Day 346 - Snow Day?

The anticipated storm has arrived in Quebec. It's snowing and VERY windy. The above picture was taken from our back door. You see our neighbour's house and the street in front of them. You may notice that the windows are covered with snow. It's a real, snuggle up with a good book and stay inside day. Peg and I were hoping that maybe tomorrow would be a snow day - no school! Unfortunately, the snow is supposed to turn to rain soon so chances are we'll be at school tomorrow. The drive in will take longer and the kids will be trapped inside all day but I'm sure we'll find a way to have fun just the same. But . . . just maybe we'll have a snow day.

Day 343 - Winter Waves and Waffles

We've stored our swing beside the shed for the winter. While I was outside with the dogs this afternoon I noticed the accumulation of snow on the bench had created some interesting designs. From one angle it looks like waves and from another waffles. Hence, winter waves and waffles.

Day 331 - Snowy Firsts

The forecasted 1 cm of snow seemed to have multiplied. Added to the accumulation of yesterday it made enough for snowshoeing. Only November 27th and we headed out to the farm and put on our snowshoes for the first time this winter. We tracked through the fluffy snow as more flakes dropped from the sky and the dogs romped around the field. They wore their coats for the first time but the extra weight didn't seem to slow them down at all. They had a great time breaking trail, stepping on the back of our snowshoes and catching snowballs. It's days like today that make icy roads and shoveling worthwhile.

Day 311 - Winterizing

It was a mild but cool fall day so we decided to finish winterizing the yard. One of the jobs that needed to be done was putting up the winter fences. Since we lost an hour due to the time change today, we finished our work just as it was getting dark. After bringing in all the tools I took my camera out to take some pictures of the fence. I had some technical difficulties but managed to get a few pictures. I chose the one above, not for its technical perfection but for the interesting results it gave.

Day 45 - Winter Green

Today we went walking in the woods. It's relaxing for us and the dogs LOVE being off lead. As always, I brought my camera along, hoping to snap a few shots. My focus seemed to be tree closeups. I chose this one because it gives us a little bit of green no matter the season or temperature. When you look at the picture closely it almost looks like another mini forest.

Day 11 - Summer Freshness in January

Although these are local tomatoes, neither of us would do very well on the 200 mile diet. We buy local when possible but sometimes you gotta have a banana.
Peg had the idea of spraying the tomatoes to give them that fresh out of the garden look. The picture's okay but I'm not happy with the lighting. Unfortunately, with shorter days and longer nights lighting will continue to be a challenge for awhile.

Day 8 - Traces

I decided to take my camera with me on our 'doggy' walk this evening. I bought a really neat camera carrier over the break (It's called Cotton Carrier). It looks kind of like a flak jacket that police officers wear so it's not exactly a fashion statement. However, you can hook your camera on and not worry about it falling or swinging around. It's one of the better purchases I've made.
Anyway, back to the photo. While we were walking Peg pointed out the tractor tracks. We decided they'd make an interesting photo. As we continued walking I was thinking about the photo and what I would say about it. Like tractors, we too leave traces behind. What trace have you left today?

Day 6 - She's a real bear

Okay, so Peg’s not a real bear but her hat makes her look like one. She actually purchased the hat this summer. We had a nice lunch at Cafe du Monde and then went walking around Old Quebec. We decided to ‘play’ tourists and wandered around some tourist shops. Peg found a rack of assorted animal hats and chose this one. The hat’s called a ‘knitwit’ (Be careful. I said knitwit not nitwit.). She figured if she’s going to have white hair she might as well look like a Polar Bear.

It keeps students at school entertained. She’d heard comments such as:
“Hey Miss, should you be wearing that during hunting season?” “Miss are you a cow or a kanagroo?” ) Obviously, this student needs to brush up on her animal knowledge. I guess it’s a multipurpose hat. It keeps her head warm as well as making people smile and talk.

Day 3 - Diggin' for Spring

This is one of our Great Danes, Dexter. Dexter is 2 years old and he LOVES to dig. As you can imagine, paws as be as his don’t take very long to dig significant holes. The good thing about Winter holes is that they make a lot less mess than the ones made during rainy seasons. You also don’t need to haul in snow (or dirt) to repair them. Let’s just say that our mop spent a lot of time out of its cupboard between March and December.
I was outside looking to be inspired for Day 3’s photo. Dexter came to the rescue. When I saw him it made me wonder what he was digging for - like he ever needs a reason - and thought, “Hey maybe he’s diggin’ for Spring.” If that’s the case he’s got a ways to go. Here’s to Winter’s clean digging!

Day 1 - Polar Raspberry

Last year we received a gift certificate for a brunch at the Quebec Aquarium. Due to a busy schedule and weather we only just got to use it. We had a lovely brunch and enjoyed visiting the animals. I managed to get a few good shots but this was one of my favourites for two reasons. The obvious one is to show this guy’s got attitude and is adorable. The other is the colour of his tongue. While we were there we learned that Polar Bears have black skin under their white fur. This pic demonstrates that their tongues are black as well.