Winter days

 Some folks don’t mind an unseasonably warm winter, but those who work the land understand that cold has a purpose. Being one of the latter, I am relieved that winter has returned. We expected colder temperatures than we’ve had, but it was 26°F this morning, cold enough to freeze the soil. Freezing partially sterilizes the soil, knocking back fungi, bacteria, and invertebrate pests. Cold temperatures keep perennial plants in dormancy, too. Few things are worse for a fruit crop than buds that break too soon and get frosted when the temperatures return to normal lows. If would be fine with me if the ground stayed frozen from now until the end of February. Judging from the weather forecast, it seems unlikely.

We had a dusting of snow this morning. I’d like to see more, enough to cover the grass and make the world look clean and bright again. I’m so tired of brown, black, and tan beneath gray, drizzling skies.

Morning snow

The chickens, as I have mentioned, don’t like to walk in the snow. Last, we had another light snow, which quickly melted in subsequent rain. It was not enough to deter the girls. Note that they have completely eaten out the pumpkin Terry gave them a few weeks ago.

The girls venture out in light snow

This morning, I had to scrape the snow aside before they would come out of the coop, even though I brought a special treat. Carrot peels! Best day ever!

I learned a new word yesterday: subnivean. It means “under the snow.” I read it in the Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine. The meadow vole is subnivean. I knew that. When heavy snow pack melts down in the spring, I can see voles darting around in their tunnels at the interface between the soil and the snow. When I was out for my walk yesterday, I found a network of tunnels on the soil surface. The voles were busy after the one snow storm we’ve had. If we do get more snow this week, perhaps they will use these tunnels again.

Subnivean tunnels exposed by snow melting

Meanwhile, cold weather makes my thoughts turn to slow cooking. Pot roast was on sale at Jewel. I know beef has a huge carbon footprint, but we have cut back a lot. I’m embarrassed to admit this is more about inflation than ecological correctness, but it’s still less beef, right?

Pot roast in slow cooker #1

While I was in the slow cooking mode, I made chicken stock. When we butchered last summer, I cut up about half of the chickens and froze the pieces separately. It’s nice not to have to deal with a whole chicken all the time. I put all the backs together in a big bag. I love using the backs for stock. All of those little bones have cartilage in between them. Cartilage dissolves in the stock to give it a silky mouth feel. When I bake a whole chicken, Terry always wants to eat the back. I don’t understand. Why have mostly bones when you could have a meaty thigh or leg?

Chicken backs in slow cooker #2

When I was straining the bones out this morning, I noticed that there was actually quite a lot of meat. I regrated not picking the meat off after I roasted the backs. I have become my mother. Note: I like the flavor and color of stock made with roasted bones. If the meat is to be eaten, it has to be removed after the roasting and before the simmering. The long simmering sucks all the flavor and moisture out of the meat, turning it to sawdust.

In my winter boredom, I have been ordering things online. Also bad for my carbon footprint. Good for the cats, though. They have been having the best time with this box. I have no idea why they always want to try to get at each other through the cracks. Must be more of a challenge.

A different sort of cat box

Kate came back from Christmas in Oshkosh with a jigsaw puzzle for me, “because January is long.” The connection is that I brought her some Petoskey stones from Lake Michigan after I went back to Michigan for my 40^th high school reunion. Petoskey stones are bits of fossilized coral and are the state stone of Michigan. Not that under the picture it says, “The Insanity Series” and “1000 pieces.”

New jigsaw from Kate

Jane came for a visit and pot roast supper yesterday. While Terry watched football, we worked on the puzzle. We started by separating the edge pieces and turning all the pieces right side up. We soon realized we had nowhere near enough room on the card table for all 1000 pieces and put some back in the box. After 2 hours, this is what we had gotten done.

And after 2 hours...(if you look closely in the top left, you can see two little Banjo eyes)

It is truly insane! The pieces are shaped weirdly, the pattern is difficult, and, I discovered after Jane went home, the edge pieces sometimes don’t interlock—they abut, and are locked together by a middle piece. This is going to keep me busy way past January! I think after I stare at it for a while, I will be able to see nuances in the colors of the stone that will help me put it together. It’s a good thing to watch during the playoffs, since I am now bored to death with football, but Terry is still riveted. Stay tuned!