The curious cat

My parents' gift was in a large box this year, and had been sitting in their living room for a few days before Christmas. So, on Christmas eve we asked them to open it. My mom's cat, Daisy, was very curious... we figure it was probably because she could smell our cats on the box, and figured they were inside.

"Nope... no one but me!"

Our Shy Love-bug

Jinxie is one of our shyest cats, but when David or I are downstairs watching tv, he turns into the most loving cat! He has to be curled up on one of us, and often reaches out to touch your face with his paw.

Fog and Crystalline Trees

A few days before christmas, David and I decided to grab some pizza for supper rather than cook. We were surprised to find fog when we left the house... and not just light fog, but 'drive 40 kph in an 80 kph zone'. Thanks to our digital camera, I was able to get a very grainy picture of the fog, at night, with the ISO set to 1600...

When we got up in the morning, everything was covered in frost...

... but when the sun hit it, every thing glistened!

It was a beautiful drive into town!

Making Jam

I hope everyone had a great Christmas... things have been really busy around here but today I finally have a chance to catch up!

This year we decided to gift everyone with homemade jam for christmas. Having never made jam before, it was quite an adventure... and I loved every minute of it!

Of course, I completely forgot to take pictures of most of the jam making experience... but I remembered to snap some of the marmalade!

Cut up fruit goes into the pot....

After boiling for 1 hour...

Strawberry Daiquiri, Marmalade, and Strawberry Mango

By the time I remembered to take some photos of the bottled jam, I had already gifted all the raspberry. Next time ;)

New Feeder and New Visitors

We picked up a new suet feeder for our woodpecker friend, and found we have a little female downy woodpecker who has discovered it!

Of course the chickadees were fighting over the new feeder as well... =)

Snow Angels and Feathered Friends

David saw the most beautiful snow angel the other morning. I went outside and tried to get a better picture of it, but the best one was taken from through the window:

While I was outside I was being watched by several curious chickadees and a hairy woodpecker. Actually, almost every time either of us go outside, we hear him calling and he always likes to perch nearby... I guess in hopes that we have a tasty snack for him =)

We have ignition!

After we brought some of the wood in to dry, David decided to get the fire going with some junks of wood that were fairly snow-free.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck...

We received our first load of wood for the season... 4 cords of wood, and the pile is almost as big as our little Yaris!

We've been working on moving it in for the past hour or so, but it's slow going! Now to wait for the snow & ice to melt off our "dry" wood ;)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It was a beautiful day today so we decided it was time to put up the rest of our christmas lights and the snow fence.

We saw some brave chickadees too!

Barn Cleanup

All summer our barn has been home to countless spiders (eww!) so yesterday, after the nice cold below zero nights we've been having, I decided it was time to start cleaning up the barn. I started with the work room - organizing, and clearing away some spider webs.

Before & After

It's starting to look better, but there's still a lot to do... cleaning, painting, and eventually a new counter to replace the makeshift one that's there now.

Early but oh, so pretty!

I think this is the earliest I've ever put our christmas tree up, but with all the snow on the ground and lots of free time I decided no time like the present!

More Snow!

We were planning to go out to the store when we looked outside and saw this and thought better of it...

You can barely make out the stables!

We waited until after lunch, when it seemed a little more promising. Can't say the same for our neighbours to the north.

How can you stand the commute??

We have both been asked this question so many times, and the truth is it isn't that bad. Before we had the car, it would take us 45-60 minutes to get to work by bus, metro, and walking. That was our starting point when we began looking for a house.

As it turns out, our commute in to town is rather calming. We have the beautiful scenery and few cars to deal with. Traffic only starts to pick up as we near the city. On a good day, with very little traffic, it takes us 50 minutes to get into work. Add to that the normal traffic we meet on most days, and our travel time goes up to about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Leaving the city is a little different, just because we start our commute with traffic. By the time we get off island, though, it seems like it takes no time at all before we're home again. Only this time, depending on the time of year, we have beautiful sunsets to admire as we drive.

Fire in the furnace...

We recently had our wood furnace repaired and today we started it up for the first time. Not only are we getting a nice heat that is a little less intense than oil heating, but the woodsmoke from our chimney smells great!

Bird Feeders & Visitors

We've had many feathered visitors since we put up our bird feeders this past spring:

Goldfinches, hummingbirds, sparrows....

Juncos, Bluejays, Chickadees....

Mourning Doves, Northern Flickers (woodpeckers), cowbirds...

And of course, lots and lots of geese migrating!

Canadian Geese

Snow Geese

And so it begins again...

We've begun our first assault. Only time will tell if this mission will be successful...

Halloween!

Every year, for the past few years, we've thrown a huge halloween bash for family & friends. This year was no different, as we celebrated our 5th annual halloween party - the Pharaoh's Curse!

Snow!

It started to snow yesterday during our Halloween party, so this morning I decided to take some pictures before it melts...

Frisky Horses

This morning's cool air made the neighbour's horses a little frisky...

Foggy mornings

We've been getting quite a bit of fog in the mornings that, when shot in B&W, definitely set the mood for Halloween!

New Oil Tank!

One of the conditions of the sale of the house was that we would be responsible for replacing our oil tank. As it was 22 years old, it did need changing. I have been in a house where their oil tank leaked, and the smell of oil that remained for months after the cleanup was enough to prompt me to look into a double bottom tank with an alarm feature. If the oil breaches the first wall into the emergency reservoir, a whistle sounds to alert you. This way we don't have to worry about stinky oil, and have time to replace the tank.

Vegetable Garden Fiasco...

Ok. We surrender. You may have won this battle weeds...

... but we're not giving up. We have a plan. We will succeed.

Enjoy your moment... while it lasts...