Snow!

I can actually say we have snow on the ground! And a lot of it! I always hated winter and snow but now, perhaps it is just the novelty of it, but I am loving it! The kids have never had real, stick to the ground snow.

There has been inch or so a few times before. Last year, and this year in November and December... once. We made the most of those little glimpses of winter. Bundling up (like snow ninjas), making soggy snowmen, coming in soaking wet and sipping hot chocolate by the fire. Walking to school was an adventure! Mr. Lovebug was a snow plow on the bridge and we caught huge snow flakes on our tongues.

This past week we had SNOW! Real, stick to the ground, play- in snow. We built a megafort, threw snowballs, ate icicles and came inside caked in snow with glowing pink cheeks.

Now it is above freezing and raining and soon our magical play thing will be gone. Gone for how long, we don't know. I'm so grateful that we had this snow week. School has been canceled for the whole week. The roads are a mess, they have no idea how to cope with snow in Washington! I can hear the ice on the roof cracking as I reminisce on our small peek at real winter.

There was a coyote in our yard (not the field). It took off when I went out there, I'm guessing it was just hungry and looking for some mice snacks....or chickens. Not on my watch, friendo!

Nature baby climbed on the hill I made after the first snow. We really weren't expecting it to continue. And then, behold mega fort! Which became a drift taller than me. The kids climbed, slid and jumped for hours.

Honey wasn't having any of it and it was hilarious. 

Today, it is raining. Everything is covered in ice from freezing rain. The trees are heavy, all you can hear whilst the wind is blowing is the ice cracking as the trees bend and break. It's loud and beautiful.

The snow will soon be gone and we'll be back to rain. Rain. Rain. More rain. The snow will be missed as I pack away our winter gear in the upcoming week. 

The maple syrup still runs thick through my veins. 

2016 goals

Can you believe it's 2016, I certainly can't! 2015 was a big year for us with really great highs and really low lows.

This year I've got goals!

• Paint every ceiling and the 3 bedrooms
• Build a fence, even if it's just cattle panels.
• Improve the garden (more on that coming up later)
• New play set for the kids, the death trap has got to go!
• Upgrade a few things in the house the dishwasher, get a few bookcases, figure out a better toy stage system, some new light fixtures for above the table and the bed rooms. 
• Stop looking like a hobo all the time. I should to start getting my hair done regularly (once a year doesn't cut it and that'll give me some knitting time), get some new jeans. Mine are bad! And just take a little bit of time for myself, I'd like to not be so tired all the time
• I'd like to knit something nice for myself, it'd been a long time since I made anything for me. I have a ton of this I'd like to make but always end up starting a project for someone else. 

I think my goals are reasonable and all very do-able. I'm keeping it simple for 2016.
What are you working towards this year?

Getting back to normal

I've been home for a week, our guests left this morning and the water is gone from the yard. There is still a bit of the lake in the field but that's in the ghost river. I'm not worrying about it. We're starting to get back to normal after the week that would cause some to throw a toaster in the bath tub. We're all still sick, various antibiotics are running their course but it's exhausting.
I accomplished nothing in the last two weeks, I had big plans but then life happened. No painting, no finishing the garden. It was underwater after all. Our hose exploded - trying to find a 100 plus hose in November isn't working, Amazon to the rescue.

I haven't been keeping good of track of the egg count for the past two months, we've decided not to force light into the coop to keep up the girls laying and most are having a hard molt. I think we're lucky if we're getting 5 eggs a day, thats down from almost a dozen. The costs have been about the same 2 bags of feed and shavings a month.

The other day, in an attempt to return to the normal routine of things, I emptied the fridge and made turkey soup. It took all day but it was delicious. And bread, I made bread. That's obviously all gone now. I could bake bread all day, everyday, and eat it all resulting in me weighing 7000 lbs.

This week I'm working on a mountain of laundry, dirty house and deck that looks like a hoarder lives here. And it's raining. Hopefully the rain will wash away some of the 4 foot high water line, but I'm not counting on it. Or counting on it not coming back.

This week at A.'s school, they're having a mitten tree. There is a tree in the class room and I assume they kids are going to fill it with mittens that will be donated to kids without. I would have loved to have knit a pair or seven but realistically I won't get them done in time. So again, Amazon to the rescue.

So that's most of what's going on around here.