winter moss

breathing  in  the  moment
I walk purposeful with soul
world encompassing

late winter sparkles

hints of green life

here I stand

touched by a gift

for my eyes

~

Frozen

frozen winter dreams

blanket the world in snowbanks

tough job for spring sun

~

Winter in Canada

This was the results of a 3-day blizzard from a few years ago.
Buffalo has taken the hit for us this winter :)

Apparently winter has decided to strike early this year. MAN, it is cold out there! A mere week ago it was 14C, but this week the temperature dipped to -18C (with the wind chill, but still). What is up with that?! Time to put another log on the fire apparently.

As any good Canadian is wont to do, we face the ravages of Mother Nature in stride though. Today I face it with humour, with the help of an email from a friend. If we can't get warm, we just put on an extra pair of socks and laugh about it...

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canadians, during a recent appearance at Caesars in Windsor: 

• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, You may live in Canada ... (had that happen to me)
• If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, You may live in Canada ... (never, I hate seeing people in shorts or sandals when they should be wearing parkas!) 
• If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, You may live in Canada ... (Yup)
• If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Detroit for the weekend, You may live in Canada ... (Yup)
• If you measure distance in hours, You may live in Canada ... (Yup again)
• If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, You may live in Canada ...
• If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, You may live in Canada ... (I might have - once...)
• If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, You may live in Canada ... (definitely)
• If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, You may live in Canada .
• If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, You may live in Canada ... (I proudly boosted a stranded nurse last winter across the street from my house with my MALE neighbour watching on)
• If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, You may live in Canada ... (Yup)
• If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km -- you're going 95 and everybody is passing you, You may live in Canada ... (lol, doesn't everyone do that?)
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, You may live in Canada ... (sad, but true)
• If you know all 4 seasons: Almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, You may live in Canada ... (DEFINITELY sad, but true)
• If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, You may live in Canada ... (my neighbour that blows out the entire neighbourhood does)
• If you find -2 degrees 'a little chilly', You may live in Canada ... (it's not really that cold)

If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends,
you definitely are Canadian and proud to be.

Winter Heart

Winter eyes can't always see them

winter gray blocks love from sight

winter days leave cold and lonely

a winter heart

that begs for light

♥

This time of year is so hard on my soul. When winter drags on for a lifetime of eternities, I struggle to see the spring light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps that is why Valentine's Day is popped into February; to give a spot of love to winter-worn bodies that just need an ounce of warmth. Lucky me received a special gift of love from the lovely Sab at Sab's Soaps to make my Valentine's Day a little hotter for me and my special someone.
~
Thanks Sab! You have warmed my frozen soul!!!

For the Birds

"Be still my feeding heart" ~ Robert Reddon

I can't help it. I'm a crafty Mama. I've got my ECE diploma and everything. Add to that two kids under 8 years of age, a constant exposure to the internet (Pinterest is my inspiration mecca), and a love of all things aesthetic, and you get a new craft project every week.

It was a long weekend at our house this past weekend, so I decided that our crab apple needed decorating again. I mean it's been less than a week since I took down the exterior Christmas decorations! High time to redecorate in my books. And this is a project that I have loved since I found it on a crunchy mama blog a few years ago. This year's version was for the birds though.

What you'll need:

• A pan to freeze water in ( I used a couple of cake pans)
• A variety of items to put in the pan (only limited by your imagination)
• String
• Water

Ok, easy peasy here. Make sure you pick a receptacle that you will be able to get your frozen decor out of. I like cake pans because the are a good size to see from the house and road. Cut a length of string to drape into your pan. This is how you are going to hang your creation outside (mine hang in our crab apple, but you could string yours on a fence, gate or laundry line, wherever works for you). Now fill your pan with decorations; think tissue paper, dried flowers, feathers, greenery, berries or whatever strikes your fancy. Make it into a bird feeder with nuts and seeds, or a people pleaser with colourful items that bring you joy mid-January on a cold winter's day.

Once you have added your hand-picked items, carefully place your pan in the freezer. After it is frozen, remove from pan and hang for all to see and enjoy. Now you have a bright spot in your world and the cost is FREE!

How do you chase away the winter doldrums at your house?

Snow Day

Maple Syrup Love

Snow

bringer of sloppy roads

cheering children

and 

a Canadian breakfast 

like no other

Doesn't bother me none

I slip on snow pants

Grab the shovel

for the snow removal

and start slogging

for my daily Canuck-style exercises

Don't feel bad for me though

After a brief respite

in a snow bank

I dug back in 

to create a cozy cave

Big enough for 2 lovelies

or one big kid

intent 

on enjoying the best

that Canadian winter

has to offer

A Canadian Dare

Shrieks and laughter fill the air. Children run screaming past one another without a care in the world. Backpacks are scattered on the ground, forgotten until the bell's call to summon them back. It's that magical time between the weekend and the official start to the school week. The kids take full advantage of these last precious moments and run for all they are worth.

Newly fallen snow makes a perfect home for tumbling bodies to fling themselves with abandon down the waiting hill. Pencils will soon be clutched in stubborn fingers, but right now it is all about the best that winter has to offer - snow; light and fluffy snow.

"I dare you!" rings out a voice.

Why is it that boys cannot resist a dare? How is it that manhood rears it's ugly head on the grounds of the primary school yard so early? And yet it does. And every year this ritual gets repeated on school yards across the northern hemisphere.

"I double-dog dare you!" Things are getting serious.

More shrieks fill the air, but the peal of the morning bell cuts playtime short for these youngsters. It is time for school to begin.

Another cry fills the air. This one is a little more distressed; a little less happy in tone. And that is when a woman's stricken face streaks past shouting for help. Her arm points backwards towards a few lone figures still standing by the fence at the bottom of the hill.

The metal fence.

At least the boy wasn't left alone to attempt to rip his tongue off the frozen fence. Nothing that a little warm water won't solve, but terror is not the way to start the week off for any young soul. I suppose he won't do that again. The watching parents that slowly wander away shake their heads at the morning's antics. The boy has been freed. No harm has been done. But his moment of captivity, with soft, fleshy tongue stuck to a rusty metal pole in the dead of winter has been enough to shoot all these laughing adults back in time to when they too stood stuck to their own poles in a Canadian winter.

As who can resist the deadly triple-dog dare.

Winter Whimper

So hold onto your hats and check out the worst storm of the season!

Neighbouring cities forewarned that vehicles would be towed

(if left on the street overnight).

Radios announced the coming of the storm

and local Twitter streams 

were burning up 

in anticipation

of Armeggedon

Umm, yeah

I think there was more snow on the ground yesterday

before the storm hit.

It's raining at present

and I am okay with that.

Have a toasty weekend folks!

A Drip in Time

So does this mean that winter is done? 

Not likely, as the good folks in Illinois have some winter weather headed my way tonight. Just when I was beginning to believe that rascally groundhog that suggested that Spring was on the way, the weatherman declares that we will get 10-15cm of snow tonight and into tomorrow. I have seen more grass than snow this winter, but about once a week we get a taste of Arctic airs again. Apparently, its on the way for another blast!

The 2C we had today was pretty sweet though. Mmm Spring, I feel you around the corner! I even pruned my butterfly and burning bushes today, just to feel like a gardener again. It helps that I wrote an article about pruning trees in the winter yesterday, I guess. Nice to have the sunshine on my face though.

Back to the harsh reality that it is still February in Canada at present. There is a snowfall warning for Middlesex county that is threatening to be the biggest storm of the season! Oh joy! Back into the snowpants again!!

Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures of my winter wonderland and the transformation that we go through. Excuse me while I go throw some of the mud-caked mitts into the next load of laundry in anticipation. Can't forget my warm woolly hat!

So, what's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Splat!

Gotcha!

You 

have been hit 

with the first snow ball of 

winter! Took until January 3rd for it 

to feel anything akin to seasonal here.

And while I might have lost 

this war, the snow 

has just be-

gun...

A Canadian Spring

Round about eleven
it started to snow.
As the flakes piled up
the ground disappeared below.

Alas and alack,
Spring's grip, far too loose
I shivered in nightgown
and begged for dreams to induce

In the wan light of day

I woke to winter a'fresh

back with vengeance galore

a thick shelf o'er all enmeshed.

Well, I should just relent
and make peace with my home

Tis Canada I live in

and this is Spring in its glory - OHM!!!

A Late Winter Storm

A scant
four days ago
you gently peeked
through the snow.


As neighbours watched
nearby,
you stretched up
towards the sky.

Without heed to crystals cold
a'strew amongst your path
you warmed thy promised leaves
for sun's rays you did grasp.

but woe to you today
as fresh chill has touched the air
and looking out yon window
snow has returned without a care



Blast for winter's grip
be gone from morrow's day!
we've enough of flurries trip
right kindly I say "Go Away!"



  ***

Looking out my window, I see that the snow the weather forecast warned of has arrived. 10-15cm! What!!! Poor tulips and daffodils won't know what to do with themselves.

Damn winter! Be gone already!!

Winter's Day

Brilliant sunshine

fills long forgotten coffers

in race towards spring

Weather Forecast

storm rattles windows

fat flakes freeze across my face

no shadows for spring?

}{ }{ }{

Tomorrow is Groundhog day. That means that Wiarton Willie is supposed to come out of his hole and look around. If he sees his shadow, he is supposed to scurry back into his hole and hibernate, leading us to six more weeks of winter. With no shadow, conceivably he should be more comfortable and therefore stick around to check out the outside world. The ordained meaning of this is that spring is right around the corner.

Well, checking out weather reports that are flying across radio airwaves, as well as other forms of media information, I suspect that dear Willie will not be leaving his hole at all. With Blizzard warnings in effect and 25-35cm of snow forecasted, Willie's hole is going to be buried pretty deep. A toasty warm burrow is where I will be hunkered in tomorrow, but I will listen to see what Willie has to say. 

What think you? Is there any end in sight to this Winter?

-15C

Too cold for man or beast!

and that is my six words

for a too cold 

Saturday

(that is 5F for my

American 

friends

Brr!)

Contemplation

In these long, dark days of January

the world spins slower

more pointedly

facing us in

directions

of soul-

ful

C

O

N

T

E

M

PLA

TION

~

Winter in Canada

It’s January.

Snow at 9 AM;

Expected  5-10 cm of white stuff.

Not as much as last month, but still…

I  even shoveled the driveway.

At Costco

I saw a guy in shorts

WTF!

^^^

I don't get it.

We live in Canada.

It is cold here in the winter

Pretty much all the time!

whatever...

I think I will go see what Monkey Man

is up to on his Sunday 160 today.

The Aftermath

The snow has past,

for now we pray.

I believe it'll last

till Christmas day.

Up to my waist

in the deep back yard.

You should see this place!

I might be forever scarred.

But the sun came out

And schools re-opened for play.

So I just had to run about

For kid-free retail therapy!

Yippee,

55 words to you

from me

to throw at G-Man's flash party crew

A Winter's Day

Late last night

on my little side street

sat a city truck

with flashing lights replete.

My heart it sank

as questions began to mount.

What was going on?

What fresh hell could I now count?

 Early this morning

my fears were realized.

 A knock on the door

brought bad news, I surmised.

"The water'll be turned off,"

a man clad in orange declared.

A water main break;

The cause of this new despair.

So we watched from the window

as a hole was dug.

Morning entertainment; cool!

For another snowy day funk.

Well, on the seventh day of December

the numbers began to add.

Would you care to do the math

for my wintry woes comrade?

12 yellow flags

11 Tonnes of dirt (or something like that to fill the hole in the road afterwards)

10 AM - When I went out with coffees (and to survey the damage)

9 AM - When they started to dig

8 AM - When they knocked on the door

7th Heaven - for me as they plowed the driveway & brushed off the van (in appreciation for coffee)

6 Big orange pylons

5 City workers

4 Cups of coffee (plus 1 tea for the poor guys stuck out in the snow)

3 G-Tel vans (line locating crew)

2 City trucks

and 1 Back hoe to dig the hole...

 Happy Winter Days my friends!
Oh, and I am jumping on early for One Shot Wednesday this week. Enjoy!!

Snow Day

I am calling in a snow day. Today was day two of a snow squall that has settled over my fair city. We have received upwards of 30+cm already and they are calling for that again in the next 24hrs. The schools across the region were closed and we were grounded at home. That being said, I call my own snow day. No work done today, aside from cookie baking & the proverbial dinner. A rousing game of Trouble filled in the afternoon before we went out to shovel again. Now the kids are abed and after the last 36 hours, I think I shall call it quits as well. Be well, stay safe and bless you all my friends for all that you offer me.