Tis the Month for Moose!

Look at those children through the window!

I'm just a curious little baby moose...

Who's in back of me taking pictures, I wonder?

My, but these branches are good...

Look at the frost on my eyelashes, well, at least I think I have eyelashes,
 I could be wrong, but they sure look like that to me.

Am I related to the horse in any possible way?

The ever watchful eye of the Mama moose just across the way.

Can you believe it?!  Another mama and baby moose came by the cabin today!  They didn't stay near as long as the other week, but made their appearance none the less.  It's only minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit today and the sun is out!  We feel that spring is coming.... possibly not until the end of April, but after a lot of dark cold days it really does feel like spring, as crazy at that sounds.  I hope people are not getting tired of all these moose pictures....

40 Below Wintertime Activities

Ready, aim, fire and watch out for the jumping dog!

Rubber bands, sticks and an arrow are all you need to make a crossbow.

Checking the tension...

What do people do at 40 below when outside activity is severely restricted?  They make things like crossbows and dig into the pot and pan cupboard of course!

Soup anyone?

Mama's cutie pie

Last night, upon turning my back in the kitchen for a brief few minutes, my two-year old had cleaned out the entire pot and pan cupboard! I had the best soup ladled into my hands and tasted quite a few wonderful entrees from such a wee one. Then big sister came in and they really went to town cooking up all sorts of lovely dishes. It enabled me to finish some kitchen chores, as well as being able to hand out two damp clothes in which to dust the crumbs out of the empty cupboard. They didn't even know they were working! This activity kept them busy for at least 30 minutes and when they were done, they put everything away neatly and clean to boot!

Preschoolers just need to be occupied. They really like to sort and clean.  We should make good use out of these curiosities and make some great memories while we're at it.

Trying on Arctic "bunny boots" for size

 The girls have recently decided to start a pillow making business.  They made a cart load of pillows in such a short amount of time, that we had to put a cap on the output!

How much more will fit?

I love sewing!

 Wintertime is the time we sew.  When I went up to the cabin loft I found all three girls busy.  The older two even had a place all set up for the youngest, who is now four.  She was busy poking stuffing in a pillowcase for them.  Everyone was happily creating in their free time.

Be careful with that socket Daddy!

Daddy and son, going about their typical after hour job of more remodeling.  Don't worry, this picture was posed.  A few minutes earlier, however, was another story.... I was in the kitchen and heard a loud thud.  Whenever I hear these noises and know my husband is working on something, I try to stay calm and then say, "Is everything all right?"  I judge by how he says, "Yep!"  If it sounds strained and airy I come running.  If it's spoken with the normal nonchalant and confident firmness I go about my business.   Nothing like a good dose of electricity to speed up the heart and finish the job.

Subzero Heating Tips

Cabin Sweet Cabin

Exhaust from our Stove coming from a small hole in the side of the cabin

Under the eaves the moisture collects...

Major heat loss collecting under neath the outside beam

Do you feel like you're in an ice cave yet?

Winter stalactites and stalagmites from a hole in the eaves where two roofs join

Our water supply with heat trace tape

Notice how well insulated the lowly outhouse is? It has no heat.

Someone asked how we heat our home in Winter up here.  It inspired me to post this blog.  It's a challenge to find ways to better insulate our cabin.  Even a pin sized hole lets in an amazing amount of cold.  When it is really cold, like minus 35 or 40F the locks and doorhandles will transfer frost through to the inside.  Little circles of frost come through on the screws of any electrical outlets located on outside walls.  The inside of our log cabin has thick sheets of blue Styrofoam with pine boards over the top.  There is also a small amount of insulation between every log as well. We don't need to decorate with spray snow in our windows because we get the real thing! 

We heat our cabin with a Toyo Stove which runs on a #1 grade diesel fuel oil delivered by the fuel truck once a month. We also heat with a plug in oil filled heater in the Kitchen and upstairs in the kids room. Our wintertime fuel bill is around $300 and our electric bill last month was $400.

We are always finding places to poke in more insulation and always have a can of spray foam handy.  The first winter I had frost on one of my inside cupboards in the kitchen that was on an outside wall.  Spray foam works great for those places that are hard to reach.  We recently added a dryer, praise God for that, I'll never take for granted being able to do laundry at home!  However, when we opened part of a wall in order to check the main electric wire from outside to inside, it was encased in an inch of frost inside the wall.  My husband wrapped it in insulation.  The cold travels right in on anything metal.  Even our dryer vent has to be plugged with insulation when it is not in use.  If a load gets done and I forget to take it out, it freezes. 

There are so many little things to think of in this cold weather.  Our water supply has to be heated and plumbed in through the middle of the ceiling and never an outside wall.  Even the bathtub drain line has to have heat tape wrapped around it.  Speaking of our drain line, that also is encased in spray foam.  Heat tape is described by my husband as, "an electrical current converted to heat energy encased in a rubber or metal housing.  Plug it into a 110 and it heats up!"

One last tip, never, never touch the outside door knob with a wet hand!

Third Day Baby and Mama Moose Out the Window!!!

Can you spot the two moose?

Mama wants to leave, baby is curious and wants to stay.

How tall can this moose reach?

9 feet into the branches where the moose was reaching to eat...

Measuring the clothes line at 5 feet...

 It's hard to capture the greatness and heigth of the moose.  We decided to go out and take measurements after they were gone.  This mama moose must have been over 7 feet tall!  The window of our cabin is not at ground level.  We are up about 5 or 6 feet off the ground on that side, so the clothesline and moose picture is taken at that angle.  It is just so amazing standing out there where that moose stood, realizing how big it was!  We were so excited we were shaking.  I could never be a hunter.  I would never be able to be still enough to take aim.  This is our third day in a row of having moose wander through our property!  They hang out for three or four days at a time when they pass through our neck of the woods.  We are so blessed to have seen and experienced this!

In my excitement to take pictures and chase moose, I can't find my other glove...

Mama Moose pays a Visit

Have you seen my baby moose?

 Yesterday we saw the baby, today my oldest son spotted what we're sure is the Mother.  You can tell  not only by the fact that she's more than twice the size of her baby, but she has no extra fuzzy fur on her neck.  Scroll down to see a closer picture of the hair tuft under her chin too.  The baby doesn't have this either.  It is so hard to capture the size of these magnificent animals.  I am more than twice the distance from her than I was from her baby yesterday so she doesn't really appear that big in comparison, but they stand as tall as a pickup truck.  They are as wide as a fat cow but taller like a horse.  The mother was much more wary than her baby.  She kept looking at us and didn't stay too long and really kept her distance from our property and dog.  There's a reason Mother's have earned the right to tell their children what to do... they have the experience of having lived life much longer and have seen the dangers they want to prevent in their own children's lives.  There's a great analogy here.

We're so glad we're this far away from the Mama Moose....

Look under my chin and you'll see a long tuft of hair.

What the rest of the children do when Mom's out hunting for moose pictures...