BACK BATHROOM

Mary has been busy mudding and taping the drywall in our back bathroom.

We hope to get the room painted this week.

The Paul will come and tile the shower and floor.

In another month we should be done and be ready for company. 

Now we need to focus on completing my office and the second guest room. We call it Owen's room.

Today is "Family Day" in Ontario with most stores closed for the day. Enjoy whatever plans you have a safe travels for those on the road.

ICE-FISHING

Mary went ice-fishing the other day and brought back supper.

This is a splake that Douggie caught and gave to Mary.  It was delicious. Quite simply, Mary cleaned and prepared the splake with a wash of egg and a crust of pulsed almond slivers, a dash of salt and pepper and a slice of her own preserved lemon tucked inside.

We pan fried it on the wood stove where we do most of our cooking in the winter. 

We were hankering for a favourite summer dish of zucchini, tomatoes and onions sauteed up with a dollop of goat cheese.

We sometimes feel like homesteaders, growing our own food, catching fish in the lake and producing our own maple syrup. I just wish my grandmother who homesteaded in Saskatchewan could see how easy it is to live on marginal land here in northern Ontario.

Thanks for stopping by.

FREE RANGE EGGS

We enjoy eggs done in a variety of ways: boiled, fried, omelette, scrambled, etc. Recently we discovered a farmer selling free range eggs for $2.50 a dozen. It's tough to beat farm fresh eggs.

Don't they look good?

When we had our own chickens I'm sure it was costing us about the same to get a dozen eggs.

Today is the winter carnival, Think Snow, in town. Lots of activities planned as well as a tour of the local fish hatchery. 

Yesterday we saw the temperature above freezing for the first time in months. The warmer temperatures are welcome although we know the snow will still be here come the end of April. 

Our days are getting longer. We are seeing the sun more frequently and it has been a month since we've used the generator.

This is a long weekend in Ontario. On Monday many businesses are closed in celebration of family day. There's lots happening in the north country and the weather is perfect for getting outside and enjoying winter. 

Hope to see you at the winter carnival.

Thanks for stopping by.

MAPLE SYRUP SUPPLIES

After working on the back bathroom all morning we decided to visit Camp Can-Aqua and get some maple syrup supplies.

Al and Mary look over the supplies brochure and discussed what is essential for a small operation. Since this is our introductory season we plan to do 15 trees and then evaluate our efforts and setup.

Al explains the hydrometer and how important it is to the maple syrup production.

State of the art evaporator at Camp Can-Aqua. We won't be buying this anytime soon but it was good to hear that they too started out boiling sap in the driveway using a turkey pan, just like we will use.

Maple syrup production for us won't start until mid March but we are slowly getting ourselves ready.

Next we need to build the fire pit for the evaporator. We will use some left over Durisol blocks and discarded oven racks to support the evaporator pans. (turkey roaster) 

Happy Valentines Day everyone and thanks for stopping by.

FROZEN WINDOWS

We had a few balmy days last week and opened windows to enjoy the fresh air. When we went to close the windows in the evening ................. we had frozen windows.

Seems the warm air escaping through the windows did what warm air does everywhere when it meets cold air; it condenses.

Our windows were coated with a thick layer of ice along the open edge and they wouldn't budge. Unable to close them I stuffed towels along the opening to reduce the draft and went to bed.

Yesterday was warm, sunny and a great day for working outside. Using Mary's hairdryer we were able to melt and remove the ice with some effort and persistence. 

Now our windows keep the cold out the warmth in and our house is comfortable.

Sorry no pictures; holding the hairdryer, the extension cord and standing on a ladder meant the camera stayed inside.

Living in the bush makes one resourceful and independent.

Check out our grandson at: Owen

Safe travels and thanks for stopping by.

HARRY

It's been a tough winter for the birds and animals up here. Our heavy snowfall has made it challenging for the deer to move around and many have depended on food put out by homeowners.

As we move through winter we are seeing a greater variety of birds at our feeders. This woodpecker showed up a few days ago and after checking her markings we believe she is a Harry Woodpecker very common around here.

If you are feeding birds be sure to maintain your feeders and provide water whenever possible.

Thanks for helping out our feathered friends.

PROPANE $

Propane is the heating fuel of choice for most Canadians living in rural locations. We use it for heating our water, cooking and for our in-floor heating.

Tank on the left buried in snow.

This winter the price of propane has gone through the roof. Local prices have reached $1.10/litre. We paid $0.63/litre last October. Our tanks holds over 1, 400 litres. At $0.63 it would cost $882.00 to fill the tank but push the price to $1.10 and now the cost skyrockets to $1,540.00. 

For many folks on a fixed income they have to decide, stay warm and have little left for food or have food and freeze. Neither choice is pleasant. 

There has been much speculation as to the reasons for this and many letters have appeared in our local paper denouncing the government for allowing this to happen.

Fortunately for us we can usually make it through the winter without needing to get the tank filled. Traditionally propane prices are highest in winter lowest in summer. During the coldest weeks this winter we were using about 52 litres of propane a week. Now we are down to 14 litres a week and I think we can hold off on filling the tank until June.

Lets hope this spike in price has receded by then and we are back to $0.55/litre.

If you bought propane this winter let me know what you paid. 

Thanks for stopping by.