Texture

Winter is here.  

The colors that changed over the past three seasons are all but gone now.  

Just a few shriveling, fading remnants remain... soon to be but a memory.

Some may look at this time of year as one of desolation... a drab, dreary, colorless world - best to be ignored with sights set on what comes after. 

The thing is - if you look beyond what first meets your eye and focus on the obscure, you will see that this is also a time of beauty. 

 Winter's beauty lies not so much in its color or lack there-of, but in its textures... textures as rich as the hues of summer's palette.

And though Summer's colors deliver that "wow" factor, Winter's textures are much more subtle and must be intentionally discovered.

Amazingly, mushrooms continue to poke their heads out of the ground!

After several weeks of fewer birds at our feeders, there are finally a good amount of daily visitors once again.  This hairy woodpecker and his friends, the red-bellied, and downy woodpeckers, take their turns at the suet feeders.

The green is quickly fading from the grass and there is less and less in the front pasture to be grazed.  The pigs and sheep opt to stay within their yard now during the days... the sheep, snacking on hay and chewing their cud to pass the hours.  

Between naps, the pigs remain ever vigilant to the sound of passersby - knowing that their presence near the mailbox that holds the snacks is the best insurance for getting said snacks.

And who could resist these adorable faces?

When I arrived at the barn in the afternoon, I found Moonie had shed his Foster Grants and left them lying in the dust.  I had a discussion with him about the need for eye protection no matter the weather.  He listened and promised to follow the rules.  

As I worked to clean up manure near the horses, Pete was hanging around my feet.  I scooped him up and placed him on his pony, Donnie, 

where he sat for quite a while... in no hurry to leave.

After afternoon chores were complete, I walked back home from the barn through the woods with the dogs.  I love this time of year, when leaves no longer block ones view deep into the forest.  I imagined a hundred eyes watching me, as I walk crunching dried leaves and fallen sticks beneath my feet.... all of the forest creatures still and silent to prevent detection.

The lion's share of yesterday was spent with knitting needles in hand and dogs at my feet.  And, by the way, that look on their face is "Come on, Mum, puhhhhleeeese can we go outside and have some fun?"

I'm trying my best to get this darned cable knit sweater finished.  It seems to be a never-ending project, doesn't it?  Soon... very soon... I hope!  When it is finally complete, I will show it to you... maybe even have the recipient model it!  Don't think that I haven't on occasion had a twinge of anxiety that after all this work, it might not fit!  Perish the thought!  I am knitting as much positive energy into this project as I can...so it HAS to fit!