It's beginning to look alot like winter...

Well, it's beginning to feel like it! Nothing says winter like frozen pipes, eh? I'd better go check and see if they've thawed out yet...

Nope. Not yet. It usually takes a good three nights of below freezing temps for us to fine tune the thermostat on the heater in the well house; somewhere between a sky-high electric bill and frozen pipes. Might need to scrounge up some more insulation and stuff it in there somewhere.

The wee Willies are ready for snow, me thinks. They were out the other morning throwing frost at each other.

If you have children, you'll know I'm not making this up.

We did have some snow forecasted last week, but as per usual, we only got rain. "Less than half an inch possible accumulation"... why do they bother forecasting snow at all!? It was so dreary and rainy that about mid-morning I decided we would have ourselves a snow party - with or without the snow. We scheduled it for one o'clock that afternoon and invited no one outside our home. (Seth said, "We can't have a party with only eight people!") We baked cupcakes, complete with frosting and sprinkles (not my favorite dessert - I prefer brownies or cookies or cheesecake or pie - but nothing says celebrate like cake!), lit our scented candles, put on some wintery classical music and cleaned the house. We were late to our party by one hour, but no one complained. We changed the music to some upbeat blues and rockabilly, blew balloons, played games (musical chairs and Winker and balloon games) and pigged out on cupcakes. Then Royal and Little Brook went down for naps and we cut out paper snowflakes and decorated with them. Not a flurry outside.

It was a good day. Pure wisdom from on High, if you ask me, to arrange a day to let loose and enjoy the distractions, do something fun with the kids and Bobby. Things have been a smidgen stressful anyway (it usually is this time of year with no work) and when I woke up and saw rain clouds in the sky I felt that something had to be done or we'd all crack up. And I don't mean make jokes. It was good to know that we could whip a special occasion out of thin air, just the eight of us.

(Yay, we have water again!)

I do look forward to snow, now that it's cold. If it's going to be cold, I'd rather have snow than not. That's one reason I'd prefer not to ever move further south. Further north, if anything. Bobby says, "No way, further south if anything." So, there you have it. We're stuck in southern Missouri.

In spite of the early storm that stripped the trees of their pretty leaves, it was a beautiful fall. I was sure kicking myself for not getting some fall vegetables in. The weather was wonderful. At least my garlic is snuggled down nicely in the garden and will probably beat the daffodils up again come spring.  So far we've had a few fair frosts, but yesterday was the first morning I walked to the barn on frozen ground. Having to break an inch of ice in the goats' water trough is another clue that winter is upon us.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!



Now, where'd I put that seed catalog...?