For the birds

It is ironic that wintertime languishes and tempts me with hours to be filled, so unlike the other three seasons when the only other things you do with your free time are eat and sleep...

Poultry do not require much time in winter... a drink of warm water laced with apple cider vinegar and molasses and all the trimmings from soups and salads, mounds of warm hay and some cracked corn, and an airing out when the weather is feasible and a snug home is about all they ask this time of year. They don't venture far in cold weather; thus there is no chasing down a flock of errant guinea fowl at 9 pm to make sure they're all safely in the barn for the evening. Predators are less apt to be a bother now, as they too are snugged away except at dinnertime, and the snow gives evidence if they come close.

I certainly do appreciate the calmer pace... I've managed to read a book or two, which is unheard of during the growing season, and I just adore my time spent frivolously tending to Pinterest (ahemmmm..) I can find time now to create a bit more, and that is a luxury in and of itself. I hope you can make time too! I've posted a few bird-related images you may be able to use... they are copyright free from my always-growing collection. These particular ones were compiled by Nancy Rosin in the Memories of a Lifetime series. Enjoy!

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments,
embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.

John Boswell

Surely as cometh the Winter, I know
There are Spring violets under the snow.
-  R. H. Newell

February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March.

-  Dr. J. R. Stockton

When the snow is still blowing against the window-pane in
January and February and the wild winds are howling without,
what pleasure it is to plan for summer that is to be.

Celia Thaxter

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,
For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,
He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds
From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.
When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,
He visualizes autumn's golden yields;
He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain
Precious moisture for his early grain;
He hears spring-heralds in the storm's  turmoil­
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.
-  Sudie Stuart Hager 

There is a privacy about winter which no other season gives you … Only in winter…can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.
-  Ruth Stout

Out of the bosom of the Air, 
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, 
Over the woodlands brown and bare, 
Over the harvest-fields forsaken, 
Silent, and soft, and slow 
Descends the snow.
-  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow