Book
1 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series
Winter time in central Ontario, Canada, brings about snow, ice, freezing rain, blizzards and white-outs. If you like extreme weather, you'll fit right in. If you don't like the cold or any of the above weather conditions, well, you won't like Canadian winters. Me, I love it. Having the crisp, icy-cold wind ripple against your cheeks and feeling the delicate frostiness of snowflakes descending on your face... ah, that is a rejuvenating winter experience.
Me and my awesome and often crazy partner love to cavort in the elements. Summer is for sailing. Spring and Autumn are for taking care of the woods on our rural property. But winter - oh winter - it's for:
- Chopping and stacking bush cords of hardwood
- Shovelling snow (and driving snowblower)
- Hiking the property (with glass of wine in mittened-hand)
- Snowshoeing the property
- Bonfires
- Enjoying home-cut fries/poutine around the bonfire
- More snow shovelling (and driving snowblower)
- Star gazing at back of property (with glass of wine in mittened-hand)
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| Ian and J (carved by Ian with chainsaw) |
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| Firepit area |
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| One section of trails |
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| Clearing driveway in 'Canadian' disguise |
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| Woodstove ready |
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| After the hike... photobomb |
And our newest outdoor entertainment: Axe/Knife throwing
My partner has this thing about knives (is it a guy thing?) and ever since axe-throwing became popular, he's wanted to build a target and set it up beside our shop. So, during the Christmas break, he decided it was time to design and build the target. Once that was accomplished, then of course we had to buy a set of throwing axes/knives. No sense building a target without deadly instruments.
Have you ever thrown an axe? Or a specially-designed throwing knife? Not for the faint-hearted. But definitely a challenge. Also a hilarious challenge. Most throws will have the axe/knife 'clunk' against the target and fall straight down. Or, it will completely miss the target (it's 40" x 50"). Great fun!
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| J-I Axes homemade target. Yup, it says 'EyesBull' |
Canadian chill at -25 Celsius (-13 F)
While some people might think outdoor winter activities are for crazy Canucks, I like to think they're for anyone crazy enough to enjoy the elements. That's me.
However, if you're the kind of person who prefers to curl up inside your home with a hot cup of cocoa, then I have two perfectly good, non-deadly instruments for you to hold on to. The first is: The Twisted Climb, voted Best Young Adult book, and the second is The Twisted Climb-Darkness Descends, voted Best Young Adult book in 2018. Book 3 in this exciting series is on the way!
Until next time, stay safe everyone.
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
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Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)
Instagram @authorjckavanagh
As much fun as this sounds, I'd rather read about it in a book and remain warm indoors... even in Phoenix Arizona, where the daytime temperatures are now in the 70s. Brrrrr!
ReplyDeleteBrrr to the 70s temp... that is funny! Come to Canada, eh?
DeleteAxe throwing sounds like so much fun! Snow and winter go together. You can't have one without the other, and I enjoy both, but in the last five weeks, most days didn't get any warmer than -35C, and some nights were as cold as -50C. So, I've been spending most of my time in front of my fireplace :)
ReplyDeleteWOW! That is sooo cold! And yes, axe throwing is my new winter fave :)
DeleteI'd love to try axe throwing. We have a Lumberjack festival in a small town near us in Michigan. Typical chainsawing events, log rolling,and of course axe throwing. Several women compete too. I would need a child sized axe to throw in order to get it to the target!! Love your pics. They reflect how much fun you and your partner have together. Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteThank you J.Q. The axes are not very big so they are easy to throw... but not so easy to land lol !
ReplyDelete