With all the snow that we got yesterday I decided to pack down the trail to the main road. I'll also give you directions on how to get to my place. First drive down the Notman Forest access road.
Next, turn on to this road.

When you see this trapper shack, take the next right.

This is the start of my driveway, only 3 klicks to go!
Watch out for hazards!
Every estate has to have a gate. Youv'e made it!

Woke up to 35 cm of snow this morning. For awhile I thought I owed an appology to George Dubbya.The snow was light and dry and easy to shovel. Kinda looks like I have a snow blower, doesn't it. I do. Then around 11:oo it started to rain, so I decided to shovel off the roof. Heavy, wet maritime type snow that stuck to the shovel. Almost threw the shovel off of the roof a couple of times.
P.S. Kita couldn't find his T bone.

Kind of a windy, blowing snow day. About 8" so far and no sign of it stopping yet. So I made bread again. Alot better than the last time. I think Aunt Bessie might approve of this batch.

While I was BBQ'ing my supper, I noticed this fog coming out of a small bay.

I believe in balance in the world. Since vegans eat my share of vegies, thank you, I think I should eat their share of meat. But you notice I did have spuds and onions. Are mushrooms classed as a vegie?

You call this winter? If this keeps up, all the snow birds will stay in Canada. Maybe I should forward this picture to George Bush since he doesn't believe that global warming is happening. Looks like a good evening to have a BBQ for supper. Back to reality tomorrow, they are calling for 15 cm of snow.

Today was laundry day. Again, you might say "big deal". You suburbanites make me laugh. Where do you think your water comes from, the sky? Oh, never mind. I don't have a winterised water system yet. So I have to haul my water from the lake. I have a 60 gallon holding tank for showers and dishes. But the washing machine uses 20 gallons per wash and 20 for the rinse cycle for a large load. Today I did 2 LARGE loads. To get water I go down to the lake and drill a hole. I use a bilge pump to fill the containers. I then take the containers home and use the bilge pump to fill the holding tank. I had 10, 5 gallon containers on the sleigh. You might ask "Did you get that 500 pounds of water up the hill?" Yep, sure did........the first time. On the second trip the "poor" (insert your favorite cuss word) old deaf dog, who was running in front of me, stopped to look and see if I was still coming. So I had to stop half way up the hill. The hill was pretty chewed up after I finished getting unstuck. So the next 2 trips I only carried 20 gallons per trip. Now you know how I keep in such good shape. Hey! Round is a shape!

Weird weather this morning. Temp at -9 c, wind howling and fog. The fog froze to the screens on the deck. The first picture is a view from the inside through a screen on the side of the deck that I could actually see through. The screens on the front were completely obscured.

Went to bed last night with the temperature at -5 c. Woke up to -23 c. You hear lots of strange noises when the temp falls so quickly. The cabin thumps. The vinyl siding snaps, the bush cracks and the lake booms. When I was outside taking this picture, excuse the gloved finger, the lake boomed 3 times. It sounds like the explosions you hear when they are blasting using those tire mats. It looks like we'll have a good solar day for a change.

This picture was supposed to show Kita's tracks on the snow machine
track. We went to town today. Now, you might say big deal, but when
you live in the middle of nowhere it's not as simple as hopping in your
vehicle and going. First you have to get your snow machine out of the
garage and hook up your sleigh and load up what ever you need to take,
ex: empty gas cans. Then you have to put on your snowmobile suit. Then
go across the lake and transfer stuff to your truck. Then take off your
suit and put on your Sunday go to meetin' coat and shoes. Then when
you get back from town, you do everything in reverse, except your
usually bringing back a lot more than you took, ex: full gas cans and
groceries.

















Very fine snow crystals in the air makes for a hazy day.

It's been snowing all day today, just light granular

stuff. They were calling for 5-10 cm, but we only

have about 2 so far. Today was another good day.

I have a tankless water heater that's been having

problems since I got back. Today I took it off the

wall and tore the whole thing apart. I found the

inlet screen, (which you can't get at when it's on the

wall), was dirty. I also found a solder ball plugging

a venturi. It's working like new so far.

Took a drive around the lake today to clean
solar panels at some friends places. Kita will
not ride on the snow machine or in a sleigh,
so he runs every where I go. This is what you
look like after 11 kilometers.
P.S, I survived the bread test

Made bread today. 2 white and 2 raisin.
Yeah, I know they are a little small, I
overestimated the size of the pans. I'll let
you know how they turned out, if I survive
the taste test.














Very windy today, snowmobile tracks from
yesterday have disappeared.

Sunset in paradise.

Woke up this morning to 5 cm of fresh powdery snow.
Temperature at -5c. I went to town and got some groceries
and new carbide wear bars for my snow machine which I
installed when I got back home. Day over, just like that.

Where's that mouse?














This looks like a good spot.


What's that stupid cat up to now?

Foggy morning. A view across the lake, really.

A very foggy morning. Temperature at 1c. George even wanted to go outside for the first time since we came home. Kita was not happy to share his outdoors with the cat.

The power of the sun, finally. The first picture of the solar panels was taken at 9:00 am after removing a layer of snow. About a half inch of ice remained on the panels. After about an hour in the sun, all the ice was gone. Power to the people!

Meet George (cat) and Kita (Husky). George is in his usual position since he spent 35 days in a kennel while I was on my "retirement" tour. George is about 20lbs and his normal disposition is not very nice. He hates people, especially kids. His motto would be "if it moves, eat it...if it doesn't move, eat it". Kita has also been very mellow since returning from our trip. He loves people, especially kids.

Today was a good day. A couple of days ago, my generator died. It was about -25c so I figured that moisture might have gotten into the gas. I changed the gas with no change. So then I changed the spark plug, but the boot was frozen on the plug, and no room to work, it took a whole afternoon to get it off. No change again, so I attempted to drain the carburetor. The only problem is that the carb is buried under a bunch of covers with no room for tools and frozen fingers. With it being warm today, I was able to get at the carb and found that both screws that hold the carb on were falling out. Retightened and everything was AOK. Being off the grid I rely on solar power for most of my electrical needs. However I need the generator for pumping water, laundry, etc. I also use the genset to charge my batteries when they get too low. We haven't had very many good solar days in the past week or so, so getting the gen set working is a real bonus.

The lake has turned into a slushy mess again. If I need to go to town, I'll have to snowmobile around the lake to my truck, 20.6km.

Yesterday morning there was a beautiful sunrise and temp was -15C. Then late in the afternoon we got freezing rain. This morning the temp is +2C and everything is covered in ice. As you can tell by the picture of the solar panels, with the rain drops on the lens, it is still raining....Check that, it just turned to snow.

This blog site is a journal of life at little Tomiko Lake, just north of North Bay Ontario.