Frozen Bubbles!

Yesterday we tried a winter experiment, seeing if we could freeze bubbles.  You can find stories about this online, and we thought it would be fun to try.  We also couldn't get a better day at something below -20°C.

A bowlful of frozen bubbles!  It's actually the thin layer of water between two layers of soap that freezes.

We used a small measuring cup and took out a red placement for contrast so the bubbles would show up.

The mixture was one cup water, 1/3 cup Dawn soap detergent, and a couple of tablespoons of molasses.  It seemed to work, but that was a much bigger quantity than you really need.  A little blowing in the mixture with a straw and you had a bowlful of bubbles which quickly froze.  Then of course the bubbles started popping.

Another try.  Getting pictures in focus was the hardest part.

You can blow individual bubbles too, but we found that they broke as soon as they touched anything. 

Leaving you with the thin broken skin of the frozen bubble.

You could stir up the bits of icy film on the end of the straw.  We could only do this because it's been so cold, one good use for cold weather!  Tonight it's still -28°C with the windchill, but by tomorrow afternoon it's supposed to rise above -10 for the first time in nearly two weeks, and by Monday rise slightly above above freezing!  Mind you, by Wed. and Thurs. it's supposed to be above freezing and rain.  What rain will do on top of two feet of snow on all the rooftops I don't know!

Observing Our Grey Squirrels

I've decided that I need to get over my anthropomorphic disdain of Grey Squirrels and enjoy observing them now that I've got them visiting our bird feeders every day.  It's a big shift in attitude for me, but I might as well make the best of it.

The Eastern Grey Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, is a cute, agile, bold little creature (oops, there I go being anthropomorphic again).  After a blog reader pointed out that they do not hibernate over the winter I started reading about them, a first step toward getting over my negative bias.  They are remarkable animals in many ways.

I commonly see two of them, but not often posing together for a photo.  But any animals that keep coming out to eat in the frigid temperatures we've been enjoying have to be well adapted survivors!  A lot of other animals do just escape winter by hibernating.

The Eastern Grey Squirrel is native to eastern North America, so it does belong here.  I think a large part of my bias against it comes from reading about how it has largely displaced the smaller European Red Squirrel after being introduced in England over 100 years ago.  It's considered a serious invasive species there, as well as in British Columbia following introduction there.

I included this photo because it's one of my only photos that shows the tiny sharp claws on the front feet.  The Grey Squirrel lives a largely arboreal life, travelling up and down and through trees, making remarkable jumps with agility.  It can turn its back feet around to hold on with those claws, which make it one of the only animals that can go down a tree headfirst.

They can live in hollow trees or in large leaf nests known as 'dreys'.  I suspect this is the home of my two Grey Squirrels, a large nest in a neighbouring ash tree.  It will be lined with finer plant material inside to provide a secure home.

As it is, the squirrel feeds on the ground beneath the bird feeders, but dashes for the nearest tree trunk at signs of danger.  That's a garden sculpture it's hiding behind.

Then it comes back to the ground, but looks around before leaping the 4 feet to the sunflower seed.  If I'm going to really observe these animals, I'm going to have to change my style.  Usually I just notice the birds or squirrels out the window, and stop to take a few pictures.  But I think I'm going to have to actually sit and observe to learn much.  I haven't yet seen them travel between that big drey next door and our bird feeders for example.  And I wish I could find a way to tell the two squirrels apart.

But today it did something unexpected, it ran the longer way across the snow and up into a different tree, then disappeared to the east.  Those white lines across the squirrel are snow blowing horizontally through the yard.  By the way, the black squirrels we often see, especially in urban populations, are simply a colour phase of the Eastern Grey Squirrel, not a separate species.

I think it could be fun to watch these well-adapted animals; maybe I`ll learn something.  It reminds me of a 2nd year Zoology course I took at university.  The professor and his graduate students had banded squirrels in forested areas on the edge of campus with coloured leg bands, so you could tell individual squirrels apart.  We had to go squirrel-watching and write a report.  I enjoyed that assignment (anything to get out of the classroom).  So here in our backyard I`ll repeat my squirrel observing, some nearly 50 years later!

Linking to: 

Arctic Exploration

I can sense the cabin fever building, even at this early stage of the winter.  I knew I needed to get out for some fresh air, but with the windchill it was -27°C.  So I just pretended I was going out on an Arctic exploration!  It felt like it too!

The sun was a faint haze through the fine blowing snow in mid-afternoon.

I put on the snowshoes and headed out back to the edge of the field.  You couldn't see much beyond the silhouettes of the nearer trees.

I'm not sure whether it was actually snowing, or the wind was just picking up the surface snow and blowing it around.  In any case visibility was limited.

I picked my way behind the clumps of spruce trees for a bit of shelter from the wind and headed west as far as the little creek, now marked just by some dry bulrushes in the snow.

Having made it this far and got my serious dose of fresh air (!), I decided I could turn around.

It was much easier going back, walking in my own tracks, ducking behind the spruce again for shelter.  Breaking trail on showshoes is a slow business if the snow is deep.

I walked down beside the old line of trees, past that house under construction next door, and in out of the arctic wind.  It's not that bad if you screw up your courage and enjoy the challenge, and you're dressed for it.  There's a good chance that tonight and tomorrow night will be the coldest nights of the year here, with wind chills of -33°C forecast.

****

In spite of the arctic conditions here, we seem to have it better than the eastern U.S. where they're dealing with a 'cyclone bomb' moving up the Atlantic coast.  If you've wondered just what that is, take a look at this wind map.

The "Earth: A Global Map of Wind...." is a really interesting site to check out in times of storms like this.  If you go to the link you'll see this map live, with all those lines indicating the moving wind.  You can clearly see the counter-clockwise pattern of winds, which makes meteorologists label this a 'cyclone'; the 'bomb' label just indicates the strength of the storm.  Leaves me thinking we're doing just fine here in our deep freeze!

Enjoying Winter Regardless!

The cold snap continues, in fact it's getting worse the next two days, but I got out there regardless this morning, ran some errands and got some photos.  I did want to prove to you that we got some brief sunny breaks and we can enjoy winter even at -20°C (-4°F).

Late yesterday afternoon we got a real sunny break, when the sun shone brightly on the neighbour's trees - for a few minutes.  Just an interesting combination of branches that lets me take this picture out the window.

This morning the sun wasn't nearly so bright, shining through the thin clouds that were coming and going.  But by playing with the exposure I did get some winter shadows for you.

Feeling better and better here, thinking I'm ready to go for a short snowshoe walk beyond the back yard.  Have to start getting some light exercise to go with all the rest I'm getting to get my strength back.

You can see how the wind has blown our light fluffy snow into a harder packed surface, with tiny drifts behind each little obstacle.  (And a few bigger drifts elsewhere).

Just to prove it was really me, yes I did put on the snowshoes and walk out back by the bird feeders to get this selfie.  Actually a cold but nice winter's day if you're dressed for it.

I got a little further too, and stopped a couple of places along the shore, here in Memorial Park.  The water on the bay rises and falls along the shoreline relentlessly, even if there are no real waves, leaving ice floes underlain by thin ice columns. 

Meanwhile our local weather warning states:  "A bitterly cold northwesterly flow will develop over southern Ontario Thursday. Extreme cold warning criteria of minus 30 is expected to be met in many places Thursday night into Friday and again Friday night into Saturday."  Send us warm vibes!

Lifting the Roof

There's one vacant lot left between our house and the first house to the west, and they've started building the house that will be our neighbours.  We're up every morning to the sound of a generator, saws and hammers at 8 a.m.

As I mentioned back in the spring when our house was being built, our builder usually builds the roof first, lifts it off the foundation, builds the walls and then lifts the roof back on - a process I have never seen before.  Here's the roof sitting on the foundation.

I heard some commotion outside that wasn't the usual, so I went to the door to check it out.  To my surprise the huge crane had already set up and was ready to lift the roof.

Up it goes!  They're working in a very confined space here, a single lot, so they built the roof in three sections.  Four people, one at each corner can easily handle positioning the roof once the crane has it off the ground.

They swung this piece forward where they could sit it on what will be the front lawn.

And down it goes.

Before I had time to walk out front and get a picture of the crane itself they had the cables attached to the second large chunk of the roof.  A big crane for a small residential subdivision!  Our builder tells me they do it this way mainly for safety.

The second piece was a bit smaller, and these two fellas guided it off the foundation easily.

And set it down in the back yard.  I think they must have done some careful measuring to make sure everything was going to fit!

The third piece was a small dormer which was no trouble at all.

And they were left with an open floor to work on to build the walls.  This all happened a week before Christmas, and they got two bits of wall done before they took a two week break.  I don't know that they planned it, but they'll be glad that their break covered the two coldest weeks of the winter!  Of course now they'll be coming back to a building site buried in 2 feet of snow!  Day one will just be shovelling.

In no time at all the crane was lowered, the legs raised and retracted, and the huge machine was ready to leave.  I expect to see it back sometime in January to put the roof back on top.

****

Woke to light snow and almost 'warm' temperatures - it was supposed to rise to only -6°C; it's only -7 even now.  But the wind blew the snow in horizontally, leaving a wind chill nearer -20°C.  I did eventually screw up my courage and went out briefly for some fresh air, but I put on all the winter clothing I had!  Warm ear-flap hat, wide scarf, and big moosehide mitts.  I survived.  Tomorrow there is actually a wind chill warning of near -30°C, which is too cold for me!  Four more days of this extreme cold to go before we get a break.

Winter Inspiration

It's a new year, and I'm searching for winter photography inspiration.  Already I'm tired of being stuck at home as much as I am, and yet another picture out the back windows.  Got to get off my duff and get out to enjoy it.  So I've searched through the past few years' January photos to see what I can find to inspire me; here they are.

Cross-country skiing at Glenelg Highlands 

A frozen waterfall on the Bruce Trail 

Country views.

Hoarfrost morning.

Snowshoe exploring. 

After the snowfall. 

Winter shadows.

View of the valley.

One thing I notice immediately when I got back to search through old photos is that the best ones were taken on sunny days.  They were all taken either when I was out driving around, or when I was snowshoeing or skiing.  None of them were taken at home.  So I guess the message is I just have to get out there and enjoy the new year.  Now if the arctic deep freeze would just ease off, and the sun come out, I'd be ready!