the wind that blows the snow and a weekend away

 the snow did come and it brought some incredible winds, in fact they came from a direction that i have not experienced on the hill. so much wind that the house is having trouble warming up. when it began to fall sophie and i went outside, she loves the snow as much as i.  I also found the young chickens walking in the snow, how the wind does not take them something i often think about, especially when i see little barn swallows sitting on tiny twigs in a blizzard. will i be going snow shoeing, i am afraid not for the snow that has fallen has only accumulated at snow drifts yet snow is still falling so i will  hope for the possibility.

I will be heading to montreal tomorrow for the weekend and i will come back with elle and dylan who will be spending their winter break here on the hill. how i am excited for  few days in montreal and having my niece and nephew hang out with me on the hill.

* oh and i have nine roosters, which is not good thing so i need to find homes for some, this is not easy to say at all but for the well being of all the flock it is for the best. only to a loving (no kill) home. they are so sweet, they truly are.

* sometimes, i feel like i am a "little bit country" with my words & photographs, the city trip is coming at a perfect time.

a blue sunset

a few nights ago just as the sun had almost completely set, a snow fall came as well as a warm front.

all those things created the bluest night sky i had ever seen, it reminded me of our nights spent camping by a the river in maine under moonlight. i failed to capture the real beauty of it  and found the images a bit blurry but i do hope you see pass that.

wishing you a good day.

suddenly snow and galloping horses

i was organizing going through papers, cleaning cupboards when i heard the dogs barking a minute later i could feel the ground shake and the sound of galloping horses. i looked out the window and it was snowing. I grabbed my wool hat, put the battery in the camera and ran outside. seeing the horses at play is so beautiful.  they love the snow and the crisp air that comes with it. usually tolstoy and splash are slow heavy footed beast who spend there day eating hay and grazing( we have had no snow so they are still eating grass). to see them fly in the air, kick up their legs, roll and shake their heads is an experience you have to see for yourself, it is grand. My photographs are not the best i know but perhaps they give you a sense of what it is like.

Now i am back indoors, looking at gluten free recipes for this weekends house guest. a wonderful blogger who's book is the talk of the blogger sphere and her family, it is their first visit to the hill and i am a bit nervous but also excited and all this made better because it just might include snow!

wow it is really, really snowing now!

the woods, a pond and the listening moon.

i had waited for k to come home, it had been two weeks. two weeks of being here on the hill on my own, two weeks of watching over everything. i thought for sure once he got home i would get in the car and go somewhere. what happened instead is i realized i did not want to be anywhere else but here, that what i really wanted is to share this space with him. saturday morning he ran errands, even then i wanted to stay back so off he went and i went to explore. a light dusting of snow had fallen but had already begun its melt. i went off into the woods, took photographs and looked into tree holes, mossy rocks and leaves gently covered in snow. k came back and joined me. later on we took a walk to our pond and back into the woods. how i love the woods.  back at the house i cleaned up the outdoors, treated the chickens and ducks to leafy greens and shared a snack with k. a few minutes later Joe the farmer arrived with a half a cord of wood.  this made me happy for two reasons, knowing we will not run out, since i heat the house with it and the fact that i would end the evening stacking wood underneath the moon and a star filled night sky. a weekend that is balanced with things that must be done and things we want to do in the company of people we love. that night as i lay in bed i stared up through the skylight at the moon, she was lovely, i told her things and asked her for a few things, she graciously listened till my eyes grew heavy and closed.

home and a song of spring

it is been so long since i posted little indoor vignettes of my home, it is  uncomfortable in an odd way to do so. i guess i have spent many days at home as of late, today i feel more at peace, perhaps the lack of drama or the sun and air that seems to be ringing in an early spring. i heard the song of a bird at  my window this morning, a new feathery friend in all its loveliness. last night as i fed the horses under a star filled sky an owl  made a wonderful sound as well, he did this often that is until i tried to imitate his call, he did not like it for his silence told me so. the hills  calendar is beginning to fill with so many that want to visit and my own calendar with work, workshop and holidays this is all good and needed. i have not seen k in two weeks, i miss him, soon he will be home and i will go for a long drive, yes that is what i will do.

oh one last thing, do you know if you cut up and use the greens from scallion, you can re grow them by putting the bulbs in water. the will start growing right away.

* my 86 year old neighbour loulie came over the other day to do laundry. i love folding dish towels and linens i brought her the basket the next day with a few eggs from the chickens

when having no choice is a good thing

yesterday after a visit from the neighbour the sun began to set, i knew i had a long list of chores to do most important was filling the horses troth. I grabbed  the hose that was thawing inside and made my way down the stairs when my foot got caught, i fell and i fell hard, taring my clothes and knowing that this was a big. I allowed myself one minute to yell ouch( not exactly what i said) and another to cry. then knowing that i had so much to do and if i was to stop the pain would be unbearable. i continued with my chores pushing through the pain. when i was done i entered the house, put another log in the fire and proceeded to fall a sleep for a few minutes, those who read me regular;y know i never nap so i realized it was my bodies way to deal with the pain. Both my elbow and shoulder ached and my arm felt as if was hanging. i rested as best as i could, the night was a sleepless one. 

morning came i knew that i had damaged my arm pretty good, i researched on the net how to tell if an elbow was broken, making sure it was not, it was not broken. I found a sling in the first aid kit and proceeded( tying a knot with one hand is challenging) then put my muck boots minus a coat or sweater( impossible to lift arm), grabbed my wool hat and did my morning chores, the most satisfying thing was knowing i could do it, perhaps not perfectly but as you know perfect means  to finish in latin and that is what i did. is it okay to say i felt proud that i could do it.  then i grabbed my camera, another challenge but having worked on very long shoots before i knew how to give my right hand a break and took myself on a walk through the woods, it was beautiful the sun poked through branches as i explored. I am already feeling much better.

now i will bake bread for the week and make stuffed peppers for dinner , the house will surely smell delicious.

 my stuffed peppers recipe

short grain brown rice

red wehani rice

buhtaneses red,

red quinoa

walnuts

dried bing cherries

scallions

parsley

thyme

olive oil

pink salt

i wing the amounts depending on how many peppers and size.

( you can use any kind of rice)

add some of the parsley and scallions. salt and thyme.

stuff peppers, drizzle oil. you can add some apple juice for more moisture( or broth)

i like to add fresh parley and scallions when i take it out of the oven and enjoy!

* k is way for super bowl weekend( for those who might wonder why he was not here)

* the most difficult thing to do with my left hand is wash my face, putt a log in the fire and typing  this post-but i am glad for the practice:)!