It should’ve grabbed my attention that I had to put on snow shoes to climb up to the roof of the chicken coop to shovel off the foot of snow that had accumulated there. But it didn’t. Activities of this nature have become the norm around these parts lately. It’s winter in New England! And Mother Nature apparently LOVES us. Or maybe she hates us. Can’t decide which. In less than 4 weeks’ time, we have gotten 90 inches of snow in southeastern Massachusetts. Just to put it into perspective, the average amount of snowfall in this area is 36 inches over an entire season. Nothing average about us this season!

That’s the chicken coop before I shoveled off the top. It’s a tough season to be a chicken here! They’re doing just fine, though. They haven’t been out of the coop for almost 4 weeks, which seems awful, but it’s safer for them. And right now, trying to keep them entertained, fed, safe,warm seems more important than letting them kick around the property.

The pups don’t really seem to be enjoying the season like they have in the past. Probably just because it has been so darn cold here. That’s just outside the back door.  That’s about as far outside as they’ll get. Nice little dusting of snow we’ve gotten, huh? This is their preferred roosting spot….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The house seems to have withstood the back to back blizzards we’ve gotten without any issues. There’ s something to be said for the type of construction that was used 250 years ago. 🙂  This is a picture of the house during the latest blizzard. Can you find it?

Yikes! But this is shortly after….. so much better.  You can see that the snow is just barely touching the bottom of the wreath on the front door.  Oy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The garden we will toil over in the summer is but a dream at this point in time. But I did sow some onion seeds indoors this past week. That’s super exciting. As I was scraping off the chicken coop today, I looked out over the garden. It is buried in snow! Just so you know……those are approximately 10 foot posts you are seeing here…

 

With all the extreme weather we have had lately, I often wonder how our forefathers were able to survive in the early days of this country. I think particularly about the initial occupants of our house. I think about things like where they must’ve kept the woodpile (certainly not where we have it–way too far away from the house!), or how they were able to preserve food for the lean months. But right now, all the shoveling is done for the day, I’m sitting by the fire with my husband and the dogs and all is well.

Happy are we. 🙂