What a gorgeous day we had here on the farm! The weather was incredible and we spent so much time outside working in the gardens, playing in the sand box, and obviously, taking photos~ This truly is one of the most beautiful times of year on this property, with everything just beginning to bloom and the sun arriving, hopefully to stay for a while.
What began looking like a mid-winter morning 
became 
(sadly, photo set one is back this afternoon…)xo
Saturday on the farm was gorgeous. We spent the afternoon by the bon fire, riding bikes, and taking photos. It was a lovely way to wrap up winter break! Chris was home from his week away on business, and it was nice to have everyone here. Gram had returned and we were all able to spend time in the sunshine together. xo
I have the boys home from school this week for winter break. Chris is away in Vegas - he is working. Oh, yes he is! It is work! He certainly isn’t enjoying his time in the sunshine, with all of those fabulous people, someone else cooking for him (wait - that is his life normally…), sleeping through the night, no small people climbing on him…. Meanwhile, here on the farm, we are having a nice time mixing projects with fun time and good food. Monday Uncle Dennis was in town and the boys (Riley, Noah, and Owen) and I went to take a tour of the plane he flew down. Quite a treat for the boys~ 
We were blessed today with some gorgeous sunshine after the morning fog lifted. I can’t wait until it is warm enough to get out into the gardens! 
Living in Seattle, I sometimes get *very* tired of the grey, wet winter weather. I remember those beautiful sunny snowy winter days growing up in Minnesota, sitting in your car, cold outside, warm inside, the sun hitting your face. Aaahhh… all of that vitamin D… Well, we had some snow here in Seattle this winter. I posted photos - pretty photos - fluffy white snowy photos. We had fun with the snow. We nested, played games, watched movies, even found the coziness when we lost power. Christmas. Day. (think: no turkey, no family visiting, pancakes for dinner) The boys played in it, we all shoveled it, and we managed, even here in Seattle, where they have very little in place for dealing with snowstorms. School was cancelled, Christmas break was extended to nearly *three weeks*. All of that was fine and good. But I remember now. I remember what it looks like when the snow begins to melt. When the sand that was spread on the roads sits on the melting snow. When the soggy broken plants/bushes/trees emerge from the blanket of white.It isn’t pretty. There is a lot of clean-up to be done. Drains must be unclogged of all of the debris before water will pass through them (thank goodness for fabulous Christmas gifts like rainboots!). Broken branches must be gathered. Soggy leaves that we somehow missed this autumn must be cleaned up. Gutters on houses with flat roofs must be cleared. Oh, the fun of it all. I did however find something that made me smile the other day. While walking Owen to the bus stop, we spotted these in the gardens. I can’t begin to tell you how excited they made me. Now I can begin to dream of spring…xo 
the entry chicken is snowy~ 
the barn is covered in white~ 
the trees are snow-filled~ 
even the gigantic tree in the arena is a white giant! 
the little apples still peek through the snow~ 
and the pond falls are nearly covered over now~ 
though we didn’t have power today, the generator gave us an outlet to make our christmas dinner. 
i realize now that i really don’t need that dishwasher when i have this handsome man to help. 
we hope you all had a very merry christmas~the taylors
Once again Riley and I, along with our fabulous new assistant Owen headed out Saturday morning in search of the perfect (our version of perfect anyway) most festive Christmas tree. This has been our annual tradition for a number of years now. Although the invitation is always open to one and all, thus far Riley and I seem to be the only residents of Chestnut Farm with the desire to head out in the cold, getting muddy and wet, to haul home our prize. Last year was the first year that we had company, and this year, Owen once again joined us. We had a great time with nice weather and although it was cold, the hot apple cider at the end warmed us right up! 
Even though everything seems rather gray and dark these days, I spent a bit of time outside today with Stella exploring the property through her lens finding things I have never really noticed before. How beautiful are crocosmia this time of year???
Good luck finding pretty surprises in your own outdoors~ 
