As I turn into the driveway to the cabin, I never what I will see or feel. Today was no different. The first quarter mile was snow covered and trackless. I did not expect that. I couldn't help but think that the wildlife didn't like the deep freeze we have been in either.
Awww, a runway. The deer are active.

The deer are Very active. I rounded the corner about three quarters of a mile in and WOW, a Whitetail Highway. The wind has died down, the temperature is actually a few degrees ABOVE zero, and the deer are hungry. They 'hunker down' just like we do when it's bitter cold and during snowstorms. These tracks are testament that they are ready to browse on the twigs and whatever they can find to sustain them. All that is at the cabin at the moment are frozen pumpkins that they are scratching at. Tomorrow I will throw corn for them and apples.

Even though I have parked behind this fence for years, somehow, today I felt as though I were fenced in. I wanted to chain it to the back of the truck and pull it up.

I didn't.
Finally, some wildlife in the flesh. Off in the distance I saw just his head as he walked up the side of the bank and showed himself. He was a beautiful partridge strutting his stuff. Keep in mind I haven't much for a camera and he was an 1/8th a mile away.
No matter where I looked, the 'white' was everywhere, even amongst the bits of gray, green, black, and browns. I started to feel surrounded again. The bench was covered.
The view out the cabin window was covered.
I opened the south door to the deck and it was covered knee-deep. Just the snow tunnels made by the squirrels were visible. To walk on the snow with these low temperatures, well, you do not sink in. There is a hard crust that is impossible to shovel. I tried.
The sky was such a beautiful, hopeful blue when I drove up the hill and into the woods, heading to the cabin.
When I drove out, it was this depressing GRAY. The sun Was Trying to Shine. It did leave a bit of a rainbow on the hood of my truck. If you click on the picture, you can almost see it.
This is still my little Get-Away from it all. I wanted to stay but the pilot on the gas stove went out. Someone forgot to turn off the gas during the last stay, the tank went dry, so when the pilot fizzled out, the smell of gas lingered. It must have just happened because the loft window was open, yet the smell was too strong to hang around long. Needless to say, I opened more windows and will close them tomorrow.

Thank God, I am not a smoker. I hate to think what could have happened when the door opened. It WAS strong in there. I can still taste it.
These next two pictures hang in the south windows facing the creek. I made them with window paints by outlining each area with a lead paint designed for this type of craft. Then, fill in with the paint. I should do more. They are so much fun to do. New Project. Do more windows. These are Wood Ducks. We feed about 30 of them that come waddling up the hill each spring and at least one pair stays and nests in the wood duck box we made for them.
This is the other duck we have visit. The family of mallards are my favorite. The woodies are timid but the mallards are quite friendly.

I know why I was so in the dulldrums today...I want more of this...COLOR. Color in the birds, ducks, the woods, the gardens, SPRING...and we only have at least a couple more months of winter. Don't get me wrong. I do love the snow, just not the cold.

God Bless from my house to yours