Pure Winter Fun!

A week ago - on Family Day weekend - our whole family headed out into the country for an afternoon of cheese tasting and sledding fun.

We had heard that a small local artisan cheese factory called "Back Forty" was having an open house... They also have a hiking trail and a sledding hill.

A beautiful place, near a river. On a nearby sliver of open water, we noticed swans out swimming...

After eating our grilled cheese sandwiches - made with locally produced cheese and sour dough bread, we headed out to the sledding hill - where all (except Terry and me!) trekked up and sled or snowboarded down (again and again and again)...

The same winter fun I remember enjoying  as a child!

Then home... on snow-covered country roads! A perfect day!

More Snow!

Yes, we have more snow!

Terry hasn't been out a lot during the past two weeks. First he injured his wrists, shovelling - and was in a lot of pain. Then he picked up a cold...

So I wasn't sure how we would handle this significant snowfall. But he decided to go out and do "just a bit" of shovelling.

Fortunately we have kind neighbours! Ken and his ride-on snowblower came over and did most of the heavy lifting!

Maybe we should get Terry one of those ride-on machines for Christmas! (Maybe I could even learn how to use it myself...  It could be fun!)

Year of the Horse

Terry often asks me what I learned walking in the mall that day.

Well, yesterday I discovered that the new Chinese year is ... the year of the horse. 

Online some call it the year of the "fire horse"...

Not sure what all that means... but the sign nearby calls it a symbol of strength, freedom and success... All good things!

Nostalgia

Our visit to the college last week - to watch our granddaughter dance - was full of nostalgia for Terry.

A year after retiring, he started to teach at the college in the social service worker program. So it was exciting to return... 

He wanted to have his picture taken next to the photo of his (now-retired) friend and colleague who encouraged him to apply.

Hard to believe that Terry taught here, part time, for 10 full years! It definitely added interest to his life!

Dance Competition

Last week, our granddaughter participated in a dance competition at the college near our house.

Terry and I walked over to watch.

It was a "pairs" competition - just Ivy and her partner on stage....

I pulled out my phone and managed to snap a few pictures.

Later, when we joined up with her in the lobby, Terry said: You were great! But when she lifted you up, upside down, I was so shocked... Your partner must be very strong!

WHAAT?!! Ivy was in the air upside down?! I didn't see that!

That's the problem with taking pictures. You sometimes miss important things when you're fiddling with your camera! 

Surviving Winter

I've never really LOVED winter. I didn't mind it so much, as a child. I liked to build snowmen and make "snow angels" on fresh show. We built our fair share of winter "forts" to hide behind when throwing snowballs.

But I never enjoyed winter sports. 

I tried skating and skiing - the old-fashioned way... Not on a ski hill with a lift... After we slid down the hill on our skis, my uncle Knut taught us to step sideways to walk back up again.

This year, we've had a lot of cold, snowy weather. I haven't gone for outdoor walks - but I do continue to walk (and shop!) in a nearby mall. 

I've also surrounded myself with things I love to do - like knitting and crocheting.

I try to capture the world outside my window in a tiny daily sketch - focusing on the sky.

I blog... I've started a new eating plan to help me control my type 2 diabetes. So I'm full of optimism... in spite of the snow and slippery roads! 

I'm happy, content. I'd say, I'm not only surviving... I'm thriving... in this, my least favourite season of the year!

A "Soup" Kind of Day!

Yesterday was ALMOST warm ... warmer than last week - but not quite spring...

Terry was lying low with a cold...

A perfect day for making my favourite chunky vegetable bean soup! I like to make a large pot - so there's lots for another day.

Thinking About ... Family

Today is "Family Day" in Ontario. It's a relatively new holiday - that came into effect for a few weeks AFTER I retired!

I recently came across this picture of Terry's father as a child - in a family picture that includes Terry's grandfather, Donald, his grandmother, Olive Ruth, and Terry's uncle (his father's younger brother) also named Donald.

The only one in this group that I ever met was Terry's grandmother - who attended our wedding. For a while, we all lived in Montreal - so we would see each other regularly. Our children all met "Nan Hutchins" when they were very young.

It's a beautiful family photo, probably taken in the early 1930's.

That's a First!!

Have we had more snow than usual this year?!

City workers have kept busy clearing our roads. 

Our neighbour, Mary, filled us in on something Terry and I missed the other day...

You missed the excitement again.  We were coming up our street and noticed a truck appeared to be parked in the middle of the road at our end of the street.  

As we got closer we noticed that a dump truck was partially parked in our neighbour's driveway and there was a backhoe removing snow at the dead end part of the street.

In our forty years of living here, I have never seen them remove snow from our end of the street. 

Kim noted that she now won't have to climb a mountain to walk through the field to get to work.

That is a first! 

I remember one winter, when the college first purchased the elementary school property that had been next door to us and closed off the road with large boulders. Our street was no longer the point of entry into a school yard, so we lost our special status for early snow removal. 

But they forgot to put us on another snow removal roster - so our end of the street had NO snow removal at all until we complained to our counsellor!

That was frustrating! 

I wonder if this year the city was worried about losing access to the fire hydrant if snow got any higher. Or maybe they were concerned about spring flooding.

Whatever the reason, glad someone is looking out!

Follow Your Heart!

I thought my grandkids might enjoy these cute Valentines...

When I gave them to Jericho, he immediately started to assemble them. The creator's idea was to have each pair of paws hold a heart-shaped eraser, like the cat is doing on the right. Great idea!

But in Jericho's imagination, the sticky paws could do much more. The animals could dance! 

Give hugs! Toss each other up in the air! (Didn't get a picture of that one!)

Jericho's Valentines had much more life - "joie de vivre" -  without instructions! 

That's it! Follow your heart! Instructions are just suggestions! 

New Neighbours?!

After our last snow fall, I noticed a tiny path in the snow - between our neighbour's cedars and our wooden shed...

Do we have new neighbours? 

Mice? Rats? Chipmunks perhaps? 

Not an animal that hops. One that burrows, or so it seems to me. And the burrowing path stops at the base of our shed!

A skunk once lived under that shed. It would let off warning whiffs from time to time. After it left, Terry wired up all entry spaces... or so he thought!

But those tracks... Tracks in the snow don't tell a lie! I think we have new neighbours!

Craving Colour

These days, I'm craving colour...

Small tasks - like organizing my coloured pencils - give me great satisfaction.

And I'm inspired to work on a bright, bold, colourful quilt! Haven't started it though. Still gathering ideas!

Morning Entertainment

These snowy grey mornings...

I'm entertained by the antics of squirrels!

More Hours of Daylight!

The sun rises earlier these days - and we now have more than 10 hours of daylight! Ten hours and ten minutes, in fact! And it increases day by day!

The sun now rises half an hour earlier than it did on January 1. 

And it sets at 5:22 - 50 minutes later than it did a month and a half ago. In the next four months we will slowly gain another five and a half hours of daylight!

Lots of changes ahead!

That Was a Surprise!

After ordering - and downloading - a pattern for a knit kimono wrap, I was happy to find the recommended yarn in a nearby craft store.

I purchased the required number of skeins in the colour shown in the pattern - and was pleased with the result.

Then I decided to make a second wrap in a different colour...

I happened to find the same yarn in blue in a different store, and I bought the same number of skeins.

I was well into the second kimono when I noticed that - when placed next to each other, the two skeins (in different colours) didn't look to be the same size. 

Sure enough, they contained slightly differing amounts of yarn! The blue skein had 5 ounces, the grey one 6 ounces... (140 grams compared to 160 grams). So strange! In all my years of knitting,  I've never encountered a problem like this before - the same yarn in similar - but not identical - sized skeins! Confusing!

(I may have to buy more blue!)

More Snow!

Yes, we have more snow! In fact, I stayed indoors all day yesterday to avoid it...

One of our neighbours came over to help clear the driveway. (With Terry's sore wrist, it was very appreciated!) 

I notice that, even with new snow, there isn't enough on the ground to totally bury the grass growing under the trees (in the picture above).

Nor is there enough to cover the sedum stalks in the flower beds.

Terry tells me that next week the weather will warm up a bit. That's good. But what I really want - what I'm looking forward to - is bare, walkable roads and sidewalks! I want to enjoy the outdoors again!

(I wonder how many weeks I'll have to wait...)

Who Made Those Tracks?!

In winter I often wonder what animal has passed by on fresh snow...

Who made these tracks?!

Even more disturbing are tracks that end next to a vehicle...

Did the animal crawl in?! Is he or she still inside?!

Feeling Hopeful!

I've been feeling hopeful!

Seeing the sun more, especially in the morning,  is part of the reason, I'm sure!

Regardless of whether the groundhog saw or didn't see its shadow last Monday - depending on where you live - the squirrels in my neighborhood have been very active this week...

And apparently an emu broke out of its enclosure and ran loose through Almonte a few days ago... Spring fever, perhaps?!

Those invigorating signs - and more sunshine - are enough to boost my mood!

Upgrades AREN'T Necessarily Improvements!

I really HATE it when I check my phone in the morning - and I see that the operating system on my phone has been updated!

(Oh no! What else did they change?!)

This annoying feature on the blog page appeared a few months ago. ... (A hyper link that I never use...) But if I accidentally touch it while writing, the font letters become small  and I have to erase the tiny words and re-type everything!

More recently this check mark appeared everywhere... What does it mean? Am I safe to touch it?! Does it mean OK? Or I'm done?

For me, a real improvement would be a CHOICE: Do I want this change? If not, how can I get rid of it?  Maybe I'm happy with things the way they were.