February is when this area begins to look like Spring. It always cracks me up because I’ve lived in the coldest, snowiest places for much of my life. Idaho, Vermont, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska – all these places with serious no-holds-barred winter. February is still dead of winter in those places. But here, daffodils are putting up green shoots in February.
So it was quite a surprise when it started snowing a couple days ago. I guess it snowed from Seattle all the way down to Eugene. I’m right between them and at an elevation of 500 feet (152 m), so I tend to get a little more snow here. Compared to all the snowy locations I listed above, it’s not the biggest snow ever. But I measured a consistent 8 inches of snow, and that’s plenty of snow. The birds didn’t know what to think of it.
After only an hour or so, the hens had enough and went back inside their chicken house to stand on dry straw instead of frozen water. I guess I can see the appeal.
Pedro and I decided it was time to play though. He had come over Wednesday to visit for one night, and then got trapped. It’s now Sunday and he’s still here, unsure if his car would be able to safely navigate the hill down to the highway. We bundled up and spent a couple hours outside while the flakes just kept coming down.
Conscious Engagement 
Kinglet sure is a cute bird.
other than that, not missing that kind of snow. We’re scheduled for a few inches here and that’s more than we want. The cold, however . . . even less welcomed.
Ha ha! I know what you mean! But I still get a kick out of it when I know it’s going to melt in a day or two and I won’t see it again for a couple years. Not a fan of cold either. I keep my woodstove cookin’ along, 24/7.
Our dog owns the wood stove, but the cat has the upstairs chimney. Animals know how to live the good life.
Excellent! Your dog and cat have a system figured out! Sometimes it occurs to me that I could learn a thing or two by following their example.
Good atmospheric pictures and video of a big kid 🙂
What big kid? Who? Where?
You caught me. I have no sleds on hand, so we tried a variety of plastic bin lids and trashcan lids until we found the one that worked best. Then we wrapped a garbage bag around it to help it slide better. That was only a temporary fix because the snow cut up the trash bags. We would flip the plastic lid inside the trash bag to the side with no holes, and when it was completely shredded, replace it with a new bag. This was wasteful. We finally discovered an empty chicken feed bag and crammed the plastic lid inside the bag. THAT was the ticket! We sledded about two hours on Saturday, and on Sunday we sledded till it was too dark out to see anymore, ha ha. Who are you calling “kid?” 🙂
🙂
Great photo of your half frozen pond, Crystal. And the girls seemed to adjust. The cat was smart. No cold paws for her. And the amount of time you and Pedro spent sledding… obviously you were having fun!
Peggy just put your quilt out on the library floor. It’s gorgeous and it’s finished except for the binding and backing. The other thing is, it’s large. Queen-size bed large. It looks very Celtic to me. The dragons seem a little more serious and less whimsical that you talked about; they have treasure to protect, still I think you will like it. It may be another few weeks before Peg gets the backing put on, but it will be going to you in the near future. –Curt
Omigosh, Curt. This news is so exciting to me! I am dying to see it. After seeing Peggy’s other work, I’m sure it will be gorgeous. I love fierce dragons. Payback will be in the form of visits as soon as I can get down there safely! Love you guys.
Yes, we were having a blast. We were out for hours on Saturday, and even more hours on Sunday. Hard to believe two grown ups could have even more fun sledding the second day. Maybe it means we’re not grown ups after all…. heh heh.
Glad you like fierce dragons. 🙂 Peggy was a little concerned about that. And we look forward to your visits!
So nice you can spend time to visit and play in this time of isolation. We get our second shots on Sunday. There is light at the end of the long dark tunnel. –Curt
Oh yay! I’m so pleased to hear you are both getting second shots! That is wonderful news.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Racecar definitely had the best spot in the house! Those chickens look very confused. I love your snow pics, although, like Racecar, I would most probably have spend most of my time in front of that fire. 🙂
You are clearly able to make good decisions. Racecar would appreciate the company.
This video says it all. 😀 I’ve watched it many times. Just joy. Your birds don’t seem too amused though.
Ha ha! Glad you liked the video. We had a blast. We sledded on Valentine’s Day and all the next day. So many hours in the snow. We had to use the lid of a trash can because I don’t have a sled. We were putting a trash bag around it to make it slide better, but then we put an empty chicken feed bag around it, and that was the best of all! I think I have a video of that one, too. Maybe I’ll put that up.