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?

The Frost Performs Its Secret Ministry

The old windows create some lovely patterns when the frost is setting in. We have only a few left now--the two in the kitchen, the small ones in the living room bay window, and two in the upstairs hall. All the others give a modern view of the world: clear, objective, transparent. This one offers a different view:

Cold Arrives

Last night was the coldest so far this winter: -14.5C. This weekend we received our first snow--and out came the shovels and the snowblower. Pat had mixed so much gravel in the snow that the blower jammed twice. Now it makes a ticking noise, as though an impeller has bent and is hitting the housing. Drat!

Just in Time for Winter

We finally insulated the concrete, clad it with flashing metal, and backfilled using material from the old gravel pile next to the woodshed. We finished up early in November; here it is at the end of the month:

Already the pigeons have left their mark (particularly on the left side). They will have to go. . . .

Dry and Wet

The Crick has been dry for much of the summer. Now, after a week of rain (Sunday, 29 Oct.), it is rushing along furiously. Panama had dried up, then managed a faint trickle in early October; this Saturday it was restored to its normal pretty flow.