The Winter Cabin - second entry

Photos of the inside of the cabin:

I had just returned from a snowshoe walk - this is the porch.

The sunlit table with my tea and writing and crocheting.

A few drawings that I made while I was there.

The kitchen with drying dishes.

The loft where I slept and my improvised drying line.

The dear old 'Favorite Box 25'.

The propane range that made cooking much easier.

The sofa where I did most of my reading.

Here are a couple of journal excerpts starting with my second day at the cabin:

January 9, 2011

I had a nice morning: started a fire, ate breakfast, read, took a walk with my mom's snowshoes - snowshoeing was great, easier and more pleasant than I expected and the forest trails were stunningly silent and magical. The only sounds were me, the treetops rubbing and birds calling. It was a still life of white and buff and while I was stopped, surveying it, I locked eyes with a beautiful doe. We watched each other for only a few seconds until she went back to whatever she was doing. After a few minutes of watching her I decided to keep walking and my movement scared her away. When she started to prance up the hill I saw that there was another deer with her and they disappeared into the woods with much more grace than I could ever hope to have. I finished my walk with joy and returned to the cabin to prepare lunch.

* * * * * *

Sue and I discussed some details in regards to composting, firewood, chores, etcetera and then she took me to meet the cows and showed me how to take care of them. They are such lovely animals. They all approached me in turn to sniff and lick my hands. They are friends with Sue's dog Jeannie and the whole ritual seems great to me: give them hay outside in the yard and inside and two other outdoor feeding places, give them water from the well on the hill, shovel out their stalls and smash the ice on their pond's surface. I will be doing this every morning this week!

January 10, 2011

The days are passing quickly here - I didn't expect that. Today I did the cow chores, just me and the cows. It was pretty great. I spilled water down my boot which was very uncomfortable (it was -20 degrees or something) but besides that it was really good. Even smashing frozen cow poop to try to dislodge it from the stable floor was fun.