doing?...

Winter is officially ...officially...here, the snow is...almost...deep enough to drive snow machines on.  I have switched to what I call 'Hibernation' mode, which means I pretty much stay inside and gain weight.  For some reason cold weather inspires me to bake....and cook....and bake....and spend way too much creating edible edibles.  So far I have made a batch of cake balls, pickled muktuk (whale), some berry and apple crisp type thing, some berry ice cream toppings, and I have started experimenting with a drink called 'butter beer' which is as fattening as it sounds and contains no beer.  For some reason creating food is so very comforting to me in the winter time.  This year I plan to do something to burn calories, my idea is to take one dog a day for a short walk and start training them for packing and pulling.  I was going to take up skijoring but my knee doctor had a red faced fit when I told him and so those plans are out the door.  I'm sure he will be fine with me just walking.

My husband is preparing for trapping season, and I nod my head and look interested when he sits at dinner and regales me with the details of his plans for the winter.  To me it seems so very much complicated, and I could imagine that he feels the same way when I discuss my beading and art finishing techniques.  But we love each other so we try to be involved and aware and provide support where we can. I am very proud of him and the knowledge he gathers, it is a very dangerous venture to take and one that requires a lot of preparation and forethought.

We went for a ride this last weekend, to sit atop a hill so we could watch down the valley for caribou.  They have entered the mountains and are now spreading about in smaller groups to try and avoid starvation and being eaten by wolves through the winter.  They use their tough-as-nails hooves to dig through the snow and graze on lichen, a plant that never dies in the winter time.  The cold shocked my system, and I could almost physically feel the adjustments my body was taking to keep me warm.  Mentally I also adjusted to what my idea of 'cold' was, as it will change dramatically over the winter  My husband was lucky enough to find three caribou the day before our ride, we gave one and a half away, and finally have some for our freezer.  Because of the shortage of caribou meat the one tiny local grocery store has been hard pressed to provide proteins....they ran out of hamburger meat, steaks, chicken breast, and pork chops and so for a long couple of weeks we grudgingly ate precooked oven chicken, microwavable foods, and spent way too much money on it.  A weight on my soul was lifted with the caribou we got, and we finally could start eating much much more healthier meals.

I made a quick video of some images of my weekend....

I also have been experimenting with dyeing ptarmigan feathers using koolaid....