Dark Days

The solstice is past, Christmas is finished, and now we wait for the light to return. The Last Elm looks striking at dusk, which still comes far too early.

January in November

Before the clouds came back, I took a brief stroll about the yard. It really does look quite beautiful with all the fresh snow weighing down the green boughs. The only problem is that this is November. Once again, we barely made it past Hallowe'en before receiving what seems fated to be, barring an extraordinary thaw, our permanent snow pack.

It has been quite a good year for the Crick, with the autumn rains flushing away all the dirt and forest debris.

I did hope to get in some hunting--and I still can, of course, but stalking partridge in the snow isn't quite as pleasant. I miss the crunch of pine cones and brush underfoot. The snow has come so fast and in such quantities that it is almost time to climb up and shovel off the sun porch roof. That, too, is a January chore--not a November one! A huge icicle has formed in the corner of the east gable. It looks as though it is poised to thrust right through the steel roof of the porch!

This last storm brought more power outages, but fortunately our lights stayed on. The new pump seems to be adequate, and it works with the injector from the old one, which is wonderful. I wasn't looking forward to digging up the well and drawing out 100 feet of double pipe!

Christmas Lights

This is not exceptionally early, but it does look exceptionally wintry. Remembrance Day is barely over, but . . . Merry Christmas everyone! We're not rushing the season; nature is.

Snowvember Once More

This is by no means a record, but ever since we decided to replace the garage roof we have been plagued with unseasonable weather. We had a major power outage (from Saturday evening to Tuesday afternoon), and then a series of storms. Last night's commute looked like this--VERY slippery conditions, and very cold this morning (-8C). And now, on the following day, 15 November, we started off at -14! And the heating under the back bathroom is disabled!

Remembrance Day (Pathetic Fallacy)

The trees seem to be gathered in a circle, solemnly bowing their heads. They are, of course, merely weighed down with snow, of which we have already had a great deal.

Hallowe'en

Only two carloads of children this year. I think even the dogs were disappointed. On the bright side, I haven't noticed any fire engines rushing about, so perhaps we have been spared the annual arson. A light rain is falling, so we are probably safe.

New Stove

Finally in! After the old one, this is pretty wild. It is self-feeding, self-igniting, entirely automatic. To the left is the old aperture, very neatly filled in by Jo. The vertical chimney promises to vent better during a power outage than the old side stack, and the draft is controlled automatically.

Fimbulvinter

On Thursday, 18 October, as I was changing the oil on the Honda, I noticed a fine dusting of tiny ice pellets. The following Saturday, I changed the tires on all three cars. The snowstorm on the night of Tuesday the 23^rd caught many people by surprise and there were traffic delays and closures. Overnight on Saturday the 27^th we had an ice storm. One of the lilacs split, a branch was torn from the white pine by the drive way, two young larches were bowed over—and the Internet connection is down. Not even my cell data connection works.

It is 10:23, and the internet is back--for now! It has been out for three hours. I'm surprised to find it has been restored so quickly; the power lines have a substantial coating of ice. The strong winds kept this frozen, even as the temperature climbed; now the winds have died down and the ice is melting again.

Red, Red Apples

The apple tree in the front garden is remarkable; the apples are blazing red every autumn. This little snap doesn't do them justice.

Early Winter

It snowed yesterday, but it seemed unthreatening. It resumed this morning. By 7:00 it was coming down in very large flakes. By 7:50, it had accumulated on the roads to such an extent that they were treacherous. Under a thick layer of slush was sheer ice, and the van lost traction repeatedly. The 45-minute commute took one hour and 35 minutes, though much of the time was lost at the bridge. There must have been an accident; certainly there were a few cars that slipped off the road, and a number that were simply parked, for no clear reason, on the shoulder. SUVs. This is early for such weather. Not a good sign!

Whopping Big Crane

This was supposed to be about trees, but home renovations keep intruding. Here, we position the new pellet stove--with a two-ton shop crane.

I think I'm going to like this new tool.

Winding Down for the Winter

The eaves and north wall project is over for the year. I'll be painting it again in the summer to try and cover up the VERY prominent knotholes, but other than that the wall is ready for the bad weather. Now it is time to turn our attention to the garage, the remaining blight on the landscape.

Eaventually

Here is a job that has hung over us for 17 years: the eaves on the NE side of the house. We demolished 16 feet of rotten wall and the eaves went with it. Then we hastily tacked up some vinyl siding . . . and left it. Later we added two windows by the admirable expedient of cutting holes in the vinyl. This is the final reckoning, which will see the construction of new eaves and the replacement of the vinyl with proper clapboard. As I started putting up the third level of scaffolding, I nudged the eaves above the cellar entrance. A large number of curious but not immediately aggressive wasps emerged to size up the situation.

I was holding a scaffolding frame at the time: I dropped it over the side and bailed, escaping without injury. When I returned, I was armed with suitable sprays (visible on the platform in the image to the left). I made the main supports out of simple triangles cut from a 10" plank. The back of the house is post and beam, and the rafters terminate at the top plate, so there is no communication between the eaves and the peak. The project went fairly smoothly once the wasps were out of the way. I wasn't really surprised by their presence--since 2000, when we demolished and rebuilt the NE wall, the top end of the eaves above the cellar entrance have been exposed. Late in the project, I discovered various irregularities in the line of the roof edge had led me astray, but I'm used to that. I don't expect straight lines!

In the end, the open conduit which allowed the wasps to make a home was closed. This was probably a route for the odd squirrel as well as the wasps. Now it's down with the old vinyl and up with new clapboard.

Past Mistakes

Finally getting around to this mess: the glass brick window between the Dog Room and the Fun Porch. The choice of glass blocks was made because of Ollie: he had demolished the window between the Dog Room and the Back Kitchen TWICE! Unfortunately, the day we built it was horribly humid. No matter how much mortar we added, the mixture became sloppy immediately. I'll have to make things right as I trim it. . . .

Lunar Eclipse

The night of the lunar eclipse! And could I find my tripod adapter? No, I could not. And then the clouds rolled in. And that's all, folks!

By the Sea

Whose woods are these? Not ours! We went for a seaside vacation at our favorite super-secret spot. A house we don't have to fix! Luxury! And trees we don't have to thin or clear!

I Celebrate Canada Day

. . . by finally removing the cast iron vent stack. I have to say, my "Great Big Book of Renos" made it sound a lot easier than it turned out to be. In the end, only this tool proved robust enough to crack an iron hub: the balljoint fork. This, together with a club hammer ("Little Persuader") was just able to shatter the joint with a LOT of effort. Nevertheless, I did it all, from attic to cellar. I was just reconnecting the bathroom fixtures as Jo returned from out West.

Why the March Hare Is Mad

Was there ever such a bleak month as March? The snow is deep, the trees are bare, all colour drained away to gray. Will winter ever end?

Kitchen Floor

Here, for posterity, is the hideous linoleum floor that has been in the kitchen since long before we arrived. This spring we finally covered it up with hard maple (obtained for a mere song, though not of the finest grade). That odd green object in the corner is the case for the floor stapler, seen end on.

Valentine's Day

I think this is a "mackerel sky," though a darker and more lurid version than the usual kind. Valentine's Day colours?