+17c today, the thermometer in the sun reads 22c. There are all manner of bugs out, moths, beetles and noncarnivorous flies.


Every spring it just boggles my mind that the ice remembers every snowmobile track, despite all the snow and rain.




It was so windy yesterday that the aluminum dock blew off the ramp.



Son of a beach!



The buoy that marks the water pump is now floating in it's own personal hole. The ice is still 10 to 12 inches thick, with about half of that being good solid ice.

Two of the Little Tomiko Lake Ice Pool judges check out the ice.




This rabbit has been sitting on this spot for the past couple of days. Good thing that we are keeping Kita tied up.

NEWS FLASH !!!!


Well, I guess it'll be a long, long, long time before Richie and Leanne come for a visit as they will have to start a college fund soon. TT and Grasshopper say congratulations Leanne! Razor and I will just have to try and remember the friend that we used to have.

Ben, Razor found another sled for you to get towed on.

So, you might be wondering how our snow is doing. Just fine, thank you very much. We woke up to about 10 cms of snow this morning, a far cry from the 20-25 that they were calling for.

Kita was so excited, he ran laps around the house.







Snow angels.

I read in the paper that this was the worst winter in years, but it's been an easy one here. I bet that Razor can count on the fingers of one hand('cause that's the way that he counts) how many times that he used the grader to plow the road. Beep, beep, time to punch down the bread.

PS. I saw two seagulls harrassing a bald eagle on Thursday. Another reason to dislike gulls.

+4.5c and raining cats and dogs. An hour ago, a thunder storm passed west and north of us. We also had a storm pass by Monday night.

A flock of geese yesterday.

Snow is almost gone from the front hill.

We also had 2 ducks yesterday, along with juncoes, tree sparrows, white throated sparrows, grackles and a grouse. I think Grasshopper got a pic or two of the grouse.

Changes in the last 24 hours. Temp stayed in the plus range over night. Saw two "scout" geese looking for open water this morning. No fire in the wood stove over night.


Two robins in the tall tree on the left. (Put on your bifocals)

A while later, four red wing black birds in the same tree.



What's left of the ramp off of the lake.

And there are a bunch of sea gulls here already.

No, Sis, I'm not looking forward to bug season. I'm just resigned to the fact, like death and taxes, or, death taxes.

One hour after the last post, the temp dropped and we almost had a white out.




The next morning was one of those "Burl Ives" kind of scenes.

Even the bunnies rejoiced the clean white snow.



The frozen wake of the Yammie.

We went to town on Thursday and are all stocked up for slushy season. Yesterday I took out the tree line to Bedrock, so the ice may as well go away so we can get the boat and dock in. OUCH! I guess my time is up! Later...

OH, the horror, OH the devastation!

The terrible damage that 1.5 inches of rain can cause.








Slush and water are ankle deep on the lake.

I guess we should go to town this week and bulk up for slushy season, before we are reduced to eating "chicken chow meow". Ya gotta be watch out for the hair balls.

Grasshopper, TT and I went on a little hike across Sand Lake on Wednesday. We found these nests on a little island. I think that they might be Great Blue Herons because we see them fly back and forth from that direction. What do you think, Joseph?

We found a nest on the ground.




And these bones.

We're having a snow day!

Yup, we've got an Alberta clipper ripping through with the promise of 10 cms of snow. Thanks Jay! I know that you wouldn't appreciate it any way. It would just clash with your saddle shoes and double bogeys.


I went speckled trout ice fishing with Razor, TT and St. Pattie last weekend on a small unnamed little lake, back and behind the middle of nowhere. We only kept fish that had been too hurt, and released the rest.

That's all for now, we're going out to make the last snow angels of the year!

Even though it was -17 this morning, with a wind chill of -25, I think that we are on the nonslippery slope to bug season. The sun is packing a lot of heat and snow is starting to melt. There is still over two feet of ice on the lake, except for in the narrows, where I went wading yesterday while checking out where to put the solar lights.

Yesterday I installed some sea gull deterents on rocks around the lake. This one is to the left of Richie's lot, so that who ever gets to use the place this summer can get a good night's sleep.

A new and improved solar light with reflectors for gull sht rock.


Some moral support for Doc Shaw's pet owl.



The sun now sets well north, out of camera range from the front steps.

That's it for today, except, when have I heard that before Richie?

We went ice fishing a couple of times this past week. Here are Brian, Marg, TT and Grasshopper. No fish were caught, the "Brian Skunk Curse" fell on everybody.




Here, everybody is on the end of Richie's unused dock. We are seriously thinking of giving Richie's visit visa to Ben, if Ben can get a sled that can move under it's own power.

The next day Grasshoper and I went fishing by ourselves. Grasshopper with her first perch through the ice.

The catch of the day, or morning.

Last evening we went to the Fowler's for a party to celebrate Jose's 32 birthday, (new math), and a going away party for Jamie who is going "down under". Here, the guys are at the outdoor bar.

Bess is growing up fast.






Bryan's dog Nell, who is Bess's sister.

Chowing down on too much food. I think everybody waddled home, Thanks Jose.

Sun coming up this morning.

It's been a quiet week. (they don't call her Chatty Cathy for nothing).

Saturday I took a day off from working on fire wood and went to Frasertown to give old man Razor a hand with his .... fire wood. Due to technical difficulties, not allot got done.

I call this cheating.

We had strong winds on Saturday that blew all the snow off the lake down to Toronto. (chuckle, chuckle). Kita had a hard time running on the lake, so I finally tackled him and put him on the Yammie. He was SOOO embarrassed. He thinks that the only dogs that ride on snow machines are sissy little rat dogs.


When winter starts I shovel snow and make a snow ramp from the lake to my property. It's about five feet high and survives traffic and rain. the ice cracked and the crack came up through the ramp.

Happy 40th Birthday Mrs. C.

And you didn't think that that new math would come in handy.

The batteries are very happy with the sun and the reflection off of the lake.




Another sunset pic.



We got a couple of cm's of blowing snow yesterday. Kita chillaxes.



Kita with his desert.

George with his desert.



Snow waves. You bring the skis and I,ll tow you. You won't need a life jacket.



So, how have I been making out, all alone for a week? Let's see, supper the first night, left overs. The next night, left overs with a side order of left overs. The third night, different left overs. Tonight I'll have to find something to cook, chicken wings, I think. You probably noticed that there wasn't any KFC this time. I think that Doc Shaw probably frowns on over dosing on FLAVOUR! The past few days I've been loading up the wood shed, to make more room on the pallets for MORE wood. That's it for now, dial-up has disconnected about ten times. GRRRRRR!

PS- Tomorrow, don't forget to put the clocks ahead and change the batteries in your smoke and CO detectors.

I know, it's been awhile since the last update. No, it hasn't taken this long to recover from Men's weekend. Actually, I've been holding my breath, waiting to see if Richie's boss would give him some time off. The citizens of Little Tomiko are seriously considering revoking Richie's visitor visa.

It's been a gorgeous week. Lots of sun and temps down to -30 with the wind chill. I have used the nice weather to get the last nickel's worth from my firewood cutting permit. It's been a lot of work, cutting, hauling with the snow machine, splitting by hand, and stacking, almost three bush cords. Here, Grasshopper stacks the last piece. Today will be a "mental health" day. Sometimes I wish I had a hot tub.

We got a couple inches of snow over night, but the sun is trying to burn a hole through the clouds this morning.



Whiskey jacks are waiting for breakfast.


Darren, next year it will be YOUR job to audit Jamie's score card. Good luck with that!