the hen house, a call from a friend and the pond

 the weekend was hard, the good kind of hard work. Our goal was to make the Coop into two sections, one for the hens and one for the rooster. trip to hardware stores, farm stores and then we started. K and i thinking about things as we went, which as you know can take much longer, create more problems but we moved through it. Saturday night finally arrived  as i came in i received a phone call from a friend, in this call came such an act of kindness. i was overwhelmed and that became what most of my thoughts for the rest of the weekend went to, how someone could be so good to me and if i am deserving of this kindness. ( i promise to share soon). Sunday what we thought would be just a few more hours of work turned into a full day once again, poor k weekend was consumed in making my hens happy and in turn making me happy. sunday evening we showered then headed to the market, just what we needed and came home and  prepared a meal and watched a movie as we did this K said would you like me to take a day off tomorrow, oh YES please.(he never, ever takes a day off imagine my excitement)

Monday i woke up extra early so i could finish without having to ask k for help. then we headed into the city for a coffee and to the grain store. came home and decided that we must go for a walk, did i mention that it was in the eighties and that we had the windows open, the weather surreal. as we were almost out the door i ran in to grab my camera k turned and said why are you bringing it when it has stopped working, i told him i just wanted to and maybe she would wake up but truth is it is habit i can not break, maybe even while clicking empty clicks she helps me see. we walked through the forest, k hoping to see a bear, i hoping not to:) then grace ran to the pond and we knew that she was going to jump in and we went to the pond and there she played and swam and then sophie joined her, i sat at the edge of the water as the dogs took turns  splashing me and thanked the sky for the lovely extra day, it was perfect and my camera although she was not able to take a hundred pictures i had snapped on that walk she managed to give me a few that captured the essence of my hearts content.

today i woke up to my daffodils blooming, imagine that happy spring.

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.

dust in the light

it is tuesday, i hope you forgive me for not posting more regualrly. as i write you the sun is shinning bright, the air cool but not overly cold. the calendar is a day away from march which took me by surprise this morning.  a winter storm is coming, at least that is what is promised and if you speak to a Vermonter they will say the worst storms have been in march. i do not mind it since talk like that always gets me excited for the possibility of snow shoeing something that this snow less winter has not allowed for. I am listening to the new leornard cohen cd as i type this, such a poet but his voice is one that takes me back to my past and lets me walk among the "what was once" for a while. the eggs have been gathered, the barn swept and lunch hay has been tossed to the horses. the ducks and chickens are sleeping in the forest among twigs and leaves, sophie and grace stand on guard.  I have been working on  myself both physically and mentally, i am trying my hand at raw foods once again but this time allowing myself some mindful prepared warm vegetables and tea when my body calls for it.

the first photograph in this series i was able to capture dust in the light. i looked at it for a long while. even dust can sparkle...... i want to thank you for always being kind and taking time to comment, they have filled me with pride yet i am always humbled by them.

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.

snow, maybe

this morning when i raised myself from my bed i looked out the window, after an incredibly windy night a thin layer of snow had fallen barely covering the grass. Living here on the hill, knowing that last year's 'snow broke many records, i was beginning to wonder if last years snow accidentally stole this years fall. once i knew all the animals were well fed, i grabbed my camera, knowing that the warm temperature would soon take the very little we have. i walked a short distance into the forest when it began to rain. i took a few shots here and there but then i got distracted by green moss on tree trunks and from there i started noticing all the different texture of every tree, everyone wearing it's own distinctive design.  i came in to post photographs and when i looked out a few minutes ago  a full blown snow storm was on it's way which makes me very happy ( tiny nervous when you live alone in place so secluded from anyone else) but mostly excited to know that there is chance that by this afternoon i could dust of my snow shoes, take my camera and just maybe capture some real winter photographs. 

so now i will leave you with my view as i sit here at the dining table; there is the tiniest of snowflakes falling by the millions, big thick clouds feel as is they can replace the ceiling of my house and yours, somewhere in between layers of white cotton like clouds there is the sun who seems to be promising a visit. wait has the snow stopped, no not exactly. the snow flakes  are bigger now and you feel as if you might be able to count them, you stare at the basket holding your snow shoes and say maybe another time. the sun makes it through the sky's cotton fields.  you pick up madame bovary and curl up on the chaise with your feet tucked under a folded blanket and open up where you left of determined to get lost in it's pages, determined to make it to the back cover today, at least that is what you promise yourself.

thanks to tj of humble origins for giving me this link i can make snow flakes all day! - you should try it!

* new header taken in my old studio with my red piano( i  miss it)