Well, we have enjoyed the snow. It is beautiful. I mean, this picture looks like it ought to be the illustration next to a Robert Frost poem.

We could've done without all the ice, though. As I write, John is making his morning trek over to the farm to let the chickens out. It's not a long trip, but our highway is still a solid sheet of ice. So, I whisper prayers for him until I see his headlights slowly turning back into the driveway. And there they are! Now, a prayer of thanks.

The backyard animals are not loving this. The goats are so prissy. They can't stand to be wet, so having to walk through snow and ice to get to their lunch is really unappealing. They audibly protest as they high-step their way over to the feeder.

Molly seems mostly unfazed-- must be nice to have that big, warm coat in weather like this. She's probably missing our farm walks, but it's just been so cold, that we've just let her out into the big field to burn off some energy.

My snow-covered garden is a sad sight, and the few remaining backyard chickens can be seen in the red tractor in the background. (Yep, we still have a few that live at the house. These ladies were purchased to replenish our aging backyard flock . . .before we knew we'd be purchasing the wagonful of 100 chickens. Because they're not old enough to eat the laying feed the new crew eats, they remain in the backyard for the time being.)

As for those 100 chickens, they spend most of their day huddled together under the chicken wagon. We've moved their feeders closer to the wagon to encourage more eating since it helps them generate body heat. So far, I haven't noticed any frostbitten combs, but that is certainly a concern in this type of weather.

If it would only warm up enough to provide some melt, that would be great!