If you have visited our home page lately you will see that our featured product right now is our Fresh Snow soap!  I did that on purpose and did a snow dance hoping we would have a snow day before the warm rays of spring arrive.  Well, hot diggity, today's the day!  They have been forecasting a tremendous amount of snow for this area for several days now. The anticipation has made focusing on anything but the impending snow nearly impossible for me.  Snow days are one of my favorite things in life! Although I was kinda worried when I got up this morning - not a single flake falling here and the news kept showing snow falling in other areas!  I didn't have to wait too long though before the white fluffy stuff that makes me giddy started falling! I stocked up on groceries earlier in the week, hubby got gas for the generator in the event we lose power, we have plenty of supplies for the goats and chickens and we are ready to hunker down and enjoy the beautiful snow!  Snow days do not come without some drawbacks though.  Beth was planning on coming home this weekend and we were planning a family dinner for Saturday (fried chicken, mashed taters and gravy, chocolate cake - the works).  She hasn't been home in quite a while - much too long for her mama's taste! I'm not so sure (highly doubtful) that she will be able to come home now. Even though my excitement about having her home is sadly deflated, I would rather she stay safe and sound at school and not venture out.  She will have fun with her sorority sisters I am sure. (Did I mention she asked me to express mail her snow boots and sled??). Even though the snow should quit this evening - I hate to think of her making the drive home (2 hours or so) by herself in deep snow and frigid temps.  Even if she would come home, my folks and Sarah and Derek most likely won't be able to get in our driveway!  Okay - they could get IN, but not get up the hill that leads to our house.  It is treacherous and not friendly in snow and ice, no matter how much we plow it.That brings me to the other downfall.  Shoveling out.  Not exactly on my list of favorite things.  I ventured out a little while ago to shovel the walkway.  It is a very heavy wet snow and I felt challenged and inadequate as the wind blew the shovels full of snow right back at me no matter which direction I tossed them! David will be home from work shortly (thank goodness for 4-wheel drive), and he will commence the serious shoveling.  He makes snow shoveling look easy and effortless.  He never complains about shoveling; it's his personality - he always tries to find the good in things.  He looks at it as a workout.  I look at it as torture and it makes me tired, but I will bundle up and help him. After I wimp out shoveling (which I shamefully admit, doesn't usually take too long), I do my part by making sure he has fresh, hot coffee and a fresh-baked treat of some kind when he comes in.  (I am making multi-grain muffins for him right now.  They are healthy yet sweet and scrumptious and one of his favorites. The house smells divine!). He said he would like breakfast for dinner tonight - fresh eggs (the chickens are tucked warmly in their coop by the way), bacon, hash browns, homemade bread toasted with butter and of course, hot coffee. We'll enjoy some popcorn popped the old-fashioned way and work on a jigsaw puzzle together this evening after our country breakfast for dinner.  We've come to really enjoy a good puzzle lately! It reminds me that patience is a virtue. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!  They are saying the snow will fall in to the evening hours. Who knows - maybe it will be another snow day!  David is off work tomorrow and it would be a very unexpected blessing to enjoy the day with him!  I'll keep you posted!

Isn't this cardinal beautiful?  He has been visiting us regularly for the past several days and enjoys sitting on the side mirror of my car.  Occasionally he brings a friend or two with him, but today he is visiting alone in the snow.  I can see him out the kitchen window when I do dishes.  Come back often my feathered friend! 

It was a very sad day here at Beth's Kydz Sudz yesterday.  The kind of day small hobby farmers hope they don't see too many of. We lost our rooster, affectionately known as "Ozzie", to a hawk.  This is the first time we have lost any of our flock in this way.  David was home and heard a  commotion in the coop and quickly went to see what was going on.  Unfortunately, a hawk moves much quicker than we do, and it was too late.  I am convinced that what David actually heard was Oz sounding the alert and warning his "harem" of the hawk flying overhead.  I've read that an alert rooster (or hen) will sound an alert when a shadow from a soaring hawk passes over them. When David got there, all of the "girls" were in the coop safe and sound.  He disrupted the hawk's mission, but sadly, it was too late to rescue Oz.  I cannot imagine, or better yet, I will not let myself imagine, what Oz must have gone through, but I know he was bravely and wholeheartedly protecting the flock. Ozzie was our first rooster. He and his partner (Harriet, of course) were part of our original flock. He and Harriet were a couple years old when they were given to us.  They went together like peas and carrots.  The unbearable heat was just too much for Harriet this year, and we lost her on one of the hottest days this summer. (That was a rough day too.)  Sometimes I wonder if I am cut out for this hobby farm lifestyle. Thankfully we have more peaks than valleys, but it sure ties my heart in knots when something like this happens. It is something I will never get used to, or be able to brush aside as if nothing happened. I understand that hawks are at the top of the food chain and it's all part of the cirlce of life.  I get that. I would just prefer that my chickens not be on their menu.  I read a lot of information in the past 24 hours about keeping hawks away from your flock and we have begun to put some measures in place that will hopefully prevent this from happening again.  A few weeks ago, a friend gave us four new hens.  Or should I say THREE hens and a rooster. She said she wasn't sure if that fourth one was a rooster or hen. Possibly, but she did mention a few weeks ago that with Ozzie getting on in age, we should eventually get another rooster.  Oh the irony of it all!  Just last week, we were outside doing chores and heard the most pitiful attempt at a cock-a-doodle-doo!  The young rooster was definitely feeling his oats!  I wonder if he knew just how pitiful he sounded? A few seconds later, Oz greeted the day as well.  It was very proud.  It was perfect.  Pristine and without flaw. It was as if to tell this new young kid on the block "this is how it is done; listen and learn."  I smiled to myself and chuckled a bit.  There was a lonesome silence today as we went about our morning chores. I missed Ozzie's greeting very much. He helped me realize the simple and peaceful pleasure found in something as unpretentious as a rooster crowing in the early morning hours. There were only 2 eggs tonight - perhaps the girls miss him as well. He was their protector.  This new rooster (yet to be named - I need to get to know his personality first) has some big shoes to fill!  In the mean time, we will fondly remember Ozzie as we look to the future and learn and grow from the experience.