Hoof Trimming

Gunnar gets a manicure.  The sheeps' hooves need to be periodically trimmed.  During the winter they are walking on snow and the hooves wear very little.

I was ably assisted by Lasse, a high school exchange student from Germany, who is staying with Mik and Jeni.  Turns out that Lasse has worked on a large sheep farm in northern Germany for several years and knows all about sheep wrangling.  It was quite obvious that this wasn't the first time he had thrown a sheep on its rear.  The day before Lasse had taken first place in the 18 and under class of the 14k ski race at the Great Bear Chase.  It was only his third time on XC skis.  Way to go, Lasse!

Catching the sheep in a large open pen was a bit tricky.  Once they saw what was going on,  they didn't want any part of it.

Winter Makes up for Lost Time

Winter finally arrived and we got 100 inches of snow in three weeks.

All that snow insulated our roof very well and allowed the lowest layers to melt and form icicles.

Marja's ski trail.

Snow on the window after a storm.

Breakfast.

Snow troopers.

After the storm.

 

All this fell in about 4 hours.  MTU shut down at noon and I drove home in a whiteout.  That afternoon I spent several hours blowing snow from our driveway and my dad's driveway with my tractor.  Along grandpa's driveway the steep bars at the ends of the snowblower were occasionally submarining under the snowdrifts, which were four feet deep in many places.  Fortunately the storm letup by evening.  The following morning I flew to Kansas City for our annual bookstore trade show, and guess what, the next day we had a record-setting snowstorm down there!  Judging from their snow removal efforts, one would have to surmise that they aren't used to dealing with snow like we are in the Copper Country.

David took Deanna for an evening hike up Wheelkate Bluff, built a fire and gave her an engagement ring.  Afterward they watched the winter carnival fireworks over Houghton.  Welcome to the family, Deanna!

Shovelling out the south side of the greenhouse.

Mik, number 71, took 8th place in the 50k skate at the Great Bear Chase ski marathon.

January 12, 2013

Winter had a hard time getting going this year.  We had numerous heavy snowfalls followed by major thaws.  At this point we had begun to wonder if winter would ever arrive.

Christmas 2012

Making jouluhimmelit with straw from the reed canary grass by the sauna.

Maukku following a tense match between David and Jonathan.

Christmas eve dinner.

Puzzle Building.  Amanda arrived  worn out from final exams and feeling under the weather, but was skiing by the end of the week.

Mik trying his hand at Daniel's accordian.

The Kilpela clan.

Rook has become a Christmas tradition in recent years. 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How Tasty are Your Branches!

Dec. 15, time to get a Christmas tree.  I found a nice one close to the sheep pen.  The sheep were quite curious about it.  They associate me with  food and usually start bawling whenever they see me.  Sheep are generally quiet animals, but these two in particular have strong lungs and know how to use them when food is in question.

Gunnar came to the fence and started nibbling at the tips of the branches.  Not so fast, bud!

That gave me an idea.  I sawed down a small spruce and threw it over the fence.  The sheep attacked it with relish.  I guess eating hay every day gets kind of old, and spruce needles must add a little spice to their diet.  Spruce salsa?  The sheep also like pine needles during the winter.  The early French voyageurs suffered badly from scurvy, a disease caused by a Vitamin C deficiency - until they learned from the Indians how to make tea from cedar leaves.  They named the tree Arborvitae, the tree of life.  Sheep of course knew these sorts of things all along.  And we consider them dumb.

This one is ours.

Pond Hockey

December 6 - Finnish Independence Day

Pond hockey at its finest.  Who needs snow when you have good ice.

Yours truly about to deke out three defenders...(Hey, I can tell it any way I like.)

The island added strategic options...

Whichever team got three goals first was the winner.  Afterward we mixed the sticks to choose new sides and did it all over again.

Jake putting a move on Johnny....

The Koivisto brothers - Carl and Mark - chased each other while the rest of us watched.  (We couldn't keep up.)

Yours truly about to drop the puck using the old behind-of-the-back-at-the-goal toss. Nothing against it in the rule book.  For matter there's nothing against anything in the rule book, for the rule book does not exist.

 

Johnny stealing the puck...

Pond hockey is open to all levels of talent.  When your goal is a five gallon bucket, even a rookie is likely to score.

Jakencarl

Digging the puck out of the grass...

....breaking loose

The crowd around the goal...

After two hours of hockey, some post game refreshment - pannukakku.