Icicle Season

Things can look pretty grim at this time of year:

However, icicle season is starting:

I have noticed over the last couple of years that icicles begin to form on the woodshed around the beginning of February. My theory is that the sun has finally regained enough strength to melt the snow on the roof but it freezes before it hits the ground. So there you have it, the first sign of spring. There’s always hope.

 

Cold Weather

A few days of this gets pretty tedious:

but it does motivate you to make these:

I did make two mittens but one is covering the hand taking this picture. This is a basic mitten pattern using some Briggs & Little wool and some Patons wool from my stash.

The thing about cold weather is that it is inconvenient. And even though you may be inconvenienced by things that are related to the cold, this does not mean that inconveniences unrelated to the cold will stop plaguing you. For instance, even though you may have to spend time with a hair dryer in a crawl space thawing frozen water pipes while wondering whether the weight of the house will fall on you, this does not mean your washing machine will not also break. Or the slip joint in the pipe under your kitchen sink will not slip out of place and cause a minor flood. I know for a fact these things can happen at the same time.

 

Snowshoeing is the New Skiing

An article in the newspaper yesterday said that snowshoeing is the fastest growing winter sport. This is good to know. Personally, I use snowshoes less as a sport and more as an effective way to get around the woods in the snow. I checked Mountain Equipment Co-op and found that technical snowshoes sell for about $150 to $314!! Yikes! I’m perfectly happy with these vintage snowshoes that I got at an auction down the road for $10.

I am not a winter sport person, unless sitting by the fire reading is considered a sport, but I do force myself outside for fresh air and exercise. Yesterday was mild and snowy but some pretty cold temperatures were forecast for the rest of the week so I thought I would take advantage of the mild weather to head into the woods.

Everything looks very stark against the white backdrop and not a lot of vibrant colours are to be found but the subtlety of the beiges and browns are really very nice.The thing I like best about walking in the woods in the winter is that when I get lost, which seems inevitable, I can easily follow my footprints back:

Today is ridiculously cold but clear and this morning I saw this:

What you see here is the rising sun shining on the trees beneath the moon. It was taken at about 8:00 am. It was very beautiful. It would have been just as beautiful if seen from inside a warm house.

 

Of Snowmen and Taffy

Having a PA day after a week of slowly accumulating snow is not a bad thing. After quickly getting the parent/teacher interview over first thing in the morning the rest of the day was left wide open. We were soon visited by this guy:

I am quite certain I saw him hanging around here last year. I don’t like to make wild accusations but his hat and gloves look exactly like mine. That innocent “Who, me?” look isn’t fooling me for one second either.

Then, despite being four months before maple syrup season, we decided to open a jar of maple syrup and try making some maple taffy or tire d’erable. My candy thermometer is not very accurate so I didn’t bother with it. I just boiled the syrup until it had a shiny glaze and looked about right then poured it onto a bowl of fresh snow. It seems to have worked. It was sticky and sweet and disappeared quickly. Whoever invented this was a genius.

 

It’s Not Snow, It’s Frost

“It’s not snow, it’s frost.” This is what I was told by a certain hatless, gloveless young adult recently. Decide for yourself:

Based on my accumulated experience and strong intuition, I believe this is snow. I believe this so strongly that I was compelled to knit a hat:

The model just blew in from nowhere. She’s a bit of an airhead but always in good humour, doesn’t move unless you make her and, I swear, she never blinks.

 

First Snow

We only got about 5 cms of snow, not even close to the 15 cms that was predicted. Although I still enjoy the magic of the first snowfall, I am glad it won’t stay because that would make for a very long winter. This was enough snow, and it is staying long enough for us to admire the way a bit of snow can change the way things look:

It also gave us a chance to bundle up to the point of being unrecognizable.

And enough snow for a snowball fight: