Hello Winter Beauty!

Our first day of ‘real’ snow! ‘Real’ meaning it had to be plowed. This was the view from our kitchen table at breakfast. Needless to say … the Blue Jays were not impressed. I put their peanuts and sunflower seeds out at night before I come in. This morning they were well buried! We watched a little goldfinch discover the trench in the middle of the bird bar. We could see seed shells being flicked up and over the mini snow bank.

I headed out by ten thirty this morning … and made it back inside for dinner at six! I love puttering away out there after a fresh snow! I had gates (four) and barn doors (eight) to dig out. Stall mats to clear off. Two driveways to clear. And two paddocks to create race tracks in. AND I even managed to put the chains on the tractor just as it was getting dark. The hillside was only good for one pass … too much ice underneath that snow.

The goats love it when I clear around their playground. On a sunny afternoon like this it is a perfect place to soak up some rays. But first – they need their favourite beds swept off. I had a good chuckle that this morning they stayed in their Cafe while I worked up on the hillside.

I love the view from up there. You can take in the entire back field, the back paddock, the house and the front paddock. It is the perfect stoop for the neighbourhood snoops! No wonder they bleat at me when I get out of the truck in the laneway. 😉 Can you see the hens Clubhouse there with its windows facing the south? They had a good time soaking up the heat.

Although … these girls started to lay this week. They were not in the window. No… they were looking for curious places to leave their eggs. One day they left them in the clubhouse. Another day … they scored a great hiding spot! Not sure I even found them on day one.

Took me a while to find these three! Hahaha! Tucked in behind the feed bin in the far corner of the coop. It is delightful bringing in a mitten full of eggs each day! I don’t mind searching. They are so delicious! At noon today Ede made me an egg salad sandwich and we had a picnic on the back stoop. That way I didn’t need to take all my layers off. I felt like a kid playing outside all day. Once the snow was moved Paddy had the girls out to explore. The fluffy butt squad. 😉

This was the first time I’ve moved snow with the new barns as part of the mix. It is a little trickier … but I managed. I needed to plow myself a laneway to the back field beside the hay/tractor barn. It meant I gathered up snow in the back paddock and then took it scoop by scoop out the gate, around the barn’s far side to the very back. I know from experience that I don’t want to let it build up in the paddock.

Once the tractor starts up and the mountains of snow start creeping across the paddock the jennies make themselves scarce. I work out back – they sun out front.

Their shelters in the front paddock keep their straw beds dry and are a great place to put out some timothy hay for munching on.

It was a mild day. As I was plowing I could see the snow starting to turn shades of blue. The water gets compressed as it is melting … and I feel like I’m scooping up a wave. That’s a warning that whatever I do push off to the side will be rock hard tomorrow. And likely for the rest of the winter.

A beautiful day around here. Hope you had a chance to be out in it all too. Make like a kid – and play!