The warmth from the South continued, parking itself over the BC region. A drastic change from last months bitter cold, as temps soared upwards of +6C (43F). The one inch of ice that had accumulated on the single pane windows, was now melting so fast its sills were over-flowing. It seemed when I had finished mopping up the cycle of all 6 windows, I’d have to start all over again. I feel like it’s all I did for a solid day. One of those days where you don’t want to get asked, “So what did you do today?” The box of various meat brought in on the last supply run…

Installing hooks to dry mitts, socks, etc... We celebrated our Christmas Day, as we opened our few gifts, locally ordered from within British Columbia small businesses. Mountain Man got his hand made mallet he needs for timber frame chiselling; from a master wood carver in Williams Lake. I had ordered mushroom kits from Vancouver Island. Now a place has to be made to keep them in, where temperatures must be within 24-27C without fluctuation to ensure fruiting. A custom wood box was made and hung, using a thermometer we found the only spot in the small cabin that could possibly work. No guarantees yet, it will be an experiment and…

The dogs could no longer be contained when they heard the Jeep rumble down the hill, ploughing through the foot and a half of snow with its mighty chains. The heavy sleigh in tow behind, bearing the weight of many supplies we would spend the next 2 days finding a place for. By opening the cabin door, the hounds were unleashed. Launching themselves off the deck; skipping the use of the 3 stairs below. Trying their absolute best to knock their master to the ground, when he jumped down out of his Jeep. After presenting them with some very large hip joint beef bones, they calmed down and allowed us…

All is calm, all is bright... Mountain Man left a few days ago. There wasn’t enough snow for a snow machine, and his hauling bush trailer is no longer fit to tow. So he rebuilt his winter sled towing trailer and hauled it through the trails behind his Jeep. Yes, he’s working on his bush plane once again, and before he comes home, hopefully he’s able to scrounge up enough supplies for a while. I don’t know when he’s coming back (yes, before Christmas); but when he does, I know it will take a long time trail clearing as a wind storm blew through here right after he reached town.…

  December days Unloading slabs We wrapped up November, turned the page on the calendar before we went to bed, and woke up with a blanket of snow to greet December. Winter is here, and our lake has finally froze over completely. We were able to finish up more tasks than we thought this year, hopefully there will be less restlessness when the deep snow hits. Extra logs were salvaged and put up on the ramp for the start of the build this Spring. Fallen trees in the last wind storm were milled and put up in the greenhouse for 4 months of drying time. Drying slabs We’ve almost run…

Milky Way in the Wilderness It was near midnight, as we both walked up to visit the loo before bed; a routine we have with the dogs. We also shut off the generator at the same time. Yes, it was later than we usually stay up, but the mornings are so dark that we are forcing ourselves to stay in bed until 8am. Sometimes we do it solo, if one of us has already hit the sack. All part of the natural course of the year for the next 2 months. (At least until the days grow longer.) My headlamp pierced through the moonless thickets of forest, deep into the…

Forrest & Brook with a sunrise... A day trip to Anahim, for a quick top up before the long awaited freeze hits. We went on a Tuesday, as that’s when the transport comes to deliver fresh goods to the corner store on its weekly 400km trip out to this edge of the world. It’s a toss-up between going in on a Tuesday, or Friday; Friday is when the milk truck delivers. If you want fresh veggies, you can’t get any milk products and vice versa. There’s either none left, or it’s already spoiled…still set at full price. The mercury was supposed to stay above zero, just long enough for us…

Dad is her safe spot. The second heat that started at the beginning of November; a little more intense than the first one, 5 short months ago. Not enough time to forget how painful and drawn out the whole ordeal is! We feel she's still too young to be bred and want her to get to be a pup a little longer, (as her heat was a little earlier than expected). Storm, Forrest and yes, even little Jesus Murphy's brains have melted down once more! They have lost their marbles, quite literally; mentally deficient, incompetent, and deranged. Stuck in a constant panting, whining, crying state as they shake and tremble…

1st week in the new boots. Sure all the products, supplies, roofing & wood boiler had been purchased and hauled through the hundreds of kilometers to get to our neck of the woods. But they hadn’t made it to the resort, yet! It took a big machine to lift the 3,000lb wood boiler onto the deck of the trailer, and same with the metal roofing. Mountain Man uses ingenuity and a whole lot of muscle with skids and a winch, then backs the trailer far enough into the water to angle the deck towards the barge; at least putting gravity on his side. Then factor in ‘time’, as the narrows…

With loads of wood in, water shut off for the season and freeze-up well on its way; it was time for shopping before the big snowfall hits. A wind storm threatening the area the next day, had Mountain Man 'all too eager' to escape the wilderness now; he would deal with any wind fall later. The major quarterly shop of the season; only our 4 seasons are referred to as Freeze up, Winter, Break-up & Summer. Mountain Man hasn’t done a major supply run since mid-August. With the slumping economy and bare necessities available, it makes it difficult to not look like a hoarder when shopping around the city for…