Winter is on it´s way

 I felt it right this morning. There was something. I couldn't put my finger on it.... It seemed so light in the bedroom, had we overslept!? I shot off  the bed and shudder, brrr it's cold! I peek out through the curtains. Snow! It snowed last night! The sky is clear blue and in the east the red glow betrays the rising of the sun. What a change after the last few weeks when it was dark and sad.

The chickens continue to turn in the doorway, crestfallen. They don't like snow, even if it's just a little. Resolutely they turn around and step back into the sleeping loft. I break the layer of ice on their water bowl and lure them out with a little food. They don't like it at all and are loudly complaining. But the ponies and the dog, on the other hand, love it, just like us.

If I want to use the outside toilet I need a hammer to release the latch. Frozen! That's what happens when it rains one day and freezes the next... Ice flowers had grown all over the window last night. I find it fascinating that different ice crystals form on the windows under certain temperatures and conditions. This time it wasn't so spectacular with just star-shaped crystals but other times... Reminds me of our little house in Germany. In the kitchen we also had single glass and we cooked on a gas stove and we did not have an extractor hood. In the winter it became very damp in the kitchen and when it froze new shapes grew on the windows. One winter it was so cold that the ice layer was up to a centimeter thick. So on the inside, huh! Then you no longer saw flowers, but it had become a kind of frosted glass. After the temperatures rose again above freezing point, I was happy with our tiled floor, everything was wet....

After lunch I go out for a walk with the dog, who has not seen such long walks in recent days. In the forest it is still white, but when we get a little further on the plain, all the snow has already melted away. The dog is looking forward to it and keeps up the pace. After days of sitting with my sewing, it's great to go for a walk. When we go home again, the sun is slowly setting. You can really notice that we are steering on the dark days before Christmas. When we are back home the dripping of the trees has stopped and there are small ice pearls hanging from the branches. What will the weather bring tomorrow?