Thursday, December 10, 2009

Dogsleds, Darkness and Fine Dining

Once again a huge time lapse between blog posts, but hey, Christmas prep, a four year-old and stuff just keeps vying for my attention. Now I will make this short, but full (instead of writing Christmas cards, which are late if I don't get them out tomorrow).

Discoveries and realities:

The Explorer Hotel for a date out to eat; we went to Trader's Grill Steakhouse for our wedding anniversary and we were blown away by the fantastic food. Everything was fabulous and the restaurant itself is classy and warm with high ceilings and a huge picture window overlooking a forest lit with white lights. Lovely, we will be back.

S.A.D. lamps (or Happy lamps) really are helpful. I sit in front of mine with my morning coffee for 15 minutes every day. The sun rose at 9:50 am today and sets at 3:06 pm. That is 5 hours of sun, if it's a sunny day. It shines into my kitchen and I try to get a few rays when I can. Taking vitamin D for sure.

Went dogsledding with Beck's. Total blast, loved it. Discovered my 15 year old Sorel Snowlions (-40C rating) did not keep my toes warm. They got painfully cold and I got inside just in time after the sled run, it hurt as they thawed. Purchased a new pair of boots: Baffins ( -100C) rated. They'd better work. Oh yeah, goggles are essential and keep every inch of skin covered or it will freeze and fall off. Ha. FYI it was -32 windchill that day.

Decorating your igloo. INVEST IN GOOD, CREATIVE, BEAUTIFUL AND ABUNDANT LIGHT FIXTURES. Best planning I ever did, thanking my smarts on that one. Also, the warmth of some fuzzy lambskin or shaggy wool rugs on your floor really makes a difference both visually and to the touch of course. Whites, lights and brights. Stay away from dark or rich colors, they absorb too much precious light.

Buy a coolmist humidifier for respiratory illnesses, the dry air is a killer.

If you're blond (I'm not) get a chlorine filter for your shower head so your hair doesn't turn green. Green brand (at Extra Foods) cleaning paste will get the blue and green stains out of your tub, it is eco friendly to boot.

My dock:
Swung by the dock today (can hardly see it now) and saw a black/silver fox try to catch a raven, he chased it up to my van. The raven tried to sit on the hood to escape this fabulous fox (beautiful and cute). The fox had a look at us and then ran back onto the frozen lake to join another one, they chased each other around. Neat to see.

Gotta go write Christmas cards...

Holidays are almost here, west coast here I come...

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