January 18th was the last day that we got truly decent temps. The morning was warm*, and rays of sunlight were shining through the rising mist over the stonewall.
Very New England-core✨
*a winter’s “warm”, of course
although I despise what the invasive bittersweet plant does (and do my very best to not let it produce berries on my property), its winter display (in my grampa’s yard) is always impressive
I spent a long time out in the fresh air admiring the frozen water droplets strung onto every branch, leaf, and thread of spiders’ silk.
The forecast was predicting the arrival of Snow Storm Albatross, plus some extremely January-like temps, so I made sure to enjoy the mild air while I could.
goldenrod is pretty at every stage of its life
Mary Todd has spent every night inside with us lately, and has become such a comfortable — and perfectly behaved — part of the family that she might just spend the rest of the winter nights inside.
Even though she’s physically fully capable of handling the winter cold, it’s sad to think of her out in the barn alone. Now that she’s spending much more time with us she’s been talking to us a lot more too, which is adorable.
It’s crazy how quickly and easily my chickens have always seemed to adopt our human lifestyle when they’re brought inside regularly.
Mary Todd will spend most of the morning minding her own business, eating her breakfast, napping, watching for hawks out the window, and accepting all of the household noises. But if you speak to her directly, she’ll vocally respond to you immediately.
At this point, she’s half human, we just have a slight language barrier.
Anyways, on January 18th, when I came in from my morning meanderings, I was told that the pond down the road was making some crazy sounds (described as: the pond is talking to us), so Riley Mae and I drove down and spent some more time outside recording the otherworldly sounds of ice, and catching a few birdsongs along the way.
art by jordan rae 