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Looking over my laptop, snow blows parallel to our North Pasture. The right side of my body is nearly burning from the red radiating heat of our woodstove. Out to the left I can see snow covered cows and horses; seperated by a fenceline but still forging snow-break alliance, all their tails facing the Northerly winds and snow.

Purring rises steadily from my feline assistant in my lap as I sit criss-cross appleasauce on a tanned and lovingly groomed lamb fleece. The pelt being from my very own sheep, tanned by the very hands that patter away at the keys now. (A post coming soon about that lambskin.)

This newsletter leaves us during the midst of a winter storm. Outisde and inside being two very opposite yet cohesive worlds.

The clutch went out on our tractor, its final act being the hours Nathaniel spent with Zetor plowing after our last snow storm in January. We are snuggling into the ranch, expecting as much as 20 inches going into the weekend, and fully expect that we may not surface back into society until we can have our driveway plowed which may just take us into next week!

I don’t mind any of it one bit.

This weather makes me thankful for our warm house, freezers full of our meat, pantries full of our vegetables, and also the treats we stocked up on knowing this was coming. Facing swirling snow and wind that stings my eyes makes me feel alive and humble and in awe of the natural world we so comfortably live in.

I love to face small bouts of nature’s adversity.

All our livestock have topped off waters complete with heaters. I don’t mind hacking through thick ice but our animals drink much better when the water stays clear and a decent temperature. Nathaniel stocked us with wood. The only real inconvenience will be trudging fifty pounds of hay through snow on foot to the cows… twice a day.

We will also have to stay on top of making sure the horses have a chance to dry out and fluff their coats before nightly temperatures dip down to single digits. Day time highs are only to reach the low 20’s.

As the Norwegian say, “There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”

We will still be staying in mostly; a toddler may not agree with that statement.

Thank you extra to those who reached out in regards to Tinkerbell’s death and Rusty’s cancer diagnosis. We so appreciate that you took extra time to send us a note of thoughts, love, and prays. Rusty is doing good, is comfortable, and we are thankful for each day!