Our Christmas was all it should be, a couple of days of family time and festive feasting.
Now it is the quiet time between the old year and the new. It is very, very cold and a light snow is falling. The cats have each found a cozy spot and Jerome is practicing for a church service this Sunday. I have a batch of granola in the oven and the laundry is humming away. I'm closing the books on 2017 and preparing pages for the coming year. The little pine we cut and decorated is sending its merry rainbow out into the whiteness beyond the window. There is a teakettle humming on the stove. All is calm.
I wish similar good things for you, dear friends, as the old year passes into the new. Thank you for keeping me company here on sallymomsprouts. I look forward to your peeking through my window often in 2018.
Be well and prosper.
sallymomsprouts muses: what is possible if we but believe?
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
half gone December
We took a long meadow walk yesterday before lunch. The snow enormously embossed by the wheels of Jerome's tractor from the day before, daintily embellished by footsteps of the many critters who find our trimmed trails as delightful to stroll as we do.
We spotted rabbit prints inside of the chicken enclosure though we couldn't find any obvious entry through their fencing. A conundrum! All around the outside of the fence there were tracks of cats. After a few tentative days, the chickens are exploring their snow covered space probably wondering at it all. Why they heavily molt in November when they most need a full feather coat against the growing cold is beyond me. We've been feeding them a supplement for feather growth and they all look well dressed now. Yesterday for the first time in weeks our egg count went up. The deepening cold requires more frequent checks to keep their water liquid and to check for any eggs before they freeze. Coats, scarves, mittens, hats, boots.
December has brought the most amazing sunsets. The best, of course, require lots of cloud cover.
With the Geminid meteor shower to arrive the 13th-14th, it didn't seem likely the clouds would depart overnight. But at 2 am I was amazed to find, not only was the sky clear, but brilliant! More lovely than I had seen in a very long time. With Orion and Beetlejuice caroling their alleluias, trails of light, mini and majestic, like the clearest of descants, added their grace notes. Instead of feeling small in the face of the universe I was drawn into the very heart of it.
Winter's night sky provides a link to what is at the heart of the Christmas season. When courage falters, look up dear friends.
We spotted rabbit prints inside of the chicken enclosure though we couldn't find any obvious entry through their fencing. A conundrum! All around the outside of the fence there were tracks of cats. After a few tentative days, the chickens are exploring their snow covered space probably wondering at it all. Why they heavily molt in November when they most need a full feather coat against the growing cold is beyond me. We've been feeding them a supplement for feather growth and they all look well dressed now. Yesterday for the first time in weeks our egg count went up. The deepening cold requires more frequent checks to keep their water liquid and to check for any eggs before they freeze. Coats, scarves, mittens, hats, boots.
December has brought the most amazing sunsets. The best, of course, require lots of cloud cover.
With the Geminid meteor shower to arrive the 13th-14th, it didn't seem likely the clouds would depart overnight. But at 2 am I was amazed to find, not only was the sky clear, but brilliant! More lovely than I had seen in a very long time. With Orion and Beetlejuice caroling their alleluias, trails of light, mini and majestic, like the clearest of descants, added their grace notes. Instead of feeling small in the face of the universe I was drawn into the very heart of it.
Winter's night sky provides a link to what is at the heart of the Christmas season. When courage falters, look up dear friends.
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