Had a visit from my little friend Ella on Friday, accompanied by my big friend Deb. Ella was a little shy but was quickly amused by all of the new stuff within reach. She is growing so big so quickly. Next time she comes for a visit I'm sure she'll be talking!



Saw TWO robins last Sunday, one at my old home in MacPherson on Thursday and one today. So YES ... Spring is officially here. The weather has been fine of late - sunny sunny sunny and the snow is almost all gone. In fact - the Golf Course opened this weekend. I think that is the earliest opening yet. So now there is a lot of outside work - raking, digging, planting, cleaning and generally getting ready for the summer. I love finally getting out into the yard.

The swans have arrived at Swan Haven in M'Clintock Bay on Marsh Lake. As of Friday, the count is 667 swans, including 235 Tundra Swans. On occasion while walking in town you can hear their honking as their loose "V"s make their way further north. It's a sight one never tires of.

So with this warm weather, the postings will be sporadic. If I'm not talking to you, I am outside getting fresh air and exercise. Happy Spring.

You may recognize this photo. The road on the way to my old house. As you can see there is still lots of snow on the mountains, very little in the bushes just off the road (unlike my backyard which still has 1-1/2 feet of snow). Was on my way to pick up my 'ol friend for lunch.

Passed this small building, which is easily viewed off the Alaska Highway. It is our new (and only) crematorium. The large chimney was shooting out the heat. You can't help but wonder if they just keep it hot in there, or if it is really doing its job.

On the way home, we took a detour to the McIntyre Creek area, where the paper last night said the swans have stopped. There is a lovely little viewing kiosk there filled with information on the birds in the area.

Of course, my birder friend knew all of this information and could easily recognize any of the birds. Had we seen swans, we could have recognized them too. Guess they all few away to the north since last night. Old Yukoners reading this ?? This is on the Fish Lake Road before the hydro station (on the way to my old old house).

More Rambling

Not much happening around here. Spring is the frustrating time of year. Still lots of snow on the ground and when that leaves, the ground still has to thaw. Won't be able to begin gardening until at least the beginning of May, so please don't tell me about your planting of pansies or raking of lawns. We learn patience here in the north.

Just heard this on the news tonight and it seems to be a topic floating around, but in case you haven't heard ... how can you go green by switching font ?? I have heard of two ways. They all have to do with printing. According to a Wisconsin college, switching from their default font (Arial) to Century Gothic will cut back on the amount of ink required when printing. And not just by a little bit, but about 30 percent less ink, says the school's director of computing. Way number 2 is purchasing a new font (I guess the savings are in the long run as you have an initial cash output with this one). This is called Ecofont and it puts little holes in the font which saves on ink and does not affect legibility. This apparently saves 25% of the ink when printed.

I have been getting into "green" sites lately (Lisa, you don't want me visiting you now!) My newest site of interest is www.ewg.org I have been watching Anna & Christina (on TV) cook up a number of recipes from various cookbooks - some successfully, some not so much. They turned me onto this Environmental Working Group site. It has the shopper's guide to pesticides. Very interesting. As well, they washed then tested some of the most highly pesticided (is that a word??) food - they washed with water, water & vinegar, and water + a couple of the newest food washing detergents on the market. The results ... water removed more pesticides than any of the other ways of cleaning the food. For those of you with an iPod Touch or iPhone, there's an app for this!

And for those of you that are retired ... it is sometimes difficult to remember what day it is. Here is a website that can help you. It is called Is it Thursday. Check it out at http://isitthursday.org/

Then after browsing for a bit more I came across this site: click here , then turned off the computer and went out for a walk.