#33 Celebrated too early

On Sunday, I received a brief introduction to photo editing from David, although I barely remembered anything. Nevertheless, it was quite interesting to see what is possible. I chose the first two photos as an example, because I simply like the motif 😁 David made only small changes, such as cutting out things or changing the shadows. I was really looking forward to the afternoon, because I did something that I had been looking forward to for a long time.... I visited Peter 😅 He invited me during the workshops, but I didn't have time, and this Sunday was the first time we both had time. So I could spend a few hours in this beautiful living room again and spend some time with my "Canada grandpa" Peter. 😁

Monday was dominated by construction work, and in the end, there was some woodwork and cleaning the chainsaws. But on that day, Jenny saw another sign of spring. A bird with a completely orange chest. In the afternoon, I immediately saw four of them in front of my cabin.

On Tuesday, I was supposed to break down the tents at the end of the lake in the morning, as the lake will soon be impassable and this is the only way there. In the morning, I still wondered if I should just leave directly or maybe change my clothes. Fortunately (!), I decided to put on long underwear and two sweaters. The -8 °C didn't feel so cold if you didn't move quickly, but with the wind.... boy. In addition, I couldn't cover my whole face, otherwise my glasses would have fogged up all the time, so my face was only covered up to below my nose. My face was dead after a few minutes 😁 Nevertheless, I had a very beautiful, natural moment: when I was driving across the lake, the sun rising over the mountains, the fog gliding in waves over the lake, two coyotes (playfully) ran across the lake a few hundred meters away. That was a very beautiful moment, because it was just so natural... until my quad made noise 😅

Arriving at the end of the lake, the tents were taken down and then we returned. This time, I fulfilled a small wish and wanted to drive around the entire lake. I did it, but it wasn't quite as relaxing because I never knew how strong the ice still was here. It is also interesting that there are beautiful houses on the other side of the lake. These are houses of wealthy people who live here for two to three months in the summer before returning to their home country. Jenny explained to me that it is quite normal in Canada to own vacation homes. But there are also people from other countries, such as the USA or Switzerland, here. What I noticed during the drive was that my face didn't freeze anymore and I just thought that there probably weren't any negative temperatures anymore, and what can I say - I left at -8°C and came back at +6°C. Within less than two hours. In the afternoon, the tent dismantling continued, and I was actually supposed to dismantle only one tent, but I thought I could also dismantle all of them. Which was quite exhausting because everything was muddy and the snow was super wet and slippery. So I slid a lot and the rides with the truck were not without danger. But luckily, I only slipped and didn't get stuck or slide off the road. When I drove through Tatla Lake on the way back, I saw a bird that was maybe just like you last Saturday - completely blue. Badumm tssss... I have never seen a blue bird before. Its name is: Mountain Bluebird.🐥 This is another sign of spring, and if they are already in Tatla Lake, it won't be long before they find their way to us, and then I can take a photo 😁 With so many signs of spring, I am slowly preparing myself for my first bear sighting. Due to the warm temperatures, the bears should slowly wake up and come down from the mountains. By the way, what do bears eat when they come out of hibernation? That's what I wondered, and the answer is: grass.

But yes, the spring-like temperatures have melted everything here, so on the one hand everything is muddy and on the other hand, small streams are now forming everywhere, which then collect in large puddles. Like right in front of the house. The problem is that these freeze overnight and then it's so slippery there. Yesterday, I walked across it and suddenly my legs just slid apart and I couldn't do anything 😅🕺🏼

Otherwise, this week I received a package from a customer. We always talked about hot sauces because we both like spicy food. So he sent me one of his hot sauces now and boy, it's spicy 🔥 Four drops are enough for one meal, so wow 😅 But that shows me again that I made a good impression. Some people send me some of their photos, others send me sauce 😁

Furthermore, my hope of seeing the northern lights was shattered once again by the clouds. Currently, the sun is in the peak of its 11-year activity cycle (peak around 2024 - 2026), which is why the northern lights, for example, were also visible in Germany or are currently spectacular in Canada! One night we had a KP value of 7.6 here (the highest is 9) and I was so hopeful to see my first northern lights, and every time I have a high KP value, I also always have 100% clouds. It was so annoying, but I could see the moon very well, which currently announces Ramadan for the Muslim population, and in addition, Venus was clearly visible next to the moon.

Thursday was already a bit cooler and generally felt colder because it became windier again. On Friday morning, when I came out of my little house, there was actually a thin layer of new snow there. It was also snowing lightly. I wasn't particularly happy about that because I was really looking forward to spring 😁 Friday got even colder, the sun didn't show up, and the wind picked up. Jenny finished work relatively early, so I could choose my tasks myself. I really enjoy that because then I only have one task to do, my own, without having to cut this measure or hold that piece in between. And I can talk to myself very loudly without anyone hearing me 😅 Because I carried chipboards that become unbelievably heavy over time and the wind didn't really help... then the bad mood builds up, but I knew that these chipboards had to be taken to the back and now I can do that in German while cursing 😅

Today, on Saturday, I slept in and when I was lying in bed, I suddenly heard something sliding off my roof. It might have been a squirrel sliding down. The population of squirrels has also increased by about ten times. While I'm writing these lines, I can see six squirrels in front of my window alone 😁🐿

But I rather thought it sounded like snow and then I thought again that hopefully it wasn't snow, now that I was so looking forward to spring :D What can I say... Five inches - 12.7 cm of new snow. I couldn't believe my eyes. Hello?! First, I shoveled a path to the house with a snow shovel and wondered what was going on :D It's madness, especially since it was still snowing lightly all morning. By now, it's very warm again and everything is melting. But once again, it was a partial winter comeback. David also said that there could be even more snow in the next few days.

I'm going to take a walk in the snow now, because I can't change the situation and it actually looks quite beautiful.

Wishing you a nice Sunday & wintry greetings

Samuel