Lately the weather here has flip-flopped back and forth between winter and spring.  It warms up a bit and the snow starts to melt and then it cools  and everything freezes up again.

This has created some very interesting ice and snow effects.  I call this one the icicle invasion.  These icicles are coming down off the roof of Tom’s cabin and heading straight for the windows and walls.

Tom calls them Paxton Valley Ice Cubes.  Need an ice-cube for a cool drink?  You don’t need a fridge…just step outside and break off an icicle.

Tom had some company yesterday and with all this beautiful snow they arrived on skidoos.  We love our dogs up here…they go everywhere with us.

Our sled dogs don’t pull or push…they ride!

We had a snow day on Thursday.  It started snowing around five in the morning and didn’t stop until late in the afternoon.  Expected visitors stayed home and didn’t brave the roads. The daily walk was a shorter one, Emma struggled to make her way and ended up covered with snowballs. Odin had no problem, he was in his element.

Snowed again overnight but just a skiff.  Company coming today for fun in the snow and hot dogs.

I have been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables lately and so far the only vegetables I seem able to eat in abundance are potatoes (it doesn’t matter if they come in a big yellow bag labelled Lay’s does it?) and corn (popped with butter of course).

I was chatting with my friend Amy  the other day and she mentioned the exceptional nutritional value of kale and asked if I had ever eaten it.  To me kale was just the decorative purple plant in other people’s gardens.  She said she had been eating kale chips.  Kale tossed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and baked in the oven.

So the next time I went grocery shopping I picked up a bunch of this pretty purple vegetable and carted it home.  Tonight I was going to make a big batch of popcorn and then remembered I was going to eat more vegetables  I didn’t feel like taking the time bake the kale chips so I just stir fried some with an orange pepper in olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  I added a serving of lentil stew that I had made the other day and sat down to try this new vegetable.

Surprise!  It tastes delicious.  Next up…kale chips!

Woke up this morning to the tail end of a snowstorm.  There was about two inches of beautiful fresh snow.  Everything seemed cleaner, fresher and the  bright sunshine made it all the more so.

Our daily walk today took us through the woods and down to the meadow.  It took my breath away…the view not the hike.

All that clean, fresh snow inspired Emma to take a snow bath.

It was fun to witness the pure joy she was feeling rolling around and around in the snow.  Over and over again she flopped down and rolled until she was completely covered.

And I was filled with joy as well.  It’s not always clean, fresh snow that she takes such pleasure in rolling in.

]]> http://morrisbrookfarm.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/snow-bath/feed/ 2 junemurphy 011 012 003 005 http://morrisbrookfarm.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/valentine-tradition/ http://morrisbrookfarm.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/valentine-tradition/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:08:24 +0000 Morris Brook Farm http://morrisbrookfarm.wordpress.com/?p=131 ]]>

Every year around Valentines Day, Mom would make a big  batch of cookies.  They were always the same, heart shaped, pink icing, some with white coconut.  It was a tradition.

When I worked, she would always make extra and I would take a cookie tin full to share with my co-workers at coffee break.  They were always well received and became known as “June’s Mom’s Valentines  Cookies”.

Eventually, as Mom grew older, my sister Mary and I would help her make the cookies.  Then as time went on, it became Mom helping Mary and I.  The last few years before she passed away, it would just be Mary or I (sometimes both) making the Valentine’s Cookies and sharing them with Mom.

Now Mary or I make them and share them with our  family members.  This year Mary made them, and as usual they are beautiful and taste just like Mom’s.

It’s a tradition…maybe one you want to start for your family.

June’s Mom’s Valentines Cookies

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Mix into crumbs

Beat:

1 cup whipping cream

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together, roll out and cut into heart shapes.  Bake @ 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Let cool, ice and enjoy.

The road I live on is only maintained publicly for just over three kilometres.  The remaining three kilometres is maintained in the winter  by my brother Tom.  He has a tractor with a blade and whenever the snow gets too deep he goes out and spends hours plowing.  The road isn’t a wide one to start with and once it snows it gets narrower.

After the first big snowfall this year, and after Tom’s first snow plow of the road he gave me some good advice.  The road is narrow, it looks wider now because the snow has been plowed into the ditches.  Don’t drive too close to the edge or you’ll end up in a ditch full of snow.

That advice stuck with me and whenever I drove up and down I paid close attention to how close I was to the edge.  I noticed tracks of other drivers who headed into the ditch and was so glad it wasn’t me.

Today I headed down to the store to get my mail and pick up some Pear Cider.  It is Friday after all.  I had only gone about a kilometre when I felt my tires being pulled to the right.  Yikes!  I had become complacent and wasn’t paying attention.  Not a problem I thought, I have a four wheel drive.  I do…but I didn’t have it in four wheel drive at the time.  I did some quick shifting (as I’m slipping further and further into the ditch) but it was too late.  I was sunk in the snow.  Two wheels still on the road and the other two buried in the ditch.

Great!  Just what Tom told me would happen!  Maybe I could still get out without anyone (especially Tom) knowing about this.

I tried to go forward but couldn’t.  Then I thought maybe I could reverse out the way I came in.  Tried that…didn’t move at all.  I got out and checked to make sure my wheels were straight.  They weren’t…so I corrected that and tried again.  Ah….there was a bit of movement.  And so I began…back a foot or two…forward a foot or two.  I continued this (probably about 5 minutes but felt like 50) until I had enough space to gain a bit of momentum.  I noticed I was getting further going in reverse so I checked my mirror to make sure there wasn’t anyone coming down the road. There wasn’t (so glad I live on a “road less travelled” and no one was witnessing this).

I went forward as far as possible and then back down my tracks in reverse.  Halfway back I cranked the wheel and felt my tires begin to climb back up onto the road.  Then nothing.  Forward again and then back in reverse. I cranked the wheel again and felt the tires gripping and moving up the bank and all the way onto the road.

Yes!!!  Success! What a feeling! One last look around to be sure no one had witnessed this and off we went down to the store, all the while thinking “No one will ever need to know about this”.  On the way back I drove past the ugly tracks in the ditch.  A physical reminder of the consequences of my complacency.

I decided no…I should share this story. This is a reminder to everyone…pay attention…don’t become complacent about anything…there may be consequences.

It feels so good to be sitting in my recliner in front of the fire writing this…and not waiting for someone to come and pull me out of the ditch.

The Grey is the new Liam Neeson movie that has just been released.  I am looking forward to seeing it but that’s not what this post is about.

The Grey describes what the morning looks like here today.  I went out to sweep off the solar panels this morning and the air was so fresh and still I couldn’t bring myself to go back inside.   So I grabbed a coffee, my camera and walking stick and said to Emma “Let’s go!”

We walked across the field and everywhere I looked I saw shades of grey.  Grey mist coming down the mountain, grey sky,  grey tint to the snow.

Grey is one of my favorite colors.

Emma and I walked up to the south fence line yesterday afternoon.  The snow was deep, at least a foot, and we both struggled to make it up the hill.  The view from the top was worth it though.

I spend so much time in and around my cabin and have become very familiar with my yard.  I have decisions to make before spring comes.  Where will the fence go? Where will I plant  the garden?  What about some sheep? Chickens? Maybe a donkey? An old horse I could sedately ride on the trails.

Standing up on the hill looking down with a bird’s-eye view I get a different perspective . It is easier to visualize what it could look like. I think I will spend more time up here, looking down, before I make any decisions.

Several weeks ago I had dinner at my neighbors. Neighbour has a different meaning here.  It’s not the folks across the street, or a handshake’s distance across a fence.  Here my nearest neighbours are three kilometres to the west  and eight kilometres to the east.

At this dinner Julia served nectarine preserves and homemade yogurt for dessert.  It was delicious! Later that evening when we had a moment alone in the kitchen, I asked her about the yogurt.  She immediately reached into her cupboard and presented me with some yogurt starter and assured me it wasn’t hard to do. I accepted the challenge and came home with the yogurt starter.

Well she was right…it isn’t hard to make…but like other things up here getting it right is a bit of an art.

You heat the milk to a certain degree, then cool it to a certain degree, add the yogurt starter, and then keep it warm at a certain degree for at least eight hours.  Sounds easy doesn’t it?  It’s the certain degree that gets tricky…too hot and it won’t work.  Too cool and it won’t work. And keeping a constant temperature for eight hours?

I’m not going to say my first batch failed… I learned a lot… but I didn’t eat yogurt that week.

Yesterday I tried again.  A little wiser this time.  Keeping the temperature even is a lot easier when you use an insulated thermos! (tip from Julia)

After eight hours I removed the milk (potential yogurt) from the warm thermos and put it in the fridge to chill overnight.

This morning I opened the jar and Voila! I had my own home made yogurt.

PS. It’s very hard to photograph yogurt.