The view from the sun room on a sunny frosty morning.
Within a few minutes, the frost had melted away under the warm beams of the sun and the windows were clear.
When I’m busy working, my eyes are always focused on the next thing I have to do. I’m glad I took a moment to look up and notice the pretty scene right in front of me.
Did you do any sight-seeing this weekend?
Our January thaw from two weeks ago gave way to a deep freeze last week. The result was a thick covering of ice on the pond, and the result of that was skating!
We’ve been keeping an eye on the ice all winter, and it was finally thick enough for skating. We headed out with shovels to clear the snow from our own private rink.
Shoveling the ice made us realize how big the pond really is. Matt finally resorted to just clearing paths around and across the ice. Fortunately, the snow was thin enough that we could skate right through it.
Some coyotes had tested out the ice early in the morning.
Here’s Matt’s version of an action shot:
Matt’s skates hurt his feet, so we reenacted Rocky’s and Adrian’s first date, making a circuit of the ice arm in arm, Matt in his boots and me in my skates. By Sunday, though, he decided to give his skates a try, using the “learn-to-skate” technique of a chair for extra support.
If I’m being honest, the chair got more use as an actual chair, as the skates were still pretty uncomfortable.
Another warming trend is forecast for this week, and it may be awhile before we are able to skate again, so Matt’s feet have plenty of time to recover. Sore tootsies aside, we each still enjoyed checking off another new experience at the farm.
Did you have a new experience this weekend? Have you been out skating yet? Any tips for finding comfortable skates? Did you push a chair when you were learning to skate? For those non skaters out there, what animal tracks are you seeing at your place? For those that prefer indoor sports, who else is a Rocky fan?
At the top of Matt’s list of animals he most wants to see at the farm is wild turkeys. Well, we still haven’t seen any actual birds on our property, but over the Christmas holidays we found definitive proof that turkeys come to visit.
(The larger tracks walking diagonally in from the left side of the picture are Matt-tracks).
In the deep snow, I have to look pretty closely to identify the tracks as turkey. They walk one foot in front of the other, and, if they plant their foot properly, I’m sometimes able to pick out their distinctive three-toed print.
According to the tracks, 11 birds came through our farm. In some spots, you can see where their wings dragged as they were walking along.
While lefty has to deal with droopy wing syndrome, the guy to her right obviously has his own problems. My diagnosis is likely too much Christmas cheer.
Back in the marsh, where the ice was covered with only a thin dusting of snow, the tracks were unmistakably avian.
I wish I had thought to put something beside the tracks to show their scale. These are some big birds.
Since the thaw last weekend, we no longer have snow to help us with tracking. Matt’s fingers are crossed that the turkeys weren’t just passing through and instead are ready to become permanent residents. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for signs.
A thick fog on Friday night made for a hazardous drive home, and heralded the arrival of warm weather. Saturday afternoon found us outside without jackets. Saturday evening as we walked down the driveway in the dark we could hear water flowing in the creek.
Where the creek enters the pond, the ice has nearly disappeared.
In the rest of the pond, the thin layer of ice that had formed on the surface has receded.
We’ll have to put off skating for another while yet.
As sad as it may seem, I put “hike” on my holiday to-do list.
Yes, I have to actually make plans to relax.
However, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be.
Beginning on Christmas Eve, Matt and I ended up taking near daily walks across the fields and through the forest.
I snapped this shot back in the woods late one afternoon.
This is exactly why I wanted a large property.
I hope that you have a relaxing weekend.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season. I will be back in the new year with more adventures in renovating and country living.
Thank you for reading. Merry Christmas.
Nearly three months ago I published the list of fall chores that we needed to complete to be ready for winter. Well, winter officially arrives today. Are we ready?
From the light above the window and the retaining wall half buried in the garden, you can see that this used to be a door, so we’re pretty sure this is the source of the water we see once in awhile in the laundry room.
This beauty is still for sale. Send offers to homeon129acres@hotmail.com.
Wiley got bling, and my poor little car lost hers. 😦
Something else I should have put on the original list was learn how to count. I thought I had 14 tasks when I actually had only 13. Oops.
I also had two bonus “nice-to-dos,” one of which got some attention.
Our other twisted willow before and after its haircut
Anyways, out of the original 13 and the two bonus, we can officially cross off 7 8… or 8 9 if you count the jobs that are half done. Not a great completion rate, I guess. But hey, the basement’s looking really good, and it will be a nice and cozy hang-out space this winter!
In addition, we did do a few extra tasks specifically for winter.
A few rolls of snow fence were buried in the long grass of the field behind the barn, and Wiley helped us dig them out.
I met our local councilor a few weeks ago, and he told me that I’m not a true rural resident until I’ve made it through a winter. I like winter, so I’m actually looking forward to a snowy season of hiking and skating and staying cozy in the house. My fingers are crossed that we’re prepared enough to be able to enjoy it without too much hardship.
Remember how I said Wiley likes to accessorize? Well, our little tractor is in heaven with a brand new bauble that arrived last week. And it’s a big one.
Subtle is not in Wiley’s vocabulary.
In case anyone doesn’t know what they’re looking at here, this is our new snowblower.
The sales rep from our tractor dealership goes for the first test drive (normally we will not be blowing 2 inches of snow)
Over the weekend, we got Wiley all set for winter, disconnecting the mower and hooking up the blower.
The mower deck has been scraped and scrubbed and tucked away for the season.
We even broke out our new grease gun and lubed up all of the fittings. Wiley’s affection for accessories became even clearer when he grabbed onto the grease gun and wouldn’t let go. After wiggling and jiggling and yanking Matt and I were starting to envision plowing snow with the gun dangling from the side of the tractor. However, through a combination of vice grips and pliers Matt was able to detach the gun from the fitting.
Sorry, Wiley, but sometimes less is more.
We had a new arrival at the farm this weekend: our first snow.
Flurries started on Friday night, and by Saturday morning we had a light dusting over everything.
Our new landscape drew me out of the house first thing, just adding snow boots to my pyjamas
At the front of the house, I had an open view over the fields to the farm across the road.
Even the burrs look photogenic when they’re wearing a cap of snowflakes.
Behind the barn, the lane to the back field and the woods also look particularly photogenic under a blue sky, bright sun and fresh snow.
At the bottom of the meadow, the creek was flowing into the pond amongst the snow-covered boulders.
Back up at the house, our cozy abode under its first dusting of snow.
Temperatures dropped over the past few days, so the snow stayed over the weekend. I’m hoping to have a true Canadian winter this year after a snowless season last year, so I’m happy to see the early snowfall.
What would be your reaction if you woke up to snow? Would you be outside in pyjamas and boots too? For some of my more southern readers, I expect a snowy morning would be a bit unexpected. Anyone from more northern climes, have you had your first snowfall yet? What type of weather are you hoping for this winter?
Nothing is ever simple with us, and winterizing the water lines was no exception.
Tools used included a drywall saw, an air compressor and a mop.
The drywall saw was required to access the one shut off, which was in the ceiling in the ping pong area of the basement. We knew it was there and had marked its location when we were installing the drywall. (The other cut-out in the ceiling is a heat register).
We hung buckets by their handles from the taps to catch the water as we drained the lines. However, we quickly ran out of buckets, so Matt used what was available: one of our empty paint cans.
Paint cans dangling from the ceiling is not the decor we’re going for in the basement. Fortunately, this line drained quickly, and Matt was able to install the access panel that we bought to cover the hole.
The water line to the driveshed needed a little help to drain, hence the air compressor. The low point of the line is in the utility room in the basement, so my Dad connected the air compressor to the tap at the driveshed and let ‘er blow.
While the utility room is the low point, there’s obviously another area somewhere in the line where the water pools, because there was much more water in the line than I expected. The force of the air was a little too much for the bucket we’d hung on that tap, and we ended up with water sprayed all over the utility room.
It was nothing a mop couldn’t fix, but since the water flowed out into the rest of the basement we were very relieved that our new carpet isn’t installed yet.
Once the line was clear, we poured some antifreeze down the pipe just for extra protection.
Our third exterior tap and the old line to the barn were winterized without issue. The old pump and pressure tank in the barn are probably not fully drained, but, given their deteriorated state, I’m not concerned about any further damage. The line itself is clear and is also below the frost line, so when we’re ready to have running water in the barn we should be able to put it into service.
Winterizing the waterlines was at the top of the list of our fall chores, and it feels good to cross off another to-do.
Have you winterized your waterlines? Or is your climate gentle enough to not freeze your exterior hoses? Anyone else dealt with basement floods recently? Do you have any jobs that ended up being more complicated than you expected?
