Snowy Acres

 We had 14 cm snow, and it is snowing again today, Sunday. Everything needed to be cleaned off! 

I did the sidewalk in between an Olympic event. It was with great excitement that I spotted tracks on the step.

I finished shoveling and went back in to check the Crumbly Acres camera.

I followed them and they came from around the house. Then disappeared on the front deck. That was suspicious. 

Turns out Cinnamon was outside, and Joe let him in just as he was going to bed at 10 pm. He likes to hunt mice in the garage and I must have forgotten I'd let him out.  

After another Olympic event, I went out to do the driveway. My precious snowblower!!!!

The propane truck came before I'd gotten this done. He was stuck on our hill, here, and threw some sand down. It really helped!

In the afternoon I did the back deck: 

I snuggled down and Cinnamon sat on my lap. Nutmeg is not a lap cat! She sleeps in her own bed on the chair.

 

Our Ottawa grandies and JL, my SIL, went to the hills!

Aster and Jordan shared with Papa, I am sure!

iPad stand, skiing, curling

My Valentine had a special delivery for 💝. I ordered the loveliest iPad stand for him. He had to put a mouse pad under it, as it slid a bit. Problem solved. I adjusted his table for him. All is good! It's the greatest table for him. Caitlin found it online. 

Beside him is the printed schedule for the Olympics, and his other paperwork. It's serious business! 

This is a better photo, from the website: Moonstone Woodworks. I ordered myself an iPhone stand last year (below, right). It was to support a Canadian author (Book Review: Jean Paetkau) and her husband. Jean's been managing cancer and her husband, Jason, creates these at Moonstone Woodworks. The pieces separate, and are cleverly shipped flat from B.C.

There were power outages in the storm that passed by. We were unscathed.  We escaped that storm, it dissipated and moved on by. It's just as well. Still no snowblower back from the shop.

There were power outages. 

⛷There is great excitement out west where our grandies are doing ski races three weekends in a row. I used to downhill ski, and then in my 20s took up cross-country skiing. Great exercise, excellent training and lessons. I looked it up, as the girls are doing both classic and skate skiing. 

Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward (classic style) or side-to-side in a skating motion (skate skiing), aided by arms pushing on ski poles against the snow.

Cluny does ski relays. They have a team name, and do costumes. Much fun. Bryony made a snowperson.

We were watching skiing in Italy. This was amazing. 

Our next Olympic watch is for women's curling and Rachel Homan. The online viewing at Olympics.com is amazing! You can follow the game from start to finish. Joe follows curling quite closely. 

This is perfect, as we've a storm on the way! Happily, our snowblower has been fixed up, parts replaced, spark plugs cleaned, and returned!

Crumbly Acres: embrace winter

They are delightful to watch. They surround the house in the morning.

I noticed they were after my rhododendrons! 

My mistake was leaving the pumpkins in the middle of the garden. 

 

They were eyeing the bird feeder.

Their fur coats are amazing!`

The poor rhodos... I think they ate the one bud, and most of the leaves. I am not confident about spring blooms!  

 

I wrapped them up for protection. December was a bit of a shock, as well as November. I wasn't ready!

🥶 Monday morning, -17 ℃. and I drove the garbage the 100m to the highway pickup. Bbbbrrrrrr!

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It is good to be able to embrace winter. Our Ottawa kids went tobogganing, after a ski afternoon last week. Jordan is back at university. Aster back to gr. 10 and exams this month! 

Our Vancouver family are embracing winter after their big move to a new house and a run in their panto theatre.

Cluny:

Bryony racing:

Cluny watching Bryony race!

Meanwhile, I did the driveway once. Joe did the sidewalk. Twice. it's good he can do it. He has had a rotator cuff injury since March, 2020. 

I looked like Frosty snowman when I was done. 

It's not so bad doing it in the sunshine, after the snowfall. That did not happen Monday.

Happy New Year!

We begin the New Year with a temperature of -16 ℃, an hour later it was -17! Let us see what the new year will bring. I hope it settles down for all of us. Too many have had issues that impact their lives. Even watching the news of suffering is difficult. There is so little we can do. It is important to have faith and hope. One has to look after oneself, as well. Put that oxygen mask on first.

I take solace from nature. I'd like to do forest bathing, shinrin-yoku, but it is awful walking on the crusted snow. Especially after our ice storm. [Forest bathing: what it is and where to do it] 

We had 15 deer two days ago. Yesterday there were 19! I enjoy watching them.

UPDATES: Now, I think it was a red-bellied woodpecker! Merlin heard them in summer. Both Caitlin and I spotted it when they were here. I do not have a single photo that I can find in my archives!!

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We had chats with our Vancouver kids on both Christmas Day, and the 26th, my birthday. They have just moved into a new house. Bernie the cat is outside on the railing (you can see him if you click on it). They have promised more photos once they are settled in. Buying the house was a bit of a surprise! It is a new, energy efficient home, just finished enough to move in to. There is some work left to be done. It was a short possession timeline. 

The grandkids told me by phone that Bernie explored the entire house in the first few minutes of arriving!

 

They have been so busy and stressed with all this, but they are clever, capable people.   

🥌 At the same time, Bryony and Cluny were in a panto in Vancouver.  The highlight, the girls told us, was playing curling stones, in which they twirl off the stage. 

They are at the same schools, that is good. They moved 10 minutes away from their old home, but the upheaval is quite something. We wished them the best. Things will settle down for them, and they will get back into their winter cross country skiing. 

⛷Speaking of skiing, Jordan and JL went downhill skiing, Aster went snowboarding at Calabogie. Too soon Jordan will be back at his residence at Queens. It was a great two weeks. 

I found the energy to wash floors, cleaned the fish tank, vacuumed, and made meatloaf for dinner. The next day I self-cleaned the oven. It's a lot easier than in the old days! 

I scraped the ice off of the sidewalk. Last night it snowed again! Back to square one...

We've been what my late mother called disdecorating. Slowly we've been putting seasonal things away. 

We've been enjoying the entertainment indoors. The table cleared, I put the cat toy box on the coffee table. Cinnamon gave it a good smell, and whacked them on the floor. Typical cat!