Valentine's

Happy Valentine's day.... and with February being the "short" month, this means that we are half way threw. Suddenly the winter is seeming very long.. though we really only started getting it around New Years. But with storms still coming in every four to five days... it's getting "long"....

I thought it would be fun to have a special day.. so I called the "grands" and decided that we should go out to breakfast together... and then go on and visit with my Mom and Dad.  Dad is doing dialysis three times a week now, and though it does take a huge part of out his time... he is improving week to week and is really feeling so much better. With all these improvements, I know by spring, he will nearly be back to his old self...

Ever since she was very little, whenever we go out to eat..Abi has made it her job to put the cream in "baby's coffee".. she knows I like three creams and takes it all very seriously......

Reagan picked out a chocolate rose for my Valentine's gift... Kassy said he was so funny and very certain what each Grandmother would receive....

Course I had gifts for them as well... 

Abi was pleased with her card......

and I had made good choices... could of new "trucks" for Reagan ( I don't know exactly what type of equipment they are... but he did...)

and  a little jewelry box for Abi. She's getting old enough where she has small treasures that need places to go....

Now that's a Valentine breakfast... pancakes in the shape of hearts.. with cream and strawberries!!!!

This is the view from Mom's and Dad's sun porch... between the drifts coming up and the drifts from the roof... there is just about two feet to peak threw....

Mom says it's getting a bit bigger each day.. the sun is stronger in the sky.. though on some cold days that is hard to believe....

Her glass pieces make a pretty sight.....

Reagan and Abi had a grand time playing together at Meme's house....

But one little boy fades fast, and so we visited until nap time..... 

My Ed brought me home a beautiful bunch of flowers... so bright and happy during this time of year....

and then he went onto plowing with the tractor... pushing the snow back to make room for the storms ahead....

and even plowing a pathway that hopefully, I'll be able to get the sleigh out and have some fun with that. Because honestly, the snow has been too deep to even try the sleigh....... 

winter farm days...

I think we're all starting to believe this is a very mean joke.. though it's hardly April Fool's day... as of this morning, this is the local weather forecast for the up coming weekend. Oh my!!!!! I guess time will tell, but I'm thinking all the photos I take for my little blog are just looking the same!!!!

And if there is any question.. do we need more snow. Take a look at this... little Reagan playing in the path that his Daddy snowblowed for him.. just so he can walk around his yard. With this snow coming... we won't be able to see him in the paths any more.!!! What a winter... I guess the birds, squirrels and bees knew what was happening last fall when I saw their nests being built high in the trees!!!!

snow, snow snow.....

They're telling us now, that we are in "an active winter pattern"... and it continues that about every three to four days... we get snow. Real snow.. not just a few inches, but anywhere from a half foot to a couple of feet. Life around the farm seems to be... keeping warm (it's also been extremely cold).. and digging out.... good thing we have lots of room around here, because the bankings are getting impressive....

The one good thing about high bankings is when the winds races down the field, it always fills the driveway right back in. At least now they are kind of acting as a block...

Not likely we'll see the little stone horse for quite sometime...

The doggies don't seem to mind it too much. Danny has a good time digging about the snow...

He makes good paths that the cockers can follow in..... 

yup.... it's winter.....

The drift by the cellar door is so high that the doggies have to climb up to go out. And now they can just sit on the top of the drift and peek in the window.... 

When Ed gets a minute .... (which are few and far between with work and snow).. we're going to have to get the tractor into the dog yard and blow some of this out of the way.....

I try to keep the door as clear as I can... now just for the doggies, but they bring some much inside when they "slide" in...... nice that we have heated floors in the cellar, at least they do dry quickly....

Even with all this winter going on outside... I'm thinking spring... actually... spring dog shows. Kathleen with Brutus and me with Livy are taking an obedience class with Diane.. getting ready to show in the rally obedience class. It's a nice class and gives us (and the dogs) something to think about... Livy and Brutus are becoming good friends...

Here's today's rally course... Livy is really picking up on the training here, and its such fun to be a student (and not always the teacher) to have sometime with my little dog, and think of getting back into the show rings in the spring...

Livy says she's up for any adventure....

And it seems that Danny boy isn't going to be with us much longer. Dave at neads is working on finding a spot for him and getting him back to move on to the advance training.... another year of service dog raising has gone flying by.....

It is as cold as this picture looks...



I can only say..... YES!!!!

ground hog day!!!!

So, if there was any doubt in my mind that we would have snow this winter... I think that thought has long passed. Oh my, it seems we are getting storms every few days.. big storms too... record breaking. At least it seems that we have a day or two in between to dig out and get ready for the next. Poor guys who plow.. they are constantly seeing roads that look like this... pretty... but wow...

I thought the falls at the end of the road looked kind of neat with all the snow and ice.....

However, there are some who think all this snow is just fine. Especially when Papa comes with his plow and makes snow bankings like this one..... Abi finds tree climbing very easy to do these days.....

She couldn't wait for me to see how high she can climb now.. and kept saying "Baby, watch this"...... I remember how fun snow bankings were when I was little.....

Course what's nice, is... if you fall out of the tree, not likely you'll break anything... though you might be stuck in the snow for a bit....

One thing for certain, there have been a lot of snow days, and the kiddos will have some making up to do. The schools are thinking of all sorts of different idea to do make ups... especially if we keep getting storms like this....

The snow isn't "sticky".. so it's not very good for snow men... but then again, making angels can be kind of fun....

Sadie's little house... her front yard is getting kind of full..... there might come a time where we "wont' know where to put it"....

But this past weekend was bright and sunny-- cold -- but pretty. The kids all came up to have some lunch and just play on the farm. Papa plowed a bit of a path by the swing set, so it was able to be played on....

Anytime is a good time to swing.....

Hiking up to the barn... I love that the "grands" always feel the need to check out the barn and the horses..... those bankings get much higher and we might "lose kids"....

My sweeties!!!!!!!

And course, for Reagan, if there is a tractor , it must be sat upon....

So, today is officially ground hog day. And someone special has his first birthday... Danny Boy. I thought for sure that ol ground hog would not see his shadow and winter would be over... Danny couldn't see his. But I guess officially he did see it (must be sunny in Penn) and he went back in his hole for another six weeks of winter.....

And since I look outside and see the first few snow flakes of this storm making it's way in.....

And the footprints I made going out to the barn are covered almost before I can head back to the house....

And in a matter of a few hours, our weather looks like this......















Another night of dog classes are cancelled... and winter isn't done by a long shot....