Still Winter

You've likely seen some of these fantastic images of snowflakes.
They've made the rounds of the interweb, and for good reason.
They are breathtaking.
Alexey Kljatov is the photographer and he freely shares his process.
http://chaoticmind75.blogspot.ca/
Beautiful work!

Less well known is the pioneer of snowflake photography Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer; the first to successfully photograph a snowflake. His methods later became known as photomicography. Bentley, aka the Snowflake Man, became famous for photographing more than 5,000 jewel-like snowflakes on his Vermont farm in the late 1800's. http://goo.gl/25UFSI


And so here I am on the 5th of February pondering the beauty of snowflakes, while our neighbours to the south are entertaining daffodils. It's still very much winter here on our 48 Acres. And when the sun comes out ... it's a sparkling white wonderland. Join me on a little walkabout if it's not too chilly for you and lets ponder the piles of snow. Made up of zillions of these.

Mid January on Finch Meadow.

I want to share a few of David's photos from the last few days.  Even though I'm looking at the same scene, David seems to capture light and colour in his photographs in a way that takes my breath away!  If you have a moment to spare, it is well worth clicking on these photos for a full size view.

 

 

 

 

 

 It's been a busy few weeks this first half of January.  Year end for us, and the mountains of paperwork that accompany that task.  Glad to have that underway now and more time to attend to my inbox and the out of doors ~ which always beckons.

 

And Oh my goodness ~ it is such a beautiful time of year.  Every fresh snow fall sparkles on the landscape and promises a brighter spring and a more nourished summer meadow. 

A brand new year!

For me, it's like back to school for grown ups.

Who doesn't love a fresh start. 
New wall calendars. I Love them. 
A new book, a new author.

Something new to wear ~ Christmas socks perhaps, a  sweater, a scarf. 
Starting a new journal. . .  

We had a quiet time over the holidays, just David and I here on the meadow ~ but with this amazing technology at our fingertips it’s so easy to be in touch with family and friends.

During December we enjoyed visits from our regular winter wildlife. Solstice saw the appearance of two moose, Christmas Eve our saw-whet owl perched on the tree David planted outside our front door, New Years Eve a couple of coyotes came by and on my early January birthday three moose wandered through to say hello.

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful birthday morning!  We'd had days of snow and freezing rain and while the accumulation of snow is really pretty, it had been kind of dark and dreary there for a stretch. The morning of my 57th, much to our delight ~ dawned bright and sunny!  

Our visiting moose were a bonus!  They seem pretty comfortable around us.  Munching on willows, bedding down here and there...just delightful!!  So long of leg and they are the masters of energy conservation.  

 
David spent a few days moving mountains of snow so that we can get around our place, and so that we can come and go from our remote property … We have 7km of road we maintain ourselves as well as our own 48 acre property.  It’s a good life :) if a tad labour intensive at times.  

And of course, we've been taking pictures!

David got this great shot of one of our coyotes hunting for voles on the meadow.

One of our long time Touch Wood friends (Adam, from Scotland) captioned it "Who Stole my Piano?!"

Here's a video I put together on the weekend from some of the 250+ pics we've taken of our moose visitors over the last week or so ... posted here especially for Sabrina :)  These pics were taken in the very early morning.

 

Accompanied by 

Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters singing Don't Fence Me In

  We spotted a pretty red fox going over the fence ...

and a few random pics from around the place of late.

Here's hoping you have a truly wonderful 2015 with lots of good books, good friends, good crops (even if it's only counter-top sprouts) and a whole lot of joy in your days.  With much love, as ever ~ Nicola and David.

Early December on the meadow

 Our wintery world 

where white and bright is the order of the day.

 

 

Colour comes and goes, sometimes very quickly 
when it washes over us at dusk and at dawn

This is the season of regeneration and renewal.

 

The month of short days and clear cold nights ...

Spectacularly clear  - intensely moon lit.  

 

Moments of magic that fill us with Gratitude

 

 

We'll be tucking in on the meadow this year for the holidays.

 

Enjoying our off grid bliss.

Cornbread and Rosehips

The wheel has turned.  Nighttime temps are dipping pretty low.

 Days are short and bright.  Mornings sparkle!! 

 

 The rose hips and the willows are the brightest colours in the landscape.

 

 

The creek is almost frozen over.  

 

 

   We keep the kitchen wood stove stoked pretty steady now ~ a cozy and comforting necessity!  This means that the oven is almost always at the ready. Which means, among other things, cornbread. 

Our favourite cornbread recipe uses yogurt and no flour. 

I like to replace the egg with ground flax seed.

 So easy, so quick and so good.  It goes like this.

Use a shallow 1 quart casserole for this cornbread.  Put a tablespoon of butter in the pan  and place it in or on the stove for a few minutes  to melt the butter and warm the dish.   In a bowl, mix the following ingredients together  and then pour into the hot baking dish. 

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 egg (slightly beaten)   or omit the egg and use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed instead.
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups yogurt (real yogurt, not a low fat variety)
1 tablespoon honey

Return to a hot oven (425) for about 30 minutes until firmed up  and just browned at the edges.  And that's it. The recipe doubles nicely too.   I discovered this recipe in a cookbook I bought in the early 80's 'Nikki and David Goldbeck's Wholefoods Cuisine' I still have the big paperback minus it's cover and I still use it.   Groundbreaking at the time, it's become a good vegetarian basic.  

See you again when the snow flies.

Any day now.