snowy scenes around the farm

Back during those horrible ice storms last month, someone asked me why I live in New England if I don't like it here. Now, I know that I was whining it up pretty good at the time, because that sort of ice storm makes our lives, well, hell. But not liking New England?! Nothing could be further from the truth! I can't imagine myself living anywhere else. I'll even go so far as to say that I love winter. Mind you, I find the difficulties that the cold and snowy weather bring more challenging as the years pass and my body ages, but still, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Not even a nice warm beach chair in the Caribbean. (Well, especially not that -- that sort of thing has never held any appeal to me!)

In any case, this afternoon, as I was walking around the property, soaking in the beautiful snowy scenes, I thought that I would take and post some photos so that all of you dear readers can share in the beauty of this afternoon of white splendor with us. Especially those of you in horribly mild places like Alabama and California...shudder.

The first photo of the series is of an old community (many trees growing from one spot as a single tree) Red Maple tree, which I refer to as "My Grandmother". The next is of the barnyard, taken from the corner of the house. The picture to the left of us now is the edge of the horse pasture (also taken from the corner of the house, I just turned around after snapping the barnyard, and captured the view in the other direction).

Here is the north side of the sheep pasture -- that's the same Grandmother maple in the foreground. The fallen limb has been there for the past couple of years, and is one of my kids' favorite play areas, serving as both jungle gym and tree fort.

The south side of the sheep pasture, taken from the top of the kids' sledding hill (near the entrance to the sheep tent). The ground slopes away pretty good there, although it's hard to tell from this picture.

The snow continued lightly for the rest of the day, and even now it's flurrying out. The animals all stuck close to their shelters today, but will no doubt be out and roaming, exploring the fluff, at sun-up tomorrow. Soon there will be tracks plowed through the pastures, and an hour or two of sunshine will take care of the frosting on the trees. But for now all is covered in a pristine, even blanket of white.