Voila

While Art was watching his submarine shows all day Sunday, I finished the sweater I made him for Christmas.I think he likes it. He's asked for another one.....in green.

Depending on your browser....

.....you may be seeing my blog in a different way than I have laid it out. I found this out by accident. Art uses Mozilla Firefox and I use Internet Explorer. While he was viewing my blog he found the photos in my "icefield" post all mosaic-ed together. That's not how I created them.

Come to think of it, this might explain why my Hotmail formatting is different from one browser to the next, too.

All subs....all day

Yesterday was "Submarine Blitz" on the History Channel. 13 straight hours of everything submarine. When I told Art about it a couple of weeks ago, he booked the day off. He also placed his order with the kitchen (me). The menu consisted of beans on hardtack and plenty of bug juice. Translation: Boston baked beans, which I make from scratch (pretty good if I do say so myself) on really hard cracker type bread (which is kinda like eating plywood in my opinion....but hey, to each their own) and gallons of "drink" (in this case....lemonade). Oh ya, and lots of snacks for in-between, like potatoe chips and garlic sausage, which were happily shared amongst the crew.So yesterday we were incommunicado. The phone was unplugged and the drapes were drawn. Which was probably for the best....it got a little stinky after awhile.

Stairway to Heaven (?)

I just couldn't resist taking this picture. It is in the middle of our neighbour's yard.

I have 2 questions ...... what is holding it up? ... and .... where is it going?

The Endako Ice Fields

Anything that looks "wet" is a blanket of 2 inch thick ice.Some before (a week ago) and afters (now).










Me walking (very carefully). We borrowed Tom's truck because ours is broken and besides....he has studded tires!But not all the ice is nasty. Here's some in a much prettier form. This looks like a paisley design on the side of the truck.And these look like little bug wings....how I'd love one of those lenses that takes super close-ups. My camera just doesn't do this justice.This shows the beauty and destructiveness of winter. It's part of the old original homesteader's cabin.

Slip Slidin' Away

It has suddenly gotten very warm here. Snow is melting like mad and the driveway is back down to glare ice (and even some dirt in spots). Art and Xena are walking over to work on the truck (it's broken right now). Xena's funny. When she starts to slide she just aims for a snow bank. Even though Art is wearing crampons he still does a little slip. Believe me, without those on your feet there is NO walking out there.

Later, I tried to get more video of Xena running and sliding, but she clued in pretty quickly. She jumped into the cab of the truck and we couldn't get her out...even with the really "good" treats.

Microwave gone

The repair guy took it away to his shop. Suddenly there seems to be so much more room in the kitchen. Frankly, I'm surprised those brackets held that sucker up there.

Chilly Chickie

I had a heck of a fright when I got up this morning .... no Chickie!! I should've know something was wrong when Blackie wandered the house all night, bellering his head off. After searching all through the house I finally heard her crying outside. She was hiding in the woodpile, eyes as big as saucers and VERY happy to see me. She had been out there all night! I quickly checked for chomp marks from nasty beasts, but her only injury was a pulled out toenail. My poor little kitten.

Tattle Tale

Hello?...911?...yes, I'd like to report a dog that's bugging me.Actually, my Mom got some video of me givin' it back, but now she can't figure out how to get it off the camera.

Artsy Fartsy

It's been such a beautiful couple of days, I felt like getting outside and taking some pictures. Art has been very busy with the task of snow removal .... or more accurately .... snow "moving". He had to make a path to one of the barns, which is destined to be his new workshop.And this is a good shot to show what's been shoved off the driveway leading to the house.A couple of artsy-fartsy pics.Xena diving off a snow bank into the deep fluffy stuff.........which, depending on where in the yard you are, can be knee-deep....or hip-deep. Which I discovered when I was over by the garden. At least, I think that's what this lumpy patch is. Ha, ha, I'm just kidding. It's the garden alright.I was zooming in on Mr.Bunny, the whirly-gig (who's not been doing too much whirly-gigging these days) ..........when SCHLUMP .... I'm buried up to my butt. Honest. I was stuck. Tried to get Xena to help pull me out, but she wasn't too into that. I did manage to get a picture of her laughing at me, though, icicle whiskers and all.Art finally heard me yelling and came to dig me out. Sure. Real funny!

Technology Woes

Do you ever find that procrastination can make a task that needs doing into a much bigger deal than it really is?

About 2 weeks before Christmas (fantastic timing) our practically brand new microwave crapped out. It's very big and heavy and mounted to the wall because it is also the hood for the stove.In my mind this was going to be a HUGE ordeal. So, rather than make the call, I ignored the problem (by the way, did you know that you can actually cook stuff on the stove? And in the oven? Amazing inventions!)

Finally, Art made the call. It's under warranty. A repair guy will be here on Tuesday. Someone is actually going to come .... to our house .... and fix it. Geez! What was the last 6 weeks of agony all about??!!

Next problem.....the fax machine......We discovered that Telus has something called Smart-Ring. It's a second phone number on the same line as the existing one. It just has a different sounding ring. Great! But do you think I could figure out how to make it work? This woe-is-me also lasted for a couple of months .... til I couldn't stand it no more. I found the manual for the fax online (bless the internet). Apparantly, I had to "teach" the fax machine to recognize the new ring. That in itself was an excercise in comedy, but it's all working now. And the lesson is ........ ?

A Wintery Day

It has not stopped snowing all day. And now a Freezing Rain Warning has been issued by Environment Canada. I've been a little worried because Art went to Prince George with his sister-in-law, Sue, to help her buy a computer. That's a 2 hour drive (just under 200kms) .... one way.

So, I've been sitting vigil at the kitchen table .... where I have a clear view of the driveway .... catching up on email, surfing the net, blogging, thumbing these seed catalogues (do you think I have enough to choose from?). Never too soon to start planning the garden.

Jack-Hammer Jo

Art hasn't been able to get into his workshop because the built up snow in front of the door has turned to ice. So he borrowed Conrad's jackhammer. It looked like so much fun I thought I'd give it a try (watching Art work the video camera was almost as much fun .... see his blog for the outtake).

I have a question

Well .... more like a rant.


Why are some things so complicated? For instance, cell phones. Personally, I don't like cell phones. If someone wants to talk to me, they can wait til I get home. The only use I can see for one is if there is an emergency.

My friend Audrey is pretty much of the same opinion. I guess her kids were concerned about her with all the recent power outages, so they gave her a cell phone for Christmas. She has to go online to activate it and asked for my help. Audrey is a senior citizen. Not that that means she is dumb or anything .... quite the contrary. But to a lot of people of her generation the internet and all the current gizmos can be overwhelming .... and sometimes unwelcomed. I can find my way around the internet OK but having not kept up with cell phones I found all the choices to be a bit much. There's Talk, Talk-to-Me, Super-Talk, Urban-Talk, Talk-Canada, Talk-North-America. Not to mention Spark, Talk & Spark, Talk & Email, Pay & Talk and on and on and on. What the &^%$ is up with all that?! It's a damn telephone!!! But still we are forced to wade through all this felder-karb because if we give up and call for help, Telus charges extra.

Art invented the perfect "gramma" phone. And I bet it would sell like hotcakes if Telus were to ever twig on. It has no camera, no internet, no change-the-ringer, no keypad at all. Just 3 big buttons .... "911", "call-the-kids", "call-home". Mark my words. When this comes out, remember that you heard it here first.

Perched at Lookouts

The kitz basking in the glow of sunset.This has become a favoured lookout for Xena. This perch is as high as the birdfeeder (which I have to climb a six foot step ladder to fill in summertime). I don't know what she'll do when all the snow melts.She seems a little more watchful since that dog/wolf came through the other day. Even though she was in the house at the time, she could tell someone had been here. She went to all the places he had been (and marked).

The consensus on that animal has been mixed. Personally, I think it's a dog, like a Border Collie - German Shephard cross. It's snout is stubby, it's ears are long, it's tail isn't too bushy. I've looked at a bunch of pictures on the net and there is a variety of wolf that does have those ears, tail and colouring, but not the snout. But it is at the other end of the country. Art showed the video to a half dozen of the local Native Indians and they all say "wolf". Not that they are more expert than anybody else, but I kinda trust that they would be. Still....

Video Magic

I have had my video camera for a year now. It came with movie making software, but I said "poo". Art said "there's a Windows movie making program on the computer". I said "poo" (Art calls it contempt-prior-to-investigation). What did I think? That I would just miraculously "know" this stuff one day? So, today I stumbled upon the Windows movie maker and thought "hey, I should try that".

So, I have edited the wolf-dog video from yesterday's post. I added a bit on the end that shows the animal going into the woods. The first part was taken from inside the house, through the window (which is why it's a bit blurry). I then turned off the camera and went outside to yell at it, but took more video instead. Then I didn't know how to put the two MPEGs together.

Now I have some new playing to do (which is WAY more fun than doing housework!) and I have the perfect project in mind. Sara's New Years Day run.

Is this a wolf or a dog?

You tell me. This guy was going through our place this morning.

Over the past several months our neighbours have claimed to see a lone black wolf. To me, this looks like a dog, but what the heck do I know? It does seem strange that he chooses to walk in the deep snow and into the bush instead of along the nice clearly plowed roadway, which he went onto for a minute, then off again. Art will show this video to his Native buddies tonight and get their opinion.

I'm glad Xena was in the house at the time. Maybe it's time to get a gun.

Bored Doggie

We went to town today (t.p. supply getting dangerously low) and I guess Xena got bored (or hungry .... I'm never sure which) sitting around in the truck waiting for us.










This WAS her travel dish, but now it's garbage. I'm pretty sure I already took this away from her once before, but she managed to steal it back when no one was looking. Then she stares at me and says ...."what????"

Yup, it's cold alright

The first thing I did when I got up this morning was to see how cold it got overnight. Minus 37.6 C !!!! I wonder what time of night is the coldest?

I'm not complaining, though. It is invigorating. I love how it feels when I breathe in....little tickle in the throat, nostrils tingle. The ice isn't slippery anymore, but almost sticky. The only thing I don't like is the dryness. My hair gets full of static and clings around my face. That's annoying. And every time I touch a cat we both get zapped. Chickie is particularly prone to it and winces when I reach towards her....before I even touch her. I think it's time to turn the humidifier on.

We finally got dug out yesterday. Just before dusk we looked out to see our neighbour Walter coming up the driveway in his tractor. When his wife Audrey heard that we wouldn't be coming to the Endako Hall Society meeting that night because we were snowed in, she sent him up to clear a way for us. Now THAT's what community is about. NOT leaving someone stranded because they don't FEEL like doing their job ( YRB *&@%!$ ).

It's pretty cold today

Minus 29 C, but the sun is shining and it's beautiful outside. No wind, fresh snow everywhere. Lovely. Good thing we like it because we ain't goin' anywhere for awhile. Our driveway has drifted over and now YRB (highway grader) is refusing to plow us out ( do NOT get me started ). So, I'm pulling out some of the toys I got for Christmas. This one is something I've wanted for awhile.It's a fancy thermometer, which tells me much more than just the current temperature. One feature I think is cool (no pun intended) is that it will tell me what was the coldest it got during the night, while we were all sleeping. "Who gives a twiddle?", you may say, but to Little-Miss-Data-Gathering-Maniac here that's just fun stuff to know.

Squeeky Guys

New members of the household. Squeeky-Pink-Guy and Squeeky-Snow-Guy.Squeeky-Snow-Guy came in a gift of doggie chew toys for Xena. She loves him. While we were visiting in Vancouver, her cousin Brutis gave her Squeeky-Pink-Guy. Actually, it was more like Xena kept raiding Brutis' toybox and stealing it, so Brutis finally gave in "Go ahead. Keep it." These are now her two most favourite-ist toys. The squeeking is endless.Notice anything unusual about this picture? I guess that's a dumb question if you are not familiar with Xena. She is so energetic that she is not allowed free run in the house. She has to be in a kennel. But here she is, outside her kennel and not rip-snorting around the place. Every time she comes away from visiting with Kevin she's a little bit calmer. He has some kind of infuence on her. Maybe she recognizes him as a pack leader because he's already leading Brutis. I don't know. Whatever the reason, I like it.

Dismantling the tree

I guess it's time to put Christmas away for another year. Not that I did a LOT of decorating, but there was the tree to take down. Blackie and Chickie love to help, too. They just can't resist those dangly string things.It turns out that our timing for travel was perfect. It is now snowing like mad. I only threw the Christmas tree outside last night.And with a little wind, the drifting is really something.That's what happened to our driveway, only WAY worse.

Oh ya, and speaking of wind....that darned wind. While we were gone it blew our satellite dish over and so all the stuff I had set the VCR to tape did not get recorded. Most of it I don't really care about, but the one I can't do without is Coronation Street. I'm a bit behind in actually watching it, but when I DO sit down to catch up, I want all the episodes to be there. And these particular ones are hot because a major character has just died and I don't want to miss a moment. If I can't find a friend who still has their copy, I may have to try to find it on the web. DRAT!!!

We had Fun

We finally ventured home to Endako on Sunday. Our trip to Vancouver was fun. It was great to see Sara, Kevin and Treena. It's just a good time hangin' out with them. I also had lunch with my friend Sharon one day and supper with Della another. There were a bunch more people that I would have loved to see and I miss having them in my life more.

The night before we left, Art and Sara made a chinese feast. They went shopping at T & T Supermarket, where Sara has been trying to get Art to for months now.I'd forgotten how much I LOVE barbecued duck. D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!!!!

We got up at 4:00am on Sunday and it was pouring buckets. It made me wonder what it was doing in the rest of B.C. The weather gods were smiling, though, and the rain stopped somewhere around Boston Bar. From there on we had sunshine, blue skies and clear roads. We made it home with a little daylight to spare (it's a 12 hour drive....if you do the speed limit, plus 10kph here and there). The worst part was the last 100 metres of our driveway, which I'm pretty sure Art will tell you about on his blog.

Hey! What's that white stuff?

It's snowing in Vancouver! This is what I saw when I stepped outside with the dog this morning.It's very wet, though, so will probably not last. I kinda would like dry roads for the drive home to Endako tomorrow (or at least snow free).

We had a very nice evening with the kids last night. It was our Christmas together. Xena and Brutis are slowly getting used to each other. We even let Xena sleep in the house with us last night (usually she sleeps out in our truck.....it's less stressful for all that way). We got her a new "pinch" collar, which has transformed her. She is a joy to walk with now and doesn't jump up. Some say this collar is inhumane, but if used properly and for training only, it is not at all. Then when we're not "working" with her, we take it off. Don't worry. I'm not one who believes in punishment as a form of training. I do need to learn some stuff, though. I am very intrigued by the Dog Whisperer. Art saw me eyeing this book at the store the other day, so slipped it into the basket when I wasn't looking. I've already started studying it.

For a Song

MMMMMM....sure looks like a good cookie you've got there, Dad.Sing me a song and I'll give you some....like this.Very nice. Music to my ears.You've earned a piece of that cookie.Let's wash it down with a swig of Coke.And seal it with a kiss!No couches were harmed in the making of this story.