Winter's Coming

Like any "old farm woman" I have certain patterns or routines I follow and notice in taking care of the place.  The reason for patterns and routines are simple, it's so I don't forget to tend to something, but I also take note of changes.  Although I'm still enjoying the windows open, the other morning was down right chilly.  As the seasons change, so does the way I take care of the place, and so does the way I dress to take care of the place.

When the trees are leafed out, the place is pretty much isolated.  Only one neighbor's house is even visible from this place at all, and not when the trees are leafed out.  The Land of Goshen is pretty secluded.  I admit, in the summertime, I enjoy morning chores in my nightie with an apron over it.  It's just a sweet reminder of the freedom I am enjoying, as our rights continue to be diminished and our national freedoms, discarded.

I've said all this for really no apparent reason, but I do have a point to this article.  In my routine of season changes, I also have three different jackets.  One is really more or less a heavy flannel shirt, which I wear when the morning air is a bit crisp, usually in mid October.  The next jacket is a very heavy flannel, still unlined, but it's twice the weight and weave of the first jacket.  The third, is a flannel jacket with a filled lining.  That usually gets me through the ice chopping months.  There have been a couple of days that layering has been required, but those are rare.  I'm expecting more of them this winter than I have experienced so far in my years of homesteading..

Although it was only once, I've already worn the middle weight jacket this year, for morning chores!
All indications seem to be warning of a rather harsh winter.  The Farmer's Almanac, the meteorologists, the animals putting on a winter coat, and the persimmon seeds, all seem to forecast extra snow.  To add to that, I had a dream in which I saw the lane and the lower road impassable due to snow.  The dream continued in which I saw myself actually moving my banking online, because I couldn't even get the 1/2 mile to the mailbox.  When I saw this clearly distinct spoon in the persimmon seed, I knew heavy snow was in the forecast.  I haven't yet seen a wooly worm, so I'll be sure to let you know when one weighs in, on the forecast.