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One word sums it up: SNOW!

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“In the bleak mid-winter, 
Frosty wind made moan, 
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter 
Long ago.”

This opening stanza from “A Christmas Carol” (Christina Rosetti) fits the bill as I look out my front door and see snow piled halfway to the roof of our “off the grid” bungalow. This is our tenth winter in this snug little, energy efficient home, built into a north bank with large south-facing windows and solar panels on the roof. It has served us admirably, but this winter we are suddenly aware of the downside of our design.  “Snow on Snow” indeed!  Keeping the solar panels cleared involves climbing up on a tall step ladder and pulling the snow down with a plastic roof rake.  That is done every time it snows, (which, this winter is pretty well every day!), in the hope that the sun will shine and we will get energy to recharge our battery.  In January of this year, in Bruce County, the sun shone for parts of 2 days out of 31, so the clearing of the panels is in vain, and the backup gas generator is our energy source. The snow coming off the panels lands on the sidewalk leading to the front door and has to be shoveled again.  By now the bank bordering the sidewalk is shoulder high. On the bright side – we’re getting lots of good healthy exercise – and spring is just around the corner!

Hard Winter Complications On The Farm

The unusual amount of snow since mid December poses new challenges for fencing in livestock.  Snow drifts that cover fences completely are not a problem when the snow is soft, but when it settles during a thaw and then freezes hard again, cows and pigs might walk right out and go for an adventure.  A temporary electric wire, suspended on plastic posts does the job, but has to be monitored in case more snow covers it as well.  Around doorways where the cattle run in and out, and areas close to outdoor feeders, the snow is continually being packed down and turned into ice, so that eventually a buildup of a foot or more has to be rooted up with a front end loader and hauled away.  Moving anything from one place to another is prone to complications involving snow and ice.  Blowing out laneways and shoveling out doorways can take up a good part of the day, without accomplishing anything but mere maintenance.

When I get talking to older folks, they invariably turn to recollection of hard winters long ago.  I myself remember storms that lasted a whole week in the 1970’s. In cleaning out a cedar chest, Christine came across a newspaper from January 1979 when the snow was deep, and the writer was recalling the famous accumulation of March 1947 – to a depth of 5 feet on level ground!  I remember my parents telling of that year.  It was the year after they married and my oldest brother was born on March 4th.  It had been a light winter up until March and then it started to snow every day. I have to believe that with the less sophisticated technology of that era, there must have been considerably more hardship caused by hard weather, compared to today.  We like to complain, but to be honest, most of us, apart from those without homes, have it pretty easy.  Winter weather is at most an inconvenience.  And I notice that in retrospect people look back on ‘hard times’ with fond memories of having struggled and lived through trials together. Reminds me of the old saying “Life is hard, hard is good.”

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.  An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” (G.K. Chesterton)

Bacon Bits

If you prepare your own homemade pizza or soups you should try our “bacon bits”.  We love them as a pizza topping, and below you will find Christine’s recipe for potato soup. To prepare for use, you brown them in a frying pan and drain off the fat, then they are ready to add to soup, pizza or Caesar salad.