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.