Snow storm!

We bring you this update from the National Weather Service. It is snowing and very cold. Please do not travel or go outside, unless your ducklings are hungry. Carry lots of corn in case of emergency. Thank you.

We are in the midst of our first big snow storm of the winter. We already had snow on the ground, and have had no temps above freezing (during the day) for about a week. Winter has really set in, and all the rivers are freezing up earlier than normal. That can change, as there is often mid-winter thaws here and there. But just to be on the safe side, we are shoveling a littler further off the driveway to make room for more snow.


Susanna battles the drudgery and makes the best of a chilling situation.

Check out that layer of snow on the duck house roof!


Not unlike the Kleins, the parent-ducks hang out in their cozy house...


...while the offspring go and frolic in the flakes!

The ducks are doing fine. The cold doesn't seem to ruffle any feathers. Ha ha.



The big kids report that they are shoveling this homogenized mixture of snow, sand, salt, and ice to form a replica of the real Mount Sinai!


Behind every good bus, there's a young lady who clears the snow so you can load through the back door. Here's Sarah!


Sammy is enjoying his new hat, 98c at the thrift store, ear flaps, fuzzy interior, sturdy snap.


Hannah, Solomon, Zak and Ben. Ben has finished shoveling off the perimeter of the roof (for now) and is joining the driveway clearing team.


Bekah is a hard working girl! We had to pry the shovel out of her hands and persuade her to come inside for eggs and pumpkin bread and cocoa!


Giddy happily moves a lot of snow, but he is not very strategic about it.


The Amish still hang their clothes on the line in the freezing temperatures. It freezes on the line and then they bring it in and dry it the rest of the way inside. Really would cut our electric bill, but I don't know if we'll do that. But we did get these wonderful clothes driers at the Amish store; they are our chandeliers this time of year.


These re-vamped former wall shelves fill a big need in our front porch! I finally broke down and bought a boot dryer -- it seems to work great!


Ben sets up another pot of coffee for the shoveling team.


Solomon sits down for a good breakfast! Abi scrambled a few dozen eggs, and Hannah made us pumpkin bread last night.

As I type, all the work we did has been covered in a couple more inches of snow! Time to suit up again!!