The return of winter

As with the rest of the nation severe winter and below zero temperatures came this week.

One of the dormant gardens resting under the snow and ice.

Resting sugar maple

Our pond is solid and in motion as it is spring fed.

Poppy walked across our pond as he always does every time it freezes.

Poppy on a rock watching and waiting.

Poppy proof

It has been very dry and not much snow. Even this light dusting was dry like sand.

Osa on patrol for hungry coyote and larger predators. My pack has thick winter coats that protect them. But with this below zero temps they have to come in at night until it gets above freezing again. 

I love this photo of Poppy on the thyme. The textures of his coat, the plants and the ice. Poppy loves to nap on this pungent herb even when it is frozen. He always smells of dog and thyme.

Winter Wonderland in the Ozarks

We got a break here in the Ozarks and then the snow came again. Snow fell from all directions and plastered the forest in white. Snow is caking over all the plants, trees and grasses. We have a winter wonderland in February.

Snowening

It snowed again in the Ozarks. We expected this on Thursday but it came all day and night on Friday. Our porch was snow filled and the car was snowed in with 5+ inches. We can't see our driveway anymore. My husband and I shoveled our way out the porch and deck. We walked up our snowy hill to our mailbox. The mailman made it through! We then walked down the road to see how far we could get on foot. No way our car is getting through all this snow. A huge tractor came by to pick up hay for the neighbors cows and horses. Tractors have no problems in the snow. We will wait it out like our neighbors are doing. Just take care of the animals and stay warm at home with the fire going.

The Coldman cometh

We got an Arctic front hitting us hard for an early winter in the Ozarks. Woke up to 3 inches of powdery snow everywhere. This was not the good kind of snow for making snowmen, but light and fluffy kind that was easy to shovel.

Oh and the shoveling I did this frosty morning. Three inches of snow becomes 18 inches of snow in a shovel very quickly. I had to clear our deck so if it melted ice would not form. Then I trod out to A's car to get it uncovered. It got so cold his logo came off his Subaru. So sad to see the logo just sitting on the snow. Took almost 20 minutes to get all the snow off the car and a path cleared for him to get to his car.

The dogs ran around like kids chasing the "snow-nadoes" created by the wind.

I got half the deck cleared when it was time to make oatmeal. After getting A off to work I finished the deck. Then I found all that deck snow had blown on to the bottom porch, ugh, more shoveling.

At lunch we got a call from a neighbor who had a whole truck bed full of wood for us. He brought his truck to our garage and we got busy unloading all the split wood. We learned a lot about chainsaws and cutting wood from him. Being city folks, we have not bought a chainsaw, yet. We are very happy with Stihl weed eater. Seems to be the one maker everyone uses around here in the Ozarks for logging and firewood.

I found a chipmunk's nest under the older split wood. It had used my broom bristles to make a fine nest. The chipmunk was no longer in residence. I guess he went south for the winter.

Upon coming home, we discovered A's Subaru had a flat tire. Something else that needs fixing. But he filled it with air to get to work. We shall deal with that tonight. Good thing it is not cold or anything.

Just life as normal in the Ozarks, except just colder.

Snow Dog

It is very cold and snowy here in the Ozarks. I took the time to gather twigs and branches for fire burning. We are expecting very frigid temperatures in MO later this week. Osa kept me company on our twig hunt.