Last Day of The Year

It's now snowing furiously, a NorthEaster on the way. The NH Red Cross has called me several times putting the disaster teams on alert and assigning tasks and responsibilities if there is a storm surge, flooding and power outages along the seacoast and elsewhere in the Granite State.  I volunteered to be in charge of two NH communities nearby, should animal issues arise because of flooding and evacuations.  Vermont has not issued any warnings or put any disaster teams on alert, as of yet.   

Earlier this morning I checked on the herd, patted my good cows and made sure they had lots of hay, mineral and bedding to have a comfy 2 days during the storm.  They were all very content. When they are happy, I am happy.

From my herd to yours:
I wish all of you a happy, healthy, safe and humane 2010.

The Most Wonderful Gifts

I drove home in a mini blizzard today. 4 hours to go the last 60 miles, cars all over the road and some off the road. Lots of ice under the snow making for dangerous driving conditions.
The big gift giving holiday is finally over. Although I did not recieve physical gifts, I was fortunate to have had a few unusual experiences that involved many many wonderful animals and a few really good honest people. That is a real gift to me.  Real things, not something you have to buy. Other gifts were things that I saw, made by Nature.  Mother Nature continues to create her unique art all over the landscape and here are a few items of interest:

SnowTree Mushrooms

Stone & Snow Retriever

Pony Pals

Spending time in the hospital is never fun.  When ever possible, I always try to find something enchanting to put a smile on my face and make the day a little better.  I found this interesting herd looking me over and couldn't help but smile.

Sugar Saturday

Filling jars, adding labels and packing them in boxes to be shipped around the world.  If you thought maple syrup was wonderful, you should try maple sugar~!!!!  Perfect on cereal, toast, ice cream, salads, apples and anything else. Yummy Yummy.

Fresh From The Source

When ever I need it, my hens make me breckfast or lunch. They are kind and generous.  Here is their exclusive Egg Bank Motel where they make their egg deposits every day.  They constantly rearrange the hay and shavings for their nest boxes. Today they threw it all out.   Must get too hot in there.

Here are some of the happy, smart, colorful and hard working hens. They all have names, of course. Most of them are named after my dearest friends.  Got one named Jeff and another named Eggbert.

Fresh from the flock to the frying pan. Yummy Yummy.  Perfect day for a hot lunch. Nothing smells or tastes better.

Adding Color

Today there was a rather large snow storm eating up most of the midatlantic and east coast of the nation.
This area was heavily hit with 60 mph winds, 12-14 inches of fast falling snow, sleet, black ice and all the complications of some very nasty weather.  Trees fell, schools were cancelled, roads were empty, birds flew south and the Orange Prince would not venture outside at all.  He kept himself well hidden all day long, somewheres in this enourmous old farm house.  The farm dog would only go out once and refused to exit at any other time.  I kept waiting for the power to go out.  It didn't...yet.    
When I ventured out to shovel the vehicles off, I discovered the porch pumpkins had been "painted" by Mother Nature.  I think she did a really nice job of it.

Winters Visit

It is now snowing like crazy here with a half an inch already on the ground.  The little smidgon of sun that was here early this morning, quickly dissapeared when the clouds moved in over the mountains.  In a matter of minutes the snow transformed everything that was green into white.

Meanwhile, back in the house, I was glad I had taken a few photos of some ancient plants this morning when the sun was briefly out.

 

Signs of a Cat.

When an unusual cat takes over your huge house, its important to know where they are.  Since this place has 88 doors and uncountable places a cat could hide, both indoors and out, I created a way to tell where the Orange Prince is.  It started as a quick drawing on a piece of paper and developed into a very workable piece of art that fits in with the decor and is simple to use.  It sits by the "preferred" door and can easily be flipped over when Murphy enters or exits.  Works purrfectly.

Good Karma

A new month and many changes on the horizon. I pray daily that everything works out well.    I have been blessed with a good life thus far.   May the future be paved with opportunity and health for everyone.