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.

The Changes that Snow brings

We woke up this morning to an unusual brightness in the room, and it took a few moments to recognize what it could be.  The trees outside were covered with thick white snow! The overnight forecast had called for a few flurries, but this was obviously more than that.

Down in the kitchen Jet barked and barked at the window, and I don’t know if it was because of the brightness, or simply the anticipation of getting outside.  He paused at the doorway and I just knew he would have a case of the “zoomies”.  Sure enough he did – several times, but he’s learned to calm himself down a little so it doesn’t get out of hand like it used to !

It feels like I’ve been talking about and planning for the arrival of snow for ages, but in actual fact we were nowhere near ready. I had found my winter boots in a box the day before but had tucked them away so had to dig them out.  Coming back into the cabin with snowy feet I realized we hadn’t quite got our entrance reorganized so we still have to enter through the kitchen, and the carpet that covers the wooden floors will get wet which isn’t good for the wood. 

I also remembered that we always had a stash of windshield wiper anti-freeze, and lock de-icer at the dome, so will have to make sure I pick some up this week as we have none here. We found the snow brush, but it isn’t actually in the truck yet. We have seven – yes seven – snow shovels, but none of them are down here at the cabin where we need at least one.

I have got a stash of soups and canned goods stocked up ready in case we can’t get out, but the fridge is a bit bare and I should make sure it doesn’t get too low for the next few months. I realized today I am out of bread, and getting low on a few other staples. (Not to mention we have run out of red wine!)

I think it’s the first time that I started to think that we are seriously living here now – it is no longer a cottage where we will just make do because we are going to leave and go home in another day or two. This is now for real!

Although it was just a little snowfall, it has stayed all day as the temperature is well below zero.  The roads look icy, and I doubt any plows or sanding trucks have been out on the main road.   We could have ventured out, but we have a line of soft stone in front of the cabin as we are getting some more work done to the road, and most of the rest of the road is full of stone and waiting to be graded. Unfortunately the grader got a flat tire and all work stopped temporarily until it can be repaired later in the day.

Ah yes, the road. It’s been a bit of a learning curve.  We had hoped that Brennan’s bulldozer would get repaired earlier in the fall so we could get the road finished, but it just wasn’t possible. When we called to get some grading done, (by the same person who will plow and sand our road this winter) and to see if he could maybe get the last sections finished, he and Rob agreed to meet up and walk the road to talk about potential problems, and possible fixes. Well, it was no surprise that he felt that some sections were too narrow, especially at the "steep curve" part, so we all agreed to add more stone, and to increase the width where needed. At the same time, the final part that approaches the cabin has never had any stone laid, and it will be a mess come spring when the snow melts, so a layer needs to be added to it as well.  They started the work on Friday, and would have finished up today but due to the flat tire, they will have to now return tomorrow.  By the time the tire was fixed, it was already dusk outside. All this to say that we couldn't drive our truck out today as there were big piles of soft stone blocking our way out!

The photo above shows the steep curved part is now a bit wider and I am feeling a lot better about driving on it. It will be graded again tomorrow, but I tried it out with the truck on Friday and was pretty pleased.  We shall see how it goes this winter, it may need grading again in the spring once things settle a bit.

They moved some rocks away and levelled out this section on Friday. They filled it with stone today. I was worried it would lose it's nice country laneway feeling, but it didn't, it still looks much the same thanks to all the evergreens. It was even prettier today with the snow!

We decided not to worry about being unable to get out of the driveway, and all the work being done on the road, and went out for a couple of good long walks in the glorious sunshine. It was cold and crisp out, but the sky was blue, the woods were beautiful and we stopped to admire the snow in the trees.

It was so lovely to be out in the sunshine. Where the sun had melted, the moss was a bright green, and the reflection off of the river was stunning. Rob noted how the snow had melted on our riverbank but on the other side of the river, the snow was still all there. I am glad we are on this side of the river!

We are both really looking forward to the next few months, as we have only once been here in the winter.  I love to head down to the river, and watch the changes that occur there. This week we noticed how the ice had formed around the vegetation at the edges, and then hung suspended out of the water when the river levels dropped.

And we saw our first owl last week! It flew out and landed high up in a branch of a tree and sat there while Jet and I admired it. (Well, Jet barked, but only once or twice, and then he sat and admired it) I took Jet home, grabbed my camera and went back, and was so pleased to see the owl still there. While I was taking photos, Rob arrived, so he was able to watch it for a while too! What a beautiful bird.

I think this winter we will learn that we need to be flexible. If the weather is bad, we will just have to curl up in the cabin and not worry about trying to go anywhere. I will make sure we have a few more staples always on hand, and we will get the snow shovels and all that other winter stuff organized and close at hand. It’s not like we didn’t already do this at the dome every year, so it’s really just all regular winter routine stuff. We just don't have a regular winter routine here yet. Of course at the dome we were a few minutes walk from a convenience store - here it is about 5 km. away! And the power does seem to go out here a lot more often, so we need to be prepared.

Later on in the winter, when the weather gets too nasty, well, we will just take our cue from Jet. Find a little spot of sunshine, curl up, and have a snooze. Clever boy.

Rob's First Post

Well, my first blog and Alison has been apprehensive - something about me perhaps not having time to write a suitably lengthy note in a conversational, easy flowing tone; maybe not being able to write with grace and style when describing the minutiae of daily life; perhaps not even being able to share my inner feelings....Well, fear not Alison - here we go!

When we sold our house one of the most amusing moments was when the buyer was asking about the cable connection; he couldn't quite grasp that it was not that the cable was disconnected - it simply did not exist. I started thinking about why I am so disinterested in TV and the following came to mind - "I would rather live life than watch it." Well, nothing else to add so that's all for today!

Oh yeah, I forgot. Alison says that readers enjoy a photo so here's my favorite button that was attached to a shelf in our bathroom for as long as I can remember:

This is really easy - next week I think I will write about why moving was so much fun after living in one place for 35 years ...

Discovering November

Well I must say these past two weeks have flown by and yet somehow stood still at the same time.  I guess we wanted to hurry up and move, but also needed the time to do it.

We've had cold, wet and windy days, we've seen snow squalls and hail, and we have enjoyed sunshine and warm temperatures that made us think of summer again.  One day this week I could not get enough of being outside, it was so warm and pleasant, and I was out in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. The next day I woke up to snow, and was back to wearing a winter jacket and gloves and toque. Typical November weather I guess.  We watched the weather carefully these last two weeks though, as Rob was in the process of transferring the last of our stuff, and didn't want to load or unload in the rain if possible. For a while it looked like that wasn't a possibility, but the weather suddenly changed in our favour.

We were incredibly fortunate that two of our neighbours, Sam and Dane, gave up an entire day for us and moved our heaviest stuff last week.  We are so excited to be on this new adventure, that we don't really think we will miss much about our lives all those years in the village, but there is no question that we had some truly wonderful neighbours, and we will miss them.

Although I walk with Jet 3 or 4 times a day, it is still not possible to spend time taking photos while I am out with him. He really requires lots of attention, and isn't one to stand quietly (you can probably hear Jet sighing now - because I am going to say that he doesn't stand quietly - NOT LIKE THE LAST DOG .....)  But it's true. Zuni would stand still, on leash, for ages, and quietly, while I approached herons, rabbits, beavers - you name it.  This is definitely not Jet's style. At least not yet.

So after we finish playing with him, and walking him, I usually go out by myself with my camera and have a good long walk. This is such a different time of year, and I haven't spent much time here in November before so I find it really wonderful to be able to wander around.  With most of the leaves gone, we can see the reflection off the river from many different parts of the woods. We can see much deeper into the woods, and walk more easily into areas that are usually too thick with vegetation during the summer (and thick with poison ivy!)

I can also clearly see the paths that the deer use. And other animals. There is a lot of "scat" around. (I'll spare you the photos)  My brother pointed out that during the winter I will be able to see a lot more tracks in the snow, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm not very good at "scat tracking", but maybe this winter I will be able to use the combination of tracks and scat to figure out what is living in the area around us.

The grey and brown tones of November always seem to make me somewhat reflective. One of my Flickr friends says I should view the falling of the leaves as replenishing the soil ready for spring growth, and I am trying, but I still find it to be a rather bleak month.  The sun is low in the sky, the shadows are long, the days are short, and the birds are few and far between. With this view I walked this week, and tried to look closer at the natural world around me with a different eye. Sure enough, I have discovered that there are logs lying in the fields and forest that are covered with a multitude of lichens and mosses. I will have to read up on it as I don't have a clue what I am looking at. But they are beautiful, in a variety of colours and shapes and sizes. Some of them make me think of coral.

Yesterday Rob and I heard the sound of the Ravens, and looked up to see 15 of them just above the cabin. The talked, they soared, they barrel rolled. Talked some more. They circled around and around, before they flew off, mostly in groups of two, but some in three's or four's, and slowly went off in different directions. I didn't take any photos. I simply stood holding my breath I think, and watching, in awe of them. I've never seen a group like that before.

Later in the afternoon, I heard Ravens in the forest on the other side of the main road, making a variety of sounds I have never heard before. Then 2 flew up, joined by 3 smaller ones who I guess were juveniles, and they proceeded to fly and talk, and roll and it was just amazing to watch. The two adults flew side by side in a variety of movements (sort of like watching the Snowbirds in action - but much better !) One of the younger ones flew higher and higher and further and further away, and I could hear the adults talking as they disappeared over the trees. Then some urgent sounding calls. Maybe calling that young one back?

I took some photos of them flying as I think I would like to play with the silhouettes and then print them onto fabric. Of course, I will have to make an effort this winter to learn a bit about photoshop first! This is just one I played with for a little while.

Walking back I was smiling, feeling pretty fortunate to have the time to watch these activities. Then a flash of red in the trees next to me made me stop as a brightly coloured bird flew past. I watched for a while and a more yellowish, olive coloured one followed. I took some photos and looked them up, and it seems they are Pine Grosbeaks, a male and female. Pretty common, but I've never seen one! It's a fuzzy shot as he was hiding mostly behind the branches, but came out long enough that I could see his wings and the bands of white on them.

I also discovered one of the "No Hunting" signs that our friend Frank erected on our property years ago in an attempt to keep the deer safe.  I was surprised to find it, or what is left of it. It is high on an enormous pine tree, and so many trees have grown up in front of it since, that you would never know that you could once see the sign from one of our roads.  I miss Frank, but it made me feel like a bit of his spirit lives on in these woods.

We visit the area where we hope to build almost every day. It's good to see the changes in the sun and shadows, as we are hoping to harness some of that solar energy and need to know how much the sun changes with the seasons.  Although we are still in drought conditions, the river is finally higher, whether due to the rains or changes at the dams further upstream.  I can no longer stand on the rocks in the river, so have to be content to stand at the shoreline.

 

 

Last week I spotted a coyote in the field where the cattle usually are. I of course look for it there every day now, but haven't seen it again. As soon as it saw me, it ran off across the field. We hear them howling most evenings and again in the early morning. It's an amazing sound.  The other day when I looked there were no cattle or coyotes. But I kept feeling like someone was watching me. Sure enough when I got past the treeline, there was one lone cow in the field. He ran off bawling for the others a few minutes later.

I spend a lot of time in this area as the birds seem to stop here on their migration routes, and there is a good view this time of year across the fields. I also discovered that with the leaves gone, I can see the main road, and catch sight of Rob's truck a few kilometers away when he's coming home! You can just see a glimpse of the road on the left, but I now know that I can see it again on the far right as well.

We had heavy snow squalls one day last week, and I stood here and watched as they came over the tree line and up the hill. Wished I had my camera, it was quite a sight.  We had snow again this week, and in the areas where the sun doesn't shine through, it has stayed. It stayed on the roof of the shed for quite a while. We want to put solar panels here, so obviously this is the wrong side of the roof to use!

The ground was hard and crunchy this morning as we had a deep frost, and my feet were cold in my shoes when I was walking Jet.  But I am snug and warm in the cabin, the sun is shining through the windows, I can see the river flowing, and every now and then a chickadee lands in the tree outside. I think we are going to have some nice days in here this winter. We already have some books on the shelf ready to read, books on wood working, photoshop, digital photography, tree care, forest management, timber framing, house design.... and lots more!  We are almost ready to hunker down, put our feet up, and get ready for our next project.