Rare encounter - Part 2

On their little ski excursion the crew accidentally run into group of grouses (or wood grouses, I do not give much credit to their ornithological skill) spending their wintery day in their snow nests. The birds just bursted from the snow one by one. In the second pic you can see one of the round nests in the snow, the foot prints in the middle and three pairs of wing sweeps last of them being only a light touch by the wing tip feathers. The crew returned to the cabin the same path to make sure they did not disturb more birds staying warm in their snowy temporary lairs. 

PS Earlier on the same trip two lovely willow grouses allowed the crew observe their graceful sprint into air. The crew was very impressed by all this natural wonders they could see.

Rare encounter - Part 1

I made my short outing in Saturday morning no matter it was -25 C; first this kind of freezing weather made me cough but then I noticed that it is only the first sensation and I can manage it - hey, I am a Siberian cat and I have suitable genetic setup for the purpose. Once I decided to retrieve upstairs to my daily nap around noon the crew followed my example and took off for a small ski excursion in the neighborhood. They were surprised by the Sun reaching over the tree tops and how it made the snow covering the three tops sparkly against the deep blue sky. 

PS The captain snowshoed in first mate's KAR147 tracks for last two weekends and decided that it was time to get his own pair of KARs. They arrived for the weekend. Look at the pics how shallow is the track they leave in deep soft snow; the crew is excited.  

The curtains

Oh, silly first mate. She was thinking that curtains are something for decoration purposes only and took plenty of time to consider the look carefully before choosing. Little she knew. The curtains are totally functional element that make the sofa by the window setup usable - only now I could start using the sofa back as a chill out surface and for observing as the curtain texture is such I-can-see-and-I-cannot-be-seen kind of type.

Check out my left hand thumb nail. Hefty...

Captain's new skill

The captain has started making traditional ice lanterns. 

Late bloomer

Snowing

Weekend noon nap secured

The crew has some new toys to play on snow. In this post there are pics from the very first trial of OAC KAR147 (see http://skinbased.com/7/) by the first mate. It seems to me that the trial was successful and this guarantees me quiet quality time during my preferred nap time on weekend days at the cabin.

The neighboring hill is suitable for the test drive. Sun greets on the top.

In the distance the next ridges can be seen.

The new equipment, the KARs and EA binding. Comfortable winter shoes work well.
(The pants would benefit from replacement...)

From the home hill you can see Iso-Syöte and the enchanted ridge. Pikku-Syöte  to the right.

Down she goes...

The free heel of the bindings require telemark style of turns. This is new to the first mate and she
is very proud of the slight curves in her track resulting from basic telemark practices.

Moonlight in -28C

The star boy's cape

I will need to add explanation * to other than people in Oulu ;-)

*) The traditional Xmas choir Star boys popular in Oulu, more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_boys'_singing_procession.