A Frosty Day in December

We haven't seen the sun in weeks, and when there finally was sunny (and cold!) day, Niks and Naks wanted to go out.


Berries are frozen on the bush.



The forest is not very colorful at this time of year.





Niks: But when we are in the picture...

Naks: ... it is always colorful.

Niks: A nice sunny spot, by the way...

Naks: And nice soft snow, too.


Mountain ash berries are also still colorful.





Niks: The lake is starting to freeze.

Naks: This is thick enough for little trolls...

Niks: But I would not recommend this for humans.

Naks: Well, the water is so shallow here that it is frozen all the way to the bottom, so even a human could not fall through.



Niks: At least the lifebuoy is colorful.

Naks: Even if it is frosty.



Niks: The teeter-totter is also frosty and forlorn.

Naks: We have it all for ourselves.



Niks: The slide is ours, too...

Naks: But it is covered with snow...



Niks: If we had skis, this would be perfect for ski-jumping.

Naks: Definitely.



As the lake is not frozen yet, but the air is cold, mist rises from the lake.



Misty lake.



A fish on dry land.



Jaws.

Naks: HELP!

Niks: He's got us!



Niks: The lake is starting to freeze at the shores.

Naks: It's like a thin mirror!


View towards the far shore.



View towards downtown.



The harbor is empty.




Naks: We had fun!

Niks: Even if it was quite cold.

Niks: Have you ever tried to take pictures with woolly gloves on?

Naks: By the way, these pictures were taken between noon and 1 PM though it looks like dawn or sunset!

Gingerbread house project IV

Gluing the house parts together with melted sugar is rather messy and the result is somewhat crooked, but Niks and Naks are proud of their finished house.


Niks: This house looks great.

Naks: And it will taste great, too.



Niks: It has one small porch...



Naks: ... and one big porch.



Spock: Fascinating. According to my tricorder this building appears to be made of some kind of cookie dough. And the shape is strange, too. The structure is hexagonal, not rectangular like regular houses.



Spock: The material does not appear to be very weatherproof.



Niks & Naks: Nibble, nibble...

Spock: And it does not appear to be troll proof either. Excuse me, is it logical to keep nibbling at the house corners? It would appear to weaken the structure and make the house susceptible to collapse.

Niks & Naks: Nibble, nibble...



Haitula: Shoo! No nibbling until after Christmas!

Niks: Don't have a cow, man...

Naks: ... we are going already...



Spock: It would seem logical to post a security guard by the house until Christmas, then.



Haitula: I am the security guard.

Spock:You?

Haitula: I have a red shirt, haven't I?

Spock: Very well, then. Just make sure that you keep your phaser on stun, not on kill.

Haitula: Aye, aye, sir.



Haitula: I'll stun everybody who will come and try to nibble the house.



Naks: But we still have our sled.

Niks: No security guards around this one.

Naks: We can nibble this all we like.

Niks: I have a better idea.



Niks: Here are the candies that were left over from the decoration. We can put them into the sled.



Naks: Great! We can nibble at the candies.

Niks: And the sled will still be intact.

Gingerbread house project III

The next state in the gingerbread house project is decorating the parts. It is easier to do before the parts are glued together.


Niks: Here are the walls.

Naks: They look pretty fancy.



Niks: The roof parts look fine, too.

Naks: They definitely do.


By the time all the house parts had been decorated, the tip of the paper cone containing the icing had got rather soaked and stretched so the line produced had become rather thick. As a result the decorations of the small cookies got rather crude, but Niks and Naks did not mind, they thought the taste is the most important part, and sugar icing always tastes as sweet, no matter how it looks.

Niks: Now the small cookies are decorated, too.

Naks: And they will taste very sweet!



Niks: We also made parts that are supposed to fit together to become a sled.

Naks: It was supposed to be Santa's sled, but I think it will be a troll sled.

Niks: We can't take it out, though, it is not weatherproof.

Naks: No problem. We'll just load it full of candy and keep it inside. It will be a good Christmas decoration, too.