Haying season...

When you look out to the greener part of this field, you can see a darker purple/green shade and then a lighter green shade in the hay that is mowed.  This field yields strong to alfalfa, but also has crested wheat grass mixed in with it.  The purple shade is the flowers from the alfalfa being mowed in that direction.  The lighter shade is the mowing on the trip back.  This is some of the best hay EVER cut and baled on this ranch.  We've never seen hay like this in years -- maybe ever.  Hubby's dad, an 87 year old Grandpa says he's never seen hay like this in all his years and he has lived here his entire life.

 The green grass and alfalfa in the foreground was cut and baled a week or so ago and look at how much has grown back!  We do not usually get a second cutting of hay except for the very low, wet patches here and there and that is rare. 

 On the way out to the hay field today, I saw from a distance what looked like someone's jacket or a towel left on the cross bar of the fence brace.  As I got closer, I could see that it was not that at all, but instead it was a swarm of bees.  We have several boxes of bees on the ranch this year.  The folks that put them on us and lots of other ranchers will have a good honey year since we have gobs and gobs of sweet clover.  I guess these bees decided to go pioneering and find a new place to call home.

Here's a close-up photo of the bees.  Maybe they'll be gone tomorrow.  Who knows? 

The baby birds are here and there in the back yard and front yard and in the pastures.  I saw the baby hawk as I drove past the swarm, but didn't have my camera ready for it.  Our world is alive with so many things growing.  It's wonderful to see and to be right in the thick of it.

Hello!

Hello!  It's me.  I'm here!

 May snow

 

The winter and the spring was long and cold and snowy for us and we just got so busy and worn out that I chose to stop blogging for a while.  But here it is, June!  I'm so thankful that we are in June now. The winter snows and spring snows and rains have made everything green and beautiful.  We had snows all through to the end of May and our June has been mostly cool too.  The trees didn't even leaf out until June.

Bringing cows and calves in right by our house.

We've got the sheep all lambed out and the calves branded and out to summer pasture.  There's so much grass that the cows and sheep will never keep up with it.  What a blessing it is to see our prairie so green with thick grass and wildflowers.

The winter snows have brought up flowers of all kinds.  The prairie is just beautiful and we are seeing wildflowers that we have not seen in years.  CarpeterSon brought me a wildflower bouquet from the pastures as he was out checking cows and calves today.  He is so thoughtful.

I didn't get my garden in until June and I'm always amazed at how quickly the seeds germinate and come up when the ground is finally warm.  For me, it is never a good idea to plant my garden seeds until June 1st or so.  I put in lots more flowers this year and I'm excited about that.  I mixed several kinds of annuals together with some fine sand and planted them in rows.  I'm looking forward to some summer bouquets for the house and some to share with friends.  There will be cosmos, zinnias, larkspur, Bells of Ireland, marigolds, and sunflowers.  My shrub roses are full of buds and I can't wait to see them in full bloom soon.

The grandkids and I are keeping our lists of birds again this year.  It's so exciting to see all of the migrant birds come back to spend the spring and summer with us.  We are constantly sharing our bird sightings and encourage each other to keep a watchful eye for the newest bird arrival or for nests and baby birds.

I hope you're all enjoying spring where you are. 

Nature Study...

 

 

While I was out looking around in my yard, I found several things that I thought were especially beautiful.  First, the roses.  As you might remember, we had an early snow this month.  Everything froze.  But right after it, we had some unusually warm days that dried things and the leaves all fell off the trees.  The roses were blooming and I think they were freeze-dried.  I brought a few in to admire. 

You can see life stages in the Gallardia flowers.  Right now there are a few new blooms (what amazing flowers!) whilst others are in stages of dried petals, seed heads, and seeds blown away.  I chose to put my subjects on top of a large, white watercolor paper as a neutral background for my study.  Since I took the pictures outdoors in the afternoon, you can also see the study in fall shadows on the paper!

The Cottonwood leaves are especially unusual to me this fall. Generally, they turn yellow and fall from the trees, but my hunch is that they were yet green or turning while on the trees and then were frozen at whatever stage of turning they were in.  They have the most intriguing patterns.  I brought several in to lay around on tables and shelves to appreciate. 



There are so many beauties outdoors just now.  The milkweed pods have opened and their silky fur with chocolate brown seeds attached are just fascinating to look at and touch.  The seeds will gently float on the wind to their next destinations.

It is mostly silent outdoors now.  Most birds have migrated except for the year-rounders that stay with us.   The "beep beep" of the nuthatch tickles me, and the "see me?" of the American goldfinch does too.  Last night while shutting the chickens in, I heard two Great-horned owls hooting back and forth to each other.  Nature is quieting itself and settling itself for winter.  I'm going to appreciate these fall days as long as they remain.



Hubby and I took a little get-away to the Black Hills.  It happened to be during the snowy season of October.  This was the most beautiful drive we've taken in a long time.  It was so peaceful, away from busy tourists that are usually here.

What are you noticing now?

 

First snow...

The first snow fell last night and part of today.  We measured about 2" of snow on the ground with lots of wetness below it.  Our rain gauge measured about .7" of moisture.  By evening the snow was melted off, but the skies continued to be gray and blustery, dropping rain and sometimes snow.  When it gets around freezing tonight, we may wake up to another snow like the one in the picture.  This is a good, wet kind of snow-rain mix that puts all of the trees and grasses to bed for winter with a good drink so roots can freeze.  We still have leaves on many of the trees so they are really weighed down with snow. 



My garden is all cleared off now.  My daughter-in-law and the grands helped me dig potatoes and we split them up between the kids and their families.  The potato patch was a group effort this year with both DILs and grands helping to plant, and the men (bless their hearts) brought us straw to cover the patch.  We weighed about 130 pounds of potatoes harvested and we only planted 12-13 pounds of potatoes cut up for seed.  I also dug up all the carrots and have three full grocery bags in my spare fridge.  I cut several grocery bags of late lettuce that I am so thankful for.  I have a wheel barrow of acorn squash in the garage along with a bushel basket of beautiful, perfectly ripe, hole-free, bug-free, red apples.  The apple tree is a "Northern Lights" which is a cross between a Haralson and a Macintosh and it is very cold hardy.  The apples have a pinky-white flesh, are sweet and delicious to eat, and they make a wonderful pie.  I'd say the gardens were very productive this year, minus the tomato failure.  But hey, that's the way gardening is.  We are expecting more freezing cold temperatures tonight and chances of more snow.  The fall moisture is a good thing for us, even if it does come in the form of wet snow.  There are some warmer days on the horizon! 

Has the fall turned cold and wet where you are?  Happy October everyone.

Haying and a few flowers...

 The old equipment and the modern

 

 Chives

 

 Prairie roses

 

 My shrub roses

Blue flax and yellow yarrow

(Achillea millefolium)

 

 Poppy

 

Columbine

 

Crossbill

 

It's feeling more like summer every day.  The days are lengthening, flowers are blooming, the grass is growing, the temperatures are warming, and it's time to cut the hay.  What we gained in heavy winter snowfall, we sorely lacked in spring rains.  We only had .9" of rain in May and just received .9" this past week.  That means the alfalfa hay is flowering and the grass hay is heading and beginning to turn brown underneath and it's time to cut, although it's early for us.  We have to get it while the gettin's good.  Hubby started mowing hay on Thursday and the sons rolled up just nine bales today to see how it would go.  Tomorrow will be a bigger day and I think I'll be in the field raking while the sons bale and Hubby continues to mow.  The hay looks pretty good, and this little shot of rain might help to hold the other hay fields over until we get there. 

 

My flower beds are all a-bloom with flowers -- all volunteers from years past.  The rose bushes are really putting out and I've cut several bouquets to bring indoors and to share with my girls next door.  The rose scent is wonderful.  I put a vase of roses in our bedroom and was so pleased to walk in this afternoon after church and smell such a lovely fragrance.  The prairie roses are a very plain, single rose.  They are prolific this year and in full bloom now, but ever so quickly they will fade away. 

 

In one flower bed I had a little clump of chives growing and I thought they were so pretty that I just let them stay.  Now they have filled up a good corner and I like them so much that I will let them ramble.  I like it that they are useful as well as ornamental.  The columbine spread like crazy too.  I love them, but I must continually yank a lot of them out year by year or else they would take over every open spot of earth.  The poppy is a favorite who comes up with her large sticker-y leaves and stems and then goes all soft and silky in her rich, red bloom.  My peony is very close to blooming.  I can't wait!  I've been really babying her along with extra water and a bit of fertilizer since she didn't do anything last year with the dry, dry spring we had.  It looks like she's going to really put forth her all this year. 

 

We've had a pair of unusual visitors to our bird feeders -- the Red Crossbill.  I realize this one isn't very red (or orangy colored) but I'm thinking it's a female or perhaps a juvenile which have shades of yellow on them.  Crossbills are usually found where there is coniferous forest and we sure don't have any pine trees or any other cone trees around here, but they are helping themselves to the sunflower seeds and appear to be doing well.

 

I'm looking forward to climbing in my old, open-air tractor tomorrow and raking hay again.  It's mindless work that allows me to spend hours thinking my own thoughts,  praying for people, and singing to God as I roll along.   It's amazing how many songs come to mind when you make your own music.  I could put my ear buds in and listen to something, but I just never do.  I like taking in the smells, the sounds, and the scenery right where I am.  What are the smells and sounds and the sceneries  where you are today?



 



Mud. It's a beautiful thing...

 

We got another dose of snow today.  About 3-4" of wet, wet stuff.  It was all right because what followed in the afternoon was warm and sunshiny which made some of this.  Mud!

 

Mud means different things to different people.  To me, mud means we've had a good snow or a good rain that soaked into the ground.  It means that the run-off is going to fill reservoirs and stock ponds, creeks and wadis, and puddles.  It means fresh water for livestock and wildlife to drink.  It means grass, wildflowers, and hay meadows will get enough to drink to bring them up, full of life!  It means that robins will have mud for their nests in April.  Ducks and children will have their fun wading and waddling in it.  And lest you think my definition a bit lofty, mud also means my mudroom lives up to it's name.  The dog shakes her muddy body as she tracks in, the boots come in and leave globs everywhere, and my mop and bucket are always wet and on-the-ready.  It does help if we give our boots a good slap-together outside before bringing them in, but sometimes we forget.  Ah well.

 

These are the cows that are the most likely to calf in the next week or so.  We sorted them up by calving dates and this bunch is on the hill by our house for close observation.  Normally, we do not keep the mature cows this close, but the pastures where they would normally be calving are still knee deep in snow and there is nowhere for them to be.  So for now, this is where the action happens.  With all this melting, perhaps we will get to those pastures with cows soon. 

 

These little girls are all cozy and dry under the shelter in the straw.  The babies that are born out there in the small pasture are sledded in to a place in the corral where it is dry.  The calves can at least have a little dry, warm time with their mothers before the are kicked out into the wide world of mud.

Just a couple days after the Vernal Equinox, the Western Meadowlarks began to sing.  What a joy!  Come (scroll down), take a listen, and feel the joy!

Birds & no bees....

Hello from the frozen tundra of the North!  We are just days away from the Spring Equinox, better know First Day of Spring, and we just keep getting slammed with snow.  I don't want to complain --even though my natural man would like to-- because I'd really like to see some green soon, but I do know that this wet, wet snow that's coming down is what's going to make it green, green, green when it's all melted down.  The men here keep having to get up in the wee, dark hours of the morning to move enough snow out of the way so we can drive and have a little space for the sheep and cows to have somewhere to stand and eat.  There is no grazing happening at this point. Just standing and eating and walking a little bit to the water tanks.  As you can see by the first picture, the sheep and the cows in the background are pretty much snowbound.  We try to make it as bearable as possible, but it is what it is right now.  Thankfully we are warmer than we were in February -- staying mostly in the 20s and 30s -- which feels ok.  We are also thankful that the mature cows have not started calving yet.  We hope that we are going to get some warmer days to melt this snow off so they can have a little bare ground to have their babies on instead of the snow.  Hubby is planning to contact our county road plow neighbor and see if we can hire him to plow some bare spots in the pasture for the cows. 

Despite the rather wintry weather we are having, it does have a feel of spring to it.  Yes, it does!  It is wet, sloppy, good snow that's falling and there's a good deal of slush, and mud underneath the whiteness of it all.  And the other telltale signs are the birds that are arriving.  The Canada geese have been here, standing around in the hay field looking for something green or buggy to eat.  It's so funny to see them just standing out there in the snow looking around.  The meadowlarks have come in and can be found out in the pastures where the men have cleared snow away for the cows and sheep.  They are turning over every bit of hay or cow pie to see if there might be a bug underneath somewhere.  The robins have come too and so have the red-winged blackbirds.  Juncos are usually thought of as winter birds to most people, but they never stay here for the winter.  They do come though in early spring and again in the fall.  I think they are pass-through birds for us.  The red-polls and a few American goldfinches have stayed through the winter and are still here for our so-called spring.  But you must know that oftentimes, this really IS what spring looks like for us.  Heavy, wet, spring snowfall is typical.  It's just that we haven't had it in a few years, and it comes on top of our previous, hard, winter snow so it feels like the never-ending winter.  But.....spring will overcome winter.  The sun gets nearer and it will prevail!

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the snow.  I've been strapping on my traditional, wood snowshoes to test them out on this wet snow and they work beautifully at keeping me floating on top of the snow.  The modern, aluminum snowshoes are a bit heavier and they tend to sink into the softer snow.  They are great for hard snow, but not so much for this stuff.  The dog, Heidi, and I are enjoying the walks.  She thought she should bring the frisbee along.  She sinks in to her belly, but doesn't seem to mind.  I try to tell her to walk in my tracks, but she doesn't care.  She wants to chase jackrabbits!

So, my friends, from the country where the snow seems to never end, I wish you happy winter and will very soon wish you a happy spring!  What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Firsts...

 

First Robin pic by JLynn (DIL)

Western Meadowlark, Kevin Cole

Two days ago Peach and Toodles and their mama sited the First Robin here on the ranch in the trees next to their house.  I put on my boots and went with Peach to see it with my own eyes.  She was anxious to show him to me!  Today I spied the First Meadowlark while I was out feeding sheep.  I didn't have a camera so everyone had to trust my eyes for the report of "First Meadowlark" that was announced on the 2-way radio.  The meadowlark picture is not mine.  My picture would have snow, a little mud, and gray skies mixed in it.  Not as colorful as this pic.

We are expecting another snow this weekend.  Somewhere between 6-8" of snow on top of what we have.  The old snow is sinking slowly as the sun gets a little stronger each day.  Still, we have quite a bit.  There are now about 65 new calvies on the ground so the men have been working to make sure there are good places for them to be during the snow storm.

I've been stitching a little bit here and there.  One embroidery is for a baby's room and the Scottie Dog for a friend of a friend to tuck into a birthday gift.  In case you need a Scottie Dog stuffie of your own, the pattern is here at AllSorts.   It's almost spring!  Can you feel it in the air?  Yet?

Whole30 recipes...

 This dish began as a crock pot pork loin which was delicious, 

and then the leftovers turned into 

Pork, Green Bean and Potato Hash.

 Lime Chili Shrimp Fajita

Osso Buco and Cauliflower "Rice" & Mushrooms

 

My "Take A Stitch Tuesday" for last week.

Running stitch, round and round my hoop.

Hello Everybody!

Hubby and I have knocked out over 10 days of Whole30 and we're feeling GOOD!  I've been working at collecting a group of tasty recipes that will conform to the rules of Whole30 so we can have some good things in our dining rotation.  I must say that we've been eating like Kings!  I want our foods to be tasty and mostly easy to make, and I think the recipes that I'm sharing here are all of that.  

Starting at the top:  The Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin.  There was a recipe I found online, but the only part I kept from it included the loin and the cooking time.  Otherwise, I did this:  Salt & Pepper a small pork loin and sear it on all sides in a skillet with a little olive oil.  Cut an onion into chunks and put it on the bottom of the crock pot along with chunks of  carrots, celery, and a couple cloves of smashed garlic.  Roll the seared pork loin into a mixture of course salt & pepper, garlic powder, and rosemary.  Lay the coated loin over the veggies.  Add about 1 cup of water down the side, put the lid on, and let it cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.  I served it with green beans sauteed with onions, water chestnuts, garlic and slivered almonds.

The next day I made a hash with the left-over pork starting with olive oil in my cast iron skillet, the pork pieces, onion, some left-over potatoes,  green beans and a clove of minced garlic.  Add salt & pepper and some smoked paprika at the end to your taste.

The Lime Chili Shrimp Fajita recipe was a hit too.  We both gobbled down an entire pan of this.  Since we are land-locked prairie savages, we don't have access to fresh shrimp, but I do buy frozen, raw shrimp from the local stores and it's just fine.  (What do we know anyway?)  The seasoning in this recipe is really great and I think you could make it with chicken, pork, or beef.  Even though it's a fajita recipe, we did not use tortillas because that's against the rules.  But you can use tortillas if you want.

Osso Buco is SO good.  We are cattle ranchers so we are blessed to have our own home-raised beef.  I know that "real" osso buco is made with veal shanks, but we don't butcher veal so instead, I subbed in beef shanks.  The servings are much larger than veal shanks, and I would venture to guess, every bit as tender.  This is an Ann Burrell recipe, so you know it's good.  The only things I did not follow  in the recipe was the fennel and the tomato paste amount.  I did not have fennel so omitted it and I probably only used 2 -3 tablespoons of tomato paste in my recipe.  

OnlyDaughter gave me a cauliflower "rice" recipe and we made that to eat alongside the Osso Buco.  It was delicious.  I can't find the link to the recipe, but I'll tell you how it went.  I didn't fuss as much as the recipe said (as is my way).

Cauliflower "Rice" & Mushrooms

1 - 12 oz package of frozen riced cauliflower (4 c.)

half of a medium onion, chopped

1 container of mushrooms of choice, sliced

olive oil or coconut oil for sauteing, about 2 T.

2 T. cashew butter

1 small clove garlic, minced (or powdered garlic)

Grated Parmesan cheese (if not restricting dairy)

First saute the onions in oil until beginning to brown.  Add mushrooms and brown them along with onions.  Remove from skillet.  Add a little more oil to skillet and then add riced cauliflower.  Saute a few minutes until tender.  Add cashew butter and minced garlic.  Stir in well and then add mushrooms and onions back in.  Stir  and heat through.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  If you want to, add a few shakes (or grates) of Parmesan cheese.    It's pretty darn good good and seems a lot like rice.

I hope these recipes might be helpful to you if you are working at eating healthier.  Even if you aren't trying to eat less carbs, these recipes are so delicious and well worth trying out.  I hope you do.

Today I'm starting the 2nd stitch for TAST.  It's the buttonhole stitch.  I think I'll do some buttonhole flowers.  We shall see what I come up with.

 

It's snowing today -- a very wet snow.  Heidi the German Shepherd and I went out walking this morning and got quite wet, but it was so warm it didn't matter to us a bit.  We were dressed for it.  I think we reached 34 degrees today, but it's going to fall as the day progresses and we will be back to single digits for a high temp tomorrow.  Bummer.  How's the weather where you are?

Good Morning sky and moon...

 First Morning Light

After sunrise.

 

Banana Nut (Whole30)

The last few mornings we have had these beautiful skies!  Color and clouds, moon and frost.  It makes me so thankful for the simple beauty that God places right before my very eyes each day.

The banana picture is another of my new inventions for our Whole30 food.  I did it like the apple and nut recipe.  I put a teaspoon of coconut oil in the skillet, added walnuts and sauteed them for a minute or so and then added raw coconut and chopped bananas and sauteed another minute or so.  I didn't want the bananas to be mushy.  After it was done, I removed it from the heat and drizzled with a little vanilla extract and tossed.  I think rum extract would be good too.  Our little fruit/nut dessert was so good that I would serve it for dessert for guests!  I'm thinking peaches would be good like this too, don't you?

My painting obsession continues into the new year and I'm glad.  I've decided to continue an "art" journal, for lack of a better word.  I think I should call it an experiment journal instead.  The first pages I smeared some acrylic paint colors all over and then added some matte black acrylic too.  I wanted to use my white pen on top of it.  I decided to write down the Bible verses I've been reading and contemplating these past couple days.  I'm not much of a letter-er or calligrapher.  I wish I was, but at least it's legible.  I might have to try fiddling with that skill too.   I'm doing more embroidery right now too.  I'm participating in TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) where we learn a new embroidery stitch each Tuesday and practice it.  The first 20 weeks are outline stitches, so if that is all a person did, you would have a good foundation in embroidery.  I'll see how many weeks I follow through.  Winter is a good time for me to dive into creative ventures.  I want to keep going even when I get busier.  I just know that it's important for me to carve out  a little time each day to be creative.  It brings me much joy.

Do you have any creative things you are doing this winter? 

2018 Super Chill!

 New Year's Day Walk (-1 F)

 Heidi likes to chase jackrabbits and deer

 No words needed

Indoor creativity

Out with the old and in with the new.  The old year goes and the new comes in.  That is how I explained what the new year is to 6 year old Toodles when she asked last night at our new year's eve  supper gathering.   To that simple explanation came her perfect word picture.  "Gram, it's like my wiggly tooth.  The old tooth will fall out and the new tooth will grow right in behind it."  Yes!  And here's a funny thing --  her wiggly tooth fell out last night!  Good bye old tooth!

The old year went out  --  super chill!  It was -25 degrees F from about 7 pm till midnight.  We stayed up so we know!  This morning when we awoke at 7 a.m. it was still -25 degrees.  So the New Year is Super Chill too!  Today we hit a high of 0*.  Woot!  It sounds like warmer days are ahead of us, which we will be very grateful for.  It's been sub-zero all this past week, at least at night.  

I can't help but continue my walks, no matter how chill.  I bundle up.  I'm in wool, as you know.  I try to go out when it's the warmest time of day and I've been tending the chicken chores between 1:30 and 2:00 because the eggs will freeze in the coop if left there very long during this kind of cold.  I'm taking warm water out to them too.  There's a heat lamp over the water bucket and that's the only heat they have besides some straw bedding on the dirt floor.  They are still laying like champs -- usually between 20-24 eggs daily.  Not bad, ay?

Heidi loves taking these short jaunts with me.  She chases jackrabbits and deer while I trudge.  I keep within watching distance of my family members,  walking near the trees so as to keep out of the wind.  Better to be safe and close to home than frozen stiff somewhere far off.  We've got about 5-6" of snow on the ground and in some places there's a foot where the snow catches in tall grass.  I haven't taken out my snowshoes yet.  Another snow and I will.  

All the livestock is hungry.  Each morning they are well fed for the day.  The guys take into account the extra energy the cattle and sheep are using during this cold snap.  Water is a major factor now too.  Tanks must be checked and flowing.  Every day there are water tanks to be chopped and thawed out.  It's just something we know we are going to have to do.  It comes with the territory so to speak!

Indoors the temperatures are fine.  I still have to wear my wool socks and slippers.  Floors just seem cold in winter, and if I can keep my feet warm, I feel warm all over.  Is it that way for you too?  I'm playing with my watercolors again and I plan to start up some more embroidery.  I wonder if playing with bright colors -- threads or paint -- keeps spirits bright during cold, dark days?  It seems to be helpful to me.

My heart's desire for 2018 is the same as my blog friend, Lisa,  

My only really important resolution will be to know Jesus better and to spend more time looking at Him and His word.  I want to be His hands and feet in this world.

Thank you, friends, for coming by here and saying hello and leaving your encouraging words.  I think you're wonderful!  I wish you a JOY-full 2018.

Winter birds, Winter Solstice...

 

It was a dark-ish day here so please forgive the less-than-perfect light in my photos.  

There are a few birds that stay here for the winter.  These are tough ones:  the majestic Bald Eagle and the petite Redpoll.  Out on the prairie, the Bald Eagles are numerous in the winter months where they sometimes nest in January and February and then leave in spring.  They spend their time eating mostly jackrabbits and roadkill.  The Redpolls, on the other hand, enjoy seeds and so they are happy to entertain us at the backyard feeders.  The grands like to get close to them by just standing still out by their feeder and letting the Redpolls feed above and below their feet and even at eye level.  That is an amazing feeling -- being so close to a beautiful, wild bird.  We have no chickadees here this winter.  Sometimes they come, and sometimes they just don't.  I've seen a few Sharptail Grouse around  -- another year-round bird for us.  I heard from my father-in-law that he saw a Snowy Owl north of us about 20 miles.  Quite a sight!  I've only seen one in my lifetime and I'm half tempted to drive over where he saw the owl with the hope of maybe seeing it.  There's a chance!  Others in the area have reported sighting him too. 

The weather here has gone from very mild to very cold in just one day's time, and as I type this at 5:00 pm, it is already down to just 6 degrees F.  Chilly!  Colder temps are in the forecast.  There's an inch of snow on the ground and I'm glad for its covering the dirty brown beneath. Thankfully, our wood supply is ample and I'm keeping a fire in the wood stove.  My latest aromatherapy is to put anise seed stars into my kettle of water on the wood stove.  The wafting scent is sweet and spicy.   I find the stars for very little cost in bulk at my health food store.  Winter love!

It's Winter Solstice today, the longest night of the year.  From here on out, we get longer days -- that's the way Hubby sees it.  He's always positive.  Will you celebrate the Solstice?  I did by getting my wool pants out and taking a mile walk up to the mailbox.  I might make us a little mulled wine to sip by the fire tonight and light the candles.  Doesn't that sound nice?

"He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter."  ~John Burroughs

He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/wint