Ice Capades 2009

Before a person can adequately skate, frozen frog bodies must be removed from the ice. If only I had a recording of Bet telling about finding the frozen frog on her first skate, then thinking she would go back and get him out and bring him to show me, only to go back to where he was and find she had skated his head off. Ooops.

The aunties love it when their boys come out to the farm but they especially enjoy it when they come out to skate or be pulled on the sled as the case may be with Aksel Darling.

Rose loves it when the boys come out to play too. A big dog needs some little boys to play with every once in a while you know.

Not sure why I threw this picture in here, maybe it is just the clear blue of the sky and the naked trees, nothing says winter and cold like a sky line like that eh? And cold it has been. I'm taking this relaxing and getting rest thing really well I think, because ususally I would be out panicking and covering everything in site to save it from the icy killing fingers of Jack Frost. But hey, what lives lives and is stronger for it and what dies dies and I get to plant something new.

So freeze on I say, freeze on. My babies, big and little, are enjoying this cold weather and I am enjoying the tales that they bring back to me in my bedroom. I'm determined to have clear lungs at my appointment on Tuesday, that may be a feet to complete as I still sound rather gurgly like the fish girgle pot. But it won't be because I disobeyed the doc and didn't take bedrest seriously! Next spring will take care of itself and I will have a beautiful garden no matter what, no need to loose a lung over it all.

The girls spent the first part of the week skating on the front pasture ponds, they freeze up quicker and more solid than the big ponds out in the back yard. The pasture ponds are the only ones that my two youngest have ever skated on, or remember skating on.

The oldest two remember many skatings on the big ponds in the back yard when they were growing up. But then the cold winters seemed to end and it was a while before the little girls even got to skate on anything but a mud puddle in the pasture. At times it seemed like pure foolisheness that we had a trunk full of skates. There were even a few years that the trunk never made it to the front porch even in anticipation of freezing weather.

But now it seems as if we are back on track with cold weather if not snow at least cold. And the girls are delighted. There is just something magical about skating on your own ice.

And the boys have enjoyed coming out the last two years to join the Aunties on the ice.

What a better way to spend the day than ice dancing with your wonderful Aunties out at the farm!

Everyone gets a twirl or two!

Isn't that just the epitome of a cold day?! I'm glad that the air has not gotten to stagnant, not that that would keep us from having a fire as the woodstove is our main source of heat in the house but it is nice to not have the smoke billowing in the front door like it sometimes does when we get this cold air hanging around for a while.

Anna was excited the other day that the deer were up by the pond in the back yard. Funny how we have lived here among the wild life for twenty-five years and we still get all excited about deer in the back yard.

Gotta say what a blessing it has been to bring up the four girls here, farming and planting and spying on nature. They aren't a very sophisticated lot of girls, but they have seen and done quite a bit and things that will serve them better than being able to text friends at break neck speeds or hang out and be cool.

Well off our afternoon company goes, until the next time then.

Saturday found the back yard pond definitely ready for skaters. Back to the old ways. Dad Dirt sitting in a chair with a beer and his dogs all around, watching his "girls" skate and giggle the afternoon away.
But wait, it looks like there is more than just girls out on the ice!

Hi there Justin, nice of you to drop on by and see what is going on at the farm! Stay warm and don't fall.

It takes a while to get your ice legs back, but once you do it is so much fun!

Hurry Anne, hurry!

"If anyone falls I'll get them back up!" The dogs seem to enjoy the silliness on the ice as much as the "kids" do.

You know, I'm just not sure who enjoys all this more. I know that Dirt absolutely loves spending the afternoon sitting and watching his family thoroughly enjoy themselves. I think that even though this wasn't a movie moment by any stretch of the imagination, that Dirt wouldn't trade it for anything and is glad that this is pretty much what his life is, watching his family grow.

Hope you enjoyed our little ice capades Christmas card of sorts. If it keeps on freezing, grab a pair of skates off of the front porch and come on down to the pond and join them. See you soon.