In Which We Get The Entirety Of Winter, In Three Days

The day before Christmas we got a pretty fair snowstorm, it laid down around four to six inches of snow.

Most of it on our cars, of course...

Later on that day, things took a turn for the weird as the wind kicked back up again, blowing shrieking gusts that blew the snow around like a scene straight out of National Geographic show on Antarctica.

I stuck my head out just long enough to snap a couple of pictures, hollering, 'Ow, ow, OW!' as tiny ice pellets peppered my face. So ridiculously painful that I couldn't help but laugh.

The neighbor's house had a cool, wavy drift on the right hand side of the roof...

Before the entire house almost disappeared under a windy onslaught.

But how are things in the chicken yard, I hear you ask--how do the chickens feel about this weaponized snow?

I dunno, 'cause I ain't goin' out there!

We know when Mother Nature has won, and wisely decide to stay in the house and admire the sparkly tree.

The kid put her snowbound time to good use by constructing the gingerbread house kit we'd gotten her.

 

Don't all gingerbread houses feature a crime scene?

 

She says the other penguin committed the murder, but that house is looking awfully angry...

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...

Came the sound of two parents hauling a truly gigantic Yamaha keyboard out to the living room!

Pardon the murky pics, I took these in the dark.

 

But at last, Christmas came!

I got the husband these two pins from Roamin Bison Workshop on Etsy, and they are GORGEOUS.

 

He got me two novels by John Scalzi--although 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' is a preorder, gonna have to wait on that one...and I'm gonna have to wait on 'Redshirts' as well, since I'm 1/3 of the way through 'Going Postal' by Terry Pratchett right now. Bonus pic of the Effin Birds coffee cup I got last year.

I also got some nifty pins and stickers! A geometric dragonfly (which fits in nicely with the origami I make) by Mary Capaldi, along with a cute cicada sticker. The 'Chaotic Good' pin is from Look Human and I can't wait to wear it.

And then there's this wonderful brass spider hair fork from Bronze Smith on Etsy.

All the way from Wales, the kid got this jaw-droppingly cool Mari Lwyd coloring book from Skulls And Sheets.

 

Bonus envelope art, yay!

A can't decide which page I like best!

And lastly, I forgot to get a pic, but I got the kid this great, 'Be Crow Do Crimes' patch, also from Roamin Bison...because everyone needs a patch depicting a knife-wielding corvid, don't they?

So now, three days later, we've got another snowstorm moving in, which is supposed to dump anywhere from three to seven inches of fresh snow on top of the stuff that is still layin' around from the other day.

Looks like an excellent time to stay inside, make cookies and remark, 'Isn't that pretty!'

Snow, Finally

 After a LONG stint with no snow or rain, we finally got both in droves--and all in the last two days. So when after two solid days of constant rain that left the chicken yard a treacherous, muddy mess--not that chickens sliding about in mud isn't hilarious--today we have a good four inches of snow. Raining when I went to bed last night, snowed in when I got up this morning. Climate change is fun!

The apple tree in the front yard...

And the crepe myrtle in the back yard.

The view of the chicken coop from the back porch. Yeah, I ain't goin' out there.

The kid got this amazing shot of a frosty feather...

I love the colors and changes of light in this shot.

Also, Nyx, the Midnight Marans hen we hatched this spring, has come into lay, gifting us with dark brown eggs.

But of course, since it's us, Nyx isn't quite your normal Midnight Marans--she sports both soft vulture hocks and some white wing feathers and brown head feathers here and there--none of which she is supposed to have. So I've been calling our little oddity a Midnight Marauder Marans. Hey, why not? In truth, I've been kind of holding my breath to see what color eggs she'd pop off with.

Luckily for the chickens, I'd held back a great big pumpkin in reserve, since I knew this snowstorm was coming. I'd planned to set it out with the webcam inside to broadcast Chickam, but our freezing temps canceled that. Instead, today it'll get cut up and placed in the run, since the chickens refuse to come out--chicken foot must never touch snow, after all.

But they are not pleased. Kana from three days ago, in happier, snow-free days.

In the  background is Spork, who waded into the water dish to play with the ice chunks we'd broken loose that morning. The little feathered weirdos will stand in freezing water to play with ice, but adamantly refuse to walk in snow.

Go figure.