This lovely herd of deer marched single file just outside our fence this weekend. They were having a rather slow go through the crusty snow. ‘Enough snow,’ they seemed to say. ‘We can’t find anything to eat in this frozen wasteland!’ The flick of their white tails were the only signs that they could hold up.

But it seems to have worked! We had some good thawing happening over the weekend. A little bit or rain helped with the melting process. And sun! And temperatures in the high 30’s! Woohoo!

Aren’t they lovely? We counted 18 deer in all. I’ve never seen such a big herd here before.

Actually we would not have seen them at all if it weren’t for Bella. She was on the deck and started barking. I always take note when she barks just in case it’s something interesting. Sometimes it’s only Finn (the dog across the street) out in his front yard that she carries on a long-distance conversation with quite frequently, but other times it could be deer ... or a bear.

The snow since our ice storm has been unbearable. With a hard crust on the top of about an inch, you either slid along the surface or broke through. Not knowing if the snow was going to hold your weight or not, it was next to impossible to walk anywhere in the yard. When I went out on the deck to fill the bird feeders I had to hold onto something so I wouldn’t slip and fall. It was more like skating than walking! Here are a few photos of its glistening iciness.

I think we have finally broken free of that stormy weather pattern we were stuck in. Thank you, deer.

I saw robins today! a whole bunch (10 or so)
and of course i thought of you
early spring?

Luke, really? Robins? wow. Well, the groundhog has spoken you know ... spring might just be around the corner. Underneath all that snow that still covers my yard! Send the robins up the street toward me!

Lynne-
I don’t exactly remember the year, but I think it was 95 when there was a comparable winter to this. From the killer icicles to the snow/ice/snow/ice this year is really reminding me of what it was like then.  I spent a lot of time at my neighbors house cause they had wood burning stoves and my house only had kerosene heaters cause of course there was no electric due to the ice/snow.
Good times!!

Jess, I wasn’t here in 95 but I can tell you that we spend alot of our time around our wood burning stove in the sun room! We are lucky in that we haven’t lost power except for a few brief times since 2006. Looking forward to spring!

Deer are always a sight to behold - I still feel excited when I spot them in the forest next to our house tho I have never seen a gathering quite like yours.

Joyce, I love the deer! Usually we have a small herd of five or six that we see around, but nothing like this gathering!

Jess might be thinking of the winter of ‘96
ringwood (the next town over) had 17 snowdays that winter.

Luke, ‘96 was our first year here and we didn’t have any snow until mid January. Or am I thinking wrong here?

I am so ready for this icy stuff to be gone!

Uhm,,,, Luke actually when I thought about it, we moved in April 06 and were not here for the early winter months, so maybe that’s what you are thinking about and not the winter of 06/07 which is the one I was thinking of.

such pretty photos…really enjoyed them.  We finally have had winter too.  But nothing compared to you guys…down here anyway.  The mountains have had plenty which is even better.

Debra, yeah it looks pretty in the photos—all sparkly and such but it’s a royal pain to try and navigate on! I haven’t been down in the yard for days and days because it’s just slick ice. At least we haven’t had any further storms to add on top of all this mess. I heard you were getting some snow finally.

I know I’ve been saying how beautiful the snow is (and it is) but I guess you all must have had just about enough now.
Hope the thaw & spring come soon for you!

Betty, is IS pretty but this stuff we have now with the frozen ice on top is no fun. You can’t walk anywhere!
I think springs is coming, at least my mailman told me it was yesterday and he handed me my mail!