Very cold tonight

After a long spell of unusually nice weather we are finally back to winter. Tonight's low is around -29C. The winds today would take your breath away.Good time to have some work inside the house, the wiring is all completed and the insulation all in, just a couple of more things and the vapour barrier will be on sometime early next week.
As I haven't been out too much I was playing with the amarillis plant again.

Stepping back before starting the reno

I should have posted some before pictures of the dining room before I started ripping it apart. I did take them just before I did. An overall view of the dining room and the old pictures painted in oil by Alex Pope. The story I heard was that he had hurt his leg in the winter and couldn't get out to get more canvas for his art so he painted them on the walls. These were done in the early fiftys one in 1951 and the other 1954 so he must have hurt his leg several times. The pictures are all that remain as they were painted right on the drywall which was nailed to the studs with nails just about every inch and half. I tried by they just crumbled apart.

Frosty morning yesterday

Out early yesterday as I missed the same conditions as the day before. Lots of frost in the treetops especially around the Montreal River.

Here is another picture for Gert.

Great temperature and lots of sun

Lots of small jobs done outside and on the reno, all the insulation in and onto the electrical and the vapour barrier soon. Yes, the pictures painted by Alex Pope in the early fiftys on the walls are gone, I tried to save them but the drywall just kept crumbling apart.

Praticing with the muslin background and the flashes, here is one of the amarillis tree I am growing.

Off to town today, ptui!!!

You all know how much I don't like going to town, well today was necessary as I was running out of staples. The only way that makes it feel better is to take some pictures along the way. This is one of an old house along the way, I posted this house not far after starting the blog. The last time I was past it looked as if it was going fall down so I thought I'd better get another shot of it before it does.

Working inside today

This AM I dyed a 8'x12' piece of muslin into a studio backdrop using a pewter gray colour. The muslin was all bunched up and tied in a ball when I put it in the dye this gives it a mottled colour that should look good for portraits. I am starting to get into flash and learning some studio methods that may come in handy or not. One has to keep their minds working you know. Pictures to follow.

In the PM working on taking some of the garbage from the renovation to the dump and on the way spotted this ice wall way up the outcrop at Wigwam Hill east of Lost Lake. The last few posts have pictures and video taken by my new Canon G11 it is a point and shoot camera with some of the features of an DSLR, so far I am very pleased with it.

More trail cleaning today

Paul and I clipped and trimmed our way around the trail again. The main reason as I mentioned before is the lack of snow. All the short branches are sticking up through the snow and snag the webbing on your shoes mostly without warning and sometimes ending up in a face plant or turtle position. No pics today but one from the last time out.

Trail Open

Paul and I went out about 1:00PM today and finished opening up the north trail. Lots of brush cutting through the brushy areas. With all the rain we had last summer the undergrowth thickened right up. There are still some areas that need trimming but that's a good start. What is really needed is another foot of snow to cover all the branches up. Bright and sunny all the time out, we finally got back around 4:00PM.

Breaking trail

Started on my winter renovations today by emptying out the dining room, I am now eating in the back porch. Took some wood trim off and prepared to set up a barrier to keep the dust from travelling through the house. Enough of that, nice and sunny today so I thought I would break a little of the snowshoe trail.
Where I had cleaned up before the snow came it was pretty good going after that it was hard going as there isn't quite enough snow to cover up all the sticks and branches. Only got as far as the beaver pond about a third of the way. Tomorrow sounds like it will be warmer but that may not be good either.

Back to the horse loggers

Nice and sunny today so out to the dump with a pile of trash and down the Beauty Lake Road to see the horse logging. This is my second trip in, the first was about the end of November and I promised to bring them a disc with all the pictures I took that day.

Paul came with me today and found that they had moved quite a way down the cut. We walked in and found the couple that I had photographed last time and gave them the discs I had.

Maxenne (spelling?) was the horse that was pulling today she is 5 years old and weighs a ton. The loggers had raised her from birth. As we watched them pulling the puller would hardly speak to the horse and you could see her move in what ever direction she wanted her to go. The horse knew exactly what was required of her with few commands.

A bit warmer today

Finally warmed up a bit today but still more snow and windy. Cold temps during the nights should be good for thickening the ice. Cleaned the snow off the woodshed roof and the back porch, they don't have much pitch on them so I like to clean them off once in awhile.

Todays pic is of the East Montreal River south of the bridge taken last week.

Another cold wind chill day

Didn't stray to far today, wind chill very cold. Watched the frost growing over the front porch windows.

New Year

The New Year bought in some snow and -20C weather. This will put some meat on the ice. This is how the first day of the year ends, snowing, cold and bleak.