Beer Can Chicken

Well another Jane Austen movie has come and gone. We celebrated with a new recipe for Chicken that is in fact a bit of a BBQ tradition in Canada: Beer Can Chicken. Beer in the can (with various herbs, garlic, rosemary) stuffed into an chicken. It is placed upright on the BBQ and roasted. Very tasty and made an excellent addition to the lamb chops and homemade hamburger patties. A happy birthday to Ms. Crowded House and a belated birthday to her husband. And a hearty homecoming meal for the "Return of the King" after a nearly six months stay in Singapore....and so well timed as the snow is finally melting.

178 cm

Where did the path to my front door go?

Can you see Mr. Hippo's hand in this photo?

About the only thing the ice is good for!

This is the cumulative snowfall for this winter season to date. To give you some perspective on this figure, it is about 29cm from breaking the all time record for a single winter season of 207cm. Incidentally, this record was set back in last great winter of 1938-39. What a difference a year makes. Last year, the total accumulation was a mere 63 cm (yes, a near all time low). In fact, I have blogged more about snow this winter than about anything else. With the official start of spring next week, many view the chance of breaking this record with mixed feelings. Perhaps it will provide this generation of Torontonians with a new badge of courage and help us to gain some credibility with being really Canadians to rest of the nation. After all, what do we have to whine about in the "tropics" of Canada. The all time greatest accumulation was set out east in St. John's, Newfoundland in the winter of 2000-1 when 634cm fell! Bring on that 29cm!

And when last did you see my backyard?

Is this really what winter was like? The answer is yes. I remember (through the aid of pictures) that the snow was really that high and everyone had to wear the snow pants. However, it has now been more than 45 days since I saw the grass, the other plants and the fountain the backyard. In fact, I can't really how the lawn must have looked like six months. For now it seem I am snow blinded and snow blanketed.

It seems I will need to borrow my neighbour's snow blower again this week as another winter storm is predicted and I can't throw the snow off my driveway any higher with the shovel. How in the world did we think it was safe to play in the snow drifts? One consolation, there must more days of winter behind as by now.