In praise of hot flashes

I've spent most of my life being cold.  Now, I've reached the age when I have hot flashes, and I just love them, especially in winter.  I'll often wait inside until a hot flash hits, then run outside to do some chores.  The feel of the icy air on my skin is exquisite--something I never thought I'd say.

Today, I saw Monty waiting near the well, which is his way of asking for a drink, so I went out to give him some water.  This is a job that Floyd always does with me.  He likes me to throw the last bit of water in the bucket for him so he can chase and bite it.

I carried a drink to Monty...

but it seems he really only wanted a kiss!

Wild Mountain Woman

Charles is doing a new music video for Laura Kelsey.  The song is called "Wild Mountain Woman", and Laura wrote it after moving here from the city and being inspired by the women of the Cariboo.

You have to be pretty tough to live out here. Even the most pampered women still need to deal with long nights, frigid temperatures, icy roads, and power outages.  There are women in my neighbourhood who run traplines, hunt with bows, operate excavators or fix their own tractors, and tend livestock at -40, on top of having the more traditional "womanly" skills of gardening, preserving food, or knitting.

About 30 of our local wild mountain women met for the filming. All of them are tough, resourceful, and enthusiastic.  We met at a local lake, where we had a great time shooting the video and then had a bit of a party, eating chili by a bonfire.  The whole afternoon, we were joined by a family of otters who popped up through a hole in the lake ice to eat fish and watch us.

View the video here: http://youtu.be/j3BnOz4gH4U

The joys of shovelling

My routine changed suddenly with the first serious snowfall (6") yesterday.  With a sigh of relief, I abandoned all pretense of finishing yard and garden projects and retreated into my warm, cozy house.  Of course, I do have to go out occasionally to feed the animals, and to shovel snow.

Some day, maybe, I'll set up my life so that I don't need to go anywhere all winter and I won't need to keep the driveway clear.  I could also make enough money to hire someone to do it for me.  Or maybe not: if I didn't have all that shovelling out in the crisp, fresh air and sunshine, I might get out of shape and depressed from the lack of light.

I started my day by clearing around all the gates and making paths to the barn and the hay bales.  After a leisurely breakfast, I did the driveway and paths to the well, woodshed, and outhouse.  (Charles did help.)  By that time, the sun was blazing and I was in shirtsleeves.  I had to take lots of breaks to play with the dogs and eat snacks. What a nice day; I love snow.