January Blizzards on the Prairie

If you knew how far we can usually see from these views, you may understand our excitement at having some "real snow days!"

Some days our acreage is mostly protected by the northern trees. But we still can't travel due to drifting taking away visibility (along with dangerous wind chills) outside our tree line.

And the resulting snowdrifts that form along the edge of our property can be pretty fun!

January Joys

 

Amaryllis in bloom

Sunrise pink can go 360 degrees these cold mornings!

The 20's felt so balmy that I got out for fresh air with my tea and knitting cloudy afternoon.

Garden Tomatoes in February?!

That's right! The last of the green tomatoes picked from our Rapunzel plant before freeze-up were finally ready to eat in the first week of February!

Meanwhile, our onions are storing well in the cold room for continued use.

Records, Slideshows & Snowforts

These photos from Christmas still make me smile.

We introduced my sister's kids to the joys of records and slideshows!

They got pretty good at spotting their aunts as kids.

Plus we got to build a snow-fort together.

All sizes of homemade wool mittens kept our hands warm, even when wet!

Several of my handknit designs are available in adult sizes here: https://heritagewoolenco.etsy.com/

Our Christmas Tree is Growing!

I meant to get this posted in January. But as we haven't had the heart to take down our Christmas tree quite yet, we have still been enjoying the warm glow and spot of life on long winter evenings.

Look closely, and you will see new growth on our homegrown Christmas tree as of January 20th!

By February 1st, some of the new growth had already stretched to 4 inches long!

Hard Work

Before...

...and after shoveling the deepest drifts and frozen layers from the roof.

This was my first time to work on the roof in many years. Then I hauled a bunch of wood from shed to garage and house for the wood stove in the basement. 

How amazing to be able to put in 2 hours straight of hard physical labor again, and end up feeling a "good tired" like I did in my teens and twenties!

Winter Sunrise

Besides the main sunrise in the east, the sky was pink in every direction one morning this January!