Dec 21-25 - quiet time

Quiet time, that is, before the storm !

As usual, we have a quiet Christmas with just the two of us.  That's always the way and then the troops start arriving.

We cut and dragged a tree across the lake.  There's enough snow that I wasn't sure that I'd be able to get the 4-wheeler back up to the barn by myself and didn't want to be faced with winching it up.  Dragging is hard on the back !  We need a BIG toboggan !

The tree came in the back door again; which is easier than the front.  We rolled the carpet to the side, stood the tree up against the loft, got the base on it and inched it across the floor to the front (lakeside) door.  It was covered with snow not so much from the dragging, since it was encased in a tarp, but from the snowfall the day before.  A wet/dry vac sure comes in handy to mop up the flood of water, needles and dirt. 

Oh yes, guess where mosquitoes hide when it gets cold - in those trees, I guess.  I killed a mosquito in the bathroom. 

If I have my dates correct, Sandy went to Sudbury on the 21st, which is an all day affair.  I puttered around the house and gave Cassie some exercise, of course (every day).  With a whole wide expanse of lake in front of us, she's enjoying the chuck-it.  The 23rd, Sunday, I had Mass in Britt.  The 24th, Monday - Christmas Eve - I had Mass in Loring.  The big news is that they're going to try and sell that property and share premises with the United Church.  That makes a whole lotta sense. 

I've been doing some ice fishing; 3 edible pike so far and one little one that was barely 12" long who went back down the hole.  "Come back in 5 years, said I". 

Somewhere in that timeframe I installed the replacement UV filter.  I brought that up from the US. 

The roads were a mess the day that Sandy went to Sudbury.  Osprey had been icy and then we got wet snow - the worst combination.  I had a trip to Loring that morning to pick up minnows before Sandy left.  522 was also slow going, like stay under 50 kmh slow going.  Snow tires help but only so much.  I followed the snow plow back; he was only doing about 40 kph.  Laying down salt as he went, 522 was better for Sandy by 9am.  Osprey was still an issue but the temperature dropped late in the day and it was much better.

That's about it.  I was going to head into Loring today for a few errands including taking wine bottles into the LCBO but checking online, I found that they are closed so that trip is postponed. 

Onward !