End of January in Sight!!

My least favorite month of the year is almost over. Only that one bit of really cold weather....and we survived it!! The past week has been warm (0 C for the high and maybe -3 C at night). Now it is cooling off, but nothing too bad.
Had lots of people out for afterschool pottery. The youngest was 10 months. He spent most of his time in his Nannie's backpack. There are two 'littles', one 17 mo. and one 18 mo. They both are making things. It is amazing how quickly they start to learn to manipulate clay.
It is lots of fun to come out and socialize while you make things. There is a really nice atmosphere to our clay space. We have people just dropping in to talk and see what everyone is making.
Although seeing a deer is not thought of as exotic in most places, it is here. they have just recently colonized our area. 10,000 years ago there was a mile of ice and now trees, people, deer etc. Actually there were 4 deer in the heard crossing the road. My camera batteries failed from the cold after the first photo!

Keeping Warm at -40 and Below......

We are just coming off one of those dreaded cold spells. We only got to -42, but had neighbors down to -47. In Fahrenheit degrees that is somewhere in the -60 range. We are on a 5% south slope about 80 feet above the lake so the cold air rolls past down into the hole. Also we are getting some sun in the afternoon and it is shining right into the house!!!! Everyday is getting longer, yippee!
As you can see, we have a nice wood pile. My favorite Pacific energy stove cranks out the heat. We have to hang around close to the stove adding more wood every couple of hours. Luckily for us the cold weather only lasted a few days. It is only -29 now....heat wave!!

Afterschool January 6, 2011

Today it is snowing again. Can't see the mountains. Good day to be inside making things. Looks to be getting cold again too. What can I say??? It is January. Some photos from yesterday afternoon. We had a good time and stayed until 5 pm.

First Sunrise of 2011

These photos were taken around 9;30 am on January 1, 2011. Yes, the days are starting to get a bit longer. 97 seconds today! We have had a Chinook, so good bye to the -35 etc. At least for a little while. I am sure we will see their return sometime this month. Meanwhile we are enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.
Happy New Year and all the best to my customers, faithful readers and friends.