It should have been

 ...a good day to stay inside and do...

Well. Read, nap, lounge, make chili ..or maybe even go through things and purge more crap out of drawers and the basement.

But by mid afternoon I was climbing the walls. I took Charlie out for a walk with me and he made it about 40 steps before his feet froze. I carried him back to the house and let him in. 

I thought I'd go finish breaking a trail up through the summer meadow and grab the trail camera down in the woods. With the subzero temps, I figured the batteries would be dead.

The wind chills were still in the - Below Zero Range, so I covered up. Since I live in a hilly and forested area, I can walk into the woods and avoid the winds. But covering my face and eyes is by far the most important thing for me to do.

I got down into the woods and retrieved the trail cam. Of course there was this shot of me walking during the snowstorm. 

And here is a shot of me coming to get the camera. In both of these photos I am using snowshoes. The more often I break trail, the better it is to walk on. During the storm, I was  up to my knees even with snowshoes on.

It was pleasant in the woods, but my feet did start to get cold since I'd neglected to put on my snow boots. 

The walk was beautiful. I'm not going to kid you. I did not march with great speed up and down the hills. It is very hard work with snow shoes and deep snow. I walked, I rested, I looked around and admired the scenery.

I do love shadows on the snow from the trees. Out in the meadow there were oak leaves sticking in the snow like this. I always find it amusing as to how they ended up that way.

I have to give a nod to Aurora  at equine expressions and her beautiful winter photos that are always inspiring! Where there are oaks and snow, there will be those oak leaves doing their cool winter things!

The sunshine is so welcome to see after what feels like months of dreary skies.

Even the mules enjoyed it.

The photos are soft because I took this shot through the window and screen.

Today's menu includes chicken veggie soup with rice. I have to go tomorrow to town and get some groceries as the cupboards are getting a bit thinned out.

Charlie and I finally got a nice long walk in this morning. I walked along our plowed road and out to the ridge and back. I figured Charlie would get cold feet, but he didn't. He trucked right along and chased as many smells as he could.

We noticed that the deer had been out in the soybean field digging up snow like crazy. I imagine the food is harder for them to get now that they have to contend with deep snow.

Stay warm and enjoy the sunlight if you have it!

Snow Shoe..in'

The proper thing would have been to take skis right? It is so much easier to glide across the snow.

Well.

Not exactly.
Not when you are crossing creeks and jumping rocks or going over downed trees.

Then my backcountry snow shoes are much better. Though after crossing water, you have to get the ice/snow out of the cleats or they clog up. I carry a stick for that. I have my Kenosha pal to thank for that nice heavy walking stick he made for me.
I abuse it a lot.

Once out of the wind, it wasn't too bad. There were no tracks on the ridge or in the wide open pasture areas, but as I got closer to the creek I saw more trails.
The deer, coyote, raccoon, and all other animals were sharing the trails along the creek.

Hmmm, snow day! Schools were closed. The desk is frozen in place so I don't think I will be moving it any time soon.

I kept getting surprised at the reflections in the creek. The snow had covered all the rocks and gave the bottom a soft look.

This photo above is my favorite place of all the creek.

I walked to the snow mobile crossing and then turned around and headed home.

I think I could have spent hours walking about and just enjoying the beauty...

But we eventually have to return home and the duties that await us there....

Another Round of Weather

I've gotten tired of trying to figure out what exactly the different weather people are doing here.  One weather service names the snowstorms, NOAA doesn't.

That doesn't change the fact that our winter this January has been fairly unusual even for Wisconsin.

We've had sleet/ice/rain/snow storms, bitter 'Artic Vortexes' [I keep waiting to get swept away in one of these Vortex's], snow, cold, bitter cold, and then nice winter days such as yesterday.

It isn't easy on our stock or on anyone else who has livestock.  While at the grocery store a friend told me that a friend of hers lost her elderly mare in this last cold spell.

So far all of our animals seem to be doing just fine.

Our Dexter Cattle seem very unperturbed at all by the weather.  They eat.  They lay down together out of the wind and chew their cud as if they have no worries in the world.

Fred, Dinah, and Siera, run and play or stand in the sun.  They are experts at getting shelter from the winds.

Although this last Sunday night the winds howled so hard that it blew whatever snow was left loose into a frenzy.
I couldn't see out my south window.  When I did I could see the snow moving across the ground in waves.

Yesterday I took a walk.  Well, a hike with my snow shoes on.  In places the snow is over knee deep.  I can vouch for snow shoes.  They really do help although you must learn to walk a bit differently in them.
At least I wasn't hip deep in some of the drifts.

I found animal trails in the woods.  Coyote, Deer, and all sorts of other animals are using the same trail to get around.

 

 Of course I had to break my own trail.  After that is done with a pair of snow shoes it gets easier as long as you follow the same path.

I guess I have a lot of walking to do then!