Time to sign in. It will keep my mind off Jen and her interview at UVic for a job. Best of luck to you, HB.

I am out of the Pantry. About bloody time. All the mudding, taping and sanding is finished. I've learned lots and hope I can take what I've learned into the bathroom which is next on the list. We've asked a local (sort of ) guy to give us an estimate on doing the open area ceiling and the bedroom. He hasn't phoned us back yet so I'm still hoping we may be able to afford it. I can whine my way through the walls but doing even the smallest of ceilings just about killed me....physically. So off to buy some primer tomorrow and then some paint on Wednesday. Wahoo! Now to choose the colours....erp. How about "Fragrant Cloves" for the wall and "Allspice" for the shelves.

We had just a little bit of snow two days ago. Our shovelling skills are getting stale. The colours have changed here as the trees have lost their snow and ice. More sun is predicted for the next week. I think the seasons are all mixed up. In summer we'll probably have rain and the gumbo that comes with it.

The roads were finally graded so that the washboard goes parallel to the road and not at right angles. The Mahood Lake road was hell. It was taking us 3 times longer to drive it because we wanted to protect the car from shaking apart. I would rather not be strutless again.

There's a little mouse that is skittering around the house and down the paths; you can tell it's a mouse as you can see his little tail marks in the snow. More deer and fox around. Jody has seen a couple of white tails and more Moose plus a mink! He's up much earlier taking Sandi to work so he sees more animals.

A neighbour is feeding 9 cats and we are going to check to see if one of them is Digger. Highly unlikely but Gib seems to think he's feeding a smoke cat. We shall see. If not, Gib seems up for letting us have a cat.

It's another brilliant day with bright sunshine, clean, clear blue sky! The snow is melting as the temperature is at and above 0 these days. It's nice to be able to open the bedroom window and not have ice build on it so that I can't shut it again in the morning. I'm so particular about fresh air at night. It's so claustrophobic without it.

Bill is working on the vanity this week. He is using cedar strips on plywood and then will stain it mahogany. Today he started on the door jamb for the bedroom. The wood was so warped! It's such a frustrating job to do in the first place without having to use such inferior wood. We will also be ordering the wood for our window trim inside and also the siding! The other major project will be the deck. I'm not sure I'll get what I wanted; it may have to be a watered down version but as long as I have a spot for a chair I'll be happy. We need to get the gutters up too.

Friends are arranging a road trip up here in the summer and we're so excited. We'll be able to show off our home and have lots of hugs, laughs, giggles and gossip. There may be wine involved, hard to tell. Looking forward to the many visits. I know Coral will be up for a while and I really enjoy having her up here with us. We both love this area very, very much.

A colleague wrote to say that everyone was enjoying doing their Performance Plans!! Obviously I was doing something wrong. PPs are not my cup of tea.

We didn't get out snowshoeing this week but we hope for next week. It will be Spring before we know it although the thaw didn't come til mid-May!!!! last year.

Bill is going to enter the ice fishing derby at Deka. It's a fund raiser for the Deka Lake Volunteer FD so it's worth a cold tushy and maybe a fish or two. If it's windy I think he'll pass but if it's a day like today---wow. I shall take pictures and bring tea.

One of our friends is in Dublin right now and posts pictures on FB that just make my heart soar. We had a wonderful time in Ireland. Coral, Bill, Jody, Jen and myself had a great adventure there for a few months. We all loved Dublin and spent many days strolling the streets and sipping "the drink"; so many wonderful memories. And Sheri's photos bring it all back again. Christmas was especially great for us all; it was a brave venture for Jody as he was the one that had to go to school and everything was so different for him....and Coral refused to say goodbye to us at the airport and bravely got on the plane with us.

I am terrified of flying so Coral and Carol would bundle everyone up---4 kids: Kassan, Hayley, Jen and the Jodester, three adults (Bill was already in Ireland searching for a home for us) and we would go to the Vancouver Airport with a picnic and throw a blanket down near the runway (those who were teens in Richmond knew where to go; you probably couldn't get away with it now), cheer when planes would take off and land. We did this for a week and I have to say it worked! Although 8 hours on a plane with an anxious 10 year old and a very active 17 month old child is not recommended. Sigh. We made it but only just! It was a toss-up as to whether the other passengers or myself would throttle one of the kids or both. And the poor young man who sat beside us is probably still telling stories of the baby who insisted on seeing everyone's belly button.

Signing off. A few pics

Note: Jen's interview went well. She was a little stressed as there was a test at the end; something she wasn't aware was going to happen. Seems to be the norm these days with interviews.

Fish in batter and homemade fries. A little wine and a movie---Baker

Just had a wonderful talk with Mad Margaret of the Lunatic. She makes my soul sing.

The Cariboo is covered in white crystals these last few days. Every morning we have woken to hoar frost on the snow, trees, bushes...probably even the resident fox. There are these beautiful bushes that are everywhere (hopefully lots in my back yard once I have one) and they are covered in frost. I don't think the pictures capture how magical they are. Enjoy them.

The pantry is starting to look "finished". I have the ceiling joints to do and some sanding and then I can say "I'm done" and move on to the bathroom. It's been hard work on my hands---one of my fingers on my right hand actually stays in a fist shape and then pops out. That can't be good. Thank god for Arthritis Tylenol. I'm looking forward to sewing once I have some free time and if the mudding kills my hands I'll be mighty ticked off.

Mamma Mia and Shrimp with Noodles (Bill loves this so it's on the menu once a week)

Today was Snowshoe day! Yay! I am going to be so sore~

Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry and many glasses of wine!
Hollywoodland

We love driving along the Horse Lake Road through the Valley into 100 Mile House. The scenery and Light are wonderful.

There have been sightings of Moose along the Road and I always have my antennae up for them. Number one I don't ever want to hit one and number two I'm determined to get a picture.

I was fiddle-farting around when Bill shouted "Moose", slammed on the brakes and reversed...too late, all I saw was a retreating Moose behind. Sigh.

We were on our way into 100 Mile to have the Van-Go's rear struts re-strutted. It took longer than we anticipated, something about a nut....I don't know. Anyways three hours and many dollars later we started on our way home. We were vigilant coming up to where we saw the moose but Bill and I assumed we wouldn't see it. Then the shriek (I don't know who shrieks in that car) "Moose, Moose, Moose!". Bill slammed on the brakes again (he was going the Cariboo speed limit totally not expecting to see her again) and he got three pictures. I stepped out of the car as she was being so co-operative and moved closer; as I did so, Bill pulled over onto very crunchy icy road and I've never seen such a large animal move so fast. So we only got the three gorgeous beautiful photos but we are so proud of ourselves.

We now belong to the Cariboo.

Oven roasted Pork and Apple Sausages to die for (from John the Butcher).
Not sure what the movie is tonight. As we didn't watch Day after Tomorrow I may beg for that. Not Bill's cup of tea.

On our way from Sheridan Lake to Interlakes store I spotted two beautiful huge chocolate-coloured magnificent marvellous perfect Moose(s). It was a cow and her teenager.

Bill has requested that when I see such a sight that screeching Moose, Moose, Moose into his ear whilst he drives is probably not the best way to get him to stop safely. I don't believe I screech.

We watched them for about five minutes meandering slowly across the snow covered bog. Mom finally looked us in the eye and we left. And do you think I had my camera? Do you? Well, do you? Crap. Never, ever again will I leave the house without the picture taking machine.

The snow has settled down a little but I do believe that you should never follow a weather report. It is rarely right. Yesterday was supposed to be an accumulation of 1cm....there was at least 3 inches when we went out to shovel. Last week was supposed to be "light snow"....we shovelled close to 5 inches of snow. But, it gets us out, we do it slowly with lots of time for pictures and talk a lot. I use the West Coast shovel so I don't do as much but it is quite the workout.

Last night we were invited out to dinner with friends of my sister. The couple are retiring up here soon but have been at their lakefront home for over 20 years. There was also a neighbour who has moved up here permanently, they also have been here for about the same amount of time. So we heard lots of stories and had a lovely evening. They were great hosts and there was always lively chat. Their home is a yellow cedar log house (the logs are massive and were all hand picked down at the Coast by Jack), 3 floors and beautifully located on the water. I look forward to more evenings with them as it's nice to be in a home with an actual kitchen. Although my words about card playing may not have me back again. I hope I wasn't too rude. I hate cards...ask my sister.

Van-go, our surfer girl van, is not well. We took her in to see the mechanic and listened whilst figures danced in our heads. Van-Go has been rattling in the right rear since around Christmas and after eliminating everything we could we had to see about repairs. Let's just say we need the car therefore you pay the bucks. Poor girl. The roads are soooooo washboard here it's not surprising that the "struts" go. The one strut is "gone" so both rear struts need to be replaced. The mechanic says it's age; I don't think he was happy to deal with a Japanese make; they drive mainly American hogs up here...we think it's a combination of both: age and wear. The mechanic and his wife are from Germany and were very helpful. The only thing that bothered me was they spoke to each other in German; my Grandmother always spoke German to my mother, Uncle or Aunts when she didn't want the kids to know what the gossip was. I was thinking the same was happening here. Now I really do need to take Van-Go to the Coast to see surf this spring.

Shrimp, Garlic, Red Pepper, Udon Noodles
Movie: Day after tomorrow

The light at Deka is magical. Tonight there was a sunset that made the sky look like it was on fire. It was wonderful. I was in the pantry just minding my own business and wondering how to get one of my daughter's friends up here to do the drywalling when Bill yelled from his office...check out the light. Holy Hannah! I dropped the mud and located the camera. My first venture outside involved flip-flops but after one slip I decided steel toed gumboots were a better choice. No coat, no gloves, no hat. A brave soul determined to get the pictures. Did I mention that I missed out in taking pictures of two magnificent moose? Have I?

Two fat juicy Indian spiced pork chops on a bed of onions and apples.

We had Cam's birthday at our place on Sunday evening. He turned a very respectable 11 years. As he asked for Spaghetti for his dinner that's what I made. In the morning I made the sauce and the garlic bread so that I could have a more relaxed evening. Everyone came over around 6pm and we opened presents....a few model airplanes and a mini-dig with Stegosaurus. As I was cooking the Spaghettini the lights flickered about 6 times. And the power was off! Oh, Bother! Out come the emergency candles and onto the woodstove goes the dinner. Everything turned out pretty well considering.

Sandi had made a wonderful chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and Sour Babies for decoration....oh, my. And I had finally put together Les' Mackenzie Buns just in case Sandi did not have time to do a cake. So on sugar highs we spent the evening telling tales and watching Cam try to put models together by candlelight. Not an easy task it seems.

It has snowed on and off over the last few days, nothing serious, just teasers. We went for a cabin fever drive yesterday as it was brilliant! I love driving around in this light. Of course there are lots of pictures as I am still bedazzled by the snow and the light. Have I mentioned the light?

Cam's Birthday and a day outside

Bill is almost finished the basement, thank goodness, what a miserable chore that has been for him and I am on to mudding and taping again although today's shovelling put that on a back burner. According to the weather forecast this am it was predicting 1-3cm of light snow. And we must have shovelled 10 cm and as we were shovelling another 3cm fell! We decided that we were not going to win this battle. The next check of the network showed Heavy Snow today. I think they just wait to see what is going to happen and then post what they see outside the window. So we are probably in for a very long shovelling session tomorrow. Hopefully Andy comes around and digs us out with his Quad. If not, we just wait till the grader comes and start digging.

Was that not the best Canada Juniors ever! Well, maybe not ever, but it was enjoyable. We rigged up the computer to the 42 inch monster to watch the games. Have I mentioned that I haven't missed cable? At all. But I am a tad addicted to the Internet. Hmmm? One vice for another.

Roasted Vegetables, Wine and Long, Hot Summer

How to celebrate New Year's day...spend hours in the crawlspace taping poly, shovel yet another snowfall from the driveway and bliss----talk to good friends, share travelling in the snow stories and laugh!

The sky last night was amazing---a crescent moon with Venus swinging directly down from it. It was unbelievably beautiful. We were off to pick up Kayla from work at 7pm and then take her to Thunder Ranch. Once you got to the Interlakes store the moon and Venus were just "there"!

Holidays are over for me soon...the mudding calls (actually, I believe it's shrieking) and many other things depend on it being done.

Caramelized Vietnamese Chicken, rice or noodles?...Merlot
Sigh

Happy New Year! What will 2009 bring for us all? Snowshoes, that's what!

Today we are going to try our snowshoes out. The pack is high, the powder looks perfect and it's snowing....again or is that 'still'.

Pictures are sure to follow if I can stay upright. The mud comes out tomorrow and I'm back in the pantry. Bill has fought off the evil Mr. Frost and it's going to be above normal temperatures for at least two weeks. Time to take advantage of the warmth. Also, I want my bathroom finished. No mudding, taping...no finished bathroom. And then there's the kitchen. I bought the new Canadian Living Baking book (with the Library's gift card, thank you) and have been challenged by Lisa F to Kitchen Aid Mixer wars. So, I need that kitchen!

Porridge, coffee, snowshoes.....silence.