February 01, 2008

We had it! The holiday season was delightfuly white ... fresh and cool! This rather abundant and early snowfall, however, was no harbinger for the first month of the new year. Snow cover fluctuated to extremes where January brought us, alternately, full coverage snow that looked like it would stick for the season to complete green.

While it is normal to have a warm snap ... a good melt, this hasn't been an entirely normal winter. We just don't seem to be getting the snow. This major fall brought us in the area of 20 cm (8 inches) or so.

The house looks quite beautiful in winter.

Once again, while the driveway and walks were cleared from today's fall, snow was left around the cars so there's a bit of shovelling still to be done. So little happens around the house in winter but there is a lot of energy spent maintaining the property.

The nice thing about this snow fall is that we got a fair amount of ground water for the trees in spring - just when they need it. We're excited about the coming summer's harvest!

Some things (like a productive kitchen) are fairly consistent around here. We realized that fresh pita, around here, is like mashed potatoes in someone else's home so even mentioning innovations like sesame or flax pita seems almost anti-climactic ... But, one of our favourite muffins came out of the oven ...
Cranberry-oatmeal with bits of whole oat poking through the surface of the muffin.

They're a delight - with tangy, whole cranberries bursting in your mouth. Next, we're going to try a variation of this oatmeal muffin with blueberries.

Click Here to return to the "At Home in Brantford" main page.