Embrace the Weather!

From the studio window, 12-15-10

My "word of the year" has been Embrace, and as we approach this year's end I'm fondly reminding myself to continue to do this. This morning the temperature reached 3 BELOW, and it's not even technically winter yet! It is very rare for it to get this cold in central Kentucky, especially outside of January or February, and we've already had half of an average winter's total snowfall. To make matters worse, everyone is bracing for a winter storm tonight that may include up to 6 inches of snow and then a topping of.... that word we all dread around here.... ICE. (The last icestorm, in 2009, left us without power here for a week!)

Fortunately I had home schooling as my excuse to stay indoors this morning, and it was a glorious day to be along the Kentucky River as frost tinged the treetops.
It warmed quite a bit throughout the day, and the wildlife were actively out looking for food ahead of the storm. I saw a lot of birds on the feeders, wild turkeys scratching for acorns, and this adolescent deer (among others).We decided to take a walk, and Munchie, as always, was excited to come along! Mirian wanted to bring her lambs Shelby and Pepe (now almost fully mature), as we just moved them to a new paddock closer to the house and they've been baaaing for attention. It is so pretty by the river when there's snow on the trail.The horses followed along partway from inside of their field, begging for a sample of sweet feed.
It was pretty cute when Mirian's horse Gringo knocked her hat off! (I love this picture of a happy horse and his girl!)
And, another happy horse and his girl....Both of us were wearing Quarters Caps that I knitted from Kristin Nicholas' pattern. They are a really fun, addicting and easy knit, and I think I've made at least 6 of these. I was wearing the one that Mirian has on during a cold volunteer shift at the World Equestrian Games (knit from handspun alpaca/wool/and angora yarn), and a young fellow volunteer who was a college student went nuts over it! Through a series of coincidences, I recently met her mother and guess what she's asked me to knit her daughter for Christmas?!I have a feeling I'm going to be especially grateful for my warm alpaca knits this winter! Come back to see a studio shot of tomorrow's weather, and check back soon for a GIVEAWAY of some alpaca items from our farm! Everyone be safe out there.... Pin It Now!

A Quick Winter Walk

We're not cold, just FEED US, FEED US, FEED US (Pepe and Shelby, Mirian's lambs)

Well, if it's going to be winter (technically it's not yet, but don't tell that to Mother Nature, geez it was 7 degrees F this morning, seems to have been one of the coldest spots in the Eastern US!), then there might as well be snow. I'll take the cold and a bit of sparkly-clean snow over mud and rain at 38 degrees!
The animals always seem to look so good under these conditions, love this little snow-boy's cute face!And my sweet and nosy Cherry Bomb, hungry and curious all the time!I figured the chickens would be happy and snug in their little coop with a heat light inside. They have finally started laying again (blue and green eggs from the aracaunas, no less, which I love!)
Unfortunately, we didn't find these eggs in time and they were frozen solid! Oh well, some woodland creature will no doubt enjoy them as they thaw.There's still plenty around for the wildlife to eat, such as hedgeapples which are relished by the deer and squirrels.Evidence of a flock of turkeys out looking for acorns. There are several groups around on the farm now, and we've seen as many as 50 at a time! Pin It Now!

Fairy Frost

I shot these pictures on November 7th when we had our first real frost (which was followed by multiple days in the 70's, and now we're facing snow and temps in the teens, all within a month!). That's Kentucky for you!
Anyway, the white you see at the base of these stalky weeds is ice crystals. I can't formally name this phenomenon, but I've been happy to observe it for many years when we have the first cold of the season. I think that the moisture in these stalks is forced out by the contraction of freezing, and it forms into thin crystals along the stalk.
I like to think of them as pendants put up by fairies to celebrate the coming of winter! Pin It Now!

A Walk in the Woods- EDITED!

Blogger has some new editing functions which I'm not getting along too well with quite yet- please excuse the poor layout and sending this out three times- hopefully you'll read this version (still not great, but at least better!)
 It was so good to get outside the other day and take a long family hike on a sunny afternoon, after being cooped up with coooollld weather and snow.  I've totally been nesting for most of the past week (except for while helping take care of the animals), with lots of knitting, spinning, and sewing activity,  and have been feeling grateful that I enjoy domestic and creative pursuits so much!
But still, we all needed to get outside.
 

The four of us (and Munchie!) strolled through the woods, with Paul and the kids taking along their shotguns just in case we saw any squirrels.   (Yes, Mirian actually has a pink one!)   Paul has put a lot of food on the table from our own farm these past months, and it's been wonderful trying out new game recipes and knowing that we were eating local, organic, and humanely-harvested once again!

 There were deer tracks everywhere as well, and we could see where the deer had laid down for the cold evenings and also where the turkeys were scratching around beneath the snow cover for food, especially under the oak trees where they could find acorns.

This track (above right) appeared to be from a coyote; it was good size (too big for a fox) but much smaller than those left by our livestock guardian dogs.





We were always on the lookout for "deer rubbings", places where the bucks rub their antlers on the trees, and have begun looking for antler sheds- it's early but Paul found a perfect pair about 2 weeks ago.  Normally the rubbing seems to be on our smaller, newly planted trees which then require protection via wrapping with special tape or pipe.  Paul says that the larger the tree, the larger the buck and this was a larger tree to see rubbing on than usual.

It was a great afternoon, and we all returned to the house refreshed and renewed after several grey days.




The picture below was taken nearby on the same day at Glenn's Creek, which flows beside our property in Millville where the new "Addie's Creekside Cafe" will soon be opening.

Wherever you are, I hope you're able to find some beauty in this time of year! Pin It Now!

No Power, Day 5

The Ice Storm of 2009 is becoming an experience to remember! On the one hand, it IS time for the kids to go back to school (hopefully tomorrow). I will say, though, that they are adapting pretty well. No TV or video games and little to no internet has been great for them. I must admit that I have enjoyed catching up with my blogs this morning, as it is such an enjoyable part of my day. One of the blogs I enjoy, SouleMama, is written by a very interesting and creative Maine mom (and sometimes Papa, too), and it is interesting how they so cheerfully embrace winter in New England- this post is a good example of their beautiful photography and writing as well as resilience to winter.

On the positive side, I feel very, very fortunate that we have a working generator (and that Paul hasn't sold it out from under us!). Paul's business sells generators and chainsaws (in addition to being a John Deere and Kubota dealer), so this has been an incredibly busy time for them!!!! They have literally sold hundreds? of generators over the past few days due to the widespread power outages (fortunately his business does have power), and this is the first time ever that they are opening on a Sunday. Our generator doesn't power our furnace, but can do several things at once so we can at least have some hot running water and other luxuries, just not as conveniently as usual.

Like so many tribulations, this one is making us all appreciate things SOOO much more!
Yesterday, Robert was at a friend's and Mirian and I went for a drive to take pictures and get a hot lunch at Wallace Station on beautiful Old Frankfort Pike. Some of the largest and most beautiful horse farms in the world are just a few miles from our home, and the icy landscape was even more stunning than usual. I hope you enjoy some of the scenes we took in along the way: Pin It Now!

Jinxed?

Okay, okay, I know after we returned from Florida earlier in the month I listed many things I would miss if I lived there..... but this?

We have had one heck of an ice storm here in central Kentucky! The storm started on Monday night and we managed to hold our power until the worst of it Wednesday morning. I hoped that it would be temporary but it is looking like we may be without electricity for a long time (the current forecast from Bluegrass Energy is 5-15 days!).This is what our nearly half-mile long driveway looked like in it's worst place on Wednesday morning while the freezing rain was still coming:Without Paul home (he was contending with a string of cancelled flights while trying to get back from Washington, D.C.), I would have been at wit's end if it weren't for our new resident and friend in our cabin, Danna. It turns out that Danna has her very own chainsaw and knows how to use it! She lived in S. Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina and was without power for 6 weeks- her chainsaw was compliments of FEMA. What a woman!

We cleared the driveway, started fires in the our fireplaces, gathered supplies, and then I pouted around for a while saying to myself, "You are tough, you are NOT getting soft, you are NOT a princess." Truly, those were my thoughts and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, having restless kids at home and praying for Paul to get here safely. To complicate matters, our new farm help couldn't get here (and now has to take off for the next week for personal reasons), and when we have no electricity it also means no water since we're on a well and have cisterns at the barns. At least our phones are working again after two days of being out.

Thankfully, Paul got home safely and spent yesterday as resident hero, problem-solving our water challenges at the barns and getting generator power to the house. I concentrated on caring for the animals, brought out all of our alpaca blankets, and told myself, "Yes, we CAN do this, I am not a wussy."

I have figured out a few things about myself in this decade of my life, namely that I don't like stress and change and don't handle it well... for about 1-2 days. Then I try to ADAPT (my word of the year, remember?) and think positive. Also, I am reminding myself that we have it SOOOO much better than so many people, the elderly and some with many small children, that are holed up in cold homes all over our area. I am not feeling sorry for myself any more.Besides, this storm has left incredible beauty behind, along with the damage. I'll have other images to share as I can get internet, here are a few, though they don't do it justice. I hope that wherever you are, you're warm and safe. Pin It Now!

Making Time....

This morning I was looking at my to-do list and wondering if I have time to go to my Wednesday afternoon knitting group. I have made attending this little get-together a priority (for my own sanity), but sometimes a bit of guilt creeps in.... I've been swamped here at the farm and have found that a certain daughter is pushing my buttons again. In addition, I certainly haven't made time to exercise regularly as I hoped.

But, I was just perusing the blogs I enjoy and caught up with Martha Stewart. I nearly took her blog off my list as it is of course more commercial than most, however I am finding that I enjoy a few minutes here and there of living vicariously through her! In the past month, she has posted about going to a wilderness spa retreat with her daughter in the Southwest, an island vacation in the Bahamas with friends, adopting some Himalayan cats from her local shelter, and riding her Fresian horses on a snowy afternoon (see that one here, MB and Marti Mu, hint, hint!). She posts tons of photos with each entry, many her own, so it doesn't have too much of a magazine feel.
Of course, Martha looks wonderful in all! It's easy to see why, since she has such an active life and does the things that she enjoys. I have read that she has a type-A personality and has worked for years and years obsessively on her career, but it doesn't appear that she is a total workaholic! Yes, she has tons of staff and no longer has children (or a husband) at home, but few could keep her schedule AND find time to do the things they love (and I would bet that like me she watches little to no television). On that note, I am feeling inspired to take a 20 minute walk in the cold with Munchie! (Photos here are from that walk...)
I had planned to write some reflections on the inauguration and have read many beautiful summaries, but I am unable to find many words..... WOW, that music, and the poem, and the benediction, and the SPEECH (oh yeah, and Michele's dress at the ball!) Let me just say simply that my heart is lightened and my mind is completely filled with optimism and pride when I consider the inauguration of Barack Obama.... God Bless America! Pin It Now!