowing, but instead we decided to relax and stay home. There was a storm warning for the evening with snow and blowing snow, so we prepared ourselves, although the weather sites seemed to indicate that our area was at the far north of the storm edge so we wouldn't see that much snow.  I spent some time making a soup stock from our duck, and putting together leftovers for another lovely dinner.

Sure enough, the storm arrived, and the weather sites got our area forecast totally wrong. We woke up to a good amount of snow on the ground, and Rob went out to plow. But it kept snowing, and snowing and snowing, and by 4:30 p.m. they finally posted a winter storm warning for our area! It was no surprise to us. Fortunately the power stayed on throughout. We read that due to the high winds, the roads were bad, but we had no need to go out. We couldn't help but think that here we were, only 6 or 7 days into winter, with already well over a foot of snow on the ground. 

Snow days are slow days here. We find that by the time we have plowed, and shovelled around the house and around the wood pile where the tractor can't fit in, we have used up a fair amount of time and energy. The cabin is then festooned with drying clothing (hats, mitts, scarves, coats, boots and snow pants!) The tractor needs time to warm up ahead of time and has to be brushed off after each use. In between, we walk the property, and check out the changes to the river and the woods. We keep a close eye on the sunny spots, as they will likely be where we place our solar panels.

We are constantly amazed at the whiteness of the snow here, and the other day noticed an incredible shade of blue all along the edge of the road in the snow. Apart from the main road, there is no sign of salt or sand and the snow remains a pristine white all along our laneway. When the sun shines and the sky is a deep blue it just takes my breath away. Because the first storm coated the trees in a heavy wet snow and then the temperatures dropped, the trees have remained coated in that "winter wonderland" sort of way. Usually by now the snow would have blown or slid off.

There is also a huge curl of snow and ice under our roof line, with huge icicles hanging off, and we don't know if that is normal or also due to the combination of heavy wet snow followed by freezing temperatures. It is very pretty, almost like Nature has provided icy curtains over our windows. On the other hand it blocks the passive solar effect in the bedrooms, so when the sun shines they no longer benefit from the heat.

Every day I take dozens of photos of the snow. I keep wondering if I will get tired of it. I guess I will know sometime in February. Or March. Or April. But I've noticed that we are always eager to go outside, to go for a walk, and to linger outside enjoying the clean air and the beautiful surroundings. Even today when the windchill was in the mid 20’s – that minus mid-20’s !!

And now here we are, leading up to New Year’s Eve. It will be 2013 the next time I post. We have many, many things to look forward to in the New Year, and I am sure we will look back on the past year, and think about all the changes that have come about. And we will be wishing all our friends and family all the best for the coming year….

Peace and love.

Going to Plan B

The week before Christmas we had tentative plans to drive into Ottawa to pick up a few specialty food items for our holiday season celebrations. While we have found sources in the area for most of the food items that we enjoy, there are still some items that we haven't yet found. There are a few independently owned businesses back in Ottawa like La Botega and Parma Ravioli that we wanted to visit for specialty cheeses, fabulous olives and spinach and ricotta stuffed manicotti. And our favourite bakeshop is still Three Tarts, and we were hoping to get some of their mincemeat tarts.

But before we knew it, our plans for the week were going through some interesting changes. We had found a supplier of firewood, but they wouldn’t deliver it here. So we set out with our truck and trailer to go pick it up ourselves. The wood was apparently in a remote bush location so we arranged to meet up with the seller at her house and then follow her out there. We met up with her and she set off at a rather fast pace and it was all we could do to keep up with her on the slushy back roads. Slush turned to snow, snow turned to ice, and the roads got narrower, and twistier. Then they began to turn into steep up and down hills. Our seller was by now nowhere in sight. Just as we had one of those uh-oh moments and dropped down a particularly steep bit – we came to the end of the road and there she was. Unfortunately the area had not been plowed, and we could see that there was a steep slope through deep snow to a rather forlorn pile of firewood. Rob (wisely) declined to purchase the wood. She left rather quickly, leaving us to try to turn around and find our way back.

The next day we contacted another supplier who kindly agreed to deliver some dry wood within hours. The wood arrived, and Rob got the splitter going and split it all while I stacked it. By the end of the afternoon, we had it all done, just as the first snowflakes of a major snow storm began to fall. Finally, we have some good dry wood!

We woke up the next morning to the aftermath of our first real winter storm here. While Rob set out to plow the laneways and roadways, I went off through the pristine snow for a walk, and brought along my camera. Down here at the cabin it was fairly still, but I could hear the wind in the tops of the trees up the ridge. As I walked up the main road I was the first to leave human tracks, as no one else had ventured out. There was evidence of deer or coyote, but I couldn’t tell which as the tracks were already filling in with more snow.

As the sun shone weakly through the clouds, it was rather disconcerting to notice my shadow appearing and disappearing! Every time it disappeared I felt almost as if I had disappeared into the white snow. What a strange feeling it was.

I was so intent on the oddity of it, that I almost didn’t notice that I had come up the road as far as the open fields. The wind was really blowing, and I could hear the sounds of crows and ravens so knew something was about.
Sure enough, there was a large bird being chased up above the road, and my first thought was that it was a hawk, but to my surprise when I pulled out my camera I could see a flash of white that suggested it was a bald eagle.

I ran down to the main road to see if I could get a better shot. The wind began to howl, ravens and crows in the air were calling and I spun around and around trying to get a shot. A lone truck came out of a total white-out on the road and went by me.

It’s hard to describe what I felt at that point – the incredible lightness of being comes to mind – but as I spun in the wind and snow I was overcome by the strength and incredible beauty of Nature around me and my almost aloneness in it all. The wind subsided, the birds flew off and landed further down the road, where I realized they were feeding on something (a dead deer it turned out) and I began to walk slowly back home. I was suddenly incredibly tired, after all the exhilaration, and just wanted to sit in the snow for a while to think about the last few minutes.

Instead I kept walking, my footsteps out already covered in by the blowing snow. As I walked, the sun came out slightly, and shone brightly through the ice and snow on the trees and I felt rather alone, enjoying all this incredible beauty. Alone yet not at all lonely, just sort of small in this rather large world of ice and snow and whiteness.

Suddenly I heard little putt-putt sounds, and saw a tiny plume of snow. All I could think was Wall-eeeeee …. And I started to laugh and laugh as Rob appeared at the crest of the hill with his tractor and plow. I do love that man.

Rob was kept pretty busy for the next couple of hours as he plowed our roads, and the main road hill and the laneway leading to our immediate neighbour. He knew they would be coming up here for Christmas so wanted to keep the way clear for them. Although someone plows the main road, there was no sign of them doing it any time soon, so one of our other neighbours seemed pleased that Rob was out there and waited for him to finish clearing the way.

When Rob finally returned to the cabin he was cold and soaking wet, and all he could say was "I need a cab". By the time he plowed again later that day, and again the next - he was pretty convinced he needed one. The first day of the storm it was mild and the snow was wet and heavy, and the trees dropped huge heavy piles of snow on top of him as he drove by. By the next day things got pretty cold and icy, and then the winds picked up, so he was covered in ice and snow in no time. We will have to see if it is possible to find one at a good price somewhere so that he can be a little more comfortable when he is plowing!

In the meantime, we kept an eye on the Hydro site to see if there were power outages in the area, and sure enough, all around us the power was going out. Although we had already made sure that we were well equipped, I should have done the dishes and tidied up while I had the chance. Sure enough, after a number of ominous bouts of flickering lights, ours was out as well. Luckily it came back on later in the afternoon. We read later that some people in the area still had no power as of Boxing Day.

With no power in the cabin, Rob and I bundled up and went for a walk to see what the birds were feasting on, at the side of the main road, and to check the road conditions. The wet heavy snow had bent the trees over, and the ice had sealed them there, and although it was incredibly beautiful, we were a bit worried about the branches snapping. The trees are already stressed from our drought this summer. We hope they will be o.k.

As we walked up to the road, the wind was really blowing and we were glad not to be driving anywhere. As I was lamenting that Rob had missed seeing the bald eagle, we looked up and noticed a very large bird being chased by the ravens again. It didn't have the white head or legs of a bald eagle, but it was about the same size. I took some shots, and when we came back I was able to identify it as a juvenile bald eagle! So we did both get to see one after all.

After the eagle flew away we walked down the road to see if we could get close to the ravens, but they flew away at the first sound of our footsteps. Still, we had a chance to hear them "talking" as they feasted, and were amazed at the different sounds they make.

With the high winds the roads were pretty snow covered and icy. We know to bundle up well when we walk, but the wind was still pretty cold on our faces. The skies started to clear a bit, and the wind picked up some more. The light looking up the road was amazing.

Back home we still had no power, but our little Coleman stove had us heating up some spicy hot chocolate in no time. We were glad when the power came back later in the day though.
With only one day left until Christmas Eve we decided to forget any plans to drive to Ottawa and to come up with our "Plan B" for Christmas.

Two Words

Two words - Snow Pants. As a child I hated them. Getting them off and on was a horrible chore, they were ugly and bulky, and I couldn't wait until I was deemed old enough to go out in the winter without them on. I had to wear them to school, and when I was outside playing. They made a loud swish, swish noise when you awkwardly walked with them on, and there was no mistaking that you were still a little kid because your Mom made you wear your snow pants.
 
So it's kind of funny, all these years later, to find myself in a country hardware store gushing over snow pants. And coming home with a pair. And loving them. Yup, they are still ugly and bulky, they still make that swish, swish noise when you walk with them on. But I am outside with Jet three times a day, and out walking and taking photos every day. I have discovered the use of snow pants that keep me warm and dry and block the wind, and allow me to stay outside longer. I probably won't wear them when I go "into town" shopping, but they are incredibly useful here.

If I thought last week's freezing rain made for icy conditions, it was nothing compared to the freezing rain we have had these last two days. The driveway and roadway in to the property are a solid sheet of ice this afternoon. We were able to get Jet out for some play time by stomping around in the clearing at the side of the house, and then tossing his wubba into the woods for him to chase after. Rob and I just took a walk up the road and the main road is actually quite wet, but the roads here are extremely icy. For some reason the treads on Rob's boots clung nicely to the ice, but I had to walk more carefully at the edges where I could punch through to the snow below.  Last week I could at least walk up the center of the road.

We made a quick trip out yesterday morning just before the freezing rain hit, and picked up a few supplies like bread and eggs, and our fridge is pretty well stocked so we are content to stay in the cabin today. There is snow in the forecast tomorrow and we are hoping it will be mild enough that it sticks to the ice, and corrects that icy base. I guess we will see what we get.

It's been a productive week here as we continue to work on getting a few things off of our to-do list. A wood splitter that attaches to the tractor made quick work of our firewood. The light that Rob installed outside the cabin earlier in the fall allowed him to do most of it even after the sun set.  Our wood is all neatly stacked outside (no thanks to me) but we do need to order more, and it needs to be drier when it arrives.

Rob installed a stove vent hood in the kitchen this week, and we are both quite surprised at how much the additional light changes the appearance of the kitchen. It would seem that I have been cooking practically in the dark all this time! I think having a fan above the stove is really going to help too.

Cutting through one of the logs and the chinking in between, to install the vent, was a bit of a chore. Kudos to Jet for being relaxed throughout as usually he reacts to the sound of Rob's drill. He pretty much slept through most of the drilling!

Here, we discuss whether it's a possible opening for Santa Claus.

This recent change in the cabin has us both talking a lot about lighting, and it's importance in the new house. As we are (ahem) aging, I find we require more light as well, so this will be an important consideration. Of course, if we are off grid we will also be thinking about how to do have lots of light without using up all of our solar resources.

In fact I would say that living in the cabin gives us both a great deal more cause for house design discussion. As we struggle with some issues of size or storage, or entrance ways, or door sills that leak, being here in all the seasons for the first time has forced us to think about the effect of our choices year round. We talk a lot about the things we worked out over the years at the dome. The things we liked or disliked. The things that worked, and the things that needed improvement. There are design aspects from both houses that we think we may like to use again in the new house. (Windows that open and close easily comes to mind. I love the windows here. And a heat lamp in the bathroom!) And of course in both cases there are probably things we would not do again, so won't repeat those mistakes in the new design. (Soft pine floors are gorgeous, but get damaged too easily by furniture, and pet claws, and neither house had an easy solution to our volume of wet winter boots, coats, mitts, hats, scarves etc.) We need to start a list of all the things we have been discussing so that we don't forget about them later on.

With only one week to go before Christmas, we are both amazed to find ourselves curled up at night, listening to Christmas CD's and calmly discussing possible dishes for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. In our retail business we would have been working impossibly long days, and although I always enjoyed helping our customers to choose special Christmas gifts for loved ones, the season was always a bit of a blur for us. Last weekend on a whim we drove out to check out a local auction, and when we decided there was nothing there for us, went off to Arnprior where we had been told there was a delightful bookstore and coffee shop attached. The bookstore was indeed very lovely, and we soon had found a book for each other so our Christmas shopping was complete! We enjoyed a delicious coffee and slice of cake and I think we were both grinning as we commented that with only two Saturdays left until Christmas, we were out together and simply enjoying the day.
This is definitely one of our favourite Christmas Cd's right now.

Today Rob is working upstairs, where he is boxing in the stove pipe that runs through one of the rooms, as a new requirement for the stove inspection we had. It will provide us with a closet space at the same time, so although it is a finicky job, it will be worth it in the end. We will probably install some vents in the new walls as well though, so that some of that nice radiant heat from the stove pipe will continue to help to warm up the room.  Working in the cabin, space is pretty tight, so Rob is forced to use every nook and cranny while he puts things together.

In the spirit of being more frugal, I cooked up a small turkey this week after finding one that was much less expensive than a much smaller chicken. Made a huge and delicious stock, and then made a enormous amount of turkey and vegetable soup. I followed a recipe by Susanna Trilling who runs a cooking school in Oaxaca, Mexico for the turkey roasting and it came out really well. Our little freezer above the fridge is now well stocked with the Red Chile Posole I made last week and the Turkey Soup from this week. I really cannot get used to having so much time to cook, but I am truly enjoying it. 

With only 1 week left until Christmas, we are hoping to finish up a few more things around the house, and then if the weather cooperates we may make a quick run into Ottawa for a few special Christmas goodies. But if we don't get there due to the weather, it doesn't really matter. We can make do with what we have.  In the meantime some shortbread showed up in the mail this week! Delicious.

Life goes on

These last two weeks have certainly seen us going through a see-saw of emotions. The recent passing of Rob's Aunt Dorothy has made us both sad and reflective, but the memories we carry have also brought smiles, and even laughter. Our thoughts are with her family, and we hope they are coping through this difficult time. I know that people will say she had a good long life and lived to be 90, but as I get further up in years, I am beginning to feel that 90 isn't even remotely long enough. No matter one's age; it still doesn't take away the pain of missing someone.

As always - "life does go on" and for the rest of us remaining here, we still have those day to day tasks to attend to. I must say though, that we are fortunate here to be able to take some extra time to contemplate, to grieve a little, and to celebrate a life. With the woods and the river, and the beauty around us, we were both able to turn to the Nature around us to help heal a little, and to give us some time to think about life, and an aunt that we both loved.

If we were reluctant to return to life's other matters, Mother Nature certainly gave us a nudge in that direction this week with some unusually warm days, followed by promises of freezing rain and snow storms. It was time to get some things taken care of before the bad weather arrived.

While we would like to build and erect lovely wooden structures everywhere to house the tractor and other items that we would like to keep out of the snow and rain, the reality was that winter was fast approaching and we needed a more immediate solution. We somewhat reluctantly decided to buy a temporary garage structure, and after a lot of research, chose the best one we could find, and set about installing it in front of the cabin. I would have to say that our hearts were truly not in this project.  We both suspect that these shelters do not last very long, and we prefer not to buy things that may soon become landfill.

However, there is a good story here. In 2001 when we moved our store to a new location, the owner of the store we moved into offered to leave some "granite" squares that were in his showcase. Rob agreed to take them, but when he went to dismantle the showcase was soon terrified to touch it. The squares were ridiculously heavy and mounted in such a manner that he was sure the whole thing would simply come crashing down on him. Nonetheless, he managed to dismantle it, and somehow moved them all back to our warehouse. Where they sat. And sat. And I kept urging him to dispose of them, thinking we had no use for them. But there they remained.  Until we moved. And then Rob moved them all here. And I gave him a hard time about it.

So you can just imagine the glee in his voice, when he told me how he was going to anchor the new garage structure, as we are on limestone and there was no way he could see to insert the earth anchors that came with it. You guessed it - he used the granite stones and bolted the structure to them. Sigh. Now he will never part with anything. But I will admit - somewhat grudgingly - it worked!

Luckily we had some warmer weather during this installation, although it did rain heavily through most of it. Rob was outside in the dark for a lot of it as well. While we are on the topic of not getting ridding of stuff - I noticed that the black light here has been sent to the garbage pickup several times, yet strangely it appears in this photo. Obviously it is still working and useful and not truly destined for landfill yet either.

Rob followed the instructions for putting the shell together but this was clearly not a one person job, and I was of little help as it was heavy and beyond my reach. We struggled to get it together, but it just wasn't working. He finally dismantled the entire thing, and went about it from a timber frame point of view instead, and had it up in no time. Clever guy. The tarps went up over it just as the temperatures dropped. It isn't the most attractive thing to have in front of our pretty cabin, but it works. And I think it would make a great tent for a party in the summer!

The daylight hours are awfully short these days. Our firewood arrived in the dark, and I was grateful that I have been carrying a flashlight in my jacket so we could see to jockey things around to make room for the truck that brought the wood.  We were a bit worried that the wood wasn't quite dry enough, but Rob has a moisture meter, and it seems that it checked out o.k.  We may have to split it a bit more so it will fit in our wood stove and burn a bit more efficiently though.

So we got two items off our "before winter" list (check, check) and then as always - two more added! The wood stove chimney appeared to be blocked at the top so needed to be checked and cleaned, which meant rigging up a ladder system so Rob could get up on the roof. Then we discovered the gasket in the stove also needed replacing. The nearest dealer was an hour away so we had a nice trip together to go pick it up, and stopped for a fabulous coffee and sweet walnut cranberry square at Alice's Village Cafe in Carp. We will have to go back there for lunch some time soon as everything looked delicious, and it's a lovely space with the work of local artists on the walls. When we left we took a couple of new roads back which was fun. Despite the greyness of the day, we drove through some beautiful areas.

In the spirit of trying new things, I also came home from shopping with a pomegranate. Now maybe everyone else in the world has eaten a pomegranate - but I never have! Rob remembers eating them at Christmas as a child. They were on sale for 1$ each at the store, so how could I resist? Having no clue what to do with one, I turned to Youtube. Most of the videos recommended opening them up under water to easily extract the seeds, but I was intrigued by a video that claimed it was the "no water method".   I don't think I can always recommend Youtube.  This very nice, very effusive guy explained you just cut the pomegranate in half, gently work both halves a bit to loosen the seeds, turn the first half upside down in a bowl and then whack it with a spoon until the seeds fall out. Now maybe I was a bit keen and should have listened more carefully to the end of the video when he suggested you wear an apron, but I didn't. And he wasn't wearing one. Come to think of it though, the lighting on his video was rather dim. Anyway, I followed his instructions, and when I whacked it - all the juice spurted out over the counter, the toaster, the walls, the cutting board - and me. And it stains like crazy. Oh well  - it did work, and in no time I had a bowl of shiny pomegranate seeds. And they were delicious! We ate them plain, I added them to a couscous dish with mint and olive oil that we served with pork in an orange juice and cumin sauce (yumm!) and I put them into our smoothies in the morning. What a great amount of enjoyment, and all for $1 !

Last week one of our neighbours from our old neighbourhood showed up with a friend for a visit, and kindly brought along the two ristras we had forgotten and left still hanging on the dome when we moved. (With the permission of the new owner of course!) So in the spirit of Christmas I added a little Christmas cheer and hung them up outside the cabin.  We will try to get a few lights up outside this week, and a few favourite Christmas decorations up in the cabin.  They are all in a box somewhere. (This is our new mantra!) But we are pretty mellow about the whole thing. This is our first time in almost 20 years that we are not running a retail business, so we are just going to relax and enjoy the season.

I still have not managed to get a photo of the snowshoe hares. They have almost entirely changed their coats to white, and when the snow briefly melted I could see them hopping around deep in the forest looking like ghost rabbits.  I see their tracks all around the cabin, but now that the snow has returned it will be harder to spot them in the woods.  Which I guess is Nature's intent, as there does seem to be rather a lot of coyote tracks around! This morning I noticed the tracks on our road, and skirting around the house along the river's edge and through the woods.

Today is "stay at home" day. We had storm warnings last night that promised snow followed by freezing rain. I ventured out on foot this morning to see what the main road is like on a day like today and it wasn't good. Lots of ice and not a lot of signs of traffic.
We are still getting heavy rain and freezing rain, and it will freeze solid tonight if it goes down to minus 16 which is what the forecasters are forecasting!
You might think I took this photo in black and white, but I did not. Not a lot of colour out there this morning. I still thought it was quite lovely.

Well, this has been rather a long posting! I am cozy in the cabin, and have a pot of Blue Corn posole soaking in a pot and plan to cook it up this afternoon. (Rob is perhaps not the only person in this house who holds on to things - I have a 10 lb. box of dried blue corn posole in the fridge!) I haven't made posole in a long time,  so need to go find a recipe and decide whether it should be a Red Chile or Green Chile posole.  (I also have a rather large stash of chiles)  I will try to get Jet out for a gentle play on the icy surface out there, but for the most part will stay indoors today and enjoy the view through the windows. It is a perfect day for it.