Thankful In Winter

Last week, it felt like winter had truly arrived.  Sure, we've had a bit of snow here and there, but nothing major.  But alas, all good things must come to an end, and with that in mind, I am thankful for the changing of seasons.  Here are some things to be thankful for, in winter:

 

1.  It's hard to get a photo radar ticket when the back of your truck looks like this...  Not that I would ever speed, OF COURSE!

 

2.  On Thursday and Friday last week, we got close to 2 ft. of snow.  It was super cold, as well, and lots of wind and blowing and general nastiness.  Art said that it was some of the worst driving conditions he's ever driven in.  Yuck!  Anyhow, I'm thankful for machinery to clear our driveway, as well as the generosity of neighbors in clearing our whole road (which is only about 2 miles, but still.  2 miles!)

 

3.  I'm thankful for a new pasture to put horses in, as I'm sure they were thankful too.  It was super chilly outside, but I opened up a gate to another pasture, and they frolicked out there like it was Christmas.  They were excited to start exploring, and finding some "fresh" grass.

 

4.  I'm just plain thankful for these silly horses, truth be told.  They are fun, and beautiful, and a pain in the butt.  But awfully pretty in the snow, dontcha think?

 

 

5.  When I got into the kitchen on Saturday morning, it was -37C.  And that was without windchill, at about 8:30 am.  So you know it was colder than that.  Weather reports were saying it was close to -45C with the windchill.  Brrr!  I'm thankful that our animals are still alive (truly!).  I'm thankful for my handy dandy thermometer, which is also a rain gauge (which I may or may not be obsessed with). 

 

6.  When it is so frigidly cold outside, I was especially thankful that we (finally) got our woodstove in the basement installed and inspected.  It's only been 3 months of waiting... But alas, it's done.  On the coldest day of the year, none the less.  Let me tell you, we loaded that sucker up Saturday afternoon, and it kept us toasty warm downstairs.  The other reason that having our woodstove installed is that it is the final thing on our "To Do" list on our house.  And now, it can be checked off.  Don't get me wrong, we still have many details to finish up, but that was the last (semi) major thing that we wanted to get done this winter.  So hoorah! 

 

7.  The last thing I'm thankful for about winter is that I don't have to think about outside work, or yard work, for a good while.  We had such a long fall this year, which was wonderful,  but kept us trying to get "just one more thing" done outside.  With 2 ft. of white stuff on the ground, we don't have to be concerned about doing any such things for a good 4 months.  Yippee!