Festival of Snow

What a day! in so many ways...We, here in the central Midwest of the U.S. are in what is being called a "snowcastrophy"....It is fiercely cold, and the snowflakes are swirling around in eddies as if choreographed to the Nutcracker suite. The downy abundance is forming peaks and valleys, looking more like meringue than just frozen water.

Everyone I know has stocked up with as my best friend Lisa calls "provisions" This includes firewood, good food, chocolate chips (for the necessary oatmeal chocolate chip cookies,) good wine and movies...I have plenty to keep myself busy at the farm, always paperwork, working a large painting for a dear friend, seed starting, movies that I never have time to watch-you get the idea.                                                                                                                                                          When I first got up this morning, frankly, I was disappointed. We had a nice layer of ice from the day before, but only a half inch of the white stuff. I went out, fed the chickens and gave them fresh water, giving them some green"treats", rather than feed the compost pile. After strong coffee and a breakfast of fresh eggs, I noticed the snow had begun again, this time-it didn't stop!

It is truly spectacular out there, but being in the single digits now, I'm glad I'm inside! I received a new camera for the holiday, and I love it, but the memory card is faulty, and only will let me take six images before shutting down. Believe me, this is not the day I'm going to go find a replacement card! A friend I was chatting with thought I should go out and capture the winter moment, although I only had six shots, these are what you are seeing now, thanks Aaron!

I thought I would share two poignant stories with you.First off, two of my amazing designers are blessed with a new baby into their family as of today! For one designer, it's her little sister's first baby, and for the other designer it's her brother in law's first---see, they introduced the happy couple, and of course did the flowers for their wedding a year ago, good job guys! and welcome to Lucille Rose!! We are all thrilled for the happy threesome. A great story of life and birth and fresh beginnings., right? Right. But, and this is a big BUT...at the same time all of that was happening, my third designer has had a sad, sad 24 hours to deal with...Her parents, who are a fantastic couple from Holland, moved to Kansas City to be closer to family and services, getting settled into a nice retirement community that has worked out well for them. Her mother, a charming lady, who is a fine designer in her own right, has been suffering from early stages of dementia. She has had the best of care, but the outlook has not been good for her. Last night, while walking their family dog, she slipped on the ice, falling and hitting her head, she is now on life support, waiting for her children to come and see her one last time before they will turn off the respirator. The blood thinners she has been on, and other health related issues have made surgery out of the question for the family.I send my love and thoughts to the entire family. It does seem ironic, that we celebrate the entrance into the world of a tiny baby, only to be balanced by the sad loss of a loving mother,wife,and true lady-you will be missed by many! Life is nothing if not a true balance, take the time to be loving to one another and celebrate that!