what a fabulous day!

i just got back inside from an amazing ski! wow. i left here just about an half hour after cross country check-up started, bc time...so about 3:30pm here and got back just as it ended. i have to say i love being able to listen to the radio via itunes! its fabulous. being in the center of canada, as we are now, we have a couple times zones on either side of us. if i miss a show, i just tune into the alberta or bc show. if i don't feel like listening to whats playing now, well, i just listen to the halifax programing. its pretty crazy to have all this stuff up here. phone. internet. satellite tv. we're just two people on a little island in the middle of a lake, in the middle of nowhere. i love it. theres not a single person for miles. just us. our pup. a half dozzen fat whiskey jacks. ravens. moose. a cute little otter and a heck of a lot of caribou - which i've not actually seen yet! but soon i hope.

i followed otter tracks for most of my ski today. they are so cute the way they travel, paw prints turn into belly slides...then paw prints and more belly slides. what an interesting life they must lead. between this island and the next the water is pretty low so the ice doesn't freeze very well and there are always open otter holes and littles piles of poop here and there.

today was water and laundry day, so of course it had to be super cold and windy. it was -33 this morning when we woke up and much colder with the wind chill. so after putting on two layers of long johns, snow pants, two pairs of socks, t-shirt, sweater, fleece, winter jacket, balaclava, wool hat, two hoods and mitts i'm good to go! i have my rinse water from the last laundry load saved for doing this load, so i can start the wash right away. i put a timer set for 10 minutes in my pocket and head off on the skidoo to the water hole. we have about 6 very large buckets with rope handles that work awesome for hauling water and i can fit three in the skimmer at once. i have the system down pretty well, just when i finish bringing the first load of water up to the house, the timer goes off and its time to drain the laundry, fill it up with clean water and start the rinse. i get a little time to warm up, to shed a few layers, put them back on again and then i head out to the lake for the last water load. its takes most of the morning, but its kinda fun and schooner loves it - he gets to chase one stick after the other!