A few weeks ago we took Maisie to see the snow castle on the big lake with Rob's parents. We'd been having a pretty cold March and the weather had finally warmed up. I spent Saturday and the early part of Sunday making her a new pair of mittens for the occasion (mostly because she was complaining that her yellow mittens were too tight). Worsted weight toddler mittens are fast! The pattern is Maize - a free pattern from Tin Can Knits - and turned out really well. I want to make another pair for me. My only modifications were to knit the hand a teeny bit shorter and the thumb a tiny bit longer than suggested. Maisie was kind enough to try on a half finished mitten for me on Saturday afternoon so I was able to do a little tweaking for the best possible fit. If I'm lucky they'll still fit in the fall.

The snow castle was awesome. Outside there were sculptures and some bare patches of lake ice. In some places we could see right to the bottom. The lake isn't very deep right here. Only a metre or so in places. Maisie spotted the dragon in one of the sculptures. Inside the castle was that strange mixtures of cold and warm that you get inside a snow shelter. There's no wind but you know it can't be too warm or the walls would be melting. My favourite part was the light shining through the blocks of ice that made the windows. I'd love to be inside when the sun comes up in the morning. It must be magic. I think Maisie's favourite part was a picture of a group of sled dogs in the art gallery. Rob spotted the fire excite door, which made us all laugh. We had hot chocolate at a cafe table made of blocks of ice with logs for chairs.
There was a fun play area for children (and the young at heart) in the courtyard. There was lots to explore and many fun things to look at. Rob and Maisie climbed up onto the parapet and went down a big ice slide together. Maisie went down the little slide all by herself twice. We ran into some big and little friends there. That's one of my favourite things about living in a small city. Even without making plans you nearly always run into someone you know and get to have a bit of a visit.

We've been having a crazy amount of snow this year. This is our side deck. Two weeks ago today it had absolutely no snow on it. Now I'm not even sure where the steps are. We've had even more snow since I took this picture. Thank heavens they ploughed our street on Sunday or we would never have gotten out of our driveway yesterday (as it was we still got stuck a few times getting home after work - a crew of 7 or 8 people who were walking by helped push us out). I've never seen this much snow so quickly here; our climate is normally pretty dry and it would take us half the year to collect this much snow.

It's bad for walking through too. I feel like I'm wading in rough water or something. You wouldn't think so but it's slippery too since under all that snow in most places (i.e. roads, sidewalks) there are just sheets of ice so even if you get all the way through the snow there is nothing for your boots (or wheels) to grip. It will actually be a relief when the temperature drops a little further and the snow firms up. Until then we're getting lots of exercise (shovelling, trying not to fall over).

At least everything looks very pretty. Even the scraggly pine trees at the back of our lot have a romantic charm with this much snow on them.

 

 

This is my favourite time of year here. The sun is back and it is warm enough to go outside without three layers of clothing but there is still snow on the ground and the lakes are safe. It is the best time of year for winter sports and goingfor walks. I think we will have to go for a picnic at one of the lakes in the next few weeks. Hot dogs and s’more are especially good when there is still a bit of snow around.
 
It’s warm enough today that I’ve opened up some of our windows to get rid of all the stale air from the winter. Zeke has been sticking his nose out to see what’s going on outside. He moves from window to window depending on what he smells and which room I’m in.
 
With temperatures rising I’m certain we will be smelling barbecues soon. That’s the official beginning of summer in my mind and it starts as soon as it is warm enough to stand outside to cook a steak. Like the hot dogs and roasted marshmallows, barbecued steak is somehow even better when you can still see snow in the shady places.