DR. ZHIVAGO, ELVIS PRESLEY AND FREYA

          So far, it's the winter of the silent snow; New Brunswick farmers' lament.  Like many places the world over, which depend on winter's moisture, without snow and ice, the land tends to blow away with the howling winds and it's no different here where some of the land is totally bare; not even a hardy weed to be seen.  Snow isn't much of a concern for us at the base of Green Mountain because most of the ground is covered with grass, shrubs and trees; our garden patch still containing last summer's weeds is hardly threatened.  Although a skiff of snow is covering most everything, the ground is frozen and as solid as a rock and the weather forecast isn't predicting any warmth for our area; believe me when I say, we're not exactly having a heat wave; the average temperature is sitting around -10C.  I believe the temperature is supposed to dip down to around -23 to -27C this evening, so I expect I'll be snuggling more than usual with the wife tonight, which is great; actually most enjoyable - but enough about this freezing weather - all it does is make my joints ache all the more.
          Must be cold in my studio because I'm sitting here at the computer wearing a coat, and under that a thick wool Cowichan Indian sweater, another sweater and a thick flannel shirt.  My fingers are a touch numb but it's difficult to type while wearing gloves.  I haven't been home much today so I don't feel like starting the wood stove for just a few hours that I may or may not be here.  If the windows were caked in ice, I'd feel like Dr. Zhivago in the ice palace.  Actually, I found one of the scenes in that movie to be a touch unreal - the one where Omar Sharif (Dr. Zhivago) wipes the hoarfrost off the desk and begins writing his Lara poems with a pen and ink - haven't been able to figure out why the jar of ink wasn't frozen solid - a case of artistic license I guess.  The first time I watched Dr. Zhivago was at a movie theatre and since then, it's been one of my favourite movies, and I have no idea how many times I've watched it since then.  Winter is a good time to settle back on the couch with a hot drink and watch a movie but when you have kids and they want to watch the Lion King and the Smurfs for the 78th time, sitting here in the cool studio ranting away on my blog seems a better option.  On that note, Christmas holidays finally ended today and with the kids returning back to school, Sarah and I may be able to get a chance to snuggle up on the couch with a hot drink and watch something a touch more suitable, like an old Elvis Presley movie - just kidding - hated them when they first came out and still don't care to see one.
          Had a chance to go ice fishing for the first time in my life the other day but wouldn't you know it, I was too busy and couldn't make it - hope they come by again and ask.  I guess the ice along the edge of the lake is 8 - 9" thick and getting thicker - safe enough to get out the ice auger, drill a hole in the ice and sit in a hut with a couple of friends - nothing much better than sipping whiskey and telling lies - and believe me, I've got a lot to tell.  I've always enjoyed having fish for supper and nothing tastes much better in my opinion than a freshly caught pan-sized rainbow trout and then frying it in a bit of butter - mmm - making me salivate like a hungry old hound dog just thinking about it.
          Our free-range chickens are not so free-range at the moment - ever try to round up some white leghorns in the snow - dang hard to see.  However, that's not the reason I don't let them go outside - it's just so cold that all they tend to do is stand around huddling together for a little warmth since the ground is frozen too hard to scratch.  And, when it gets real cold, I think some of them get a natural brain freeze, because they don't always seem to find their way back into the coop before it gets dark.  Of course, when that happens, I have to go find them and put them in - not sure if they are clucking happily or not when I pick them up but like it or not, with predators prowling around in search of an easy meal, outside the coop is not a good place for a chicken to be at night.  Some of our neighbours have been asking us if we have meat-birds so I'm considering building another chicken coop with a large outdoor pen to keep them separate from the other chickens if we get some.  It actually seems like a good idea even if we don't sell too many because at least we know the chickens will be well fed on healthy and natural food - may weigh a little less than the store bought ones but better for us to eat.  I've scrapped the idea of raising rabbits for meat since an old farmer told me he used to do it but no one ate them except "foreigners"  Not sure if he was referring to people like me who recently came from the west coast of Canada or people from other countries - either way, rabbits are out - now ducks seem a good idea - have to think about that for awhile too because maybe "foreigners" are the only people that eat duck eggs.
          Freya the goat is bleating for her dinner.  Since she's round as a barrel, most definitely pregnant with a kid or two or three, I best get at it - cheers, eh!.