The Lake Chicks

We have now affectionately been dubbed "the lake chicks" by the local ladies - "the valley girls," and we love it! We were invited to attend their yearly perogy making day yesterday, and we had so much fun! It was nice to be with other people too, and, I'll admit it, to have a day away from the kids. We left yesterday morning on the snowmobiles, and 45 minutes later were at the nearest neighbor, who was hosting the day. We all took turns pinching perogies for each other and after the day was done - even though the final count is not in yet - probably made not too far under 1000 perogies. Wow. The food was great, the company was even better. We both had a really great time. We left well after dark and made it home quickly and uneventfully. I had lots of emails to send out when we got home to the ladies who all wanted to know we had made it home safely. So nice!

The day before that we celebrated Paul's birthday. A couple of the same ladies we shared the day with yesterday drove out on snowmobiles with their husbands. It was nice to have some company and we spent the afternoon visiting. They also left after dark so there was another round of emails to make sure all had made it home safely. There is a pretty big distance between people out here so we make arrangements with each other about when we are leaving, when we should be there, etc. so that if we think someone has not made it home safely - we can go looking for them, or vice versa.

I don't think it is coincidence, everyone we meet out here seems to be the same. It is as though living out here is like a youth tonic. You could guess their ages, but you would be way off. I hope spending a year out here has some of the same effect! I can't be sure who said this, Tim says Pierre Burton, I think maybe it was Thoreau, but they said something to the effect of " a day spent in the mountains is not subtracted from your life." I have seen proof.

Not all the snowmobile parts came in the mail... The motor is now rebuilt and we are just waiting for idler wheel parts. A new neighbor we met this week is going to Prince George tomorrow and has generously offered to stop at the Arctic Cat dealer and pick up the last few. For anyone that cares... when they rebuilt the motor, Tim and Paul found that, likely at the factory, the rings had been put on the pistons wrong, and we were lucky that the cylinders were not damaged in the process. It turns out they could have gotten away with just doing the rings, but the pistons were put in anyway because we had ordered them - so now we have spares!

Trapping is going well - the boys have 47 marten, and after today - one wolverine. I have never seen one in real life, and they are a little vicious looking, sharp teeth and big feet! Cohen went with Tim today to check traps and even got to see a marten peeking at him through the trees.

While we were away yesterday, the boys re-engineered the toboggan hill. Previously it went from the road above the cabins down to the old road below the cabins. They have made it even longer and a little hairier by adding a bit of a luge track on the bottom that goes around a stump, under a fallen tree around a corner and over some bumps to wind up down on the beach (don't worry - they're safe - there is a berm shovelled up to keep them away from the lake when sliding down). So far, Heather and Paul's snow saucer seems to give the best ride. From top to bottom, Tim figures it is close to 300m long. Some days, the guys take turns running the kids to the top with the snowmobiles to slide back down again. Today the kids ignored the long hill and spent their time on the luge portion of it.

Heather and I were collecting some flora today to start our Christmas decorating. I have always wanted the magazine look, old wooden paned windows with evergreen swags underneath. Hopefully we can find the time to pull it off! Did I mention that I love the windows on this cabin? They are unfinished wood, aged to a honey color, 6 pane windows. Yes they're old, and horribly drafty, our candles have blown out beside a few, but I will just throw some more wood on the fire and keep admiring them. I don't know if I'll like them as well at -40 when they have a thick coat of ice on them, but until then...