Monday Forest photo: March 26, 2012

3:40pm -1C clear

Well, Mother Nature does have a way of bringing one back down to earth pretty severely. After last week's glorious summer weather, we're back to below seasonal temperatures accompanied by a strong north wind. I've got the waaaay early garlic and asparagus all mulched and protected from marauding chickens (they can't resist scratching in straw) so hopefully they will survive their optimistic foray into early spring.

This poor toad was on the trail a few days ago when the temperature was up in the twenties. He was so still I thought he was dead, but I didn't do a full investigation to be sure.

Monday Forest photo: March 19, 2012

11:00am 18C sunny

 So sorry about the missing month of Monday Forest. I did take pictures, and I'll probably post them for continuity's sake sometime. We've gone from winter to summer and it isn't even officially spring until tomorrow. I read in the paper that some expert is calling this stretch of hot weather (mid twenties in March!) a 1 in a 1000 year event. Yesterday, the record high temperature was broken by 9 degrees C and there's warmer for later on this week. In fact, the forecast low for Wednesday night is higher than the previous record high. This weather is impossible not to enjoy at this time of year (well, any time of year) but it's a little like how I imagine it feels to live the high life on stolen loot. In this case, we've stolen our kids' climate.

The forest floor is coming to life even though only yesterday there was still snow covering more than half of it. I don't know what this hairy-tongued thing is.

For comparison, this picture was taken last week, when the temperature got up to a whopping 12C. This is what kids in Canada do - on the first nice day they put on shorts, find a patch of bare ground and skype with their friends on their mom's laptop. With chickens. Just like when I was a kid. Except for the skype and laptop and chickens. More like transistor radio and book, but still.

Monday Forest photo: February 13, 2012

12:00pm 1C sunny

Today was another beautiful sunny day. In spite of the mild temperatures we've had, we've somehow been fortunate enough to keep our snow and at least the appearance of winter. You don't have to travel far from here to run right out of snow. It's a rather dramatic demonstration of the effect of a very modest increase in temperature. 

Oh, and Meg is hiding in the picture this week.

We've had some spectacularly clear skies recently.

Monday Forest photo: February 6, 2012

2:00pm 5C sunny

 Oh February sun, you are a tease. You touch my face with your warm rays, but we both know it won't last. Today was an exercise in living in the moment. The pleasure of the fine weather was tempered by hearing on the radio later that the temperature was a record high for the day. Sigh.

The pond was in fine shape for a skate before it warmed up above freezing this morning.

The chickens enjoyed the sun, but were highly suspicious of the snow. A couple of them did a hop, skip and jump (with flapping) to roost on a log closer to the house, but mostly, they wait for spring.

Monday Forest photo: January 30, 2012

1:30 pm -5C cloudy

 Still winter here. The sun has shown up the last couple of days, which makes it all more bearable. And the fact that sunset here is after 5 now is a lovely bonus.

I fear that some creature is helping himself to the contents of the hive in the big cedar. There are pieces of comb and dead bees lying at the base of the tree. Based on the size of the scat that was also there, I'm pretty sure that this is a creature that does not fit into the hole, so perhaps the damage will be limited to the extent of his reach.

Monday Forest photo: January 23, 2012

12:00pm 1C cloudy

I admit it. I'm getting bored of winter, and it's still only January. Snow, freezing rain, ice pellets, cold, colder, less cold, more snow, blah, blah, blah. I even forgot to publish the Monday Forest photo until Thursday. Whatever.

Monday Forest photo: January 16, 2012

1:30pm -6C cloudy

Another up and down week. It was really cold on the weekend, but we're back to above normal temperatures (which are starting to feel normal). Everything is crisp and clean in Monday Forest and perfectly wintery. I've had the experience a couple of times this week of standing quietly and hearing nothing but the wind in the trees and chickadees and the occasional snap of a branch in the cold. I think this had to do with the perfectly clear skies, cold temperatures and wind blowing from the north, where there are few roads for many kilometres. It's almost as if the absence of cars, or airplanes or chainsaws or snowmobiles has a sound. I can hardly get enough of it but it is a rare treat to experience that silence.

Luc finally broke down and borrowed my dad's snowblower to get the ice on the pond clear of snow before the temperatures warmed up last week. He discovered the amazing amount of work that can be accomplished with the help of a small amount of fossil fuels. And so the skating continues!