Photos in the snow

Now, if Mary Sue or Kay were taking these photos, they’d be lovely; they’d be balanced, have a subject and background and all that stuff; they really have an eye for such things.  However, Mary Sue and Kay aren’t here, so you’ll have to settle for my pictures…in a minute.  Lizzie has thrown her “chicken” accidently under the sofa, and I need to retrieve it…

Okay, here goes:

Here’s the house, coming around from behind the barn,where the kitchen compost is deposited…

This is actually from the last snow, hence the brighter sky, taken later in the day.  Anyone for a picnic?

Lizzie outside the fence, watching the sheep eat their morning hay.  They don’t care if it’s snowing. In fact, they seem to love to eat snow, especially fresh snow…so they are happy critters this morning.

Chickens, on the other hand, do NOT like getting wet, so they are indoors, their choice, this morning,waiting for the snow to stop and for me to shovel out the snow, and lay down some fresh dry hay for them.  Meanwhile, they are roosting, taking a nap, for them, the best way to spend a day of snow…

Okay, NOW it’s time to make some bread.  I got some more syrup yesterday from Greg, dark amber, so I will try a recipe for oatmeal bread with maple syrup in it…I sure am enjoying this Zujirushi!

Dashing through the snow…

…or so said the subject line of an email from John this morning, reporting on the state of the roads.

It is snowing.  I love snow.  I never cease to be enchanted by it, the flakes falling down, beautiful and peaceful, the quiet…Yesterday’s Gospel at church was the Miracle at Cana (Jesus turning water into wine, manifesting the reign of God as joyful, encouraging us to relax, enjoy, celebrate, have fun, live in the moment…whatever….)  I think Nature’s version of the Miracle at Cana is snow…turning water into snow, every flake different and beautiful, covering up the land, resting in clumps on trees.  Now I know that some of you are rolling your eyes: your idea of joy and peace is a beach in the Islands somewhere, the sun beating down…but not me…I prefer this miracle of changing water into something joyful…Of course, just like wine, you can overdo it and not take care with snow.  Too much and it can lead to disaster.  But taking it easy, enjoying it, basking in the beauty and tastiness (of snow? Okay, pushing the envelope, but I eat snowflakes!) and smells of a glass of wine or of a snowy day…The colors are subtle, like the accents in wine: the greys and greens and whites…no…I think perhaps a bright sunny garden is like unto a good belt back of Irish whiskey, but a snowy day is like a nice glass of wine at a wedding…

Of course, it helps that I’m in from chores, and sitting in the living room near the woodstove, warm and toasty, and looking out the window, you think. ..Perhaps, but I’m about to go take a nice leisurely walk in the snow and smell the smells and see the sights, look for tracks, wondering what creatures have been out cavorting or scavanging for food.  Perhaps I’ll take some pictures…perhaps I’ll post them later.  We shall see…