Grey Days

We are entering that monochromatic time of year.
The landscape is softly painted in shades of grey and browns.
It takes a bit of searching to find a patch of green.
And the reds, pinks, yellows, and purples of summer and autumn are gone.


I've come to love the austere beauty of winter...
if for no reason other than its contrast to the colors of the other seasons.
Realizing the brevity of the seasons helps us to hold them dear
while they are with us.


Dressed warmly, I try to spend a bit of time outdoors each day...
observing the subtle canvas that is winter...
all the while remembering that the brilliant colors lay sleeping
just beneath the surface.


It's been a good winter for grazing.
Our pastures continued to grow well into autumn this year
with the summer's abundant rainfall.


And although the barn is full of hay,
we've been able to avoid using that hay too quickly.


All of that is soon to change, I hear.
Weather forecasters have predicted a split in the polar vortex,
which may cause our area to experience a long period of extreme cold...
beginning, perhaps, as early as the coming weekend - 
and possibly extending through March.


With that cold will come quite a bit of snow, they are saying.


If that happens, we will likely use much of the hay that we have stowed.


Work on our solar panels continues, slowly.
The weather forecast has dashed my hopes of reaping the benefits of solar power,
at least in the coming days.
At some point, though, the sun will shine again and we will 
grab every ray of it that we can!

Yesterday, I made some modifications to the woven wrap that I showed you.
I folded it in half, partially sewed up one side, added more fringe,
and added the remaining original knitted piece as a collar.
The final result is this poncho...


I believe I will get a lot of wear out of this.

Comments

You amaze me, truly. Knowing what farm keeping takes, what you also manage to create is .. well.. amazing!

Oh, how I hoped we would not get arctic temps this winter - but as you say - it's probably on the way.

Anonymous said…
We have entered the mud season! Not my favorite with 3 dogs!!
This N That said…
Lovely post. Gray or not. Love your poncho. I would still like to have it over my legs.. even as a poncho! So many uses... I'm afraid there may be snow on your roof for quite some time.
diane in northern wis said…
That's a really cute poncho Bev. I can't wait to see you wearing it.
Hope your weather doesn't get too cold...although for us it looks like pretty cold and below zero temps thru the end of January. Come on Spring! Hey it's light until 5 pm now...that's an improvement around here!