Winter....we has it

 

 

That photo isn't blurry, friends. Those are huge, gargantuan snowflakes pouring down. We are definitely having us some winter now.

This is the front of the barn.

 

 

The chairs where we sit in summer to watch the chickens.

 

The chickens' play area is now reduced by two-thirds. The tarp collapsed from the weight of the snow and quarter-inch ice layer. I managed to prop it up so they can at least get outside the coop a little bit and scratch at some hay and cracked corn.

I can't keep up with feeding the birds. As soon as I throw down sunflower seed for the ground feeders, the snow covers it back up. I've decided to give up until it slacks up a bit. They will just have to make do with the hanging and platform feeders.

 

Did you think that was some yummy cookie recipe I was going to share with you? Nah, but the birds love it.

 

 

I mix up lard, peanut butter and corn meal and put the mixture in suet feeders. I used to get fancy and put it in molds, then harden to cut into slices. Now I just cram it in the way it is. It's a lot faster and the birds don't seem to mind. It helps keep them warm in this nasty weather. I bought these feeders-inside-a-cage to keep the starlings from hogging it all up. Only the little birds can get in.

I've been getting complaints requests from some of the family to post pictures of the kiddies, which I admittedly haven't done in quite a while. So here you go, family. They're as cute as ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys have had a great time dismantling this kiddie karaoke machine. It kept them quiet for hours.

 

 

 

 

Now that's what I call Winter!

  I've been complaining that our Winters are so dreary and gray with lots of mud and just general yuck, while watching blogger friends getting those beautiful snowfalls. Well, things have a way of changing overnight. This is what we woke to this morning. Most of the snow came down yesterday and it was all I could do to keep up with the shoveling, knocking it off the tarp over the chicken run and making sure the birds had plenty to eat. Not to mention keeping the chickens happy in their coop. It was too cold to let them outside, except for a brief hour or two in the afternoon. I don't think they went out much anyway, but at least it helped air out the coop a little.

These holly bushes are on either side of our basement stairs. They provide a great shelter for the birds in Winter. I love to stand in the bay above them and watch the cardinals, chickadees and juncos, among others, flit in and out as they travel back and forth to the feeders and the bird bath to get a snack of sunflower seeds or a much-needed drink of water.
 

I took all the pictures from the living room window, because, frankly, I'm not willing to freeze my keister, even for a great shot.

 

Japanese 'Kousa' dogwood tree just outside the bay window.
 

Angel is licking her lips and wishing she could snap up a few of those birdie snacks.