These seed packets jumped into my shopping cart the other day.  I’ve been reading the seed catalogs and dreaming about what I will plant in the garden this year.  Ah spring, I’m looking forward to welcoming you.

Right now, though, it is very cold out and we are under a blanket of snow.  Our pipes are frozen and it is a wee bit cold in the house.

Don’t you agree that there is something so special about the first snow of the season?  We had ours on Saturday.  Everything is covered in a sparkly blanket,  surely magic is responsible for all that glitter.  Right?

In chicken land – ain’t nobody happy.

There was a chicken convention inside the covered run.

Sweet Pea stood high up on the ledge speaking to the audience.  She declared that snow should be outlawed.

They all agreed.

The other girls inside the hen-house said they were not under any circumstances going out in that white stuff.  It was way too scary!

Boo went inside and mingled with the girls for a bit.

I’ve been concerned for my feathered friends, these temperatures are so low.  This morning I made warm oatmeal with apples, blueberries, tomatoes a bit of left-over pasta and yogurt.  It warms their crops and that is a good thing.

The peas came out of their house for a little while.

Papaya came out first and then, Mango and eventually Coconut.  They loved the sun shining on their bodies.  Hated the snow on their feet.

They did a stroll around the house, checked on all the hens and then headed back to their house for warmth.

Boo and I took a short walk, he wanted to smell all the footprints he came across and roll endlessly in the snow, making dog angels.  I wanted to take a few photos.  But that didn’t last too long, my feet were freezing.  So I snapped a few and headed back in to the warmth.

Bear prints

I thought our Virginia Black Bears hibernate all winter, I recently heard in a news article, that in fact, they do not.  Especially the young.

Deer tracks

There were surprisingly few wildlife tracks in the snow.  Even they say it is too cold to be out.

This fancy store-bought birdhouse was given to me. The side panel opens to plexiglass so you can view the birds inside.  Never a bird has lived in it.  Wasp, however, believe it is grand.

This house and all the others that Father Cottage has built are always occupied.

This house sitting on the picnic bench was placed there temporarily until I figured out where I wanted it.  It sat there all summer, and it too remained occupied.  So I left it there.

Sunday supper we filled our bellies with warm beans and country ham, that had simmered in the crock pot all day.  I made jalapeno cornbread that was a disappointment, the peppers didn’t have much heat, nonetheless, they were gobbled up and enjoyed.

That was our weekend, under a blanket of magic.

I hope your weekend was lovely.

Thank you for being here today.

xo kim