Happy New Year to all!

Here we are, at the beginning of a brand new year.  I wish you all a happy and healthy 2015!  This is day 4 of the new year and we've had two significant snow storms so far.  Having said this, when I look back at last Winter, so far this year, it's been pretty good.  We don't have the same amount of snow as last year and the temperatures are not as cold.  Last year, on January 2, we woke up to -31 C with a windchill of -42 C.  The temperatures will be very cold this week, everywhere actually, but still not as cold as last year and there is sunshine in the forecast.  Here's to hoping that the remainder of this season is kind to all of us!

We had a good New Year's Eve and day.  We managed to stay up until midnight, a first for us in quite some time.  I cooked a turkey and we ate the last of it today for lunch and the Coop will have the last turkey sprinkles with his dinner tonight.

Now that the holidays are over, all is back to normal in our household. The Christmas decorations are put away and our indoor Christmas tree is now outside, for the deer to eat.  Our next big event will be our trip to Barbados in 33 days....we look forward to it.

One late afternoon last week, our Muskoka doorbell, aka Cooper, heard a knock on the door.  It was Matt Davidson, whom we hadn't seen for a little while.  He came with a present....a builder's mallet,  aka the beater, the walloper, the persuader. There is a story behind this mallet.  It is a tool that is used in the log home construction to help shift posts or beams, drive in pegs, etc.  It is Matt's tradition to leave the mallet used to build a log home with each owner and it usually finds its final resting place by the fireplace.  The one used to build our log home was stolen back in 2012 before Matt could give it to us.  He was kind enough to make us a new one.....and it is proudly standing by the fireplace.  Thank you Matt!

That's it for this first blog of 2015.  I wish you all a great week, for many it is back to work or school tomorrow.  Bundle up and stay warm. I leave you with a picture of the mallet and a few winter photos that Russell took on New Year's day, after the storm.

Our 'mint' condition persuader in its place of honour!

Deer mice tracks lead to our home....they want in from the cold.

Cooper's run...neatly shovelled with paths...lucky dog...thanks Mom!

A crisp and clear sunrise after a night of snow.