First snow

 We had a dusting of snow Monday morning, but our first real snow came during that night. I woke at 2:00 to that particular quiet and gentle light that comes with snowfall. I don’t know where the light comes from. We’re in the last quarter, so the moon can be ruled out. Then the silence was broken. Hoo-hoo-hoooo. The owl was close to the house. Then came an answer, farther away. Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. The owls called back and forth. I put on my glasses and got the binoculars. To my amazement, when I scanned the oak closest to the house from the guest room window, I saw the owl almost immediately. It was sitting on the top of a branch, its silhouette unmistakable. I hear owls far more often than I see them. This was very exciting for me.

Morning dawned to a winter wonderland. After I took this picture, I realized that the windsock is the only way one can tell this isn’t black-and-white.

River birch and apple orchard, windsock at the right is the only color

Backyard

North yard

White pines

The hens were not so excited about the snowy beauty. The Wyandotts and Goldie were the only ones who had not seen snow before, yet the Wyandotts were the only once to venture out in it. Dottie was first, peaking out from the door…

Peeking out

And then flying up to the windbreak, where Bonnie joined her.

Dottie and Bonnie on the windbreak (Bonne is a little darker)

One at a time, they both flew farther out into the run, where they seemed nonplussed. What now?

Oops! Now we're surrounded by snow

Eventually, they achieved their apparent goal—one of two patches of bare ground under the shade shelter.

Aha! A patch of open ground

When I opened the inside door to the coop, many of the girls were still on the perch.

We'll just stay here with dry feet, thanks

As soon as I started my chores, they crowded around the outside door but refused to go out.

Jesus Christ! It's that big two-legged animal!

I almost forgot to put out the scratch grains. I threw it right in front of the door for easy access, but still only the Wyandotts and Ms. Congeniality came out to eat. Poor Goldie. She flew to the windbreak support and paced back and forth, debating the pros and cons. Is it worth cold feet to get scratch grains. Should I stay or should I go?

Goldie: I want scratch grains. I don't want to stand in the snow. I want scratch grains....

The cats are still cute, although growing rapidly. It’s getting hard to pick them up with one hand.

Our big boys napping in Terry's chair

As usual when winter approaches, I can’t seem to stay out of the kitchen. In particular, I am carb loading as if I am going to hibernate for three months. I wish. Over the weekend, I made bierocks, a.k.a. runzas. It’s a bun stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, and cheese. I was trying to use up the Cabbage that Will Never Die. Even with four cups, finely chopped, the cabbage lives on. What else can I make. In addition to the cabbage issue, I like making bierocks because the dough is so nice to work with. It feels good in my hands.

Bierocks

Yesterday, I made cookies that I saw on a TV show. I downloaded and bought the ingredients so long ago that the caramel sauce expired last month. While I haven’t made the final decision, I’m inclined to call it a fail. The chocolate/pecan shortbread dough is exceedingly crumbly and hard to work with. The filling is essentially butter with a tiny bit of caramel sauce and powdered sugar mixed it. I put the required tablespoon of filling in each cookie, which is a lot. 

Chocolate pecan sandwich cookies

Predictably, it sits in my stomach like a brick. Terry seems to like them, though. On the plus side, the recipe only makes 12 cookies.