March Bucket List.

We have been so fortunate to have a really love "early Spring" though my daughter keeps reminding us that our "3rd Winter" should come along anytime soon! One can only hope. After a week of bitter cold, this past week was filled with beautiful blue skies, warm air and melting snow. It's slushy and I have no idea what color our car is, but the feeling that just around the corner, we'll soon be seeing buds on trees and flowers in our garden makes me so happy. It feels lighter. I wore a sweater to the centre yesterday, instead of a big Winter coat and boots, with hat and scarf, and layers of mitts. It was nice to put on a cotton pair of socks, instead of my wool ones. And to not have to warm up our wheat bag to warm our bed at night. If "3rd Winter" comes along, this little reprieve has been so lovely for my heart and my spirit. 

Love the "March Bucket List" as my visual for today. It has me excited for this month. The thought of starting some seeds inside, to wear lighter clothes and to decorate for St. Patrick's Day makes me smile! As a 4th generation Irish lassie (maybe 3rd, not sure how it works), this is one of my favorite celebrations. A whimsical day that truly signifies Spring for me. I've put all of Christmas away now, and have started to get out the green for the day. And then a bit of Spring is happening too. Changed out the front door wreath and hung up the wind chimes on the back deck. We couldn't put "Bruce the Moose" away as he's actually buried under some ice but once that melts, we'll hang him to dry and then tuck him away until next Winter. I'm starting think about our Spring projects for outside and what we'd like to accomplish this year. 

Hope you are starting to get excited about Spring!

💗 Chy 💗

Confused Moose.

Bruce the Moose is having a bit of a confused moment

about how he is supposed to stand tall with his wreath

around his neck, not his nose. Poor guy. It's been cold

while we're away and our girls sent this photo along.

💗 Chy 💗

Hello November.

Our landscape is cold now and snow has come

and gone but will soon arrive with a force and

stay until Spring. It's such a pretty view, even

though I don't like the cold. Hello November!

~ Chy

Blogtober: Day 17.

A good book and a warm cup of tea.

The best way to end a lovely, cold day!

~ Chy

Winter .... Again!

We woke up to more snow again over the last 2 days.

It is so fluffy, perfect ski snow. Lots of accidents

happened in the big City but we didn't have to go

out so we avoided the risk. Today, we did get up

really super early to head in to town for groceries.

Left the cottage at 8 am, and we were back home by

10:40 am. In that time, we did our big grocery shop, 

stopped at the dollar store for ribbon, another food

store for my favorite chocolate milk, a big box store

to buy a carpet cleaner and then we headed over to

the park fo the annual Winter Festival. All the time,

the snow kept falling. It was quite magical but I had

a board meeting at 11 am, so home we zipped after

chatting with friends and community members. We

loved getting our errands down so quickly. Every

store we were in had no customers. Best time to shop!

How was your day today? Any snow or is it all gone?

~ Chy

The Storm.

We've been getting ready for a big storm that was predicated to hit our region over night on Sunday night and continue in to Monday. However, I was heading in to town yesterday afternoon to do a few errands, visit my mom and then go to an event meeting at 2 pm. As I started down our country road, the snow started to fall. The ground was bare and earlier, there had been some sun. By the time I finished my errands and visited my mom, the snow was a bit thicker. I headed to the meeting but did decide if it got too bad, I would head home early. As the snow continued, we all did decide to head home while it was still light and manageable. The photos above show the progression in about a 4 minute time span. Please note, I was on our lane and pulled over to take these shots, with no traffic around me at all. The snow got thicker, the fog set in and visibility was so poor that I'm glad we ended early. The last photo was of the cottage, which is not visible with the fog and snow fall. So crazy how quickly this came on. We were at +10 or 12 C on Friday (different weather reports have different recorded temps for the day) and basically no snow on the ground, to - 30 C today with the winchill and over 24 cm's of snow falling in 24 hours. Crazy! But happy for snow. 

Last Summer was the first time we've ever been on alert for a fire close to us. The dry weather we've had all Winter has been a big concern, so this new and huge snow storm is quite welcome in our area. I truly hope it helps to cut down the risk of fires this year. We've worked so hard, like everyone around us, to live in a beautiful area, in a sweet cottage and to lose all of this to a fire would be devastating. For now, while it's freezing outside, we're cozy and warm inside the cottage, with lots of tea, movies and books to watch, and my Lego to build. A quiet work week helped as well.

Where every you are and whatever weather

you're experiencing, wishing you well today!

~ Chy

Finally .... Winter!

"Snow Angel" by Maja Lindberg

Well, we finally have Winter! The snow has fallen, not a lot but at least the ground is now covered in white. And the cold has arrived. Not just colder than we've had after a very balmy Fall, but a bitter Polar experience. Tonight, it's going down to - 40's Celsius, which with the windchild, will be in the - 50's. I know many of my readers are in the U.S. so to give you some clarity of just how cold it is, that equates to around - 58 Farenheit. We closed our preschool today because the school busses for big kids were cancelled, though schools were open. Our dgs stayed home and we made some lovely chocolate chip cookies and he got to play games. Our week has been quiet with the cold but on Wednesday, we ventured in to town to pickup a week's worth of groceries before the true cold set in. I'm so glad we did this as the roads were very icy the last few days but thankfully, we were cozy and warm at home. It will start to warm up on Monday, with a high of - 10 Celsius on Tuesday. I can't wait for the warmth to return so we can get out of the cottage for a bit and fill our cupboards and fridge again. 

With the cold, we needed something to look forward to. We invited our dear neighbors over for dinner on Sunday and I'm so excited! Menu is planned, baking started today, tomorrow is more prep, a tidy of the cottage (okay, so it will be a power clean) and then I'll set the table with pretty dishes, sparkly glassware and shiny silver. We've left out tree up and we'll have a gift for each of them, as well as a couple of late birthday gifts for their little ones (late due to my November surgery). Looking forward to Sunday.

There is a lot of work that goes in to keeping the cottage warm and safe when the weather is this bad. We have to make sure the heat is just right so pipes don't freeze. We put a furnace in the garage and so that goes up a bit so the car, the motorcycle, the extra fridge and the freezer, as well as all of dh's tools are okay as well. It's watching the outside vents to make sure they don't get crusted over with ice. And during all this, trying to ensure we don't put too much stress on the community power grid with too many lights on. We've only had to shovel once because we've only had one snowfall so far. But that is often on the list too. Thankful we don't have to go out to shovel constantly, as currently with the bitter cold, skin will freeze in 2 minutes and shovelling takes way longer than that! 

I hope wherever you are, the air is warm and

the snow has stayed away or is very light!

~ Chy

In Time.

The snow we don't have! This was from

last year and I almost miss the white. I

do enjoy that we have such warm weather

right now. But know in time we will get it!

~ Chy

Frosty Decor.

Before we entered in the current warm

snap, it's was super cold for a couple

of days. But no snow, just cold air. I

was thankful for that but love the warm!

~ Chy

Winter Memories.

The sweetest print ~ my favorite from Susan

Wheeler. It reminds me of many cold Winter

evenings when we would light a big fire and

the kids would join us to read or play in the

warm, cozy family room. It didn't matter how

bad it was outside, we were safe and warm

together in our home. Such good memories, 

even when the weather was not great at all!

Do you have sweet Winter memories of cold days?

~ Chy

Wish us Luck!

The last few years, we had a rink right

off our back deck. The rink is set to go

but in a different spot this year. And I

am not sure it will happen. We came

home from Disney to snow and since

then, it's been too cold to get the final

pieces in place. We'll see what happens

over the next few weeks. Wish us luck!

~ Chy

Snow Hills.

Early morning when it was -42 C.

At least the sun was brightly shining!

I love how the pergola is filled with

snow and it looks like tiny little hills.

How cold is it where you live?

~ Chy

Sunny Range.

Despite the cold, we still have had a

few sunny days. I managed to catch

the rays falling on the AGA the other

day. Bright and warm on a bitter day.

~ Chy

Bitter Cold.

The bitter cold that created a very

extreme weather warning for our

province looks like it will continue

all week long. I'm so thankful that

we are off for the holidays anyway.

But sad it's made it hard to do any

fun activities outside. Last year,

 our Winter was mild and we spent

a lot of time on our rink and going

for long walks around the range

roads. This year is different and I

am not looking forward to it now.

How is Winter in your area?

Are you dealing with bitter cold?

~ Chy

Out My Window.

Out my window, beyond the lacy frame,

the landscape is white and frosty, quiet

and still. Inside my window, the air is so

warm and the noise energetic. December.

~ Chy

Frosty Sunshine.

When it's still - 82 C outside, but the

sun shines in through the windows ....

~ Chy

Almost Done.

Our cold snap, this Polar Vortex, has

been keeping us inside for more than

a week now. By next Tuesday, we will

be engulfed with a bit of a warming

trend ~ a very balmy ~ 8 C. I do truly

can't wait to feel outside again. And

to see our gardening sprout to life. I

hope this cold is the last of Winter!!

~ Chy

Plant Sanctuary.

With the Polar Vortex still in effect, I moved many (but not all) of our plants away from windows and doors so they don't get chilled. They seem pretty happy there so far. Some are even a darker green then usual. It's a low light area for the first part of the  morning and then the sun hits and it's pretty sunny for the rest of the afternoon. I may keep them here for the rest of the Winter, though I do love plants scattered through the house. "Eric" our big fig is still in his spot in the kitchen nook. Figs don't like to be moved I'm told, so hoping he'll be fine to stay there for now. 

The sun is out again and today it's a balmy -30 C before the windchills, which puts it at - 40 something. We're doing just fine, the cottage is cozy and warm, and as long as the sun shines, it doesn't seem too bad. The one saving grace is we have not had any snow, so that is not a big concern. We are working away with our jobs from home and take breaks through the day to ensure there is no ice build up on any of our exhausts. Thankfully, they are all on the south side of the cottage, so I think the sun is helping to keep them fairly clear. Busses are cancelled as they are too dangerous to be on the road when it's this cold. Dgs had Monday off but we have been driving him to school each day since. Pantry, fridge and freezer are full and there is no reason to go anywhere except school drop off. I hope to drive in tomorrow with dh as the Valentine's gift I ordered for him is ready for pick up. It is going to start warming up over the weekend and by next week, we could be looking at a very lovely - 4 C. Almost bikini weather! Looking forward to it.

Today I have counselling sessions, then a bit of a break before a Board Meeting tonight. I may work on my puzzle or finish the baseboards in the mini bakery. Can't decide but will know once I get there which one I'll feel like doing. Tomorrow is our day off from work, though I still check in and answer emails and calls for a bit so things don't get backlogged. Then our drive in to town, back in time for lunch, our radio show and then I think that's all I'm going to plan. An afternoon and evening off would be lovely before my work day on Saturday. This weekend is a long weekend called "Family Day" on Monday. Because I work on Saturdays, technically I would normally take Tuesday off. But we have rounds that morning so I'll figure out where to take this extra day down the road.

Hope your day is warm and bright! Stay warm. Be safe.

X Chy

Inside We Stay!

With the bitter cold outside, we will be

inside, with the fireplace on and a big

pot of our favorite tea. The sky is blue

and the sun is shining. But inside we stay!

~ Chy

Snow Again ....

Just when we thought Spring had arrived,

we woke up to a while landscape again.

And it's not just the snow that showed up.

The air is also freezing cold today. Ugh. I

don't want to go out. Thankful for a warm

garage, which means a warm car. Brrrrrr!

~ Chy