snuggle

Snuggle-licious Daisy Grace

💙

celebrate winter

I know, I know...when you get 8 inches of snow way too early in November, 

when treacherous ice paths lay in wait, when it is just too cold

too soon - what is there to celebrate?  Really!

❄️

Well, I am trying to embrace the stay put, tuck in, slow down-ness

of winter.  With two health issues looming large in

my life right now...I do need a rather forced hibernation.

So, I will take it, do that, slow way down, & be still.

(And maybe Pinterest a bit)

❄️my Pinterest link is to the right❄️

our beloved 1857 farmhouse

kind of done with winter...

our sweet woods

Today we cut boughs from our sweet woods in Winter, Wisconsin.

We truly must be caretakers of a million trees on our property.

Today they were dressed in snow!  ❄️❄️❄️❄️🏠❄️❄️❄️❄️

Celebrate...

Winter has arrived at my booth at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique

Mall in Wisconsin.  I am enjoying a more subtle palette this year.

The Big Red Barn

In the winter, all the barn cats come home--even my 

traveling Luna.  We open the inside stairs to the hayloft 

so they have more space to hang out.  

This winter we have an extra cat, Patches...an older boy that 

now calls this barn home.  He was cautious around me at first, 

but now let's me pat his head, following me around with a raspy meow.

One of my favorite times of the day is when I get home from

work.  I am always greeted by a small herd of cats, anxious

for a refresher of food & water, a kind word & touch and a reminder

that this big red barn is their home.

winter at Meadowview Farm

to hibernate

There are four distinct seasons in Wisconsin...
we now prepare for one of the hardest.

But, there is a part of me ready to hunker down, to be forced inside...
to hibernate.

Wisconsin winter

    Never gets old...back behind our barn on a winter morning.

quietly winter arrives

let it snow!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

from 

Meadowview Farm!

never late for the dance...

                          Earlier arrival then usual.

Certainly snow looks lovely on her first visit, however...would not

have hurt feelings if she decided to come later, just provide a dance

in December with maybe one encore performance in January.

Oh winter, seems we just finished that dance!

Rosie

Cold day.....stir crazy.....get a kitty!

My August Rose looks for any ball to play with!

This one is more her size!

Every day Rosie makes me smile.....

thank goodness for this little sweetie on cold winter days!

I have succumbed...

O.K. - it is official......I am indeed a "Crazy Cat Lady"!

When I reach for a book on a snowy winter day, 

hands down a kitty is always the best choice.

L O N G winter

S T O P seems to be the appropriate 

thing we would all like to say to this winter!

Have seen a similar picture on Pinterest...

This one was a real stop on my way home!

on a winter morning

lace at the windows, kittens to snuggle with...

on a cold winter morning, I feel content.

in the country

There are many things that make country life interesting:

• cold winds that have no wind break, only open fields to swirl through
• wells that you are responsible to and for - your only source of water
• security farm lights that may be the only light beyond the night stars
• many animals that count on you for care - often waiting in a big red barn

Winter tests the best of us in all of these areas. 
                                                                             How cold is too cold it asks....well let's just see!

 

And, often to the rescue in the country are the unsung heroes -- our contractors.  They have a relationship with each farm, as they are usually neighbors.  They know us when we call.  They are less concerned about generating money on a service call, then getting a farm up and working again.

Several years ago, a wind storm took down a giant of a Cottonwood tree adjacent to our driveway.  One mighty branch slashed the electrical box right off our brick wall.  When I called our Electrician, Dale, (after 5 p.m. I might add) he came immediately over, dropping everything.  He worked until after dark.  When we found that the electrical company would not attach the street power line until they passed their co-zillion pages of rules....Dale was on the phone with them, defending that farms need to have power (no well, no security light).  When they still said that we would have to wait for at least three days....it was Dale that brought us a generator to provide a source of power.  And -- when the Electrical folks finally showed up at 10:00 p.m. that night (two locals that worked for the power company and went against work orders to wait  - stating "that's not how we do things in the country") -- Dale returned to work by their side until our power was restored in the wee hours.  That is our Electrician.

When we first bought our home, we toiled on it until early spring, making the move prior to having a new well dug.  When the local plumbing company we had been working with and had contracted with to dig a new well heard we were moving in, they moved us to the top of their list -- digging in the early spring through a rain storm.  They were knee deep in mud, but shared with us, "you will have water before you move in".  That is our plumber.

And, yesterday, in the frigid -50 below wind chill, when our furnace had difficulty staying on with the winds slamming the intake vent....a call to our Heating & Air Conditioning company was met with a "What's the problem Dave?" and a "Here's what you can do".  They talked us through cutting the intake pipe with a hack saw and diverting it to taking in basement air.  No bill, no service call....just help.  Jeff ended with a "call me in the spring if you need help reattaching that pipe for outdoor air."  That is our furnace guy.

Yes, there are many things that make country life interesting, none the least are these unsung heroes.

Keep warm!

winter wishes

Winter is here...with plenty of snow for boots & shovels.

All the kittens & goats are tucked into their barn each night.

By day, they play on paths Ian & I shoveled thru their pasture,

winding back & forth & over the bridges.

A box fort waits inside for the kittens, as well as a heater.

We take our role as caretakers of this little farm quite seriously.

We provide our animals with warmth & play...

keeping them content through these cold months.

I count the days to spring based upon our winter supply of hay, 

which is still piled high in the barn.  We will get thru the cold days 

one bale at a time.

from our house to yours

Merry Christmas!