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.