It happened this week

Ok fooled you. Nothing happened.

But I will write about it anyway.

The past few weeks, we have been trying to do some smaller projects around the house.  As we are in the slow time for home inspections, we are hanging on to our $$ until the season hits.  Then we can begin some of the larger projects.  Also keeping us from some of them is the fact that it's too cold and snowy outside to do some of the large wood cutting, and then hauling things inside from out.  No matter- we have all the time in the world.

 On Nov. 5th-ish on a miserably snowy and cold day, Pat and Don stopped in on their way back to Saskatoon for a quick breakfast which allowed us to visit with Dar's nephew Tyler (Shaw).  He was on his way back to S'toon for a sound check for the "We Day" event and also some radio interviews.  Was good to see him again- just a super young man.  It occurred to me later that I should have printed the pic out and had him sign it for under the glass table top. 

These past few weeks we were fortunate enough to have guests - always nice!  One weekend was the twice yearly Geekend, where there is much laughing and silliness, games and movies.  And food.  So good to have lifelong friends making the effort to gather.  Also good to have guests who will help you figure out how to hook up the snowplow to the riding mower, and some muscle with which to do so.

The following weekends we have had Dar's friend Kim out who has decided to try his luck at deer hunting.  Mostly we are offering the bed and breakfast service, without the breakfast even, but he was called into action one Saturday afternoon to tag along into town for errands.  One of them was to stop at the SPCA and pick up another Barn Buddy.
      Off they went into town and some time later, while I was out with teh dogs, I saw them return.  Being that it was very cold, I wondered for a split second why they would be driving with the windows open. And then I remembered the cat. 
     Did you know most cats are not good in cars and their main way to show it is projectile purging?

     I don't believe the truck came to a complete stop before both men got out gagging, and gulping in the nice country air.

     I present to you, the newest member of our mouse control team, "STINKY!"

 

It was a beautiful week as far as landscapes.  Grey is not a good colour for the camera to look at, but it certainly does show the mood of winter.

Also this week, with the cold temps. (-33 yesterday with windchill value to -42) there was a return to those fabulous frosty feathers that can only form when warm, moist air from underground rises up and meets that frigid winter air.

If I were Karen, I would probably have photoshopped a little Santa sleigh flying over these little white feathers that look somewhat like snow covered trees.

This was a strange remainder from the heavy wet first snow storm of the year.  The storm dropped about an inch of heavy wet ice snow first before filling in with maybe 6 inches of heavy snow.  The snow clung to everything and it rested on this wire fence.  It was so heavy it just stuck to it, and when we have a few nice warmer days, the ice started to melt through and made this odd sculpture along the fences

Here is Dar in the second storm - in which the snow was too deep and the wheels got stuck in the soft approach to the yard.  It called for much hammering on the ice encrusted snowthrower so the blades would move, and the truck with a tow chain to pull it out.  Luckily it was only -28 and not -38.

 I looked for some snow pants as I appear to have ruined my last year's pair.  I was down to the Value village thinking there is no point buying nice pants that I will also likely ruin this year again.  Those blasted raspberries and rose bushes just rip at them like you would not believe!
     Anyway I found two pair of SunIce snow pants there for $12 each.  Onoe pair is a baby poop yellow and the other pair is red. My favorite colour NOT!  Anyway $12 so whatever.

     So I get to the check out with my $3 pure wool blankets (for the spoiled little barn kitties to snurgle up in)  and there is the nicest young guy that works there, who dresses like he works at Old Navy as opposed to Value Village.  I said "So do you think I will look all stylin' in my red snow pants out on the farm?"
    He looked at me and said "Oh I never say what I think, I just put stuff in the bags and take the money.""  LMAO  Cute kid.  And maybe I could learn something from him, because I walways say what I think, before I even am finished thinking it.

     Ok today it is, believe it or not, -6 out.  I don't really have anything to do outside, but I am sure I can find something.  Maybe dust some trees or make a igloo for no reason at all, except that there are no neighbours around to come ask what crazy thing are you doing now?

    I'm reminding everyone about the possibility we will be able to see a cool comet and here is a link that shows approx. dates and places to look in the sky.  Let's hope this great weather holds out until then !
   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25052236

Apparently all the cool kids are doing blogs

Ok.  So I don't go anywhere fabulous and I don't meet up with amazing people, and I have to eat the food I make which looks nothing like everything other people post in their blogs.

Good to get that over with right away, so no one is disappointed when they see yet another picture of dogs in snow, or flowers growing in my house or a really big spider that was in my bedroom.

I do miss Facebook simply because I could pass notes and leave messages, and enjoy pictures or thoughts that you guys all posted, but we all seem to post much less frequently than before.  What ended up happening was that Facebook and Google and Yahoo and many other sites have started to make more things synchronized so that once you sign into one site, make a comment or post a story, all the other sites would tell the world about it.  It doesn't seem like a big deal to anyone else, I guess, but stories I would post on Cowbird, which is still a good story telling site, would suddenly send hundreds of strangers to my personal Facebook page.  Pictures I posted on Flickr would have dozens of people trying to friend me. and I worry about people's privacy.  Mostly I just don't like having no clue where my information is going.

Having got that all out of the way, I thought maybe a weekly email might be fun, so as to bore everyone all at once and get it over with. Sending pictures by email here, however, with less than spectacular internet can be problematic.  We sometimes use our phones as wifi when the internet goes down, or is slow, but despite what Sasktel calls :"unlimited service" they send us regular emails saying we've used our phones too much and are therefore being cut back. Que sera sera.

Hence, I decided to make a block and then I can just email the link and this blog site can host my pics and it shouldn't be a drain on anyone's resources.

Ok. So this week started out so amazing with the jewels hanging in the trees that I was pretty upset I couldn't get the camera to see what I was seeing.  The heavy, wet snow we had dumped a heavy layer of wet ice first, and then snow on top of it.  When things started to melt, the snow went first and left these crystal jewels glittering everywhere on the trees. It was just joyous. No other word for it than that.  Except for the one day when it got to -28! (WTHECK!!) it has really been quite beautiful and we've had some sun which just lights up the woods and wowzers!

Try and imagine this with EXTREME sparkle, and the sound of water dripping and little icy bits tinkling to the ground.

This is where, in the summer when we first came out, there was actually a ho made landfill, with bags of garbage and all sorts of crap.  We got is partly cleaned up into a clearing where we could probably make a picnic table and little private garden of flowers.

The storm came from the north.

It really is a winter wonderland

Dogs loved the snow for sure

Yesterday I went for my MRI and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I didn't know there would be a dye injected into my arm and a doctor had to do that using an xray machine to guide thin tube in and inject the dye in.  The freezing that was supposed to numb the pain was way worse - it was like hot lava heh.  Anyway, then I went into the MRI machine and was expecting it to be extremely loud.  The technician asked if I would like music in the head set so I said sure, as long as it's not country. 

There was some banging and screeching as the machine set itself up and a country tune came on and she said to nevermind, that it would switch soon.  Suddenly there was a heckova racket and I thought oh dear Lord, she's given me some loud techno dance music, but it was actually the MRI machine haha. Anyway that went on for 20 minutes and then I had to get out and get readjusted and do another one for like 8 minutes or something.  No idea what the results are of course, but should know something in about 10 days she says.



When we got home, I had to hurry and do my Wednesday work and then took the dogs out for a wander before it was dark.  When they both bolted toward the trees I thought it was a bunny.  Oh yes.. a black and white bunny.  Awesome.  Up went that white tail and two dogs stopped dead in their  tracks and immediately rolling in the snow trying to get that terrible burning out of their eyes and off their skin.  Gawd.

So into the house, sore arm and all, and mixed up a batch of de-skunker.  I sponged them both down with the stuff, waited the 10 minutes and then bathed them both.  Luckily it worked quite well considering I couldn't find the dog shampoo.  I ended up using Dawn dish soap and they were grease free and had no food stuck to them so I considered that a success.

Then I washed the bathroom, put teh rags and towels in the machine and had a shower.  After that I made us supper and finished up some work but by 9 I was ready to call it a day, and I did.

Ok that is probably enough for a first installment.  I am trying to order the second last Christmas flyer YAY!!! and it is a bit hard as I hung a bird feeder out teh window where the hummingbird feeder was, and the chickadees have just found it.  So cute!

Ok ttfn !