Extreme Cold Warning

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Attila has been making short, very short, forays out with the shovel. He cleared the driveway over the course of the day. Quite a bit of snow fell over the course of the night and during the morning. it is very cold out there. Attila said that shoveling near the house wasn’t too bad, but out at the end of the driveway, where the wind was howling, was almost unbearable. I didn’t go out to help shovel, too cold for my knee. In an emergency I would do it, but it isn’t an emergency, and Attila did a great job. The snow continues to fall. Heating with the oil furnace means that a lot of static is generated in the house. It is oh so dry, 22% relative humidity when I arose at dawn this morning, and I’ve only got it up to 26% this afternoon. Still working on it though, as tonight is supposed to be really cold, -24C, so the furnace will be working hard all night. The dryness creates a lot of static, which means my hair, which is very fine, is standing on end, literally. This morning I had wet my hands and run them over … Continue reading →

Winter Storm

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The cold weather has arrived! Until today the winter weather has been relatively mild and benign. It has been warm enough that a lot of our heat has been generated by the air source heat pump, which heats the house when the temperature is above -7C. The oil furnace took over last night, and will be doing all the work until next Tuesday, at the earliest. The cold snap is meant to intensify into a major winter storm over the weekend, before easing up over the course of next week. There will be snow shoveling going on this weekend! The air is house is dry! Our humidity is at 25% relative humidity. In the past, this level of humidity resulted in my multiple nosebleeds throughout each day. Since the specialist cauterized my nostrils, I have had only one nosebleed, which was less than a week after the procedure, and must have been due to incomplete healing of the wound. No nosebleeds since then. Yay. Attempts to raise the humidity have met with little success. A load of wet laundry is drying on a collapsible rack in the living room. Large tea towels have been soaked, and hang on hangers over … Continue reading →

All’s Well…

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January is half gone. Today is very blustery and sunshiny. I love the sound of the wind in the trees. Another quiet day here at Mist Cottage. I waited patiently for 11:00 a.m. to roll around, so that I could bake a batch of muffins for Attila’s lunches. I dislike the time-of-use hydro billing system, as during the week, when I would like to do things like bake and cook, the hydro is more expensive during the day. By evening I am feeling too tired to be starting long food projects, like pressure canning, or baking bread; but I would love to spend my mornings and early afternoons on this type of activity. I wondered if a Tesla wall would be practical, as it could be charged during the night when the rates are low, and used during the day when the rates are high. But it isn’t a solution for those of us on a budget, it is very expensive, costing farm more than the high priced hydro I would be using on the grid. So far, I haven’t found a viable solution to the time-of-use hydro conundrum. I had a colonoscopy in early December. A colonoscopy is a … Continue reading →

Be The Butterfly

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Our Christmas Tree stays up until the last week of January. We like the lights, the scent of pine, the colours, the sparkle of tinsel. Once Christmas itself has passed, the tree takes on a completely different feel. The branches and needles become a natural presence in the room. Our Christmas Tree, after it moves from the house to the back yard at the end of the month, will become base material for a hugelkulture raised garden bed in the spring. My crocheted blanket is coming along again. With the wintry weather the house feels cooler, so that it is possible to comfortably sit with the blanket draped across my lap as I work on it. The book I am reading is a slow read. Kristen Lavransdatter is a very intense book. It describes medieval Norway, and during that period of time the Church was a dominant force on the social and physical landscape. I find organized religion a plodding affair, so that the philosophical challenges faced by some of the characters are shrouded by the paradigms of the times. I learn new things as I lumber from page to page, so I continue to find it interesting. Over the … Continue reading →

Sunshine

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The sun is shining bright this afternoon! The price for bright is cold. Not only is it much colder today than it was yesterday, tonight it is going to get a lot colder. The low, the weather people say, will be -18C on the thermometer, and -26C with wind chill. Not a good night to lie under the stars enjoying the heavens. My Mom recently sent me some old school class photos. I did not know she kept them, I thought they had perished. I am surprised at how many of the names I remember, and that all but one or two faces are familiar. The teachers are interesting. I had three outstanding teachers during my primary public school years, grades one through eight. The first was my Grade One teacher, she was an older woman who loved kids, and we loved her right back. The second was my Grade Six teacher, who had escaped the Holocaust in a coal car with her parents during the Second World War. She was a lovely, compassionate, insightful teacher. I even had the sense to appreciate her at the time. The third was my Grade Eight teacher, who was also the principal of … Continue reading →