The White Stuff

 These are good shots to start with because they show perfectly just how fed up Wilson is with all the snow.  He's sort of marooned in the front yard, unwilling to go any further.  I think we're all a overwhelmed with the snow this year, but most of us don't have to wear big bulky snowsuits and mittens that we can't get our thumbs in just right, or have 1.5 foot long legs.
As I write this I can see the freezing rain hitting the windows and having gone over for  chores tonight, I'm doubtful it will make much of a dent in the snow we got today.  Whew.  It really came down from about 2 o'clock until it turned to freezing rain this evening at about 7:30.  We will see what tonight and tomorrow brings, but they're calling for 'another weather system' on Monday and Tuesday.  No rest for the wicked.  Here are some shots of our back yard today.

 This one is taken from our back basement door, looking out at the swing set (which you can barely see on the left hand side).  I took both of these pictures holding the camera way above my head and shooting randomly, since the drifts are too high for me to see over. 

 This one shows the roof of our little shed and shows how close the drift is to my clothesline, which is on a rolling lock so it can lowered and raised.  It's at it's highest setting in this picture.  And again, with the camera held up over my head, this is all I can see.

 Lucy, showing a little nature-made snow cave around the back corner.  Also, conveniently right where the furnace oil guy needs to get to, so minimal shoveling to make him a path back there. 

 Here's a shot of a favorite moment of mine from my mom's latest visit when she made one of her stellar batches of bread with the kids.  Wilson's face says it all.  Pure happiness.  Lucy is a little too important in her role as 'ball roller', to entertain photographers.   

 Here's a recent shot of the wee three Barnyards.  Although as I type wee, I notice how big Thayne looks in this picture.  He's grown out of his first round of sleepers and is into the 6-12 month ones already.  Happy ONE month little guy!

 This is the toothless grin of the compost turner.  That's the forklift tines in the front right corner, so you're not confused.  It did come with teeth, but they were worn and bent and most of them were useless so after much research and deliberation, Mark has ordered new teeth for the beast, but otherwise, it's living up to all expectations.     

 I don't know if you can see in this picture of a proud owner with his new toy, but the brand name is Wildcat and there's a cat face on the logo.  When Lucy was getting the details on this new rig, we told her it's for turning poop.  She looked carefully at the logo and said, "Is it for turning cat poop?"  We had to admit that yes, it could be for turning cat poop, but that's not quite what we go it for. 

On a final note, apparently in my last post, I perhaps made it sound like things on the farm were more lax than they seem.  Or rather maybe I made it sound like because the farm was at a slow time of year, the farmer is also enjoying a slow time of year.  I would like to take this moment to make a correction in that, while the farm may be tucked in quietly under a blanket of snow, the farmer is a busy little bee on the home front.  Apparently I've been remiss to mention the endless 'honey do list' that he's been chipping away at.  It's true that I have a very rugged, very useful platform for my washer and dryer.  And it's true that my closet doors have got a new lease on life. It's true that the multiple small holes in my living room wall have been filled and painted.  It's true that I very much appreciate all these things and am grateful to have a time of year in which my thoughtful husband sees fit to take advantage of 'projects' that otherwise get shifted down the list in warmer weather (understandably).

It's also true that I wish I could post more often than I do.  I apologize if anyone who has been reading, is sorely disappointed that these days you're getting more pictures from home and less ag-related commentary.  Don't despair! I'm keeping up to the ag-related stuff (like a crazy article I read today about a new bacterial pathogen related to GMO soybeans that is starting to show increased abortions in dairy cattle- yikes!), it's just tough to find/make the time to post it.  I've been meaning to include this link to a Farmers Tribute that has been circulating my Facebook lately.  It might be the residual hormones of post-pregnancy, but it pulls at my heart strings and makes me pretty proud of where I came from and what I'm working on for the next generation. Evidently, some of the pictures are for a specific farmer, but the content is for all farmers.  (Bruce, I think you may especially enjoy it.)   

I'll leave on a high note of two kids actually enjoying the snow. It's only February so we might as well settle in and enjoy the snowy ride. 

Miss you!

-Sally