Archive for

February, 2014

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-23 This Morning

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Went up to +5!!!

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Still Winter…

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It’s been really warm the past few weeks since that last cold snap left us. This morning it was -18 (-12 now) so not too bad but getting chilly again. It is supposed to last only a few days and go down to -27 at night… Let’s hope it IS only a few days! We’ve gotten a few snow falls that have added up to about 8″ after it’s settled… No big snow falls predicted in the next 2 weeks so we might not get much more although March can be a big snow month. We have a lot of snow! I just read an article that the Great Lakes have frozen over (only 12% remains unfrozen) for the first time in 20 years! Brrrrrrr they are having a really cold year! I feel pretty good about our weather when I hear that!

Cold outside = painting inside… Everyone have a great day!

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Happy Anniversary!

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Today is also the 3rd anniversary of our engagement. The wedding is still in the planning stage, it will happen one day. For now we love being engaged! Love you with everything I got Barry!

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Water!!!

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There is water again! We will need to be super careful, as long as we have a toilet, I’m happy. It won’t be long before we can stop hauling water… Yay! We could not be happier!

Just so you all get a bit of an idea of what hauling water involves… Barry shovels and chops his way through the snow and ice to the water, a hole big enough to stand in (the -40 boots really help). He fills 2 – 6 US Gal jugs with a scoop. He has to do 2 at a time to keep himself balanced when he carries them back because each one weighs about 65 lbs! That’s 130 lbs!!! He has to climb back up the bank and the snow is DEEP and now it’s getting soft so even more of a challenge. I sunk to my hips twice just taking the photos, and I was only carrying a camera. He is a strong mountain man!

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Happy Valentines Day!

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Barry painted this beautiful flower for me! I love it! Love you Barry! I made him chocolates this year. First time ever and they turned out pretty good.

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The Property (for Clarke)

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This might explain things a bit better…

the Property

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No water!!!

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The fun of living in the mountains… Yesterday morning we woke up to – 27 (for about the 7th day in a row) and no water… Aaaaaarrrrrgggggg!!!! At first I thought the pipes under the house might be frozen but since we insulated the attic, they don’t seem to freeze… Go figure?!? This is very good news since the heater that was under there stopped working anyways. So Barry quickly gathered his tools… Shovel, ax, water jugs, funnel and headed to the creek. He found that there is hardly any water in the creek which means our well is dry… Wow, first time that has happened. For those of you that follow this blog regularly, you will remember that we had a really easy run off and we were happy… But now we are thinking that was a bad thing combined with this long cold spell. We went through this the first winter we were here (human error that time) so we are pretty versed on how to make it all happen… Only difference, no toilet this time so we are having to fill the back of it each time it’s used. This has convinced us to dig a second well over here, we will have 2 because this one works when the power is out, hopefully we will never be without that way. It was only -24 this morning, the real cold snap is moving on. Once it’s warm enough we will use a pump but for now poor Barry has to get in there and scoop it out… In these temps, the water is freezing as he scoops it, a Hose is out of the question. We will have to wait until the creek starts to thaw a bit.

On a happier note, it is a long weekend and we are painting! We spent all day yesterday and the paint is already flowing this morning. Barry is working on an elephant and I’m doing an abstract… Something I’ve never done….

Stay tuned…

the day after update…

We woke up to -13 (I missed the fancy ice formations on the windows) and we are supposed to go up to above zero everyday for the next 2 weeks so we are hopeful this will pass quickly. Fingers crossed!

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Pretty Sky’s!

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Sunrise and sunsets have been amazing!

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Brrrrrrrrr

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The cold snap is hanging around longer than any other cold snap has hung around. Nights are down to -29 (we haven’t seen -30 on the thermometer). When it gets up to about -15 we take the dogs for a short walk. Today Shooter needed a hand for a bit… Too cold on his toes! Every day we have a new design on the windows, today was a nice one! I worked in the house all week… Too chilly in my office. It’s a long weekend and we plan on spending it painting for the most part.

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Stay Tuned…

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Cold Snap!

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This is our second cold snap of the season, it was -27 when we got up this morning! Ouch! The sun has been out so it’s beautiful during the day… It warmed up to -10 in the afternoon, that’s not too bad. I have set up office in the house with my laptop. There is no sense fighting the cold in my office, it’s cold when I get in there in the morning and doesn’t warm up until around noon. It’s kinda fun working inside for a few days. Couldn’t see outside this morning…

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Mini is the perfect dog for this climate. She has got SO MUCH HAIR! She has grown muck lucks on her feet too… We call them grinch toes cause the hair gets so long. I’ve seen her flip the hair under her foot so she is standing on it. There is a small mat on the edge if the deck, it is known as Shooters mat… She was out sitting on it for over an hour in -20’s this morning and when she came inside, she didn’t even feel cold… She has perfect fur for these temps. She can’t figure out why nobody else wants to hang out with her or go for long walks.

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Happy Birthday Lily!

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Today is the first anniversary of Lily joining our family. We don’t know when her birthday actually is so we are calling this her birthday. We also don’t know how old she is but we are guessing she is turning 5 today (Stacey if we are wrong, let us know). In the past few months, Lily has really come into her own. She pushes her way through the crowd when she feels it’s in her better interest instead of waiting to be invited. She is always the first dog to join me in the kitchen, she has figured out I like to throw veggie bits to them and sometimes I even drop something really good. She has become a huge lover of popcorn night and is always front and centre. For the longest time she wouldn’t leave the house alone or stay out after the others had gone in, now she is being a lot more adventurous and comfortable spending time alone. She is still half a step behind Barry no matter what he’s doing, she doesn’t let him out of her sight if she can help it… She sits in the front window when he leaves without her and waits faithfully for his return. She is the most loving dog either of us have ever known, she loves to cuddle and give big hugs. We love her so much and we are so happy she is part of the family.

With her bone that only she gets… Mini was so jealous!

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