Skiing!

The first day of X-country skiing this winter. Getting ready went remarkably well because we'd got the gear out a few days ago. There was just enough snow and it was minus 2°C so everything was nicely crispy.
I set off from the edge of the village and headed down the hill towards the beaver stream. After a short while I stopped and took this picture looking back up the hill to my starting place. Then I carried on down to the stream and skied around in the valley.
It was so lovely to be back on skis and to find I hadn't lost the knack! I managed the whole trip without falling over once.
You can see my tracks in this picture and a lot of others. They are all from roe deer or red deer, where they have walked, or where they have scraped away the snow to get at the grass beneath.  On the other side of the valley there were elk/moose tracks too.
We are promised a lot of new snow tomorrow morning, followed by an afternoon and evening of RAIN! This deteriorating weather was one of the motivations for skiing today, because who knows what sort of condition the snow will be in after tomorrow.
The extra photo shows the beaver dam in the snow. The yellow house you can see in the main photo can also be seen (top left) in the extra.
And now something completely different...
Happy Birthday Finland - 100 years old today!