Too much of a good thing

Now that it's March, I'm hoping to see out my windows sometime soon. Maybe even see some soil or grass. It's looking less and less likely what with the extra 50cms of snow we've had just this week. (Though I can't complain about the thigh-deep, face-shot, buttery turns I got at the fingers on Monday.)

Shovelstoke, running out of snow removal money.

Out the kitchen door on Monday morning.

Fresh tracks.

The back window.

The warming spell we had before our most recent snowfall melted a pool of water into the snowblower. The water then froze into about 6 inches of ice. With the help of Nevis and about 10 pots of boiling water, James managed to free the handy machine.

Cat track to the cat door.

Cat door and kitty terrain trap. So far there's been several snowblower triggered avalanches onto the cat door, but no naturals.

Nevis

Nevis, the newest member of the Cozy Cabin, has finally moved on from being more irritating-than-cute to more cute-than-irritating. It's a welcome change.

Luckily he's (almost) outgrown his habit of getting into the fridge every time we open it. Eventually we got so tired of this trick that we'd just shut the fridge door on him until he meowed to get out a few minutes later.

Looking cute, but likely planning to claw his way up my pant leg to my shoulder.

Paw curling: an essential cute feature.

Portable and not scared of bearded men: both handy cat features.

Checking on the latest batch of homebrew.

Favourite box by far.

Luckily he's grown to like snow.

Sick cat pow.

The Flats

A very generous old-timer takes his snowmobile down to the flats and sets a x-country ski track every once in a while. I finally made it down there last weekend and it was so nice to get some skiing in on flat terrain and in the sunshine.

Snowshoers and Mount Begbie

Looking south down the valley.

Most of the tracks are set in pairs, so you can ski next to your friend.

Going off track is always an option if the snow's not too deep.

The creek is surrounded by river otter tracks.

Belly tracks from where the otter's slid down the hill. So cute.

The sled and a remarkably simple track-setter.

Young Santa Spotted

Went for a ski and stumbled into this bearded character. He proved to be mostly harmless...

... and capable of hucking pillows while still puffing!

Christmas Bird Count

I joined bird-nerds Rory and young Nelson for this year's Christmas bird count in Revelstoke. I took plenty of fuzzy far-away photos of birds, but I'll spare you the 'try and spot the bird among the sticks' photos. I did get some good shots of our local peaks at sunrise.

Birds we spotted and could actually identify:

Common Raven: 20

American Crow: 35

Northern Flicker: 11

European Starling: 30

Pine Siskin: 19

Song Sparrow: 1

American Robin: 2

Red Breasted Nuthatch: 4

Evening Grosbeak: 19

Black Capped Chickadee: 8

Chestnut-backed Chickadee: 2

Isa Brown Chickens: 6

Merlin: 1

American Goldfinch: 9

Stellars Jay: 3

Brewers Blackbird: 2

House Finch: 8

Bald Eagle: 2

Ski Day

Went out for a ski with four boys and a Dizzy Dog today.

Snow crystal

Steve and Dizzy

Fun pillows

Checking out options for next time.... when there's another metre of snow.

Nelson Visit

J and I headed south to one of our favourite Kootenay towns. One of the best parts about journeys south is the mellow highway, which includes the free ferry ride across Upper Arrow Lake. I always feel like I'm on the sunshine coast.

View looking south down Arrow Lakes.

The Jetta and I on the ferry. We were one of two cars.

We headed up to Whitewater for some pre-season turns. Yes, this is what the parking lot looks like before the hill is even open. Nelsonites sure love winter.

On the ridge, right before skiing down some untracked, fluffy powder. Like butter.

The weekend ended up being one of our best in a long time (and we've had a lot of great weekends). Catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, playing music, watching coffee get roasted at Oso Negro, numerous trips to Kootenay Co-op for delish food, new skis, good beer and great talks.

Patience, feeling at home in Nelson.

Nelson also happens to be home to the fantastic Kootenay Animal Assistance Program (KAAP). They happened to have a few siamese-cross kittens down there. We sort of stumbled across one and he snuck into our car. (Ok, I've been eyeing up this litter of six gray cuties for several weeks now and watching their numbers dwindle as they all get adopted. We chose from the last three and his brother and sister also got adopted this weekend.)

This guy came with the name Bart Simpson, but we are looking to rename him. So far in the running: Whisky, Wilson, Slateford, Nevis or Moonbeam (he's from Nelson after all). Leave a comment if you have a name opinion.

Getting manic on the car ride.
(And check out the bit of a new ski in the background.)