Winter Wonderland?

After a barely productive and somewhat comic trip out to the timber to cut wood today, I caved and ordered my first pair of snowshoes.

We'll see if their arrival functions like the groundhog and his shadow...either an early spring or plenty of practice opportunities??  Hmmm, wondering what OSHA says about snowshoes and chainsaws??

Pasta Making Lesson #1

Get all of your ingredients and equipment together...

 in the location you plan to make and dry the noodles. In our case I hauled them down the hill to my parents' cabin which is prime pasta-making territory.
(Just to clarify, the dog is neither an ingredient or equipment, just a gratuitous cute pet cameo. )

Good Frosty Morn

The temperatures have finally returned to a more normal realm for this time of year, enough so that we actually had fog this morning. Winter fog often produces one of my favorite weather-related phenomena, hoar-frost. It seems to me that nothing else can create quite the same magical quality.
After so much snow and WIND (sheesh! Enough already!) our poor little tool shed looks about to be overtaken by the unstoppable and ever-changing snow dunes...

Its hard to judge from the picture, but the snowdrift on the right is at least 4' tall, has completely encompassed our picnic table and is about 6" from the top of the herb garden gate.

A few days ago on my way to nightly boiler chores, I actually tobogganed down our lane on one of our big marine coolers that needed to be returned to the packing shed. It was full dark out, but the massive, white snow reflector gave off quite enough light to see by. It was a ridiculous amount of fun, making me yell and laugh like a loon, fully convincing Blue that something was terribly wrong. She ran alongside, barking and whining as though the cooler was taking me off towards the dark woods against my will. Ah, such is the life of a lunatic farmer in the deep clutches of an Iowa winter!

Recipe for Sub-Zero Chores

1. Think to self, "I really do have to go do chores."(insert sigh here)
   
2. Drink large mug of hot coffee to fortify self
3. Begin to add layers of clothing to protect self from cold
4. Drink more hot coffee to further fortify self
5. Add final layers of outerwear protect inner-layered self from deep cold
6. Look thoughtfully at empty coffee pot and realize your self now has to go to the bathroom
7. (insert deep sigh here)
8. Begin to strip off layers to find overheating self buried within
9. Take self to bathroom
10. Start over with Step #1, skipping over Steps #2, 4, 6 & 8 if you ever hope to actually make it outside
11. Fill buckets with hot water for livestock, spill some on self
12. Slowly move self outdoors under the weight of hot water buckets to work through chores.

It seems somehow appropriate that this process works out to 12 steps.

And just in case you are from the south and are unfamiliar with how to dress when choring (yes, here in rural Iowa that is a word) during sub-zero temperatures, here's a hint...
If more than your eyes are visible, you wont last long!

The Scene Outside My Window

When life gives you snow...go sledding!!