We are soaked!! Gobs of water everywhere. The snow and ice have melted very quickly as our temps grew to a sultry 45 degrees the last couple of days, and the water is flowing!!
The flow into the pond.
The overflow out of the pond.
This culvert takes the overflow from the pond under the driveway, fed by an overflow outlet….
…..and a secondary overflow culvert when the main outlet gets overwhelmed…..
…..it’s all about protecting the driveway.
The ground quickly turned to slush….and then very slippery ice as the slush refroze overnight, but continued it’s melting process (does that make sense??) Seemingly, in one quick moment….the white was gone and the green had returned.
I’m melting…….
…….melting…..
….melting!!!!
Seriously, I do not know if this truly happens, but I am totally convinced that underneath the frozen white, the lush green continued to grow. Look how long the grasses are as they appeared from their winter cocoon!!
While it is good to have our feet on solid ground, the evidence of our gopher invasion…..
Busy little gophers…..this isn’t even the half of it. UGGHHH!
……makes for sticky mud on shoes or paws….and those paws LOVE to dig into those muddy gopher mounds.
Thankfully, the pond provides an automatic paw wash station….
Happy AFC, NFC playoff game day!!! It’s all about football!! I hope you have a great day whether you are watching the big games (that lead to the Super Bowl) of not…try and catch a little bit of fun in your day today.
On this 16th day of walking through piles of snow, I am a cauldron of mixed emotions. We are literally on the cusp of the big melt…..part of me looks forward to having my feet firmly planted on the ground, rather than sinking into the powdery accumulation….
…..or slipping on the beaten-down snow that has turned to solid ice…..the other part of me is not ready for it all to go away. There is so much more involved than just the desire to walk on solid ground. Accumulated snow hits all of my senses….in a good way. When I am inside, I love the coziness of the wood stove fire while taking in the beauty of the white against the greens and browns. When I am outside, it feels playful just to walk in the powder, and comical when I and those around me change our gate to that of a penguin when walking on ice.
Thinking of returning to green has gotten me thinking about the garden. The plans are to move the location, and make it much larger. Our plans don’t always seem to come to fruition though, so it will be interesting to see what actually happens. Somehow we get lost between the idea, and the action. Besides the fact that Tony and I both need to stay employed to make any of this possible, our plans are kind of loosely woven, and we lack the extra hands it takes to get some things done.
We tend to try to do things ourselves, and we are not connected with other homesteaders or farmers to barter with or benefit from their knowledge. The past several years, we have not been great with “community,” and that doesn’t work well when you relocate your life, and all of your prior resources from where you were born and lived for 48 years, are gone.
I didn’t intend for this writing to go this direction, but there are opportunities on the horizon and I don’t know if we can or will make them happen. I think I get stuck in the, “Why make plans if we’re not going to follow through” , or “Seriously, we’re not zoned for that?” kind of thinking. I get mad because the mind and spirit are willing, but the body continues to say…..”Mmmmmmm, maybe not.”…..
…..the heavy physical stuff hurts my hands and shoulders these days. Running this homestead, doing projects on this homestead are very physical in nature….if we can’t pay to help get it done, we have to do all the heavy lifting…..there is not enough time in the day. Sometimes I feel like the dreams I had are slipping away….one major dream, seemingly, already has….but never say never….right?
I’m sorry to go in this direction today. I am committed to being honest with you in my writing, which means it’s not always posies and roses up here on the hill. If I planted those they’d get eaten by the deer anyway so…..hahahaha!! I’m just in this transitional place wherein I need to decide if it is enough for me to just enjoy the environment and forget about trying to grow our homestead, and earning possibilities that it could bring.
That was not our plan when we bought it, we had a direction, we wanted the land to work for us….but plans, I have learned, are mostly just guidelines in life. There is so much you can’t see on the horizon….best to be fluid and not static. Maybe I’m short on vitamin D…LOL
In any respect, I / we have a lot to think about….what direction should we go in? If you will let me, I will include you all in the thoughts and “plans.” I’ve kind of mentioned all of this in the few months prior to now….it is laying heavy on my mind and heart, but I really feel that we have to narrow our focus and lose the diverse functions of this homestead….there just isn’t enough time in the day to continue on that road. But there was enough time yesterday to do this…….
“Do you want to build a snowmaaannnn??” Sorry…I just had to say it!!
……I hope he sticks around for a few more days!!! I hope you will stick with us as we “Redefine Our Lives in Oregon”…it’s a continual process.
I love how a simple comment can spark an entire conversation to have with you all. My blogger friend from https://willowcreekfarm.wordpress.com/ posted a comment regarding my comment on not being able to imagine people who live in snowy conditions for months at a time. They live in the Rockies and not only have snow on the ground for many months….they get into the negative temperature numbers. How do you all do it??
Staying Warm and Power Bills
The money saving item we utilize everyday in the late fall and winter is our wood stove. We would be broke without it. I mean truly….what do you all do in the bitter cold to stay warm? I know there are different ways to heat your homes. What do you find makes the most financial sense?? We have no gas options up here on the hill, unless we want to truck in propane…at this point we do not do that because we have a forest full of trees that provide us heat free of charge (besides the fuel for the chainsaw and tractor.) Basically, if we run the wood stove, the forced air heater/heat pump (electric) never comes on. The peripheral rooms get a little chilly, but blankets and a little portable electric heater in one room, takes care of that….getting out of the shower can be a little chilly…LOL.
Work, School, and Driving
Maybe it’s because we don’t really experience the accumulated snow here in the Pacific Northwest (at least west of the Cascades) but it seems that schools close, buses stop running, and people (including myself) make other arrangements in their work day when it snows. How is it managed in those areas where snow and ice stay on the ground for months? Remember, I am a California girl who came to her senses and moved to this beautiful State of Oregon. I brought with me zero snow/ice skills….totally zero!! So do you all just leave chains on your tires all the time?? Are huge traffic jams that last several hours just part of your regular winter driving life?? What are the tricks you all could share in maneuvering when the roads and sidewalks turn white?
Livestock and Chickens
I’m getting the idea that livestock / chicken chores are just messy tasks in the winter. In a lot of ways, it is harder. Freezing water is always an issue, and you just can’t really avoid muddy, poopy muck…it goes with the territory. When there is snow, however, the outdoors is cleaner….until it melts. So what do you do with the muck?? Is there anything you can do to minimize it?
Well there are a thousand more questions I could ask, but guess what….it snowed again last night….big time. It is totally Narnia everywhere you look….we need a lamp post!! So I have pictures to take, and ideas to gather….let alone dogs to run, chickens and goats to get cleaned up and settled in for the night. I hope I can get off the hill for a Starbucks….if they only had their red, holiday cups still stocked….<sigh>!!
Thank you for visiting on this cold winter day. I hope you are warm and doing wonderfully today!
“A Touch of Spri…….”, unfortunately, I cannot finish that last word. That word which in its very nature speaks of growth, vibrancy, and warmth accentuating the season of hope …..hope for the future…..the future of wonderful delicacies from one’s own garden, Saturday (or in my little town, Thursday) bounty markets,
sunbaths in the warmth of the sun….cool, glistening, ice filled glasses full of thirst quenching refreshments. Ahhhhhhh, yes!! The promise of Spri……
Why, you may ask, am I finding it difficult to fully utter that word which elicits excitement found not only in the hearts of so many, but in the lives of all of nature?
I don’t know what the rainbow-esq illumination is in this picutre…
Maybe it is a result of winter’s, seemingly cruel dance of allowing a moment, seriously just a moment of spri….. – like weather, only to abruptly grab it back in a selfish child-like attitude….screaming, “It’s mine!!”
It was a beautiful moment……it happened this past Thursday afternoon…..
…….nature was dancing…..frolicking…..awakening!! It was a magical moment….and it disappeared as fast as it arrived. Since then, winter, as mild as it has been this year, has strengthened its grip for awhile longer. There is rain in the forecast for the next four days, a continuation of something like fifteen days of rain we’ve already had…..hey, you live in the Pacific Northwest, you’re going to get rained on….a lot….except in the summer, but SHHHHHHH…..that’s a secret!!! It’s actually grey and rainy all year round…..right??!! 😉
In lower elevations, the cherry blossoms are in bloom….so beautiful!!
I think our State’s Capitol gardens are really beautiful…..Oregon is beautiful!!
Larry, Curly, and Mo (aka Montana, Clark, and Lott) wanted to give you an update of their wool debriding……
Lott
Montana
Clark
…..hahahaha!!! Aren’t they amazing??!!!!!
Thank you for visiting our little slice of Oregon. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
I'm a temporarily staying-at-home mom of two living in Oregon, learning all over again (after 15 years of city life) how to garden, harvest, and put up food. You might see posts about baking, parenting, crafting, organization - anything that strikes my fancy!
Build Me a Dream 