A quick glance at my local forecast, and I’m assured that we’ll have no shortage of snow this winter or this week for that matter. Winter has arrived here in Idaho!
It’s inevitable—with all of the “outdoorsy” activities around the farm closing down for the season, we have a tendency to fold inward around here, hunker down, and gather around fires with cups of warmth in hand. There’s certainly no shame in getting cozy (I’m still in my jammies as I write this), but I also love to look for excuses to get out there into the wild, white world beyond my window.
One of the best excuses I can think of involves collecting a big ol’ pot of the white stuff. Yep, harvesting snow! It is an abundant crop these days.
But, why?
When an artist is staring at a blank piece of paper, her mentor might walk up to her and say, What is that, a polar bear in a snow storm?’ Well in this case, pretty much!
My Great Pyrenees guard dog, Periwinkle, finally fitting in.
At 6 a.m. this morning, I showed up for my weekly phone call/meeting with my magazine publisher. In Connecticut they’ve been without electricity since last weekend’s freak snowstorm that dropped 18 inches on their fully leafed trees. (His summer home in New Hampshire got 35 inches!!!) Once dawn arrived here, I was surprised to see our fully leafed trees covered in snow also. Winter doth comest early this year. Are you ready?
How joyful it is to wake up to the first snow day!
It’s time to wrap up another MaryJanesFarm B&B season. The Plum Pit, where we serve breakfast, is asking to be tucked in for the winter ahead.
Every now and then, when I’m out and about, I come across a bird that’s lying on ground, stunned, having hit a window. I quickly snatch it into my hands so a preying cat doesn’t pounce on it. Then I hold it until it’s ready to fly again. Only once, did one of my birds …
In 1969, when the town of Hertfordshire, Great Britain, sent bulldozers to oust May Savidge from her home in order to build a new road, she wasn’t about to go quietly.
This is the last weekend for our Bed & Breakfast. We had four guests. Alyson Oüten and her sis, Kara, shared a tent. They cooked over the campfire, ate our homemade s’mores, drank wine, and took turns soaking in one of our outdoor bathtubs.
I woke up early this morning to feed my animals and noticed that my pregnant Jersey cow, Maizy, was missing. It was just getting light, so I grabbed my binoculars and scanned the nearby fields (covered in wheat stubble from the recent harvest). There she was, a fair amount away, looking just like an elk or deer. (It’s hunting season here.) Not wanting to waste any time, I broke into a run to …
With a wink and a grin, old timers love telling kids about the long, arduous paths they walked to school waaay back when. You know the stories. They often involve deep snow, threadbare shoes, and steep hills (both to and from the schoolhouse).
But I bet you haven’t heard one that boasts a hurricane.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
