We enjoyed only a dusting of snow, a couple 4 degree days and then some upper 60's after Christmas. We missed the deep freeze and subsequent dumping of snow in Washington. Luckily, we have great neighbors who took care of the chickens, kittens, and the house. They had to battle frozen water when the power went out and stinky chicken coops because the hens wouldn't venture farther than the doorway. We had heating pads from the drug store under the waterers and they were working to keep water from freezing, but when the power went out and was restored hours later, the pads didn't turn back on. With the frigid weather, the pipes broke under the house, luckily our neighbors caught the leak and turned off the water supply to the house (I don't suppose it was easy finding the shutoff at the below ground meter under 2 feet of snow). So, we returned home to broken pipes but no damage to the house, the shed gutters torn off, and a soupy mess from potatoes that froze and then thawed and rotted, leaving a black gunk all over the shed floor. The second hoop house's plastic also finally caved, but the peppers were long frozen anyway.
After cleaning up around here, we could finally celebrate Christmas with Anna's family while Laura was still here from Montana. Now we settle back into a routine with school starting again and most of the snow only remaining in the piles left from plows. Seed catalogs are the exciting evening reading material and thoughts of spring dance in our heads. We leave with one last Christmas image: our live tree plucked from the ground in Anna's parent's woods. Now comes the challenge of replanting it. Maybe next year it will have a little more substance to it!
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