winter is coming

Justin and Lil are on their way back Outside, and we are quietly moving around our home, doing the things that you do after visitors leave. Some of us are reading the Yukon News and eating leftovers, and some of us are deciding which library book would go well with this cold grey afternoon and a warm red couch. 

We have lots of fun times to reminisce over, including a fantastic day trip over to Kluane yesterday, Carcassone battles and some delicious meals with new recipes. The weather in Kluane was picture-perfect, and we climbed the King's Throne trail with the dogs. It was a ~500m elevation gain, and there were lakes, forests and mountains as far as the eye could see. Justin and Lil both took lots of great photos, which we hope to share with you some time soon. 

Here are some updates from the last week:

Smiley is still very cute

The garden and its electric fence is ready for Jack the pig

The cranberries are perfectly ripe, and the frosts have sweetened them a tiny bit

There's snow on Mt Lorne!

Hello up there, winter!

We have been using the furnace on and off this week for some cold days, and on Friday morning, it snowed down at our elevation for the first time! It stayed on the ground for only a little while, but it was an exciting sneak peek at what's to come. The higher mountain tops nearby are snow-covered now, and look pretty beautiful with the contrasting brown and white.

We think that autumn is just about over on a count that there are more leaves on the ground then are left on the trees. There is also a consistent frost every night now (for a bout two weeks) and the water in the dog bowls are frozen almost totally solid. With all this cool weather and approaching snow, we have started to get very excited about our (approximately) 6 months of winter. Soon the local ski club will be hosting a gear swap at which we hope to acquire 2 pairs of good used cross country skis so that we which will allow us to switch from bikejoring with the dogs to skijoring. The pups are loving the cooler weather and their runs are still increasing in speed and dependability (ie. they are listening to our commands) they are even behaving during the very short periods we allow then to run free after they finish their bikejor and before they get their treat in their kennel.

Oh we almost for got to tell you about the latest wildlife sighting. This week while coming home from town we got to see a beautiful young brown bear walking up a driveway and crossing the highway about 7 km from our street. It was unfortunate that Justin and Lil were not in the car so that they too could add the sighting to their Yukon/Alaskan adventure.

There is lots happening this coming week. Colin has a few more shifts at the Yukon Made Store (he did some this week to cover for regular shop keeper) which is run by the same society that does the farmers market. He also has a job interview on Tuesday with the community association for a part time gig with them. On Friday we are going to be at a neighbours house to take in the second Home Routes Concert to be hosted on our street. These concerts are living room shows which allow Canadian musicians gain more exposure and get paid for it at the same time. It also allows us to see see live music, meet some more neighbours and be able to walk home afterwards. At the end of the week we are going to be head off to Carcross for a pig roast hosted by some friends of a friend who are doing a house-sit in a cabin off in the bush.

The adventure continues.

Lauren and Colin