Fumbling, Awkward, Maladroit Weather

The weather here in Toronto is feeling a little awkward. It can't seem to say the right thing, and always ends up bursting out with something inappropriate and maladroit.


Last night it dropped a big white fluffy blanket of snow on the trees and driveways and roads and rooftops. And then from the morning onwards into the evening it thought to start again (a bit embarassed I suppose) and ended up making a very big wet drippy mess of it all, and the more it tried to fix itself, the more everything got damp and soaked. Right now the weather has decided that wet is no longer 'in', and is trying hard to freeze it all solid overnight. It will awake having impulsively covered the whole city in a slippery, icy, hazardous sheen.


But don't worry. Just give it time. It will mature. And soon a nice wintery patina will emerge, and the crunch will return to the ground. And I will be out and about in the valley again, accompanied by a beagle leading the charge and snuffling about.


But in the meantime I am going to keep busy baking things. I am going to try baking bread next week.


Tonight I made a big chicken pot pie with a nice pastry crust.

That is all,

Mungo

Beagles Eat Bird Food

Now that the snow and blowing winter winds have come, I have gone out and stocked up on bird food. I also bought a large sack of animal-grade peanuts.


Careful analysis has revealed that despite my best efforts, beagles eat bird food. Specifically, Monty likes to nibble on the peanuts that I have put out for the squirrels.


He is on a diet - I am feeding him 1 cup of calorie-reduced kibble, and 3 diet milk bones a day. He is complaining more and more. Poor little guy.


We have the Christmas tree up now. It looks nice and shiny. Christmas will be here in less than 3 weeks.


Add another 4 weeks to that and Monty is going to have a little brother. A little brother who will not be as furry as Monty was when he came home with us.

Cheers,

Mungo

Soft Snow on the Smelly Fields - Playing with my Camera

I woke up around 6 this morning and went to a first-aid course for infants and children during the morning.





The class covered blood and breathing and airways and broken bones and cuts and choking and CPR and slings and compression bandages and more.




It has refreshed my first-aid training from years ago. I knew it all, but the CPR - the technique had seeped away from my brain.




When it was all over, I got a coffee from a Tim Horton's shop around the corner from the hospital.




I headed back in the general direction of home, and then turned north when I remembered that I had brought my new camera along with me.




The views looked nice and so I turned on my camera and drove a bit until I found a nice looking area.




A little snow was falling and it was a few degrees below freezing.




Bundled up in my shearling cap, warm gloves and my super warm alpine coat, I ended up in a corn field. The smell of pig manure blew over me and I looked around the horizon trying to find a pig farm.




After a few minutes, it became apparent that the farmer had sprayed pig manure on the field as a fertilizer.


I figured that out once I had walked about 30 feet into the field.

Cheers,

Mungo

Bivy Sack in the Winter Snow

Now the winter snows haven't come yet, but when they do I'll be out and about wandering in the valley and in the woods.


It occurred to me that I'd like to spend an evening down there wrapped up warmly and laying inside a bivy sack from Mountain Equipment Co-op.

"A bivy bag, bivouac, bivi, or bivy sack is a lightweight alternative to traditional tent systems. It is essentially a waterproof fabric shell designed to fit over your sleeping bag. It acts as a barrier against the wind and rain and provides extra insulation. Good bivy bags consist of Gore-Tex and are breathable, allowing humidity to pass and so reducing moisture inside for the occupant."

Hope you are having a nice day,

Mungo

Testing my New Nikon P80 During a Walk in the Valley

I am a lucky fellow. My father in law returned yesterday from a business trip to Shanghai, and brought me a present - a Nikon Coolpix P80. It was perfect timing, as I was beginning to dream of a new camera. I have to read the instruction manual a few more times until I can make heads or tails of all the funky functionality.


So yesterday afternoon I went out for a hike into the valley to try out the camera. I have a lot more figuring out to do with it, but here are the pictures I managed to snap.


An old piece of iron laying in the woods. I'm guessing it is part of some old tractor or farm equipment. The area used to be an orchard.


The cold winter winds are beginning to blow. I stood quietly in the marshy meadows hoping to see deer - I saw no movement. I would need to wait until dusk I suspect.


The rivers are swollen with recent rains. Green ground cover is holding onto its colours.


Most plants have gone to seed, and I see tinder bundles all throughout the woods.


I was surprised to see these Oyster mushrooms looking so fresh and recent. They'll be frozen and wilted in a day or two.


The subtle rich colours of Turkey Tail brighten up a little patch of the woods.


Bright berries cling on to the stalks.


The macro feature seems to work easily.


Now the 'landscape' feature of the camera.


I try to use both the pre-set features (like 'landscape' and 'closeup') and also use the manual set up to achieve these shots.


More Turkey Tail.


The river valley.


A close-up of the rushing river.


The path leading down into the valley is slick with mud and wet leaves.


Dried mushrooms and fungus litter the tree stumps.


Choke cherries.


I came across the largest pair of Puffball mushrooms that I've ever seen. Now I actually haven't seen fresh Puffballs before, but as I looked into the woods I first saw the one above. I thought it was a piece of construction foam or something. I pushed through the underbrush to investigate and realized that the skin looked like that of a young Leopard Earthball, only this was the size of a large pumpkin. The dusty orange inside was entirely composed of spores which I knocked about, creating clouds in the air. Amazing. I put my Mora knife on top of it to show the scale of the fungus. When they are young and white inside, you can eat them - frying them up in butter.


There is nearly a foot of snow on its way late this afternoon. Or so the meteorologists tell us.


The puddles with freeze over, and snow will build up in the valley.


This pumpkin, which appears to have been rolled down the valley walls, will look like a white lump.


The seed heads will stay on the branches, ready for some mid-winter campfires I'll be having down there.


The last of the berries will succumb to the sparrows and other birds.

And I'll still be learning how to use my new camera.

Cheers,

Mungo