This winter is starting to look like good "worst case scenario" practice. We were excited to get the full experience of winter in the Shanty, and we certainly picked the winteriest winter in decades to experience. For over three weeks, there has been snow on the ground and daytime highs haven't topped the freezing mark in at least a week. The cold has definitely changed our daily habits, although it's amazing how quick you can slip into a pattern. Keeping warm hasn't been tough, but the complete lack of liquid water has required some adjustments. At first our rain barrels would freeze at night, but in the daytime the ice would thaw enough to be easily broken through to water beneath. A week's worth of single digit nights and 20-degree days have turned our rain barrels into 50-gallon blocks of ice, however, so our water system currently consists of a hatchet and numerous buckets. The spring, our source of delicious drinking water, is still running strong and free of ice, so we are chopping out ice chunks and thawing water mostly for dishes, animals, etc. We tried doing a two-bucket system with the goats, bringing in the frozen bucket and taking out a thawed bucket each morning, only topping off the buckets as needed. Because the goats are more inclined to poop in their water than drink it, we found we were thawing out chunks of goat poop studded ice that was too nasty for even the goats to drink and a lot of hard won water was going to waste. Now the goats, and the chickens, are on a "use it or lose it" schedule - small amounts of water are taken out twice a day and you better be paying attention or else you'll soon have only a block of ice in your bowl.

We had thought winter would be a time to catch up on some outdoor projects that got pushed aside during the frenzy of growing season, but the snow cover and frigid temperatures have limited our activities primarily within our four walls. In an effort to feel productive, we go on cleaning sprees every few days, but with two people, two dogs and a cat in a tiny space, the satisfaction of a clean house is short lived. Winter means firewood, which means a trail of never ending dirt and debris from the front door to the woodstove. It also means piles of coats, hats and gloves. On the bright side, winter has reintroduced the wonder of refrigeration into our lives. Now our porch refrigerator serves as an insulated, yet cool, area to keep food from freezing (some of the time). If we want it frozen, we just set it on top of the fridge. The irony is that now that we have plenty of time to cook, we don't need to because we can cook in bulk and have leftovers for days. Oh well, more time to spend looking through all those colorful seed catalogs that appear in the mailbox everyday. :)