Snow Gift

 

This is what we woke up to this morning.

I'm feeling a little festive.

 



the laundry line times ten

Across the yard, cloaked in magic

the winter garden

looking out across the hayfield 

the Japanese Maple heavily draped

 

like she's dancing

 

Wally frees her from her bondage

The ash tree in splendour

 

looking out on the drama last night

the stage is set

Christmas in January

 

as a friend of mine would say, "some of us" love this!

 

with love

Sheep May Gently Gaze

 

A dreary day today with a welcome thaw, but still cold because of the Nova Scotia damp in the air.

 

I'm delighted to share these photos I promised you yesterday of "the sweetest creatures" on our trip to the Farm Market on Sunday. 

These two dear sheep kept each other company under a tree still strung with Christmas lights.

 

This girl stood alone as if she was on her way to greet the others.

 

She kept a steady gaze.

 

It's always easy to love a friendly animal

 

and this sweet girl was very forthcoming

 

 

 This pair were more shy but willing to follow the leader into the shelter

 

This pleasant girl fairly glowed in pink from the reflection off the painted siding.

 

 

chewing her cud

 

As I peered around the edge of the shelter where the path stopped, I could barely see with the sun so low and bright.  There I caught sight of the donkey who was shy and peered back at me around this post before heading to the furthest corner, out of sight.

 

The scene was idyllic.

 

The chickens so comfortable around the sheep

 

cud chewing

 

cud chewing with a rooster

 

each of these girls is pregnant with spring lambs

 

They seem content

 

an early baby, already quite large

 

As the rest of the girls moved in I noticed the ewe on the right

 

Yes, a ewe (not "an ewe") with lovely curling horns. I could tell because she, too, was very pregnant.

She appears to be bleating, but for all I know she was simply smelling the air. I was too absorbed to remember hearing "the song of her people".

She was one of the friendly girls who came up to me before moving on into the shelter.

 

Inside the shop there were 2 windows through which to view the creatures in the barn.

This chicken knows a good thing when she sees it and hopped on board.

 

This vision of gentleness couldn't take her eyes off me.

 

Now I could see Maisy's name tag (most of the others are only numbered) and learned that she was born in 2013. Probably a spring lamb herself, she'll be almost 3 years old soon. She was tolerant of her hitchhiker but didn't like it when the brown hen on the lower right started pecking at her.

 

Brown hens are notoriously friendly though. No harm meant.

 

Here a curious sheep inspects the eggs.

 

It was cold enough to justify going home though I am always somewhat reluctant to leave this place.

With the sun behind us, we head back into Gaspereau

passing houses and barns close by the road as is so common out here.

Heading out of town again

the setting sun making a tangled lacework of the trees.

 

Thank you for coming along with me.

 

peace  

 

 

afternoon drive

Wrapping up this final week of January, the cabin fever has set in and I yearn to get out and away.
The few sunny days have been a relief.

we headed out late Sunday afternoon and returned

to this

a perfect ending to a lovely drive out

 

Wally wanted free run eggs from the pretty little  farm we love in the Gaspereau Valley.

We saw so many sweet homes along the way that this will have to be a two part post.

 

We started by going through farmland to get to the Gaspereau Valley by way of Belcher Street.

  This home on Belcher, for all its charm, looks abandoned.

Here's a shy girl, hiding behind her shrubbery and spruce on the main road in Greenwich, also looking vacated because of its unshovelled walkways, though the driveway is ploughed.

 

This gorgeous home in Greenwich almost qualifies as Federalist Colonial because of its symmetry and gorgeous front portico. Check out that magnificent chimney! The large addition at the back makes this a grand living space.

loving this sweetheart of a gazebo style corner porch of this Dutch Colonial

Here's a coming and going set of shots of a gorgeous Colonial Revival house

in Wolfville that I long to call Saltbox except that I now know that it cannot be called that without the back of the house tapering to one floor.  It could easily called Georgian Colonial because of its symmetry, especially indicated by those 2 grand chimneys and centred main entrance.

This beauty in Wolfville is for sale and seems to be a Four Square if bay windows and the expansion near the back are allowed in the definition, so I'll call it Four Square Revival.

The large dormer with its Mission style cap and the amazing colonnade that creates its portico with widow's walk above are creative embellishments that add to the grandeur of this wonderful building. 

Here's a  Sweetheart of a house with a fabulous side extension- or was that always meant to be? 

It adds just the right balance to make the entrance centred.

 

Now we have turned up Gaspereau Valley Road and are travelling south with those long shadows indicating just how late in the day it is.

 

It's a little hard to capture the magic of the Gaspereau Valley from a moving vehicle. Please forgive my blurry shots.  Here we pass some vineyards.

 

More vineyards on the other side of the road as we approach town

We turn west into the sun towards our destination

 

The barn/cabin that serves the "Farm Market"

 

"Please Serve Yourself"- an charming shop magnified tenfold because it is based on the honour system for payment with a tin can by the door. Doesn't that warm your heart?

 

A couple of windows to the left (not shown) lend a view into the barn where the animals rest.

 I have so many more pictures to share tomorrow of the sweetest creatures.

 

til then...

 

presence