Brief respite from winter

Yesterday was beautiful—sunny and 55°F! The girls enjoyed hanging out in the sun, even though the chicken run is a mud pit.

Chickens in mud

Hilda and I took the opportunity to change the wood chips in the coop. They were getting stinky. The smell is not so bad when the temperatures are well below freezing. Once it thawed, though—hoo-boy!

Clean wood chips! Don't the girls look happier?

I couldn’t hold myself back any longer from making bread. Several factors contributed. There’s the winter depression, which I mentioned in my last post. My students did experiments with yeast fermentation this week. Finally, I needed bread to make dressing for the turkey that I’m roasting for game night today. I like to buy two turkeys at Thanksgiving and have a second Thanksgiving in February, when I feel much in need of a holiday. Because it seems a shame to put all the bread in the stuffing, I made a second loaf for me, even though I still didn’t need it.

Fresh sourdough bread

Because one Thanksgiving a year is not enough

Hilda and I went for a walk in the afternoon. We wore our Wellies because of the standing water everywhere. Just like the tundra, the snow and ice on top of the ground melted but couldn’t go anywhere because the soil was still frozen underneath.This is the trail back by the creek.

This is the trail leading up to the creek, not the creek itself. I know, it's hard to tell.

A terrible wind blew all day Friday. A dead tree came down by the creek, narrowly missing the tree stand.

A tree that blew over in the terrible wind Friday, just missing the tree stand

The creek was higher than at our last visit.

The creek

The bank showed signs of a recent flood. Here are raccoon tracks in the new mud left behind by the high water.

Raccoon tracks in the mud next to the creek

It even looked as if the grass was greening up!

Green grass!

The nice weather didn’t last, of course. It’s only February. Today is once again chilly and gray. Good thing I have a nice turkey dinner to look forward to.