It's beginning to look a lot like winter

Now that we can officially claim our first snowfall…

…we’ve been busily battening down hatches for the winter. This is something of an ongoing process all through the fall, but snow makes it seem more pressing.

The snow didn’t last long, but it did serve to illustrate some interesting contrasts in the garden:

Snow on the “amazing” peas:

Snow on strawberries:

Snow on wildflowers:

Yesterday Don cut and split some firewood. Today is cold (35F) and miserably rainy, but we got the wood stacked on the porch.

Since we heat the house exclusively with wood, having a nice supply is essential.

We’re also at an age where a log splitter is a godsend.

We already had a moderate supply on hand…

…so Don loaded the wheelbarrow with what he split yesterday and trundled it to the porch, where I stacked.

This should last us three weeks or more.

Last month, while renovating the little greenhouse into a part of the chicken coop, we salvaged a wooden crate that had been tucked inside. It turned out to be the perfect size and shape to stack kindling. Before this, we just jumbled the kindling on the porch in an annoying pile.

We keep the hatchet on the porch as well, for times we need to split the kindling into thinner pieces.

Yep, it’s beginning to look a lot like winter around here.