Rock Cracks

Rock cracks and mineral dissolution make interesting patterns - so much activity going on all the time that we don't see.

Changes

Our boat launch looks like this - a lot of ice, but the tipping point has been reached, and there's no going back now to full ice cover.

 The outflow from our lake looks like this just across the bridge

and the dam is spewing furiously (some flashboards are broken on the right hand side - again!)

Beautiful Mud

 I love seeing the icy patterns in the mud - fascinating

Erumpent Buds

Buds! I saw tiny red buds on a brown stick whilst standing on the cold lawn watching train boards go up in flames! It could be American linden? The oak leaf behind it is there for backdrop purposes only, and is not attached.

The Merrian Webster dictionary defines erumpent as bursting forth or through a surface. I think this budburst qualifies, though it is more usually used to describe forceful growth through a host surface, as fungi and algae do.

Fiery Send-Off

Dale and Hein finished clearing the entire basement of his model train benchwork and I was tasked with burning the pieces that broke and shattered or were too big to pack (see Dale's rendering of the process here: Cabin layout.) The manner of deconstruction rendered most lumber unusable, but we salvaged as much reusable material and structure as we could.

It was very sad to see recognizable parts of his layout go up in flames

 I'm a raving  pyrotechnic at heart so loved the 2 days I spent giving his layout a good send-off.

Rapt about Wrapping

 Here is a piece of furniture, deconstructed and wrapped (not rapt) with other things packed inside.

This is actually Dale's Laz-y-boy chair, arms and back detached, and stuffed with Tupperware storage containers, small wooden bowls, saddle clamps, a high-vis vest, blankets and tablecloth clips! No space wasted. Now he doesn't have an excuse for lazing about!!! Well, the poor guy finally pulled a muscle on Hein's last day of shifting furniture with us, and now he doesn't have a recliner to rest up on. It had to happen, right?

Reverberating Ice

A celebration today! We saw our first waterfowl of the season - common mergansers in the open water—they, too have been waiting for this I guess.

Like splintering wood

The sound of lake ice breaking 

Reverberating

Lines and Baubles

Today we saw the first signs of open water from our house - at last! So before the ice disappears, here are a few gems.

Ice formations are so variable

Suspended baubles

Outlines

Winter Cushions

Yesterday's spring snow left us with soft, fluffy outdoor cushions that were prsitine, but too cold to sit on. Really and truly, Mother nature, this winter has gone on long enough. Reminding us that you can be a lion throughout March if you choose, is getting old.

Please stop trying to prove a point - we know we can't control you. We get it, now play nice!

Still no open water out there near us, though the ice is looking thinner

Borrowed Cat

 Aah, when a cat chooses you! Our time with PA has come to an end already, and oh how I miss her presence. I keep 'seeing' her or expecting her to be present and around me. How I miss those 4 kneading paws in the morning ...

 She was always there, in amongst everything, supervising and counting and judging.

She had to inspect everything, and try things out for size. Unfortunately none of our totes for packing passed muster, and we weren't able to stow her away for the voyage.

In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" is 42 - that's how many days to our departure.

Capricious, Fickle and Volatile

 A lot of our snow washed away during a recent heavy rain and windstorm (no power outages for us this time), so we're able to see earth and leaves in places again. Although, what will tomorrow bring?

The lake surface and light reflection changes by the hour it seems - so incredibly capricious! This changeable nature of water makes living on a lake a real pleasure for sure - something new to see every day. we're still awaiting open water and the arrival of waterfowl.

Contemplating Conservation

In helping conserve items from the dismantled train layout, I found myself consider conservation in general. By conserving it, we ultimately alter it, it does not remain static - this altered piece of the dramatic valley is to be used as a display in our new home.

 “We can’t conserve anything, and especially not social relations, without altering their nature, arresting some part of their interaction with time in an unnatural way.” 

- Sally Rooney 

Debbie Does Demo

I ventured downstairs to help the guys by retrieving foliage and vegetation from the train layout. I found myself doing divine work, that is, de-vining the layout by levering each individual grape plant out of the brown plaster-of-paris slopes.

Dale made each of these plants individually, by hand. It's been a huge investment of time and devotion, so they are really valuable. Removing them carefully will likely render them useful a second time around.

Now we're left with denuded slopes, ready to be eroded away, without vegetation to slow down rainfall!

Some slopes were retrieved intact

Basement Found

It's beginning to look very different in our basement these days as the train layout slowly gets dismantled

  

Walls are re-appearing, and access round the room is mostly unobstructed

      

Picture Perfect

 We were 'gifted' with yet another little snowfall - quite pretty in the morning light. It's a gorgeous color palette ... but it's mid-March. This snow fell just before the Ides of March, the turning point that Shakespeare referenced to to amplify 'betrayal, political danger and the fragility of power' (AI overview).

 Come on! We need some open water before we leave.