Today was our Costco shopping day. This was my splurge for the month. :-)
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Still on the ice!
After dropping my daughter off at work this morning, I decided to head over to the beach and see how the lake was looking.
I am absolutely amazed that there are still ice fishing sheds out there!
I can’t believe the ice is still strong enough to drive on! Most of the shacks are gone, and it looks like the last few are being readied to haul away.
What you see in the in the centre and to the right of the photo is water from the storm drain, partially covering the ice road. Yesterday, we had a quick dip into colder temperatures, so things froze up again, but we’re supposed to stay above freezing during the day for a while. As I write this, we’re still at -11C, with a “RealFeel” of -7C. We’re supposed to have a high of -1C, which means all that ice and snow is going to start softening again.
In this photo, looking towards where the ice driving track was, you can see a sign on the left that has already started to fall over.
Even the beach shows signs of how much more difficult it has been for vehicles to drive onto the lake; the top inch or two is thawed and soft, but it’s still frozen underneath, and you can see where several vehicles had to spin their way out of it.
With the temperatures we’re expected to have in the long range forecast, I expect this entry onto the ice to be soon closed to traffic completely. It won’t be long before the beach grooming machines are brought out, to clean up whatever mess has been left behind as the snow melts away.
At home, I’ve already started to do a bit of that clean up.
The outside cats’ food and water bowls are now well away from the house. The last couple of nights have been cold enough for the water to freeze solid by morning, but there is enough access to water for them that it’s not a problem, as it was before.
On the plus side, it means we can walk to and from the garage on areas of ice, instead of slogging through puddles. ;-)
Where the food bowls were, next to the sun room, has melted way into quite a mess. Frozen cat kibble and various bones and whatnot are now exposed. By this morning, the concrete around the house has, for the most part, melted clear. I was able to sweep things, and will eventually head out with garbage bags to pick up the big stuff that won’t break down into the grass easily.
I’m looking forward to being able to go all around the yard, and pick up all the twigs and branches that fell throughout the winter.
This is the ugly, messy time of year! :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Still got no rubbers
With all the snow melt and puddles forming, I quickly got tired of wet feet and soaked shoes.
So last night, I bit the bullet and braved an area of the house I tend to avoid.
The new part basement.
I remembered seeing a whole bunch of rubber boots down there, and was desperate enough to consider using a pair.
Note I said “consider”…
For those unfamiliar with the Canadianism, rubbers are footwear. I believe in other places, they are called rain boots or Wellingtons.
Rubbers are not to be confused with that other rubber Canadianism, meaning a type of eraser. Also, not to be confused with yet another type of rubber, aka a condom. There are quite a few different kinds of rubbers, now that I think about it. :-D
Anyhow. I’m talking boots.
These boots.
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Snow trap
The warmer temperatures have created some interesting conditions, and it is a direct consequence of our lack of a snow blower during parts of the winter.
Snow traps. That trap tires. :-D
I got stuck a couple of times yesterday, in our own driveway. Here is why.
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The Daily Grind
Aside from critter pictures, I haven’t been posting much about how things are going. Mostly because, it’s all pretty mundane right now. It’s been so awesome to have the warmer temperatures, and I’m so looking forward to being able to continue working on the yard!
The outside cats are appreciating the warmer temperatures, too.
Bob was just rolling all over the step, after greeting me as I finished up my rounds. :-D
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Morning cats (videos)
The outside cats have been quite entertaining, the last couple of days.
Before heading out to do my rounds yesterday morning, I saw Beep Beep going up one of the trees outside my window – soon followed by Slick. I figured they were heading for the roof again.
When I got to the feeding station, I found Beep Beep, out on a limb. :-D
I think this was her way to get away from the boys!
Now I know why I’m finding small branches where the path I made around the house turns. She’s directly above that spot! :-)
Then, this morning, I went to the feeding station and found the platform feeder occupied.
Ah, Rolando Moon. So violent in her friendliness!
Not all in the morning rounds is fun stuff, though.
Normally, when I do my rounds, Butterscotch comes to join me. The last couple of days, I never saw her at all; not even curled up in the sun room. The last time I’d seen her was when I took her picture, in this post. When I didn’t see her at all for so long, I feared the worst.
This morning, while I was putting food and water out in the sun room, suddenly she was there! She is still not looking good. One eye had been leaking, and it was stuck shut. She seemed to be cough-sneezing a lot, too. But she was eating and drinking, and moving around more sprightly than the last time I saw her, so that’s encouraging. I do hope the warming weather we’re supposed to have is a help to her. According to the long term forecast, we’re supposed to be just below freezing in about a week, then actually go above freezing!
We’ll see if that actually happens.
The Re-Farmer
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We got a “baby”
And it’s so tiny and cute.
Just look at that little thing! I absolutely HAD to put it next to the big one before using it, to get a picture.
It’s a good thing I called ahead to see if any were in stock, and have it set aside, because there were only two left, and by the time we got to the store, in a small city about 45 minutes drive away, we got the only one left. I’d hoped to find one at a local (ish) hardware store but, not only were they out of stock, so was every other store the guy looked up for me! Thankfully, I was able to find one in another franchise, even if it meant an unplanned, longer drive.
But more on that later…
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Winter says hello!
So we went from a deep freeze to above freezing, and now the snow is back. We started getting weather alerts yesterday for snowfall. Locally, the snow started in the late afternoon, but to the south and east of us, I’m hearing there was a lot more. We have a bright, sunny day right now, but we’re still getting weather alerts, this time for blowing snow. Interestingly, it’s supposed to start snowing about mid-afternoon – when we’re also supposed to be reaching temperatures of 0C!
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Had a snow-down – and I won!
Happy 6th day of Christmas!
Things have not gone as planned, thanks to some rather unfortunate weather. We were supposed to go into the city for a family gathering yesterday. We drove maybe 5 minutes on the highway, before turning around and coming home. Blowing snow, icy roads, poor visibility… and knowing it would be worse when we were driving home in the dark. Too risky. Maybe if we had a 4 wheel drive and winter tires, but not with our van.
We didn’t have a lot of snow, but it did get to the point that we needed to clear the driveway. Which meant time to break out the snow blower for the first time! :-D
Except, of course, it wouldn’t start…
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Destructive deer!
While walking about the yard this morning, there are areas that I can see where the deer have gone.
Along the edge of the spruce grove, there are now several areas like this.
This patch is new. It wasn’t there yesterday. At the end of the row of spruces, near the feeding station, there is a patch they’ve been pawing at for a while, now, and it’s getting quite big.
I think, in the process of clearing out that area and taking out the bottom branches of the spruces, I also gave them better access to something in the moss that they like. I can’t see what it might be, though.
While continuing around the yard and by the garage, I noticed deer tracks coming from the barn towards the yard, so I followed them.
Then I noticed something odd about one of the wire holders for the renter’s electric fence at the gate. It looked bent.
That’s new.
Heading over, I started to find wire.
Lots of it.
So I started gathering it up.
Here is most of it, along with the holder that is bent the most.
The other one turned out to be bent, too. The wire is still running through it. Considering how much wire got dragged into our side of the fence, I think it may well have broken loose right at the solar battery area. Which is almost at the other end of the fence.
In case there was any doubt as to what rapscallions did the damage…
There were plenty of tracks, showing exactly where they came through!
The fence wire would not be easily visible, and with the cows moved out for the winter, the electric fence probably doesn’t even have electricity running through it right now. The deer probably didn’t see it to jump over it, and would not have felt any shock to cause them to back away when they touched it.
We like the deer coming around enough to put up with any damage they do; there isn’t a lot. But this is a bit more than just digging up the yard. The wire should be fine and just need to be re-attached. I believe those wire holders are new, from the last time the cows broke through. I know the renter likes the deer, too, and this sort of thing is just what we have to live with when living around here. I just called to let him know about the damage. With no cows here, there’s no hurry to fix it.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 