Rising to the New Year

I took this photograph last year, on the way in to my office.  It is one of my very favorite photos, most particularly because I love a sunrise--but a sunrise this pretty, amidst one cold winter day, is filled with some extra special promise.  And hope.

It is easy to rise to the occasion of a new day--or a new year--when things are going well.  Jobs are intact, health is good, all is well.  But rising above the difficult days of a lifetime and still coming out with something positive is not quite as easy to achieve.  And may require that you be in the right place at the right time, heading down your road with a positive perspective in place before you even start.

Here's hoping everyone finds a beautiful sunrise and sunset each day of the coming new year.  Happy holidays to all.

Mary Ann

And then it snuck back in...

How quickly things change.  In the blink of an eye, it is once again white and snowy.  The only remaining color in our forest is that of the evergreen, standing proudly with its sharpened, scented needles as the steward of a winter's season.

Winter snuck away today

Winter snuck away, sometime overnight. 

Just a few days ago, right around the corner from yesterday, snow spread on the land around us like a blanket covering a newborn from head to toe. 

There's a comfort to the first few early snows of a winter's season.  Almost relief, when everything must come to a near standstill due to wintry, blustery conditions. 

As if we need an excuse to slow ourselves down from the day-to-day needs of our world.

Maybe we do.

Come February, I guarantee I won't be posting about how lovely and quieting it is to see snow; nor will I be welcoming it with the same enthusiasm I feel today.

For right now, however, I am comforted with the thought it will soon return, and stoke my fire, ready to pull the blanket a bit tighter around me.

Today's visitor

Visiting us today in our barn was this lovely little male downy woodpecker.  We have a woodlot behind our home that makes a wonderful setting for a variety of woodpeckers, large and small.  This fellow was lost and looking for his way out.  I rescued him moments before my cat decided he made a really neat play thing.

Winter's blanket

Out my kitchen window, first snow of the season

Our first snow of these season.  I love the view from my kitchen window!

Counting sheep

I have another blog I've been working at for several months, a photoblog of landscapes and things which catch my eye.  I found myself drifting a bit--really enjoying the writing as well as the photography.  Still, I seem to be floundering.  What do I want to write about?  What photos continue to capture my eye?

It's funny.  Time and time again, I find myself photographing barns.  Reading about farms.  Finally, living on a few small acres we can call our own and, perhaps, raise...something!  This is our second year in our home.  We have a large barn, a small barn, and quite a bit of lovely space to garden.  This past year, we planted a small grove of apple dwarfs, as well as tending to a garden that didn't fare too well (a lesson to be chalked up to what can and cannot be planted near black walnut trees, which exude a chemical preventing other nearby plants from drawing up water).

For the upcoming year, we've prepared additonal beds of garden space and are preparing strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry patches.  I'm planning on quite a few additional apples, as well as at least two hives of bees.

Still, I yearn for one thing--some sheep.  Alas, two acres really won't support even a small flock of sheep.  So I dream.  And I consider.  And I keep my eyes open for a neighbor who might want to sell a few acres.

I hope, in this blog, I will be able to take you through the seasons of our gardening, bee farming adventures, as well as come with me as I learn to be just a bit more self-sufficient.  Canning has never been my forte--but I hope to change this next fall.

And I won't give up on counting sheep in my dreams.